MORNING JOURNAL FILE PHOTO St. Paul's Brian Griffin will have to bring his 'A' game since the Flyers are smaller than their opponents in the trenches.

A sixth-straight trip to the regional final in Division VI will be on the line tonight for the St. Paul Flyers when they take on the Mogadore Wildcats at Medina Ken Dukes Stadium.

This will not be the first time the Flyers, who are ranked No. 2 in Region 21, and the Wildcats, ranked No. 3, have faced off in the playoffs.

In 2004, the teams battled each other in the Division VI quarterfinal round at Whitney Field in Norwalk.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and held a 28-8 advantage at halftime. St. Paul regrouped and outscored Mogadore 24-0 in the second half and pulled out a 32-28 win.

Both teams head into this matchup with a ton of momentum.

St. Paul (11-0) began its quest for a state title last Saturday, when they took on Berlin Heights Western Reserve, in the Division VI regional quarterfinal.

The Blue Devils came into the game averaging 36 points a game led by quarterback Shane Ewing (2,156 passing yards, 760 rushing yards and 36 total touchdowns). The Flyers’ defense dominated as they sacked Ewing five times and allowed just 99 yards of total offense in the team’s 45-0 victory.

Offensively, St. Paul was led by senior Brian Griffin who rushed for 159 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns. Senior quarterback Eric Schweiterman threw for 59 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for 77 yards on nine carries for the Flyers.

The Flyers have won 11 in a row and average 47 points a game, while they surrender just 4.5 points a game.

St. Paul coach John Livengood said at this point in the playoffs there are no favorites.

“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Livengood said. “We know the teams are going to be tough and the games are going to get tougher and we have to match the other team’s toughness.”

Livengood said he was surprised by how easily his team handled the Blue Devils, but knows beating the Wildcats won’t be that easy.

“They are a strong team and they have a strong tradition there,” said Livengood about Mogadore. “We need to come with the same focus that we did last week, because they are a very a sound football team.

“They thrive on taking advantage of other team’s mistakes, so we have to do a great job of taking care of the ball.”

On paper it doesn’t look like the Flyers have been challenged all season, but the team has battled through some adversity.

Schweiterman and Griffin both missed time with injury, and Livengood feels that really helped the team’s chemistry.

“Our kids have done a great job of battling back through some rough patches,” Livengood said. “I think I’m most proud of the way guys stepped up when guys were hurt. Those injuries allowed other guys to get a lot of valuable playing time.”

On the field, Livengood said the keys on defense will be to control the Wildcats’ running game and not to give up the big pass play. Offensively, Livengood wants to establish his running game early and often. He also wants to be able to throw the ball on his terms and not be forced to be one-dimensional.

Anyone who has seen St. Paul play knows the Flyers are anything but one-dimensional.

Schweiterman leads the team with 747 passing yards and 11 touchdowns. The Flyers have gained 3,205 yards on the ground, led by Griffin who has 1,232 yards and 22 touchdowns. Dan Tracht (27 receptions, 476 yards, 6 touchdowns), and Brian Roberts (13 recepetions, 256 yards, 3 touchdowns) are the team's top pass catchers.

After he returned from injury, Schweiterman said it took time to get his rhythm back at quarterback, but he says that is no longer an issue.

“I think our team was a little less confident heading into the playoffs this season because Brian and I missed so much time,” Schweiterman said. “Our rhythm and confidence continued to grow game-by-game and I think we felt a lot better after the Monroeville game.”

Schweiterman said in order for the team to be successful, they will have to control the line of scrimmage.

“We’re going to be undersized up front, but we have to anchor down the line and play our game,” Schweiterman said. “If we take care of the ball I think we’ll have a good chance to win.”

Mogadore, who is making its 23rd playoff appearance, comes into the game on a hot streak of its own.

After they got hammered by the Woodridge Bulldogs 52-7 in Week 6, the Wildcats have won five in a row by a combined score of 181-48.

On Nov. 7, the Wildcats used a couple of big plays to defeat Warren JFK 28-7, at Mogadore Wildcat Stadium.

The Wildcats used a fake punt to set up their first score and never looked back. Quarterback Drew Babbitt connected with Landon Trainer on a 23-yard touchdown and Matt Traugh on a 63-yard pass on another drive.

As a team Mogadore allows just 12 points a game, while they score 31 points a game.

Offensively, the Wildcats are led by the running combination of Jake McAvinew (1,082 yards, 12 touchdowns) and Kodey Chance (726 yards, 11 touchdowns). Babbitt leads the team with 1,222 passing yards with 17 touchdowns, while Traugh (30 receptions, 601 yards, 11 touchdowns) is the team’s leading receiver.

Coach Matt Adorni, who is in his sixth season, said the loss to Woodridge was a blessing in disguise.

“Sometimes losses aren’t bad,” Adorni said. “We played bad, we coached bad and we lost to a team that was hungrier than us.

“When you’re on a roll for a long time you don’t see any flaws until you lose. Our guys learned from the loss, regrouped and are playing well right now.”

Adorni said he decided to change the formation of the offense and run more shotgun sets to gets some energy into the team.

“We don’t really run a lot of different play out of it, but it gives the defense different looks,” Adorni said.

Adorni added that his team will have to be very creative in their formation to beat a well-coached Flyers’ team.

“We are going to have to mix it up on offense and try to confuse them,” Adorni said. “I think it’s going to be a chess match early on.

“We have to try to slow down their offense, and not give up the big plays because they can score at anytime.”

Win or lose, Adorni thinks the game will be a close, hard fought game.

“These are two really good programs and both teams have a lot of respect for each other,” Adorni said. “We feel confident and it’s going to be fun to see what we can do against them.”

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.