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Lucas to Face Athletic Crestview

Lucas will play a non-conference game on Tuesday night at Crestview against the Cougars.

Somebody is going to get their first win of the season.

Willard beat Lucas (53-30) last week.

Coach Corbin Toms says they played well at times last Thursday, but not well enough. “Like I said in the interview last week, Willard is a very disciplined, solid team. They were very young, but they didn't look like it at all. They control the pace, they go back and forth with different defenses to give you different looks. I wasn't super upset with how our kids played. They played and battled for four quarters. So, at the end of the day that's all you can really ask from them. Did we want to get beat by 23? No, that wasn't the game plan, but Willard’s a really good team that will probably finish in the top half of their conference. So, I think we learned some things about ourselves and got better,” said Toms.

Crestview (0-3) lost (63-53) to New London in a Firelands Conference game last Friday.

Toms says they have a lot of athletic kids. “It's hard to judge them. They’re 0-3, but at the end of the day they have played three really solid teams. Their last game in New London, who is very good, we scrimmaged them, Fredericktown and then Ontario so, it's hard to judge a team by their record,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “You can tell on film they have got five athletic kids that can really get after it and push the ball in transition. Any of them can get to the rim at any point or shoot it, so we really got to slow them down and defend them and keep everybody in front of us.”

Karter Goon had a big game last week in the loss to New London. Toms says they have to know where he is. “Goon, they kind of go as he goes, so if we can contain him then it will kind of slow everybody else down,” he said.

Published 12/16/25

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Lucas Wants to Control the Tempo

It’s more non-conference play for the Lucas Cubs as they host Willard on Thursday night.

They opened the season last Saturday with a (77-49) loss to South Central in a non-league game.

First year coach Corbin Toms says he likes the approach the kids had to the game, but have to make more plays. “On Saturday, I know the score doesn't do it justice, but it being our first game the kids did come out and they played with energy, they played with enthusiasm for four quarters. We're down 15 at the half and battled it back to six in the third quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We showed strides there. With it being our first game it was tough, we were out of shape. Hats off the South Central they play well. They push it in transition and they're very good team and (coach) Dallas (Yost) does a phenomenal job with them.”

Toms says he has great respect for the job that Willard head coach Joe Bedingfield does with the Crimson Flashes. “Coach (Joe) Benningfield it doesn't matter who you give that guy he finds a way to make them disciplined and execute what he wants to execute,” he said.

Willard has a lot of freshmen and sophomores that see a lot of time in the varsity game.

However, Toms says they don’t play like kids with that kind of inexperience. “Watching some film on them. The senior (Mason) Dawson kid, he knows how to play basketball. They're freshmen don't play like freshmen. They play like experienced guards that have seen the floor on varsity. They like to run sets, have a lot of movement. You just have got to be able to slow them down and keep it on offense and use as much clock as possible and keep it low scoring,” said Toms.

Published 12/10/25

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Lucas Wants to Slow Tempo

Lucas opens the season on Saturday a home against South Central in non-conference play.

First year coach Corbin Toms likes the progression his kids have shown heading into the opener. “We had a good 4 scrimmages. We had a rough start with scrimmages with a couple of key football players being injured, but getting them back, getting them into shape, back into basketball shape was great. So, those last couple of scrimmages we started to trend in the right direction,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “The tough thing though is South Central is a good team and they have got two games under their belt and do to Crawford being really good in football and we got that game pushed back. So, it'll be tough to play a team that's already had two games in their belt, but I feel really good about how practices went this week and then the past couple weeks.”

Toms says it helps that the first game is going to be on their home floor. “I've been telling our kids having a first game at home, that's huge. South Central's not on their home floor, it’s Lucas, a tough gym to shoot in if you're any opponent. So, just play our game, slow it down, and just take care of the ball. Limit turnovers and if we get a chance to shoot free throws you take advantage of it,” he said.

South Central (1-1) downed Crestline (70-57) on Tuesday night.

Toms says the Trojans want to play fast and they want to slow them down. “South Central has got a lot of guys back from last year. Their coach is in his third year. He does a great job. The kids get after it. I mean they really want to push the ball in transition, they're a transition team. They get a rebound and it seems like any of their guys are confident enough to take it up the floor. #3 is big, tall, really athletic kid. They motion him, a lot of iso stuff on the block and then he'll come out and he can get his shots from the perimeter. They're a very deep team with a lot of experience. It's just all about slowing them down, stopping ball, and taking away that transition and making them run stuff in the half court,” said Toms.

Published 12/05/25

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Key for Lucas is Improvement

Lucas has a new basketball coach this year in former player Corbin Toms as the Cubs prepare for a season that starts in a couple of weeks.

Toms says they will have a mix of some players with experience and some guys that don’t have much. “There's a gap here. We have got a couple experienced guys back that kind of got thrown into the mix last year as the younger guys, but they have now that year under their belt. Also, our freshman class, I was lucky enough to coach at our middle school. We have got a bunch of kids that play in the freshman class. There is a couple kids that are pretty solid that are definitely going to help us, maybe have to play varsity minutes like Cooper Day and Anthony Fanello, definitely some big names, Hayden Maloney all played varsity last year and were hoping for them to do some good things for us this year,” said Toms.

The basketball preseason really isn’t that long, but the Cubs are dealing with it, said Toms. “It's tough, we had with us making the playoffs in football not having them there for that week and then dealing with a couple injuries. Some of the guys we had last year had some injuries in football. I tell you what man they're the hardest working kids and the past probably week and half have just flat out worked their butts off and we've gotten better each and every day,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We had our first scrimmage (Tuesday) night and it wasn't the greatest, but when you only practice for a week in a couple days. Have a couple kids hurt it's hard to look great right off the bat. Like I told them, it's in the past and we have got to find a way each and every day to get better.”

Corbin says they can use scrimmages to evaluate things, but playing in a real game will be different. “We scrimmage (Thursday) again after having a scrimmage (Tuesday) night. I had a conversation with my assistants. We did stuff over the summer and you see stuff out of kids in the summer and it gives you hope, but at the same time there's a lot more pressure once the season starts. More nerves, more anxiety out of kids because they know the season is starting. They're varsity jersey is on the line. So, we saw some of those things that we expected to see in a scrimmage. I'm hoping that they keep improving over these next couple scrimmages and get ready to go once games start,” he said.

Published 11/13/25

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Run Game Big For Lucas

Lucas is on the road at Strasburg-Franklin in a first round playoff game on Friday night.

The Cubs put together a three game winning streak, culminating with a (37-0) win over Crestline on Friday night to make the postseason when it looked like maybe they wouldn’t.

Coach Jim Sweat likes the way the Cubs are playing. “I can't be more proud of the kids. We're playing our best football this season right now for us and the kids really bought in and buckled down and are taking care of business to earn the opportunity to have a first round playoff game,” said Sweat.

This is the 13^th straight playoff appearance for the Cubs and Sweat says the players understand what the postseason is all about. “Especially the senior class they've been through this and they understand the preparation it takes and not to be satisfied with just making it, but to want and to have the drive to want to compete and continue to win football games to continue their season,” said Sweat.

Lucas (5-5) is at Strasburg (7-3) on Friday night. The Tigers are coming off a (51-0) destruction of Tuscarawas Central Catholic last week.

Sweat says, like them, the Tigers want to run the ball. “They are a power run team. They're very disciplined, they play great defense, they have good size up front and skill kids. Make no bones about it, they want to run the football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “They do a lot of what we do, but out of different formations. They want to run the ball between the tackles and stretch vertically with their pass game. So, very solid football team from what we've seen on film. They are well coached it should be a hard fought game on Friday night.”

Published 10/30/25

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Lucas Wins, They’re in

Lucas players and fans are used to playoff football and they will earn a birth in division VII with a win at home Friday night over Crestline.

They put themselves in that position with a come from behind (26-12) win over Lutheran East last week.

Coach Jim Sweat says they played very well in the second half. “It was a huge win for us. The kids played extremely hard. We stayed focused and didn't have any mistakes in the second half and took advantage of turnovers and some opportunities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It was great for the kids. It was nice to see them build on the week before with the great win we had over in Pennsylvania. So, the kids are playing hard and I can't complain about that. We had a great week of practice this week, so we're very happy with where we're at, not satisfied yet, but happy with where we're at.”

Lucas (4-5) plays host to Crestline (5-4) on Friday night. Crestline lost (63-20) to unbeaten North Baltimore last week. They are in a similar playoff position as Lucas, so the Bulldogs need a win too.

Sweat says they have a lot of playmakers. “Crestline has a lot of skill kids. They get after it. They're pretty solid on the offensive side of the ball. We're going to have to play mistake free football offensively to do what we do and line up and run the ball. Make sure we limit their big plays from the big play ability kids,” he said.

Sweat says the kids have embraced where they are and are excited to get out there Friday and have some success. “It looks like if we win, we're in and so a lot of momentum coming into this week and not taking for granted where we've you know dug out of the hole and got ourselves back into the playoff picture. So, a lot riding on this week and the kids understand that and they've embraced that challenge this week. So, excited to see how it shows up and produces on Friday night,” said Sweat.

Published 10/24/25

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Lucas Has to Control Tempo

Lucas will be at home at Bob Wine Field for Lutheran East in a high school football game on Friday night.

They came up with a solid win in traveling to Pennsylvania and beating Reynolds (22-15) on Friday night.

Coach Jim Sweat says they did what they had to in the fourth quarter. “The kids played really hard last week. Some things came together for us a little bit last week. The biggest take away from last week is we had a little bit of adversity and the kids weathered the storm and came out and finished the ball game. We got a big stop on defense in the fourth quarter and then possessed the ball for the last four and half minutes, converted two fourth downs to run the clock out. It was a great win last week for the kids,” said Sweat.

The assignment for the Cubs is clear if they want a division VII playoff berth. Sweat says they need two wins. “To get into the playoffs this year we got to win out the rest of the year, so we are hoping to build on that momentum from last week and keep churning ahead,” he said.

They play the Crestline Bulldogs next week.

Lucas (3-5) plays host to Lutheran East (4-4) on Friday night. East, know more for their basketball excellence, beat Cleveland Central Catholic (34-12) last week.

Sweat says they want to get the ball, keep it, and control things with their power run game. “They have skill kids all over the place. They're a well coached football team and D3 school for us. So, we'll have our hands full with their athletes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Definitely going to be a contrast of skill sets there where we want to run the ball between the tackles and they want to spread you out and throw the ball all over the place and run to the edges. So, should be an interesting game on Friday night.”

Published 10/15/25

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Lucas With Long Trip

Lucas takes the bus to Reynolds, Pennsylvania for a high school football game on Friday night.

The school is just on the other side of Youngstown, so about two and half hours on the bus.

The Cubs lost (35-7) to Amada-Clearcreek last week.

Coach Jim Sweat says they were handled by a bigger school. “They're a division V program, quite a bit bigger than us, and don't let their record fool you they’re playing D3 and D2 schools and really, really fundamentally sound well coached football team. We had a rough go of it last week,” he said.

Lucas kids are used to this kind of travel. Sweat says will be the last year for this kind of travel as the enter the Northern 10 Athletic Conference next year. “Unfortunately, we've been all over the state and been to Pennsylvania two years in a row now. Kind of the last year and was kind of the result of moving into the new conference next year and trying to find a game for one year that weren't two year deals, which most teams like to have. So, pretty used to the travel. We're happy that next year a lot of that travel goes away for us,” said Sweat.

Sweat says this team will stretch the field on them. “They're pretty disciplined. Got some really nice skilled kids. They do a little bit of everything, a lot of formations. They like to formation you all over the field. It causes you some problems in alignment and try to exploit those alignments,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It's about us. We have got to get better up front and play with some intensity and take care of business on the road.”

Published 10/10/25

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Lucas Learning Football

Lucas plays at Marion Elgin in a high school football game on Friday night.

Last week, they played pretty good football in the first half. But gave up four straight scores and lost (34-15) to Martins Ferry.

Coach Jim Sweat says they did not respond. “We challenged our kids all week that we need to be physical. Martins Ferry is a very storied tradition program and play really good football. We came out in the first half and our kids really accepted the challenge. We were up 15-6 at halftime. We had one called back late in the in the first half and could have been up you know 23,22-6 going into halftime,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We came out the second half and missed a tackle on their opening drive. They did an unintentional, intentional onside kick. Hit one of our front kids and they recovered and we couldn't just recover. That's been a challenge for us this whole season. Right now, finding a way to overcome adversity and powering through. That's really the difference in us being 4-1 and 2-3 right now.”

Lucas (2-3) is at Elgin (3-2) on Friday night. The Comets blanked Cory-Rawson (39-0) last week.

Sweat says the Comets try to do a lot of the same things they do. “They're pretty much like us. They run the wing and wing-T and their physical up front and have really good running backs. They're well coached. It'll be a challenge for us again this week. No rest for the weary with us. We have Elgin this week and schedule doesn't get much easier after that,” he said.

Sweat says right now for the Cubs they need to understand the mental part of the game better. “That's the challenge that's been the message to our young men is that there's always going to be adversity in any good football game that's played. The team is able to overcome that is most likely the team is going to win. Right now, that's our biggest challenge. We've accepted a lot of the X&O's part of it and execution part and now it's just the mental part of the game and that's what's holding us back. Unfortunately for us when you have a lot of young freshmen and sophomores playing in positions and it takes those kids a little while longer sometimes to to figure those parts of the game out.”

Published 9/25/25

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Lucas Getting Better

Lucas entertains Martins Ferry on Friday night at Wine Field in Lucas.

Last week, the Cubs (2-2) drilled Vanlue (62-0)

Coach Jim Sweat says some good things happened last week and this week for the Cubs. “Well, I thought we had a lot a lot better effort last week than we had in some stretches against our opponent the week before. Unfortunately, the older guys didn't get many reps Friday night, but this week in practice we’ve had a pretty good week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We're happy, it gave us an opportunity to get healthier at couple positions last week. So, thankful that we had that opportunity.”

Sweat says when you have a blowout like last week it becomes a balancing act when it comes to playing time for starters versus reserves. “That's always the trick to that. How do you balance that with making sure we don't get an injury when you're up big. So, it's always a trick, but the young kids, they're there at practice every day. They're working hard too, so they've earned an opportunity,” he said.

Martins Ferry (2-2) lost last week (48-20) to Richmond Edison. That, of course, is not the Edison of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

Sweat says this is a team that is going to try and be physical. “They’re a great program, pretty traditional program down there. I can tell you they are huge up front. They've got a lot of size and the skilled kids are pretty solid. So, we have got a tall task this week. We're going to have to play mistake free, hardnosed football, to be competitive this weekend,” said Sweat.

Published 9/18/25

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Lucas Working on Their Stuff

Lucas will be at home on Friday night as they entertain Vanlue in a non-conference football game.

They certainly had a chance to win last week, but lost (26-14) at Danville to the Blue Devils.

Coach Jim Sweat says it got away from them late. “We're up 7-0 at halftime, it’s 14-14 going into the fourth quarter and then couple big plays at the end of the game that we couldn't overcome. It was a good old-fashioned football game, but we came out on the wrong end going. Those are always the tough ones,” said Sweat.

Sweat says the goal this week is to get back on track. “We're not where we wanted to be at this point. We knew we would have a tough one with Hillsdale,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We thought last week was a winnable football game for us down in Danville and come up on the short end. Keep the kids focused this week was the plan and get back in the win column and get back to .500.”

Vanlue is the smallest public school in Ohio to have 11-man football, Lucas is the third smallest. New London, out of the Firelands Conference, whipped the Wildcats (49-0) last week. Crestline beat them (48-6) the week before.

Sweat says they are going to concentrate on fixing themselves. “I think this week that's what we're seeing. The kids are really focused this week. We got back to some basics in a couple of areas, especially on the offensive side of the ball and trying to get things rolling again,” he said.

Published 9/10/25

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Lucas Faces Another Athletic Team

Lucas has another tough assignment this week as they travel to Danville to meet the Blue Devils in a non-conference game.

There is definitely a sense of rivalry here with many exciting games in the past in the Mid-Buckeye Conference and the playoffs.

The Cubs (1-1) were shut out by Hillsdale (31-0) last week.

Coach Jim Sweat says they were beaten by a very good team. “First and foremost, Hillsdale is an elite football program and the way they’re playing football right now they're elite level. Having said that, I like the competitiveness that we had at times last week. We showed some young growing pains by not being able to sustain drives and gave up some plays, which we said we couldn't do. It’s time to move on and have got to move on to our next opponent. It doesn't get any easier for us this week being down at Danville,” said Sweat.

Sweat says the kids have reacted well to the loss in practice this week. “The kids have responded well. We're happy with the response we got from the kids this week. We told them if you want to be elite you have to learn to beat elite teams and right now Hillsdale is that elite team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We found out where we stand. The great thing about the rest of our season we have another opportunity if we do things right to run up against them again in the playoffs, hopefully, a deep playoff run and have another crack at it.”

Danville (1-1) fell (27-8) to Utica last week.

Sweat says they are facing another team with very good athletes. “Well, again it doesn't get any easier for us defensively with all the skilled kids that they have on the field. They have a couple really quick athletes. The quarterback is a big, strong kid, he runs the ball well and finds open receivers well. Yet another week where there is skill everywhere for our opponent,” he said.

Published 9/04/25

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Lucas Must be Disciplined

Lucas will be at Hillsdale in a key matchup among small schools on Friday night.

In their opener, the Cubs pounded Plymouth (51-0) last week, scoring early and often.

Coach Jim Sweat says they were solid in their play. “The kids responded really well last week. We challenged them all week long to take that next step forward and play pretty solidly. Can't be more happy with the effort that we got and the physicality we got from our boys last week,” he said.

They weren’t perfect game one and Sweat says they have put in a good week of practice this week getting better. “We had some things that we needed to clean up from last week. We worked on those things pretty hard this week definitely. We have a great opponent in front of us and have nothing but respect for coach (Trevor) Cline and what Hillsdale’s program has become and then the last couple years. They've got skilled kids all over the place, they're big and physical up front, so we have a tall task in front of us Friday,” said Sweat.

Last week, Hillsdale was near equal in rushing and passing yards and Sweat says their balance makes them hard to stop. “It's kind of like pick your poison. Sloan at running back and Lewis at quarterback and the receiver group that they have are truly talented. So, definitely it's a pick your poison kind of night. You try to shut down the run and then they beat you over the top. They’re well coached and very disciplined. So, again tough task for us on Friday night,” he said.

Sweat says on Friday they have keep the ball in their hands plus not allow big plays in the special teams. “Complementary football and that's what we try to preach here Lucas. The run game for us is obviously vitally important and possessing the football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It's hard for them to score if we can possess the football and limit their opportunities. That will be definitely very important to us. Most importantly is their speed and skill kids they also create a lot of problems in the third phase special teams, so we have to be disciplined there as well.”

Published 8/29/25

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Lucas Must Execute

Lucas will be at home to fac the Plymouth Big Red at Wine Field on Friday night.

The opener is always exciting and a bit anxious for everyone involved and Cubs coach Jim Sweat says your really never sure what you are going to get. “You're dealing with teenage young men. Sometimes you're just not sure until you get underneath those lights on Friday night. There's nothing like being under those lights,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “You hope that moment is not too big for the kids. You try your best to prepare them to be ready for that moment, but until they're doing it you just don't know what that answer's going to be.”

Sweat thinks his guys are getting better and a team as we near that first game on Friday. “I thought our first scrimmage we were really sloppy and needed to clean some things up. I thought last week we took a big step in the right direction with our scrimmage with Cardington. We've still got a long ways to go before we're where we want to be, but again the kids are working hard and I'm very appreciative of that. We can take the next step forward this week I hope,” said Sweat.

Plymouth, out of the Firelands Conference, comes calling on Friday night and Sweat says they are going to have to play well. “Coach (John) Gillum up there does a really good job with his kids. They're in the same boat that we are with not a whole lot of numbers this year. So, it'll be iron man football on Friday night I'll tell you that, especially for our game with Plymouth. So, seeing them on film they're a solid ball club. We're going to have to execute and do the things right to be successful on Friday night,” said Sweat.

Published 8/19/25

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Lucas Working Hard

Lucas has been one of the more consistent small school football programs in North Central Ohio and the Cubs are putting in the work to do again this year.

Coach Jim Sweat says they will have returning talent in the skilled positions this year. “Well, I think it's going to be a little bit of mix. Up front we're going to be a little bit more inexperienced than we were last year. We lost a core group of seniors last year that dominated the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Some of our skilled kids from last year we are able to bring them back. So, a little bit of mix of both,” said Sweat.

Sweat says they have another hard working bunch this year. “Well, I can tell you that in the offseason the kids showed up. They were dedicated this offseason worked really hard. Last week, unfortunately we were a little sloppy against Loudonville in our scrimmage. We want to get that cleaned up, but I'm happy with the effort so far,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have to have a whole another gear. We've got a pretty tough schedule coming up this season with Hillsdale and then Danville back-to-back weeks then Lutheran East sprinkled in there, a couple other bigger schools. So, we have our work cut out for us. We don't have a lot of time to be prepared, so we need to really be successful (Friday) night in cleaning up some of the things that we didn't do well last Friday.”

They host Cardington for a scrimmage on Friday night.

This will be the last year of the cross state schedule for the Cubs as they are joining the Northern 10 Athletic Conference next season.

Sweats says his kids are really ready for this season to start. “You get the emotion to everything. It's opening Friday night. We're getting underneath the lights. They roll out the crowd that we're blessed to have here in Lucas so being at home a week from Friday will be an exciting time for the kids and they'll be ready to go,” he said.

Published 8/15/25

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Lucas Will be Back on the Floor

Lucas didn’t play last week, but they return to the hardwood on Friday night against Mansfield Christian in a game in the Mid-Buckeye Conference.

They play at Plymouth in a non-league game on Saturday.

It’s been a tough year for Lucas (3-12,2-3), but coach Taylor Iceman says he sees light at end of the tunnel. “Some good things. We didn't play last weekend, which was kind of nice. We had a weekend off, which is rare this time of year. So, we got a lot of practice in and it was kind of nice with the way the weather was last week anyways and with school being cancelled it worked out,” he told Swakonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We've shown some improvement. It's been a tough year for us, but we're excited to get back to playing. We have got Mansfield Christian over there, which was a tough place to play. We played them tough last time. We got beat in overtime. It was a game we probably should have won. So, we're hoping we can go in and play well.”

The Flames won that first game (58-50) on December 20.

Mansfield Christian (9-7,5-1), in second place in the conference standings, beat South Central (73-61) in a non-conference game on Saturday. They beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (51-49) in a conference game on Friday.

They are led by Davion Mack and Iceman says he’s hard to control. “They're tough, especially over there in that little gym. They like to pressure the ball. Davion Mack, he's one of the better athletes and basketball players in the area. Once they put him in that in that little gym with not a whole lot of spacing with his length he causes a lot of trouble for you. We have got to take care of the ball. He's also pretty good on offense when he has the ball. So, we're going to have to know where he's at and keep him out of the paint,” said Iceman.

One of the Cubs problems this season has been turnovers. Iceman says they have to eliminate those on Friday. “We need to not turn the ball over, that's been our biggest issue this year. That concerns me going over there again and playing in that small gym with them and their pressure. So, we will have to take care of the ball to give ourselves a shot,” he said.

Published 1/29/25

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Lucas Making Strides

Lucas will be at home for Danville in a non-conference game on Friday night.

Tuesday night, the Cubs fell (66-48) to Crestview, one of the better small school teams in the area.

Coach Taylor Iceman saw some nice improvement in their play. “We played better. We played a lot harder. It was 24-20 at halftime. They ended up stretching it out on us and beating us by 18. So, our kids competed and played a lot harder than they played the prior weekend. We talked about this is going to be a learning season for us. I thought our kids took a big step forward playing a good team in Crestview and just getting to compete a little bit. It opened their eyes up a little bit, a better atmosphere and the game was more fun because of it,” said Iceman.

Iceman says the players are learning how hard you have to play at the varsity level. “Sometimes we question whether they're competing or not and they got a little taste of it. Like I said, it was 24-20 at halftime against a good team. I think we tied it up in the third quarter at one point. So, it was just nice to be able to go back and forth, especially at home, and have some emotions and just be invested in it a little bit more. It just makes it that much easier for the kids to want to buy in and to keep working hard when you get a little bit of reward for working hard and doing the things that we've been talking about,” he said.

Lucas (1-2) hosts Danville, who will be playing their first game of the season.

Iceman says they don’t know much about Danville, but they are more concerned about themselves anyway. “They haven't played. We played them last year. I've heard they've got some kids that aren't playing, but we'll find out (Friday) night. Again, it's more kind of about us still at this point. It's not really all about what they're going to do. We're going to continue to keep getting better at doing what we're doing. I'm learning about our team. I'm figuring out what rotations work well, what kids do well together on the floor, which ones we need to not have out there together and things like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It's nice to be able to have games that are competitive. We're not playing the top teams on our schedule right out of the gate, so we don't have a chance to do those kind of things because I think it's a winnable game for us. I talked to our kids (Thursday) night again and said if we come out and continue to improve and play hard we're going to have a chance to win the game. That's all we can ask at this point as we continue to figure things out.”

Published 12/13/24

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Lucas Wants to Find Out

Lucas pays a visit to Mansfield St. Peter’s for a game in the Mid-Buckeye Conference on Friday night.

There are going to be a lot of unknowns in this game.

Cubs coach Taylor Iceman says it’s their first opportunity to learn about themselves. “We're ready to play somebody different. We've been practicing a lot. We did have one scrimmage, but we've been learning a lot trying to work on things. It just gets to a point where good or bad you just want to go out and see where you're at and play somebody else. It's kind of an unknown team for us this year, we're talking about our team, and we want to get out there and see what we can do and see what we need to work on. What we're good at, so we're ready to play,” said Iceman.

The Cubs have won the last six “MBC” titles.

Roy Shoulders returns to the sidelines for the Spartans and Iceman says there are going to be some unknowns there too. “Kind of an unknown there as well. New coach, but I know Roy's (Shoulders) is a good coach, so I expect the kids to play hard and do all the things that good coached teams do. So, we know we're going to have to play well to win. I don't know a ton about them to be honest with you. I know these first games you learn a lot about your team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We're going to learn a little bit about them, but we're going to learn a lot more about ourselves. If you're a team like we've had in the past few years. Last year, we played a Mohawk team that was really good that first game and both teams knew a lot about each other to prepare and do those things whereas this year with us and St. Pete’s I think it's two teams that are trying to get things going in the right direction.”

Iceman looks for a competitive matchup Friday night. “You want to see what you what your team can do and what your strengths and weaknesses are going to be and then and then go from there with your season. So, it's going to be a good game. I think should be competitive both teams, like I said, trying to figure out what their season is going look like and (Friday) is going to be the first test for both of us,” he said.

Published 12/06/24

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Lucas Will be Different

This year the Lucas Cubs don’t have very much experience and they are going to have to go about things much differently.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they do not have much varsity experience at all this year. “We'll have a lot of new faces this year. This is probably the first time in maybe my entire 10 years that we don't have some experienced guards coming back. I really only have two varsity players back from last year, so it's going to be a big learning year for us. We've been fortunate here in years past we've had some really good groups come through and just graduated and a bunch of basketball players and we don't have a ton of basketball players in this in the school right now. Unfortunately, that's how it goes in a small school, but we've just been so fortunate for so long you kind of forget how it usually is. We've got Bobby Grover and Zach Winters, who played for us last year some. They'll be back playing this year, those are kind of the names that people would recognize, but other than that we're going to have a lot of younger guys and some new faces out there,” he said.

Iceman says they need to get some scrimmages in, but he also believes getting a lot of practice time is important. “We were not fortunate this year we only played one round of playoff football, so I got our guys a little bit sooner than usual, but again it's a new group, so we're doing a lot of practicing, which is great. We're learning a lot in practice, but you can only do that for so long and go against the same guys in practice that already know what you're doing and you need to go against somebody else. Scrimmages become important. We're going to go to New London on Thursday and scrimmage. Then we're supposed to scrimmage Hillsdale, but they’re still playing football, so I don't know what’s going to happen there. Then we are supposed to open with Danville and they’re still playing football. So, we'll see what happens. Scrimmages and practices are extremely important when you have got a lot of guys that haven't played a lot of varsity basketball, so you want as much exposure and just the difference in speed and things like that from JV to varsity basketball. So, it's extremely important, but again I'm fine with practicing and learning right now,” said Iceman.

Iceman says due to the makeup of their team they are going to have a much different approach to the game. “We always talk about that, especially with our football success and how that would come right into basketball season. We missed some stuff with not getting to practice or what have you, but they're coming from a sport where they've been winners have been successful and that usually that carries over. So, now we're talking about from year to year we we've been successful and everybody knows what the standard is that Lucas. I've had to kind of adjust how I go about things just because we have such a different group. So, it's a challenge all the way around. There's so many different things with coaching. We have to change our approach this year and at a small school you can have a system and do things the way you do, but if you don't have the type of athletes, or the bodies, to do it one way sometimes we have got to change,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We've got some size this year. We've been really guard heavy in the past and we've obviously been successful with those guys, but we haven't had a ton of size. This year I've got three guys that are probably at least 6’5” and a couple that are 6’6”, 6’7”, so we're going to have to adjust kind of the way we play a little bit to cater to that. So, again it's so different this year going about things differently, but again it also makes it kind of fun and challenging because we have to change according to what we have. We've got something a little different this year, so we're going to go about it a little different than we've done in the past.”

Published 11/19/24

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Lucas Needs to Play Pass Defense

Lucas visits Malvern for a first round playoff game in division VII on Friday night.

The Cubs have won 14 playoff games in the last six years, so they know what the strategy is to get that done. Many times that has come as an underdog. Plus, not being in a conference means they are no strangers to long bus rides. This one will only be about an hour and a half.

Coach Jim Sweat says when you’re in the playoffs everything becomes magnified. “The name of the game is being focused and having attention to detail and doing the little things right and that's how you get wins on Friday nights, especially when we get into the playoffs late in the year,” he said.

Lucas (5-5) is at Malvern (9-1) on Friday night. The Hornets closed the regular season with back to back shutouts of Tuscarawas Central Catholic (41-0) and East Canton (34-0). Perhaps their best win came week eight when they beat Newcomerstown (38-28).

Sweat says they can throw it around. “They're very dynamic offensively. Their quarterback is one the best quarterbacks throwing the ball that we've seen all year long. They're solid up front and their skill kids do a good job of getting open,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We're going to have to tight down on defense. I think most importantly for us we have to play a complete team game. Our style play is predicated on all three phases of the game working in unison. We need to do our job on offense and limit their possessions.”

Of course, Lucas wants to possess the ball and Sweat says on defense they have to make Malvern uncomfortable. “We will try to keep him moving off his mark as much as we can and give him some different looks the best we can and keep him moving around. Guys like this young man when they get locked in they're a problem,” said Sweat.

Published 11/01/24

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Lucas Looking in a Mirror

Lucas controls its own destiny when it comes to the division VII football playoffs. The simplest way is to just win on Friday night against visiting Whiteford, Michigan.

They could lose and still get in, but they are going to need some help.

They hammered Kansas Lakota of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference (46-9) last week.

Coach Jim Sweat says they continue to play better football. “We did what we needed to do last week. The offense started coming along a little bit more the last couple weeks. Defensively, we've been playing a little bit better than we had earlier in the year, but most importantly we're getting healthy,” said Sweat.

Sweat says that is goal in the Lucas (5-4) program to be peaking at this time of year. “We always pride ourselves on trying to play our best football at the end of the year and this year's no exception to that,” he said.

Whiteford carries a (4-4) record on the season. They have not won two games in a row this season, but they did beat White Pigeon (30-16) last week.

It isn’t very often that Lucas plays a team that runs an offense like them, but Sweat says that will be the case this week. “They are the Michigan version of us. They run double wing. They're a really storied program. They were state runners up in division VIII, which is equivalent to our division VII in Michigan last year,” he told Swanknsports.com on Tuesday night, “They've been to four straight final fours in the State of Michigan, so they're a solid football program was a great tradition and we’re going to have to strap it up on Friday.”

Published 10/23/24

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Lucas Has to Keep Moving

Lucas stands 15^th in their division VII region with two weeks to play and they need to win both games if they are going to make another playoff appearance.

The top 16 in each division make the playoffs.

This week, they play at Kansas Lakota of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

They smoked North Central (50-0) last week.

Coach Jim Sweat says they are moving toward full strength and they did some good things last week. “We took a big step last week. The defense played well for the most part of the night. On offense, we found some rhythm. Again, I think the big thing for us last week is we started to get some kids back healthy and had some continuity. So, it was a nice step forward. Obviously, to be where we want to be we're going to have a lot tougher opponents moving forward. We need to buckle down and win some football games here at the end of the year,” said Sweat.

Lucas has enjoyed great success in the playoffs over the last five to 10 years. Sweat they want to peak and this is the time of the year to be doing that. “We've always prided ourselves at Lucas of hitting our stride about week seven or eight and then turn that into a nice playoff run. We're hoping we can, as in years past, duplicate that again this year,” he said.

Lucas (4-4) is at Kansas Lakota (2-6) on Friday night. Lakota lost (35-0) to Margaretta in a River Division game last week.

Sweat says the Raiders are an athletic team that has played a tough schedule this year. “They're really dynamic. They like to throw the ball and they have a great mix of with the run game to keep you honest. They have athletes all over the field,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Don't get lost on their record. They play pretty tough schedule in that Sandusky Bay Conference as we know with Tiffin Calvert and Gibsonburg and Margaretta, that's some pretty solid teams up that way and it's going to be hard fought game.”

Published 10/17/24

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Lucas in Must Win Situation

Lucas has been a fixture in the postseason playoffs, but if they are going to make it in division VII this year they need to probably win out.

That process begins by entertaining North Central on Friday night. They stand in the very last qualifying sport this week in division VII, region 25.

They lost (24-6) to Amanda-Clearcreek last week.

However, coach Jim Sweat says there were some positive signs in that game. “We're not one for moral victories, but I'll tell we didn't see the result on the scoreboard that we wanted to see, but I thought we took a big step forward last week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “The kids played four quarters, played hard for us four quarters, still got a lot of things need to clean up, but the effort was definitely improved from the week before. We went toe to toe with a really good football team and came out on the on the wrong end, but again I'm happy for the effort that we got last week and the step forward we took.”

North Central (2-5) lost (48-7) to Summerfield, Michigan last week.

Sweat says they are going to show them a lot of things on offense. “They like to throw the ball all over the place and a lot of misdirection and option, so we'll have to be disciplined this week on the defense side. Offensively, they have some good size up front. We're going to be physical and do what we do and get after a little bit this week,” said Sweat.

North Central couldn’t be much farther from Lucas and still be in Ohio. The school is located in Williams County, which is the farthest Northwest of any county in the state.

Sweat says the Cubs (3-4) are in a must win situation this week when it comes to the playoffs. “That goes without question. We're taking the mindset that we need to win out to get to where we want to be. Every week is an opportunity to get better and we need to keep getting better right now,” he said.

Published 10/09/24

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Lucas Looking to Get Better

Lucas entertains Amanda-Clearcreek at Wine Field in a high school football game on Friday night.

They were demolished (35-0) by Tiffin Calvert last week.

Coach Jim Sweat says they were beaten in every aspect of the game by the Senecas. “Plain and simple, we took a good old-fashioned high school football butt whooping over there. They came prepared ready to play. It’s on me, I didn't have our kids ready to go. They beat us in the trenches. They beat us in pretty much every aspect of the game. So, we have got to get better and that starts with me and putting together a better game plan and getting the kids better prepared,” said Sweat.

Sweat says they are dealing with some adversity, but they aren’t making any excuses. “More important than the win is playing well and playing together as a team. We've been bit by the injury bug a little bit this year. We're down seven or eight kids again this week and with small numbers that doesn't always translate well for us here in small school football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “No excuses, we have got to get better, got to line up and we got to be more physical and more disciplined and we have to eliminate mistakes. That's right now our big problem. We can't seem to figure out a way right how to limit big plays and to not make mistakes on the offense side of the ball.”

Lucas (3-3) puts out the welcome matt for Amanda-Clearcreek (3-3) on Friday night. The Aces lost (25-24) to Hamilton Township last week.

Sweat says this is another very good football team they are playing this week. “Well first and foremost, they're a division V school and they play up a lot of games too. They play some division II and division III schools. So, that 3-3 record, don't let it fool you they're a good football team. They're very disciplined, they're well coached, they're physical. They have a one heck of a run game. I think the other night they went for 365 yards on the ground. So, we're going to have to bring it. Our margin for error is pretty slim when we play up like this week after week,” said Sweat.

Published 10/04/24

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Lucas Must Contain Calvert

Lucas will play on the road at Tiffin Calvert, of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Saturday night.

Last week, the Cubs ran for 450 yards and stuffed Willard (49-19) in game played at Bob Wine Field.

Coach Jim Sweat says they dictated how the game was going to be played. “I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that we controlled the tempo on offense. We were able to come up with a couple turnovers and had an onside kick. So, we schemed some things throughout the week that we thought we could take some possessions away from them and limit their big play ability,” said Sweat.

The Cubs (3-2) are really a whisker from being a four win football team.

Sweat says they have done a solid job battling adversity. “Especially, with the injury bug that we kind of suffered here throughout the beginning of the year so far. We haven't had a game yet where we've had the starting five up front for us. We're still missing one of our top returning running backs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “He’ll be out for a few more weeks. We hope to get him back here as we make the long stretch run. But all things considered I'm pretty happy with where we are. There's room for improvement every week. That's our biggest goal here Lucas. It's not so much about the opponent every week as it is about us getting better.”

Calvert (3-2) lost (10-0) to Gibsonburg in a slugfest in the River Division last week. They are the only school to beat Mohawk (28-27) this season.

Sweet says again this week they are going to have to do a solid job containing the big play. “We know one thing, they have great size and they're well coached and they're very disciplined. So, we're going to have to be physical this week. We challenged our kids (Monday) with that mindset that we're going to have to show up and be physical to be competitive and limit their big play potential,” he said.

Published 9/24/24

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Lucas Must Limit Possessions

Lucas hosts Willard on Friday night at Wine Field in a game that features two very different approaches to the game.

The Cubs want to run and eat up the clock and Flashes want to run an air raid sort of offense.

Last week, Lucas beat Warrensville Heights (21-14) on the road.

Coach Jim Sweat says they really played well in the second half of the game. “We gave up a touchdown on a play with no time left in the first half. The kids came out in the second half and pitched a shutout on defense and scored twice on offense,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We took a knee inside the three yard line on the last play of the game otherwise maybe we could have put another one on. The kids responded well after halftime, it was really nice.”

