Something should feel eerily familiar to the Northwood Rangers' football team.

This time last year, the Rangers suffered a 41-14 Division V opening-round playoff loss at Northwest Ohio Athletic League champion Patrick Henry. The Patriots were 10-0 and the top seed in Region 18, while Northwood was 7-3 and the No. 8 seed in the region.

Northwood players, led by freshman Mike Ruiz (21), junior Fletcher Isaacs (31), and junior Collin Molnar, enter the field prior to game time. (Press photo by Don Thompson//picasaweb. google.com/donrachael)

On Saturday, the eighth-seeded Rangers (7-3) faced another undefeated and top-seeded NWOAL champion, only this time the opponent is fourth-ranked Archbold.

“I guess we just like picking up the NWOAL champs,” Northwood coach Ken James said. “It's a different team, obviously, and we're a little different team this year, too.”

The Rangers and Blue Streaks played Saturday at Blue Streak Stadium.

The home team posed a formidable task for visiting Northwood, which relinquished its stranglehold on the Toledo Area Athletic Conference championship this season. The Rangers had won three straight TAAC titles, but a 20-16 home loss to Toledo Christian on Oct. 22 effectively ended Northwood's reign.

Toledo Christian (8-2) won the conference title outright and reached the playoffs (D-VI) for the first time in school history. Northwood, meanwhile, is making its sixth playoff appearance and is 1-5 all-time in postseason play. Its only playoff win came in 2003, a 20-13 win over Edgerton in D-VI.

James said qualifying for the playoffs this year took some of the sting off not repeating as TAAC champs.

“It's a chance to get new life and play another week,” he said. “We're playing a lot of young kids, sophomores and juniors. We've had some seniors injured. Last week (a 44-0 win over Cardinal Stritch) we started three seniors on offense and three on defense. We have some good seniors, but those guys have been in and out of the lineup. We're a little younger than we have been at this stage.”

Archbold, which claimed its first NWOAL title in 20 years, played a difficult schedule that included one D-III team (Bryan) and three D-IV teams (Evergreen, Swanton and Wauseon). The Blue Streaks are averaging 42 points a game and allowing just 10.6 points a game.

Northwood sophomore Dustin Fullenlove (33) and freshman Anthony Prothero (30) celebrate a big play.(Press photo by Don Thompson/picasaweb. google.com/donrachael)

Northwood senior quarterback Erik Russell looks to pass as sophomore offensive guard John Segura (57) blocks. (Press photo by Don Thompson//picasaweb.google.com/donrachael)

“Our kids are excited about playing,” James said. “It's a daunting task. Archbold is very good and very explosive on offense, but we're pretty excited about that challenge.”

Archbold, which is making its 10th playoff appearance, went 14-0 and captured the D-V state title in 1988 and took second in D-IV in 1982. This year's team runs a spread offense that features five wide receivers and no running backs on most formations.

“Their quarterback (Garrett Morton) is their running back,” James said. “Their defense is a 4-3 with man coverage, so they're pretty similar to us in how they line up. They've got some kids who can run, but we're a little bit bigger up front overall. It's going to be important for us to possess the ball so our defense isn't on the field all the time.”

James, who is 132-124 in his 25th season, said a combination of injuries and inexperience were key factors in the Rangers' three losses this season - to Hopewell-Loudon (18-12), Delta (15-7) and Toledo Christian.

“We lost both of our tackles on offense,” James said, “and right now we have four sophomores starting on the offensive line. We tried to get continuity with the older running backs, but we had trouble meshing and finding what we do well. The key this week is to play well on offense. Our defense has played well all year. We have an extra day of practice this week, so we're going to spend some extra time trying to get our offense in a groove.”

The Rangers have seven starters on both offense and defense who played in last year's playoff loss to Patrick Henry. Northwood has never faced Archbold in James' 25 years on the sideline, but the veteran coach knows the type of program his team is up against on Saturday.

“The NWOAL is a tougher league, with more teams and bigger schools,” he said. “The TAAC is in its infancy in terms of football and its existence. The NWOAL is one of the oldest leagues in the state, and a lot of their teams have won state titles. They have better numbers on most of their teams and better football tradition.

“Top to bottom, that league is a lot deeper than ours, but we feel we can compete with them on any given night. If you go 10-0 in that league, you're not doing that by accident. You have to be pretty good.”

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