Mayfield’s perfect season survived its toughest test yet on a cold, rainy Friday night. The No. 4 seed Wildcats built a 26-7 lead, watched No. 5 Wadsworth storm back within one score, and then closed the door for a 32-21 victory in a Division II, Region 5 regional quarterfinal at Mayfield. Mayfield improved to 11-0 — just the third 11-0 start in program history, according to OhioVarsity — while Wadsworth’s season ended at 9-3.
Mayfield set the tone early. Quarterback Dario D’Agostino connected with Ryan Eppich for a first-quarter touchdown, and C.J. Melaragno punched in a second-quarter rushing score for a 13-0 halftime lead, according to the game accounts published by OhioVarsity and Kee On Sports. The Wildcats’ defense authored the half’s biggest moment, turning Wadsworth away on a goal-line stand after a Jay’len King touchdown catch was wiped out by an offensive pass-interference penalty, Kee On Sports reported.
Wadsworth struck first after halftime — on the very first play. Quarterback Brysen Hall hit King for a 72-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 13-7, a play all three game accounts agreed on. Mayfield answered twice in the third quarter: Ben Koret scored on a 10-yard run, and after a Nick Barna interception, D’Agostino found Eppich for his second touchdown of the night and a 26-7 advantage, according to OhioVarsity.
Grady Spetz pushed the lead to 29-7 with a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, but Wadsworth was not finished. Hall threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Alex Porter, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s box score, the Grizzlies recovered an onside kick, and Hall found King again to make it 29-21 with about six minutes remaining, OhioVarsity reported. Suddenly, Mayfield’s unbeaten season was one possession from trouble.
Spetz delivered the breathing room, drilling a 33-yard field goal with about three minutes left, and Kingston Murchison’s second interception of the night near midfield sealed the win before Koret converted a first down to run out the clock, according to Kee On Sports. It was the finish Mayfield needed after what OhioVarsity described as the Wildcats’ biggest challenge of the season.
The individual numbers told the story of a heavyweight fight. Koret carried 27 times for 155 yards and a touchdown and Eppich caught four passes for 108 yards and two scores for Mayfield, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Hall, an All-Ohio quarterback according to OhioVarsity, finished 9-of-22 for 180 yards with three touchdowns but three costly interceptions for Wadsworth; King caught five passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns, and Braydan Todd led the Grizzlies on the ground with 60 yards on 12 carries, the Beacon Journal reported.
Mayfield’s defense was the difference. The Wildcats intercepted Hall three times — two by Murchison and one by Barna, according to Kee On Sports — pressured him into an uncharacteristic night, and produced the goal-line stand that kept Wadsworth scoreless through halftime. Against a 9-2 team with one of the area’s most productive quarterbacks, that opportunistic defense carried the night.
The win adds another chapter to a proud Mayfield postseason history. The Wildcats are making their 17th playoff appearance and own an 18-16 postseason record with state semifinal trips in 1984, 1998, 2007 and 2014, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s Week 13 matchups, citing fourseasonsfootball.com. Mayfield reached Friday’s quarterfinal on a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed, while Wadsworth had to beat North Royalton in the opening round just to get the shot.
Mayfield’s next test is the biggest one on the Region 5 board. Elsewhere in the region Friday, top-seeded Highland swarmed Brecksville 31-7 despite an injury to its quarterback, and Nordonia pulled away from Eastlake North 37-21 to keep its own run alive.
What happens next: Mayfield travels to No. 1 Highland (10-1) for a Region 5 semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. — the first-ever meeting between the two schools, according to fourseasonsfootball.com via the Akron Beacon Journal. The winner moves on to the Nov. 20 regional final at a neutral site, with the state semifinals on Nov. 27 and the state finals Dec. 3-5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, according to OhioVarsity.
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, CC BY-SA 4.0