Sweat says that second half is great example of what Lucas football is all about. “That is something that our program prides itself on. When it’s time to roll up our sleeves and go to work our kids do what is asked of them and work hard. We never lose a football game because of lack of effort,” he said.

Lucas (2-2) is at home for Willard (2-2), out of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday. The Flashes were outscored (41-34) by Woodmore in a division game last week/

Sweat says they will put the ball in the air. “They like a lot of five wide and they throw the ball all over the yard. They are much improved over the last time that we saw them. They are well coached, disciplined and they play hardnosed defense. Our kids are going to have to strap it up and play well on Friday,” said Sweat.

Sweat says to win on Friday, they have to keep the ball away from Willard. “We had a 100 total plays in our game on Friday night. I believe they had 91 plays of offense on Friday night. So, I don’t think you are going to see more of a stark difference in tempo on Friday night. The tempo of play is a key for us. We need to do our best to control the tempo and play at the tempo we want to be at,” he said.

Published 9/19/24

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Lucas Needs to be Disciplined

Lucas, a team familiar with travel, will take the bus to Warrensville Heights, for a football game on Friday night.

Last week, they lost a heartbreaker (30-25) to Smithville of the Wayne County Athletic League.

Coach Jim Sweat says it appeared that they took the lead in the late going. “First of all, I like to thank the kids, we challenged them at halftime. We didn't play well in the first half and came out and won the second half. Did enough to win the ball game at the end. Matter of fact, threw a touchdown pass with less than a minute to go. We got it called back with a holding penalty,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Again, we challenged kids pretty hard at halftime and they came out and played well in the second half. Unfortunately, we had dug ourselves too much of a hole in the first half and couldn't crawl out.”

Lucas (1-2) has had a run of success in small school football and Sweat says he knew the kids would respond. “We're breaking in some new kids in some new positions and not trying to make excuses, that's not what we're about at Lucas. We just have to get better. We put ourselves in a big hole Friday night. Had three straight possessions where we had a blocked punt and two fumbles and turned the ball over inside our own 35 yard line and that's not going to win any football games against good football teams when you do that,” said Sweat.

Warrensville Heights (0-3) lost (30-6) to Westlake last week.

Sweat says they are blessed with some very good athletes. “They're very athletic. They're a spread team. They like to run the ball. A lot of jet sweep, a lot of option, zone options. So, we're going to strap it up on Friday night. We're definitely going to have to be the more disciplined team. They have talent everywhere and skilled kids at every position that are pretty outstanding. So, we're going to have to be disciplined up front on both sides of the ball and control the game in the trenches,” he said.

Published 9/11/24

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Lucas Prepared Well for Smithville

Lucas takes on another team from the Wayne County Athletic League this week as they take the bus to Smithville to challenge the Smithies.

They fell (26-8) to Hillsdale last week.

Coach Jim Sweat says uncharacteristically thy got beat in the trenches. “First off, hats off to Hillsdale. I know we talked earlier last week we talked about their explosiveness and they displayed that on Friday night. Beyond that they were more physical than us on Friday and it showed,” he said.

Lucas (1-1) has won a lot of football games in recent years, so there haven’t been many weeks after a loss.

However, this week, Sweat says they have taken well to coaching. “They responded well. We challenged them a little bit this week. We talked about needing to be more physical and doing the little things right and getting back to the basics,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I thought that we had a good week of practice. So, I was happy with the way the kids responded to the challenges.”

Smithville (2-0) edged Claymont (30-27) last week.

Sweat says the Smithies want to run the football and have the tools to do it. “They are huge up front. They have three 300 pounders up front and they get after it pretty well. The running back, he's a solid kid, he's a physical runner and likes to get downhill fast. I think he went for about 250 some yards last week, so pretty big game there. They're well coached, they're disciplined and they get after it,” said Sweat.

Published 9/06/24

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Lucas Must Get Better

After a win on the opening weekend of the season, the Lucas Cubs return home to Ohio to host the Hillsdale Falcons in a non-conference game on Friday night.

Lucas and Hillsdale have played four times over the last three seasons and each game was tight and competitive. The Cubs have won three of those, including (28-14) in the first round of the playoffs last season.

The Cubs took a long bus ride to northern Pennsylvania last Saturday and beat Smethport (48-12) in their first game.

Coach Jim Sweat says they did some good things. “We had a pretty good day for our first time out. We were sloppy on some special teams and some first year jitters out of some young kids, but I thought we kind of refocused well and put together a pretty solid football game. We've got to get better in the weeks to come to reach the goals and to be where we want to be, but a good start,” said Sweat.

That win aside, Sweat knows they have to get better as a football team before they play Hillsdale. “Historically that jump between week one and week two is one of your biggest jumps. We're hoping we can do that because a lot of things we have to get better at to reach our goals for our program this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We have a great opponent this week in Hillsdale. Coach (Trevor) Cline, I have nothing but the utmost respect for what he does down there at Hillsdale. It’s a good rivalry game for us. Their skill kids are lights out and we're going to have to play mistake free football to be competitive with good team like that.”

Hillsdale scored 23 points in the first quarter and went on to hammer Black River (44-12) last Friday night. Kael Lewis threw for 238 yards and six touchdowns for the Falcons.

Sweat says Hillsdale is explosive. “Not only did he throw six touchdown passes, he threw six touchdown passes in the first half. So, again their offense is pretty lights out and their skill kids, wow, they're exciting to watch and we're going have to play some really solid football to be on their level,” he said.

Published 8/27/24

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Lucas Has to do it up Front

Lucas will leave Saturday morning for an almost five hour road trip to Smethport, Pennsylvania, for their season opener on Saturday afternoon against the Hubbers.

Coach Jim Sweat, in his first year as they head coach, says he believes his kids are prepared for their first game. “I'm happy the kids are working hard. We know we still have to get better at some things. Luckily for us it's a marathon and not a sprint to get through this season. We'll just keep doing what we're doing and getting better every day,” he said.

Sweat says it was a long process to find an opponent after Cardinal Stricth announced they were cancelling their football season. “We were able to find a couple coaches forms that led us to a couple other coaches forums that found an opening and coach (Taylor) Iceman and myself were able to reach out to their school. They are a similar size, a little bit bigger than what we are, but they traditionally are trying to do what we do. They line up in some wing-T and run the ball and play solid defense.”

When it comes to keys, Sweat says the biggest will be limiting mistakes and staying out of bad down and distance situations. “Definitely the team that makes the least amount of mistakes. I know that sounds cliché, but with what we do and with what they do you can't get behind the sticks and domination on the line of scrimmage is the key to the day,” said Sweat.

Published 8/21/24

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Lucas Cubs are Optimistic

It’s going to be a new era of Lucas football, well kind of.

Longtime assistant Jim Sweat talks over as the head coach of the Cubs. Scott Spitler, likely the most successful coach in school history, retired after last season.

Sweat says they transition to the head job has been pretty smooth. “Well, I would like to think so. I have been with the program for 12 years now and had a great mentor in coach (Scott) Spitler, and we still remain in contact with each other quite often and get to talk football. So, not only is a mentor, a good friend, so yeah so being around having the kids, knowing them, and them familiar with us, I think makes a little bit easier for the transition,” said Sweat.

Sweat says they have some key kids in trenches that have varsity experience, but their skilled positions are going to be manned by some guys getting their taste of varsity football. “We have some experience coming back up font. A lot of our skill is going to be replaced with some young men that didn't get a lot of experience on Friday nights last year but, have been in a program for a couple of years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We were senior dominated last year. I had a lot of skill guys that played at high level and some of our underclassmen didn't get the opportunities on Friday that you would like to see sometimes, but we are we're optimistic that those kids can step up and fill the roles for us.”

Under Spitler the Cubs ran the unique double tight, double wing offense. Sweat says they will feature the run. “We're going to be who we are. We're going to line up and play hardnosed football up front and we're going to run the ball,” he said.

Published 8/09/24

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Seneca East Races Past Lucas

Seneca East held Lucas to just one point for the final 6:25 of the second quarter and the Tigers downed the Cubs (76-66) in a district semifinal in division IV on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

They return to “House that Haas Built” on Friday night to play Colonel Crawford again in the district final. The Eagles beat Mansfield Christian (63-59) in the lid lifter on Tuesday night.

Blake Foos exploded out of the gate Tuesday night as he scored eight of his team night 20 points, on four field goals, in the game’s first 3:27 and the Tigers had a (10-9) lead.

Seneca East coach Anthony Langhurst says the athletic Foos always plays with a lot of energy. “I need some of that magic on some of my other players for next game, but again you can kind of tell he's always playing at 100 mph. Sometimes it's not good, sometimes it gets us in trouble, but you want kids like that that just play as hard as they can. So, it's just been fun watching him play,” he said.

Foos finished with 20, Luke Mason added 15, and Aiden Hines and Lucas Bordner both had 13 for the Tigers.

Langhurst says that kind of balance has been a positive all season for the Tigers. “That's the way it's been all year. It's one of those things where guys aren't looking for themselves. They’re looking for that extra pass. It's just fun watching this group of guys. They trust each other and that's something that we preach. It's the same thing on defense. You have got to trust your teammate on defense. So, it's just been a total team effort the whole way through,” said Langhurst.

Seneca East outscored Lucas (20-5) in that second quarter and Cubs coach Taylor Iceman says that has kind of been what their season has been about this year. “We talked about it, we've kind of done a lot this year. We come out and play well, we get a little tired and then lose focus on defense and they had a big quarter. I think we probably played being fairly even the rest of the way, but put yourself in a hole like that, you can't come back from that at this juncture,” he said.

Lucas (19-6) put together a nice run to the first quarter, outscoring the Tigers (7-0) over the last 1:45 of the quarter to take a (21-14) advantage.
You don’t win seven straight sectional titles by mailing it in and the Cubs would battle. They got with six at (63-57) after an Aiden Culler three, but it was not to be.

Langhurst says they expected that Cubs will ponce and attempt to get themselves back in it. “That was another talking point, Lucas is not going to roll over you know what I mean. They've been here and they've have a great tradition. I told Coach (Taylor) Iceman since I've been at Monroeville, a long time ago, just to watch him, the way he's done with that program is impressive,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Tuesday night, “If our kids play as hard as his kids you're going to be in a lot of games. So, it's impressive to watch those guys. We have got a resilient group. They're competitors, so I knew that when push came to shove, we'd be able to attack back.”

Seneca East (20-5) runs a non-typical 1-3-1 zone with match-up principles in it and Iceman says that made it difficult for them. “It's not like a traditional 1-3-1. We've seen everything this year. It’s essentially the same type of deal, they are just going to pack the paint and try and keep you out of there. It's not a traditional 1-3-1, so you can't do a lot of things that you would normally do against a 1-3-1, but it's a zone so you can't run a lot of your offensive sets. Again, it forces you to change what you do. Obviously, if we got to pick, we’d say we want you to play man and we will run our stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com in the locker room after the game, “Early we may jump shots and you know it would give us a lead and then we quit making jump shots and against a zone, especially when they're packing like that you have got to be able to make some jump shots to bring them out, so that you can get to the rim. We knew we weren't going to shoot it well all night. I'm glad we shot it well for at least a portion of the night and that gave us a chance. When you're not shooting then you got to sustain it on the defensive end that much more. We chose a bad time to do both, not shoot it and not play real great defense.”

Logan Toms, the Cubs all-time leading scorer, had 24 on Tuesday night. Fellow senior Aiden Culler added 17.

Seneca East shared the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title Colonel Crawford and two others and they beat the Eagles twice, (46-40) December 29 at Crawford and (53-44) on February 9 in Attica.

Langhurst says this one will be tougher. “To me the boys looked like they even got bigger than the last time we saw them. So, we're going to let the boys enjoy tonight and kind of get to work (Wednesday). Rest a little bit of legs, watch a little bit of film on the first couple games and just try to put a game plan together and see if we can stop some of their athletes,” he said.

Published 3/06/24

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Lucas Has to Handle the Ball

Lucas returns to Willard again this year as they will play Seneca East in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night.

It’s their seventh straight district appearance.

They beat Monroeville (49-40) to win a sectional last Friday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they had to do some good things because Monroeville played well. “I thought Monroeville played really well. They didn't have a great season by their standard. They didn’t have a great record coming in, but they played really well. They played a little bit of zone against us. The (Gabe) Howell kid played really well. They have decent size and I thought they played really well. We played good enough to win and we played pretty good in spurts. I don't think we played horrible, but I thought they played really well. So, I give a lot of credit to coach (Paul) Roeder and their staff and their team for getting ready and playing a pretty good game the other night,” said Iceman.

Lucas (19-5), the Mid-Buckeye Conference champ, meets Seneca East (19-5), the co-winner of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. The Tigers walloped South Central (74-33) to claim their first sectional title in quite a while.

Iceman says they cause a lot of turnovers that lead to scores. “They are just athletic. They have got three good guards and then some good size inside. They play a 1-3-1 and get a lot of deflections and just cause a lot of tips and turnovers and then they go score in transition. Offensively, they get a lot of shots up. If they're open, they'll pull the trigger and then they go offensive rebound and score that way and then turn around and play that 1-3-1 on you, so it makes it difficult. You have got to take care of the ball and then rebound. So, they've had a good year for a reason. They have got a really good team this year and they're playing really well right now,” he said.

Against that zone, Iceman believes it’s important to attack gaps and not throw a lot of long passes that are easily intercepted. “I think it's really important that you attack the gaps. You can't make long passes over the top. They've got three guards that are pretty athletic, pretty quick and if you throw long passes they're going to run them down and get layups out of it. You can't give them easy points like that. You have got to keep them in front of you and make them work for their offense and then rebound,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They pull the trigger quick, so if you force them into a tough shot you have got to make sure you go rebound it. Then get the ball back and possess it and take care of it. It’s just really important to take care of the ball against them. That's going to be a huge point of emphasis for us. Like I said, they've had a good season, but they're playing really well right now that's kind of that's what scares me a little bit.”

Published 3/05/24

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Lucas Wants to Do Their Stuff

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference champ, will be home for a sectional final in division IV on Friday night against the Monroeville Eagles of the Firelands Conference.

On Wednesday night, they hammered Crestline (79-41) in a semifinal game.

They trailed after the first quarter and coach Taylor Iceman says they just couldn't get anything going early. “We came out a little slow. We've been working on some things with our defense trying to make some changes for some potential opponents down the road. We kind of backed off of a little bit of our pressure defense. We just came out and weren’t very aggressive and it carried over from our defense to our offense. Give Crestline a lot of credit, they came out and played really hard right from the start and they couldn't miss. They were knocking down shots. I think they hit four three pointers in the first quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It just kind of took us a little bit to get going. I’ve talked about this this. It is one of the reasons why I don't like taking the buy in the first round. I always choose to play because it's just a different setting, especially this year playing at home in the first round. There's no JV game in front of your game. So, it's just kind of a different setting and different feeling. Sometimes it takes you a second to adjust to that. We were trying to do a few things differently and just wasn't a good start for us. Fortunately, we were able to ratchet our defense back up and get some life going and then we played a little bit more like ourselves the last three quarters.”

Lucas (18-5) hosts Monroeville (8-15) on Friday night. The Eagles also won a semifinal (65-57) in overtime over Sandusky St. Mary’s on Wednesday.

Iceman admits before this week they didn’t know much about Monroeville. “We played them last year in the tournament in the district semifinals, but they graduated a lot from that team, really only just a few kids that played last year for them are on this team this year. To be honest, we haven't seen them a whole lot. We didn't plan this year or anything like that. We did see a little bit of film with them against some of our opponents that we watch. So, we were a little bit familiar with them, but we've watched a lot of film on them. I just had the team over to my house here, we had dinner and watched them,” said Iceman.

Iceman says a lot times these games with short turnarounds are more about your execution. “It's tournament basketball, you get basically a day and half after you just played. So, you flipped to a new opponent. Sometimes it's not so much about the opponent, but kind of what you do. So, we're going to come out and be us. We get to play home again this week, so hopefully we handle the situation a little better than we did the other night and it should be a little bit more comfortable and be ready to go right from the start in this one,” he said.

Published 3/01/24

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Lucas to be Tested by Ontario

Lucas wraps up the regular season with a game at Ontario on Saturday night.

The Cubs have won eight of their last nine games and coach Taylor Iceman likes what he sees from his team with the postseason starting next week. “I think we've been playing pretty well lately. We've won a few big games in there and lost a tough one to a really good Willard team, but I thought we played pretty decent in stretches even in that game. So, we're hoping we're headed in the right direction you want to be playing well at this time of the year. The one thing with this team I think our role player guys have really grown a lot and they're starting to come into their own. We're fortunate we've got two really good players in Aiden Culler and Logan Toms. We've kind of said all year we would go as our role players went. As they've gotten better, we've certainly grown as a team and we're happy with where we're at right now,” said Iceman.

Lucas (17-4) plays at Ontario (5-15) on Saturday night. The Warriors have lost five of their last six and have only one win over a plus .500 team this year.

However, Iceman expects the Warriors to be inspired for this game. “It'll be interesting to see we actually scrimmaged them as part of a three-way scrimmage early this year. We never really set up scrimmages due to our football success, we don't really know when we're going to get the basketball. So, we hopped in a scrimmage with them, so we got to see them early. We keep an eye on people that are on our schedule and we're preparing for them this week. So, it'll be interesting to see you know their growth from where they were at the beginning of season where they're at now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It’s another big school that's going to be big out to get us. Similar to Clear Fork last week you know school that maybe didn't have the season that they wanted coming into it, but when they see a successful small school on their schedule at the end of the season and that's a chance for them to kind of right the ship and maybe end the season with on a on high note by you know beating a smaller school that's got a pretty good record. So, we know they're going to be hungry for us.”

Lucas opens tournament play against Crestline next Wednesday and Iceman feels this is a good game for them to be playing. “It's a big school, they play some bigger, stronger, faster opponents throughout the course of the season. So, we expect to see a bigger, stronger, faster brand of basketball, which is great for us at this time of year. That's we want to see so that we're prepared and just playing a little quicker than we're comfortable as we get ready to head to the tournament that just prepares you for the type of games that we're going to see hopefully in the district when we get there,” he said.

Published 2/22/24

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Lucas Wants to Send Message

Mid-Buckeye Conference champion Lucas hosts Crestline in a conference game on Friday night.

They have Plymouth in a non-league game on Saturday.

Last week, they claimed their sixth straight conference title with a (61-58) win over Mansfield Christian.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they played well in what was a tough game. “We're playing pretty good. I'd say started with a good win against Mansfield Christian. It was really good high school game, good high school atmosphere, a lot of people there and just a fun night for us to kind of close out the conference. It was a good win right before the draw,” he said.

Last Saturday, they lost (72-55) to Willard of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

Iceman says Willard is a good team and they kind of ran out of gas. “Then bounce back Saturday night and play a really good Willard team. We knew we were going to have our hands full, but at this time of the year we want to be playing good teams. They're going to challenge us even if we get beat there's not a whole lot lost there. You get to play one of the better teams in the area and a bigger school. They just play bigger, faster, stronger, and it's good for us at this time of year. We played with them for probably two and half quarters. They stretched out a little in the third and we played even the rest of the way. I’d be lying if I didn’t say we weren’t a little wore out from the night before. We had some kids out sick last week and we kind of had a big game Friday night. We honestly, we just got tired there in the third and they're really good and they made some shots and stretched out on so we just weren't able to come back on a team like that,” said Iceman.

They added a (71-57) non-league win over Clear Fork on Tuesday night.

The Cubs (15-4,9-0) play at home against Crestline (3-17,2-6) on Friday night. The Bulldogs beat Loudonville (60-53) in a “MBC” game last Friday. They lost (76-41) to Bucyrus in a non-league game on Tuesday.

Lucas won (69-44) when they played January 12.

Iceman says they want to send a message on Friday. “They played us pretty decent over there at their place the first time we played. Again, I'd be lying if I would tell you we were completely ready for them. We had Colonel Crawford the next night, so we were maybe kind of looking past that one a little bit. Now, we are going to finish out the league schedule and then it becomes the bigger game because they chose to play us in the tournament,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It can go one of two ways, we can play like we're supposed to and kind of send a message that probably shouldn't know picked that slot there. If we don't go out and play very well, we are going to give them some hope and they're going to be coming in ready to go trying to upset us in the tournament and we certainly don't want that. So, where going to go out and play our brand of basketball and hopefully get through it and finish out the conference season with a good win.”

Published 2/16/24

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Lucas Needs Everyone to Play Well

Lucas can win an outright title in the Mid-Buckeye Conference with a win at home against Mansfield Christian.

If the Flames win, the two schools would share the lead.

Lucas has dominated the conference in recent years and coach Taylor Iceman says they look forward to playing in games like this. “We talk about it every year. It's always our first goal to win our league. We've been fortunate in the last few years to do that. The group we have this year they just don't want to be the guys that that that turn that over and don't win the league. So, there's some extra fuel there. You play all season and we've put ourselves in a great spot. We were able to beat them over there the first time. So, now we have got to finish it off and beat him again at home on Friday night. It's a huge game for them and it's a big game for us for our league and then also the tournament draw is Sunday. We're both in the top four and this will help for seeding purposes there as well. So, hopefully playing well at this time of the year and it's cool to have a big game like that makes for a fun atmosphere and we're looking forward to it,” said Iceman.

Lucas (13-3,8-0) plays host to Mansfield Christian (15-3,7-1) on Friday night. In their first meeting, the Cubs rallied to beat Christian (64-62) to take first place in the league back on January 5.

Iceman says the Flames are very athletic and are going to pressure them. “They're super athletic. They want to pressure and turn you over and score that way. We did a good job of handling their pressure over there early and then then we didn't and they stretched a little bit of a lead out on us and then we slowed things back down a little bit and played even with them and then was able to eventually get over the hump. It was a really good game over there. We're happy that we're at home. A little bit more spacing on our floor as opposed to their gym over there. It's tough, they just have athletes and especially playing in that little gym it's tough to take care of the ball. We're hoping we can handle the ball a little better this time and impose our will on them,” he said.

Seniors Logan Toms and Aiden Culler have been the Cubs leading scorers all year, but Iceman says they are going to continue to need their roles players to do good things. “We're fortunate we've got two guys that do a lot of our scoring, but to be honest here lately with some of our wins and some of our growth this season, our role players have really stepped up. Early on we talked about how we would go as far as our role players would take us this year. We've had some games where Logan (Toms) and Aiden (Culler) have just won the game for us with what they're able to do, but here lately some of our bigger games, and even Saturday night with Central Christian, which was a big game for us, seniors Gabe Porter and Keaton Day stepped up and filled their roles,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They're playing with more confidence and they've kind of found their role. Those guys are huge, especially when you have got two guys that get as much attention as Logan and Aiden. They’re going to need them to play well no matter who we're playing for us to have a chance to win, but again the thing that's kind of put us over the hump here lately has been our other guys playing well.”

Published 2/07/2024

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Lucas Needs to Take Care of Business

Lucas will be at home for the Kidron Central Christian Comets in a game in the Mid-Buckeye Conference on Friday night.

The Cubs lead the conference standings by one over Mansfield Christian. Central Christian is two games back.

Lucas lost (43-31) to Colonel Crawford in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they learned a lot. “I won't say it was a butt whoopin’, but they just took it to us. It was so crazy, we had six points at halftime, and usually at that point you would say well you're done, but they only had 12. So, we weren't out of it. The way both teams play defense six points was more like being up 15 in that game. We lost the game, but I think we're going to learn a little bit more from that. We're still kind of beat up. Zach Diehl, one of our seniors, one of our returning guys, he's dealing with a back injury and he's trying to get that figured out. We held him out Friday night then he tried to go Saturday and he played the first few minutes and just wasn't able to do anything. So, we're trying to get him figured out. Then Zach Winters, our big guy, our junior, he's been dealing with an ankle injury as well. So, we're a little beat up and we don't have as many bodies as we've had in years past as it is. So, it's been a challenge with even practices. I mean we've been practicing with seven guys and it makes it tough. So, we're figuring it out. I told the guys in the locker room, I think we take a lot more from that game getting beat there than we do in the district when I hope to see them again. I think that kind of opened our eyes up a little bit and we'll know what to expect next time we're playing because I think there'll be a lot more on the table,” said Iceman.

Lucas (9-2,5-0) will welcome Kidron Central Christian (5-6,3-2) on Friday night. The Comets lost (68-56) to Mansfield Christian in a league game last Friday.

Iceman says this is an important game for them. “They're tough, they have got five or six guys they can play. We went over there earlier this year. It’s a place we always struggle to play and we played fairly decent over there. I remember that game Bobby Grover made some outside shots for us, which helps playing against their 2-3 zone. When you can extend them out a little bit and then open up some lanes for our other guys to get to the basket. So, it's a big game for us within our league. Mansfield Christian knocked them off last weekend. So, we can kind of almost knock them out of the race from our standpoint if we're able to take care of business on Friday. They're tough, they always give us fits, and we know this is a big game for us,” he said.

On Monday, the Cubs travel to unbeaten Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader.

Iceman says they are looking forward to the challenge. “These are the games that we want on our schedule. These non league games against bigger, better opponents. They are going to push us and force us to be better. Just the fun atmosphere that we want. They're having a great year, coach (John) Kurtz always does a great job with his teams. It's going to be a fun environment just because they’re 15-0 and they're fan base is pumped about it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We talk a lot about always us having the target on our back and we have got to show up every night and play. It'll be nice to go over there and just kind of play the underdog a little bit. We were able to get them at our place last year. We're just going to kind of take that same attitude into it and go over there. We would like to win, but even if you lose that one there you get a lot more out of just playing in that environment and in a in a big game. That just helps our team grow towards our goals that we still have in front of us with our conference and then ultimately the tournament.”

Published 1/19/24

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On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Lucas Works Hard

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference Leader, travels to Crestline to face the Bulldogs in a conference game on Friday night.

They plat at Colonel Crawford in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

Last Friday, Logan Toms scored 32 points on a bad ankle and the Cubs beat Mansfield Christian (64-62) to take sole possession in the conference.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they battled through adversity to get that win. “Logan Toms got going real hot there early and was kind of carrying us a little bit and then he rolled his ankle and he had come out of the game. We turned it over and kind of put ourselves in a hole and then he came back. Zach Diehl’s been dealing with some injuries and we had another one of our starters Zac Winters go down with an ankle injury. So, we were deep into our bench. It was just a good team win. Everybody kind of sold their role and then Aiden (Culler) and Logan obviously did a big chunk of the scoring for us, but a lot of kids did a lot of good things that that don't show up in the in the stat book. Ultimately, it was a great win for us there beating them at their place the first time around in in conference play,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they work hard and that pays off for the Cubs. “We don't have a ton of experience, but Aiden Culler and Logan Toms I've said it 100 times, I think they're good enough to play or start at any school in the area, big or small. They were the two guys handling the ball at the end of the game and making free throws and just doing winning things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We talked after the game and then tonight even at practice and just said I think we won that game last week during practice. We had some rough practices last week and I don't know anything about Mansfield Christian’s practices last week, but I would find it hard to believe that they worked harder than us last week. When you can do that and then go in and win a good game and feel good about it, it just helps the kids buy in that much more and hopefully that can kind of jumpstart us set the tone for our season.”

Lucas (8-1,4-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in eh small school division, is at Crestline (1-9,1-3) on Friday night. The Bulldogs lost (83-68) to Loudonville in a conference game last Friday.

Iceman says they have to have a business like attitude. “This is one thing that we've you know dealt with this season and over the years really. You can't overlook anybody and on any given night anybody can get beat. We've seen this year that we're capable of being pretty good and we're capable of being very bad. So, you have got to go out and just play one way all the time and then we have a big game Saturday night. So, it's not like we can go out and do a bunch of bad things. We just want to play well Friday night, get the win, pick up another conference win and feel good about it and then you know get ready for a tough test on Saturday night,” he said.

Published 1/09/2024

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Lucas Must Handle Christian Pressure

Lucas and Mansfield Christian, the co-leaders in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, square off on Friday night at the “Furnace.”

The Cubs (7-1,3-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, lost for the first time this season to division II Galion (61-41) last Friday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says hopefully they learned a lesson. “It was similar to what I thought could possibly happen. Like I said, we played some teams where we were able to make some mistakes and still win. We have kind of been telling our kids you know we can't do that kind of stuff when we're playing good teams. Going over to Galion, we played a decent first half. A good first quarter, we came out and played really well from the start and it was kind of downhill from there. We did not have a good second half. Galion’s got some good players and made some shots and put a little run together and then we just couldn't make up the ground. Just wasn't a very good showing by us. I thought that we had the potential to have that in us just with the way our schedule was set up,” said Iceman.

Iceman says the loss to Galion is going to make them a better team. “It's not a bad thing. Obviously, you want to win them all, but I think we needed to be humbled a little bit. Nothing's lost by losing a non conference game early in the season. If you handle it the right way, it can help you down the road. We don't want to lose anything. We want to win every time we go out there, but it wasn't a bad thing completely. We're going to take some things from it and hopefully we're better because of it,” he said.

Mansfield Christian (6-2,3-0) also lost a non-conference game, (63-53) to Nothmor, in their last outing on Saturday.

Iceman says the Flames will be ready for them. He says they have to handle the press. “It started with Galion, but we've got a tough little stretch of games here. Mansfield Christian is one of the better teams in our league and we've been fortunate to win our league for the last handful of years. Everybody else is sick and tired of us winning it. So, we expect to get their best shot. We have to go over to their gym. It's a tough place to play, it’s just small and there's not much spacing and just makes things more difficult over there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It's going to be a challenge. We didn't play real great when we went over there last year. So, they're going to be fired up. This is the first time around with them. We get them twice this year. It's at their place. They're going to want to knock us off, so we have got to be ready to go. We've been preparing. We have got to take care of the ball. They want to pressure you and turn you over and score that way, so you have got to take care of the ball. I think that's the most important thing when playing Mansfield Christian this year.”

Published 1/05/24

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Lucas Finds a Challenge in Galion

Lucas will be over at Galion to take on the Tigers out of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.

It will be one of the Cubs toughest challenges so far this season.

They smoked Loudonville (66-39) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game last Friday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they got a little better in the process. “Not too bad, we had some good moments and some not so good moments, but overall I think we improved on some things. We talked about this stretch of games where we were favored and we were supposed to win. We talked about that in the locker room after that game that we're learning some things about ourselves. Sometimes, it's nice to be able to go out and do that and you can mess around with some things, do some different things, see some different groups on the floor together and not have to worry about the outcome of the game and whether it's going to cost you the game. So, we're trying to be positive and take good things from those games,” he said.

Lucas (7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Galion (4-2) on Friday night. The Tigers beat Marion Pleasant (52-43) last Saturday.

Iceman says the Tigers offer up the kind of challenge they haven’t seen in a while. “We've been talking about this one for a little bit here kind of knowing that we had that stretch of games and knowing you're going to come out of the Christmas break. We've played some opponents that we were supposed to win and we haven't had to put in a ton of effort. So, we knew now you come out of the break you go over to Galion and play on a little bit bigger floor against the bigger school,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “When you play the bigger schools it's just a faster paced game, more physical and it just makes it that much more of a challenge. Sometimes you can make mistakes and get away with it against some of the opponents that we have been playing, but that's not going to be the case Friday night. They're pretty good, they have got good players, some good shooters. I know Tyler's (Sanders) excited to try and get a little revenge. He was over at Crestline for a long time and now he's over at Galion and he's ready to knock us off.”

Iceman says Galion is hard to guard, but they pride themselves in their defense. “They certainly go as they shoot it. The Kent kid, he shoots as well as anybody in the area and if you let him get going, he'll put up some big numbers real quick. That's kind of how they want to play. They have got a couple other guys, the Chapin kid can get to the rim and create and kicks it outside and finds those shooters. That's what makes them challenging. Fortunately for us, we hang our hat on the defensive end and we've been preparing for them. We're going to do our best to try and keep them in check and make them take tough shots and then hopefully those tough shots lead to rebounds and transition for us. That's how we like to play,” said Iceman.

Published 12/28/23

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Lucas Must do Little Things

Lucas plays at home against Loudonville in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night.

Last week, the Cubs took care of business in beating Mansfield St. Peter’s (67-21) in a conference game and South Central (75-48) in non-league play.

However, coach Taylor Iceman says there are still some things that need to be cleaned up. “We did we what we needed to. We still weren't real happy. One thing I've been harping on the kids as I look back through our scorebooks and we've only won one fourth quarter. That’s kind of a challenge to some of our guys that are substitutions and some of our key guys that come in. They're going to be playing in the games and I think they should win those games at the end of the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It’s not time to get in there and screw off because we're up by a bunch, it’s time to get in and work and get better. It's only going to help us down the road and continue to make us a better team. So, we won and that's the important thing, but like I said, we still want to take good things out of those games when we're winning by good margins there.”

Lucas (6-0,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, entertains Loudonville (1-4,0-2) on Friday night. The Redbirds lost (51-44) to Kidron Central Christian in a league game last week.

Iceman says again this week it’s about focus. “It’s another game we think we should win, so we can't go in with the mindset we’ll just show up and go through the motions. We have got to go out and play and execute and again continue to work to get better and just do the little things. That's one thing we've really been harping on this season because like I said sometimes in these games you can go out and you can get away with playing you know a little sloppy or a little lazy and when we get into some bigger games down the road or later in the season you're not going to be able to do those types of things, so you can't create bad habits and things like that,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they have to always be at their best because their name is circled. “It's a focused thing we're really, really harping on those type of small things here as we hopefully head into the break here with a with a conference win. Everybody wants to beat Lucas, especially in our league, they're sick of seeing us win and so we know we're going to get everybody's best shot. If you go in and you overlook somebody that could be the night you get knocked off,” he said.

Published 12/22/23

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Lucas Wants to Feel Good About Winning

Lucas plays host to Mansfield St. Peter’s in a game in the Mid-Buckeye Conference on Friday night.

They are at home for South Central in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

On Tuesday night, they dumped Danville (70-46) in non-conference play.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they pretty well for the most part. “Yeah, not too bad. We went up there and we did what we needed to do early and kind of jumped out on them and then we kind of coasted a little bit. This stretch of games we have here it's going to be a great opportunity for us to really work on things. For some those guys that we had talked about that don't have a ton of varsity experience give me a great chance for them to just to get in there and learn some things and get better. These are games we should win. These are some teams that are in transition and they're trying to figure things out and we should be heavily favored, but we still have to be able to find ways to take things out of those games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We can't just show up and not play very good and win. You don't want to do that. You want to still play well and win and get better. Sometimes these games can be tough because it's hard to get things out and the kids sometimes don't get up for it. Then all you can do is just not play good and it just is bad. So, we've really been focused on that. We watched a lot of film (Wednesday) night and just kind of tried to look at the little things that we need to improve upon so when we get into the meat and the bones of our schedule we have got to do those things to be able to win games and this is a great opportunity for us to work on those things and try and get better.”

Iceman says right now they are trying to make sure that everybody is on the same page. “This group's got to get used to playing with each other. It doesn't work if you get two or three guys doing the right thing and then two or three guys not doing it. Everybody's got to be in sync. We've got to all be working together. We're going to be communicating, rotating and doing all those things that we've done and seen that make us successful in the in the past. We practice it and you work on it, but again it's always nice to be able to go out and do it against another team. A group that doesn't know your plays. Just things like that make a big difference. It's challenging that was a conversation that we had (Wednesday) night. It's hard to go out there when you get to the second half and you're up by 15-20 points. Sometimes it's easy to lose focus and just kind of go out and go through the motions, but in the process of doing that you're just creating bad habits. We always want to play one way no matter who we're playing. We're never going to be disrespectful to an opponent, but we have got to go out and get better each night. We need to learn how to go about that so again these games are important. We can't control who we play, all we can control is how we play,” said Iceman.

Lucas (4-0,1-0) hosts Mansfield St. Peter’s (1-4,0-1) on Friday night. The Spartans won their first game of the season Monday night when they beat Mansfield Temple Christian (45-40).

Iceman knows they will be favored to win and if they do he wants the Cubs to enjoy it. “The only thing we can do is go out and not play good or just create bad habits and things like that and that's obviously not something we want to do. We're all aware of the situation over there and what's going on and they're trying to figure things out as well, but again it's another opportunity for us. I always tell our kids it's one of 22 that you're guaranteed. We've been extremely fortunate in years past to win a lot of games and the one thing that I've kind of learned, again we spoke about this (Wednesday) night is sometimes our kids just expect to win and we win and we in the locker room and we just kind of go through the motions,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I think sometimes we take that for granted. I told them I want to celebrate winning. I want to have fun in the locker room after we win not just come in and say hey well we won, but we did this, this and this wrong. We have got to fix that because when we play the good teams, we can't do that. Then you feel bad about winning. You don't want that. We want to have fun when we win because we've been fortunate to do it a lot, but it's not easy. We put a lot of hard work and time and effort into it, so you have got to go out and enjoy winning and still take something out of these games that we should be favored and we should win, but we have got to go out work hard and feel good about it.”

Published 12/14/23

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Lucas Must be in Top Gear

Lucas, traditionally one of the best small school basketball programs in this area, opens the season on Saturday night by hosting the Mohawk Warriors of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

The Cubs have some seniors with a lot of basketball experience, but coach Taylor Iceman says they need to be at their best on Saturday. “We've got three starters back from last year that we will certainly rely on. It's a little different for us this year. We’ve not, as I thought back of my career here, I don't know that we've played a team out of the gate as good as Mohawk. So, we have got to be ready to play and they say usually the first couple games you kind of feel things out. You play it and you see and you learn about what you have got to improve on and then you go get better through film and practice. We don't have any time to figure things out, we have got to go out and play because we have got to play a pretty good team right out of the gate. So, we'll learn a lot about ourselves on Saturday night,” said Iceman.

Mohawk was the runner-up in the “N10” last year and Iceman says they hare going to be tough to handle. “We've prepared a little bit for that. We've never played them in the regular season, but we see them in the summertime and then obviously we watch a lot of Colonel Crawford film the last couple of years, so I've seen them that way and they're just a good team and program. Coach (Paul) Dunn does a great job with them and it's going to be interesting to see you know what they do,” he said.

Mohawk has traditionally been a 2-3 match-up zone team, but they played a lot of man last season. Iceman says the need to be ready for both. “I expect to see a lot of zone this year, but they've got some athletes and they do want to get up and pressure you. It'll be interesting to see you know what they do against us. We've prepared for both. We'll be ready to handle whatever. We get to play Central Christian two times a year forever and they run a really good 2-3 zone, so we do get to see quite a bit of that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I think our kids will be prepared for that. They play really hard and really aggressive and do a lot of good things. They have got a lot of kids back from last year, so we're going to have to be like I said focused and ready to go right out of the gate.”

