One of the top state semifinals in any of Ohio’s seven football divisions is on tap Friday, Nov. 28 when the past two Division IV state champions — Indian Valley in 2024 and Cleveland Glenville in 2023 — clash head on in a much-anticipated playoff game at 4,000 seat Dr. Robert Hines Stadium in Minerva.
It’s the first time the two state powers have met in football.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We will have to play our best game of the year in order to give ourselves a chance to win,” said Indian Valley head coach Matt Lancaster, who has guided the Braves to nine straight playoff qualifications and 13 overall postseason trips. “Our group of kids just believe in themselves and continue to fight for one another. We have overcome insurmountable odds before, and we will be up against it again this week. I won't doubt our group of kids because they have shown a fierce fighting spirit time and time again, and they just believe."
Indian Valley enters the showdown at 12-0. The Braves are coming off their finest overall performance of the season in a 34-0 regional title shutout of New Lexington.
Indian Valley's Reese St. Clair runs with the ball during a 34-0 win against New Lexington in the Division IV, Region 15 championship game on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, at Stewart Field in Coshocton, Ohio.“We probably played our most complete game of the year,” Lancaster said. “New Lex is a very good football team.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn that game, Indian Valley’s standout senior running back, Grady Kinsey, an Air Force commit and one of the top backs in the nation, became Ohio’s all-time overall touchdown leader during the game. He broke the record on a 7-yard touchdown run out of a wildcat formation in the first quarter.
It eclipsed the previous overall Ohio touchdown standard of 133 held by Daniel Bangura of Harvest Prep.
Kinsey rushed for 198 yards against New Lexington and went on to score two more rushing scores. His new record is 136 touchdowns and counting. He also continued to add to his ongoing state career rushing touchdown record with 131 and counting.
As pleased as Lancaster was with the Braves’ offensive output last week, he was thrilled with their defensive effort. Indian Valley pitched a shutout against a New Lexington team that entered the contest averaging 38 points-per-game.
Indian Valley's Carsen Hostetler runs with the ball after catching a pass during a 34-0 win against New Lexington in the Division IV, Region 15 championship game on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, at Stewart Field in Coshocton, Ohio.Football playoffs | Garaway falls to unbeaten Kirtland in Division VI regional finals
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“We were not expecting to get a shutout, but our defense played well, and our kids executed the game plan,” said Lancaster. “New Lex moved the ball at times, but our kids didn't break.”
The Braves’ defense is led by Kinsey with 93 tackles and sophomore Brett O’Connor with 85 stops and junior Reese St. Clair with 60 tackles. Junior Titan Peterman leads Indian Valley with six sacks on the season.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Glenville (10-3), which won state D4 crowns in 2022 and 2023, recorded a 35-7 regional championship playoff rout of Lake County Perry last weekend.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGlenville is coached by Ohio High School Hall of Fame coach Ted Ginn, who has produced countless Division I recruits at the school and has led the Tarblooders to four straight Final 4 appearances and both of the school’s state football crowns.
"Glenville will hands down be the best team we have faced this season,” Lancaster said. “They will be bigger, faster, and more athletic than us across the board. They are also very well coached and very fundamentally sound. We know we are the underdog against them. Glenville has been at the top of D4 for many years now.”
The Tarblooders feature a smothering defense, led by its standout All-Ohio linebacker Cincere Johnson, an Ohio State commit who also has offers from Alabama and Penn State. Johnson had multiple sacks in Glenville’s rout of Perry last weekend. Glenville features a veteran defense with many of its players in starting roles for a third consecutive season. Glenville is only yielding 9.5 ppg.
“The most impressive part of their team though is their defense,” Lancaster said. “From the D-line back to the secondary, they are by far the best overall defense we have seen. They are fast, physical, and fly to the football.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOffensively, the Tarblooders love to run the football behind a large offensive line. Senior running back Chris Newell Jr. (5-10, 180) scored three rushing touchdowns in their regional final triumph. But as good as Glenville is running the football, it balances things out with an efficient air game as well. Senior quarterback Arvell Nelson (6-3, 182) tossed two touchdowns in last week’s win, including one to talented senior wideout Joseph Saffold.
The Tarblooders enter Week 15 scoring 27 points-per-game on the offensive side of the ball.
The winner of the Indian Valley vs. Glenville game will face the victor of the Shelby (13-0) vs. Cincinnati Indian Hill (13-0) contest in the OHSAA's Division IV state championship game Friday, Dec. 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Indian Valley football vs Cleveland Glenville OHSAA playoffs
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