Steven Wright | Greene County News
Beavercreek, Bellbrook, Greeneview and Xenia are the Greene County teams that have qualified for the 2024 OHSAA football playoffs and all get their postseason runs underway on Friday.
XENIA — There were a lot of accomplishments in the first 10 weeks of the high school football season. Now all of them are put on the backburner as the playoffs arrive and every game matters more than the previous one.
Xenia will have its ability to forget the past immediately put to the test Friday night when it hosts MVL rival Sidney to begin the 2024 postseason. A disappointing end to the regular season with the week 10 loss to Tippecanoe was a sour taste to an otherwise stellar season. And despite the loss, Xenia played well enough to show future opponents there was nothing to consider the nine wins that came before that contest being any sort of fluke.
“We went 9-1 and that’s one heck of an accomplishment,” head coach Maurice Harden said following the Tipp loss. “The loss will stain and it hurts but it’s supposed to and we’re not going to allow that to define us.”
The Buccaneers and Yellow Jackets, who finished as the top two teams in the Valley Division, met back in week three of the season and Xenia’s 48-7 victory may have been more dominant than the final score shows. Xenia ran for almost 500 yards and Deaunte White really got his record breaking season underway with a school-record 388 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
Ronnie Butler finished the regular season leading the MVL in tackles and also became Xenia’s career leader with 360 in the category, surpassing Tanner Steward’s 342 from 2012-15.
Sidney quarterback Ethan New was out for the majority of the first meeting after being injured on a sack during the first half. The Yellow Jackets did not have positive passing yards for the remainder of the game after he exited. When New has gone the distance, he has thrown for at least 200 yards six times. He has dynamic playmakers all over the field as well.
Tank Fleming is one of the best receivers in the MVL, and Julius Spradling battled through injuries early in the year to catch touchdown passes in four of their last six games. Isaiah Foster was the third leading rusher in the league, but was held to a season low 21 yards by Xenia earlier this year.
Luke Carter and Demarcuse Fleming got into opposing backfields as well as any league defenders from their spots on the line and the secondary. They combined to have 27.5 tackles for loss and forced seven fumbles.
Friday will be third time Xenia hosts a playoff game at Doug Adams Stadium. The Buccaneers are 0-2 in previous contests, losing to Columbus Walnut Ridge in 2019 and Little Miami in 2022. Xenia is 1-5 in the playoffs all-time with its only win coming in 2020 at Tecumseh.
D-I — No. 15 Beavercreek (3-7) at No. 2 Centerville (7-3)
When the two teams played this season in week six, Beavercreek remained close on the scoreboard early until five lost fumbles in the second quarter brought them down in a harsh way. Centerville scored 41 straight points, 27 of which came in the final 3:28 of the first half, in what turned into a 48-13 win for the Elks. Happier thoughts will be on the mind of the Beavers after earning its first ever postseason berth.
Centerville played one of the state’s toughest schedules this season and enter the game on a five-game win streak that began with the first meeting between the two teams. The Elks were the highest scoring team in the GWOC.
Shane Cole at quarterback has been the league’s top dual threat player, ranking in the top five for both passing and rushing yardage. Parker Johnson finds the end zone with regularity, scoring 19 touchdowns so far. Neither had big games in the first meeting against Beavercreek, but they weren’t asked to do much either with the short field Centerville regularly found itself starting with in the contest.
Jacob Taylor and Lucas Mullinger lead Centerville’s defense and both featured prominently in the earlier win for their side against the Beavers.
Beavercreek’s offense only averaged 148 yards per game during league play, but averaging two turnovers per game did not do them any favors. The only playoff game Beavercreek has previously played in came during the 2020 COVID-affected season when all teams in the state qualified if they wanted to further participate. The Beavers lost to Dublin Coffman that season.
D-III — No. 14 Meadowdale (7-3) at No. 3 Bellbrook (9-1)
Meadowdale are the Dayton City League champions for the first time in 25 years. Four of the team’s wins came against opponent that combined to win one total game this season, however the Lions did beat a 7-2 Cincinnati College Prep squad in overtime.
The offense had the DCL’s leading passer and rusher this season. Jordan Brown threw for 1,097 yards and 15 touchdowns, and Dominick Ramsey had four games of more than 100 yards and didn’t play much in the team’s most recent loss against Trotwood in week nine. Daelon Philpot caught seven touchdowns, but the team has three receivers spreading the wealth evenly with receptions.
Dearonn Daniel led the team’s defense in tackles, sacks and tackles for loss this season as a freshman.
Bellbrook’s defense has been one of the best in the state since its week one loss. It has four shutouts during its nine-game winning streak and has only allowed two touchdowns scored against it in the last eight contests.
The teams share one common opponent. Bellbrook defeated Ponitz CTC 63-0 in a week four non-league game. Meadowdale also defeated Ponitz by a 20-0 score in week six.
Bellbrook is 12-13 all-time in the playoffs and has won at least one game in the past four seasons. Friday’s game will be the first ever meeting between the schools in football.
D-V — No. 16 Graham (3-7) at No. 1 Greeneview (10-0)
Graham turned it on late in the season after an 0-6 start to win three straight, including a victory against Springfield Northwestern that was the primary point earner to get a playoff berth. The offense struggled mightily during the six-game losing streak, scoring only 35 total points. They found better success afterward with the help of its defense forcing eight turnovers in the three wins that followed.
A sophomore duo leads the Graham offense. Gage Stull has been the quarterback and is completing 51 percent of his passes for a team that runs the ball twice as much as it passes, but has found the most success getting into the end zone through the air. Daniel Hoke has just under half of the team’s carries and averaged 4.8 yards per attempt on the ground. Adam Levy, a senior, is the team’s primary receiver with 35 receptions.
Expect to hear Caden Strader’s name to commonly come up in defensive stops. The senior is second in the CBC in tackles this season and has averaged more 10 per game for the last three seasons. Kaden Marshall and Jack Traylor also have found their way into opposing backfields a lot, with a combined 4.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss between them.
Greeneview’s offense averaged 299 yards per game on the ground during its unbeaten regular season. Graham’s defense its in last five games has only allowed only one opponent to break 100 yards rushing.
The teams share one common opponent. Greeneview defeated West Liberty Salem 42-14 in week three, and Graham lost to WLS by the same score in its season opener.
Greeneview is in the playoffs for the fifth straight year and 10th time in the last 11. The Rams are 5-9 all-time in postseason play with its last win coming in 2021 against Cincinnati Gamble Montessori, which is the team’s only home playoff victory.
Greeneview and Graham have not played one another since at least 1972.
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