Published 11/30/23

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Lucas to be Good Again

Lucas has been one the better small school basketball programs in this area over the last more than half decade and that should continue this year.

However, coach Taylor Iceman says they do have a different mix of players than they have had in recent years. “I'm excited, we've been practicing for couple weeks now. We went over and scrimmaged Madison last Saturday. We're starting to get after a little bit. It was good to go against somebody different. You sometimes get tired of going against a team that knows all your plays and everything that you do in practice, so it was good to go against somebody different. I'm excited, we've got some guys back, we've got some new guys. We’ve got some guys that haven't played varsity basketball before. So, we have got a little bit of everything. A little bit different group than that I've had for the last few years. I've been really fortunate to have a lot of experience and a lot of guys that have played a lot of basketball. So, it's going to be a little bit of a different group, but I'm excited about it. I think we could have another successful year,” said Iceman.

Lucas plays its first game at home against Mohawk on December 2. They open play in the Mid-Buckeye Conference on December 8 at Kidron Central Christian.

Iceman says he knows what to expect from his seniors, from his veteran players, but it will be the other players that will determine how good the Cubs can be. “I fully intend to lean on them a lot at the entire year, but I know what I've got in those three guys because they started for me last year. I told the other guys that I fully believe that a lot of our success and failure is going to depend on our other guys, the role players, and some guys that haven't done it before. So, it's kind of up to them to really buy in and try and maximize their potential and we're working at that. It's just it's a little bit different than what we've had in years past, but I'm excited about it because it's nice to sometimes be able to see growth and things like that whereas in the last few years it was kind of like don't screw it up because we had a lot of talent, we had a lot of expectations and things like that. So, it's a different group this year, but our expectations aren't going to change and I honestly think we can have a really good year,” he said.

Iceman adds that he doesn’t need those guys to become superstars, he just needs them to be as good as their talent dictates. “I tell them all the time, Logan Toms is our best player and that wouldn't matter what school he was at with exception of a few in the area. I mean he’s really good. I tell our kids, I don't need you to be Logan, fortunately for us we have one of those. I don't need you to be Aiden Culler, because again he's another one of our guys that’s going to do a ton for us this year. I know what I have got and what those guys can bring. I just need you to be the best version of you and to be able to fulfill your role. I don't need them to come out and score 25 points and I'm not going to ask them to do something that they're probably not capable of doing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I do need them to you know take care of the ball, make good decisions, play good defense and just play as hard as you can. They're doing a good job of that. I think the next part of that now is actually going out and doing it and that kind of reaping the benefits from it. They're probably tired of hearing me screaming and hollering and telling them they have got to work hard, got to play hard, got to do this and got to do that and not getting to see the good stuff. Going out and doing all that is why we do it. They're ready to experience a little bit of that and I'm excited too.”

Published 11/22/23

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Lucas Must Control Trenches

Lucas meets Dalton, the Wayne County Athletic League champion, at Orrville Red Rider Stadium on Friday night in a division VII regional quarterfinal.

Last week, the Cubs (8-3) dumped another team out of the “WCAL” in Hillsdale (28-14) in their first playoff game.

Coach Scott Spitler says they were able to win at the point of attack. “I thought we came out and we controlled the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively for the whole game. When we can do that good things are going to happen for us and they did. We were able to get out of there with the victory and move on to week 12,” he said.

Dalton (9-1) rocked Conotton Valley (54-12) in the opening round.

Spitler says they score a lot points and don’t give up much because they are so good in the trenches. “I think it starts for them on the offensive and defensive lines. They have got great size and athleticism. Offensively, they move people, do a nice job of getting off the ball and blocking to the whistle. Defensively, their defensive line does a nice job of controlling their gaps and freeing up their linebackers to do their job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They've got great team speed at all of the skilled positions both offensively and defensively. A veteran team, several of these guys were sophomores when we played them in ‘21 and now they're seniors. You could tell they're just a very well disciplined, well coached, physical football team and it's going to be a tremendous challenge for our guys.”

Dalton beat Lucas in a playoff game two years ago. Spitler this edition of the Bulldogs is more balanced. “I think their systems are the same as they were in ’21. I think they're more balanced as a team, especially offensively this year. In ‘21 they were led by you two tremendous athletes and while they don't have just two individuals, I think collectively as a group offensively that they're more balanced and dangerous in what they can do. The quarterback is a great athlete and does a great job of running their offense and being a threat both running and passing and then like I said they're sideline to sideline players defensively,” said Spitler.

Spitler says in many ways, the keys are the same as they always are, win up front. “For us it's always how well we play in the trenches on both sides of the ball and this week would be no different. We've worked all week with our kids about this is going to be one of those heavyweight bout type battles. They're going to land punches and we've got to land our punches and keep moving forward and staying disciplined and playing to our game plan. If we do things the right way hopefully, we'll be there in the fourth quarter to have a chance to get out with a win,” he said.

Published 11/03/23

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Lucas Has to Win up Front

Lucas gets a rematch with Hillsdale on Friday night in the first round of the division VII football playoffs.

After a (30-0) win over Arlington last week, the Cubs have won seven of their last eight games.

Coach Scott Spitler says they want to be peaking heading into the postseason and he believes they are almost there. “I think we've really grown as the season has gone on. When you're independent you don’t have a league championship to play for anything like that. So, the mindset is earning the opportunity to get in the postseason and then be playing your best football when you get there and I think we're heading in the right direction towards doing that.”

Lucas (7-3) is at Hillsdale (8-2) on Friday night. The Falcons beat Lucas (21-17) on week two when quarterback Jack Fickes scored with 1:57 to play. Fickes ran for 120 yards and three touchdowns that night.

Spiter says Fickes is the engine that runs the Falcons offense. “They have just improved every week since we played in week two. They're very well coached, coach (Trevor) Cline does a great job and we have tremendous respect for their staff. They play sound defense and we've had trouble moving the ball on them because they're disciplined, they read their keys really well and they tackle well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Offensively, everything runs through Jack Fickes, he's a dangerous weapon that can put it in the end zone anytime he touches the ball. When he's the guy running the ship, as far as the captain of their offense, he's touching it on every play. So, he just stresses you so much and then they've got great skill at their running back position, the wide receiver position. So, they're playing a lot of young kids and then they've grown up now and playing really good football.”

Fickes has run for 401 yards and 10 scores. He has thrown for 952 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Spitler says as is usually the case, they have to control the point of attack if they are going to win the game. “We have to have a good night up front. Both teams are very similar. They do it a different way than us, but we both want to run the ball and play good defense. It's going to come down to who can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. So, our offensive and defensive lines have got to have a great game for us,” he said.

Published 10/24/23

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A Win Would be Big Plus for Lucas

Lucas puts out the welcome mat for Arlington in the Cubs final regular season game at Bob Wine Field on Friday night.

A win and the Cubs have a chance to earn a home playoff game for the first two rounds of the division VII playoffs.

Last week, they demolished Fort Loramie (34-7) on Friday night.

Coach Scott Spitler says they won up front. “I thought we did a nice job in all three phases, especially up front in the trenches with their offensive and defensive lines. We were able to control the game in the trenches and usually when we can do that it's going to be a good night for us,” he said.

Lucas (6-3) hosts Arlington (6-3) out of the Blanchard Valley Conference. The Red Devils beat Van Buren (28-6) in “BVC” game last week.

Spitler says this is another team, like them, that likes to run the ball. “It’s a very similar mindset that we have. They want to run the football like we do. They do it out of an option package, triple option, veer option. So, it might be one of those quick high school football games with two teams that want to control the line of scrimmage and run the football. They're extremely talented. They have got great speed and athleticism at their skilled positions and nice size and up front in the trenches on both sides of the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We're expecting a physical battle. This will be the third time we've played them and they've gotten us the last two times we've played them in tight ballgames. So, we've got a tremendous challenge and we want to finish strong on senior night in the regular season.”

Spitler says they would really like to beat these guys and if they do there are some other pluses too. “We have a lot to play for Friday night. First and foremost, we want our seniors to get a victory on their last regular season home game. Then we want to be able to earn the right to host a playoff game at Bob Wine. Then just the opportunity to maybe get off the snide and get one against them because like I said we haven't got a victory against them the last two times. So, we understand that we've got a challenge and we want to make sure we take care of business at home on Friday night,” said Spitler.

Published 10/20/23

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Lucas to Meet Big, Athletic Fort Loramie

Lucas, a winner of five of its last six, will host Fort Loramie on Friday night at Bob Wine Field.

The Cubs stand 11^th in their division VII region and would benefit from a win over a strong team this week.

They took a seven touchdown lead and buried Plymouth (49-14) last week to bounce back from a loss the previous week (34-27) to Lima Central Catholic.

Coach Scott Spitler says things went according to the game plan. “I thought it was a good night. The varsity guys did exactly what we wanted them to do and got out early and impose their will early. Then the ability to get some of our younger kids in for pretty much a little over a half. From about the mid second quarter on we were playing a lot of our JV and young kids. So, that's important, especially this time of year you are still trying to work and continue to build depth and get them experience and stuff, especially on Friday night. It was a just a good evening for our entire team,” said Spitler.

The Lucas coach says an additional benefit was they didn’t get anyone hurt. “That's always a plus as well, especially this late in the season. This late in the season, every football team is dealing with the bumps and bruises and the wear and tear of the season. So, anytime that you can this late in the season and get out of a game healthy, that's a plus,” he said.

Lucas (5-3) hosts Fort Loramie (5-3) on Friday night. The Redskins beat Norwalk St. Paul of the Firelands Conference (35-28) two weeks ago and downed Van Buren (35-12) last week. They have also won five of their last six.

Spitler says they are going to be tough to deal with. “This will be our third year playing them. They are a very well coached team. A lot of length and height. Very similar to what you get in a “MAC” school. A lot of 6’2” to 6’4” guys, 200 to 225, very athletic. They have a three year starter at running back, who stretches you vertically and horizontally and good size up front,” he told Swankonsport.com on Wednesday night, “Defensively, they get after it really well. I think they move sideline to sideline with their speed pretty good. They have the same record as us, their losses have come to some very good football programs, just like ours have, so we expect a very tough game Friday night.”

Published 10/12/23

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Lucas Plays Similar Plymouth

Lucas plays host to Plymouth in high school football action on Friday night.

The Cubs took Lima Central Catholic to the end last week before losing (34-37) to the Thunderbirds last Friday.

Coach Scott Spitler says it really did come down to the end. “We knew we were going to be in a battle. They're very talented offensively. It was kind of back and forth all night and came down to they stopped us twice and we only stopped them once and fell short there at the end. We told our kids all week it was going to be tremendous challenge and it was going to be like you're playing in the playoffs where two teams were going to have heavyweight bout and you're just going to have to keep throwing body blows and give yourself a chance to be there. We were there, they just happened to make one more stop than we did and that was the difference in the game,” said Spitler.

Spitler believes they are still improving and that is their goal again this week. “We had a nice little run there four straight and things were getting better and we're still getting better as a football team. We played a pretty good football game Friday night against a very good football team and came out on the short end. We learned a lot, we got into film and saw where we had deficiencies and that's where we're focusing on this week. We’re trying to work to continue to play our best football as the season goes on, which is where we want to be,” he said.

Lucas (4-3) plays at home against Plymouth (2-5), a (57-6) loser last week to Crestview in Firelands Conference play.

Spitler says it is kind of weird this week preparing for a team that does a lot of what they do because usually it is quite the opposite. “On the practice field (Tuesday) some of our kids were talking about how weird it was preparing for a team that does some similar things that that that we do. While they don't have the roster size right now, they've got some really tough, hardnosed kids that play hard. Layne Bushey at running back is a tremendous athlete and dangerous every time he touches the ball for them on offense. The Keefe brothers they have good talent and speed,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night,” I saw them play live in their scrimmage versus Smithville earlier this season when I was scouting Smithville. The one thing I came away from even though they're roster size is not big is their kids play extremely hard and they’re physical and they have got a good size. So, it's going to be a nice task for us kind of eerily similar as far as our attacks and everything, but it's going to be a nice challenge for our kids this week.”

Published 10/04/23

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Lucas to Play Explosive LCC

Lucas continues its tough schedule as they play at Lima Central Catholic on Friday night.

The Cubs have now won four in a row after getting past Monroeville (31-28) on the road last Friday. The Eagles are a co-leader in the Firelands Conference.

Coach Scott Spitler says a field goal and some big plays in the kicking game were huge for them in that win over Monroeville. “Monroeville is a very talented team and it was a knockdown, drag out, very close affair. When you go back and you look at it and watch film and look at things, I thought the difference was the execution by our special teams unit ended up being a very big factor in us coming out with a victory on Friday night,” said Spitler.

Lucas (4-2) is at LCC (3-3) on Friday night. The Thunderbirds belted Elmwood (49-18) in their game last week. In all of their wins, and once in a loss, they have scored more than 40 points.

Spitler says they have an outstanding quarterback in Carson Parker, who makes big plays in the run and pass game, plus other playmakers. “They return a very talented young man a quarterback in Carson Parker. He’s about 6’3”, 210, 215. He is a very physical runner, can make every throw on the field, very talented in the skill positions, big up front on the offensive line with two 300 pound plus tackles,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Then defensively, they just fly around to the football and play downhill really well. It's going to be a tremendous challenge. They're a lot like us being independent. They play a whale of a schedule. So, we definitely are in for a battle (Friday) night.”

With a turf field, the T-Birds are even a little faster. Spitler says they have to be sure one on one tacklers on Friday night. “Especially playing at their home on their turf field, which accentuates their athleticism and speed at the skill positions. We have got to tackle well in space and make sure that they earn every inch that they get or its going to be a long night,” he said.

Published 9/29/23

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Lucas Faces Tough Running Monroeville

For the Lucas Cubs its another team from the Firelands Conference as they are at Monroeville to tangle with Eagles on Friday night.

They were at Crestview last week and beat the Cougars (26-6) on Friday night.

Coach Scott Spitler says they made some quality adjustments. “We came out strong and then I thought we got a little complacent late in the first quarter. You can't do that against good football teams. Crestview tightened things up there and it was 7-6 at halftime. I thought we did a nice job of making some adjustments and our kids put the pedal down and took care of the football in the second half. We were able to get out of there with a good win,” he said.

Lucas (3-2) is at Monroeville (4-1) on Friday night. The Eagles thrashed South Central (41-6) in a Firelands Conference game last week. Their only loss comes to unbeaten Tiffin Calvert by a point.

Spitler says they have a tremendous running game that is hard to stop. “They are a dangerous football team that's playing good football right now. Offensively, they put up over 40 points against Crestview the week before we played Crestview, so they definitely get your attention. They're led by tremendous athlete at quarterback in Evan Benfer. He does it all. He’s a passing threat, he’s a tremendous runner from the quarterback position. When you get the quarterback that involved in the run game, that's plus one in the run game, so that's concerning,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They have got great size up front and they get off the ball well. His running mate in the backfield Landon Roeder at running back is dangerous as well. Then they have got a 6’5” wide receiver that does a great job of going up after the ball. So, they're going to be a tremendous challenge for our defense. Then defensively, they're just extremely aggressive get down get downhill really well at the linebacker position and are very physical.”

Spitler says the Monroeville running game can be very deceptive too. “Their run game is very potent and where he stresses you on the edge he looks like he's passing the ball while he's eating up yardage attacking the line of scrimmage with the run game. So, he does a nice job of selling what looks like a pass and that turns into being a quarterback run on the sweep or an off tackle power. So, they have got a very potent attack and it's going to be a tremendous challenge for us. Then vice versa on the other side now their defense has done a nice job at the line of scrimmage. We're going to have to bring it and it's going to be a four quarter battle,” said Spitler.

Published 9/21/23

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Lucas and Crestview in Physical Battle

Lucas is up at Crestview to play the Cougars in a non-conference game on Friday night.

Both teams base their offensive success on running the ball and the play action pass.

The Cubs (2-2), however, did not throw a single pass in their (49-14) romp over Warrensville Heights last week at Bob Wine Field.

Coach Scott Spitler says they executed their game plan. “I thought we did a good job of executing our game plan and forcing them to play our game. The guys up front did a nice job and then Logan Toms had a really good night for us,” he said.

Logan Toms ran for 210 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Spitler says they got great blocking up front and Toms was able to take advantage. “We got a really good job from our wing back and our fullback doing a nice job of setting the edge and kicking out for us. They were overloading them on one side of the front for us and so we had to take advantage of the side where they weren't and our guys did a nice job of that,” he said.

Crestview (2-2) was outscored (46-34) by Monroeville in a Firelands Conference game last Friday.

Spitler says the Cougars are a good football team that does a solid job in the trenches. “I think they have played some good football games and they've lost a couple close ones against good football teams similar to us there at the beginning of the season. When you're playing good competition you don't have a very big area for mistakes and they come back and haunt you. They they've lost a couple games just like we have, but this is one thing I do know, they've got a very good program, they're well coached, coach (Steve) Haverdill and his staff do a great job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They've got tough, physical kids that that do a nice job and they have got a lot of experience back on their offensive line that's evident in the points that they're putting up offensively. I think they're averaging a little more than 30 points a game right now offensively. I think it has a lot to do with the guys up front for them led by Caleb Cunningham.”

This could be a big game for both teams in terms of possible playoff seeding. Spitler says they have to win at the point of attack. “I think both teams will definitely be ready to play on Friday night. We're back in their house after playing there last year and taking it on the chin. So, we know what we're getting into, we know they're good football team and we have got to be ready to play. Again, it's another week where we've got to be really good up front on both sides of the ball,” said Spitler.

Published 9/13/2023

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Lucas Must Limit Big Plays

Lucas will be at home Friday night as they entertain Warrensville Heights, a school three divisions bigger than them.

They earned their first win of the season last week in dispatching of the Smithville Smithies (41-7) last Friday night.

Coach Scott Spitler says the key was what they did up front. “They are definitely a good, physical football team and we were concerned going in about being able to handle them in the trenches, but I thought our offensive and defensive lines did a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage for four quarters, which led to our success on both sides of the ball.”

Warrensville Heights (0-3) lost (35-34) to Westlake last week.

Spitler says the Tigers have big play makers all over the field. “Obviously the teams they have played are undefeated and they lost two of those games by one point each. They are explosive offensively and they've been in every game because of that explosive offense. They're big, long, and they seem to have speed everywhere, just tremendous athletes that stress you both horizontally and vertically,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “A big stress for us this week is we've got to be able to force them to play our football game and not get into a track meet and play their football game. We have got to make them drive the ball instead of big plays for us to be successful.”

With their non-traditional double tight, double wing offense, Lucas prefers to possess the ball and Spitler says that is especially true against a team like Warrensville Heights. “We are going to have to be able to set the tone offensively at the line scrimmage and control the tempo of the game. Play our tempo of the game and then control the football and eat the clock and help our defense out. Then we have got to be solid in a special teams area too. Their returners are fast as lightning and can house it on you at any given moment. So, we have to be disciplined about building the wall and breaking down and tackling well in the open field,” said Spitler.

Published 9/07/23

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Lucas Hurting Themselves

It’s time for the home opener for the Lucas Cubs as they host the Smithville Smithies on Friday night.

Hillsdale scored a touchdown with under 2:00 to play last week and beat Lucas (21-17) in the end.

Coach Scott Spitler says Hillsdale is a very good team, but they were their own worse enemy again last week. “It was another week where we felt like we were in a position to get out of there with a win and then came up short. Taking nothing away from the two teams we've played because they're darn good football teams, but I'm not sure we have anymore bullets left in the chamber so to speak because we've done a pretty good job the first two weeks of shooting ourselves in a foot at inopportune times. We've really focused this week on trying to clean that up and not put ourselves in that situation anymore,” said Spitler.

Of course, the Cubs offense is old school and run based and Spitler says big penalties and mistakes really hurt them. “When you play the competition and the schedule that we play you don’t have the room for error to do those type of things. We're not built to play behind the sticks with penalties and things like that. So, that's stuff that we've just got to get cleaned up or we're just going to continue to put ourselves in these bad situations,” he said.

Smithville (2-0) destroyed Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas (51-8) last week in game two action.

Spitler says the Smithies have the look of a very good football team. They are physical and put some athletes on the field. “They are a typical Wayne County Athletic League team. They're big, they're physical, they play good football and you can tell they're well coached. They have got a good athlete at quarterback and a nice stable running backs that can stress you in so many ways. Some good length at wide receiver,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Defensively, they play downhill and are aggressive. It's going to be another battle. It's going to be won in the trenches and the turnover battle. So, we've got to do a better job up front on both sides of the ball controlling the line of scrimmage. We have got to be clean, like I said, no penalties no turnovers.”

Published 9/01/23

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Lucas Needs to be Better up Front

Lucas hopes to rebound for a tough loss to Clear Fork on week one as they travel to Hillsdale to meet the Falcons out of the Wayne County League on Friday night in non-conference play.

Clear Fork edged the Cubs (17-14) in double overtime last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says it was a great game, they just came up a play short on the road. “Obviously, you would like to have a different outcome, but I’m pleased with the effort of the kids going two overtimes. I thought we played pretty good defensively. Actually, it ended up being a battle of two pretty solid defenses. They just happened to make one more play than we did. We did get out of there healthy, which is a good thing. We definitely have things that we have go to improve on this week to get ready for a quality Hillsdale program,” said Spitler.

Lucas prides itself in how good they are in the trenches and Spitler says they have to get better there. “I just think consistency in the trenches. While we did some really good things and we played with a good motor and effort. Just some fundamental technique things like attacking the correct shoulder or things like that, pushing the double team the correct way, just a few things. It just seemed like we were just too inconsistent in our execution to sustain drives and you can't have that when you're playing a good defense,” he said.

Hillsdale smoked Black River (34-8) in their first game last Friday.

Spitler describes them as a typical Falcons team that going to physical and has a quarterback that can make plays. “They are a typical Hillsdale team, very well coached. They graduated Hoverstock at quarterback, who was a tremendous dangerous weapon with his athleticism. What do they go and do. They move (Jack) Fickes from wide receiver in the quarterback to get the same type of weapon. He stresses you with his arm, he stresses you in their option game. They have got great size up front, so we'll be undersized again this week,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Then they just play very sound defense. So, it's going to be a tall task for us. Our games have always been close with them. The last two games it was a one point and a two point game, so we know they're well coached, their kids are hard, tough and physical and it's going to be a four quarter war Friday night.”

Published 8/22/23

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Lucas to Face Talented Clear Fork

Lucas meets Clear Fork at the Corral in the annual Hall of Fame game on Friday night in non-league action.

Both had very successful seasons last year.

Coach Scott Spitler says the Cubs are ready for it to not be preseason anymore. “Well they're excited for it to be finally game week, but they understand the challenge that they have in front of them with the quality Clear Fork program. So, they're focused and their intensity of practice this week so far has been really solid,” he said.

Clear Fork was (10-2) and outright champions of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last year. They edged Lucas (21-20) at Lucas last fall.

Spitler says this is another very good Colt team they will be facing. “Another solid Clear Fork team. They always play a tough, physical brand of football. They expect success. Obviously, with the coaching change and they're running new offensive and defensive schemes, but you could tell they're well coached. They have got great size and athleticism on both sides of the ball. I think it's going to come down to are we going to be able to handle their size and athleticism in the trenches come Friday night because they're really strong looking on both sides of the ball in the trenches. Then at the second level defensively they got great speed. Their tailback (Luke) Schlosser is a danger to take to the house on any play. So, we have got to play really well and win the winners ratio speak,” said Spitler.

That means win the turnover battle.

Clear Fork has a new coach in Aaron Brokaw, so there is some mystery as to what they will do, but Spitler expects a power attack. “When you've got the size they have up front now and the running back that they have in Schlosser you want to establish the last scrimmage and run the football and that's what they were showing in their scrimmages. You can't sleep on the pass game, they've got a tremendous amount of skill at the tight end and receiver positions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They've been rotating a couple quarterbacks that not only can hurt you with their arm, but as a dual threat as runners too. So, they've got a complete attack with what they do. They're big tight end is always a mismatch problem and then with (Joe) Stupka at receiver, you're talking about a state qualifier and state placer or in the sprint events. So, they don't lack skill and they don't lack size, so it's going to be a tall task for us.”

Published 8/16/23

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Lucas With a Veteran Lineup

Lucas, a traditional small school powerhouse, looks like they are set for a very good season this year.

They open on August 18 at Clear Fork in non-conference play.

Coach Scott Spitler says they have a lot kids back that have experience on the gridiron. “I think we've got a good mix of experience coming back. We were young last year on our offensive and defensive line, so we got pretty much all of our guys back there in the trenches for us. Obviously, we have got to replace a three-year starter quarterback in Andrew Smallen, but we have got a young man that's been a three-year starter for us moving into that spot from running back to quarterback, so he's got Friday night experience it just hasn't been at the quarterback position in Grayson Jackson. We have to replace Corbin Toms defensively and then offensively, but the Aiden Culler who started for us as a tight end his sophomore year, but last year just played DB and kicked and punted for us, will move back over to tight end there and replace Corbin,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Then we return our entire backfield, both wingbacks, both fullbacks, so we got pretty good experience. We return eight of 11 on defense and ten of 11 on offense, so I like where we are experience wise, but the problem is our depths is not where I want to be and we need to find a few more bodies to provide some depth because it's going to take more than just the starting group to get through our schedule and the type of football that we play.”

When they have new kids at the varsity level, Spitler says it helps that they run their unique system with younger kids too. “What helps us is our systems are being run from our youngest peewee team all the way up to the high school level, so our kids have the foundation. So, even though they're young as far as on Friday night experience and stuff their experience in our system is there, so the learning curve goes a little bit quicker. Also having the postseason runs that we have that's two or three weeks of extra practice that not every team gets, so that gives you an opportunity for those younger kids to kind of mature in the postseason as well in practice. So, our kids are working really hard. We've got good numbers, we've got a roster of 41 guys out this season and they're working their tails off and we're excited about the season getting started here,” said Spitler.

41 guys at the division VII level is outstanding and Spitler says that allows them to do some things in practice. “It was interesting the couple COVID years and stuff where some of our younger because we didn't have peewee football during those two COVID years and things like that so it kind of affected some of our lower grade numbers, but we're starting to get that resurgence back. It really makes things a lot nicer practice wise and preparation wise when you have that many kids because we're getting a lot of work done and running a lot of reps. So it helps us in developing that depth as well that we're going to need for the season,” he said.

Published 8/04/23

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Seneca East Outlasts Lucas

Seneca East scored one in the first and one in the seventh and held off Lucas (2-1) on Wednesday night in a division IV district semifinal at Hiese Park in Galion.

They will play Colonel Crawford (15-12) for a district title on Friday evening in Galion. The Eagles beat Mohawk (4-2) on Wednesday.

Lucas starter Andrew Smollen walked Aiden Hines to start the game, Nicolas Parks got a sacrifice bunt to move him to second, there was a passed ball and then a sacrifice fly by pitcher Caden Fritz to score the run. There was no scoring until the top of the seventh when the Tigers Cody Heibertshausen was hit by a pitch, Graham Gibbs bunted for a hit when no one covered first base and Heibertshausen scored when the Cubs made an error on a ball hit by Parks.

It was (2-0) Tigers, but the Cubs wouldn’t go quietly. With one out, Conner Rice reached on an error, moved to third on another error and scored on a wild pitch, but Fritz got the final out to secure the win.

Fritz went all seven, as did Smollen. Fritz allowed only two hits and he struck out only three. However, the Cubs only hit the ball out of the infield only four times.

Seneca East coach Rick Bowerman says Fritz gets a lot of soft contact. “He's able to mix his pitches, hit his spots, he doesn't throw a lot of meat fastballs, so he gets that weak contact. This is district baseball, it's low scoring you have got to make plays,” he said.

Smollen permitted only three hits while striking out three.

Lucas coach Courtney Church says they have had some issues with good pitching and that continued on Wednesday. “We know over the past couple of years the problems we have had. That’s what I reiterated to everybody when we started this journey. I told them our bats have to pick up. You’re going to start to see better pitching and you are going to have to square baseballs up and doing the little things. (Seneca East) found a way there in the first inning. We had that little bumble there and in the seventh and the ball goes through his legs. At the end of the day, (Bobby) Grover is a hot mess right, but this this doesn't fall back on Grover shoulders. You have to square baseballs up and I mean we have one in there we have the runner on and I mean you don't see too often the pitcher makes three outs,” said Church.

Bowerman says they didn’t get many hits, or guys on base, but they executed when hey did. “I know we did a great job the first inning. We get a walk, a SAC bunt, passed ball and then we scored a SAC fly. That's how you manufacture runs. Same thing there in the last inning for the last run, we get a walk and we get a base hit blunt and I got a guy who I am very confident, so with two strikes I'm telling him, hey, you are bunting anyway and he places it perfect,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Wednesday night, “I didn't even see what happens next, a bad bounce base hit or an error under the legs. I was watching our guy coming from second to third and the ball gets by the shortstop and we were scoring. So, I'm very proud of the kids.”

Of course, Seneca East (15-12) and Colonel Crawford are in the same league. The Tigers won both meetings, (8-7) on April 18 and (4-0) the next day.

Bowerman says he expects a battle. “We played them twice in the regular season. We were lucky enough to beat them both times. They are definitely a very dangerous team. I anticipate a low scoring game. Both games we won were close. So, it’s going to be a battle,” he said.

Published 5/25/23

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Lucas Will have to Work Hard

Lucas takes on Colonel Crawford in a division IV district final at Willard High School on Friday night.

There are two schools that are not in the same league, but they did play each other on January 14 at Lucas with Eagles winning (60-57) in a good one.

Coach Taylor Iceman says losing that first game may have helped the Cubs (21-4) in the long run. “Yeah, it's it should be a fun one. You know sitting here tonight watching Lex and Shelby and Mansfield and Sandusky just kind of gets you excited again just to get back in that big game atmosphere. The first time around both teams made runs throughout that game. Early we were up on them some and then they got up on us and then we kind of came back, but they were able to get us there early. I can say it now because we lost to him the first time around, but I think we probably took a little bit more out of it losing that game maybe we would if we would have won looking back on it now. Again, I would have taken the win at the time, don't get me wrong, but that's how we feel right now,” he said.

Lucas beat Monroeville (49-37) on Tuesday night in a semifinal after leading only (18-14) at the half and Colonel Crawford also pulled away down the stretch to beat Norwalk St. Paul (64-51) on Tuesday.

Braxton Baker had 28 points Tuesday and Jacob Maddy added 25 for the Eagles and Iceman says almost everything they do is with the intention of getting one of those guys the ball. “They run everything through those two and the majority of its inside. A lot of their action and sets that they run it's inside. They're both big kids and they're effective in the paint, but then Baker he's able to step out and knock down threes and that's why he averages 20 points a game he can get you inside and outside. They run a lot of that action inside and then they'll drift out to the three-point line and get lost every once in a while. You're trying to pay attention so much to the paint that they can hurt you there as well. I've been watching film and been watching them ever since we lost to them because we knew this was probably coming. We've prepared ourselves for this game, so we're going to go out and be confident. I'm excited for (Friday) night,” said Iceman.

Like Lucas, Crawford’s program is built on defense. Lucas likes to drive the ball hard to the basket and that is going to be hard, according to Iceman. “When you watch us play defense, we're out in the passing lanes, put a lot of pressure on the ball trying to turn you over that way. They kind of pack it in a little bit, they're not going to be out in there denying passing lanes, it's going to be easy to move the ball around the perimeter side to side, but then it's tough to go north and south towards the basket,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “So, shooting the ball from the outside is something you have got to have against them. Then they rely on that size on the back end to protect the basket. If they keep you in front and you take tough shots they're in good positions for a rebound. They've got two big kids to rebound the ball as well. So, they don’t do a ton of pressure or anything like that and they don't force a ton of turnovers, they're just going to make you take tough shots and then rebound and end the possession that way.”

Published 3/03/23

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Lucas Knows the Assignment

Lucas faces Monroeville in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

For the Cubs (20-4) they are coming off winning a sectional title in easy fashion over New London (59-26) on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Eagles beat Seneca East (64-56) to win their second straight sectional title. They lost to Margaretta, now in division III, in a district semi last year.

Lucas coach Taylor Iceman says Monroeville has two excellent players in Aidan Goodwin and Jimmy Clingman. “It was nice last week getting to see them play twice with us playing on Tuesday and then they played Wednesday and then Friday night after our game. So, it was good to be able to see them live twice. Obviously, you can get about any game film or you can find games on live streams pretty easily now, so I mean we've seen a lot of their games, but it was just nice to see them in person last week. They've got two really good players that do a lot of their scoring and we know who they are and we know who we have got to stop,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They do have a little bit of size as well. That was the big difference between them and Seneca East. I thought Seneca East just wasn't as big. Monroeville was going to be a little bit bigger. When you talk about them offensively they have got two guys that do the majority of their scoring. So, we have to know where Clingman and Goodwin are at. It’s going to be a tough game. They've played a good schedule this year, won some big games, lost some close ones to good teams as well, so they're going to be a good team.”

Both teams have played physical basketball this year and having been in the district tournament five years in a row, Iceman says they know to expect it is going to a physical game. “We've been fortunate to play in a handful of districts here in the last few years and our kids have been exposed to that, but that's how those games are usually officiated, which is good. We're a physical team, we're used to playing that way. The couple games we got to see them play their big and physical as well. So, I expect it to be a physical game. That's what you expect at this level. There are no bad teams left at this point. They're here for a reason, they're solid,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they to come out and do what they do in order to be successful. “We're going to have to come out and play well. We've earned the right to be here with everything that we've done to this point. So, it's just about us going out and being who we are and just playing well,” he said.

Published 2/28/23

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Lucas Wants to Feel Good

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion, meets New London, of the Firelands Conference, at Crestview High School on Friday night in a division IV sectional final.

They walloped Mansfield St. Peter’s (64-28) on Tuesday night in a semifinal game.

One would anticipate a similar outcome to the game on Friday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says his Cubs (19-4), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, just want feel good about how they play in games like this. “We've had lots of conversations this week about that. You nitpick and we're in this situation and those are the two games we have got. We say to ourselves, well we can't overlook them we have got to come out and play, so we look at it from that standpoint. Then heck we were saying before if we were the six or seven seed and we had to play somebody pretty solid, we say man we wish we were playing the 13 and 14 seeds. So, this is kind of how you look at it, but we always talk about we want to go out and win, but feel good about it after the game regardless of who we're playing,” said Iceman.

In the win over St. Peter’s, Iceman say they accomplished their secondary goal. “We were able to beat St. Pete's pretty handily the other night, but we did some good things and we were able to feel good about that one after the fact. We've won some games this year and not played very well and not felt real good about it. So, it's always just about going out playing, winning, and then feeling good about it,” he said.

New London (2-20) finished in the basement of the Firelands Conference this season and the Wildcats are coming off a (76-31) thrashing at the hands of South Central in a conference game last Friday.

Iceman says they will be at size disadvantage, but again they want to play their game. “They have got a little bit of size. We didn't play him this year, but we've played him in years past, so we're familiar with some of those kids, they've been around for a couple years. They do have some size, which we're not very big, so we've been preparing for that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We expect to probably see some zone like we we've seen from a lot of teams this year. So, we've kind of been preparing for that kind of stuff. St. Pete’s did that the other night, so it's been nice from that standpoint it isn't like we have to change things up a whole lot from Tuesday to Friday. Again, it's just about us going out and playing our game and if we play well, I don't know that it matters who we play I think we have a pretty good shot at winning. So, we just try and focus on ourselves and go out and play well.”

Published 2/24/23

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Lucas With Test Versus Clear Fork

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion, wraps up the regular season on Tuesday night with a non-conference game at Clear Fork against the Colts.

Last week, they won two non-conference games with a win at home over Mt. Gilead (63-48) on Friday and at Plymouth (40-30) on Saturday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says Friday night they got off to a slow start and Saturday they looked like they were tired. “Friday night with senior night for us, so a little bit different. We started five different starters, five seniors and it that can kind of affect you a little bit and then we made our steps back, got our regular guys in and we played pretty well and made a good run to give us a little bit of a lead and then we just kind of coasted the rest of the night. It was up and down at times, but like I said we were able to get a win we got everybody in. We took care of business on senior night and that's kind of what you got to do there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Then Saturday night went over to Plymouth and we just struggled, didn’t shoot the ball well, missed some layups, missed some free throws, just kind of tired and I don't know. It was Saturday night, second game of the weekend and it was just kind of ugly, so we'll leave it at that. We were happy to get the win and just get out of there at that point.”

Lucas (17-4), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Clear Fork (6-14) on Tuesday night. The Colts lost to Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby (76-63) on Friday night.

Iceman says the Colts have been getting better as the season has unfolded. “They're a little deceiving. They don't have a great record right now, but they are playing better. It's a rivalry, we're pretty close in proximity, they're the bigger school. They're playing pretty good right now. So, they definitely want to beat us. We played them in football and it was a really good game and they were able to beat us there, so we know we're going to get their best shot. It'll be their senior night as well, so again nobody wants to lose on senior night in their final home game. We're going to have to play well, but again that's what we want going into the tournament here. We want to play good teams and push ourselves. So, we have to show up and play well to get a win and close out the season on a high note and get ready for the tournament,” said Iceman.

Lucas is preparing for what should a physical division IV tournament and Iceman says Clear Fork will help them do that. “They have got a couple bigger kids that'll be good for us. We anticipate or hope to get another shot at Colonel Crawford and we kind of struggled with their size a little bit. The Maddy kid hurt us, so it's going to be good for us to kind of have to play a bigger team and work on some things. We just don't always get to see that with our schedule, so that's going to be a good thing for us. Again, they're going to be a hungry team. They don't want to lose us. Nobody around here wants to lose to Lucas, especially the bigger schools. This is always a good game, it seems like always a big crowd, it's two communities that are pretty close in proximity and it should be a good game and hopefully our guys are up for it and we can go over and pick up a good win to close out the season,” he said.

Published 2/14/23

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Lucas Faces Mt. Gilead

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion, plays at home against Mt. Gilead in a non-conference game on Friday night.

The Cubs (15-4,10-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, smoked Mansfield Christian (80-56) last Friday to earn the outright title. “We played petty well that night. We accomplished what we wanted and went 10-0 in our league. It was a pretty good night. We got everybody in the game and we played pretty well and came out and accomplished what we wanted. I wish we could have played a little better over at Willard the next night because they're pretty good team and we almost beat them, but we kind of shot ourselves in the foot early in that one,” he said.

