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The first week of the high school football playoffs is in the books. Here's a quick look at this week's second round of play:

3 defensive players to watch

• Dale Langenderfer, Alter DB: The 5-10, 150-pound senior leads the Knights' secondary in INTs with three. He and his cohorts in the secondary will be asked to take the air out of Eaton's potent aerial attack in the D-III regional semifinals with their man-to-man coverage. Joining him in that task will be Tony Boyle, Tony Lima and Jeff Laumann.

• Ryan Hartke, St. Henry WR/SS: The 6-4, 195-pounder presents matchup problems on offense and packs a wallop on defense. The senior is one of only two players named Midwest Athletic Conference first-team on both offense and defense (joining Marion Local's Marc Otte). He has 30-plus catches for more than 600 yards and 10 TDs on offense, but Division I colleges love his potential at linebacker.

• Pete Rolf, Piqua OLB/TE: The 6-5, 226-pounder is more like a rangy monsterback. He's anchored on the wide/strong side and splits his time blitzing, covering and whopping anything reachable. A great defensive presence for the Indians, as is his brother David, a 6-3, 212-pound junior LB on the opposite side.

3 offensive players to watch

• Drew Frey, Clinton-Massie TB : A defensive coordinator's nightmare. A game-breaker with legit 4.4 speed in the 40-yard-dash, Frey will present problems on offense and special teams for unbeaten Blanchester in a D-IV regional semifinal.

• Justin Hemm, Piqua QB: Everyone knows about Brandon Saine. Defenses would be wise to not forget about Hemm. The junior has accounted for 2,010 yards in offense (1,126 passing; 884 rushing) and 24 touchdowns. The versatile signal caller puts a nice touch on the ball and runs the option even better.

• Koby Frye, St. Mary's Memorial RB: Another Frye is tearing up big hunks of yardage for the Roughriders. The junior running back led the Western Buckeye League in rushing for the second straight year. His brother Bo amassed more than 3,500 career rushing yards.

3 things to know

• Eaton proficient kicker Michael Bolinger, a transfer from Vandalia, is a rare offensive weapon for a D-III team. The senior has 13 field goals and 90 percent of his kickoffs are touchbacks. "He's a luxury that we've utilized all season," said Eagles coach Ron Neanen. "His father played here in 1976 and they returned home this year."

• Piqua hopes to have a physical advantage when the Indians take on the Wapakoneta Redskins in the D-II, Region 6 semifinals tonight. They have enough ammo to hold a psychological edge. Piqua is 7-1 against Wapak overall. This is also the Indians' ninth playoff appearance with a 14-8 record. Wapak (1-3) won its first postseason game in its fourth trip last Friday.

• No team has turned it around like Tecumseh. The Arrows were 2-8 last season, but take a 9-2 record into today's D-II matchup with Harrison at Centerville. Coach Kent Massie's secret? Talented players full of character and great assistant coaches.

Quotes

"The key is if we can handle their pressure because they come at you rapidly in a tidal wave, The window of opportunity to complete the pass is very small. Then, we have to handle it on a consistent basis. It'll be a formidable challenge."

— Eaton coach Ron Neanen on Alter's vaunted defensive pressure.

"I don't really think playing on turf will be much different. We're going on Thursday more for the mental aspect so the kids can see it, feel it and get in their head there's nothing different."

— Milton coach Bret Pearce, whose Bulldogs practiced on Northmont's synthetic turf Thursday to prepare for the same surface at Dublin Scioto.

"We covered his first route, his second route, and he'd hit his third one."

— Otsego coach Dave Bernard on Coldwater QB Sam Slavik, who passed for 386 yards and three TDs in a 42-17 win in their D-VI first-round last week.

— Compiled by Greg Billing, Ron Jackson and Marc Pendleton