BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS — After a big turnaround, Indian Creek is back in the playoffs. They open their postseason with a trip to Newark Licking Valley on Friday night in the Division III, Region 11 postseason. - Michael D. McElwain

NEWARK — The Indian Creek football team earned its trip to the postseason.

Indian Creek went into its Week 10 matchup against rival Edison with its playoff fate undecided. Things looked dicey for the Redskins late in the game, however, the Red-and-Gold came through with a 73-yard scoring drive to rally past the Wildcats, 20-13, this past Friday night at Kettlewell Stadium.

The win against Edison helped secure another trip to the playoffs for Indian Creek.

“I don’t think so,” Indian Creek (8-2) head coach Andrew Connor said asked if would be difficult for his team to turn the page after such an emotional victory this past week. “We were like any normal team. We celebrated Friday night. We were excited, but then once Saturday came we realized we had bigger aspirations than just qualifying for the playoffs. We got back down to Earth and started to get ready to go.”

The Redskins have made great strides this season.

“I am proud of the kids,” Connor said. “We set goals. There are things we wanted to do. We wanted to flip the script, and we did that. We went from 2-8 to 8-2 and qualifying for the playoffs. We turned things around for the program. That is a credit to the kids and to my assistant coaches. They have worked hard. They believed this could happen, and they went out and made it happen.”

The players and coaches believed this team was capable of making such a dramatic turnaround this season, and they put in the work to make sure it happened.

“The kids had that mindset in the weight room in January,” Connor said. “We were older. A lot of kids had experience playing. There were no more excuses. We realized there was no reason why we can’t do it. We looked forward to getting better every week. We have gotten better. I am proud of the kids.

“We got back to playing the way we want to play at Indian Creek. We want to play physical on both sides of the ball, and we were able to do that.”

This week, Indian Creek – the No. 13 seed – hits the road to take on No. 4 seed Licking Valley at 7 p.m. Friday night at Randy Baughman Stadium in the first round of the Ohio Division III, Region 9 playoffs.

The Panthers are a quality opponent.

“It starts with their coach,” Connor said. “They are very, very well coached. Coach Baughman has been coaching for more than 45 years. They are a program that has stability. They have a lot of tradition.”

Licking Valley enters the game with a record of 9-1.

“We have to understand you can’t win a game in the first quarter,” Connor said. “You have to play the whole game. They are going to come at us. They are going to try to get us out of what we want to do. There are going to be ebbs and flows. It is a challenging place to play.

“We are going to have to withstand their early rush. They are going to try and shake us up. We are going to have to keep playing.

“This is a new thing for us. None of these kids have played in the playoffs before. It is going to be a new experience.

“We have the opportunity to do something special.”

Licking Valley has defeated Sheridan (6-4), 30-7, Bishop Ready (6-4), 20-14, Heath (5-5), 35-0, Newark Catholic (1-9), 49-7, Licking Heights (4-6), 28-22, Zanesville (0-10), 35-0, Granville (9-1), 22-19, Mount Vernon (2-8), 48-14, and Watkins Memorial (3-7), 54-7, in Week 10.

“Offensively, they always seem to be in front of the chains,” Connor said. “What they do, they do well. They play with physicality. They’re athletic.

“They want to run the football. There is no hesitation there. They want to run the football. They can run it inside. They can run it outside. Their offensive line does a good job block. They are really good at what they do.”

Licking Valley lost to West Muskingum (7-2), 26-20, in overtime.

“Defensively, they run a 4-3,” Connor said. “They don’t do a lot with their linebackers. They don’t blitz. Their defensive linemen do a good job. They have twists and turns. They move around a lot. It is hard to figure out where they are going to be. It is makes hard for us to know where they are so we can block them.

“They are good in the secondary. Their two cornerbacks do a good job of challenging the wide receivers. Again, it goes back to they are a well coached football team.

“They are not going to help you beat them. You can’t help them beat you because they are not going to help you beat them.”

The Panthers have won eight straight games.

“They have a good group on special teams,” Connor said. “It doesn’t matter if it is punts, extra points or kickoff coverage, they work hard. It is the third part of the game, but they don’t overlook it. You can’t be a such a well coached team and neglect the special teams.”

The Redskins are looking to make good use of their time as Indian Creek has a long road trip in front of them this week.

“It is going to give us a little bit of time to think,” Connor said. “You have to use your timely wisely. You can try to find an excuse, but the trip is an opportunity for you to get into the right mindset and get ready to play.

“It is a long trip. You don’t want to make any excuses. We are going to treat this like a big opportunity. It is an opportunity for us. We have never won a playoff game on the road before. It is an opportunity for us to do something we have never done before. It is going to be a challenge.”

Indian Creek has used the same formula all season long, and it has paid dividends for them as the team has had a successful season.

“You talk to coaches and there are two things that travel well – running the football and defense,” Connor said. “Those things travel well. Offensively, we are going to try and do somethings we have not done before. We are going to include some wrinkles. We are practicing doing things we have not done before.

“Defensively, we have done a good job of not giving up the big play. We have played physical.

“We want to run the football. We want to stay in front of the chains. We want to play good defense. We have had two really good practices, and we are going to continue to do that the rest of the week.”

Licking Valley defeated East, 40-6, on the road in the first round of the Division IV, Region 15 playoffs last season before falling to Big Red by a score of 50-26, in the next round on Reno Saccoccia Field inside Harding Stadium.

The Redskins last played a playoff game in 2020. That season, Indian Valley shut out Indian Creek, 35-0, at home.