Willard beat Lucas (60-57) last Saturday night in a non-league game.

Iceman says they didn’t play well early in that game and it cost them. “We came out slow and just kind of not like us. I don't know if there was a little bit of hangover from the night before, but Willard is a really solid team. They have got two really good players. We proved it to ourselves again you can't just show up and go through the motions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “That was a great test for us. That's what we need to play games like that that's what we're going to see ultimately in the tournament. You have got to learn how to win big games like that. It was another one against a good team and down the stretch we couldn't find a way, so it was good for us. It's always good to go over there late in the season and play at Willard where the district tournaments is held. We took some positives away from it and again it's good to win and do all those things, but it's also good to be brought back to earth every once in a while.”

Mt. Gilead (10-9) will be at Lucas on Friday night and Iceman says the Indians will offer a challenge. “We played them last year for the first time in a few years. We went down there and it was a pretty good game we were able to beat them. They've got a really good point guard in the (Matt) Bland kid. He can score and do a lot for them. He plays really hard and then they got they got a few other guys as well that that are pretty tough. Again, if we don't show up and play we'll have a shot at losing one. It's senior night for us so we're excited about that. We're going to start some different guys and like I said that'll be a different dynamic so again it's just a different setting, different atmosphere for the kids. Ultimately you have got to go out and take care of business. They're not a bad team and we're going to have to show up and play to be able to get another win,” said Iceman.

Published 2/09/23

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Lucas Wants it All

Lucas can take the Mid-Buckeye Conference title to themselves on Friday night by beating Mansfield Christian at the “Cub Cave”.

They lead the Flames (12-4,7-1) by a game, so a Mansfield Christian win creates a tie for first. The Flames still have a conference game with Kidron Central Christian next week.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they really aren’t in a sharing mood. “We've talked about that all week. We've come this far and we've had a pretty good year and you just have to go out and finish it off. It'd be different if we were playing a team that wasn't very good, but we have got to play the second place team right now. They're pretty good. They gave us some trouble over their place the first time around, so it's not just show up and we'll get through it and it'll be over with and we'll have the undefeated conference championship. We're going to have to play. They've got a really good player and like I said last game over there we did not play well and we had to come back and win that one late,” he said.

Amarr Davis is the Flames best player and one of the better players in North Central Ohio.

Iceman says they can’t allow Davis to get to the basket. “He's just such a good athlete, he’s a lot to deal with. He just gets to the rim and even when he shoots and misses sometimes he's just such a good athlete at going and getting it and then putting it back up and in. So, he's got to always know where he is. We're fortunate that we have some pretty good defenders that will do a good job, but it's going to take more than one to stop him. We've got to play good defense and have got to have good help side behind whoever's guarding him and you have to finish it off by boxing him out. Sometimes him just firing one up there and then him going and getting it is good offense for them. So, it's just a matter of keeping him in front of you and then boxing him out and trying to keep him away from the basket. The further away you can keep from the basket the better your chances are going to be. So, that's kind of our game plan that we've had with him and in his years over there and he he's still a junior, so we have got to deal with him again next year,” said Iceman.

Lucas (14-3,9-0), #4 in the Swanknsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Mansfield Christian (71-66) on January 17, but Iceman did not feel they played very well in that game.

Iceman says they need to make more perimeter shots, but they need to get to the basket too. “For whatever reason over there at Mansfield Christian, it's a really small gym, we don't ever shoot the ball very well in that gym. It's just a different setting. It's small and spacing is tough. We're athletic and we like to space the floor and beat our man off the dribble and go score and in that gym over there it just makes it that much harder because you can kind of pack it in and it just makes it harder to get to the rim. Our gym is not huge, but we do have some more spacing. They're going to, I would assume, pack it in and try and play some zone against us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They had a little bit of success with that last time, but we're prepared for it. If you can make some outside shots that just opens everything up and makes life so much easier. So, we hope for that, but you can't count on that. We've been shooting pretty good. So, we're hoping we can make some shots early and then be able to attack and get to the rim. We shot 38 free throws the last time we played these guys. So, obviously, if you can get people in foul trouble so they're not out there and that's free points that you can score that way. So, we are going just try and hope to make some shots and spread the floor and then attack the rim.”

Published 2/03/23

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Lucas Can Get a Piece of “MBC”

Lucas, coming off their huge win over previously unbeaten Crestview on Tuesday, has a chance to clinch no less than a share of the Mid-Buckeye Conference title with a win at home Friday night against Loudonville.

The Cubs not only beat, but they destroyed Crestview (72-38) in non-league play on Tuesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they got off to a really good start in the game and took charge. “Let's say it was big game, big crowd. Obviously, we heard a lot about them with the season they're having they're a really good team. We've played them in years past and we knew it was going to be a good game. We just came out and played really well and jumped on him them from the start and just kind of hit them in the mouth. It wasn't easy, we had some guys in foul trouble and we had to play through some adversity. We played a little differently than we usually do. Just a huge credit to our guys for continuing to play hard and picking up a huge win,” he said.

Iceman says due to foul trouble to key players they had to go to a zone defense, something they normally don’t play. “We usually pick up full court. We are in your shorts. We try and deny the ball inbounds and score that way with our defense. We had both the Toms boys, probably our best players, I think the end of the first quarter we had five team fouls they had three on Corbin and two on Logan and they were both sitting on the bench and they're a big part of our team and played a big part of our success so far this year. I just give a ton of credit to our guys because we had to change things up, we had to make some subs and guys came in,” he told Swankopnsports.com Wednesday night, “We ended up playing like a 1-3-1 pretty much the rest of the night and that's not us, that's not what we do, but it's something that we've practiced and the kids handled it. We just kind of flustered Crestview with that. We still played extremely hard, but it was just a different way than we usually do. So, it was just even more impressive for us to be put in a situation where we weren't real comfortable, it was something different, and we were still able to handle it and obviously like I said come out with a big huge win there.”

Now, the Cubs (13-3,8-0) can claim at least a share of the conference title with a win a home against Loudonville (5-11,2-5) on Friday night. Lucas won at Loudonville (55-42) on December 16.

Iceman says they can’t take a win for granted. “Talking about Crestview we kind of said they were in our eyes we thought might be right for the picking a little bit with coming off of a big win against Madison and being undefeated and then it being a week night game, non conference game, it was a good chance to get them. Loudonville is thinking the same thing because here we are we're talking about Crestview and a big huge win. We have got to go back out and play another league game on Friday night and there's some stuff on the line there. If we can go out and take care of business, we can put ourselves in the driver seat for our league. That's something we've been doing all year, fighting for all year, and we can go out and take care of business on Friday night we can take care of that. Like I said, we can't just show up go through the motions and think because we beat Crestview we are just show up and beat Loudonville. We're going to have to be ready to play and continue to get better and play better. This time of the year you want to be playing good. We played well obviously Tuesday night we have got to go out and do it again on Friday night,” said Iceman.

Published 1/26/23

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Sheldon Gets 300^th Win as Crawford Edges Lucas

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon earned his 300^th career win as his Eagles topped Lucas (60-57) in a non-conference game played at the “Cub Cave” on Saturday night.

There were five lead changes and four ties in the first have of the game. Crawford never trailed in the second half, but Lucas was never out of it.

Jacob Maddy had another monster game for the Eagles with 27 points and sometimes was unstoppable in the paint.

Sheldon, who took the Colonel Crawford job in 2005, says really the 300 wins is not about him, but the program. “17 years ago, I was blessed to be hired by the Superintendent Mr. Ted Bruner and the Board of Education and this isn't about David Sheldon this is a program in 17 years to get 300 wins it's the unbelievable with the players and a lot of great memories with so many over the past 17 years. My assistant coaches are unbelievable. They don't get enough credit for what goes on and the parents have been very supportive, I'd say about 85 to 90% of them. They've allowed me to coach their son. I'm passionate and we develop a lot of discipline with roles in that and our parents have allowed that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “It takes a whole army and it's not about David Sheldon it's about the Colonel Crawford program. One of the things I am the most proud of is the consistency almost averaging almost 18 wins a year in 17 years and that's make me the most proud. I started my morning at 7:30 AM in the gym for two hours with 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders and that's where it starts. That is where you start a program that's developed 300 wins over 17 years.”

Sheldon adds that you develop lifelong relationships with players. “I just sit behind the scenes. Every once in a while I have got to chew a kid out, but I'm also patting them. That's what people don't see. They see you're passionate on the sideline, but they don't see the love I have for these kids. They're my sons and I've seen some get married now and I've seen some get divorced over the last 17 years. I'm there for them, it's not just about basketball, it's a game of life,” he said.

Lucas coach Taylor Iceman told Swankonsports.com earlier this week that he has great respect for Sheldon and he reiterated that Saturday night. “We talk a lot during the season and I definitely look up to him. Congratulations to him that is a cool thing. I was able to get my 100^th here a while back, so I know 300 is a big deal. It’s sucks it had to happen here, but he’s a great coach,” said Iceman.

The Cubs (9-3) led by as many six in the first quarter (14-8) after an Aidan Culler hoop with 1:24 left, but Crawford closed the quarter on a (5-0) run. The game continued to seesaw in the second quarter, but Maddy scored the last two baskets of the half to give the Eagles a (30-26) advantage.

The Eagles (10-3) went up eight (40-32) with 4:10 to play in the third after a three by Ethan Holt. They again led by eight (55-47) on Braxton Baker’s basket off an offensive rebound with 4:31 to play in the game, but the Cubs wouldn’t go away. They cut it to three (55-52) with 2:23 remaining after Logan Toms converted a steal into a score. They trimmed it two just two (59-57) when Toms bagged a basket and added a free throw with :41 to play. Lucas got off a three that would have tied it, but it was mostly a throw.

Maddy had 22 Friday night in a win over Buckeye Central and Sheldon says he has been dominate at times in the low post. “I went to him at the beginning of the year and said you have a chance to be a really good back to the basket player. There's not too many of those anymore guys, even in college and the NBA. Everybody wants to flow and drive and he has turned into that. (Friday) night he goes for 22 and (Saturday night) 27. The thing about Jake is we've seen crazy defense with doubles and he's an unbelievable passer, he is one of our assist leaders on the team. That is a part of this program. Last year, he was two, three points a game and now he's averaging big time numbers. Braxton Baker was the third option last year and that's our program that discipline when it's your turn to step up and Jake’s done that,” said Sheldon.

Maddy says he wants the ball. “The confidence has grown for me. At the beginning of the year, I was iffy on the back to basket play, but I’ve grown into it and it has been good for me,” said the senior.

Lucas prides itself on the defensive it plays, but Saturday night Iceman says they let Maddy get too deep in the lane and they didn’t keep the Eagles off the offensive glass. “We just let him get too deep with everything. Even there in the second half we doubled him a little bit and then he found guys and then they made shots. We're not big by any stretch of the means, so we have to do a better job. Even when we did contest, we didn't box out he got the his offensive rebound and put it right back in. So, much of our offense is generated through our defense and we just didn't finish possessions by boxing out getting out and running,” said Iceman.

Sheldon says their length, especially Maddy and Baker helps them on the boards. “We have pretty good length. Lucas is so physical. It's two football teams. Everybody on my team plays football, but Baker and they have got them all. We have got some length where we were able to get some offensive rebounds and keep it alive with the length,” he said.

Maddy had 27 for Crawford and Baker added 13.

Culler had 20 to lead Lucas, 15 in the first half, but he was saddled with foul trouble to the second half, picking up his fourth foul with more than 3:00 left in the third quarter.

Logan Toms was huge for the Cubs in the fourth quarter as he brought them back, scoring 10 of his 16 in final stanza.

However, Iceman says he need him to do that all of time. “Logan hasn't played real great. Logan plays really good defense and he gets the task of guarding the other team's best players, especially since we lost Fanello. So, we ask Logan to do a lot. He's still kind of getting it going. He's he started slow, but you see it there. We needed him and he went and did it. Sometimes, in our league games and stuff when we're supposed to win, he's passive and will get other guys involved, which is great but, we need him to be that guy for us, to be as good as we think he can be. So, we're still growing and getting better this year,” said Iceman.

Published 1/14/23

Lucas Faces Tough Challenges

Lucas, the co-leader in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, plays at Kidron Central Christian in a conference game on Friday night.

They host Colonel Crawford is a possible district preview on Saturday night.

Last Friday, they downed Crestline (55-27) in “MBC” play.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they got off to a good start and took care of business. “It was good to be back home playing and in a normal setting with the JV game first and then the varsity game second. We've had a lot of just different environments. We played those tournaments at Mount Vernon (Nazarene) and Harvest Prep and just different settings just not your typical Friday or Saturday night high school basketball game. So, it was good just to get back to that and the kids responded and played pretty well overall,” he said.

Lucas (8-2,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Kidron Central Christian (5-6,2-3) on Friday night.

Lucas beat them (52-34) on December 2 at Lucas, but Iceman fully understands this has been a difficult place for them to play over the years. “We seem to always struggle when we go up there especially. They always play us tough, but when we go to their place it's always a battle. Coach (Craig) Martin does a great job with his guys. He's got a freshman group coming and some young guys that are pretty solid. He's got a couple of veteran guys that have been around. So, it's a different mix than they've had in years past, but the young kids are used to being successful and they're starting to figure things out. It's a big jump to play middle school last year and come in right away and play varsity basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We played them early and this is a different part in the season. They are going to be different players at this time. Just what they do gives us trouble it seems like. We're hoping to go over there and kind of break that that little curse that we seem to have when we go over there and not play well. So, just looking forward to getting over there picking up a big win and then and moving on.”

Colonel Crawford (8-3), the co-leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, comes to Lucas on Saturday night.

Coach Iceman is looking forward to the game for a number of reasons. “It's a big game. Two good teams, two good basketball programs. I have a ton of respect for coach (David) Sheldon and everything he's done over there. I played when his dad was the coach at Wynford and coach Sheldon went to Bluffton University, I’m a Bluffton University guy myself. We speak and I'm a big believer in surrounding yourself with successful people. Coach Sheldon been an asset for me as a young coach and it's kind of developed into a little bit of a friendship here and we talk. You always like those games, but again it's just a big, good game. Nothing is going to be won or lost in this game, but it's a good test to see where you're at. It's just fun to play in atmospheres like that. Colonel Crawford always brings a lot of fans. It’s going to be at our place and we've been playing pretty well at home. So, just looking forward to a good game. If we get beat it's not like our season's over, but we want to go out and play well and beat a good team. Those are just fun games, fun atmospheres to play in,” said Iceman.

Published 1/12/23

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Lucas Moving Forward

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference leader, hosts Crestline in a conference game on Friday night at the “Cub’s Cave.”

They spent the holidays playing three games at neutral sites against good teams. They lost to Fredericktown (66-55) and Proctorville Fairland (52-45), but they beat Minster (70-60) on Monday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they went through some adversity. “We played some neutral site games at both at Mount Vernon (Nazarene) then at Harvest Prep on Monday. All three of the teams that we played in that stretch they were all really super physical, big teams, that played really hard. It was just really good for us. We went 1-2, which ain't obviously what we wanted, but I think we learned a lot about our team and ourselves and it was good for us. It was it good to cap it off with a win on Monday against a good program like Minster. We got down early and then we kind of battled back. We had some adversity really throughout the whole thing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We went to Mount Vernon that first game against Fredericktown and Logan Toms, he's probably our best overall player, he was sick and we didn't have him, so we're forced to do some different things. We didn't handle it the best. Then we came back to the next night and played Fairland, who is big and just they're just really good to put it bluntly. We competed and played pretty well in that one, but we got beat. Then again Logan played against Minster the other night, but fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, here we are again in a tight situation with probably without our best player offensively and defensively, but our kids responded.”

Iceman says in those three games they clearly learned a lot about themselves and how to get better. “We talked about having confidence and knowing that we can do that kind of stuff even without one of your best players. We did that and it was just a good to see the growth there and we were able to pick up a good win and feel good about it. Now, we come back into conference play and hopefully we can pick up and play where we were at before, but also apply all this stuff that we've learned about ourselves as a team,” he said.

Lucas (7-2,4-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against Crestline (2-7,2-3) on Friday night. The Cubs won the first matchup (54-18) on December 3.

Iceman says Crestline is a better team than that score shows. “We played pretty well the last time we played them and they played bad, just to put it bluntly. They're not as bad as they played against us. They had a bad night and we played really good. You are going to have those nights, so it's kind of a trap game for us. We could think well we're just going to walk through them again, but the odds are they're not going play as bad as they did last time. That was really early on in the season, so they're going to be improved and play better than they did that night. So, it's going to be a test for us again. We've got to be ready. We've always got that target on our back and our league. We're going to get everybody's best shot every time we play. This is the second time through and they know what to expect. They're going to be ready for us, it's not like we're going to surprise them or anything. Again, we've just talked about playing one way all the time no matter who we're playing,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they have to play more consistent basketball. “I just left practice and talking to the guys. I told him I said we've played our best basketball when we've been losing and that can't be the case. We have got to figure out a way to come out and play like that right from the start in games. If we can do that then we're going to be in such a better position. Our first chance to do that and prove that is going to be Friday night,” he said.

Published 1/05/23

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Lucas to be Challenged This Week

Lucas plays two games this week at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University as they play Fredericktown on Wednesday and Proctorville Fairland on Thursday.

The Cubs are coming off a (77-36) destruction over South Central on Saturday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they got a lot of guys into the game and they all played well. “It's usually a very competitive game with us and South Central and they had a rough night on Saturday night and we played really well. I was really happy with my bench guys. They all came in and we had been talking about you know our bench development. They obviously got their opportunity and I was just really happy. They came in and had done all the things that we've been talking about and it was good for them. They played the entire fourth quarter and most of those guys got some minutes even in the first half. That's just really good to see and for them to get that opportunity to go out there and do that. We needed it, we didn't play real good against Loudonville on Friday night, so come out be prepared and play well and then give those guys that opportunity it is big in developing your bench. Just keeping everybody engaged and ultimately in a 40 point win it's hard to sometimes take good things from that, but I thought we really did play well and we got a lot accomplished,” said Iceman.

Lucas (5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays Knox Morrow Athletic Conference co-leader Fredericktown (5-3), a (55-47) winner over Northmor in “KMAC” play on Tuesday night.

Iceman looks for a physical contest. “Big and physical, they look like a bunch of football players out there, so should be a physical game. I would anticipate usually at these neutral sites and the college settings these officials will do probably you know five or six games and it's we're playing the last one, so everybody is going to be ready to get out of there, so I don't anticipate a lot of whistles being blown. They're big, physical they and like to attack the offensive glass, so we've got to do a good job of boxing out limiting them. We are going to play a little bigger floor. We played at Loudonville and South Central last week and those are pretty tight gyms, so it will be bigger floor and should be some good spacing and hopefully we can attack the rim and get there and score, but should be another good game and another good test for us,” he said.

As far as Fairland is concerned, Iceman doesn’t know a lot about them, but he expects them to be athletic. “They're bigger school, they were really good last year. I've watched a little bit of film on them. They've got some size and some athleticism. Again, it's another good test for us. We're going to kind of approach it like we do our games in the summer where you travel all over the place and you play these schools you don't really know. I've got a competitive group of guys. We're not going to be super prepared for them. I would assume they're probably not going to be real prepared for us as well. So, we're just going to go out and play. We're usually pretty good in games like that, but it's going to be another good test for us. We are all about challenging ourselves and our kids so that come tournament time and games at the end of the year we're ready and playing good teams is only going to prepare for those situations. So, we look forward to next couple of nights. We are going to go down and stay overnight and it'll be kind of a team bonding type thing as well. So, I look forward to it should be good couple games.”

Published 12/21/22

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Lucas Wants to Keep Getting Better

Lucas will be over at Loudonville in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night and then takes a bus to South Central for a non-conference game against the Trojans on Saturday.

On Tuesday, they beat Galion, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, (74-59) to win their fourth straight to start the season.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they didn’t get off to a very good start, but they were able to get it put together. “We played okay. We came out slow and weren't quite ready to play and then we kind of got things rolling. So, there was some good and some bad. We actually watched some film (Wednesday) night and whe we got better from it. We didn't come out and play right from the start like I had wanted us to, but it was good that we could still do that and then get better throughout the course of the game and win, that's always important,” he said.

Lucas (4-0,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Loudonville (1-4,0-1) on Friday night. The Redbirds lost (51-45) to Kidron Central Christian in a league game last Friday. On Tuesday night, they lost to Fairless (61-43) in a non-conference game.

Icemen expects a big crowd and says they better be ready to play. “It's a league game and it'll be tough. We have to go over there. We're playing the JV boys at 4:30 and then our girls are going to play at 6:00 and then we'll play at 7:30 or whenever we get started. It'll be a long night and just a different setting with the JV boys playing and then have to sit through the girls’ game and then play our game. So, it'll just be a little bit of different timing and things like that that we'll have to deal with. It's a league game and it's on the road those are never easy. We're going to get everybody's best shot. Everybody wants to knock Lucas off, especially in our league. So, we have got to be ready to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They haven't they haven't won a lot so far and have been struggling a little bit, but again they're going to be excited by Lucas. I expect a big crowd over there with their girls. They are always pretty good and I expect just a big crowd and that's the setting for them to try and pull the upset against us. We just have to go in and get better and keep improving because it's just still so early on for us and we're working on a lot of different things. So, we have got to go out and get better each time we play.”

South Central (3-2) waits on the Cubs on Saturday night for a non-conference game.

Iceman says anytime these two get in a gym it is going to be a well contested game. “I've watched some film. I know some of the kids obviously we know we play them usually it's two times a year and it's not because they're in our league. We usually see them in the district tournament at some point and coach (Brett) Seidel was over there forever and we've had a lot of great battles and now you know new coach, new program. So, just some things you don't know, you don't know maybe what tricks they maybe will try and throw at you or what things they may do different or how they will respond to some things that we do. So, you have that aspect of it, but it'll still be a very competitive game. They've got really good players over there still. Two good small schools playing on a Saturday night. So, we're excited about it. We always like going over there and playing them. It's always good game, so we look forward to that, but it's another test for us here early on. We've had a busy week, that'll be the third night this week. We just have to keep improving, keep getting better so that we can feel good about ourselves. We want to win games against good teams. South Central is a good team and they're going to test us. We figure if we come out and play well, we can get a win that we'll feel good about ourselves at the end of the night,” said Iceman.

Published 12/15/22

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Lucas Must Take St. Peter’s Seriously

Lucas plays at Mansfield St. Peter’s in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night.

The Cubs are facing their third game and they have all been conference games so far.

They beat Kidron Central Christian (52-34) last Friday and Crestline (54-18) on Saturday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they made a nice improvement in game two last weekend. “It is good to start 2-0. We played okay on Friday night against Central Christian and then we played pretty good against Crestline on Saturday night. We just played with more effort. Our defense was pretty solid. I was just happy with the growth from night one to night two,” he said.

Iceman says right now what they need more than anything is competition against schools wearing other colored jerseys. “We have a lot to get in yet. We just haven’t practiced a ton. So, we need to keep growing and keep playing. We didn’t get to scrimmage a lot. We only had one scrimmage. We are excited to play somebody else. We run things in practice against ourselves and that can be challenging. So, it is good for us to see other teams and play other teams and just continue to get better here early on,” said Iceman.

Mansfield St. Peter’s (0-5,0-1) fell (49-40) to Crestline last Friday in a “MBC” game and (52-49) to Genoa Christian in a non-league game on Saturday.

Iceman says they may be winless this year, but they are better than they were last year. He says you can tell by the scores. “They are improved. They haven’t won yet, but one thing they have played five games. They have five games in, which is a good thing for them and the scores are closer, they are competing. They are playing harder and they are doing good things. You just can’t go out and show up and think you are going to win the game. They have some athletes. They have some guys that can get to the hoop and give you some trouble,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We are more worried about ourselves and continuing to get better and improve on things we need to improve upon. We think if we do that the outcome of the game should be fine. Again, you just can’t go in there and walk in and walk out because they will surprise you and give you a game. We really don’t need that this early in the year.”

Published 12/09/22

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Lucas Ready to Crank it up

Lucas beings its boys’ basketball season with two games this weekend, both in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, at home with Kidron Central Christian on Friday and at Crestline on Saturday.

With long football runs every year, coach Taylor Iceman says they are prepared to get started this weekend. “Football ended and we turned right around and we have had maybe 10 or 12 practices. Again, it is nothing we are not used to. If we had won that last football game, I probably would have looked at moving these two back a little bit. We have finished, but we have had time, we have had a scrimmage. We are going to keep getting better as we go and we will find out where we are at on Friday and Saturday night.” he said.

Iceman says they have a lot of experience back and that is going to help them be ready to do. “That is huge for us this year. We basically bring everybody back from last year. We graduated three kids, but most of our contributors are all back from last year. We are missing a few guys. We have got some guys hurt. We lost an extremely important guy in Andrew Fanello for the year. I feel horrible for that kid, but life goes on. He is there helping us get better every day in his current state, he is on crutches hobbling along. It is the next guy up mentality,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We just have to continue to get better every time we are in the gym because we just haven’t had a ton of it. It is going to be continue to get better as we play. We have done that is year’s past. Again, it is all of the same kids from the football team and they did this exact same thing last yar, so it is nothing completely new.”

Kidron Central Christian is one of the smallest schools in our coverage area with only 30 boys in the upper three grades.

Still, Iceman knows they will challenge them. “They don’t have a ton of guys. They are not going to have a JV team, so our girls will be play in front of us and then we will play a varsity boys’ game. So, that will be a little different, just something we will have to deal with. They will run their 2-3 zone, which usually gives us trouble. I know they have some good freshmen coming up. I think they are excited about the future. I have tried to tell my guys that they are freshmen and this is one of their first couple of games. We have to go out and just be the more physical team. I assume we are not going to shoot the ball really well as you usually don’t the first couple of nights out. We just have to be physical and attack and not get too high or too low. Just expect that we are going to struggle a bit at times and try and build on the good things that we do,” said Iceman.

Published 11/30/22

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Lucas Expects War with Danville

Two old rivals Lucas and Danville lock horns on Saturday night at Clear Fork High School in a division VII regional semifinal.

The winner plays Warren JFK or Southern for a berth in the final four next week.

Lucas (6-6) got past previously unbeaten Lowellville (35-25) in quarterfinal action last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says his kids executed well in a high pressure situation. “Going on the road like we did and as talented as they were offensively, I thought our kids did a great job of executing the game plan and forcing them into playing our style of game rather than us playing theirs. I think the experience of our older kids in the postseason allowed us to not get too uptight and be able to play the next play and get out of there with a victory,” he said.

Danville (10-2) survived a furious comeback from Hillsdale last week to beat the Falcons (42-41) in their quarterfinal. They stopped the Falcons on a two point conversion. Hillsdale then recovered an onside kick, but missed a field goal at the horn.

Spitler says the Blue Devils are explosive on offense and physical on defense. “They are a very traditional Danville team. They are very physical, well coached, tough, they have great skilled positions at quarterback, running back, and Kaiden Colopy at the wide receiver position is a big play waiting to happen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Then defensively, they are led by the Central District defensive player of the year in Levi Lyons at middle linebacker, who is just a tackling machine. He has been at that position his whole high school career and he has been a starter since he was a freshman. They have good size up front. There is a reason that stadium sets on a street called Tough Street. They are a tough, physical football program and this year is no different.”

Lucas beat Danville (34-20) in a opening night game on August 20, 2021. The two schools used to play every year when both were in the Mid-Buckeye Conference.

Spitler says they can’t allow Danville to get big plays in the passing game or control the game with their run offense. “I think the biggest thing is we can’t let Colopy to get loose with the big play. Then Max Payne at running back we have to keep him from going downhill with a head of steam. Because once he gets rolling, he is a beast to bring down. Then the quarterback is as good a runner as he is a passer. That is why they have been successful because they stress you so many ways offensively. So, we are going to have to tackle well in space and we are going to have to do our job of keeping things in front of us and make them earn every inch,” said Spitler.

Lucas, with their double right, double wing offense, is very good at controlling the clock. Spitler says they look to do that on Saturday, but knows that won’t be easy. “We have to do our best to control the line of scrimmage and play our game and force our pace, or style, of game on them. It is not going to be easy. They are very talented offensively. They have some guys that get to the football from sideline to sideline. Levi Lyons experience at middle linebacker just makes them so tough to do so many things on. Like always when you are playing the third round of the playoffs it is good football. The margin for error is very small. So, we have to take care of the football, be the least penalized, and don’t give up big plays,” said Spitler.

Published 11/11/22

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Lucas Plays Explosive Lowellville

Lucas, as consistently successful as any football team in North Central Ohio in the playoffs over the last half decade, will play at Lowellville in a division VII regional quarterfinal on Friday night.

They traveled to Toronto and won their playoff opener (35-26) last Friday.

Coach Scott Spitler says they did a tremendous job of battling adversity all night long. “I thought the best thing the kids did on Friday night that anytime we faced adverse situation we were able to kind of play the next play and not let adversity snowball and get out of control. We just came playing the next play and being who we are. That was good enough to get the win on the road,” he said.

Spitler says this season they have had more adversity to face than in many other years. “It is the youthfulness and the inexperience that we had this season losing 16 seniors from last year’s team. You have to go through those growing pains sometimes. It was nice to see our kids learn from the adversity and different things that we went through throughout the season with the schedule that we played and being able to use that experience to overcome adversity and play the next play in our first round playoff game,” said Spitler.

Lucas (5-6) is at Lowellville (11-0) on Friday night. The Rockets buried Steubenville Central Catholic (54-14) in their playoff opener last Friday.

Spitler says they have a great quarterback and an explosive offense. “They are led by a senior quarterback who can make every throw the field. He is about 6’4”, 6’5”, 190 pounds. He moves well and like I said he can make every throw of the field. He is around 4,000 yards on the season and about 45 touchdowns throwing the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “He definitely has a lot of playmakers. They seem to have a lot of speed and length. They stress you because they really go after getting extra possessions as well. They onside kick quite often trying to steel positions and get up on you and get you to panic and get you out of your gameplan.”

Spitler says they have to stay focused on defense and keep the Rockets in front of them and make them drive the ball and be very sound in the kicking game. “We have to do a good job of making sure we keep things in front of us and don’t give up big plays and make them earn every inch. Offensively, we have to take care of business and make sure we are not giving them extra possessions by getting behind the sticks penalty wise and turning the ball over. We have to have a great special teams game because like I said they do a lot of onsides, the love to fake punt quite a bit, they just try and be on the attack and get their offense extra possessions because of the talent they have on that side of the ball,” said Spitler.

Published 11/01/22

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Lucas Must Dig Deep

Lucas, often road warriors, makes the trip to the river to face Toronto in a first round playoff game in division VII on Friday night.

Already having taken trips to Fort Loramie and Arlington the last two weeks of the regular season, there will be more “frequent driver” miles put on the log the week.

Last week, the Cubs led (21-7) at the half, but after a significant injury, fell to Arlington (29-21) on week 10.

Coach Scott Spitler says they let things snowball. “Taking nothing away from Arlington, they are a good football team. We did a really nice job and came out of the gates strong and had them reeling. We were getting the ball to start the second half. One of our senior leaders, and key contributors on both sides of the ball, Andrew Fanello, goes down with an injury on the first play of the second half and that kind of deflated us. We never recovered and things snowballed on us in the second half. We just couldn’t snap out of it,” he said.

Spitler doesn’t make any excuses. He says they have play better and he believes their tough schedule has prepared them well. “Make no bones about it, with this type of schedule that we play, the reason we do that, well is twofold, number one when you are independent it gets interesting scheduling, so as you are trying to get ready for postseason, if you earn the right to be in the postseason, that you are ready physically. I think while we have come out on the short end of some of these matchups it is has allowed us to grow and become a better team. We lost 16 seniors to graduation, had to replace our whole offensive and defensive lines, our inside linebackers, so we had a lot of youthfulness and inexperience that needed to grow up throughout the season. They did it under fire. Our kids have really kept to the grindstone working and had great attitudes,” he told Swamkonsports.com on Thursday night, “They understand now that it is a whole new season. What happened in the regular season doesn’t matter. Everybody is 0-0 and we have the opportunity to go out and become 1-0 this week and that’s our mindset. It is not going to be easy. Toronto is a very good football team and we have to go on the road about two and a half hours, but with our schedule and the way we travel all over the place, that is nothing new for us. So, I think our kids are excited about the opportunity.”

Lucas (4-6) is at Toronto (6-4) on Friday night. The Red Knights forfeited a game last week, but before that won two in a row. Two of their losses are to unbeaten teams in Barnesville and Richmond Edison.

Spitler says they have great size and some athletes too. “They are absolutely huge. They average about 6’4”, 250 across their offensive and defensive lines. I don’t know what they have got in the river over there, but they grow them big and tall and lanky. They have some nice skilled kids. We are going into their house and they are the upper seed and it is not going to be easy for us. We just have to make sure that we play within ourselves and handle adversity the right way when it comes in the game. It is not if, but when it comes. No matter what shape or form, we have to make sure we flush it and not let it snowball and make sure we play four full quarters,” said Spitler.

Published 10/28/22

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Lucas Has to Clean up Mistakes

Lucas concludes regular season play on the road at Arlington of the Blanchard Valley Conference on Friday night.

The Cubs have already clinched a division VII playoff spot, but would like to improve their seed.

Last week, they lost at Fort Loramie (34-17) on Friday night.

Coach Scott Spitler says they made big mistakes at the wrong time. “We just didn’t do a good job of finishing drives offensively. We had the ball three times inside the 20, twice inside the 10, and had some snap exchange issues that took us out of scoring opportunities. Two were turnovers and one was such a big loss we couldn’t recover from it. So, it is just those little inconsistencies and self-inflicted wounds that we have been doing off and one at different times all season and they just have to get cleaned up,” he said.

Spitler says when you play the kind of schedule they do week in and week out you just can’t have those kinds of mistakes. “Our schedule is what it is. We have a quality schedule, but we expect to be in those games and win those games against good football teams. Your error window is so small against teams like that and until we learn to finalize those things and clean up those things, we are not going to get over that hump in tight games against good opponents. We play that schedule for a reason,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We know that win or lose it is going to make us a better team and a better program and we are going to be battle tested if we can earn the opportunity to get in the postseason. Even with dropping a few tight games this season, we were able to clinch a playoff spot last week. So, we just need to get back on that consistency and tighten those things up before the postseason next week.”

Lucas (4-5) plays at Arlington (8-1) on Friday night. The Red Devils beat Van Buren (35-10) last week.

Spitler says this a very good program that runs a very sophisticated option game. “They are a very good football program, they are well coached. We played them back in the first round of the playoffs in 2016 and it was one point game, we lost (21-20) to them. So, we know the quality program that they are. They have nice size and length in the trenches and good skilled kids. They run an option attack that you don’t see a lot of. Hillsdale is an option attack, but the way Arlington does it slightly different. It stresses you a little more with their formations. We have some experience to fall back on against Hillsdale. We just have to be very disciplined and read our keys. Offensively, we have to stay on track and quit shooting ourselves in the foot to have a chance with these guys,” said Spitler.

Published 10/20/22

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Lucas Faces Another Good Team

Lucas makes the long trip to Shelby County to face the Fort Loramie Redskins in a division VII regular season battle on Friday night.

Th Cubs picked up some playoff points by hammering “D III” Columbus Linden McKinley (49-12) in a non-conference game last week. They now stand seventh in their region. The top eight earn a home playoff game.

Coach Scott Spitler says they started fast. “We came right out of the gate and controlled the line of scrimmage and if we can do that good things happen for us. Defensively, we did a good job of making sure we kept things in front of us and didn’t allow them big plays. Anytime you can get some backups and some young guys in it is good because they do a lot working with scout teams and things like that and that is a chance to reward them for their efforts during the week,” said Spitler.

Lucas (4-4) is at Fort Loramie (6-2) on Friday night. The Redskins are coming off a (42-24) win over Dayton Thurgood Marshall last week. Lucas won the matchup (31-8) last year.

However, Spitler says they bring a lot of experience back and this is a team with some length to it. “They have a lot coming back from them last year, which was a playoff team. I believe they are second in their region right now. They have their career passing leader quarterback back and the record holding receiver back. It just seems like they mass produce tall, lanky, rangy, athletic kids. Their receiving corps is all over 6’2” and long and good quickness and they have big size up front. We have to do a good job of keeping things in front of us and make sure we are not giving up big plays and tackle well in space,” he said.

Spitler adds that as is often the case with them, they want to control the clock and score some points with their running game. “We have to do a good job playing complementary football. We have to be sound in the special teams. Offensively, if we can control the time of possession and make sure we are getting points on every drive, whether it be ending in a touchdown or a field goal, that’s going to help our defense because they are just so talented offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They are highly aggressive defensively too, so we are going to have to have to play a good football game against a good football team. It is the same “M.O.” every week. We know we are playing a good competitor and it’s going to take a good effort by us to have a chance to win it.”

Published 10/11/22

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Lucas Meets Athletic Linden McKinley

Lucas returns home to Bob Wine Field on Friday night at host the Linden McKinley Panthers in a non-league game.

Last week, they lost their third game by four points or less when Lima Central Catholic edged them (26-23) at Lucas.

Coach Scott Spitler takes that responsibility for the loss last week. “I thought our guys played really well. I thought their preparation leading up to the game was exactly what we asked of them. I got overly aggressive on a special teams call right before half that cost us and that seemed to be the difference in the game. I have to do a better job as head coach in my special teams decision making and not put our kids in that situation, so we have a different outcome with all of the hard work we have been putting in. So, I have to be better as a coach in that decision making process in those tight situations, so it doesn’t become a seven point swing in a three point ballgame,” said Spitler.

Lucas is 10^th and in solid position in division VII, region 25, but right now they would be in the road week one of the playoffs.

Spitler says they have to continue to improve. “We work to be a better version of ourselves each week with the ultimate goal of getting an opportunity to earn a right to be in the postseason. We feel like with the schedule that we have played that with the quality of opponents, many of them being bigger than us, that if we can earn the right to get in the postseason we will definitely be battle tested and raring to go for teams like sized,” he said.

Lucas (3-4) host Columbus Linden McKinley (3-3) of the Columbus City League on Friday night. The Panthers lost to Beechcroft (14-6) last week.

Spitler says this is a team with a lot of breakaway speed and big play potential. “They have tremendous speed and athleticism. When you put in the film you just see the speed in the skilled positions with wide receivers, running backs, quarterback. They can put it in the end zone in a spilt second. They can change direction in twitch in the open field and take the top off the defense with their wide receivers. Keeping things in front of us and making them earn every inch and preventing the big play and being disciplined and talking in open space is going to be key to controlling their offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We need to help our defense out by controlling the clock and eating time of possession and making sure our drives end in scores, whether it be field goals or touchdowns, to put the pressure on their offense, so we can turn them into maybe being one dimensional and making it a little easier on our defense. They have lots of size and speed.”

