Springfield’s Vincent Woods celebrates after a tackle for loss during the first half of their game, Friday night against McDonald. (David Dermer/Warren Tribune Chronicle)

SALEM — The Springfield Tigers have been here before.

For the past two years, Springfield head coach Sean Guerriero has led his team to the regional finals, where they’ll play Mogadore on Saturday, 7 p.m. at Salem’s Sebo Stadium, and then on to the state championship.

“I think our kids are excited for it and we took some time at the beginning of the week to just congratulate them on the effort that they give and how they just continuously raise the bar,” Guerriero said. “To be able to play in three straight regional finals, to me, is an accomplishment in itself. So, for our kids to be able to do this, I’m proud.”

Since losing their season opener to South Range, another local Mahoning Valley team competing for a regional championship this week, the Tigers (12-1) have won 12 straight games, have outscored their opponents 525-74, and pitched five straight shutouts at one point this season.

They found their groove heading into the latter stages of the season, and while they’ve been in this position before, and have come out on the winning side, the Tigers know that they can’t lose their focus. Guerriero says that responsibility comes down to his seniors.

“They’ve been here before and I think they do a good job,” he said. “The last two years, for how well of a season we had. Our guys want to win the big one so I think our kids have stayed focused and I think they do a good job of pushing each other and I think they do a good job of staying on task.”

That shouldn’t be a problem for the Tigers.

With a senior leader like quarterback Beau Brungard, who has led the Tigers to the past two state championships and has taken another step forward this year, pasing for 1,695 yards and rushing for 1,355 yards and scoring 48 total touchdowns, and several others like running back Bo Snyder, linebacker Aaron Groner, defensive end Marshall Yelkin and offensive lineman AJ Stallsmith, the Tigers are in good hands.

But having the experience they do, doesn’t hurt either.

Last season, the Tigers made a run to the state championship and fell to Coldwater 38-35. The year before that, they lost to Anna 48-14. So, although those seasons didn’t end with a state title, Guerriero believes the team can still pull on its experiences.

“Our kids know what to expect, they know the routine,” Guerierro said. “I really as a coach don’t change much, my staff doesn’t change much. So I’m a very routine oriented person. So I like staying on that routine to keep going. So our senior kids have pushed and have done a great job of just making sure that we’re focused on each game, but winning the next one isn’t the ultimate goal.”

When the Tigers take the field at Sebo Stadium though they’ll be taking on a team that has just as much experience at this stage of the season.

In their 48-42 win over LaBrae last Saturday, Mogadore (10-3) won their 700th game in program history. The Wildcats also haven’t missed the playoffs in nearly two decades and have won four state championships.

“We’ve played them the past two years, we know what type of program they are, and we know what type of effort they give,” Guerriero said. “I think their last win was their 700th win, so obviously our kids understand the process and understand what we’re going up against.”

The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 342-218 this season and have won their last three after losing to Lucas, 14-0, in their regular season finale. They had to pull off an overtime win over LaBrae and have increased their scoring total in each week of the playoffs, scoring a season-high 48 on Saturday.

Despite their opponents success and storied history, Guerriero said one of the main points he’s driving home to his players is to just continue doing what they know how to do.

“”We just have to continue to be us and make sure we line up and make sure we don’t do too much,” Guerriero said. “I think at certain times kids can get out of doing the fundamentals because they feel that pressure. So we just have to make sure we’re gap sound and run to the football on defense and offensively we gotta make sure we are sound and not turning the ball over.”