DANVILLE — Destiny has become part of the vocabulary in Danville’s football locker room.
For the second straight week the Blue Devils won an incredible thriller and have now reached the Elite Eight of the Ohio High School Football Playoffs.
Coach Matthew Blum’s bunch edged Lucas 27-20 on Saturday night in Bellville to survive the regional semifinals. The victory came just one week after turning back a ferocious Hillsdale rally in a 42-41 nailbiter.
What could the Blue Devils possibly do for an encore? We have only to wait until Saturday at 7 p.m. to find out. That’s when third-seeded Danville (11-2) challenges top-seeded Warren JFK (11-1) at New Philadelphia Quaker Stadium. The winner gets a trip to the Division VII Final Four.
The Ohio High School Athletics Association released the regional final pairings on Sunday afternoon. Here’s a list of the statewide assignments for this weekend’s regional championship games:
OHSAA Football Regional Final Pairings
Pairings shown with regional seed and record. Designated home team listed first (higher seed).
Division I
All games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 1
1 Lakewood St. Edward (12-1) vs. 3 Mentor (9-3) at Euclid Community Stadium
Region 2
2 Springfield (11-1) vs. 8 Powell Olentangy Liberty (8-5) at London Bowlus Field
Region 3
1 Gahanna-Lincoln (12-1) vs. 3 New Albany (10-3) at Historic Crew Stadium
Region 4
1 Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (12-1) vs. 3 West Chester Lakota West (13-0) at Princeton Jake Sweeney Automotive Stadium
Division II
All games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 5
1 Akron Archbishop Hoban (12-1) vs. 3 Hudson (13-0) at Twinsburg Tiger Stadium
Region 6
1 Avon (12-1) vs. 3 Toledo Central Catholic (12-1) at Perkins Firelands Health Stadium
Region 7
1 Massillon Washington (11-1) vs. 2 Uniontown Lake (12-1) at Parma Byers Field
Region 8
4 Kings Mills Kings (12-1) vs. vs. 10 Cincinnati Anderson (8-5) at Mason Atrium Stadium
Division III
All games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 9
1 Chardon (11-1) vs. 2 Canfield (11-1) at Ravenna Portage Community Bank Stadium, Harry Gilchrist Field
Region 10
1 Parma Heights Holy Name (10-2) vs. 10 Parma Padua Franciscan (8-5) at Maple Heights Stadium
Region 11
3 Columbus Bishop Watterson (12-1) vs. 5 Carroll Bloom-Carroll (12-1) at St. Francis DeSales Alumni Stadium
Region 12
1 Hamilton Badin (13-0) vs. 3 Tipp City Tippecanoe (11-1) at Trotwood-Madison Miami Valley Hospital SportsPlex
Division IV
All games Saturday, 7 p.m.
Region 13
1 Beloit West Branch (12-1) vs. 6 Jefferson Area (10-3) at Niles McKinley Bo Rein Stadium
Region 14
1 Cleveland Glenville (12-0) vs. 6 Van Wert (12-1) at Tiffin Columbian Frost-Kalnow Stadium
Region 15
2 Steubenville (11-2) vs. 4 Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (10-3) at St. Clairsville Red Devils Stadium
Region 16
1 Cincinnati Wyoming (13-0) vs. 2 Cincinnati Taft (11-2) at Lakota West Firebird Field
Division V
All games Friday, 7 p.m.
Region 17
1 Canfield South Range (13-0) vs. 3 Perry (11-2) at Berkshire Great Lakes Cheese Stadium
Region 18
1 Liberty Center (13-0) vs. 2 Bloomdale Elmwood (12-1) at Perrysburg Widdel Field at Steineker Stadium
Region 19
1 Ironton (13-0) vs. 2 Canal Winchester Harvest Preparatory (13-0) at Waverly Raidiger Field
Region 20
1 Germantown Valley View (12-1) vs. 2 West Milton Milton-Union (12-0) at Piqua Alexander Stadium
Division VI
All games Saturday, 7 p.m.
Region 21
1 Kirtland (13-0) vs. 3 Mogadore (11-0) at Nordonia Boliantz Stadium
Region 22
3 Columbia Station Columbia (13-0) vs. 5 Columbus Grove (11-2) at Clyde Robert J. Bishop Jr. Stadium
Region 23
1 Beverly Fort Frye (12-1) vs. 3 Bellaire (9-4) at Zanesville Sulsberger Stadium
Region 24
1 Maria Stein Marion Local (13-0) vs.2 Harrod Allen East (12-1) at Wapakoneta Mercy Health Wapak Ford Field
Division VII
All games Saturday, 7 p.m.
Region 25
1 Warren John F. Kennedy (11-1) vs. 3 Danville (11-2) at New Philadelphia Quaker Stadium
Region 26
2 Antwerp (13-0) vs. 4 Lima Central Catholic (9-4) at Findlay Donnell Stadium
Region 27
1 Newark Catholic (10-1) vs. 2 Hannibal River (12-1) Cambridge McFarland Stadium
Region 28
2 Fort Loramie (11-2) vs. 5 New Bremen (10-3) at Sidney Memorial Stadium
