Urbana flipped the rematch Friday night, Nov. 13, beating Kenton Ridge 27-20 at home in an Ohio High School Athletic Association Division IV, Region 16 semifinal. The final score is listed in the Mansfield News Journal’s statewide regional-semifinal list and The Columbus Dispatch’s third-round scoreboard.
The Hillclimbers, the region’s No. 5 seed, entered the night 9-3, and Kenton Ridge, the No. 9 seed, entered 10-2, according to the OHSAA’s regional-semifinal pairings. Five weeks earlier the same matchup had gone the other way: Kenton Ridge beat Urbana 21-14 on Oct. 9 during the regular season, according to CSWAFF Media’s semifinal preview, The Slate.
Both programs arrived at Friday night off statement wins in the quarterfinals. Kenton Ridge pulled one of the biggest upsets of the second round, knocking off the region’s No. 1 seed, Wyoming, 28-21, a result reported by Stateline Sports Network and CSWAFF Media. Urbana earned its semifinal spot with a 45-38 victory over North College Hill, according to CSWAFF Media’s preview.
The matchup also guaranteed, before a snap was played, that a Central Buckeye Conference program would reach the Region 16 championship game, CSWAFF Media noted in its preview. Both Kenton Ridge, from Springfield, and Urbana play in the CBC, and Friday’s semifinal paired them with a regional-final berth on the line.
Friday’s result reversed the October meeting by almost the same margin. Where Kenton Ridge’s regular-season win was by seven points, 21-14, Urbana’s playoff win was by seven points, 27-20 — the Hillclimbers answering the Cougars’ earlier win on the same field with the season on the line.
The sources used for this story published no individual scoring plays or player statistics for the semifinal itself, so none are reported here. What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: the final score, 27-20, is confirmed by two statewide lists; the OHSAA’s neutral-site announcement for the regional finals is still to come on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Urbana improves to 10-3 with the win. Kenton Ridge finishes its season 10-3, a campaign that included the upset of the region’s top seed and a 10-win year for the Cougars.
For Urbana, the win carries a program that entered the bracket as the No. 5 seed into the regional championship game — one win from the state semifinals, and a step past the team that beat it in October.
Kenton Ridge’s seniors close a season defined by the Wyoming upset, one of the signature results of this year’s second round anywhere in the state. The Cougars’ run ended where it started the playoffs’ third week: on the road, in a one-score game.
Urbana’s opponent next week is already set. London blanked Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy 14-0 in the other Region 16 semifinal on Friday, and The Columbus Dispatch’s third-round takeaways list London-Urbana as the Region 16 final pairing. Read our coverage of London’s shutout win over CHCA for a look at the Hillclimbers’ next opponent. It is the only earlier NewsForce247 article that directly bears on this matchup, so it is the only related-coverage link in this story.
London will be a formidable final opponent. As NewsForce247 reported earlier today, the Red Raiders reached the final by blanking Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy 14-0 on Friday — London’s fourth shutout of the season behind a defense that entered the semifinal allowing just over seven points a game, with a ground-based offense that piled up nearly 3,000 rushing yards in the regular season and quarterfinals. Urbana’s offense, which put 45 on North College Hill and 27 on Kenton Ridge in consecutive playoff weeks, will be tested in a way it has not been this postseason.
The timeline from here is set by the OHSAA’s published bracket format: regional finals on Friday, Nov. 20 at neutral sites, state semifinals on Friday, Nov. 27, and the seven state championship games Dec. 3-5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, according to the OHSAA’s regional-semifinal pairings release. Urbana is two wins from Canton.
What happens next: Urbana meets London in the Division IV, Region 16 final on Friday, Nov. 20, at a neutral site the OHSAA will announce on Sunday, Nov. 15. The winner advances to the state semifinals on Nov. 27.