DANVILLE — A Blue Storm awaits the Blue Devils.
Third-seeded Danville will head for Tuscarawas County on Saturday night for a Division VII, Region 25 championship showdown against top-seeded Warren JFK at New Philadelphia’s Quaker Stadium.
The Eagles (11-1) have given up just 15 points in their first three playoff games and are coming off a 35-0 pounding of Salineville Southern. JFK’s defense, nicknamed the Blue Storm, allows just 9.8 points a game.
Southern’s high-powered offense scored 107 points in its first two playoff games and averaged 39.5 points a game. But against JFK, Southern managed just 213 total yards.
“We pride ourselves on our defense and the Blue Storm,” JFK senior safety ThomasValent told the Warren Tribune Chronicle after last week’s win. “It means everything to us.”
Battle-tested Danville has won a pair of thrillers the last two weeks. The Devils held on for a 42-41 victory over Hillsdale in the regional quarterfinals before rallying from a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit in last week’s stunning 27-20 defeat of Lucas.
“That’s just the culmination of winning some games this year and never giving up,” Danville head coach Matthew Blum said afterward. “That speaks to the level of where our program is going. I couldn’t be more proud of our kids and just everybody involved.”
As they have done all season, Max Payne, Walker Weckesser and Kaiden Colopy delivered when Danville needed them the most against Lucas. Payne took over for Weckesser late in the game and threw the game-winning touchdown to Weckesser with 13 seconds remaining, capping a 27-point fourth quarter.
“This is what this class has been waiting for since we were little kids playing together,” said Weckesser, who threw two touchdown passes and caught the game-winner. “For the town, it’s everything. We couldn’t do it without them supporting us.”
JFK has won the past two Region 25 championships.
“It’s fantastic to get back (to the regional final),” JFK coach Dom Prologo said last week. “We’ve won it the last two years. But our goal isn’t going to change. Our goal is to be 1-0 (each week) and if we can be 1-0 come next (Saturday) night, then we’ve achieved our goal.”
