NORWALK — St. Paul’s defense has been making opposing offenses miserable all season long.

Although undersized, the Flyers have allowed just 57 points through 12 games. In its last two playoff games, St. Paul has allowed seven points in its wins against Berlin Center Western Reserve and Mogadore.

On Saturday, the Flyers and their dominating defense take on Bucyrus Wynford at Ashland Community Stadium in the Division VI regional final.

The Flyers will be in their sixth consecutive regional final and look to get to the state semifinal for the sixth time in school history and the first time since 2006.

St. Paul (12-0) has defeated a couple of good teams in the past two weeks, but the Royals will be a tall task for the Flyers, literally.

The Royals (12-0) come into the game having scored 481 points, and have averaged 40 points per game in their two wins against Dalton and Bascom Hopewell-Loudon.

Wynford’s offense is led by 6-foot-4, 225 pound quarterback Tyler Brause, who is committed to the University of Kentucky.

Brause’s offensive numbers are very impressive.

He led the North Central Conference in passing with 1,513 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also led the Royals in rushing with 921 yards and scored 19 more TD’s.

Brause isn’t Wynford’s only weapon on offense. The Royals also have a couple of big receivers in 6-7 tight end Teven Eatmon, who also is committed to play at Kentucky, and 6-5 wide receiver Chris Brown (31 receptions, 588 yards, 7 TD’s).

The task to stop this high-powered offense will be a daunting one, but the Flyers’ defensive unit is more than capable.

Not only has St. Paul allowed just 4.8 points a game, they have allowed just 124 yards of total offense a game.

The Flyers have allowed just eight total touchdowns and seven of those came on the ground. St. Paul’s pass defense has given up one touchdown and picked off 14 passes, and opposing quarterbacks are completing just 34 percent of their passes (56 of 165).

One of reasons St. Paul’s pass defense has been so successful has been because the play of senior defensive back Justin Wilde. Wilde has 30 tackles and leads the team in interceptions (5) and passes defended (12).

Standing at just 5-6, Wilde knows he has his work cut out for him against the Royals.

“They have very fast receivers, and they are big,” Wilde said. “I’ll have to rely on my athletic ability to battle those guys.”

Wilde said it doesn’t bother him that he’s at a height disadvantage because that has been the case all season.

“Before the season started we knew we were undersized on defense,” Wilde said. “The coaches remind of that every week when we watch film, but we use that as motivation. We know we have to use our team speed to our advantage and continue to play the way we have to this point.”

The Flyers have six shutouts this season and Wilde said the team expects to get one every time they take the field.

“We are a pretty confident unit,” Wilde said. “We played a really good team last week and we know what Wynford is capable, but we are up for the challenge.”

Junior middle linebacker Adam Smith will be one of the keys to stop the Royals’ rushing attack.

Smith was second on the team with 93 tackles, and was second on the team with eight sacks. He also had seven tackles for losses and recovered two fumbles.

Smith, who is listed at 5-10, 156 pounds, said the team is not intimidated by Wynford’s size.

“We take the field with the same mind set every week, no matter who we play,” Smith said. “No matter what the score is, we go 100 percent on every down. We work hard on every play and we push ourselves to be better all the time.”

Smith said the mentality of wanting to get shutouts every week comes from the coaching staff.

“They have a level of expectations for us,” Smith said. “We know we’re undersized, but we have never used that as an excuse. The guys believe in the system and our coaches do a great job of preparing us every week.”

Despite giving up about 70 pounds to Brause, Smith can’t wait to go toe-to-toe with the Royals’ quarterback.

“He’s a really good quarterback,” Smith said. “He is going to a Division I school and we haven’t faced anyone like him. We have to get pressure on him and make him uncomfortable.”

And when it comes to tackling Brause …

“Just do the fundamentals. Hit him low and make sure to wrap him up.”

Coach John Livengood understands what his team faces and knows this game will be tougher than their last two.

Livengood said the Royals like to run a lot of quarterback feature plays out of the spread formation.

The Flyers will have to try to contain Brause in the pocket if they want to come away with a win.

“They are a smart football team and they are very balanced,” Livengood said. “We understand he’s not the only threat out there, but he’s a big part of what they do.

“The big thing we have to do is not allow him to break the pocket. He’s good at breaking tackles, so we have to make sure we stay disciplined and keep him from making the big play.”

With a state appearance on the line, Livengood knows how important the win would be for his players and the school.

“It definitely would be a big accomplishment,” Livengood said. “It’s in the back of our minds, but right now we’re focused on the task at hand and that’s Wynford.”