photo by: Kim North

Barnesville quarterback Cole Francis looks for an open receiver during last week’s 34-0 rout of Portsmouth in the opening round of the Ohio Division V, Region 19 playoffs. The Shamrocks trek to Wheelersburg Friday night in a regional semifinal contest.

WHEELERSBURG – Barnesville will try and get a Pirate off its back Friday night. No, the Shamrocks aren’t sailing the Seven Seas but they are playing in the Ohio Division V, Region 19 semifinals.

Barnesville (9-2), the No. 4 seed, will gas up the bus for the nearly 4-hour trek to the northern banks of the Ohio River in Scioto County to meet top-seeded Wheelersburg (11-0) on the artificial surface at Ed Miller Stadium.

“I saw some snow flurries Monday night. It’s a good thing if you are still practicing and playing when the snow starts to fly,” Barnesville head coach Blake Allen said. “It means things are going well. We’re excited about it.

“When you get to this point – we are one of the final 16 Division V teams in the state – everyone is good. Wheelersburg is a good team,” Allen pointed out. “They have an established program. We’ve played them three times the last three seasons, two at our place and once at a neutral site. The only difference this year is that we have to go to their place. It’s an opportunity to take a long bus ride, but we are excited for the challenge.

“Even though it will be a change of scenery, we know them and their program really well,” Allen continued. “We’ve told the kids it’s a new year. We’re a new team. They’re a new team.”

After falling to the Pirates in the second round at Barnesville in 2022, the Shamrocks advanced to the regional semifinals a year later only to lose to the Pirates at Hamilton Township High School in suburban Columbus. Last year, Wheelersburg stunned the hosts in the opening round.

The Shamrocks will be making their 13th playoff appearance. They are 13-12 all-time, with three of those losses coming to the Pirates in each of the past three seasons. Meanwhile, Wheelersburg is in the postseason for the 37th time after compiling its 10th unbeaten regular season. It is 54-34 all-time in the playoffs, winning a state title in 2017. They also won a state title in 1989.

“Offensively, they’re the same type of team. They like to play smash-mouth football,” Allen noted. “Defensively, they’ve switched from an odd-man front to an even-man front, but they are still very physical, very sound fundamentally, a lot of speed and a lot of athletes. They don’t really have any underclassmen playing, it’s mostly juniors and seniors. A lot of their seniors played against us two years ago in the regionals at Hamilton Township.

“They are undefeated and have beaten a lot of good teams. We know what we are up against and we’re very excited.”

Barnesville, which had a first-round bye, blanked No. 5 Portsmouth 34-0 last week on the artificial surface at Shamrock Stadium, while Wheelersburg pounded No. 9 Morgan, 43-3.

When asked if a win Friday would take away some of the sting from the last three seasons, Allen replied, “This isn’t last year. This isn’t two years ago, it isn’t three years ago. I know our guys have that as extra motivation, but we’re really trying to get them to focus on this year. A lot of our guys didn’t play in this game last year except for on special teams, so I think it would mean a lot to the last three senior classes we’ve had to know that they helped get us to this point.

“It really doesn’t matter who we are playing, a win in the regional semifinals is a big deal,” he stressed. “It’s our fourth time in six years in this spot. I think getting this far is the norm now, it’s what we expect, but now it’s time to take it to that next step.”

Barnesville’s offense is led by tailback Trey Toliver. The 5-10, 210-pound junior became the program’s all-time leading rusher last week, surpassing Matt Bettinazzi, who graduated in 2000. Toliver has 1,461 yards and 26 touchdowns this season, giving him nearly 3,200 for his career.

“I’ve run out of words to describe him,” Allen said of Toliver. “For as good as he is on the field, he’s a great teammate, has a great attitude and is one of our hardest workers.”

Barnesville had to break in a new quarterback in replacing three-year starter Casey Carpenter, but Cole Francis has stepped up and performed quite well. The 6-0, 160-pound junior has passed for 1,304 yards and 11 touchdowns on 75 of 126 (59.5 percent). He has been intercepted nine times.

“Cole has been outstanding. We knew he was capable of stepping in, but the most proud I am of him is the way he manages the game,” Allen said. “He has taken command of the huddle. We really pride ourselves in not committing pre-snap penalties and he has done a great job of making sure we’re on schedule.

“He’s also thrown the ball very well. A lot of teams, especially in the second half of the season, have tried to stop our run game and he has stepped up and made some big plays through the air.”

