Ranking Livengood's top 10 playoff wins

Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series ranking the ten best regular season and ten best playoff wins for recently-retired St. Paul head coach John Livengood ahead of his OHSFCA Hall of Fame induction. Seven months after his retirement, St. Paul head football coach will be inducted into the Ohio High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame on June 14 at the Easton Hilton in Columbus. Livengood's teams were 310-87 (.781 winning percentage) over the course of his 33 seasons. That included a conference record 22 Firelands Conference championships. In the state playoffs from 1995-2023, the Flyers were 47-24 with eight regional championships, four state runners-up trophies and one state championship. Ahead of the HOF induction on Friday, the Reflector polled 20 past players and assistant coaches, and several alumni to rank the 10 best wins among the 47 playoff victories from 1995-2023. Below are the results in descending order: Honorable mention: St. Paul 26, Warren JFK 7 (2007); St. Paul 34, Monroeville 8 (1996); St. Paul 21, Southern 14, 2OT (2021); St. Paul 41, Glouster Trimble 13 (2014); St. Paul 49, Pandora-Gilboa 7 (2017). 10. Nov. 19, 2004 St. Paul 30, Monroeville 15 A third regional title meeting between the two heavyweight FC rivals saw the Eagles lead the game 15-8 at halftime in Elyria, only for the Flyers to steadily pull away. The game was capped by a defensive TD in the steady rain in the closing minutes. Trevor Strohm found Justin Nickoli for a 64-yard touchdown for a 16-15 lead with 31 seconds left in the third; then came a 4-yard TD run by Gabe Stoll with 3:58 left after a trade of turnovers. Finally a 45-yard tipped interception by Adam Schaffer iced the game in the final minute. Monroeville had won the regular season matchup in decisive fashion, 19-6, in Monroeville, only for a 28-point swing eight weeks later. 9. Nov. 22, 1997 St. Paul 17, Cadiz 8 One win away from the state title game for a second straight year, the Flyers made the trip to Kent State University's Dix Stadium, but again found it tough-sledding as Cadiz held an 8-7 halftime lead. Then came a signature scoring drive that one could argue defined the St. Paul program — both then and now. The Flyers put together an 18-play, 94-yard scoring drive that took 8:23 off the clock, then added a field goal for the win. Fittingly, all-time leading rusher Dan Pugh — who capped the long drive with a 2-yard TD — became the first player to reach 2,000 yards in the win. Mike Morrow also eclipsed 1,000-yards in the game to give the duo consecutive seasons of 1,000-plus yards. 8. Nov. 15, 1997 St. Paul 21, Independence 13 The first true test of 1997 came in the regional championship game at frigid and icy George Daniel Stadium in Lorain. The Blue Devils (11-0) had accumulated more computer points than any team in Div. VI and had their own postseason clout, having won regional titles in 1992 and 1995. Tied at 7-7 at halftime, Aaron Kalizewski connected with Jeremy Morrow for a 76-yard TD pass. Then, Pugh scored on a short run for a 21-7 lead. Independence countered to pull within a score, and the Flyers had to turn it away three times in the fourth quarter — twice inside their own 40-yard line, to preserve a return trip to the state semifinals — thanks in large part to three fumble recoveries by Luke Wasiniak. 7. Nov. 3, 2006 St. Paul 18, Mohawk 15 Arguably the biggest 'true' upset in the program's playoff history, the Flyers recovered from a 1-3 start after four games to earn the eighth and final seed in the region. St. Paul then proceeded to win a slugfest over the top-seeded Warriors on the road, which kickstarted a run to more hardware. Down 7-0, St. Paul scored 18 straight points on a 5-yard run by QB Brad Frank, a 2-yard run by Joe Stoll after he intercepted a pass, and a 4-yard run by Stoll. The Warriors scored with three minutes left, but the Flyers recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock on the upset win. 6. Nov. 22, 2014 St. Paul 18, Berlin Center WR 14 The Blue Devils handled the Flyers by 3 TDs in the regional championship at snowy Medina in 2013, and appeared to be an even stronger team in 2014 in this regional title rematch. Western led 14-6 late in the first half when Sam Carper found Grant Dilger for a 44-yard TD with 2:29 left in the half. The two capped the first drive of the