CELINA, Ohio — The rematch was not close the second time around. Fourth-seeded Wapakoneta stunned top-seeded Celina 28-7 on Friday night, November 13, in an OHSAA Division III, Region 10 semifinal at Celina, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s statewide scoreboard. High School On SI’s statewide scoreboard confirmed the same 28-7 final, and the Mansfield News Journal’s report on the other Region 10 semifinal also recorded Wapakoneta’s 28-7 win.
The result reverses one of the closest games of the early season. Celina beat Wapakoneta 7-6 back in Week 2, according to Black Swamp Football’s regional semifinal preview, and the computer models called Friday’s rematch a coin flip. Instead, the Redskins won by three touchdowns on the top seed’s field.
Wapakoneta entered the night 8-3 as the region’s No. 4 seed, and Celina entered 10-1 as the No. 1 seed, according to High School On SI’s playoff bracket. By the end of the night, the region’s bracket had been turned over: the top seed was out, beaten at home by three touchdowns, and the final will be played between the two teams still standing from Friday’s semifinals.
Celina’s season ends at 10-2. The Bulldogs had carried the region’s top seed and a home field through three rounds, but the offense that won ten games could manage only one touchdown against a Wapakoneta defense playing its best game of the season at exactly the right time.
In the other Region 10 semifinal, Ontario beat St. Marys Memorial 38-21 behind big plays, the Mansfield News Journal reported. Ontario quarterback Sean Tanner needed only five completions to throw for 189 yards — an average of 37.8 yards per completion — in that win, the News Journal reported, and St. Marys finished its season at 9-4.
That sets up an all-road-warrior regional final. Ontario (11-1) is making its second regional final appearance in three years, according to the Mansfield News Journal, and Wapakoneta (9-3) arrives with the confidence of a team that just beat the region’s top seed by 21 points.
For the Western Buckeye League, Friday was a split decision: Celina and St. Marys, two of the league’s playoff standards, both went out on the same night, and the league’s regional-final hopes now ride with Wapakoneta alone.
What happens next: Wapakoneta (9-3) faces Ontario (11-1) in the Division III, Region 10 final on Friday, November 20, at a site to be announced. The winner advances to the state semifinals on November 27.