Five area teams, including Springfield, make football playoffs

Photos: Area H.S. playoff games

Springfield’s George Walker is spun around by Wayne’s Trey Woodard. The Wildcats will make their first playoff appearance on Saturday, Nov. 7, when they face No. 1 seed Dublin Coffman. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

Bill Lackey Springfield’s George Walker is spun around by Wayne’s Trey Woodard. The Wildcats will make their first playoff appearance on Saturday, Nov. 7, when they face No. 1 seed Dublin Coffman. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

Despite loss to Wayne, Wildcats nab No. 8 seed as they got help from other teams losing.

By David Jablonski, Staff Writer Updated 7:56 AM Monday, November 2, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — The Wildcats live.

Two days after leaving Evans Stadium with the slimmest of playoff hopes, the Springfield High School football team found out officially Sunday, Nov. 1, that it had advanced to the Division I state playoffs for the first time.

Head coach Rick Robertson’s team, the No. 8 seed in Region 3, will travel to No. 1 seed Dublin Coffman to face the unbeaten Shamrocks at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7.

“We’re not just happy to be in the playoffs,” Robertson said. “We want to win in the playoffs.”

Three other Clark County teams and one Champaign County school made the playoffs: Tecumseh (No. 3 seed in D-II); Southeastern (No. 6 in D-VI); Shawnee (No. 8 in D-III); and West Liberty-Salem (No. 4 in D-V).

The Wildcats (6-4) lost their season finale 40-13 to Wayne on Friday, but after the game, the good news trickled in for Robertson and his staff. Every team they had beaten, except Hamilton, won Friday. The teams it needed to lose — including Groveport Madison, the first team left out in Region 3, and Troy — lost.

Around 1 a.m. Saturday, Robertson figured his team had made the playoffs. After the game, he had told his players they would meet today either to go through their end-of-season routine or to practice.

Today, their second life begins, though their opponent in Week 11 will be a tough one. Coffman, the alma mater of Browns quarterback Brady Quinn and a three-time regional champion this decade, is ranked third in D-I.

“We’re not going to be in awe,” said Robertson, who urged fans to buy their tickets through Springfield High School because those profits go to the school. “You look at Pickerington Central. It’s been one of the best teams in Columbus for the past four or five years, and we played well against Pickerington Central. In fact, we were in a position where we could have won.”

Should Springfield advance, it would face Westerville South (8-2) or Powell Olentangy Liberty (7-3) in the regional semifinals.

“It’s always great to make it,” Robertson said. “It’s not easy to make it, especially this only being our second season with only six seniors. That’s a good sign of progess. Hopefully, the community will rally around it.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.