Mansfield Senior vs Toledo Central Catholic: Breaking down the OHSAA regional semifinal game

CLYDE — It's the Tygers vs the Fighting Irish.

The most underrated team in all of Division III vs the No. 1 ranked team in Division III. The Mansfield Senior Tygers come in playing some motivated football while the Irish have been in cruise control all season long. Who will prevail? Check out this breakdown and decide for yourself.

High School Football: Mansfield Senior, Shelby put up unexplainable numbers during OHSAA regional quarterfinal wins

The Matchup

No. 4 Mansfield Senior (10-2) vs No. 1 Toldeo Central Catholic (12-0), 7 p.m. at Clyde High School's Robert J. Bishop Stadium

Mansfield Senior Tygers: Let's just run down some of the amazing things the Tygers did last week in their 55-21 win over Rocky River. First, 55 points in a program record for most points in a playoff game, next, 41 points in the first half has also never been done in the postseason by the Tygers. Their 21 points in the second quarter, 360 rushing yards, three 100-yard rushers and 517 total yards of offense are all program playoff records. And they did it all after having their final home game of the season taken away and seeing fans barred from attending the game all due to safety concerns. As good as the Tygers have played this season, it was fun to see them play their best game of the season in Week 12. Now, they get to return to Clyde to take on the No. 1 team in the state and the defending Division II state champions, but magical things happen when the Tygers play at Clyde. Anyone remember the 2019 season? Who could forget when Mansfield Senior beat Sandusky for the Division III regional championship at Robert J. Bishop Stadium? The Tygers will look to continue that magic on Friday night.

Toledo Central Catholic: The Fighting Irish got its first true test last week against Defiance as they pulled off a 41-26 win late in the game. In 12 games, TCC has scored 490 points for a 40.8 average and has never scored less than 28 points in a game this season. They have put up 28 twice and the rest have been 30-plus point performances with six 40-pointers and even a dominating 69-0 game over Toledo St Francis de Sales in Week 9. The Irish have six wins over teams with winning records including 8-3 Findlay, 7-4 Toledo Whitmer, 7-2 Detroit Catholic Central and 7-2 Warren De La Salle out of Michigan. TCC has now won 27 straight games with its last loss coming in Week 1 of last season to Lakewood St. Edward which went on to win the Division I state title that year.

Analysis: The Tygers always figure out a way to play inspired football and that is what makes them so great. Move the game away from Arlin Field and don't allow fans? Mansfield vs the World. Start the season with three of the toughest opponents in Ohio and still go 1-2? Mansfield vs the World. Start Ohio Cardinal Conference play against the defending league champs? Mansfield vs the World. Have to play the defending Division II state champs in the regional semifinal round? Mansfield vs the World. The Tygers will have to take that mentality into Friday night and play their most inspired football of all time. If they can come out and pop TCC in the mouth right away, that will set the tone for the rest of the night and put the TYs in position to play for their second regional championship in four years.

Key Players to Watch

Duke Reese, Mansfield Senior

Reese played the best game of his season on Friday night throwing for 157 yards on 12-of-13 passes and three touchdowns and while the yards didn't pile up through the air, he ran for 121 and two more scores accounting for five TDs and 278 yards of total offense. The kid played lights out at the perfect time. For his career, he now has 4,026 passing yards and 45 TDs through the air and is 5-2 as a starting quarterback in the playoffs. The Tygers will need Reese to be in prime form again on Friday night and if he is, there is no reason to believe the TYs won't be playing for a regional championship next week.

Marc Nave, Toledo Central Catholic

At 6-4, 310-pounds, Nave is an absolute monster on the offensive line at tackle. He is one of the best linemen in Ohio and in the nation's 2024 class. He has offers from Ohio State and Georgia on the table and will likely slide right into a D1 program's offensive line next season. He anchors a line that averages 293.75 pounds and goes 6-4, 6-3, 5-11 and 6-5.

Zyion Brown, Mansfield Senior

Brown had a massive game last week for the Tygers running for 124 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown as he led a three-headed rushing attack that saw a trio of 100-yard rushers. Brown has been waiting in the weeds for his time to break out and put up a game-changing performance and he did it at the perfect time against Rocky River. He was secure with the ball and ran with physicality and he will have to do that again on Friday night against a very good TCC team.

Marquan Braswell, Toledo Central Catholic

Arguably the best running back in all of Division III, Braswell finished the regular season with 1,296 yards on 176 carries with an astonishing 27 touchdowns. He averaged 17.6 carries per game, 129,6 yards a night and 2.7 touchdowns per contest against a very good schedule. The Tyger defense has to concentrate on rallying to the ball whenever Braswell gets first contact or he is going to break tackles and gain big yards. It helps he gets to run behind that massive offensive line.

Maurice Bradley II, Mansfield Senior

Bradley is going to be an X-factor on Friday night. With a massive offensive line for TCC, the Tygers are going to have to rely on athleticism and speed to make a difference on defense and that is where Bradley comes in. He had a sack and a tackle for loss last week against Rocky River and now has 13.5 sacks and 21.5 TFLs on the season. If Bradley can use his speed and athleticism to find gaps in the TCC offensive line, the Tygers will be in business. Forcing the Fighting Irish into long-distance situations will be huge for the Tyger defense and Bradley can be the guy to make that happen.

Michael Cannings, Toledo Central Catholic

The best defensive player for the Irish. At 6-2, 280 on the defensive line, he had 45 tackles, five sacks and 18 tackles for loss during the first 10 games. He isn't much of a sack artist, but he is a run-stopper which could be a huge storyline after the Tygers had three players run for 100 yards apiece last week.

Ja'ontay O'Bryant, Mansfield Senior

After an All-Ohio season as a sophomore, teams stopped throwing his way last year, but this year, he has had another breakout year with four interceptions, tops on the team. The Tygers were so good offensively last week that they only had two turnovers and really didn't need them to win the game, but this week will likely be a different story and if O'Bryant can come up with a huge pick, it could be the difference in the game.

Marvon Greenlee, Toledo Central Catholic

AS dynamic as they come in high school football. A cover corner, Greenlee had 53 tackles and two interceptions during the regular season and also recorded eight tackles for loss and six pass breakups so he just flies all over the field on every play. He also handles the kick and punt return duties and is a threat to break a big one every single time he touches the ball.

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield Senior vs Toledo Central Catholic: OHSAA Region 10 semifinal