The playoffs are in its second week in Ohio and begin this week in?West Virginia as four local teams continue to watch film and put on the pads.

Steubenville Big Red will take on Salem High School at 7:30 p.m. Friday at New Philadelphia High School.

It will pit the Nos. 1 and 5 seeds in the Division III, Region 13 playoffs.

Big Red defeated Marlington, 36-28, while the Quakers needed overtime to dispatch Granville on the road, 38-31.

Salem took the ball at its 11-yard line with 1:31 left in the game and was down three.

It moved the ball to a first-and-10 at Granville's 16-yard line, where three unsuccessful pass plays brought kicker Ben Eisel on the field to attempt a game-tying 34-yard field goal with 1.2 seconds left.

Eisel knocked it home despite timeouts in an attempt to ice him.

"Nobody ices Ben Eisel," Salem coach Mike Kopachy said after the game. "That's a situation we practice every day and we say it's for the game.

"Today it was for the game and he put it right through the middle."

"I'm just doing my job," Eisel said. "If it comes down to me I'll get it done. Coach told me they couldn't ice me so i was believing in him. If I make it we win, if I miss it we lose. It's nerve-wracking, but I got it done."

Quakers quarterback Trent Toothman scored from the 6 in overtime and the Salem defense held Granville on a fourth-and-3 to advance to take on Steubenville.

"I'm so proud of our kids, proud of our staff, proud of our school," Kopachy said after the first playoff appearance in Salem history. "We filled this place tonight. They couldn't hold us. We got people lining up all over the place. The community's proud of them, I'm proud of them. What an effort by these guys. Words can't say enough."

Big Red (10-1) and Salem (8-3) had one common opponent, East Liverpool. Steubenville defeated the Potters 39-22 in Week 3 and the Quakers grabbed a 33-14 victory in Week 10.

• Tickets for the game will be on sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday at the high school ticket office.

The cost is $7 during the week and $9 at the gate. All playoff ticket prices are set by the OHSAA.

The high school will keep a portion of only the tickets sold at the school.

There will be a limited number of tickets sold at the gate.

Gilbert at Madonna

Madonna finished the regular season as the top seed in the West Virginia Class A playoffs and will not leave home as long as it remains in the playoffs.

The Blue Dons, No. 1 in the points and poll, will host Gilbert at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Jimmy Carey Stadium.

Madonna is coming off a historic season, allowing 24 points in 10 games. An opponent scored in the first half for the only time this season when Clay-Battelle recorded a safety last week.

The Blue Dons went on for a 28-2 victory.

Madonna's defense held the Cee-Bees (9-1) to 146 yards of offense (50 in the second half) and hauled in two interceptions.

"Madonna has a super defense,'' Cee Bees coach Ryan Wilson said after the game. "They tackle very well and they get to the ball. They have really good speed. If they make any kind of mistake, they have enough speed to make up for it.''

Senior quarterback Max Nogay was the workhorse as the Blue Dons continued to silence critics. He ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns on 20 chances.

His first score, a 27-yard run, came with 6:18 left in the second quarter and gave the visitors a lead it would not relinquish.

Nogay also added 78 yards through the air and one more score, a 48-yarder to standout junior wide receiver Connor Arlia.

The Blue Dons, who have won 25 straight regular season games, have outscored their opponents 410-24 this year. Their defense is ranked No. 1 in the state in all classifications by the Massey computer rankings.

Madonna, which just completed an undefeated regular season for the fourth time in school history, is 35-3 in the last three years.

• Tickets for the game will be on sale from 9 a.m. to noon today, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at the school office. The cost is $7 for adults and $5 for students.

All tickets at the gate are $7.

Princeton at Brooke

The Bruins completed a 10-0 season for the first time in 15 yards with a come-from-behind 14-13 victory at Musselman Friday evening.

Brooke, flagged for 120 yards on 11 penalties, was down 13-0 three minutes into the fourth quarter when quarterback Cotey Wallace, a Kennedy Award nominee, found Ian Morris on a 38-yard pass play with 7:21 left in the game.

The Bruins' defense held and Wallace led his squad on the game-winning march.

Running back Tim Faulkner's 25-yard run set up Wallace's 6-yarder. Faulkner was in for 1,000-yard rusher Ryan Lazear, who missed the game because of a sprained ankle.

"The whole fourth quarter was desperate,'' Wallace said after the game. ''We did what we had to do. It wasn't pretty, but we got the win. We're ready to go into the playoffs undefeated, No. 1. We'll just go and do our job.''

Wallace finished the contest 14 of 22 for 253 yards, the score and an interception. He also ran for 77 more yards and the other score.

The senior completed the regular season 107 for 167 for 1,521 yards, 18 touchdowns and six picks. He has added 778 yards and 11 touchdowns on 143 rushes.

"Wallace makes that offense go,'' Musselman head coach Denny Price said. "He was able to hit the seams quick on us. We had to give something away. Good teams find a way to win. Brooke still had a lot of weapons. I know Lazear wasn't playing, but that's football. You can't worry about that.

"They're a good enough team that they can put somebody else in and get the job done.''

Princeton comes into the game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Brooke Memorial Stadium winners of six in a row after beginning the season losing its first four games.

The Bruins will be without head coach Tom Bruney, who was suspended for the game after being ejected from the contest at Musselman.

Oak Glen at Wayne

The Golden Bears, under second-year coach Tony Filberto, are in the playoffs for the first time since 1993, when they exited in the Class AAA quarterfinals against Capital.

Oak Glen is led by four-year starting quarterback Seth Barnhart, who has over 1,000 yards passing this season, throwing mostly to Tyler Reed and Shane Koper.

Junior Chance Rowland is the workhorse in the backfield. He is above the 1,000-yard mark on the ground.

The Golden Bears won five in a row to make the playoffs before finishing the season with a loss at Magnolia on Oct. 30. Oak Glen averaged 42.6 points a game in its five straight victories.

"We had our backs to the wall early," Filberto explained. "We battled back. The kid hung in there and continued to work hard. They never gave up on our goals."

The game is at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

(Mathison can be contacted at mmathison@heraldstaronline.com)