If the Edwardsburg football team is going to win its first regional championship tonight, it is going to have to stop a pretty good running game.

The Eddies (10-1) travel to Lansing tonight to take on Sexton (10-1) in a battle for a spot in the state semifinals.

Edwardsburg advanced to the Division 4 regional title game with a 56-21 victory over Wolverine Conference champion Paw Paw.

Sexton moved into the title game with a 47-14 come-from-behind victory over Battle Creek Pennfield.

The Big Reds are a veteran squad which returned 14 starters from last season. Sexton was 8-3 in 2009 and are in the post season for the fourth consecutive year and the sixth time in the last seven seasons.

One of the reasons why the Big Reds are playing for a regional championship is their running game.

Onaje Miller, who is a Michigan State recruit, ran for 911 yards and 16 touchdowns this past season.

He had just 46 yards on 10 totes last Friday night after suffering a calf injury against Pennfield.

Taking over in his absence was Dominique Hoyle, who finished with 129 yards on 10 carries.

Sexton’s Willie Dillard was 4-of-9 passing for 145 yards.

The Eddies have defeated a pair of Wolverine Conference schools in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Sexton has also knocked off a Wolverine team as it opened up the playoffs with a 48-0 victory over Vicksburg.

In that game, Miller ran for 175 yards and three touchdowns, while Hoyle added nine rushes for 95 yards and three touchdowns.

Sexton has outscored its opponents 410-123 this season and has scored 35 or more points in seven of its 11 games.

In the district championship game last week against Pennfield, the Big Reds did give up 204 yards rushing.

Edwardsburg will present an even bigger challenge for Sexton on the ground as it ran for 550 yards last week against the Redskins and had a trio of players rush for more than 100 yards.

Lee Williamson led the way with 138 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns. Michael Kempton, who opened the game with a 77-yard score, finished with 102 yards, while quarterback Ethan Zimmerman ran for 131 yards on eight carries with two scores.

The Eddies limited Paw Paw’s pass oriented offense to 244 yards and held quarterback Andrew Buskirk to only 45 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and all tickets are $5. No passes will be honored.