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Best Bets: Week 13 – Ohio

Two-plus weeks into the playoff season, we’re down to five teams in the Cincinnati area and four in Dayton.

Here are the Best Bets for the state quarterfinals of the playoffs in southwestern Ohio (NOTE: St. Xavier-Sycamore and La Salle-Miamisburg will be covered more in depth later this week):

Division I, Region 3

Wayne RB Fred Pitts (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

Wayne RB Fred Pitts (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

No. 1 Wayne (11-0-1) vs. No. 3 Pickerington Central (11-1), at London, Friday, 7:30 p.m. – Wayne has continued its regular season dominance in the playoffs, outscoring its opponents, 104-17. Rashad McKee has completed 71.2 percent of his passes this season, going 141-for-198 for 2,098 yards and 23 touchdowns. Fred Pitts leads the Warriors in rushing with 1,166 yards and 18 TDs. Pickerington Central has lost just one game this season, and that was to Upper Arlington in overtime. The Tigers have scored at least 35 points in four consecutive games. The Tigers’ only area opponent was Elder, and they won that game, 20-14.

Division III, Region 12

No. 4 St. Marys (11-1) vs. No. 7 Trotwood-Madison (10-2), at Piqua, Saturday, 7 p.m. – St. Marys has been one of the great turnaround teams in the state, going from 0-10 in 2013 to 5-5 in 2014 before posting a winning 6-4 record last year and now winning 11 of 12 this season. The Roughriders posted three straight shutouts at one point and have scored 97 points in their two playoff wins. Trotwood-Madison eked into the playoffs as a seven seed but has ousted the two and three seeds in Region 12 to advance to this round. Raveion Hargrave has rushed for 329 yards in those two postseason wins and has 1,186 ground yards for the season.

Division IV, Region 16

No. 1 Wyoming (12-0) vs. No. 3 Kettering Alter (12-0), at Monroe, Friday, 7:30 p.m. – Region 16’s championship games comes down to a pair of unbeaten teams. Wyoming QB Andrew Marty continues to pile up the stats, as he has now thrown for 2,961 yards and 42 touchdowns, with 23 coming in his last five games. Jake Edmonds and Garyn Prater both have over 1,000 receiving yards. The Cowboys have five shutouts this season, including a string of four straight, and are allowing 6.8 points per game. Alter is scoring an average of 55.4 points, and the Knights have done it with three key running backs. Holden Rushing, Ryan Markoff and John Bivens III all gained over 600 ground yards during the regular season.

Division V, Region 20

No. 1 CHCA (12-0) vs. No. 2 Coldwater (11-1) at Dayton Northmont, Saturday, 7 p.m. – The top two seeds play for the Region 20 title. CHCA, the last team standing in the MVC, averages 43.4 points per game. Kesean Gamble is having a huge senior year running the ball, gaining 1,586 yards and 29 touchdowns, and he has eclipsed the 100-yard mark in both playoff games. Coldwater barely got past Greeneview last week, winning 27-24 after a 47-13 win in its postseason opener. The Cavaliers have exceled in close games this season, going 4-0 in games decided by seven points or fewer.

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