Maysville Hoping For Hot Start Against Licking Valley

The "Battle of the Panthers" is just two days away as 4-seeded Licking Valley is set to host 5-seeded Maysville at Randy Baughman Stadium. Unlike most playoff matchups, these two teams know a thing or two about one another.

Maysville hosted Licking Valley in a scrimmage in August and the Blue and Gold came away with a 35-14 victory. But Maysville kicker Nate Valle says a lot has changed over the past three months.

"We put some thought into (the scrimmage) but not as much because both teams have evolved so much throughout the season," Valle said. "It’s going to be a physical game throughout the night."

Licking Valley started the season off slow by getting blown out by Tri-Valley, 42-6, and narrowly defeating Philo and Heath, but rebounded nicely by beating a pair of playoff teams in Johnstown-Monroe and Granville. Maysville head coach Craig Clarke knows his team will need to be ready to play right off the bat.

"Any momentum (Licking Valley) gets, their crowd is going to make them feed off of it, so it’s critical that we start off well," said Clarke.

Maysville also plans on finishing well, as the Panthers have done nine times this season, winning by an average of nearly 27 points. The expectation for this team is to not only win this week, but keep the train rolling in the coming weeks.

"Before the season started we scrimmaged (Licking Valley) and they kind of came out and beat us up a little bit," senior offensive tackle Jameson Curry said. "We’re going in with the mentality that we respect them but we’ve got something to prove at the same time."

The game will be broadcast on WHIZ Saturday morning at 10. You can catch the live action on Z92 Friday night. Kickoff is at 7:30.