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TORONTO -- Toronto's road to the Ohio postseason is set -- kind of.
The Red Knights, courtesy of a convincing 43-0 triumph against Conotton Valley (4-4) in Bowerston last week, clinched a Division VII, Region 25 postseason spot per Joe Eitel.
"That was a great win, especially considering we'd been on the road for four weeks straight," Toronto head coach Josh Franke said. "To say we'd be able to finish that trip at (then) 4-3 Conotton Valley and mange pretty well against a good team, was great.
"We were able to handle that road test and now we're back home."
The clinching is "unofficial" of course. But how often is joeeitel.com wrong? Exactly.
While the playoff spot is a certainty, the positioning is now the question. Franke and company no doubt want to better their standing which, at present, has the Red Knights hitting the road in Week 11.
Strange for a team currently 7-1, but that just speaks to the strength of the region. If the Knights wish to host, they need to accumulate some more Harbin points.
Fortunately, there's plenty of points to be had the next two weeks -- neither will be easy to obtain.
First up is a Caldwell team (6-2) that's lost two straight against two regional juggernauts in Barnesville (8-0) and Fort Frye (6-2). The Redskins were handled in both, 41-7, and 35-6, respectively, but Franke knows neither score is representative of the challenge his team faces Friday.
"The last two weeks they've played some really good teams," Franke said. "So we're not about to take those last two games and say that's the type of team they are. This is a good football team who happened to play two really good football teams."
Caldwell, a fellow Division VII member from Region 27, is also capable of being a really good football team.
The 'Skins spread-you-out style of offense is spearheaded by the school's all-time leading passer in Cale Bender.
The senior has amassed 1,291 yards and 14 touchdowns this season against five interceptions while completing 68 percent of his passes.
He's also the team's second leading rusher with 301 yards, but lately has deferred to fellow senior Dylan Wheeler to lead the ground assault. Wheeler has 371 yards and five TDs while also serving as the team's third leading receiver.
"It's a different offense than we've seen the last couple of games," Franke said. "They want to spread you out and go into some empty packages. The QB is the school's leading passer for a reason. They are going to catch some passes, so we need to have that bend but don't break mentality."
Wheeler has 24 catches for 363 yards, a few receptions behind Ethan Crock (26 for 310) and leading receiver and home run hitter Andrew Herland (27 and 515), who averages 19 yards per reception and owns eight TD catches.
Might the Red Knights implement more of a run-style approach to keep the Caldwell offense off the field? Get the lead and try to milk the clock?
Not a chance.
This offense is built to score behind QB Russ Dickinson, running back Dom Bouscher and a whole host of weapons -- and try to score they shall.
"We are an aggressive attacking offense. That's what we do," Franke said. "We feel like we have a lot of weapons, so the more plays the better. If it comes down to an offensive shootout, we like our offense and thinks it's more capable than what theirs is.
"We by no means are going to milk the clock. They have the full green light."
The not-so-secret, secret to this offense is the elusive Bouscher.
Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing around 170-175 pounds, Bouscher is routinely the fastest player on the field. He's capable out outrunning defenders, or shouldering down and running through them.
He averages only 69.5 yards per game -- rushing -- but given his YPC average of 10.7, his yards per game total is more representative in the number of touches than ability.
He's also second on the team in receiving, a mere 20 yards (574) behind leading receiver Mason Marchbank (494) while owning the most receptions (25) on the team.
"Toronto has been known to have that dynamic athlete that can beat you running and catching and in the return game and he definitely fits into that category," Franke said of Bouscher. "He's having a great senior season and is a tremendous weapon. At the same time, we think there are times we can use him as a diversion. He's usually the fastest kid on the field any given Friday, and he's able to open up opportunities for Marchbank, for Aiden Filby, Nolan Dickinson and Kam Baker."
A win vs. Caldwell will be a nice points boost and likely springboard Toronto into the Top 8. The following week could do the same, facing rival and currently unbeaten Catholic Central.