Eagles hit the road for second-round tilt with Norwayne

FINDLAY – Creston Norwayne has already slipped past Liberty-Benton once this season.Scott Garlock and the Eagles are determined not to let the Bobcats do it again.Seven games into the 2025 season, Norwayne was sitting eighth in the Division V, Region 18 computer rankings that determine playoff seeding and pairings. After beating a 5-2 Dalton team in Week 8 and a 7-1 Smithville team in Week 9, the Bobcats had climbed to fifth.Norwayne's biggest jump came after a Week 10 win over a 9-0 Hillsdale team. That huge win helped the Bobcats end up with 20.7747 points and leapfrog Liberty-Benton in the final Harbin rankings.In capping off a dominating regular season, Liberty-Benton had been winning as well, beating Leipsic (9-1), Arcadia (2-8) and Van Buren (6-4) in Weeks 8, 9, and 10. The Eagles would end up with 20.3500 points in the Harbin rankings, but slipped from fourth to fifth – 0.4247 points behind Norwayne – in the playoff rankings.L-B still kept a home game for the first round of the Region 18 playoffs and the Eagles delivered, beating Delta 49-13. Now L-B hits the road for Friday's second-round game at Norwayne, a 113-mile, almost two hour journey to the school located just southwest of Akron. It will be the longest road trip of any of the remaining Region 18 schools heading into a second-round game.Garlock was not worrying about mileage last Friday, though."We knew we'd be playing them (Norwayne) if we won," Garlock said after L-B built a 42-0 halftime lead and cruised past Delta."We're taking it one game at a time, and tonight we were just concentrating on Delta."Quarterback Connor Barbara triggers a balanced and efficient L-B offense that, through 11 games, has amassed 1,991 yards rushing, 1,981 passing and averaged 47.8 points a game.Barbara has completed 72.1 percent of his passes (109-151) for 1,744 yards and 25 touchdowns. The 6-0, 170-pound junior has also run for 603 yard and 14 TDs, including four in Friday's win over Delta. Zach Elchert leads L-B with 814 yards and 19 rushing TDs. The senior two-way standout, first-team all-BVC at running back and linebacker, was injured and carted off late in Friday's game, and his availability for this week's contest in unknown.Senior Seth Elchert leads L-B's receiving corps with 53 receptions for 970 yards and 17 TDs. With L-B up 14-0 in the first quarter against Delta, Elchert displayed his athleticism on a fly pattern and had two steps on his defender. Barbara put the ball right in his hands, but he could not pull it in.Connor went back to Elchert on the very next play, and the University of Toledo signee grabbd the pass and turned into a 24-yard gain that set up Barbara's third TD run of the game."He's such a competitor, such a good football player," Garlock said. "We knew he was going to make the next play."Liberty-Benton's offensive success – the Eagles have won all 11 of their games by least a 33-point margin of victory – sometimes overshadows a defense that has allowed just 61 points in 11 games.Linebacker Austin Collert (61 tackles, 15 tfl) and linemen CJ Barbara (60 tackles, 30 tfl), Will Granger (50 tackles, 18 tfl), and Grayson Wages (48 tackles, 13 tfl) lead L-B in tackles. Connor Barbara (5), Reid Irwin (2), Karson Griffin (2) and Seth Elchert (2) head up a secondary that picked off a BVC-leading 14 passes this season.L-B's defense will be challenged by a Norwayne team that mirrors the Eagles in many ways.Senior Jacob Bruner is also a dual threat at quarterback, throwing for 1,872 yards and 17 TDs while also running for 203 yards and five scores. Senior Carson Arnold (686 yards, 9 TD) and junior Chaz Maxwell (457 yards, 7 TDs) head up the Bobcats' backfield, with senior Ryder Ingold (55 recps., 949 yards, 12 TDs one of Bruner's favorite targets, along with juniors Braylon Arnold (23 recps., 246 yards) and Carter Miller (20, 241, 1 TD).Junior linebacker Cameron Hackworth leads the Norwayne defense with 15 tackles for loss and 99 total stops. Ingold (62 tackles, 6 tfl) and Miller (47 tackle) are also key players on defense, along with Matthew Troup (64 tackles, 5 tfl), Connor Kahl (78 tackles, 5 tfl) and Cade Leach (41 tackles).Friday's winner will face either unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Liberty-Center or Oak Harbor (9-2) in an upper bracket regional semifinal on Nov. 14.