The Watterson High School football team lost for the fourth consecutive season in the regular-season finale when it fell 28-12 last Friday to visiting Youngstown Mooney.

There was at least one positive the Eagles can take from the loss as they prepare for their Division III, Region 10 playoff opener Friday against visiting Bellefontaine.

After Mark Theado and Matt Redfield took up the brunt of the rushing carries for most of the season, Michael Szaraz finished with a team-high 66 yards on 11 attempts last Friday and has 161 yards rushing over the last three games.

"We've gotten better (running the ball), and that's been a big part of us hopefully improving in that area for the playoffs," coach Dan Bjelac said.

It's that kind of depth that should come in handy for the second-seeded Eagles as they look to win a playoff game for the first time since 2006.

"Our running game has been doing great because we have a great line," Szaraz said. "I wasn't working much at running back earlier in the season, but Matt Redfield was hurt one week so they put me in."

Watterson is 7-3 and faces a Chieftains team which lost two of their last four and is 8-2.

Bellefontaine, which has posted three shutouts, lost 24-7 to Tipp City Tippecanoe on Oct. 11 and 13-10 in overtime last Friday to New Carlisle Tecumseh. Both opponents are playoff qualifiers.

While quarterback Greg Hock completed just 7 of 31 passes for 83 yards last Friday when the Eagles fell behind 21-0 by halftime, they did average more than 4 yards per carry against one of the state's top Division III defenses.

Top defenders out of the 5-0 front for Bellefontaine include senior linebackers Jeremy Clifton (6-2, 220, 2.5 sacks) and Nate Dodds (6-2, 190, 3.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries), and senior linemen Paul Anderson (5-9, 200) and Ethan Smith (6-2, 210, five sacks). Junior cornerback Josh Jones (5-10, 160) has three interceptions.

Watterson allowed a season-high 28 points against Mooney, which improved to 10-0 and is the No. 1 seed in Region 9.

Szaraz had nine tackles and Redfield led the team with10 last Friday at linebacker for the Eagles. However, Watterson played without injured junior starting lineman Justin McCarthy. He is expected back for the playoff opener.

The Chieftains feature senior Brandon Winter (6-0, 180) at quarterback. Through nine games, he is 31-for-69 passing for 628 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He's also rushed for 298 yards and five touchdowns.

Senior running back Justin Baughman (5-9, 175) has 699 yards and 13 touchdowns and junior fullback Preaston Artis (6-2, 225) has 427 yards and five touchdowns.

Senior center Alek Geho (6-2, 225) is the leader of an offensive line which is significantly smaller than Watterson's defensive front.

"They're a solid football team that mixes it up pretty well," Bjelac said. "They do some wing-T and I-formation stuff, with a little bit of the shotgun and spread to complement what they're doing. They've got two good running backs.

"Any time you get into these situations, it's about being able to control the line of scrimmage, and they seem solid up front."