SHADYSIDE SENIOR quarterback Korey Beckett rolls out during last Saturday’s game against River. Beckett and the Tigers will go after the fourth regional championship in school history Saturday night when they take on Newark Catholic at New Philadelphia’s Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium.

As it pertains to winning football regional championships, Shadyside and Newark Catholic have etched themselves in as perennial contenders.

The perennial contenders, often times, have had go through each other to get to the next round, too.

All told, the Tigers and Green Wave have met six times in the postseason since 2000 with Newark Catholic winning all of the prior meetings.

However, Shadyside will get another crack at it Saturday night at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium in New Philadelphia with similar stakes from the last three meetings on the line … a Region 27 championship.

“It’s exciting and fun to be at this point, but we’ve not broken through a whole lot at this level,” Shadyside head coach Mark Holenka said. “The level of success we’ve had is tough to maintain at a small school, but we’ve been able to do it because of great athletes and coaches who are committed to working through the process.”

Outside of last season’s 10-7 victory by the Green Wave, at White Field in Newark, all of the meetings between the two have been decisive victories for the Wave. Actually, the margin of defeat is 20.8 points. Prior to last season’s game, the closest came in 2007 when Newark Catholic won, 41-28, ironically, in New Philadelphia.

“There have been a few times when we played them tight, but overall, they’ve just been better than us,” Holenka said. “I think some of the scores are misleading, but there haven’t been too many times when the game has ended against them and I thought we might have been the better team.”

Newark Catholic head coach Ryan Aiello, who has guided his team to a 12-1 record, had a feeling after last season that there was a good chance this game would occur again.

“I knew we had a lot of experience back and the ability to do something special, and I knew what Shadyside had coming back,” Aiello said. “We knew they’d be up there for sure (in the Region 27 standings). With their talent, leadership and coaching, I am sure they had just as high of expectations as we did.”

The Tigers are coming off an emotional, 43-28, victory against rival River last week. Shadyside used a strong second half in which they pitched a shutout and scored 22 points en route to claiming the victory.

“Obviously, our kids enjoyed that win for a few days, but we looked at it, studied our mistakes and started moving ahead to Newark Catholic,” Holenka said.

The Green Wave, meanwhile, hasn’t been seriously challenged in the playoffs thus far. They own wins over Danville (34-16), Caldwell (42-7) and last week dispatched a then 10-2 East Knox squad by a 35-7 count.

Newark Catholic’s lone loss came to Division IV school Heath by a 28-21 score.

Like most teams playing this weekend, Newark Catholic is strong in all phases. Its defense has been tough and it’s offense is a solid mixture of run and pass.

“When I watch the film, I see a very sound, well-coached, athletic and fast football team,” Holenka said. “They don’t run from a whole lot of sets (offensively), but they execute extremely well. They’re very efficient on offense.”

Newark Catholic’s offense is triggered by Cole Canter. He’s completed 112 of 188 passes for 1,880 yards and 25 touchdowns. He’s been picked off eight times. He’s also rushed for 399 yards and seven touchdowns, both of which rank second on the club.

Mason Hackett is the Green Wave’s leading rusher with 1,817 yards and 26 touchdowns.

In the passing game, Canter spreads the wealth. Tanner Elwell is the leading pass catcher with 26 receptions for 583 yards and six touchdowns. Grant Moore has called in 22 passes for 274 yards and three scores, while Brandon Buchanan has posted 30 catches for 414 yards and five touchdowns. Tristan Gorius, who has seven rushing touchdowns, also has six receiving scores and 263 yards.

“A big goal of ours is to be balanced,” Aiello said. “When you’re able to do that, you have so many more options. Obviously, we have a big focus on running the ball because to compete for championships, you have to be able to establish the run.”

Holenka believes the area of his defense that will be challenged the most against the Green Wave is the secondary. Obviously, that unit is short handed because of season-ending injuries to starting defensive backs Rhys Francis and Ben Wach.

“Their quarterback is accurate and he has the ability to tuck it and run,” Holenka said. “They really like to get on the perimeter with their speed. They run mostly from the spread, but they show some dead I or stick I for their power game. They do a lot of things well.”

The Tigers defense is led by an impressive defensive line that pinned its ears back in the second half last week against River.

Seniors Ryan Florence, Gage Joseph, Andrew Brown and Kris Tsoras were continual members of the Pilots’ backfield. Florence has recorded a team-high 11.5 sacks, while Brown owns six. Tsoras has 3.5 and Joseph has 2.5.

In the second level, senior Wyatt Reiman has been a menace to opposing offenses along with sophomore Andrew Osman has also been impressive with 11 tackles for loss.

Despite Shadyside’s injuries in the secondary, the Tigers have picked off 14 passes and broken up 19.

Senior Korey Beckett and freshman Cole Micker have three interceptions apiece, while Elijah Brock and Beckett have both broken up five passes. Colton Gorby has also been solid with 28 tackles.

“You see a lot of the same guys on both sides of the ball for Shadyside,” Aiello said. “They’re very athletic and fast. Plus, they play very physically.”

On the offensive side, Shadyside hangs its hat with Reiman. The record-setting senior has been a workhorse all season and Holenka doesn’t look for that to change this week.

“We’re always going to try to ride our horse,” Holenka said. “We do not want to not ride him and then look back, after he’s gone, and think we should have ridden him more. Pretty soon, Wyatt won’t be in the huddle for us, so we want to utilize him as such as possible.”

Coming off a game in which he carried 29 times for 246 yards and scored four touchdowns, Reiman now has 1,599 yards and 28 touchdowns on 220 carries. All told, he’s scored 35 touchdowns and has 243 total points.

“Reiman is as good as anyone we’ve seen,” Aiello said. “You you can just tell how much of a competitor he is. He’s always fighting for that extra yard even when he has three, four or even guys defenders on him. We definitely have to make sure we have a way to contain him.”

Reiman’s workload has increased now that Shadyside is on its third starting quarterback of season. Francis went down during the game against Buckeye Local in September, Wach, who stepped in admirably and had thrown for nearly 1,000 yards, suffered a broken arm against Waterford a couple of weeks ago and now senior Korey Beckett is set for his second career start.

Beckett, however, played like a seasoned veteran last week. He was 10-of-10 passing for 78 yards and a touchdown pass to Brock. He also rushed four times for 37 yards.

“I was astounded by how well Korey played,” Holenka said. “I am very happy for him because I am sure that game was very gratifying. Our line protected him well. Korey understands that he doesn’t have to win the game for us. We’re asking him to manage and not lose the game.”

Shadyside’s other top playmaker is senior Mason VanNest. He, too, has been bitten by the injury bug this season. He suffered a foot injury in the opening week against Martins Ferry that cost him almost two months. He’s seemingly back to 100% now and has made an impact. He rushed for a 40 yard touchdown last week and in the first round of the playoffs, he caught five passes for 127 yards.

Osman has been a steady contributor at the fullback spot, while Reiman and Brock are the top receivers with 22 and 19 catches, respectively.