When the Shamrocks want to run a little from the quarterback position, enter sophomore Evan Wells. The 6-1, 155-pounder has collected 420 yards on 37 carries (an average of 11.4 per carry) and reached the end zone five times.

“We knew he had the potential. He is probably the fastest kid on the team, but being a sophomore we wanted to try and get him comfortable at first,” Allen recalled. “Around week 5 or 6 we could see his confidence rise and he knew what we expected from him. He’s definitely a weapon.”

Also in the backfield are seniors Koby Jones (5-9, 205) and Hines Ford (6-0, 185), both of whom also excel on the defensive side of the ball, as well. Jones had run for 635 yards and 10 touchdowns on 56 carries, an average of 11.3 per tote. He is also an excellent blocker. Ford has carried 18 times for 155 yards and five TDs.

“Koby is a really smart player. He’s a team player,” Allen stressed. “He could probably start and be the best running back on a lot of teams in the area, but that says a lot about him. He is more than happy to block for Trey and he is a key for us on the defensive line.”

Another area where graduation hit hard was wide receiver. However, the junior tandem of Joel Detling and Phoenix Graham have had fine seasons.

“Colt Carpenter had a great sophomore season for us but he’s been dealing with some injuries this year, so Phoenix (Graham) and Joel (Detling) have really stepped up,” Allen noted. “Jack Anderson is another guy that has stepped in and done a good job.”

Carpenter leads the team with 16 catches for 269 yards. Graham is the third leading receiver with 12 receptions for 286 yards and three touchdowns. Detling has caught eight passes for 166 yards and a TD. Toliver, meanwhile, is second on the team with 15 catches for 293 yards and two TDs.

The Shamrocks are averaging a shade under 40 points an outing at 38.9, with a season low of 14. They have scored at least 34 points in all nine of the victories.

“This is the culture that we envisioned for this program … a lot of guys stepping up and doing their roles,” Allen said.

Of course, the offense always starts with the guys in the trenches. The Shamrocks had to replace more than half of the offensive line but have done so without a beat.

Those linemen include junior Christien Hannahs (5-11, 225) at center; senior Dillon Lucas (5-9, 275) at right guard; senior Gavin Morris (6-2, 280) at right tackle; junior Braxton Byers (6-5, 285) at left guard; and senior Mac Cacioppo (6-2, 2550 at left tackle. The tight end is senior Logan Craker (5-10, 180).

Defensively, the Shamrocks are allowing 10.5 points a contest, with 59 of those coming in losses to West Virginia powers George Washington (17) and Independence (42). They have recorded four shutouts including back-to-back 34-0 whitewashings in their last two games.

Ford is the leader of the defense from his inside linebacker spot and the top tackler in Barnesville history. He has charted more than 130 tackles this season.

“He’s fun to watch. When we break it down we sometimes get caught up in just watching him and how hard he plays,” Allen said. “What makes him so special is his instinct for the ball and he has the kind of impact that you can’t coach. He’s very coachable and follows the gameplan.”

Fellow inside linebacker Craker is second on the team with 105 total tackles. Toliver and Graham are the outside linebackers.

The secondary had several question marks coming in, one not being Francis at a corner. He has a team-leading four interceptions. Anderson is the other corner with Detling at strong safety in the 4-4-3 alignment.

“Several areas got exposed during the Independence game, but we’ve cleaned them up and have shut down two pretty good offenses the last two games,” Allen added.

The defensive line has some of the same names as the offensive front, but there are some different characters.

“Some of the same kids, but there are guys like Kaiden Berry and Eric Wilson that do their job and that allows Hines and Logan to make all the tackles that they do,” Allen said of his starting defensive tackles. They are the unsung heroes. They are unselfish and take on the double teams.”

Berry is a mammoth 6-4, 340-pound junior while Wilson is a 6-2, 310-pound senior. Morris also rotates in.

The ends are Jones and Hannahs.

As far as special teams goes, Barnesville’s has been special. Junior Luis Garcia has had an excellent first season of American football. The foreign exchange student from Madrid, Spain, has kicked 40 extra-points this year.

Wheelersburg averages 38 points a game and has scored 50-plus on three occasions, while also scoring at least 40 three other times. The Pirates have given up 80 points (7.3), with only two teams – Ironton (15) and Portsmouth West (12) – reaching double digits. However, they only have one shutout. Their opponents have a combined won-loss mark of 57-61.

Kickoff is set for 7 o’clock with the winner advancing to the Region 19 championship game against the winner of No. 2 Gahanna Academy and No. 3 Nelsonville-York.