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Lakers prove their worth

ANDOVER — When the final whistle blew last Saturday night, the Pymatuning Valley Lakers knew they had essentially erased an asterisk.

Their 18-8 home win over Jeromesville Hillsdale in the Division VI, Region 21 playoffs marked the program’s first forage into the postseason.

Thanks to the reformation of the OHSAA postseason due to COVID-19, the year 2020 may have an asterisk placed next to football playoff participants in the state data base. Every eligible team wishing to compete was allowed entry — regardless of its record or amount of points accumulated in the Harbin computer ratings.

“We finished pretty well last year and went 5-5, and we only lost two seniors, so we figured we’d have a chance to get in the playoffs this year anyway,” said senior defensive tackle Victor Verba. “To go out and win our first playoff game proves we are worthy.”

The Lakers (7-0) will play at Mogadore (5-1) in a regional quarterfinal on Saturday. Both had first-round byes and Mogadore beat Columbia 28-7 last Saturday.

“We earned the fifth seed, so in our minds we were a legitimate playoff team going into last week, even though everyone made the playoffs,” said senior Jonah Wilkerson, a receiver, running back and linebacker. “Winning last week really shows that we deserved it.”

Three weeks ago when coaches voted on seeding, Mogadore was fourth and the Lakers were fifth. If the playoffs began this week like any regular season, Pymatuning Valley would be the fourth seed and Mogadore would be the fifth seed based on computer ratings. If that were the case, the Lakers would be playing at home instead of on the Wildcats’ artificial surface.

Coach Neal Croston said his troops won’t be uncomfortable on turf.

“We played (Ashtabula) St. John up at Spire in the second week, and we’ve played up there a few times in the past years, so it shouldn’t be a problem. While it would be nice to play at home, it doesn’t matter. We just want to play. We’re happy to still be playing and grateful we played at all the way this season unfolded.”

Mogadore has a rich playoff tradition, but the Lakers said they don’t mind being a perceived underdog.

“People doubted us all year,” Wilkerson said. “People around the county didn’t know what to think of us. But we worked our tails off and got it done. Sure, we have a chip on our shoulders. We want to prove people wrong and earn some respect.”

Even in this strangest of seasons, the Andover community has rallied behind its Lakers.

While only a selected few hundred people were allowed to enter the facility, the secondary fence encasing the facility was a beehive of activity last week, as fans watched from longer distance.

“Oh my goodness, you should’ve seen the parking lot out there,” Wilkerson said. “It was insane. People were tailgating. They parked their trucks outside and watched from the tailgates. There were even some bonfires in the field over there. People were cooking outdoors and there were corn-hole games. This is a small community, but people were lined up all around the outer fence watching and blowing their horns after we made good plays.

“It stinks that it’s been such a crazy good year and we can’t even fill the arena and have them on top of us. But we still have community support and a lot of people were watching on live stream. The community has been great. It’s a shame really, that this season of all seasons, how big this could’ve been.”

Croston said over 600 families watched the game online.

“It truly felt like college game last week,” Croston said. “Our principal was running up and down in front of the stands getting everyone pumped up in the final minutes. What we really miss this year are the pep rallies, though.”

The Lakers’ story would be akin to the movie Hoosiers — a small town and its team making history — but its citizens being banned from watching in person.

Buoyed by a big offensive line with five starters totaling 1,200-plus pounds, the Lakers have averaged 8.7 yards per carry. Senior running back Dillion Knowles (48 carries, 471 yards) leads the way, followed by Wilkerson (40-359), senior quarterback Tyler Bean (41-343) and junior Devin Ray (27-201).

Bean has completed 42 of 61 passes for 826 yards with 14 touchdowns and one interception. Wilkerson, an all-state receiver last season, has 16 catches for 233 yards. Senior Mason Inman (9-143) and juniors Garrett Smith (5-150) and Andrew Root (3-166) are also in a group of eight players to catch a pass.

Knowles has 12 touchdowns and 84 points and Wilkerson has nine TDs and 68 points for the Lakers, who average 43.4 points per game.

“We’ve got big linemen, so that’s where it starts, and we like to play smash-mouth football with some play-action,” Croston said. “But we do have the ability to spread it out. We’ve got an athletic quarterback in Tyler Bean, two or three good running backs, and on the outside we have some athletic receivers. We have balance with no real weak spots.”

PV has allowed just 22 points all season, or 3.1 per contest.

“Defensively, it starts up front, too,” Croston said. “Victor Verba draws double- and triple-teams or he’s making plays. His work allows our good inside linebackers, Devin (Sharpe) and Jonah to make plays. We can cover passes pretty well with our DBs, led by Tyler and Mason Inman.”

Inman leads the team in tackles with 48 and is followed by linebackers Ray (39), Jimmy Thomas (33), Wilkerson (31) and Knowles (25), with Bean making 31 at cornerback

Thomas (7), Bean (4) and Ray (3) lead the unit in tackles for loss, with Verba and Bean both logging three sacks. Inman has five interceptions and Root has two.

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