second half with an 8-yard TD pass and catch for an 18-14 lead with 7:24 left in the third. St. Paul then turned away the Devils three more times to again advance to the state semifinals, and later a fifth state title game. Carper found Digler six times for 119 yards and 2 TDs in the win. 5. Nov. 17, 2006 St. Paul 29, Hopewell-Loudon 28 Another dramatic win in the program's playoff history came in Fremont when the Flyers opted to go for two points and the win in the final minute to stun the AP poll champion Chieftains and claim a regional championship. Down 28-21 with under five minutes left, the Flyers moved 61 yards in 13 plays, capped by a 3-yard TD pass from Frank to Dominic Dellisanti with 29 seconds left. With their usual holder injured, St. Paul didn't risk a PAT attempt, and instead ran the exact same play as Frank found Dellisanti for a 2-point conversion and the lead. Still, Hopewell got off a 48-yard FG attempt that was short as time expired. 4. Nov. 5, 2004 St. Paul 32, Mogadore 28 One of the greatest comebacks in program history, the Flyers trailed 28-8 late in the first half, only to rally for the win in the closing seconds. The second half was bookended by a 17-play scoring drive to start the third, then with 1:01 left in the fourth, the Flyers moved 56 yards in 54 seconds — capped by a Strohm-Nickoli TD pass from the 1 with 7 seconds left. St. Paul was looking at a third straight playoff exit in the first round, and had just one playoff win over the previous four seasons — but won this game and went back to the state championship game for a third time in eight years instead. 3. Nov. 21, 2009 St. Paul 28, Bucyrus Wynford 21 By far the second most difficult of the 15 wins came when the Flyers outlasted the Royals and two University of Kentucky recruits in a regional title game in Ashland. The Royals — winners of 54 of 55 regular season games — struck first. But the Flyers pulled ahead midway through the fourth quarter and turned away Wynford twice in their own territory in the final six minutes. The Flyers' Brian Griffin was stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the Wynford 3 with 2:31 left in the third quarter in a tie game; but then scored the game-winning TD on a third-and-goal from the 4 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Two weeks later, St. Paul won the state championship. 2. Nov. 20, 1999 St. Paul 17, Monroeville 14 Perhaps the peak of the rivalry. The game was played in front of 4,415 — the largest in Div. VI regional title game history at the time — at Bellevue, with the winner again advancing to the state semifinals. But unlike the 1996 meeting, this was a dogfight. Just six weeks after a 21-14 St. Paul win in Norwalk, the teams were again tied at 14 in the fourth quarter. After botching a 31-yard FG with 2:40 left, junior kicker Aidan McDonnell got another chance when the Flyers got the ball back with 1:17 left. He drilled a 48-yarder as time expired to set off a huge celebration, and two weeks later, the Flyers were back in the state title game. 1. Dec. 5, 2009 St. Paul 24, Delphos St. John's 21 Done in the most dramatic fashion, the Flyers broke through in their fourth try in the Division VI state championship, and it fittingly came against a Blue Jays' program that had defeated them for state titles in 1997 and 1999. After grabbing an early 10-0 lead, St. Paul saw the Jays score 21 unanswered points and trailed by 11 (21-10) with 11 minutes left in the game. After quarterback Eric Schwieterman capped a 12-play, 84-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard TD, St. John's appeared on the verge of putting the game away with a 12-play, 58-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. Despite giving up almost 100 pounds in size, Flyers' defensive back Justin Wilde forced out star running back Jordan Leininger on fourth-and-goal at the St. Paul 2. Forced to go 98 yards with 3:22 left, Schwieterman and Wilde then connected for a 38-yard gain on fourth-and-3 to the DSJ 14 with just over a minute left. Five straight rushes by Schwieterman had the Flyers faced with a third-and-goal from the 1 with seven seconds left. Out of a timeout, Schwieterman shifted directions on a QB sneak, and just did push across with five seconds left for the go-ahead TD — and the Division VI state championship trophy — in front of 5,850 at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon.