LIBERTY CENTER, Ohio — The most lopsided score in northwest Ohio on Friday night belonged to its most dominant small-school team. Liberty Center routed Columbus Grove 51-6 on Friday night, November 13, in an OHSAA Division VI, Region 22 semifinal at Liberty Center, according to the statewide scoreboard compiled by Joe Eitel, with The Columbus Dispatch’s statewide scoreboard confirming the same 51-6 final.
The matchup paired the region’s top seed against its No. 4 seed, and the records said it should have been closer: Liberty Center entered 11-0 and Columbus Grove 10-1, according to the OHSAA’s regional semifinal pairings. It was not closer. The Tigers controlled the night from the start and turned a meeting of one-loss-or-better teams into a runaway.
The win moves Liberty Center to 12-0 and into the program’s latest regional final. The Tigers are one of Division VI’s traditional powers, in the company of Kirtland and South Range, according to Sports Illustrated’s playoff preview — and both of those programs also advanced Friday, Kirtland beating Hillsdale 36-27 and South Range routing United 56-7, according to the Eitel scoreboard.
Columbus Grove’s season ends at 10-2. The Bulldogs had reached the semifinal with a 22-0 shutout of Patrick Henry in the quarterfinals, according to the Northwest Conference’s bracket page,. Friday, the gap between the region’s No. 1 seed and everyone else was on full display.
The other Region 22 semifinal went to overtime: Carey edged Delta 24-18 in one extra period, according to the Eitel and Dispatch scoreboards. Carey had beaten Lima Central Catholic 35-13 in the quarterfinals, according to the Northwest Conference bracket page.
That sets up a regional final between the region’s two hottest teams: Liberty Center’s unbeaten Tigers and a Carey team that has now won a shutout-style quarterfinal and an overtime semifinal in consecutive weeks.
Liberty Center has made deep November runs its habit, and a 45-point win in a regional semifinal — against a 10-win team — is the kind of statement that travels into championship week, whatever the scouting reports said beforehand.
What happens next: Liberty Center (12-0) meets Carey in the Division VI, Region 22 final on Friday, November 20, at a site the OHSAA announces Sunday, November 15. The winner advances to the state semifinals on November 27.