Published 10/05/22

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Lucas With Another Tough One

Lucas plays as tough a schedule as any small school in this area and that continues this week when they play at home against Lima Central Catholic on Friday night.

The Cubs (3-3) lost (31-6) to Firelands Conference co-leader Crestview last Friday.

Coach Scott Spitler says they made a lot of little mistakes and Crestview took advantage. “We had an opportunity there to close it to 17-14, but we had our touchdown called back on a penalty. Then in the fourth quarter we gave up a touchdown pass and had a turnover that turned into a defensive touchdown for them. Our youthfulness shows in some inconsistencies and when you play good football teams those inconsistencies get magnified. So, we have to do a better job of tightening up things in our execution and level of play on a series by series basis because when you play the schedule we play those things are going to get magnified and they did last week against a good Crestview team,” he said.

Playing a schedule like this is going to make the Cubs a better football team, according to Spitler. “You have to keep your perspective. We are 3-3, but our three losses are to a combined 17-1 record, so we are playing good football teams and you just can’t make little mistakes because they turn into you coming out on the wrong end. We had a one point loss to Clear Fork, a four point loss to Mogadore and a close game that kind of got away from us in the fourth quarter against a good Crestview team. Those three teams at worst will be 28-2 at the end of the season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “You have the potential for two of them to be 10-0 and Clear Fork is going to be 9-1 or 8-2. So, we know they are quality opponents. We just have to continue to grow. That is the nice thing about playing this schedule, it is going to make us better. You have to survive it and get through it injury wise, but it will make us better playing these quality opponents.”

Lima Central Catholic (3-3) roughed up Hopewell-Loudon of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference (31-8) last Friday.

Spitler says the Thunderbirds are a very explosive team with an outstanding quarterback. “They are a carbon copy of us. They are independent, so they go all over the state playing and play up like we do. They have lost three tough ones too to quality opponents. This might be the most potent offensive attack we have faced so far this season. They are very talented at the skilled positions. A quarterback that has good size and everything runs through him. He is a heck of a runner, he spreads the ball round well, and they have good size up front. It reminds me a lot of the big quarterback that Canton Central Catholic had when we played them last year. He possesses a tremendous threat both running and passing,” said Spitler.

Published 9/29/22

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Lucas Plays Loaded Crestview

Lucas will be at Crestview on Friday night for one of the more interesting high school football games in North Central Ohio.

There will be a boatload of computer points available for the Cubs if they can get the win.

Lat week, they fell (18-14) to unbeaten Mogadore.

Coach Scott Spitler says they played extremely hard, but turnovers late in the game cost them. “It was just a whale of a high school football game that we came up on the short end of the stick. It seemed like both teams were just trying to give the ball to each other there in the fourth quarter. We had a couple of bad snaps and a fumbled kick off return. We lost the turnover battle there in the fourth quarter three to two and that was the difference. I can’t question our kids effort,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They played their butts off for four quarters against a darn good football team. We couldn’t probably be more evenly matched. We are five points away from being 5-0 on the season. So, we feel like we have a good football team that is getting better week to week. With our schedule it doesn’t get any easier this week. We play another quality D-6 football program that is one of the top ranked teams in state.”

Lucas (3-2) is at Crestview (5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night. The Cougars blasted Monroeville (48-8) in a Firelands Conference game last week.

Spitler says the Cougars have good size and they are just tough. “I think they have decent size. They move really well in the trenches. They have great skilled kids. They have probably one of the toughest competitors around in their quarterback Kuhn. He is just a tremendous tough, tough playmaker, a great decision maker, really the flag carrier for their team. A very good athlete at tailback. The biggest thing that stands out to me is they are very well coached and they are very balanced,” he said.

Crestview plays that 3-3 stack defense and Spitler says they do an excellent job with that scheme and have the personnel to make it work. “They just do a great job of being so aggressive in it. They play downhill really well. Their team speed is evident. They really play sideline to sideline. They string things out and they are good tacklers. Tim (Scheid) is a great coach, their defensive coordinator. He was doing a great job at Lexington. That was a great hire by Steve (Haverdill) to get him in as defensive coordinator. He does a great job and really knows what he is doing. We have our hands full,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “It is another week on our schedule where we have to line up and go at it. We are going to be a better team playing these quality programs. We have respect for Crestview and their program. We expect it to be a heck of a football game. We have to do our part to make it competitive.”

Published 9/21/22

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Lucas to Tangle With Mogadore

Two schools who have enjoyed a lot of success on the football field in recent years collide on Friday night as the Lucas Cubs host Mogadore in a non-conference game.

Lucas (3-1) is now on a three game winning streak after dismantling Mapleton (55-21) last week.

The Mounties had a huge offensive and defensive line, but coach Scott Spitler says they did a fantastic job of controlling the trenches. “I thought our young guys in the trenches did a nice job because Mapleton was very multiple in what they did defensively. They showed us so many different things from down to down as far as the fronts they were running and our guys handled that really well and did a nice job blocking to the whistle. With our skilled kids when we do our job up front good things are going to happen,” said Spitler.

Mogadore (4-0) beat Liberty-Benton (33-28) last week to remain perfect through four games.

Spitler says they have a lot of experience up front. “They are well coached. Coach (Matt) Adorni does a great job up there. It is kind of like a role reversal. Last year, we had the experience in the trenches and they were pretty junior dominated. Now, we are young in the trenches and they have probably 95 percent of their team coming back from last year. I really think the key to the game is going to be who can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” he said.

Plus, Spitler says Mogadore has a tremendous athlete in Mason Williams that is going to be a matchup problem for them. “They have a really nice athlete that they play at tight end and H-back and split him out some at wide receiver. He is 6’6”, 245, Mason Williams. He is an Ohio University commit. That is just one thing that is concerning because we can’t simulate that. We don’t have one of those guys to put on the scout team. He is just a huge matchup problem. He is a tremendous athlete for his size,” he told Swankonsports.com, “You know you are not going to play division I college football without being a good athlete. It is going to be important for us to know where is at all times and formations and where he is lined up because they do so many things with him that he can hurt you in so many ways.”

Playing teams of the caliper of Mogadore is how the Cubs get better as a team, according to Spitler. “I think the reason why we have been able to grow as a program is because of playing teams like this. They have had the tradition of success that we are striving to become as program. You get a chance to match up against them and see how you measure up and how much growth you need to have. I am going to tell you right now we are going to find out where we need to get better because they are so good,” he said.

Published 9/15/22

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Lucas Has to be Good up Front

Lucas plays at Mapleton in non-conference play on Friday night in game between two teams that want to run the ball.

Last week, the Cubs (2-1) ran the ball better than they have all season in a (42-14) win over Wynford.

Coach Scott Spitler says it started in practice. “It all started with the week of practice. We were kind of getting back to the basics in our run game during the week after the Hillsdale game. I thought our kids really brought it at practice and working on the finer things in our run game and I thought that showed in the improvement of running the football against Wynford. When you can run with success and they want to creep up and get in the box that allows you to hit big pass plays over the top, which our senior quarterback Andrew Smollen did a nice job of there Friday night,” said Spitler.

Mapleton (3-0) has dominated their first three opponents this year.

Spitler describes them as big and powerful. “There is no easy week. They are extremely talented. I think they might have better team speed than they had last year. Once again, I don’t know how they grow them over there, but they are huge up front on both sides of the ball. They are playing extremely well, hey are just racking up the rushing yards and the points offensively. It seems like Cline has been at quarterback for so many years. I know he is only a junior, but he started as a freshman. He is a duel threat and he can hurt you both throwing and passing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We have had some tremendous battles with them and this is not going to be any different because they are playing with great confidence. The last three weeks they have just put it on people. So, we are going to have our hands full and we better come strapped up and ready to play Friday night.”

Lucas has been so very good at controlling the line of scrimmage over the last five years, but Spitler says that’s going to be a tough challenge on Friday. “With their size they just do such a tremendous job up front of establishing the line of scrimmage for their skilled kids. I counted something like nine or 10 kids were 230 pounds and six or seven over 250. So, they are big and physical. They come out from play one wanting to establish the line of scrimmage. Offensively and defensively for both teams I think the line of scrimmage will be the determining factor Friday night,” he said.

Published 9/06/22

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Lucas Faces Physical Wynford

Lucas heads for Wynford to tangle with the Royals on Friday night in non-conference play.

On Saturday night, the Cubs (1-1) edged Hillsdale (14-13) to get their first win.

Coach Scott Spitler says they continue to improve as a team. “I thought the kids did a nice job of preparation during the week. Even with how the day went down on Saturday they were able to keep their focus and go out and execute and get a win against a very good football team. I don’t think it could be any more even than the two teams were. It was just a tremendous football game and we were fortunate to come out on the right end of it. We are seeing improvement. It may not always happen as fast as we would like it. We are getting better as team with our young offensive and defensive linemen that are showing improvement. As long as they continue that way we will get better as a team,” said Spitler.

The game was played at Clear Fork due to vandalism at the Lucas football field. The individual responsible has been arrested.

Spitler says the win over Hillsdale was pretty important to them. “I think it was nice for everyone to get the money off our backs. The young kids playing for the seniors don’t want to let the seniors down. The seniors have kind been pressing a little bit. It was good to get a win and get things headed in the right direction. It doesn’t get any easier, we have a great challenge this week,” he said.

Wynford (0-2) lost (8-0) to Marion Pleasant last Friday.

Spitler says they are doing a good job getting familiar with a new offense. “I’ll tell you what when you watch film they are a very solid football team. They have created a new identity there of running the football, a wing-T package. They have size. They are very big up front. They have some really athletic players, some very hard running running backs and a quarterback that is really athletic and can hurt you both running and throwing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “You can tell there is a tremendous focus of getting better in the trenches as a whole program offensively and defensively. I think they play downhill and sideline to sideline really well. We have our hands full, it is going to be a tough matchup with their size and athleticism.”

Spitler predicts this game with will a battle at the point of attack. “With the new coaching staff you can see that they want to establish being a physical football team and running the football first. They played a great Otsego program week one and took it to the wire. It was a 2-0 game clear into the fourth quarter last week against Marion Pleasant. They are getting battle tested as well. Wynford is always tough to play at home with their fans and the crowds that they bring. It is going to be a handful for us this week,” he said.

Published 8/31/22

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Lucas Takes on Explosive Hillsdale

Lucas entertains Hillsdale, out of the Wayne County Athletic League, in a non-conference game Saturday night at Bob Wine Field in Lucas.

Last week, they lost (21-20) to Clear Fork when the Colts scored with 2:36 to play in the game.

Coach Scott Spitler says they made too many mistakes to win in the end. “It was a good game between two good football teams. We were concerned about their size and athleticism going into the game. We had our chances, we missed an extra point and a chip shot field goal or it wouldn’t have come down to that score they got in the last two minutes to win the game. Their size kind of wore us out there and we let it slip away at the end of the game there to a very good football team, very well coached team. These kinds of games make you better. We’ve had a great week of practice and hopefully we have done a good job of fixing those things so they won’t bite us in the butt anymore,” said Spitler.

Spitler says as a football team there are areas where they have to get better and he believes the players understand. “You have to be completely honest with yourself as a team and get to work on the things that get exposed each week. Especially when you play the schedule we play. If we have any weakness or areas we need to improve on they are going to get exposed when you play the teams we play. Clear Fork exposed some things that we need to get better at this week. We really challenged our guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We don’t really have to challenge them because I’m telling you right now there wasn’t anybody more upset than our kids Friday night because they expect so much more on themselves and their expectations of themselves are so high. They have been chomping at the bit to get back to work. We have had a decent week of work and we hope it pays off this week against Hillsdale.

Hillsdale whipped Black River (34-6) last Friday as quarterback Jake Haverstock ran for 108 yards and a couple of scores.

With Haverstock in there, Spitler says the Falcons are very capable of making big plays. “It doesn’t get any different, we are going to have a group that is going to be bigger in the trenches than us. They have a tremendous athlete at quarterback. So, we go from Victor Skoog to (Jake) Haverstock, who is just so elusive. He is a big play waiting to happen in their option game. What they do offensively really stresses you. If we aren’t disciplined and tackle well in space that young man can hurt you in a heartbeat,” he said.

Published 8/26/22

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Lucas Faces Physical, Athletic Clear Fork

Lucas, one best small school football programs in the state, will host Clear Fork in the “Backyard Brawl of Richland County” on Friday night on the opening night of the season.

Coach School Spitler says their goal in the preseason is to show constant improvement and they have been able to do that this month. “I thought we took another step forward. I thought we made improvements in the areas that we addressed through the week from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage. Now, our focus has been on getting ready for Clear Fork, who is going to be a tremendous challenge this week,” he said.

Lucas beat Clear Fork (18-15) in 2020.

Spitler says this year’s Colts are physical at the point of attack and athletic in the skilled positions, which can be a lethal combination. “They have great size on the trenches on both sides of the ball, great athletic skill, a leader and a tremendous athlete at quarterback in Victor Skoog. They just stress you in so many ways. They can lineup and pound you, they can spread you out and take it over the top with their passing game, Skoog scrambling at the quarterback position and the quarterback run game it could be a big play on any play because he is so talented,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We are going to have our hands full, which we expect. Being division VII and them being division IV playing up that type of challenge and allows us to grow and get better. That is what our mindset is in making sure that we are a better Lucas team than we are last Friday. If our effort deserves victory then we will have that, if not we will have the other way.”

It the same for the Clear Fork defense, according to Spitler, they have very good players at every level. “They do a nice job with their defensive line just stalemating offensive lines and the running game at the line of scrimmage. They have good size and Riddle at defensive end is just a tremendous athlete and his size and his frame makes him difficult matchup no matter who you are regardless of your size. Their linebackers do a nice job of playing downhill and their secondary is very athletic and does a nice job of mixing in coverages,” said Spitler.

Published 8/18/22

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Lucas Working on Lucas

Lucas has proven to be one of the better small school football programs not just in the area, but the state and they hope that is the case again this season.

They host Clear Fork in their first regular season game next Friday night at Bob Wine Field.

They scrimmaged Tiffin Calvert last Saturday and coach Scott Spitler says it was a good learning experience for the Cubs. “I thought we came out and did some really good things against Calvert. We got what I hoped accomplished and that was finding things that we can work on and get better at. Sometimes at a school our size it is hard to find those things out in practice and that is why you look forward to scrimmages. Calvert had a good team coming back, so we knew they would help us find things that we need to continue to get better at,” he said.

Spitler says they have been working on a lot of fundamental elements in practice this week, something recent Lucas teams have been very good at doing. “We are breaking in some young guys who play in the trenches on both sides of the ball, so there are some execution things. Just different things about the placement of hands and shoulders and things like that we wanted to clean up technique wise to make the execution of plays better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Defensively, making sure we are aligned properly and communicating shifts and motions and things like that. The pursuit to the ball and the physicality to which we scrimmage with was there and we were happy to see that. You just have to continue to work and try and get better at those things. We are looking to see if we grew from Calvert until Friday’s scrimmage with Cardington.”

When it comes to Cardington on Friday night, Spitler says their goal is to show improvement from last week. “We spent the whole week working on things we felt like we needed to get better at from after last scrimmage. That is one of the last things I told the kids (Thursday) is (Friday) night when we are out there scrimmaging Cardington, I want to see if we have improved in those things that needed fixed, so we can continue to take a step forward. So, that is our mindset is that Lucas is better than they were last Saturday. Then get back to work and game planning after that scrimmage for Clear Fork because then it’s football for real,” said Spitler.

Published 8/12/22

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South Central Takes One From Lucas

Isaac Blair scored seven of his game high 25 points in the deciding fourth quarter as South Central rallied to beat Lucas (44-41) in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

The Trojans (18-7) return Friday night in an attempt to win their second district title in four years when they play Margaretta (21-3), a (57-43) winner over Monroeville in the nightcap.

Trailing by one, Blair stole the ball near half court and scored to give the Trojans a lead (37-36) that they would never give back. “Isaac comes up with some plays like that. He is long and he has unbelievable instincts. He made a huge play for us,” said South Central coach Brett Seidel.

Brandon Mitchell followed with a hoop in the lane and then Blair scored, was fouled, and converted the free throw to give the Trojans a (7-0) run and a (42-36) lead with 3:05 to play in the game, but things were far from over.

Ty Lehnhart dropped in two free throws and drilled a three point basket to cut it to one with 1:27 left in the game.

After Hagen Adams missed the front end of the one and one, Lucas came down with a chance to take the lead, but Blair blocked Logan Toms baseline turnaround jumper to save the day for the Trojans. “He is averaging about a block a game. He is not the most physical kid. He tries to avoid contact when he gets to the rim, but he has unbelievable savvy and instincts and he used his length right there too,” added Seidel.

Blair tipped the ball to Sam Seidel, who drained two free throws with 2.5 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Lucas had beaten South Central (41-33) in a regular season game. Coach Taylor Iceman says their goal is always to outwork the other team, but the Trojans outworked them Tuesday night. “We didn’t take care of the ball good (Tuesday) night. We had untimely turnovers. We didn’t have a lot of them when you look back. I told out guys we shot 34 free throws in the first round and we shot five (Tuesday). I didn’t think the officials were very good, but they didn’t lose the game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Credit South Central, they played physical because they could get away with it. If they are going to let you do it, why not? We had the ball up there and we are running a little clock and we turn it over, just a bad stretch there.”

South Central never subbed in the game and Lucas didn’t do very much either, so the started had to give every once they had. Seidel says he saved his timeouts for the late going to give his kids a little break. “I’ll be completely honest I called timeouts to give them rest. We didn’t sub the whole game. We saved our timeouts for the second half just for the purpose of having rest. That’s what we talked about in the huddle. Sell out, we have three left and we will get you another break here in a minute or two,” said Seidel.

It was a classic, evenly contested, district level basketball game as South Central’s six point lead was the largest for either side all night. There were nine lead changes and three ties in the game.

Seidel had seven, Adams six and Mitchell six for the Trojans.

South Central held the Cubs two leading scorers in brothers Logan and Corbin Toms to four and two respectfully, but Lehnhart stepped up to get 23 points for the Cubs.

Seidel says Lenhart was tremendous and he really kept Lucas in the game. “I thought their role plays hits some shots. Ty Lehnhart hit shot after shot and I don’t know if he missed. Obviously, we are trying to take away Corbin and Logan Tombs, starting with Logan and I thought we did a really good job of that, but he really stepped up for them and frankly kept them in the game,” said Seidel.

Iceman says Lehnhart is a kid that is capable of those kinds of performances. “Looking at the book, Corbin and Logan combined for six and we were in the game. If you told me that before and I would have thought we got whipped, but Ty played his butt off and he can do that. We have known, we have just been trying to get that out of him,” said Iceman.

Published 3/02/22

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Defense Again the Key For Lucas

Lucas faces South Central in the division IV district semifinals at Willard High School on Tuesday night.

The Cubs have beaten South Central the last two years in Willard (34-26) last season and (46-43) in overtime in 2020. South Central won the district title in 2019, but did not play Lucas in the districts, they lost to Colonel Crawford that year.

On Friday, Lucas (19-4) held Plymouth to four first half points and eliminated the Big Red (46-31) and South Central (17-7) beat Danbury Lakeside (71-43) to advance.

Coach Taylor Iceman says it was their defense that carried them on Friday night. “We didn’t do a whole lot of good things, but I attribute a lot of that to taking a first round bye, I usually don’t. So, I kind of expected it a little bit. That is why we put so much focus and effort into our defense because you know on a night to night basis you can go out and give effort and play good defensively even though your offense isn’t going to be there. If you are playing good, hard defense, you are always going to be in the game,” he said.

When it comes to the Trojans, Iceman says they have a whole bunch of three point shooters that can spread the floor. “We know them really well. We got to see them play twice last week. We have played them already once this year. This is kind of an annual deal now that we see them here in Willard. It’s always a really good game. They are very guard laden this year. David Lamoreaux is finally gone. I think he was there for 25 years. They don’t have a ton of size. They rely a lot on the outside shots, so you have to defend the three point line and just make it tough on them. They are going to score,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I would be completely shocked if we held them to four points in a half or something crazy like that. We know we are going to have to be better offensively. They just have a lot of guards that can shoot it and attack the rim and get there and cause issues. So, we have to keep the ball in front of us and not let them get to the paint and kick to open shooters.”

Kayden Hauler led the Firelands Conference in 3 pointers made this year. Isaac Blair and Sam Seidel also have that range.

Iceman says they have to keep the Trojans out of the lane because that is what gets you in trouble against them. “We put a huge emphasis on keeping the ball in front of us. A lot of times it is the guy that penetrates, collapses the defense, and then kicks. We really do a good job of help side defense. We preach about always having two guys in the paint. With these guys it makes it really tough because if you over help or you help down on somebody penetrating, they are not looking so much to finish, they are looking for their shooters that are standing on the three point line. They have several guys that can knock them down. It is not they have one or two guys, they have three, four, all five guys on the floor can knock down open shots. It’s just really important that you keep the ball in front of you and don’t let them collapse the defense and kick it out to get those guys good looks and get them rolling,” said Iceman.

Published 2/28/22

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Lucas Plays Talented Plymouth

Lucas locks horns with Plymouth in a division IV sectional final Friday night at Shelby High School.

The Cubs have won the last two district titles.

These two teams just played on February 12 and the Cubs had a big second half to win (66-36) at their place.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they are certainly familiar with each other. “We got to see them right after the draw, so we knew that was going to be a game that carried some weight because you don’t want to give a team any hope or any confidence going into a possible tournament matchup. We were able to go over to Shelby the other night and watch them play and beat Sandusky St. Mary’s. We are pretty familiar with who they are,” he said.

Lucas (18-4) won the Mid-Buckeye Conference title again this season, their fourth in a row.

Plymouth (9-14) has won five of their last seven, including a (53-49) overtime win over Sandusky St. Mary’s on Tuesday and they have three starts with a lot of varsity experience in Zeth Goth, Josh Beebe and Clayton Miller.

Iceman says the Big Red played with them for a half and have some kids that can produce some numbers. “I know they have had a rough year with COVID sicknesses and several things. When we played them they had everybody back. They have some guys that seem like they have been there for a long time. They can get hot and give you trouble. They last time we played them it was a tie game or it was real close at halftime and then we went on a pretty big run to start the third quarter and played really well for a stretch and kind of put it out of reach,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “For two quarters it was a tight game, so we know we can’t overlook anybody and any point. It’s the tournament and you have to show up every game ready to go. They can play with us and they have confidence. They chose to go where they did. They foresaw this. We have to show up ready to play. They can give us some trouble if we don’t come out and take care of business.”

Iceman says, as is usually the case with them, they have go out Friday and play solid defense. He also believes that the bigger court at Shelby will help them. “We hang our hat on that. Again, we know who their guys are. We have been preparing the last few days for them specifically now. We are going to go out and try and take their guys away. It will be nice playing at Shelby on a little bigger floor. It helps us out offensively it spreads the floor and we can get to the rim and find shooters,” he said.

Published 2/24/22

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Lucas with Last Tune up

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion, has one regular season game left at Mt. Gilead on Friday night in non-conference action before beginning defense of its district title next week.

They beat Clear Fork (62-38) in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman was happy with their play. “We played pretty well. It was our senior night, so we had some different guys starting. They played well early and we were able to come back with our regular guys and get some things accomplished. Our seniors were all able to play the entire fourth quarter. It was just a good night. We got to honor the seniors and they all got to play a lot. It was just a pretty good night. The last two games we have played petty well, so I have been happy with them. This is the time of the year that you are supposed to be playing pretty well. Hopefully we keep it rolling here,” he said.

Iceman says they beginning to peak as they head into tournament week. He says they have they have made some important improvements. “We have had our ups and downs this year. We have looked really good at times and not so good at times. My big thing was we would go through stretches when we looked really good and we would play a couple of quarters when we weren’t good at all. So, we knew the good was there it was just a matter of finding it and then sustaining it for four quarters. We have been putting more quarters together. We have been playing well for two, three, four quarters. We are winning and we are beating teams that we are favored and probably should win. We are learning and we are getting better. We are doing good things and I feel good about it,” said Iceman.

Lucas (17-4) is at Mt. Gilead (8-13) on Friday night. The Indians lost (73-50) to Knox Morrow Athletic Conference champion Centerburg last Friday.

Iceman says they really don’t a lot about them. “I think they are young they have a good guard that is sophomore. We don’t know a ton about them. This is the first time we have played them since I have been coaching. We picked them up as a replacement for one of the teams that got rid of us. I know a little bit from watching them on film, but I can’t say from recent years or anything like that. We haven’t seen them in the summer or anything like that. At this point in the year, you do a little homework on them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It’s not like we are going to run into the tournament or anything like that. We know a little bit of what they do and a little bit of who they have got. It is more about you at this point going out and executing what you do and just adjusting to what they try to do. This is our last warmup before it starts for real again. If you don’t play well after Friday night you get sent home. We have been playing well. We are going to go out and it’s on the road and hopefully we can go out and keep doing what we have been doing and getting better.”

Published 2/17/22

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Lucas One Step Away

With a win on Friday night at home against Loudonville, the Lucas Cubs will claim no less than a co-title in the Mid-Buckeye Conference.

They share the lead with Kidron Central Christian.

They host Willard in an exciting non-conference game on Saturday.

When it comes to sharing league titles, coach Taylor Iceman says they would rather not, but that is out of their hands. “We dropped the one to Central Christian and we kick ourselves for not taking care of business there. All we can do now is go out and beat Loudonville and hope for the best and at least get a share of it. We have to go out and take care of business. If we show up and play bad anything can happen. W just have to go out and take care of business,” he said.

Lucas (14-3,8-1) plays at home against Loudonville (3-14,2-6) on Friday night. The Redbirds lost to New London (38-35) on Tuesday night. That was the Wildcats first win of the season.

Iceman says they are going to have to deal with zone again. “They have some talented guys. The first time around when we played it was fairly close for the first half and then we kind of extended it out. The new thing for everybody that is not as talented as us they come out and play a 2-3 zone. I guess that is the way to go against Lucas. It has just been frustrating because we like to play fast and we like to attack the rim and use our athletes. We have just seen team after team, after team, after team, now just sit in 2-3 zones against us. Either you are hitting shots and you shoot them out of it or it just kind of frustrating. I’m assuming that is what they will do to us again. So, we have been practicing against that kind of stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “To get to where we want to be in the postseason and when we play some of the better teams, we know they probably aren’t going to play a zone against us, so it has been a challenge. You want to work on things that you know you are going to have to get better at and you are going to see, but also you can’t overlook things that we are going to see Friday night. The last five or six games we have played has been all of this 2-3 zone stuff. It is frustrating, but it is what it is. Teams are doing it because that’s what they have to so to try and beat us, so we have to figure it out and be better at it than the zone that they have just put in.”

Now, Willard (10-7) comes calling on Saturday night and Iceman says that is a game they are looking forward too. “We know them really well. We were able to go watch them play a little earlier this year. A couple of our kids play with their kids in AAU basketball and stuff like that, so there are relationships there and we know them. We matchup with them pretty well. They do to other schools what we do to a lot of schools. So, it will be two similar teams. Their record isn’t as great as it usually is, but their league is not a cupcake this year, they have to play a lot of tough teams and if you don’t bring it every night, you can get beat. They have dropped a couple, but they are really good. I wouldn’t care if they were undefeated or they hadn’t won any, I know the kids and I know the coaches and what they are all about. It is going to be an interesting game. It’s a big game for us. It is one we have had circled for a while and we are looking forward to it,” said Iceman.

Published 2/02/22

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Lucas Has to Play its Game

Lucas, the co-leader in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, plays at home against Mansfield St. Peter’s in a conference game on Friday night.

They share first with Kidron Central Christian, who plays host to Loudonville on Friday night.

After losing at Kidron (35-34) last Thursday, the Cubs got an important conference win (60-45) at Mansfield Christian on Saturday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says it wasn’t easy. “We played really bad in the first half. We were down seven I think to start the second half. I don’t know what it was, if it was a bit of an hang over or what, but we weren’t doing anything that we usually do. Then we turned it on in the second half and played like us and we were a lot better and ended up winning by 15. Everybody kept saying, what did you tell them? You must have said something, or you yelled at them. I said, no, I didn’t yell or scream, I just told them it is not an “X’s” and “O’s” thing, it is just us getting back to being us. Something clicked there a little bit and we righted the ship. I think we were down by 10 or 11 in the first half,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they are leaning and the did beat a pretty good Northmor team (48-41) on Tuesday. “I think you have to experience a little bit of those lows to get things headed back in the right direction. We played a pretty solid Northmor team on Tuesday and played pretty well throughout that game, the third quarter wasn’t great for us, but it was pretty good and we were able to pick up a win against a solid team,” he said.

Lucas (12-3,7-1) plays host to Mansfield St. Peter’s (2-13,0-7) on Friday night. The Spartans got a win on Tuesday night when they beat Mansfield Temple Christian (64-48) in non-conference play.

Iceman says they have to play up to their standards. “We have sometimes struggled against opponents that we think we are just going to go in and win, so we have to get out of that mindset. It doesn’t matter who we are playing we have to go out and play to our capabilities every time out. That has been an emphasis this year and at times we have just not done that. If we go out and do what we are supposed to and play well, we will have a good shot at winning. We will be able to get some other guys in the game to develop them a little bit more,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We lost Aiden Culler here a while back to an “ACL” injury, so our depth isn’t quite where we would like it to be especially heading into tournament time. So, if you can go out and take care of business and do what you are supposed to do then you can work on developing some other guys and work on some things as well in games like things. St. Pete’s isn’t horrible. They are improved. Kent is a tough guard. So, we have to be ready and we have to go out and play to our expectations and then take care of business.”

Published 1/28/22

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Lucas Can Put Hammer Down

Lucas can clinch no less than a share of the title in the Mid-Buckeye Conference with wins at Kidron Central Christian and Mansfield Christian this week.

It would be their fourth in a row.

The Cubs downed Crestview (59-48) in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says he was pleased they were able to put it away late. “It was a pretty good game for us. Crestview is a lot better than their record shows and we knew that going in, so we knew we were going to have to play well to win (Tuesday) night, especially a Tuesday night, sometimes those games are tough. It was a battle all of the way through. We showed a little growth and we won that one in the end. We made free throws. We dictated a little bit and we won that one. We had some bigger games this year and we were right there at the end of the game and we found was to lose it, so it was nice to show a little growth and win a game and put a team away at the end of a game. Crestview is pretty solid, their record doesn’t indicate what kind of team they are,” said Iceman.

Lucas (10-2,6-0) plays at Central Christian (7-5,4-1) and their zone defense on Thursday night. They beat East Canton (65-53) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night after not playing for 10 days.

Iceman says it is a rare girls-boys double header and he admits that Kidron is not his favorite place to play because the Comets always play them tough. “It is never fun to go over there and play. It’s always a struggle. They don’t have a JV team this year, so we are going to go over there and our varsity girls are going to play first and then we will play, so it will be a little bit different than a regular night. It’s a Thursday night, kind a quick turnaround from our Tuesday game, so it will be just a little different. The kids and I have really talked at the beginning of the week about how this is a big week for us because we knew Crestview was going to be good (Tuesday) night and we have a really big game with Central Christian on Thursday,” he told Swankosports.com on Wednesday, “They are 4-1 in the league and they have only lost to us. We are at 6-0 right now and if we can go to their place and pick up a win (Thursday) night we are in a really good spot as far as our league goes. That is our first goal for the season is to win our league again and we can take big strides and put ourselves kind of our there out front be quite aways if we can go over there and win, but it won’t be easy. Coach Martin will have his guys ready to go. They are going to be prepared for us, they are playing well, and have won some games here lately.”

Then Mansfield Christian (5-7,2-3) will host the Cubs on Saturday night. Lucas beat the Flames (64-45) on January 7.

Iceman predicts it will be closer this time. “It seems like we just played them not too long ago. We are aware of what they do. When you talk about Mansfield Christian you talk about Amar Davis. They kind of go as he goes. We did a really good job on him last time by shutting him down at Lucas. It is even more of a challenge over there at their place. They will play a little bit better at home they will shoot a little better at home. It would be a good spot to get us because we are coming off a big conference game and you overlook a third game in a week. You think you have the league wrapped up. It’s a good place to pick off a good team,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they have been focused on what they need to do this week. “We have really concentrated this week on being focused and going out and taking care of business every night and just taking them one at a time. We are going to start with (Thursday) night with Central Christian and get through that one and then we are going to turn our focus really quick to Mansfield Christian and get prepared to go down there and take care of business on Saturday night,” he said.

Published 1/20/22

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Lucas Has to be Better Closer

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference leader, plays at home against the Mansfield Christian Flames in a conference game on Friday night.

They lost to one of the better teams out of the Wayne County Athletic League in Norwayne (53-46) on Tuesday.

It was something that has kind of plagued this team this season, according to coach Taylor Iceman. He says they couldn’t get the big play when they needed it. “We played pretty well. Norwayne is a good team. They run a press, that’s what they do to everybody. We handled that extremely well and got them out of that. Then they went man and they couldn’t guard us. Then they went to 1-3-1 and we struggled with it for a little bit and we finally started executing and we got them out of that. Then we just didn’t finish again,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have played two really teams this year in Hiland and Norwayne. We had the lead late against Hiland. We had the ball three times down one point in the Norwayne game and we just can’t seem to put it together in the end. I think part of that is you just have learn how to do it. So, we had a couple of situations there where hopefully we can keep improving. Learn how to put teams away and learn how to win games down the stretch.”

Lucas (6-2,4-0) has Mansfield Christian (3-6,1-2) on Friday night. The Flames have picked up two straight wins over Columbus Horizon Science (76-63) and Bucyrus (61-36) on Tuesday.

Iceman says they have shown improvement. “They are playing harder, they are better. Amarr Davis is one of the better athletes in the area. We know them. We play them every year. We see them in the summertime. We know what we have to do. It’s a matter of going out and executing it. Just trying to find ways of improving and get better. If we go out and play like we should, we should win, but we still have to find ways to get better and get some things out of games,” he said.

Iceman says Friday night they have to continue to learn as a basketball team and make plays when somebody is making a run at them. “We have had kind of blowouts and we have had close games that we weren’t able to finish against really good teams. We have to figure out a way with our schedule this year to find ways to take things out of all types of games, so when it gets to be tournament time or down the road and we are playing a really good team, we are prepared for it. The last few years our schedule has been a little tougher and we have played some bigger schools and it just makes us challenged and tested. We are missing that stuff right now. We have to figure out how to take care of big games. We are the conference champs and we are going to get everybody’s best shot. We just can’t assume we are going to win and show up and go through the motions. Mansfield Christian is coming in and is going to try and beat us. We have to be prepared and ready to go,” said Iceman.

Published 1/07/22

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Lucas Plays Berlin Hiland

Lucas plays in the First Federal Showcase at Berlin Hiland on Tuesday night and they play the host Hiland Hawks.

The Cubs (5-0) did not play on Christmas week, but coach Taylor Iceman says that could be a good thing. “We had a busy week that last week, we played three games and it’s a holiday in there and it gets broken up anyway, so I wasn’t opposed to it. We had a big win, so you hate to lose that momentum, but it was good for us. We are still kind of banged up from football, so a little time off and some practice to keep getting in shape and work on our shooting and stuff like that I think was a good thing. There is not anything we can do about it now, so we are going to make the best of it. We play a really good team (Tuesday), so we will see if we are ready or not,” he said.

Iceman says the Hawks are going to be a big challenge to his team, there is no doubt about that. “It’s just a really, really good program. They expect to win every time out no matter who they are playing. They play a tough schedule. We played down there last year in this event, lost out opponent and got to play Worthington Christian. We know all too well about going down there and playing a tough opponent. It will be good for our team to go down there and play in a hostile environment against a good team. It makes you battle tested at the end of the year. I think we are good enough that we can go down there and beat them. Obviously, we will have to play well, but you want to play good teams. It’s early in the year, we haven’t lost yet, but I don’t know who we are just yet. Going down there and beating them would say a lot about our team and set our bar a little higher for the season,” said Iceman.

Really good teams have to play well on the road and Iceman says this will be a great environment to see if they can do that. “Something I really like to relate it too is when we play at home in football. We have a great football program and when we get to play at home it is a big advantage, but it’s a cool atmosphere. I tell lots of teams, bit or small, whoever comes into Lucas for a football game that it is going to be a cool environment, a cool place for your kids to play. We got to go down there last year, but it was a limited capacity due to COVID. I talked to coach (Mark) Schlabach about playing down there again this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “He said, it is a really cool thing for kids to get to play in this because we have so many fans here and there is a lot of excitement, especially getting to play Hiland. I know their fans will be there. Everybody is happy to be back in gym and coming out of the holiday I expect a big crowd down there. So, it’s a great atmosphere and a fun atmosphere for the kids, but it is not a lot of fun if you get your butt kicked. We have to show up and be ready to play, but it will be a good test for us.”

Published 12/28/21

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Lucas Developing Depth

Lucas has a double weekend as they travel to Mansfield St. Peter’s for a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night and host non-league rival South Central on Saturday night.

They smoked Galion (62-30) in a non-conference game Tuesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they are doing the things they need to do to win. “We are playing hard, which is all can ask for right now. We have had some good results because we have been playing hard and doing lots of good things, but we haven’t shot the ball really great. That will come in time and we just have to be patient and keep doing the little things and we get to the point where we are knocking down open shots and doing the little things that we are doing now we are going to be pretty tough,” he said.

Lucas (3-0,2-0) is at St. Peter’s (1-3,0-2) on Friday night. The Spartans lost (78-44) to Crestline in a “MBC” game on Friday night.

Iceman hopes he can get his more inexperienced kids some extended playing time. “They are young and kind of inexperienced, but it’s a conference game and we have to go out and take care of business. One thing I have preached to our kids is we have quite a few guys that have contributed this year. I don’t care who is out there playing we have to play one way all of the time. The other night we were fortunate enough to beat Galion pretty handily and again a lot of our guys got significant playing time. So, it didn’t matter who got in. Guys that came in off the bench played hard and did significant things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I was happy with my guys that were starters. My experienced guys. They were engaged and cheering those guys on and communicating with them and helping them do things and cheering when they did things. It was a good team win. We have to continue to do that so some of these other guys develop as well. Down the road when need those guys when somebody gets in foul trouble or somebody gets hurt. We live in the COVID era when you never know who you are going to have. As many guys that we can get prepared as we can only help us down the road.”

South Central (5-0) comes calling on Saturday night.

Iceman says it’s always a war when these two play. “It’s South Central-Lucas. Brett (Seidel) does a great job with his kids. They have some talented kids back. It seems like they always have two or three kids back from the year before. I’m glad David Lamoreaux finally graduated after 25 years or whatever it was that he was there, but there is a Seidel, there is a Blair, a lot of familiar names and characters. It will be a good game. It’s always a fun one. I expect a good crowd on Saturday night. We are fortunate this year it is at our place. It’s good to play games like that. It’s good to see where you are at. It’s a fun atmosphere. They are always fun games whether it is regular season or tournament. We will probably end up seeing them again down the road,” said Iceman.

Published 12/17/21

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Lucas Plays Fundamental Central Christian

Lucas, who won the Mid-Buckeye Conference title last year, plays host to Kidron Central Christian in a conference game on Friday night at the “Cub Cave”.

It will be their home opener.

They played at Crestline in a “MBC” game and won (55-43) last Friday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they did some very good things, but as expected they weren’t very consistent. “It’s always good to win, especially that first one. We knew it was going to be ugly, but there were a lot of good things also. I think we started the game it was 18-3 or something. We played extremely good defense to start and then we looked like a team playing their first game for a while, then they made a little run the second half and kind of let them back in. We did just enough to win. It’s a good first game to get the win and do some good things, but show your kids that we are nowhere where we need to be and there is a lot of room to improve. It’s always good to get that first win,” he said.

Corbin Toms had 16 and Aidan Culler 13 in the win over Crestline.

Kidron Central Christian (1-2,1-0) won their conference opener last week too in beating Mansfield Christian (54-45) last Friday.

Iceman says they will be well drilled and he believes they are a dangerous team. “I say it every year coach (Craig) Martin does a great job. They don’t have a ton of talent, but he gets the most out of his kids and they are improved from last year, so it is not going to be an easy game at all. They are playing pretty well and have won a few games here early and they are putting up some more points that they usually do. They have a little more talent then they have been, they have been young the last couple of years. He doesn’t have a ton of bodies, but has some kids that have been in the program for a couple of years and they have had some success at the middle school level and those kids are coming to high school,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It’s tough because they run that zone and you have to be able to make some outside shots. Being early in the season it is going to be a challenge and we have to really prepare this week and be ready for Central Christian.”

As the three time defending conference champions, Iceman knows they have a target on their backs. He says solid defense is the key for them. “If I am anybody else and I have the league champs, I want them early. It would be a good time to get us. It is going to speak volumes about our kids to see how they respond because we are not quite where we want to be yet. We are getting healthy, but we have to find ways to win early. I think I have enough experienced guys and just some winners on my team that just came out of a very successful football season and guys that want to win. Again, we just have to go out and figure out ways to do it. Find who is going to score for us and ride them and then play good defense. If we play good defense we are always going to be in the game,” said Iceman.

Published 12/06/21

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Lucas Opens the Season With Crestline

It is a little déjà vu for the Lucas Cubs are they open the season late and do it at Crestline in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game in this case on Friday night.

Last year that didn’t go so well as the Cubs lost their only conference game of the season.

Coach Taylor Iceman says things might not be pretty on Friday night, but they are ready to play some basketball. “Something I have learned in my years here is the first game is always going to be probably not as pretty as you hope, so I expect it to be a little rough. We are still trying to get our bodies in shape. We have some guys out with injuries still lingering from football and some other things and some guys aren’t 100 percent. I would be crazy if I told you, yeah, we are fine tuned and we are ready to roll. Like I said, I kind of know what to expect, but I think we have enough talent and experience. I have been preaching that we just have to go out and play hard here early on until we kind of settle into things and get in basketball shape,” he said.

Iceman cautions that they can’t just expect they are going to win. They have to play their best. “I think we learned our lesson last year. We showed up the first game of the year and coming out of a very successful season just kind of thought we would show up and things would take care of themselves and we went to Crestline and got our butts kicked the first game. So, hopefully I have enough guys on the team that took part in that butt whipping last year that they are not going to let that happen. Just know we have to play harder and a lot better than we did last year. I know we have a lot of work to do. It’s early, we have had one scrimmage and about a week and half of practice, but it is what it is and we are used to dealing with it and we have to learn from our mistakes in the past,” said Iceman.

Crestline (1-1) lost to Colonel Crawford (52-28) and beat Buckeye Central (49-41) last week.

Iceman says they want to get into the Bulldog bench. “I was able to go watch them play here the other night and one through five they are solid. Not a whole lot of depth on their team, so I think that is one of the places we will have an advantage. We have had some successful teams the last few years, but we probably only played six, seven, eight guys. This year when we get everybody, I am thinking we are going to have nine, 10 guys that we can put out there that they are going to contribute,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I don’t know that we will have that on Friday night as we are still trying to get healthy, but I think that will benefit us down the road. Some guys are going to get some experience. I think if we attack them and try and get them in some foul trouble or just run them and get them little more tired. If they have to go to their bench that is a good thing for us.”

Published 12/01/21

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Lucas Faces Very Athletic Dalton

Lucas, the region’s top seed, challenges Dalton, the undisputed Wayne County Athletic League champion, in a division VII regional semifinal on Saturday night at Wooster Triway High School.

Last week, Lucas (10-1) destroyed Malvern (37-0) in a quarterfinal game.

Coach Scott Spitler says they played some outstanding football. “I thought our offensive defensive lines controlled the line of scrimmage from the first whistle to the last and when we can do that good things are going to happen and we were able to put away a really good football team,” he said.

Dalton (10-2) dominated Independence (61-7) in their game last Saturday.

Spitler says they are just very dynamic on offense. “They are just extremely talented in the skilled positions. They have a gamebreaker running back in (Jaden) Schlabach, they have a matchup nightmare receiver in (Jaiden) Malone, a very talented duel threat quarterback, good size and athleticism on their lines. Defensively, they impress you with their speed and they way they play downhill. It is going to be a pretty tall task for us this week,” he said.

Lucas played a very aggressive schedule for a small school team, but Spitler says they have not faced an offense like this one. “I don’t think we have faced a team that has the number of gamebreakers at the different levels. The quarterback position, the running back position, the wideout position. They are just so talented there. They way they stretch you with their multiple formations and try and create matchup bubbles in your defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It is going to be a tall task. We are going to have to do a really good job of limiting big plays, that is the only shot you have to compete against them is to tackle well in space and eliminate big plays.”

On defense, Spitler says the Bulldogs have some gamebreakers too. He says they are going to have to play very well to win. “The young man at linebacker (Sean) Geiser is a tremendous tackling machine. He plays downhill really well. They have good size at the defensive tackle position, they have athletic defensive ends, Schlabach at outside linebacker is a threat to cause chaos on every play and just the talent that they have in the secondary. It’s a complete team. You don’t go through a very talented Wayne County Athletic League and be the champs without being battle tested. So, they are a good football team, they are well coached, and we are going to have our hands full,” said Spitler.

Published 11/11/21

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Lucas Hosts an Athletic Malvern

Lucas, the top seed in the division VII, region 25, will play at home Saturday night against the Malvern Hornets in a regional quarterfinal.

After a slow start last week, the Cubs rallied to beat Mapleton (35-16) in a first round game.

Coach Scott Spitler says it was a first half filled with too many mistakes, but they put things together after the break. “In the first half I thought we came out a little not intense if you will. We weren’t playing free and loose. I thought we made some uncharacteristic mistakes on some assignments and things that got us behind the sticks a couple of times and kept us from getting in the end zone a couple of times. When you are playing good football teams you can’t do those types of things or they make you pay. I thought Mapleton came in and right out of the gate were playing fired up and inspired football. Their kids played really hard and did some good things. The first half was kind of a knock down drag out situation, but then we came out the second half and everything and we were able to get back in our grove and were able to get out of there with a victory and move on,” said Spitler.

Lucas (9-1) hosts Malvern (9-2) on Saturday night. The Hornets are coming off a (34-0) win over Lowellville in their opening round game. Their only losses come by one point to Sandy Valley (22-21) and to unbeaten Sugarcreek Garaway (30-7) on September 17.

Spitler says they are very athletic and show a lot of speed on both sides of the ball. “I thought when the rankings for the football matchups came out, I thought they were a very good football team and could have been one of the top four seeds with the schedule that they play. They were 8-2 in the regular season and extremely talented. They’ve got eight seniors on both sides of the ball. When you watch film of them, their speed and athleticism just jumps of the screen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They have great skill positions on offense. They have a wide receiver that is 6’4” and 180 pounds that was their conference player of the year offensively that is going to be a matchup issue. In backfield, they have a 6’2”, 220 pound fullback and then next to him a very athletic running back and a duel threat quarterback. They have nice size up front. Defensively, they are very similar to us scheme wise. From the secondary and linebacker position they can just can flat out get sideline to sideline. So, it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us and we are going to have our hands full.”

Spitler says they can’t have turnovers on Saturday night and they need to win the kicking game. “When you look at their team and what they have done defensively. They have 23 interceptions as a defense on the season. Very opportunistic in the turnover battle. We have to take care of the football. We can’t allow them to get those extra possessions with how talented they are offensively. When you have a team that is turning people over the way they are ball security is going to huge in this type of game. At this time in the playoffs the fine line between winning and losing a lot of times comes down to special teams play. I think the turnover battle and special teams play,” he said.

Published 11/05/21

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Lucas Takes on Hard Running Mapleton

Lucas, the top seed in division VII, region 25, plays at home Saturday night against Mapleton, of the Firelands Conference, in a first round playoff game.

The Cubs (8-1), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, picked up an outstanding win last week when they beat longtime power Mogadore (14-0) last Friday.

Coach Scott Spitler says the won the battle up front, especially when Mogadore got in scoring position. “It was a slugfest. We knew going in that they wanted to try and establish the line of scrimmage like we like to. Our fans kept saying at the end of the game about how quick the game was and that was because both teams just kept throwing the run game against each other like sledgehammer. We were able to come out on the winning end. Our defense did a great job at bending and not breaking at times,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “I mean they drove the ball between the 20’s, but they weren’t able to get it in the end zone and we were able to sustain to big drives at the beginning of each half and get touchdowns and those held up and we were able to get out of there with a victory against a quality program. According to the gentleman that did the article for their area it was the first time that Mogadore had been shut out at home since 2005. So, a pretty good outcome with our kids and couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Mapleton (3-6) lost a Firelands Conference game (27-0) to unbeaten Crestview last week, but they have won two of their last three games.

Spitler says they are a solid team. “This summer, the beginning of August, our first scrimmage, was with Mapleton, at their place and it was a quality scrimmage. They are very talented. They have great size up front and they get off the ball well. They have good skilled kids. They are well coached, coach Stafford does a great job. It was a whale of a scrimmage. They play in a good conference and are going to be tested. It is going to be another one of those games that is going to come down to who can control the line of scrimmage and who takes care of the football. We have to make sure we come out on the right end of that. It’s going to be a good test for us,” he said.

Spitler says this is a team that is really good at running the ball. “They have great skill in the backfield. Lesko, their fullback, is a tremendous athlete, a very hard runner. Their wings are guys that can get to the edge and hurt you with their speed and athleticism in a heartbeat. Kollin Cline at quarterback is a big play waiting to happen with his speed and athleticism. They have good size up front led by senior Joe Shoup, who is just a massive human being that gets off the ball and blocks really well. So, its is going to be a good, old school, football game. We have two teams that want to run the football and play good defense. It is going to come down to the little things, owning the line of scrimmage, the turnover battle, and penalties,” said Spitler.

Published 10/28/21

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Lucas Challenges Traditional Power Mogadore

Lucas plays at Mogadore on Friday night against the Wildcats, one of the most tradition small school powers in Ohio.

They stand number two in division VII, region 25 and a win could boost them into the top spot.

They blasted Fort Loramie (31-8) last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says they did a fantastic job swallowing up the Redskins offense and when they had the ball they played with more confidence. “I thought the defensive coaching staff had a great game plan versus a high powered offense and our kids went out and did a whale a job executing it. I thought we played really good football on the offensive side. I think getting Andrew Fanello back, although he is not 100 percent, he is pretty dangerous when he is on the field and he went out and had a whale of game and I thought that gave a little juice to our offense. It got the confidence going with some other players and really opened things up for us where they couldn’t concentrate on senior Grant Barrett or our wide receiver Corbin Toms. It just made us more deadly offensively and the kids went out and executed well,” he said.

Lucas (7-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, is at Mogadore (7-2), a (29-12) winner over Rootstown last week.

It has been 15 years since the schools have played, but Spitler says they still owe Wildcats something. “I know our kids have the mindset they want to go out there and represent the Cubs from the past because Mogadore the last two times we have played them put us out of the playoffs in 2000 and 2006. In the first round they got the Lucas Cubs an eliminated us from the playoffs. So, our kids want a little historical revenge so to speak for the Cubs that come before them. It’s a great challenge, but I think our kids are up to it,” he said.

Spitler says Mogadore likes to be physical and come right at you running the ball and they have the personnel to do it. “They are the type of program that you stive to be like. They have had a tremendous amount of success and they are very well coached. I’ll tell you what, they do what they do very well. They are going to hit you will all kinds of formations offensively, but they make no bones about it. They want to line up and test your medal at the line of scrimmage and run the football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They have a whale of a running back in Tyler Knight, he was also a state qualifier in wrestling, he is big and physical. They have been doing a two quarterback system. One is more of a passer and the other is more of a duel threat, a big physical kid as well at 6’0”, pounds, so they stress you there. They have a 6’3” wide receiver that can take the top off the defense. They can stretch you in every facet offensively. Then defensively, they really get after the ball carrier and create a lot of chaos. They are a very disciplined football team. It’s a good challenge for our kids. Win or lose it is going to make our program better. At the end of the game Friday night, we are going to be a better program because of playing a team of this quality.”

Spitler says both teams want to do the same thing and it is going to boil down to who does it better. “It might be one of the fastest high school games around. Because we want to run the football, we want to establish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and they want to do the same. They have got great size. What they do offensively really stresses you with their multiple looks in their two tight end sets and the skilled kids that they have. It is going to be a whale of a challenge. These are the types of teams that we are trying to build our team to be and how we want to grow as a program. You have to play these types of teams to get better. Win or lose it is a growth mindset. It is going to help us get better, especially heading into the postseason,” said Spitler.

Published 10/20/21

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Lucas Returns Against Fort Loramie

Lucas gets back on the field this week after not playing on week eight of the season as they host Fort Loramie on Friday night at Bob Wine Field.

Hilltop, a winless team, canceled their game with Lucas last week and the Cubs were unable to find a suitable opponent.

Coach Scott Spitler says they could not find an opponent of their liking and felt considering the circumstances that it would be best to take the week off. “It is not ideal. I think that maybe there are some benefits that if you are banged up that maybe you can get some health back and get some legs back under you. Getting out of the routine is not always a good thing. We got to Wednesday evening and didn’t have any luck in finding anybody or being in a suitable situation. We just felt with the late week and everything it just kind of forced our hand to make the decision to go ahead and take the bye rather than put our kids in a short prep at the end of the week if you could even find somebody. There were several places that we contacted that weren’t interested in getting together, so it kind of forced our hand. We just felt at the end of the time there on Wednesday that for the health and safety of our team that is what we had to do. So, we started preparing for Fort Loramie and try and get our guys ready,” said Spitler.

Fort Loramie, making the trip from Shelby County in southwest Ohio, is a school, according to Spitler, that faces many of the same scheduling challenges as do the Cubs. “They are a quality program that is independent, so they are in a lot of the same situations that we are. When you have success, it is not always easy to find games. After week three most of schools are in their league schedule, so that makes it tougher. They have been in a situation like us that they travel all over the state to get games and they are generally playing up and playing great competition. So, it is kind of a victim of your own success type situation. They have a very good football team, very good football program and they play a tough schedule just like we do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They have lost three games by a total of four points this season because of that type of schedule. One week because of a cancelation they end up playing a D-2 school out of Indiana. Last week, they played up and played division II Sidney in a late schedule because of a cancelation. So, they have experienced a lot of the same things that we have experienced. They have a great football team and they going to be a handful this week.”

Lucas (6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, faces Fort Loramie (3-5), coming off a (24-14) over Sidney last week, on Friday night.

Spitler says the Redskins have a very potent passing attack. “Their size and athleticism. They have a wide receiver that is about 6’4”. I believe he broke all of their single season receiving record just last week, as far as single game, season, yards, catches. They have a duel threat quarterback that just stresses you in the run game as well as throwing. They have a big tight end. This is probably the most dangerous passing attack that we have seen this season. It is a matchup problem because of how tall and the length that they have at the wide receiver and tight end position. They do a nice job of establishing the run game and not allowing you to just focus on their pass game. They have size up front and they get after you defensively too,” he said.

Published 10/12/21

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Lucas Focused on Getting Back on Track

Lucas lost for the first time this year last week and they need to get back on the beam as they host Tiffin Calvert at Bob Wine Field on Friday night.

They lost last week (15-0) to Canton Central Catholic and coach Scott Spitler says the Crusaders were good, but they were their own worst enemy. “Taking nothing away from them they were a good football team like we believed they were, but we had a 0-0 halftime game. In the first quarter we had a touchdown pass called back because of a penalty. Then we failed to score on a fourth and goal at the two in the third quarter. Just too many inconsistencies offensively that killed drives and had some turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “You can’t do that against good football teams. Our defense played well enough to win. The nice thing is when you play this type of competition you are finding out now during the regular season what you need to be better at and improve on and I would rather find our now than in the post season.”

Lucas (5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against Tiffin Calvert (3-3) of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

Calvert blanked Margaretta (31-0) in a division game last week.

Spitler says the Senecas will spread you with athletes. “They stress you in their spread offense. I know they are leading their conference in passing offense. They have two of the top three receivers in their conference. Their quarterback really stresses you through the air as a thrower. If you’re not disciplined he is going to hurt you with his legs. They have nice size and athleticism up front. Defensively they are very multiple, so being able to figure our what you are seeing defensively will be key,” said Spitler.

Spitler says their goal this week is to get better as a team. “I think the approach after last Friday night is we have to get back to playing better football and being more consistent on both sides of the football. So, while we will prepare for them it is really about Lucas getting back on track and improving this week,” he said.

Spitler added nobody wants to get better more than the Cubs do. “I say it all of time there are no higher expectations of our team than what our kids have of themselves. They were disappointed in their performance. They took Saturday morning film very seriously with the focus of improving. Coming right out of the gate (Monday) at practice you could tell their mind is set on getting better and making sure that Lucas is better football team this Friday,” said Spitler.

Published 9/28/21

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Lucas Faces Biggest Challenge Yet

Lucas plays at home at Bob Wine Field against an excellent Canton Central Catholic team on Friday night.

After finding out just two days before the game, the Cubs (5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, beat division II Lakewood (35-27) last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says they did a great job in prep and they are very tough to get ready for on short notice. “First of all, I thought my coaching staff did an awesome job on such a short notice getting the game plan together and the kids going out at executing that game plan. I think in that short prep time what we do on offense favors us because I think sometimes it is difficult for teams to prepare for us even if they have a full week because we are so unique. We are not the fad spread offense that everybody runs nowadays. So, teams don’t necessarily see it a lot, so very difficult to prepare for in a short period of time,” said Spitler.

Canton Central Catholic (1-4) lost (30-20) to New Philadelphia last week. The Crusaders have played only one team their size this year and that is defending Wayne County Athletic League champ Norwayne.

Spitler says don’t let their record deceive you. “First and foremost, their record is not indictive of the team that they are. They are the most talented team and most dangerous team that we have faced to date on our schedule. I think if they played our schedule, they would probably be in the same boat we are in. They play a really tough schedule and they have been in every game and it’s been tight games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They are very explosive offensively led by just a beast of a quarterback in Talkington. He is about 6’3”, 230, he is an adept runner, physical runner, as well as a good passer. Both of their slot backs have speed to burn. Their tailback is a slasher and can house it anytime he gets the ball. They are averaging 30, 35 points a game and have been to the wire against some very good football teams. They could easily be 3-2, 4-1 right now, but they have played such a tough schedule and just come out on the short end.”

Spitler says om defense Canton CC is going to come after them. “Defensively they are extremely aggressive and get to the football. They remind me a lot of (Warren) JFK’s defensive with how aggressive they are and how well they play downhill and get to the football,” he said.

Spitler says to get a win this week they have to be at their level best in all areas of the game. “There are things we did that were uncharacteristic last week even though we had a win and you are proud of your kids in the way they responded to the short preparation. We turned the ball over too much in the first half of that game. Defensively, we just did some things that were uncharacteristic. I didn’t think we tackled well last week and I thought we got out of position being overly aggressive and getting nosy. We are the ultimate team defense. We expect everybody to do their 1/11^th and if somebody gets a little too aggressive and gets out of position that affects the entire defense. I thought it was the first time all season that we did some uncharacteristic things, so we have really focused this week on fixing those things because if they are not fixed than we are going to be in trouble against this team,” said Spitler.

Published 9/23/21

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Lucas Plays… Lakewood

Lucas plays at home against a big school opponent on Friday night at Bob Wine Field, just not the one they thought they were going to play.

Scratch Cincinnati Western Hills, not playing because of a hazing incident in their program and enter the Lakewood Rangers.

Last week, the Cubs (4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, shutout Willard (30-0) on Friday night.

Coach Scott Spitler says they played especially well on defense against potentially explosive Willard. “I thought defensively we played a pretty game. We had a great game plan. We are really the only team so far this season that has been able to blank them. They had scored several touchdowns against everybody the have played with that potent offensive attack, especially though the air. I thought our defensive coaching staff and players executed the game plan really well Friday night,” he said.

Lucas had to wait until Wednesday afternoon to get someone on the schedule for this week. Spitler says that means they must quickly develop a game plan. “That happened about five minutes before I headed out to practice (Wednesday), so everything is pretty fresh trying to prepare for them. We took a look at them on a film as a team after practice (Wednesday) night. The coaching staff is working (Wednesday night) to try and develop a game plan and turn around and get our guys ready. This week has really tested our moto of a faceless opponent and worrying about making sure that Lucas is better from week to week. So, that is what we have really focused on this week. We will get a game plan in here in the next 24 hours and outr kids will do the best they can to execute it and get out there and try and play Lucas football,” said Spitler.

Lakewood (4-0) beat Rocky River (21-14) last week.

Spitler says this a good team with very good athletes, just what you would expect from a division II school. “They are very athletic and they have great size and speed. They have a running back that ranks in the Cleveland area. In one game this season he had seven touchdowns and over 300 yards rushing and set a school record in scoring and rushing. They are very talented in the skilled positions. They have a division I recruit in Tico Jones Jr., left tackle and defensive end, that will be a matchup issue for us. He’s about 6’6”, 270, very athletic, long. What you would expect from a division II school,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We will just go out there and try and play Lucas football. That is nice thing about trying to develop a growth mindset with the kids is we don’t focus on winning or losing, it’s about getter better and playing our best brand of football. So, win or lose, we are going to be a better program because we are playing this type of competition on Friday night.”

Published 9/16/21

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Lucas Must Stop Willard’s Big Plays

Lucas is at Willard on Friday night for a football game between two teams with contrasting offensive styles.

The Cubs (3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, hammered Wynford (38-7) last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says they controlled the point of attack, always critical for them. “I thought the kids came out and did a nice job. I think the big thing was on both sides of the ball we controlled the line of scrimmage, which I was extremely pleased about. Wynford is so well coached. The size of their guys up front was a concern of mine going in. I thought our guys took advantage of their athleticism and speed and we controlled the line of scrimmage like we want to on both sides of the ball,” he said.

Willard (0-3) lost (62-28) to Seneca East last week, but it was their best performance of the season by far.

Spitler says they have a pass offense that it capable of big plays at any time. “I actually think they might be one of the most dangerous offenses we have face to date led by Robinson at quarterback and Trey Paxton at wide receiver. They have been a matchup problem for everybody they have played so far this season. Just what they do pressing you horizontally and vertically with their passing game is a big concern, especially not having Logan Toms back in our secondary. We really miss him back there with his brother Corbin. They were our two leaders back there. This will be our first big test passing game wise without him. I am a little concerned about that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Then they are big up front and they do a nice job of incorporating the run game just enough where you can’t just sell out to play pass all of the time. Our big concern is with how dangerous their pass game is. I do think we matchup pretty well as far as our offense versus their defense, but we have to go out there and prove it and take care of the football.”

Willard averages 233 yards per game throwing the football. Isaac Robison has thrown for six TD’s.

Spitler says they can’t play Willard’s up tempo game. He says they have to control the clock and keep the Flashes offense off the field. “I don’t think you can be more different offensively from us to them. Their new coach has done a nice job of getting some of their very talented basketball players out and fill their skilled positions. They are very skilled on offense and offer a challenge matchup wise because of the way they spread you sideline to sideline and them also vertically. That is just something we haven’t seen a lot of yet this season and something they do really well. So, we are going to have to do a really good job of playing in space and don’t give up the big play. I think if we can make them earn it all of the way down the field rather than give up big explosive plays I think we have got a shot to be successful defensively. Offensively, I think we can help of defense out by slowing the game down and playing our type of game versus their speed game,” said Spitler.

Published 9/09/21

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Lucas Talking Ball Security

Lucas entertains the Wynford Royals on Friday night at Bob Wine Field in a contest between schools that are traditional football powers.

The Cubs stopped a Hillsdale two point conversion with 1:00 to play last week to beat the Falcons (14-12) in a non-conference game.

Coach Scott Spitler says the defense was the difference because on offense the made too many mistakes, especially with turnovers. “I’m glad we came out on the winning end, especially with as bad as we played. We just didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the football with three turnovers. We put our defense in a difficult situation most of the night, but they got the job done and held up for us and we were able to get out of there with a victory against a very quality program in Hillsdale. When you play teams like that you get an opportunity to find out things that you need get better at. Obviously, ball security is one of them that we have stressed this week after last Friday. It doesn’t get any easier as we have a very good Wynford team coming into Bob Wine,” he said.

Wynford (1-1) downed Marion Pleasant (23-6) in non-conference play last week.

Spitler says this another example of what we have become accustomed to seeing form Wynford, just a good football team on both sides of the field. “I can tell you this, they have set the bar in the area for years as far as successful programs. Very well coached, very tough, aggressive, athletes all over the place, and great size. They played very good competition in the preseason scrimmages. They opened up with a great team in Otsego and did some really good things versus them. The got a good victory last week against Marion Pleasant. So, it is just another very talented Wynford team. You know what you are going to get from them,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Thursday evening, “They are going to be very disciplined and well coached. Very explosive both running and passing offensively and then defensively they are aggressive and just play well. Last week, they are showed they are just as explosive and dangerous in the special teams. So, they have a complete program. For many years they have been the type of program that we have been striving to turn our program into. They have set the bar in the area for quality football and this team this year is no different and we are going to have our hands full.”

Not being in a league, Lucas has to work hard to find teams to play and Spitler says they want to play good programs like Wynford. “If you want to grow as a program you have to be able to go out there and challenge your kids and put them in situations against good football teams. When you are playing teams like Hillsdale and Wynford and Mogadore, win or lose, it is going to help you become a better team and better program. That is what we are trying to do create a growth mindset in how we schedule and how we stress our kids to become better. It gets to be a handful when you are doing it week in and week out, but it’s what we have go to do to become the program that we are stiving to become. This week is no different, we are just going to have our hands full and we have to be ready to play four quarters of Lucas football at a high level and take care of the football,” said Spitler.

Published 9/03/21

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Lucas Faces Physical Hillsdale

Lucas plays at Hillsdale on Friday night in a matchup between schools that have had considerable football success in recent seasons.

However, Lucas beat Danville (34-20) on week one, while Hillsdale lost last Thursday (40-14) to Ravenna Southeast.

The Cubs took at (34-0) lead into the fourth quarter last Friday and coach Scott Spitler says the first team, on both sides, was outstanding. “We were able to get the game in hand and pretty much handled things in all facets of the game with our senior group and then get them out of there early to avoid any injuries and stuff and get away with a victory. So, I’m happy with the job that they did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “There are things after week one that you have to continue to work in and get better. The cliché in coaching always is the biggest jump in improvement is usually from week one to week two and I think that is just getting that first week out of the way and the first week of the season adrenalin rushes and things like that. We definitely have things we can get better at this week.”

Spitler says don’t be confused by the score last week, this is till a very good Hillsdale team and the film shows them at is the case. “I think they are just another good Hillsdale football team. You are talking about a program that has a good tradition of success. They are usually one of the top teams in the Wayne County Athletic League. They are very well coached. I saw them live in their scrimmage and we have had a chance to look at a film on them. They are a good football team. Don’t take anything away from them because of week one because that Southeast team is a pretty darn good football as well. So, they had a nice battle on their hands week one. They are so disciplined. They are very aggressive on defense and get to the ball really well. Then on offense they stress you with their speed and size up front,” said Spitler.

Lucas has developed a reputation of wanting to be a physical football team. Spitler says Hillsdale plays the same way. “It jumps off the film. Their guys get off the ball really well up front and they have really good size and they move well. Not only are their skilled positions very skilled and athletic, but they are very physical in the style they run the ball. Defensively, they are just so well coached and you can see it, they are just fundamentally sound and they get to the football really well and tackle really well. We are going to have our hands full with a quality football team,” he said.

Published 8/23/21

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Lucas Defense With Tough Task

After a season when they played a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference schedule against a lot of bigger schools, the Lucas Cubs are playing schools more their size beginning with a trip to Danville on Friday night.

Coach Scott Spitler says they have did a good job of improving during the preseason and that is priority this week too. “I think we handled it well. As a coach you are wanting every second you can get so Friday can take it’s time because we have some work to get done this week. I thought our kids have handled it well. I thought we have had pretty good scrimmages the last two weeks. I thought we have improved from one scrimmage to the other. We are going to have to make sure from last Friday to this Friday that we take another big step because we have our hands full with a talented Danville team,” said Spitler.

Lucas has been a team over the last half decade that has relied on solid line play. Spitler says they have to get better in that area this week. “I think we need to do a better job controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. I like to effort that are kids are putting in, but we just have to clean up some technique things as far as placement of shoulders and things like that on certain plays that can turn a three or four yard gain into a larger gain in the run game. Defensively, good angles and staying flat down the line of scrimmage and things like that. The little things that we can continue to get better at. I think we definitely have to improve those from last Friday to this week,” he said.

Lucas and Danville have a spirited rivalry going back to the time when the Mid-Buckeye Conference was a football league too.

Spitler says the Blue Devils offense is explosive. “They were a pretty successful young team last year that finished 6-3 and went two rounds deep in the playoffs and they pretty much return that entire team led by their quarterback Max Payne, who is a very good athlete and decision maker. He is just as adept at running the ball as he is throwing the ball. In the two scrimmage films we have seen on them they really penalize teams that have coverage breakdowns, so I think we are really going to have to be on our toes in the secondary and make sure we communicate things well through the secondary with the way they communicate their pass schemes,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Up front we are going to have to keep him in the pocket and get pressure on him to stress him. They also have a really nice running back into Dino Parker, who is very shifty and low to the ground with decent speed. We are going to have to make sure while we are getting that pressure that we are making and effort to stop that run game. Offensively, we need to be our defense’s best partner by controlling the line of scrimmage and eating clock and keeping the ball out of their offense’s hands.”

Published 8/19/21

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Lucas Working to be Ready

Lucas has become a traditional football power, it’s that simple, you can now say them in the same breath as a Norwalk St. Paul or a Wynford when it comes to small schools.

They are now preparing for another season.

Coach Scott Spitler says it is nice to get back to doing normal things after what 2020 was like. “Getting to do some things that unfortunately we weren’t able to do last summer during this time. Things like your seven on seven competitions, combined camp nights with other teams are things we didn’t get to do last summer. We have been trying to take advantage of being able to do those things this summer and we have done a couple more than we would normally do during our camp days just because we felt like that was missing at the start of the season last year as far as getting our guys ready, especially when you are talking about the passing game offensively and pass defense. So, it has been nice to get back to doing those things we are excited for the season to get started here,” said Spitler.

Lucas was (7-3) last year against a very challenging “MOAC” schedule and again advanced to regional final before losing to Warren JFK.

Spitler says they have some pieces back, but number of new guys to work in on both sides of the ball. “Right now, it is football in shorts and when you play the type of offense that we do we still have a lot of things that we need to be able to evaluate when the pads come on because of how we want to establish the line of scrimmage, but I like where our techniques are right now and the reps that we are getting executing the offense. I think the big thing is we are going to have to find our who is going to be able to get it done in the trenches for us. We have a nice nucleus returning from last season, but we need to build some depth on the offensive side of the ball, especially up front in the trenches,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Defensively, it is nice to be able to get out there and work some of these things that we missed out on last summer. We are breaking in a couple of guys in the secondary and being able to do the seven on seven are things that will help us get better, so we have to improve there. We have nice group coming back defensively, but we have to replace a guy at each level of the defense, so a lot of competition, the numbers are good, and that is what we are working on right now is competing and trying to make sure that each day we are getting better.”

Lucas returns to a very challenging non-conference schedule this year with Danville, Hillsdale and Wynford the first three weeks. Spitler says that makes the preseason very important. “When you talk about playing tradition rich teams like Hillsdale, who seems like year in and year out is one of the top teams in the Wayne County League and a playoff qualifier. They are well coached and very physical. A lot of us in this area have always been inspired to have the kind of success that Wynford has but together year after year after year. Right out of the gate the first three weeks we have great competition against very successful programs, so we have to be hitting on all cylinders starting week one,” he said.

Published 7/28/21

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Warren JFK Holds Off Lucas

T.J. Harden made five of the six free throws in the final minute and Warren JFK held off Lucas (54-48) in a division IV regional semifinal played on Tuesday night at Akron Firestone High School.

The Eagles (13-4) will play Richmond Heights, a (77-37) winner over Bristolville Bristol in the second semifinal, for a state tournament berth on Friday night.

Warren JFK held a 12-point lead (48-36) with 6:10 to play, but Lucas would cut it to two twice in late going, the last time at (50-48) with :33 seconds left after two free throws by Evan Sauder.

“We pressed them just enough so they couldn’t put their head down a draw fouls and get the free throw line with the clock stopped. We held on for dear life there at the end,” said Warren JFK coach Mark Komlanc.

Lucas had a chance to take the lead in the game on a couple of occasions late in the game, but couldn’t get over the hump.

Coach Taylor Iceman knew his kids would battle back. “I wouldn’t expect anything else from this group, but too many lapses. They made two runs, one in the first quarter and one in the third quarter. We were terrible from the free throw line, I think we missed 16 free throws. You can’t do that stuff at this level. I expect that from our kids, that’s how they are. Just not enough (Tuesday) night too many mistakes,” said Iceman.

Sauder led Lucas (19-8) with 15 points in his final basketball game as a Cub.

Cam Hollobaugh and Gabe Green had 15 a piece for JFK.

Leading by only three (27-24) with 6:29 to play in the third quarter, JFK went on a (13-2) run and Komlanc thought a change in defenses was key to that spurt. “I took a chance and we switched to a zone. We got a couple quick stops. We gave them a little different look. I really only wanted to do it for three possessions, I think we might have done it for five,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I think we got two or three steals and it got us out running and that is an area where we excel at. They did a really good job of controlling the ball and controlling the tempo so we couldn’t get out and run. Early in the game we were able to and then in the third quarter.”

Lucas over the last two seasons has made to the regionals twice in basketball, lost in the state final and the regional final in football.

Sauder say he knew his teammates would make it game. “We just had to work as hard as we have been all year. Give props to the whole team for playing as well as they did. I’m glad we came back and made it a game,” he said.

It was almost the feel good story of the season with Riley Gossom, severely injured in a car accident this fall, helped rally his team with two second half three pointers, but he missed a three that would have given Lucas the lead with less than two minutes to play.

Komlanc says this is game they probably would have lost early in the season and illustrates the growth of his team. “If this happened earlier, we would have folded. It is demoralizing when you are playing so hard. I thought we were boxing out and attacking the rim and we are not getting calls and then there are fouls every single time on the other end. I had no doubt we were fouling. Instead of their body language sinking, I saw them pick each other up,” he said.

Lucas Had nine turnovers, many that fueled JFK run outs and 14 transition points. Iceman says that was costly to the Cubs. “Honestly, it was us turning the ball over. At the end there when we made our run. We were running our pressure and speeding the game up that way. It was similar to what I thought we had to take care of the ball because that is how they score, they want to speed you up and score that way and both tines they made runs that was exactly what happened,” said Iceman.

Published 3/10/21

Lucas has Score to Settle with Warren JFK

Lucas locks horns with Warren JFK in division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday night at Akron Firestone High School.

The tip off is scheduled for 5:30 PM.

It will be followed by a game between Richland Heights and Bristolville Bristol. The winners of those two games return to Firestone on Friday night to play for a regional title and a state tournament berth.

Lucas (19-7) is making is making a return trip to the regional tournament, having beaten McDonald is a regional semi last season before the season with ended by COVID-19.

Coach Taylor Iceman believes that experience will be a plus for them on Tuesday night. “I haven’t coached a really long time and to be able to go back to back I kind of took it for granted you could say. Coach (Chris) Sheldon over at Western Reserve this is his first one and he has been doing it a little bit longer than me. Even Shelby it is the first one they have been to in a longtime. It is pretty special what are kids are getting to do not only last year, but again this year. From a coach’s standpoint it is pretty cool for little old Lucas to get to back to back regionals. For our kids to be able to experience it last year. It’s another game for them. They have been in plenty of big games whether it was basketball or football here the last few years these seniors. We have some young kids as well and they will have to adjust and learn. They have been in some other big games this year as well and they have played pretty well in those. This is all great experience for those young guys for their future. It would benefit us some I would think,” said Iceman.

Warren JFK (12-4) beat McDonald (77-55) in their district final.

Iceman says the Eagles want to use pressure to pick up the pace of the game and force turnovers. “They are very athletic. We know them from football obviously, they knocked us out in the regional championship game there. We got to see them play last year, we went up and watched them play Richmond Heights before we played McDonald. So, we got to see them play a little bit there and they have a lot of the same kids back from that team. They want to pressure you and trap you and turn you over and score that way. They score 67 points a game, but they give up 62.5 a game. They want to play at a really fast pace and turn you over and score that way. So, we will just have to take care of the ball. It is important that we not turn it over and lead to offense for them, but also that we create offense by breaking their press. When you break it, you have to score,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They are kind of Helter Skelter. It is not like they are going to play great half court defense and rotate and do that kind of stuff. They want to pick you up full court with a lot of zone pressures. It will be contrasting styles. We have good guards and we take care of the ball, so hopefully we can do that and turn what their strength is and help some of our weakness with our offense. We don’t score we a really high clip, but we usually play pretty good defense. If we do that, I think we will be fine and have a pretty good shot.”

