After sending 12 of its 17 football-playing schools into the playoffs, Mahoning County flexed its muscles in the opening round of the state football tournament.

Ten Mahoning County schools posted first-round victories. Teams advancing to regional quarterfinal play include: Austintown Fitch, Ursuline, Canfield, Poland, West Branch, Struthers, South Range, Western Reserve, Lowellville and Springfield.

Trumbull County saw six of its nine playoff participants bow out in the first round, while Warren G. Harding, Niles and Mineral Ridge all posted wins by a margin of 29 points or more.

United is the lone remaining representative in Columbiana County, as six of the seven Columbiana County playoff representatives fell on Friday night.

In all, 14 schools from the Mahoning Valley earned the right to play at least one more week of football, while 14 other Valley schools saw their season come to an end.

The second-round slate of games will feature three all-area matchups.

In Division III, Region 9, Canfield (7-3) and Ursuline (11-0) will meet in the tournament for a second straight year. In 2022 the Cardinals defeated the Irish 33-25 in a third-round game played at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles. This time, the two teams will square off at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown.

This will mark just the fourth meeting between the two schools. Prior to last year’s game, Canfield and Ursuline hadn’t met in 38 years. The Irish defeated the Cardinals in both 1983 (48-14) and 1984 (27-7).

In week nine Poland defeated Struthers 28-27 in a thriller at Poland. The Bulldogs (10-1) scored a touchdown in overtime and converted the point-after kick. Struthers (8-3) then answered with its own touchdown and went for the win but failed on the two-point conversion.

Now, the two Northeast-8 teams will return to Dave Pavlansky Field to meet for the second time in three weeks, with the winner advancing to the Division IV, Region 13 semifinals.

Back on Sept. 15, Lowellville (10-1) had its 16-game regular-season winning streak snapped in a 21-14 road loss to Western Reserve (9-2). The Rockets have since won six straight.

Lowellville will now have the opportunity to avenge its only loss of the season when it returns to Berlin Center for a rematch between the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference rivals.

Warren G. Harding (5-6) avenged a 42-28 regular season loss to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary with a resounding 35-0 playoff road win over the Irish. The Raiders will now look to gain some revenge when they travel to Hudson (8-2). The Explorers have beaten the Raiders in each of the past three years, including a playoff victory in 2020.

Austintown Fitch (7-3) will hit the road to take on a Walsh Jesuit team which is 10-1. The Warriors’ lone loss was at the hands of Hoban. Otherwise, Walsh Jesuit is averaging 45.6 points per game

West Branch and Streetsboro will match 10-1 records when the two teams meet in Beloit. The Warriors are looking to win their eleventh straight game after opening the season with a loss to Canfield. Streetsboro’s offense revolves around the running of Preston Hopperton, who has rushed for 1,461 yards and 28 touchdowns. West Branch will counter with Beau Alazaus, who threw for 2,739 yards and 30 touchdowns during the regular season.

Niles (7-4) will travel to Mentor to take on a Lake Catholic team which is spearheaded by quarterback Frankie Trinetti. The junior has thrown for 2,736 yards and 32 touchdowns. The Red Dragons will hope to counter with Antuan Gardner, who is coming off a record-breaking performance. Gardner rushed for 471 yards and scored six touchdowns in the Dragons’ 65-28 opening round win over Edgewood.

Gardner set a Trumbull County single-game rushing record. In his last two games, Gardner has rushed for 796 yards and 11 touchdowns.

South Range (10-1) will continue its defense of its Division V state title when it hosts Ridgewood (8-3)

In Division VI, United (10-1) will play host to Cuyahoga Falls (9-1) while Mineral Ridge (7-4) will travel to Rootstown (9-1).

In Division VII, Danville (11-0) opened the playoffs with a 51-7 home win over McDonald. Danville will now host another MVAC school when it welcomes Springfield (8-3). Danville has scored 50 or more points in seven of its 11 games this year.

Once again this week, all games will be played on Friday at the home field of the higher seeded teams. Neutral sites will be used beginning with the third round of the tournament.

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