Warren JFK ended Lucas football season this fall and Iceman says, yeah, he might have mentioned that. “I told the senior especially we were kind of warming up in a drill (Monday) night and I said, they ended your season in football they are going to try and do it again in basketball, just a little bit of motivation. The quarterback for the football team, Cam Hollobaugh, was a really good football play and he is a really good basketball player and I hear that baseball is his thing, I think that is his best sport. He is an extremely successful kid. We will have to know where he is at. It’s a small school, it is all the same kids, similar to what we have going on. We played McDonald in back to back years in football and with basketball JFK beat McDonald, so we didn’t know if we were going to get McDonald again or what. It shows where we are at. We are getting to see these teams outside of the Mansfield area on a regular basis because we are playing outside of our district,” said Iceman.

Published 3/09/21

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At www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Team Defense is Name of the Game for Lucas

Lucas locks horns with Norwalk St. Paul in a division IV district final on Friday night at Willard High School.

The Cubs (17-7) downed South Central (34-26) in a semifinal played on Tuesday, meanwhile St. Paul got past Margaretta (61-55) in their semi.

Lucas is the defending district champion and coach Taylor Iceman says his kids have big game experience. “There is not a moment that is too big for them. Our guys, especially “Goose”, just goes to the line and knocks down free throws. They expect to win every time we go out. They have been in big games. They have been the underdog, they have been the favorite. They have played big schools, they have played small schools. They have been told they are not going to win or they’re the favorite. They have a ton of experience and that is huge this time of year,” he said.

Norwalk St. Paul (17-5) shared second place this year in the Firelands Conference.

Iceman says these are aggressive kids with very good basketball skill. “They are obviously talented. The Winslow boys are another couple of guys that seem like they have been around forever over there. These two also played some “AAU” ball with my seniors. They are kind of buddy-buddy with some of our guys, so they know them. They are good kids, they are coach’s kids, their dad is the coach at Upper, just intelligent basketball players. When you watch them on film, we got to stay and watch them play other night, when you watch them it is almost like a controlled chaos because they just play so hard and good things happen when you play that hard,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Sometimes they will rush and take a questionable shot, but then they crash the boards so hard, they are so active, that the ball usually finds the open man, somebody for an easy bucket. I preach to my guys that if you work hard and do the right thing good things usually happen. They play their butts off, so you just have to know that going in and be ready for four quarters and box them out and do all of the little things, but it is not going to be easy.”

Iceman says the Flyers have a number of guys that can hurt you, so they must play solid team defense. “They have three guys that really jump out at you with the Winslows and then the (Scotty) Adelman kid as well, so they kind of have a three headed monster and that makes it tough. When you have three guys that can get you the chances that all three are going on the same night is not real high, but that’s scarry that that potential is there. If two of them are having a bad night, they still have another guy that can hurt you. We have to know where they are at, but it’s not like they are just settling for shots. It’s not like they miss them and they drop their head and they are out of the game. They crash and go after it. We have to know where they are at all of the time. We really have to talk and communicate and rotate and play good team defense. The other night we focused in on David in the post. We doubled down there and you only had to worry about one guy. With these guys you really have to play good, team defense and close out possessions,” said Iceman.

Published 3/05/21

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Lucas Grinds Out Win over South Central

Lucas made 10 of its last 11 free throws and held South Central scoreless over the last 5:46 and beat the Trojans (34-26) in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

They will play Norwalk St. Paul, a (61-55) winner over Margaretta, for the district title on Friday night at Willard.

Lucas (18-7) missed eight of its first 12 free throws, but coach Taylor Iceman says they were money when it counted the most. “We made the important ones. Early we weren’t very good from the free throw line and it about cost us. Luckily, we had seniors and experienced guys stepping to the line at the end. “Goose” made a bunch of free throws at the end of the game that were important. I’m a defensive guy, but that was ugly. You do what you have to do to win at this point in the season and that is what (Tuesday) night called for and that was the way the game was and luckily that was our style and we’ll take it,” he said.

Points were at premium all night. South Central (16-7) made only one hoop in the first quarter and trailed (6-2) after one. It was (12-6) Lucas at the intermission. Things got more interesting in the second half when both teams started to make some shots.

South Central cut their deficit to only a basket at (16-14) with 3:06 to play in the third quarter after back to back threes by Jackson McCormack and Kayden Hauler. The tied the game for the first time (16-16) when Isaac Blair scored with 2:41 to play in the quarter. Ethan Sauder cashed in on two free throws and Corbin Tombs scored a goal to give the Cubs a (20-16) lead with :58 seconds to play. Sam Seidel’s three with 40 ticks left in the quarter made (20-19) Lucas at the end of three.

David Lamoreaux’s field goal with 7:35 left gave South Central their first lead (21-20) of the game. Lucas tied it on a Lane Harper field goal with 6:46 left and retook the lead (24-23) on Sauder’s three with 6:05 to play in the game. Blaine Wheeler put the Trojans back in front (26-24) with a corner three with 5:46 left, but they would not score again.

Coach Brett Seidel says they had some problems handling the Cubs physicality. “I thought we got the ball to the front of the rim several times and we weren’t able to finish though their contact. Their physicality affected our shots in the interior. We made some shots from three there in the second half and got a little momentum. Got the ball with the lead several times and probably took some ill advised shots there, probably could have been a little more patient there. I want my kids to play and make plays. They made free throws down the stretch,” said Seidel.

It was clearly a game which the Cubs were very methodical with the ball, which was a surprise to Seidel. “They held it the whole game. I thought they were way more deliberate than I expected. I thought our kids guarded those long possessions fairly well. We let a couple of box touches and we let some extra shot opportunities get the best of us. I am not going to fault my kids. I think they worked really hard, but again we did not finish at the front of the rim through contact,” he said.

Being so patient with the ball was not the game plan according to Iceman, he says it was a rection to the kind of defense South Central was playing. “Actually, I had seen on film that St. Paul had had some success kind of getting out and speeding up the game a little bit. The way they were defending us packing it in so we couldn’t penetrate and attack the rim. I just told the kids you have to be patient and move the ball and make the defense work so we can get a good look and not rush into something. That was not necessarily the game plan, but that was the way things went. We were playing really good defense and we just kind of possessed the ball and tried to get good looks,” said Iceman.

There were no double figure scorers in the game. Sauder, who scored his 1,000^th career point in the first half, led all scorers with nine markers.

Lamoreaux led South Central with six, but was only 3-14 from the field. Iceman says they were successful in forcing him farther away from the basket where he got the ball in some uncomfortable spots. “I tell my kids with David and big kids and general because nobody is smaller than us. We are just not very big. We have to keep guys away from the basket, away from the ball, so they can’t get that low position, so when the ball comes they are right there were they can do something,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Our guys did a great job of keeping pressure on him and getting him away from the basket, so when he got it he was just a little further out than he is used to and than he is comfortable with. Unfortunately, I think David just didn’t have a real great game himself. He is a tremendous player. He is a great kid, I feel for him. Somebody had to lose and I’m happy we came out on top.”

Perhaps a result of Lamoreaux not being as much of a factor as he normally is on offense, it appeared some of the other Trojans were tentative. Iceman says they wanted those guards to prove they could make the perimeter shots. “Coming into it, David is their guy and we kind of said we are going to take him away. If you do that, they put shooters on the floor. We kind of put the pressure on David to find those shooters and have those guys knock down shots and luckily for us they weren’t making shots. There was a little stretch there in the third quarter were they were making shots, but for the most part we did a good job of closing back out,” he said.

Published 3/03/21

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Lucas Must Keep South Central off the Boards

Lucas plays South Central in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

In the other matchup it is Norwalk St. Paul Versus Margaretta. The winner of those two games returns to Willard on Friday night to face off for the district title.

The Cubs (17-7), the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion, beat Sandusky St. Mary’s (52-38) to earn a sectional title last Friday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they are a confident team right now. “St. Mary’s is a pretty solid team and as we knew that going in. We played them last year and they had lost some guys to graduation and we have been playing pretty good lately, so we were confident going. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy going up to their place, it’s about an hour and a half ride. The kids played really hard, we played really good defense. Ethan Sauder led us with 25 and played really well and we did enough. We are a confident group this year. We have played a tough non-conference schedule that we felt prepared us for the tournament. My guys have played in big games. This tournament run here, hopefully we can continue with. These guys are prepared an ready to go,” he said.

South Central (16-6) shared second place in the Firelands Conference this season and they beat Buckeye Central (63-36) in a sectional final last week. They also beat Lucas in a regular season game (40-35) back on December 19.

Iceman says this is a pretty good rivalry and this going to be another tough game against the Trojans. “Coach Seidel’s teams are always tough teams. I think we are two similar schools and programs, smaller schools that expect success and have had a lot of success in basketball here in recent years. We were able to get the better of them last year, but year prior to that they had gotten us. They were the district champs going to last year and now it is ours to defend this year. They got us at home at their home court earlier this year, but I think both teams are changed and are a lot different since that meeting in December. I can definitely speak from our standpoint. We were still trying to figure things out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Going over and playing at South Central is not and easy thing to do. Their gym is pretty tight and spacing is tough in that gym. If you don’t make some outside jump shots, they can really pack it in against you, especially with David Lamoreaux, the big kid inside, makes it really challenging to get to the hoop and finish and do some things like that. We have kind of hand this one circled and hoped we would be able to get back here and play them again. I know that night we were frustrated that we got beat. We said we want another shot at them in the tournament. We have improved and gotten a lot better put ourselves in a good position where we would be able to get back and have that shot. Our kids are excited about it, but South Central is a really good team, they are not the number one seed for no reason.”

Iceman says especially with the presence of Lamoreaux, rebounding is going to be a key factor for them. “I think we have to rebound the basketball and keep them off the glass. David Lamoreaux is their stud, I think this is his 12^th year over there. He has been around forever. He is just a big, athletic kid that can do pretty much anything, but you have to keep him away from the basket offensively and defensively. If we are rebounding the ball defensively, we are forcing them into tough shots and close out the possession by getting a defensive rebound and then getting out and run and score a little bit that way. He will shoot and get his own rebound and put it back in. He is quicker and more explosive than anybody on the floor. He knows where the shot is going to be off and he can go it. So, it’s really important that you contest his shots and you have to turn around and box him and not let him get another shot. Defense for us is always important, but rebounding especially this week,” said Iceman.

Published 3/02/21

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Lucas Has to pick it up

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion, makes the long bus ride to Sandusky to play the St. Mary’s Panthers in a division IV sectional final on Friday night.

The winner will play either South Central or Buckeye Central in a district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

The Cubs (16-7) beat Danbury Lakeside (81-61) at home in a semifinal on Tuesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they did not execute very well on defense. “The best way to put it is we got the win. We didn’t play real great defensively, but we scored 81 points. I guess if you are going to pick a night when you are not going to play really great defense it is good to be firing on the offensive end. We did some good things are we did some bad things, but at this point all I really care about is winning and moving on,” he said.

Riley Gossom, who likely would have broken the school career scoring record this year, but seriously injured in a car accident this fall, got into the game against Danbury and Iceman says he is able to contribute. “He keeps improving. Time is the biggest thing for him. If we could play for another two months, he would be really good. We were able to get him out there and he can stand and shoot as well as anybody in the area, so offensively he is not that big of a liability. Defensively, he can’t move really great laterally yet. So, maybe you can put in a 2-3 zone and have him out there a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “If we are struggling, he can knock down some shots and help us out in that capacity. He is big enough and tall enough he can see over so it is not like somebody is going to go over and bully him and take the ball from him. He still knows how to play the game and will make good decisions with the ball where he is not going to kill us there. He is still not where he wants to be obviously, but he got in and was 2-2 from three.”

Sandusky St. Mary’s (12-8) beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (67-48) on Tuesday night in their semifinal. They played five games in the last week of the regular season after a COVID quarantine.

Iceman says they certainly have potential. “They are a solid team. They had a pretty good season and they had to deal with some COVID issues. They quit playing for a little while then they played a bunch of games late just trying to get them in I believe. They dropped a few there, but that is not easy when you have to play every other night. You don’t really get to prepare of teams. When you look at their schedule they won some that maybe would surprise you and they lost some that would surprise you as well. It was a challenging year from that standpoint. They have a few kids back from last year when we saw them in the tournament, so we are familiar with them and what they like to do. We are going to have to play better than we did the other night, that’s for sure. It is a very winnable game for us. We are preparing to go out and play well and hopefully win another sectional championship,” said Iceman.

Published 2/26/02

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Lucas Locked in

Lucas is playing about as well as anyone in the division IV district right now after hammering Crestview (75-47) in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.

They play at Clear Fork in non-league play on Friday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they have been trying to get the Crestview game in for weeks and Wednesday night they were ready to play with no practice this week. “It was a really good win for us. I was kind of worried going in. I hadn’t seen my kids since Saturday. We had two days off from school. We couldn’t practice the last couple of days, just because of the weather conditions. I think this is the fourth time this game has been rescheduled, so we were just trying to get it in, so we went ahead (Wednesday) and I’m glad we did. We played pretty well and obviously the outcome we good. Crestview, I don’t think played very well for them. We will take that at this juncture because they are a pretty good team,” he said.

Lucas (15-6) plays at Clear Fork (7-13) on Friday night. The Colts beat Madison (52-34) last Saturday.

Iceman says Clear Fork is a bigger school that plays a tough schedule. “We have to play another tough opponent and we only one day to prepare. We know Clear Fork, they are a local team right down the road. We know who the players are of that team. What kind of caliper ball players that they have. Their record is not really spectacular, but that doesn’t mean anything. They play a tough schedule and we know the individuals on that team and what they are capable of, so we expect a good game,” said Iceman.

The Cubs are the fifth seed in the division IV tournament, which begins next week. With nine wins in their last 10 games, Iceman says the team is rounding into shape, just like planned. “We talked about that probably 10, 12 games ago. We wanted to get things rolling and just get headed in the right direction for tournament play. With the young team that if we come out and play the way we were capable we were going to win some games and we have done that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We just hope to cap it off Friday night and finish off the season and end of a high note and get ready for tournament because we are excited about where we are at. We are looking forward to another run.”

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Lucas Needs to Keep Focus

Lucas has earned a third straight Mid-Buckeye Conference title, but they still have basketball to play as they host Kidron Central Christian in conference game on Friday night and travel to Plymouth for a non-league game on Saturday night.

The Cubs secured that conference title with a (54-46) win at Loudonville last Friday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they accomplished what they started the season to do. “Always the first goal on your list is to win your conference. We played pretty decent the other night at Loudonville and were able to close it out and check off that first goal. We went over to Willard on Saturday night, we got beat, but we played pretty well over there. Sunday, we learned our tournament fate. We keep pushing forward and try to get better at this time of year,” he said.

They lost (65-61) at Willard on Saturday night.

Lucas (12-6,8-1) hosts Kidron Central Christian (8-9,5-4) on Friday night. The Cubs won the first meeting (39-25) on January 8.

That score represents a normal score for the Comets, but of their last five games they have been averaging close to 60. “That’s an eruption for them, it is usually in the high 20’s or 30’s for them it seems like. Coach (Craig) Martin every time we play these guys, I tell everybody I have a ton of respect for that guy. He gets a lot our of his kids. They don’t have a ton of players this year, but they are coming along, they are young and they are starting to figure things out. They have won a few games here lately that you probably wouldn’t have picked them. They are playing well, so we can’t overlook them, we have the conference wrapped up and this doesn’t really mean anything. We are trying to keep our kids focused to finish out the rest of the regular season and start preparing for the tournament,” said Iceman.

Iceman believes this a game that will be good preparation for the tournament for them. “We are a young team. We are still trying to figure things out and get through this year. They are going to be running their 2-3 zone, so we have to be prepared for that. That is something different that we don’t normally see form most teams and especially the way they do it. We have had a good week of practice so far preparing for that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “You never now in the tournament you could run into a team that plays that style. It is good to practice for it and prepare for it. We know kind of what we are getting ourselves into with these guys with them being a league foe. They run a 2-3 zone and they don’t run it because they can’t play anything else. They are pretty good at it and it usually gives us fits.”

Published 2/11/21

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Outright Title Lays in Balance for Lucas

Lucas plays host to Loudonville in a huge Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night.

A lot hinges on its outcome, a win by the Cubs and they win the conference title outright, a win by Loudonville and things are all square with one game left on the conference schedule.

On Monday night, Lucas edged Madison (50-47) to pick up a win over a division I school.

Coach Taylor Iceman says Madison played them tough and they had to make some plays in the end to claim the win. “Everybody was congratulating us and stuff, but I have been telling everybody that Madison is not as bad as their record, they hadn’t won a game. They are a pretty solid team. They play a tough schedule. They probably deserved to win that one (Monday) night. I told coach (Tim) Mergel that his kids play extremely hard, they ran their stuff pretty well and they played pretty good. They surprised me and our kids a little bit. We didn’t play really great, but we made enough good plays down the stretch to win. I have told all of our kids all year long I don’t care if we win or lose, I want to feel good about it. We did just enough good things down the stretch to win and feel good about it,” said Iceman.

Lucas (11-5,7-1) plays at Loudonville (9-9,6-2) on Friday night. The Redbirds lost to (66-44) to Clear Fork in a non-conference game on Tuesday night. They won their last conference game (77-44) over Mansfield St. Peter’s on Friday night. The Cubs won the first meeting (57-39) back on January 2.

Iceman says Loudonville is tough to defend because of the stuff they run. “They have a lot of talent, they have a lot of depth. We played them once before and were able to get them at Lucas, but it is a challenging place to play to go down there and play in a little bit smaller gym, a little bit smaller floor. They run a lot of sets and do a lot of different things. The Gessner kid can really shoot it and score a lot, so we hare going to have to be on top of our game defensively. Just go down there and hope we play well. The stakes are kind of high, so hopefully our kids will lock in and focus in on the things we need to do. Go down there are get a win and check one of our goals off for the year and getting that league title again,” said Iceman.

It has been a different year in so many ways and Iceman says winning an outright title this season, would really mean a lot. “Even more so this year because of the way we started. We played so bad that opening night and lost to Crestline. The boys had to see the headline, first conference loss is “X” amount of years. To be honest, after that game I was we flat out aren’t very good this year maybe. Our kids have worked hard and we have improved a ton since then,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We could have said, we aren’t that good and we are just going to go out and beat the teams we can beat and that will be it, but they got to work and we have put a pretty successful season together here. After that first night, we definitely were not thinking about a league title, we were thinking about just trying to win games. Here we are with two to go and we can lock it up with a win Friday night.”

Published 2/03/21

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Lucas Takes Lead to St. Peter’s

Lucas, now in first place by themselves in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, plays at Mansfield St. Peter’s in a conference game on Friday night.

They lead Crestline and Loudonville by a game.

Lucas is coming off a (47-41) loss to Ontario last Saturday in a non-conference game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says it was good experience for his team. “We played so bad the first half and then played pretty well against a pretty good team in the second half. You don’t know how to take it, you are upset that you might have wasted a chance to beat a good team, but you can’t dwell on the negatives. We are starting in a stretch here were we think we can win some games, so we are trying to look to the second half and take the positives away from that and just keep moving forward. We have a young team and they are learning and learning how to win and all of these games we are playing and experiences all play into being successful. We are taking are lumps now and we are learning and we will be ready and be better for it on down the road here,” said Iceman.

Lucas (6-5,5-1) is at Mansfield St. Peter’s (0-11,0-6) for a conference game on Friday night. They lost (52-30) to Wynford on Tuesday night in non-league game.

Iceman says this game is about them getting better. “They are struggling and they don’t have a ton of kids out over there. The kids are getting to play a lot between JV and varsity. They are playing hard. They played pretty well against us last time. We have been pretty good at times this year and pretty bad. Part of growing and getting better is going out and playing one way no matter who you are playing. It doesn’t matter of you are playing an Ontario team or a St. Pete’s team that is trying to figure things out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have to figure our how to play and try and put them away and not let them hang around and make a game out of it. It’s a league game and we took care of some business last week and with some games going maybe the way people didn’t think they would, we have got ourselves in a good position. We can’t sleepwalk or overlook anybody. We have to go out and play every night. Again, it’s about us getting better as we continue to grow this year and move toward tournament time.”

Iceman says it is also about them protecting that slim lead in the “MBC” too. “Last weekend with Crestline that was a big game for us. We really wanted that one after the way the first round went over there at their place. We came out and played pretty well and took care business and Mansfield Christian was able to pull an upset and knock off Loudonville and the end of the night we are sitting at the top by ourselves. We still have to finish things out, nothing is done with, but we are in a good spot. We keep getting better and keep working we are in a good spot for our third straight conference championship. That is always a goal that you have at the beginning of the season. After that first night, I don’t know if you ask me then I would say, man we are not very good. We have figured some things out and we are getting better every time we go out and play,” said Iceman.

Published 1/22/21

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Ontario Holds off Lucas

Ontario never trailed in the game, although Lucas made things dicey in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors hung on to beat the Cubs (47-41) in a non-conference game on Saturday night at the O-Rena.

Ontario (9-5), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, built a (21-8) lead after the first two quarters, but the Cubs outscored them (17-8) the third quarter and trailed by only four (29-25) entering the final eight minutes.

Coach Joe Balogh says they played pretty good defense in the second half too, but they didn’t rebound the ball and gave Lucas too make second and third opportunities. “I think what hurt us in the second half was their ability to get the ball in the lane and they created contact and I don’t know how many, they probably had three of four and one situations. The other part we didn’t rebound the ball once we got stops. We have to do better finishing possessions because that is just demoralizing. They make you play defense for 20 to 30 seconds and you make them take a tough shot and you don’t rebound it then you are back to playing about 15, 20, 25 seconds and that makes it difficult. I give our kids a lot of credit coming off a game that we had (Friday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Lucas, what did we say they have only given up 50 points in one game? Defensively, they have been good. The are hard to speed up because Sauder does a great job of handling pressure. If they can’t attack and get the shot they want then they make you play half court defense for a period of time and that kind of wears you down a little bit. We made enough plays when they had to come and get us to come out on top.”

Lucas scored eight of the first 10 points of the third quarter, seven by Evan Sauder, their point guard, and got right back in the game. “We came out asleep right out of the gate and didn’t play very well the first half. You aren’t going win many games scoring eight points in a half. I told the kids coming into this that I just wanted to feel good about (Saturday) night and that was not the case at halftime, but we played really good the second half and competed. We will continue to get better with our young guys,” said Lucas coach Taylor Iceman.

Lucas (6-5), the Mid-Buckeye Conference leader, got it as close as three (43-40) with 2:12 to play after a basket by freshman Logan Toms.

Iceman says they turned up pressure in the second half in order to try and get back in the game. “We got back into our full court pressure. We were a little bit hesitant in doing that because of some guard experience that they have. That was how the game was called (Saturday) night, there wasn’t a lot of fouls being called. We just knew it was time to turn it up and try and generate some turnovers that way, which we did, but just too little, too late. We played too bad in the first half to comeback against a good team,” said Iceman.

Zach Mccristall scored all six of his points in the crucial fourth quarter for the Warriors. He buried a three from the left wing with 5:53 to play to extent the Ontario lead to eight (36-28) and after Toms converted an old fashion three point play to cut it back to five (36-31) Mccristall canned another three from just left of the top of the key to make it an eight point lead (39-31) again.

“Zach was big for us to make those shots. That was really key for us. Nolan Payne was able to finish around the rim in the fourth quarter and that was big also,” said Balogh.

Payne’s lay in with 2:01 left game the Warriors a (45-40) lead.

Payne finished with a team high 10 points for Ontario, senior point guard Griffin Shaver added nine and his running mate senior guard Kolten Kurtz added seven.

Sauder led everybody for Lucas with 21 points, 15 the second half, and Toms added 13.

Ontario has played well this year, but they have lost four of their last six, two to Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby, including (65-53) on Friday night, and one to Ohio Cardinal Conference power Ashland in overtime.

Balogh says they need to improve on the boards and they absolutely must knock down some more shots. “We really think we have been solid defensively throughout the whole year. I thought we were solid defensively (Saturday) night. Where we have to get better defensively is rebounding the ball at the defensive end and finishing possessions. Offensively, we just have to find a way to make some shots. We had open shots again. We had some that were down and out. We have to be better handling pressure early when they put it on us. We had a couple of turnovers early against their pressure, but once we settled down we did a good job of attacking it. We are just going to have to continue to get better and we are going to have to,” said Balogh.

Published 1/16/21

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Revenge on the Mind of the Cubs

Lucas has worked its way back into a share of first place in the Mid-Buckeye Conference and now they get a chance to pay back the only team to have beaten them in a conference game.

They entertain Crestline in a “MBC” game on Friday night. The Cubs, the Bulldogs and Loudonville share first place in the conference.

They were able to grind out a win at Kidron Central Christian (39-25) last Friday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says the Comets play a very good zone and games against them are normally low scoring like that. “It is usually like that over there, something we kind of expected. We played fairly decent over there. You wouldn’t be able to tell from the score, but it is kind of how it usually goes up there. It was low scoring, but we played really good defense again, which we have been doing consistently. We scored enough obviously, so we will leave it at that,” he said.

Lucas (5-4,4-1) hosts Crestline (6-5,3-1) on Friday night. The Bulldogs lost their first conference game last Friday (53-49) to Loudonville. They beat Mansfield Temple Christian (54-30) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

Crestline beat Lucas (52-42) on December 11 at their place and Iceman says they have not forgotten the results of that game. “I have got a lot of respect for coach (Tyler) Sanders and what he is doing over there. No disrespect to them, but we circled this one because we played so horrible over there it is one we just want to get back. Yeah, we have been looking forward to this one. We have had a week off since we have played, so we have been preparing. We are excited to get another shot at them and kind of show that is not who we are. We are excited for it and we have had this one circled for a while now,” said Iceman.

Lucas biggest problem is they have been able to score much, but Iceman believes their shooting has improved since they now have more options. “We have executed okay. We can’t finish, we miss a lot of bunnies and layups. We are not a very big team, so a little bit of size affects our shots. We have a lot of young guys and they are figuring it out better. We put some new things in offensively. That was our first game out the first tine we played them, so we didn’t have a ton of our offense put in at that point,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “What was are doing now is a lot different than what we thought we were going to be doing. This a different team than we have had in the past, so we are doing some different things now that are predicated to this team specifically. It will keep coming and we are going to be more prepared this time, a lot more than we were the last time we played them.”

Published 1/15/21

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Lucas Faces Tough Kidron Zone

Lucas, the defending champion in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, plays at Kidron Central Christian on Friday night in a conference game.

Right now, the Cubs, Kidron, and Loudonville trail conference leader Crestline by a game.

The Cubs picked up a big win over Loudonville (57-39) on Saturday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they have started to turn the corner. “Loudonville is one of the teams we see contending for the “MBC” and we knew it was going to be a big game for us and them and we came out and played pretty well. Our non-conference schedule this year is no joke. We play a lot of really good teams. We go from playing Lexington to Worthington Christian and it prepares you to play at a whole other level. We are starting to reap the benefits of that a little bit. That is kind of what we are hoping for this year. We have to learn from those good programs that we have on our schedule this year,” he said.

Lucas (4-4,3-1) visits Kidron Central Christian (4-3,2-1) on Friday night. The Comets last played the Monday before Christmas and beat Mansfield Christian (47-40) in a conference game.

Iceman knows they are going to see zone. “They will play their zone against us that always gives us fits. It really hasn’t mattered what team we have had. The do a very good job, coach (Craig) Martin, every year I say I have a ton of respect for that guy. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have a ton of talent or a whole lot to talent they always come ready to play and they do what they do very well. So, that is what I am expecting. We will change things up and prepare for that zone and that is what we have been doing this week. We were supposed to play Madison on Tuesday and that got pushed to a later date and were supposed to have a game Saturday (Perkins) so we go from having a three game week to just one. We just kind of slowed things down this week and we are preparing for that zone and just working on things we need to work on,” said Iceman.

To be successful, Iceman says they have to move the ball and get some offensive rebounds to get clean looks. “A lot of times what really frustrates me is we settle for jump shots because you can get them against a zone and it is wonderful if you are making them. Most of the time for the most part is seems to work out against their zone that we are not hitting jump shots. So, you really have to move the ball and put the defense where you want them and then attack them and get good looks and crash and rebound. It’s hard to box out in a zone because you are not necessarily responsible for a man you are responsible for an area. It’s just hard because everything just slows down and you stand and just kind of watch. We can’t do that, we have to move the ball, and attack gaps and crash when we do take jump shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “The way things have been going for us more often than not it’s not going down. We have to create more opportunities to score. Their zone is not a typical 2-3 zone, they don’t sit back. They don’t do it because they can’t play man, they do it because they are good at it. They are very physical, they extend out and they will pester the ball. It’s not a typical 2-3 zone where they just pack it in. We have to make good decisions and take good shots. You have to rebound and create more chances.”

Published 1/07/21

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Lucas to Keep Building

Lucas is having some concerns right now putting the ball in the basket, but as time goes on, there is more than a pretty good chance that they are going to be a solid team.

They host Mansfield Christian on Monday and Loudonville on Saturday in Mid-Buckeye Conference games and sandwiched between on Tuesday they go to Berlin Hiland to play Worthington Christian in the First Federal Showcase.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they are busy working out the kinks on the offensive end. “We are working on it. We are so young this year. I am trying to take positives out of it. You would like to think if you held Lexington and South Central to under 40 points you would hope to win at least one of those two and it just didn’t happen. We are young and I keep telling them we have to learn and learn to play together and we are getting better, but it is frustrating. I was talking to my assistant coaches on the way home the other night as said I don’t know if I would rather lose like this or just get blown out by 20 points, but we are going to keep working on it. The thing is we are getting looks and we just aren’t making them right now. We are missing free throws and not making three points shots. That will all come with time, but is just super frustrating right now. I’m frustrated, the kids are frustrated. We have so many guys that are trying to figure out how to play with each other. My two seniors Ethan (Sauder) and Ethan (Wallace) are playing completely different roles than they have ever done. I think they are trying to do a little too much because they want the team to do well and they feel like they need to do that. We figure it out. The good thing is we are playing great defense. My guys play hard every single night. As long as we play hard, good things will happen. It stinks right now, but it is going to benefit us in the long run,” said Iceman.

Lucas (2-3,1-1) is at home for Mansfield Christian (1-5,0-3) on Monday night. The Flames lost (47-40) to Kidron Central Christian in a conference game last Monday.

Iceman says they are young and getting better. “They just keep improving. They have been young the last few years, so it’s a lot of the same kids. I know they have a pretty talented freshman. He was out the first few games and has been back for the last couple. So, they are going to be improved. A lot of our games this year, it’s about us. If we go out and keep getting better this year every night than that’s all I can ask for. It has been so frustrating. We are right there and we can’t put it together offensively. It’s another opportunity to go out and try and get better offensively. We have played some pretty good teams and we just hope to get back to league play here. We dropped a game to Crestline, but we are hungry for the league. We can’t go 26-1 this year. We have already lost three games, but we can still go out and win our league and that is goal number one for us. Just keep getting better, so when tournament rolls around we are going to be a completely different team,” said Iceman.

Worthington Christian was not the school Lucas was originally going to play. They beat a very good Centerburg team (70-21) last week. Iceman says they are very talented. “It is another COVID situation. The team we were scheduled to play is quarantined because of a team they played, Caldwell, a smaller school, kind of similar to us, and just found out (Saturday) that they were not going to be able to be there. We are going to play Worthington Christian. I have done a little bit of research on them. Once upon a time they were in the “MBC” when I was young and growing up they were always really good. In the ’99 and ’00 years when Lucas was really good, we ran into them in the regionals and stuff like that. So, I know what kind of basketball history they have. It is what it is and we are going to take it as an opportunity to go out and play a really good team. We are supposed to lose, right? So, what do we have to lose? It is only going to make us better in the long run. That is a lot of what our schedule has turned into this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “We beefed the schedule up thinking we were going to be one team and they way it has worked out with what happened to Riley (Gossom) and everything that has gone on. We are going to go out and get better, try and win our league, and when tournament time rolls around, I will have a bunch of young guys that aren’t so young anymore and I wouldn’t want to play us at that point. We have to go through the growing pains of a season. It will be a good experience for our kids to go down to Berlin Hiland. They will be playing as well, so we will get to watch them. It is one of those holiday tournaments and it’s a cool opportunity for the kids and the team to be together. We will take advantage of it, but they are going to be a tall task.”

Published 12/28/20

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Lucas Not Going Away

Lucas has got some points to prove and one was delivered with authority on Tuesday night and they have a chance to do it a couple more times at home with Mansfield St. Peter’s in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night and at South Central in non-conference play on Saturday night.

After what they thought was a disappointing performance in a (52-42) loss to Crestline in a conference game on Friday night, the Cubs destroyed Galion (72-28) in a non-conference game Tuesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they wanted to say who they really are this year. “We had a bad taste in our mouths. We played horrible over at Crestline. There was a lot going on with not being able to practice and missing some guys and the first game out. It was just all around bad. We came in and had a pretty spirited practice on Saturday morning and kind of had a come to Jesus meeting with everybody. Just wanted to figure things out. We had a couple of good practices and just all around our effort was just so much better (Tuesday) night. It was just good to get out and play and get that taste out of our mouth,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We knew things were going to be different this year. We obviously have a different team. I don’t think we had an identity that first night. The kids were still trying to figure it out. (Tuesday) night we played pressure defense, we created turnovers, we scored through our defense. We told our kids it was a step in the right direction. This is who we are going to be. It just felt so much better. We just played so terrible on opening night we were just ready to get that taste out of our mouths and we played better (Tuesday) night.”

Lucas (1-1,0-1) plays at home against Mansfield St. Peter’s (0-2,0-1) on Friday night. The Spartans lost (35-32) to Kidron Central Christian in a conference game last Friday.

Iceman says they need to be at their best. “We are in no situation to judge other teams. We are at the point right now still trying to figure out who we are and going out and just getting the best out of us. I fully expect them to be ready to go and to be a good game,” he said.

Iceman says they are not going to hand over their conference title to Crestline, or anyone else, and they are going to go out Friday with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder. “We talked a little about it (Tuesday) night. We lost that opener to Crestline. There were things out there, changing of the guard, Lucas lost their first conference game since 2018. I told the kids we did that to ourselves, but I’m not ready to have those kinds if talks and have that stuff out there. We are kind of hungry, fired up and be ready to go to get back into the conference schedule and just make another statement. I don’t think anybody knew how to take that Crestline game. People thought maybe Lucas was going to down and that was obviously not our plan going into things this year. It was just so bad and we had so many questions. (Tuesday) night was more of a representation of the who we are going to be, so we are hungry and ready to go out and keep improving. We are ready to go out and show another team that Lucas isn’t going anywhere, the “MBC” still runs through us. It sucks that we lost one, but if we have anything to say about it that is the only one we are going to lose,” said Iceman.

Published 12/17/20

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Lucas Plays First one at Crestline

Lucas is going to try to open the season again on Friday night at Crestline in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game after being foiled at the last minute last week.

They were going to play Crestview last Saturday, but the purple menace showed up and turned thumbs down.

Coach Taylor Iceman says really they have not had much of what you would call a traditional practice. “We were all ready to go for last Saturday night and we had that taken away from us. We practiced, but it wasn’t practice. We were in groups of 10 and just came in and handled the ball and shoot, didn’t share a ball, we did some conditioning and stuff like that just trying to stay as ready as we could so when we got the green light we were as close to ready to go as possible. (Wednesday) we made the decision that we were going to play. When we are at home, we won’t have any spectators, but the most important thing is kids are getting the chance to play. We will do what we have to do until hopefully we can get some fans back in Lucas. We are excited to be able to play. We are just ready to go. We prepared, we have had these scrimmages, and we are looking forward to play at Crestline on (Friday) night,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they are little behind a lot teams in the area in terms of preparation, but they are ready to go. “Last week when we were told we were not going to play we sat around all weekend and watched all of the teams our size and in our area they are all out there playing. Crestview and Plymouth, two Richland County schools are playing and we are sitting at home. Crestline has played four games and this is our first one. It is what it is. We are used to starting later than everybody else anyway due to the way football has gone for us in the past. My guys are ready. They are just excited to get out there and play. We talked (Thursday) don’t take anything for granted, just go out there and have fun and enjoy getting to play high school basketball with their buddies because you just don’t know these days and we have obviously learned that,” he said.

Crestline (1-4,0-0) played Tuesday night and lost to Crestview (64-54) in a non-conference game.

Iceman says the Bulldogs are going to play hard for 32 minutes and they have some guys that can play. “They have some kids back from last year. They have played some close games here in their opening four. They have the same coach as the last few years and some familiar faces with the Clark kid. They have turned the corner here the last couple of years. It is not the old Crestline program where they would kind of give in, they play hard now and they are improving year after year,” he told Swankonsports.com in Thursday night, “Everybody is exited to see Lucas this year with us graduating some people and losing Riley (Gossom) and they are chomping at the bit now. I think if you asked Crestline, they would say they would like to be Lucas’s first game. They are coming off a week when they really didn’t get to practice, I would think that would be a pretty good time to try and get us. So, it will be a challenge. It’s the first one and the first one is always a little different, we will have to shake off some rust and things like that. I expect it to be a good game. I am just looking forward to playing and getting out there with my team this year. It’s a different group of kids. It’s a new journey that will start on.”

Published 12/11/20

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Lucas Has Some Pieces Again

Lucas advanced to the regional tournament last year and even though they will not have a large portion of their scoring from that team they still have the potential to be a very good team.

They play at home against Crestview in a non-league game on Saturday night, it’s their first game of the season.

Coach Taylor Iceman, also the school’s athletic director, says it has been a preseason that was as hard to contain as being the director of an elementary school play with things coming at them from different angles. “It has been crazy with football finishing up. We always have to deal with football going late. We did that again this year, so that is nothing new. The whole car accident with Riley Gossom, we lost a stud there. We are fortunate that we still have him with us. So, we are going to be a little younger this year in many ways. We graduated a couple of starters from last year and a couple of role guys. So, I have two starters back in Ethan Wallace and Ethan Sauder, two guys that everybody knows and are really good basketball players. So, I have two guys back with a ton of experience and a half a dozen guys that are going to be newbies for me. Our sophomore class is really good, they have won at all levels, and our freshmen the same way, they have won at all levels. It is going to be a learning curve with them playing varsity basketball. We have had some scrimmages against tough opponents and they have seen the different speed that goes into a varsity game. Every time we have gone out, we have gotten better. I am excited about it because we have good kids, good talent and kids that want to win,” said Iceman.

Gossom was seriously injured in a car cash this fall and will not be able to play this season.

So, as the result of his absence from the floor and the graduations, Iceman says other kids will have to accept new roles and he believes they are ready to embrace them. “This year was going to be different anyway not having (Logan) Niswander out there as well. Riley really benefited last year from having Logan on the floor and vice versa, so we’re really fortunate and blessed that we had two kids that could really score the basketball that other teams had to worry about defending and now we lost Riley. Ethan Sauder is a very capable scorer. I have seen him dominate summer games every summer and then we get to regular season and he wants to be the pass first guy, which he is phenomenal at don’t get me wrong, but he is a capable scorer. I expect big things out of him this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Also, we have a freshman coming in Logan Toms that will contribute right away and he has kind of been the guy in his grade. Physically he is ready for varsity basketball and again it will be learning how to play at a faster pace. We have four sophomores that are going to do the same thing. We will pick up full court and try an speed things up and gain some offense that way with our defense, which we normally do. Actually, I would say we would have more depth than we have had the last couple of years. I will probably play eight to nine guys and we will cycle them through, keep fresh legs, and just outwork everybody.”

Crestview (1-0) beat Mansfield Temple Christian (63-37) on Tuesday and did that without their best player.

Iceman knows it will be a tough matchup for the Cubs. “It’s tough because you can’t go watch games. The nice thing is who can usually find it online somewhere. I was able to watch a little bit. There are a lot of new faces there and a new coach in coach (John) Kurtz. So, you know they are going to play hard and compete. Coach Kurtz does a great job and always did at Mansfield Christian. I know him from being over there and glad to see him back on the sidelines coaching. Evan Hamilton did not play (Tuesday) night, he was quarantined, you never know, but we expect him back for Saturday, we are going to plan on him being there and if he is not then we will adjust. He is a really good player and we have seen him the last couple of years. They have a little bit of size and they are well balanced. We expect a tough one for opening night,” said Iceman.

Published 12/03/20

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Lucas Has to Limit JFK Big Play

Lucas plays in its third straight division VII regional final, this time on Friday night at Warren JFK.

They beat Cuyahoga Heights (21-13) last year on their way to a state runner-up finish and lost to Gloster Trimble (21-14) in 2018.

Last week, the Cubs (7-2) beat McDonald (27-14) in a regional semifinal played at Bob Wine Field in Lucas.

Coach Scott Spitler says they did an excellent job battling adversity, especially early in the game. “I thought our guys did a nice job of keeping their level of focus and composure at an even kneel all game. Understanding with the ebbs and flows of the game you are going to have adverse situations and how you respond will determine your success. We got down inside the 10 on the initial kickoff return and came away with no points and they bust a big run and score. It would have been really easy for us to panic, but we didn’t and we kept our composure and answered the call and made some plays on special teams and kind of parlayed it into a 21-7 halftime lead and never looked back,” said Spitler.

JFK (7-2) beat Dalton, out of the Wayne County Athletic League, (28-18) in a semifinal game. They had beaten Norwalk St. Paul, co-champions of the Firelands Conference, (27-21) the week before.

Spitler says they have some explosive athletes. “I’ll tell you what, just so much speed and talent all over the field. Offensively, they have a big, strong, athletic quarterback that stresses you running as well as passing. Then in the backfield with him is a speedster at tailback that is going to the Air Force Academy. Then they have great size up front and they formation the heck out of you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They probably have 30, 40 formations and variations, so getting lined up defensively is going to be half the battle and making sure we keep things in front of us and protect our edges and turn things back in with their speed and then don’t give up the big play in the passing game.”

The main focus of the Cubs double tight, double wing offense is to control the line of scrimmage. Spitler says that will not be easy on Friday night. “Offensively, it is going to be a challenge controlling the line of scrimmage. I think defensively, they do a nice job with their linebackers playing downhill and they have good speed to the football. They pursue the football really well. We have to battle and we have to win the war in the trenches to be successful,” he said.

Spitler says they can’t give up big plays and they need to have the ball in their hands as much as possible. “They have to earn every inch. We can’t afford to give up the big pass play over the top or give up the corner with their speed and give up the big play that way. We have to keep things in front of us to make sure they earn every inch. We have to take advantage of our possessions offensively, eat clock, and control the tempo of the game and make sure we are finishing drive with points,” he said.

Published 11/05/20

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Lucas Looks for Another War With McDonald

Lucas continues to have familiarity with its playoff opponents this fall. On Friday night, they host McDonald a regional semifinal in division VII at Bob Wine Field.

They beat McDonald (21-20) in overtime in a regional quarterfinal last year.

Last Saturday, the Cubs (6-2) beat Independence (21-7) in the quarterfinal round.

Coach Scott Spitler says his kids were focused mentally for the challenge. “I think with all of the wrenches that were thrown in by mother nature and everything, I thought our kids responded really well. Basically, we were coming out of our tunnel onto the field and got sent directly off the field due to lightning. So, to get all hyped up and ready to play and then go right into weather delay and then about two and half hours later get a call to move to seven o’clock the next night, really proud about how the kids were able to put that behind them and come out and do what was necessary to get a victory and move on. In the postseason, that is what you have to do, survive and move on,” he said.

Defense has been something that has gotten better for the Cubs as the season has gone on. Spitler says last week was their best performance of the year thus far. “Early on in the season we had some close games against some really good competition where we got some timely stops and things like that, but the youth we have on our defense is starting to mature and is starting to kind of jell defensively. I thought we did a whale of a job minus one series the entire game I thought it was the best defensive performance we have had all season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have played some pretty solid offenses at times this season, but from pass defense to the discipline of all of the formations they throw at you and the screens. They threw three screens against us and we picked off two of them. Just a testament to the discipline and the preparation that our coaches got our players to follow them game plan and the kids just played lights out and gave us opportunities offensively to have some short fields and overcome a turnover early that we had a come out with a win. So, it was a great team win for us and I couldn’t be more proud of the kids.”

McDonald (7-1) beat Leetonia (41-24) last week. The Blue Devils only loss has come to unbeaten New Middletown Springfield (49-13) on September 11.

Spitler knows they are in for a physical battle. “We were able to get them in overtime in week 11 last year. We felt as an entire coaching staff that it was the most physical game that we had played in our entire run last year. They are very well coached, a very physical team, they have great size. They have everybody but four guys returning off last year’s team led by their quarterback (Dominic) Schadl. He is just lightning in a bottle. He reminds me a lot of the type of athlete that Jeb Grover was for us, but they have him at the quarterback position. He just stretches the defense so many different ways. Like I said, they are big upfront, move well, and play a physical style of football. So, it is going to be a tremendous battle,” said Spitler.

The Lucas coach says these kids know each other pretty darn well. “We beat them in overtime by one last year. We defended a two-point conversion to win and get out of there. Then our basketball team beat them by two. So, they have lost to the Cubs in two sports by three points, so we have kind of get a little history there with them. I just know the brand and quality football team they are we are going to have a whale of a challenge Friday night,” he said.

Published 10/27/20

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Lucas Plays Aggressive Independence in Playoffs

Lucas will host Independence in a division VII regional quarterfinal game at Bob Wine Field on Friday night.

The Cubs (5-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches pull in the small school division, blanked Cuyahoga Heights (35-0) in a second round game last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says they were well prepared and executed well against the option offense and once they got some kinks ironed out started to roll on offense too. “It thought our defense and our defensive staff did a whale of a job. Anytime you are facing an option offense it requires your team to be very unselfish and extremely disciplined. I thought our staff did a nice job of getting our kids ready and then our kids executing the game plan,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Then offensively we were able to control the line of scrimmage, which is what we want to do. In the first half we had a couple of uncharacteristic penalties that stopped a couple of drives. I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage well enough. We were getting a lot of chunk plays in our run game, which allows us to be successful. In the second half, we tightened things up and sealed the deal and got out of our first playoff game of the season with a good win at home and it’s a good way to get started.”

Independence (6-1) rallied behind two defensive scores to beat Monroeville (28-20) last week in a second round game. They have two shoutouts this season and twice more have allowed just one score.

Spitler says they have great athletes in the skilled positions. “For a division VII I am really impressed with the bodies, especially in the skilled positions, tight end, wide out, running back, a lot of 6’0” to 6’4” bodies that are anywhere from 180 to 220 pounds, so a lot of length and good frames and very athletic. One minute they are in double tight, triple “I” and the next minute they are in five wide spread, so they stretch you with multiple formations. A lot of shifting and motion, so they really require you to be disciplined in your alinement defensively. Then on the defensive side of the ball they run an attacking style 5-3 defense where they are stunting and blitzing a lot. They are an extremely aggressive team with great skilled positions. Their spread package and the athletes that they have reminds me a lot of what Ontario has in the skilled positions. Everyone of them can put it in the end zone at any time,” said Spitler.

In order to have success, the Cubs have to make sure they are in the right positions on defense and as always control the line of scrimmage when they have the ball, according to Spitler. “We are going to have to do a good job of being aligned properly and keep them in front of us to make them earn every inch. Offensively, we have to control the line of scrimmage and take care of the football,” he said.

Published 10/21/20

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Lucas Faces Familiar Foe in Cuyahoga Heights

Lucas will at home for the first time this year as they entertain Cuyahoga Heights, a school they beat in the regional final last year, in a second round playoff game in division VII on Friday night.

Lucas (4-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, the second seed in the region, earned and took a bye last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says they accomplished some important things in the process. “I thought our kids handled it well. We took the opportunity to go back and handle the week practice wise similar to what we would be doing in early August and doing a lot of focusing on fundamentals just trying to tighten up little things there that we felt we needed to, clean up, and get better at, and to improve our execution in all three phases. We were also able to give the kids a little time off here and there strategically as well as get healed up. I think as far as the body and the mindset and being able to have some extra time to look at some things that we wanted to get better at without having to prepare for a team I thought the week went really well for our guys,” said Spitler.

Spitler says his kids are excited to finally be at home at Bob Wine Field on Friday night. “You can tell that the kids have a little extra spring in their step with idea of being home this week, especially our seniors. They have not had an opportunity to have a game in the stadium this season. We were all kind of wondering if we would get that opportunity and we are fortunate enough with our seeding and everything to get to play at home. It’s going to be nice and it’s just a special place to play, especially in the fall on a Friday night and we are excited about being at home,” he said.

The Redskins (2-4) beat Mapleton, of the Firelands Conference, (35-20) in a first round game last Friday.

Lucas beat Cuyahoga Heights (21-13) in the regional finals last year.

Spitler says they personnel is different, but both teams have the same approach to the game. “They really haven’t gone away from what they hang their hat on. Coach Martin is a very established, successful coach, that believes in the triple option and they are still doing that. They do a nice job of mixing in some spread attack passing game wise. They are extremely efficient running the triple option and the option game is something that requires the defense to be very disciplined be assignment sound,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Neither team is the same team that we were in the regional championship game last year due to graduation and stuff. The thing that doesn’t change is you have two teams that want to control the line of scrimmage and run the football. What they do offensively just really stresses your discipline as a defense.”

On defense, coaches want their players to be aggressive and fly to the ball, but in this case, against this offense, Spitler says you can be too aggressive. “That is the thing about the option if you get too aggressive one step too far one way or the other you open that crease to the fullback in the midline in the veer or the quarterback keeping it around the end or the pitch in the option game. So, you just rely on your kids being focused on doing their 1/11^th on very play to the best of their ability and be able to count on the guy next to them to do their 1/11^th. You don’t want to curb that excitement that attack mentality, but that is why the option is as deadly as it is uses those types of things against you if you aren’t disciplined,” said Spitler.

Published 10/16/20

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Lucas With Things to Work on

Lucas plays another Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference team on the road on Friday night as they visit Galion to play the Tigers.

Shelby handed the Cubs their first loss of the season (37-7) last week by outscoring them (21-0) in the second half.

Coach Scott Spitler says the Whippets have a lot of athletes they can put on the field. “Hats off to them, they are such a talented and well coached team. Early we were right there with them, but I thought there in the second half things got away from us. They are just so balanced in everything they do. They have weapons all over the field. We did a good job against their run game. The talent in the secondary and the quarterback kind of took over and we got behind the sticks and behind on the scoreboard a little bit. They did what good teams do and put us away there in the second half. The silver lining of playing a quality team like that is you definitely find out what things you have to get better at before the postseason. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted and they exposed some things that we definitely have to get better at,” said Spitler.

Now, if you lose a game, you want to learn from it and Spitler says they need to improve their game plan in the secondary and improve some things with the offensive line. “I think we have to do a better job of simplifying things in the secondary, so we do a little less thinking. What that does is we get flatfooted and things end up being by us and we give up some big plays in the passing game. So, simplifying things there, so we can play fast and not think, just play free. Offensively, we have to tighten up some things technique wise and things across the offensive line. We just have to get better in certain aspects of our attack to get to were we want to be in the postseason. The thing when you play good quality teams like Shelby is you get to find out what you still need to work on and it definitely showed us that,” he said.

Lucas (4-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, is at Galion (2-3) on Friday night. Galion has lost its last two, Shelby beat them (42-6) and then Ontario blanked them (28-0) last week.

However, Spitler says they are very athletic are the Tigers and they are just huge up front. “For us another D-4 school on the schedule. Coach Dick does a tremendous job over there. They have a tremendous athlete at quarterback in Wilson Frankhouse. The one thing I have seen in the “MOAC” this year with us playing them is at the quarterback position this league has just so many athletes when you talk about Shepherd at Shelby and Snyder at Ontario and Shaffer at Pleasant and now Frankhouse, he is an All-Ohio quarterback. Just the size and athleticism at the receiver position with all of these “MOAC” teams and Galion is no different,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are just monstrous up front. They have a freshman starting at right guard, who is 6’3” and 325. When you watch him play you are just amazed at how well he moves for someone his size and he is mauling people as a freshman. They are just so talented. They have dealt with some injuries and some players being out. This is going to be a very good task for us.”

Published 9/30/20

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Lucas With Great Opportunity

It should be fun on Friday night as two the better high school football teams in the area lock horns as Lucas travels to Shelby to face the Whippets.

Both are unbeaten through four games.

The Cubs (4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, beat up Troy Christian (42-0) last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says it was a business trip. “I was very pleased with how our kids focused on what they had control of and didn’t worry about things they didn’t have control over. We came right out of the gate. That was our mindset. We wanted to start strong and play a good four quarters and we were able to do that,” he said.

Shelby (4-0), #2 our large school poll, behind only Bellevue, blasted Galion (42-6) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game. They lead the conference standings.

Spitler says the Whippets have home run hitters all over the place on offense. “You just see tremendous playmakers everywhere, especially om offense. They have a receiving corps that has height, length, speed, with Bowman and Lantz and Hill that can just stretch you vertically, horizontally with those guys. They have a bell cow running back that can hurt you running and receiving out of the backfield,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have a big, tall, athletic quarterback, that can make every throw on the field. A big, physical offensive line. They are just so impressive with the balance they have offensively. Coach (Robert) Mahaney is a quality coach and you can just tell that they are very well coached.”

Three weeks ago, Whippets running back Owen Fisher established a school record with 417 yards rushing against Pleasant, he also scored seven TD’s that night.

Although somewhat underrated, Spitler says the Shelby defense is also very good. “Defensively, I think a lot of times the quality of their defense kind of gets overlooked because they are so good offensively, but they play really good defense led by Ingram at middle linebacker, the kid is just a sideline to sideline player and is the tone setter for them,” he said.

Shelby quarterback Marshall Shepherd has had a very good season. He tossed four scoring passes last week against Galion.

Spitler says he makes all of the plays. “The one thing I know about coach Mahaney is he is kind of a quarterback whisperer. When he was at Mapleton, he had some phenomenal athletes at quarterback under his tutelage and this is no different here. He has taken a great athlete in in Shepherd and really turned him into a very polished quarterback. Obviously, even though this is his first full season as a starter, this is a young man they trust to do a lot of things. He punts for them, he kicks, and playing the quarterback position and being their distributor on offense. He can hurt you just as well with his legs, so they are a complete team,” he said.

Shelby is the best team the Cubs have played this season and Spitler says it’s a great opportunity for the program. “If you love high school football this is the type of game you want to play. These are the type of games when we stretch ourselves as a program to continue to grow and be better. Have the mindset of not being afraid of failing Friday night because it is going to make you a better team whether you win or lose just from the experience and this is no different. You are taking about a tremendous challenge for our team and a tremendous opportunity to grow as a football team win or lose. That is something we pride ourselves on of strapping up and play no matter what the division it is and get after it and try and make sure at the end of the night Lucas is a better football team than they were at the beginning of the night. That is what we are going to do Friday night. We are going to let it hang out and see what we’ve got and if we are good enough to get the victory on Friday night it will happen, if not we will get back to work and get better the following week,” said Spitler.

Published 9/23/20

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Road Trip Continues for Lucas

Lucas plays on the road again this season as they travel down to Miami County to face Troy Christian in a non-conference game of Friday night.

They are the road more than the Harlem Globetrotters, and they win about as much too.

The Cubs (3-0) beat another Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference school in Marion Pleasant (35-21) last Friday.

Coach Scott Spitler says both teams wanted to do the same things, they just did it a little better. “It was very similar to playing ourselves. Marion Pleasant is so well coached, a tremendous amount of success and tradition. They don’t hide it either, they want to line up and run the football and play solid defense. They just do it from a different type of look. It was a very physical, very demanding game, played well by both sides and we were very fortunate to come away with a victory,” he said.

Lucas will not play a home game this year, most likely, unless that would change when they play smaller school in the playoffs.

Spitler says that is okay by them, they just want to play football. “In our program we want to make sure our focus is spent on things we have control over and that is something we really don’t have control over due to the capacity constraints in stadiums and what the governor said as far as what schools are allowed to have. Playing in the “MOAC” we are very fortunate that they gave us that opportunity, that really saved us schedule wise and trying to find games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “With those bigger schools it just made more sense capacity wise to allow for families from both sides of the game to be able to have seating and be present for their kids games. So, that is out of our control. We are just extremely happy to be playing football and getting the opportunity to play each week. That is what our focus has been we are getting to play football, we don’t care where it is at.”

Troy Christian (1-2) lost (41-7) to Wayne Trace last week.

Spitler says actually the Eagles are the biggest team physically they have played this year. “They are extremely well coached. While they are the same sized school as us as far as divisions are concerned, they are probably the biggest team we have faced in the trenches this season, which is surprising with how talented and how large the “MOAC” schools are. Troy Christian is 300 and 280 at the tackles and 260 at the guards and their center is about 240, 245. Then all of those guys play on the defensive line, so it is going to be a tremendous challenge in the trenches. That is something we try and pride ourselves on and that is something we have challenged our kids this week. We have got to win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football,” said Spitler.

Published 9/18/20

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Lucas Doesn’t Panic

Lucas plays another Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference opponent this Friday as they host Marion Pleasant on week three of the season.

In dramatic fashion, the Cubs beat Ontario (28-21) last week.

Although they were never behind in the game, coach Scott Spitler say they had to come up with a big play to secure the win. “We had control the game early up 14-0 after the first quarter and I thought we kind of got full of ourselves and weren’t doing the things there in the second quarter that we were doing right in the first quarter. Ontario is a very skilled and talented team and we know they have no quit in them and they came back and tied it us 14-all at halftime. We got up 21-14 at the end of third and they tied it up and forced us to punt. We snaped the ball over our punter’s head. They tackled him as he was trying to pick it up and they got possession of the ball at our 36, so a very short field. Our defense really stepped up and forced them to attempt a field goal, which they missed,” he told Swankonsports.com on Saturday night, “It gave us a chance there with four minutes to go to have a chance to move the ball down the field and hopefully get a win. We were able to take it all of the way down in. The play had started there with like 17 seconds to go and then there was an inadvertent whistle, half of everybody stopped and half of the group was playing, but they stopped the whole thing, respoted it, and reset the clock. We had a timeout left and we were going to run the same run play that was just called and we were trying to set it up for a field goal and Grant Barrett read it perfectly and bounced it outside and got inside the pylon and we didn’t have to worry about the field goal.”

Spitler says his players know how to win games and that showed again last week. “So, really pleased with how the kids stayed the course and didn’t panic. There was no panic in them and I think a lot of it has to do with a lot of our upperclassmen are juniors and seniors that they have been in big, close games and they expected to come out on top and you can see that in how calm they were there at the end,” he said.

Marion Pleasant (1-1,1-1) suffered on of the more lopsided losses in recent history when they fell to Shelby (54-26) last week.

However, Spitler knows what they are up against. “They are the type of program that if you are a small school type program that you want to emulate. Tough, physical kids, well coached and this year’s team is no different. They are led by Austin Shaffer, their quarterback, he is a tremendous athlete. I think he threw for 1,500 and ran for 1,000 last year or the flip of that last year and the running back Bibbler in the backfield, they just make a dynamic duo. They have a mountain of a man up front on the offensive and defensive line in Ethan Enders at 6’4” and 315. You just don’t see kids that size at division five schools and they have great size on the offensive and defensive lines. The one thing that just stands out when you watch film is just their tenacity and the way they get after it on both sides of the ball and just how physical they play. We have a tremendous challenge. This might be our biggest challenge of the season so far just with what they bring in experience and tenacity and aggressiveness. So, we ware going to have our hands extremely full and it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for our kids,” said Spitler.

Published 9/09/20

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Lucas Plays Athletic Ontario

Lucas takes its act, and it’s a pretty good one, on the road again this week to meet Ontario in a non-conference or Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game, you choose, on Friday night.

The Cubs beat Clear Fork for the first time in school history (18-15) last week.

Coach Scott Spitler was very proud of the win. “Anytime you can play a team with the tradition and the athletes that Clear Fork has and come out with a win you are definitely grateful. Dave Carroll does a great job. Dave and I have a tremendous amount of respect. He has been a mentor. We spent a lot of time in the off season and stuff talking a lot of football. You know what you are getting when you go against a Dave Carroll coached team. You are getting very disciplined play and their kids play very physical. They have some tremendous athletes. The young man at quarterback Tedrow was just a tremendous playmaker. Our defense had a great night. We were able to get some stops when we needed them. We had a freshmen kicker step up and get a key field goal to give us the lead and the defense was able to get us out of there with a victory. When you are without three starters because of quarantine and all of the adversity that goes with that leading up to the game I was just really proud of the kids and how they overcame that adversity and got a victory at Clear Fork, a tough place to play,” said Spitler.

Ontario lost (28-14) to Shelby on Saturday night.

Spitler says the Warriors have athletes all over the place on offense and a ton of experience on defense. “It doesn’t get any easier. They are very senior dominated, experienced defensively from their back end and their linebackers and defensive backs are all returning starters with speed to burn. Offensively every skilled position has a tremendous athlete. They have a couple of their star basketball players on the football field now making a difference in the pass game at wide receiver. Ethan Snyder at quarterback is a dual threat that stresses you. Owen Hatfield’s speed and playmaking ability is scary. They have a nice running back in Jalen Scott. They just have so many ways to attack you we are going to have our hands full,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “You add to it that they are well coached. Coach (Chris) Miller has done a tremendous job. I am extremely impressed by their offensive and defensive lines and how they played versus Shelby in week one holding their run game in check and putting pressure on the quarterback and protecting their quarterback to get some plays offensively. It is in their house, so we have another task in front of us. We have to be sound in every facet to have a chance to compete.”

Spitler say they have to keep the Warriors athletes in front of them and even better keep them off the field. “For us to have the ability to be in position to be successful Friday night we have to keep everything in front of us. We can’t give up big plays. We have to make them earn every inch defensively. Then offensively we have to possess the ball and play keep away and limit their touches. We have to do those things just to have a chance I believe because they are so talented and so athletic,” he said.

Published 9/02/20

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Lucas Concerned with Clear Fork’s Speed

In a matchup between two communities that love their football, Lucas is at Clear Fork for a non-conference game on Friday night at “The Corral.”

The game was originally to be played at Lucas, but was moved in order to accommodate more fans while maintaining social distance.

It has been a frustrating summer for high school football teams in general and this week the Cubs have been through the ringer due to some issues related to the COVID-19.

Coach Scott Spitler says it is just a good feeling to be able to play football. “It has been a tremendous emotional rollercoaster all summer not really knowing until recently if we were going to get this opportunity. With the pandemic you are holding your breath on a daily basis to get where who get a chance to play the game and kind of get away from it all a little bit. I couldn’t be more excited for our kids to get the opportunity (Friday) night,” he said.

Let’s hope the thunderstorms predicted for Friday stay away.

Lucas was able to play Lexington in a scrimmage last Saturday and Spitler says they were able to work out some kinks. “I was really pleased by how well the kids came out and flowed to the football defensively. Then offensively our intensity. When you first go out in a scrimmage there are going to be some things that you are not executing the way you want and maybe the crispness of the execution. So, we had those little things here and there. Little things we have to tweak and get better at. You could tell the kids had been longing for that opportunity to get to play against somebody else,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It was a great opportunity to play someone with the athletes and the size that Lexington has. We appreciate their program allowing us to come over because in the chaos of all of this we lost our scrimmage, so we were looking and were fortunate enough that we got a phone call from them and we were able to get together and get an opportunity for kids to get a test run before (Friday) night.”

Lucas and Clear Fork have not played in football in more than 20 years.

Spitler says the Colts are athletic and they have speed that has the potential to give the Cubs some problems. “Dave Carroll is someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for. He does things the right way. He is a very good coach. His kids are very hard nosed physical kids that expect to win. They have a lot success in the program. It is going to be a tremendous task. The one thing that stands out when you watch his kids is just the physical toughness and athleticism. So, this week we have had to really challenge our kids to match that because you are going to have to match that to play against them. Their speed concerns me on their turf, but with the capacity limitations set by the governor in order to get any type of parental, fan attendance we had to move it to their stadium because of it being bigger, so at least their parents could get a chance to see their sons play. To make it eligible for the fans it was great to move it to Clear Fork, but the negative side of it coaching wise is they have great speed and speed on turf doesn’t get slower it gets faster,” said Spitler.

Published 8/28/20

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Lucas Expecting Another Good Season

Lucas was the state runner-up in division VII last season and they have some talent back on both sides of the ball this fall. It will be interesting to see what they can do, that is if we have a football season at all.

It appears in may be another couple of weeks before we know that answer.

Coach Scott Spitler says all they can do now is focus on getting better. “It just seems like not just us coaches, but everybody, because its is such a fluid situation and things change so quickly, it seems like there is something new or discovered every 24 hours and it hard to have answers. As a coach when you are trying to keep your kids focused and stuff you try and focus on the stuff you have control over. Everyday we get he opportunity to be together and work and try and get better that is what we focus on because we have no control over anything else. It is not easy to think that way with ever changing times, but that is how it has got to be right now is we just have to focus and be thankful for every day we get to go out there and practice right now,” he said.

Lucas is in an even more precarious position because they are not in a league in football. Spitler says they have not been contacted by anyone so far on their schedule cancelling the game for any reason. “Because of not knowing, right now the OHSAA says we are preparing like we are having a season. We were allowed to start practicing there on August 1. We are just waiting. I believe the governor said (Tuesday) he is trying to get another two weeks in before he makes a decision about contact sports, so they can have more data. Until you have a lot of that information from the governor it is kind of hard to know whether schools are going to be moving forward, what counties are going to be recommending that their schools play because you have seen in several counties where they have already decided not to have any sports until October 1 or no fall sports at all,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “You have had a couple of leagues come out and say that we are going to do league only. As of right now, we haven’t had any communication from anybody on our schedule saying we aren’t playing if we have a season. A lot of it has to do with what is the season going to look like. Is it going to be a full season? Is it going to be a condensed season, so we can get to the post season and try get that in? I guess there are a lot of scenarios on the table. Not having a lot of those answers makes it uncertain on is everybody on our schedule going to play us since we are independent. Right now, we don’t have those answers and that is why we are playing the waiting game.”

Lucas graduated a very athletic class that was successful in whatever they played. However, he believes this year’s team is hungry for success. “We lost a tremendous senior class, a very talented senior class, but legacy that they left and the influence that they had on our juniors, sophomores and freshmen that played with them are now seniors, juniors and sophomores, was very impactful. So, we are excited about the group we have coming back. We return six guys that got starting time on both sides of the ball, so we have a great nucleus. We have a huge junior class. We have 20 juniors out. We have great young athletic classes. We have 44 kids right now, actually 46 on our roster, but two because of injuries aren’t going to be able to see the field if we do play this year. We have good numbers and the kids are working really hard. If we get a chance, I like our opportunity to continue to take the next step and work hard and I know our kids are focused on that,” said Spitler.

Published 8/05/20

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Lucas Wins Last Game; Doesn’t Win State Title

The Ohio High School Athletic Association on Thursday made the announcement that everybody feared was coming that winter tournaments have now be officially cancelled.

“We are just devastated that the tournaments cannot be completed. Even if our schools reopen this spring it would be difficult to find facilities to host tournaments. Most campus are shut down to mid or late summer,” said OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass.

Lucas will end its season with a win, but not celebrate a state championship. They won their last game (47-45) over McDonald in a division IV regional semifinal more than two weeks ago.

Coach Taylor Iceman says it is difficult not knowing how far they could have advanced. “We knew probably this was coming. You held out hope hat maybe something was going to get worked out. When you think about it there was no really good way to do it. Jerry Snodgrass and everybody down there has done a pretty good job. I have no complaints with them. It was just a crappy situation. It sucks for the kids. Our basketball team this year, just with what we were able to accomplish, you just never know now going forward. We will always have kind of that what if. We always tell them to go out and play as hard as you can, so you don’t have any regrets. Here we are and we just won’t know. It is what it is and we have to learn to deal with it. These are unprecedented times. If this is worst thing that all of the kids have to deal with throughout this whole crisis or pandemic, we will be doing all right I guess,” said Iceman.

Iceman says it his opinion this is the best boys’ basketball team in the history of the school, but he will remember the small moments the best. “When I got the email (Thursday) morning from the OHSAA that was sent to the coaches of the remaining teams, we got the word sooner than everybody else, and I was able to type of a little thing to my kids and just tell them how appreciative I was and what special year if was and they will go down as probably the best basketball team ever at Lucas and just what a ride it was. The accomplishments where great, but we will remember all the great times we had with each other. The times in the locker room and in practice that not everybody sees, but if you have been around high school sports the times and memories that you have and that is why we do what we do,” he said.

There is a special and lasting bond created between coach and player and player and player. Iceman says this group is really missing that closure that you have as a team. “This is my fifth year and we have kind of been building this thing and improving every year. Usually after that last game, that last loss, in the locker room, we haven’t won any state titles, so it wasn’t like we were celebrating that last game, but you have conversations. I remember telling guys here in the next few years when you see Lucas doing really big things and we are winning district titles and we are playing in regionals, playing in state, games like that, winning conference championships, just doing all of the things we are doing just know that you played a huge part in it. It kind of sucks that we never got to have that conversation. Having a loss at the end of your season just kind of caps everything. You just get to set back and reflect on the year that you had. These guys won’t ever get to have those conversations in that last locker room with your team after a loss,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The parents didn’t get to see or know that they watched their last game. It’s just tough from that standpoint. It just the relationships and the bond that you have with the team it is a special thing. This is why I do it. It sucks that this one had to end this way, but it is what it is. It just makes us appreciate the regular season and just basketball and high school and sports and everything. We went from pretty crazy schedules to practicing everyday and team meals. Just preparing for different teams every couple of nights. Then there is just absolutely nothing. It has been challenging. It makes us work that much harder in the future.”

Published 3/27/20

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Lucas Continues to Dance

Lucas has made it as far as any basketball team in the school’s history as the Cubs are in the elite eight of the division four tournament.

They advanced to the regional final with a (47-45) win over McDonald in a semifinal on Tuesday night at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.

Lucas held the state’s second all-time leading scorer Zach Rasile to basically half of his average and coach Taylor Iceman says that was a huge key for the Cubs. “Just like always, I will take my guys any night of the week. They have taken body blows all year long. They just keep coming. Carson (Hauger) did a hell of a job on that kid. He ended up with 18 and averaged 35 or 40. We knew if we did that, we would have a shot. They made shots. Number 40 played a heck of a game (Tuesday) night. We outworked them and played defense and did enough,” said Iceman.

Lucas led by 10 at (23-13) after a Riley Gossom three with 5:20 to play in the second quarter, but the lead was down to just one (25-24) at the half.

The Cubs were able to maintain a slim lead throughout the third quarter and after Rasile netted a three with :27 left in the quarter to cut it to (37-32,) Ethan Sauder drilled a big three for the Cubs as time expired in the quarter to give them an (40-32) an eight point lead.

“Things had slowed down. We had missed some jump shots and the momentum was headed in their direction a little bit. That was a big shot there at the end of the quarter. It was a big boost and gave us the confidence to get over the hump,” said Iceman.

McDonald wouldn’t go away and they took their first lead since the 3:58 mark of the first quarter when Rasile made two free throws with 2:46 left in the game to give the Blue Devils a one point (42-41) lead. However, Logan Niswander converted a layup just 10 seconds later to give Lucas the lead back. Goosom made it (45-42) with a goal with 2:06 left.

However, the drama was far from over. Lucas took some unwise shots and Niswander made two of four free throws.

Rasile hit a three to trim the Lucas lead to one (46-45) with :20 to play. Niswander hit a free throw with :17 remaining to give the Cubs a (47-45) lead, but he missed the second chance.

Rasile attempted a game winning, 26 foot three pointer with :01 to play and his irate father Jeff, the McDonald coach thought, he was clearly fouled.

“Did you see it? Did you think he got fouled? He got ran over. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know how you miss that call. They can let them do whatever they want. It was 18 to 4 in free throws and they are telling me and they are not fouling us and we are fouling them. The last play the state should ashamed of themselves. You get tackled on a three point try and no call. I can see letting it be a little physical, but tackled? Not right,” said Rasile.

Rasile finished the game with18 points and Iceman thought Carson Hauger did a tremendous job defending him. “I think I looked up mid third quarter and Carson had zero fouls. He is holding that kid down with zero fouls. I looked at my assistant coach and said Hauger is pretty good. That’s a good team. They run that kid off a million screens. We communicated. We knew what they were going to do, but to go out and execute it and do it,” Iceman told Swankonsports.com after the game, “He averaged 35 or 40 for a reason. They had 25 other games and teams struggled to do that. It’s just a testament to our kids. Everybody wants to score points and do all of that stuff, but we are a pretty special defensive team.”

Coach Rasile made a bold move and didn’t guard the Cubs Ethan Wallace until he got in the lane, allowing him open shots. He finished with 13 points, 10 coming in the third quarter.

Iceman says Wallace did what they asked him to do Tuesday night. “We have guys that fill different roles and he can shoot. He has done that at times this year. He missed some early. In most situations when he isn’t hitting, he doesn’t force shots, but he wasn’t guarded. We stuck with him and he attacked well at the start of the second half. Number 40 picked up his third foul. It wasn’t enough to get him out, but he had to change the way he was playing. A guy that was under the radar all year. For us to get it to a regional championship game an Carson Hager and Ethan Wallace are two most important players says something about this team,” said Iceman.

Lucas (25-1) will play Richmond Heights (22-4) in the regional final on Friday night in Canton. Richmond Heights was led by sophomore Josiah Harris with 24 points in a (60-47) win over Warren JFK on Tuesday night.

Iceman says he has confidence in his kids. “They are big and they are athletic. We watched them and got a feel for them. If you handle the pressure up front and you make jump shots, we will be in the game. That team we just played beat Warren JFK and Warren JFK hung with them all night. They made jump shots early and then couldn’t make them late. I think we are a better jump shooting team than JFK. We will have to play well. They are really good team,” said Iceman.

Published 3/11/20

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Lucas Tangles With McDonald

Lucas must defend Ohio’s second all time leading scorer when they play McDonald in a division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday night at the Canton Fieldhouse.

Zach Rasile scored 50 points in the Blue Devils (72-59) win over Southern Local on Friday night.

Rasile, the son of the coach, Jeff, trails only Jon Diebler of Upper Sandusky fame. Rasile now has 2,992 points. Diebler has 3,208. He would have to play four more games and average more than 54 points per game to break the record.

However, Lucas (25-1) is not playing Rasile, or concerned about his record, their goal is to beat McDonald (22-3) on Tuesday night.

Lucas had to go over overtime to win both of their district games in beating Sandusky St. Mary’s (72-61) in the semifinal and South Central (46-43) in the final.

Lucas coach Taylor Iceman says they did not waltz into the regional tournament. “South Central and St. Mary’s are two really good teams. Even after watching a lot of film here and stuff like that it’s even more evident that we see how good those teams were. They were two pretty tough opponents there is the district tournament, but we move forward. Have been watching some McDonald stuff and getting familiar with them, but we are confident for Tuesday night. We are excited to go up to the Fieldhouse and play,” said Iceman.

Iceman says they are well aware of Rasile, but he is confident in the defense they play. “They have one guy that averages 35 or 40 points, that is what you will see if you look up anything with McDonald. They are tough. They are in the regionals, we weren’t expecting a bad team by any stretch. We are a pretty solid defensive team. That will be something different, I don’t know if they have seen anyone that plays defense like us. We will have our hands full, but I’m confident. With what they do fits in with what we usually do. We don’t have to change a ton. We are just excited to go up and play. If we play well I think we will be successful,” said Iceman.

When it comes to defending Rasile, Iceman isn’t going to show his cards, but he again emphasizes he has confidence is his defense led by Carson Hauger. “We have talked about 25 different approaches. The nice thing about us is we play such good team defense. Carson Hauger is our defensive leader. He is so good taking away the other team’s best player. I don’t think Carson is going to shut this kid down, but I think it is going to be some of the toughest defense that he has seen. Hopefully, we can limit him a little bit. I know he is still going to get his,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Also, we have four other pretty good defenders on the floor at the same time to help Carson and make it difficult on those other guys. He scores 35 or 40, but they average up in the upper 70’s, close to 80 points a game. Like I said, top to bottom I don’t know if they have seen a defensive team like us. Hopefully, we are up for the challenge. I am confident in my guys. I just think if we go out and be us, we will be fine.”

This is not the first time Lucas and McDonald have played on an athletic field this season. The Cubs beat McDonald (21-20) in overtime in a first round football playoff game.

Lucas, of course, advanced to the state finals in football and Iceman believes that experience will help them on Tuesday night. “Logan Niswander says we really don’t get too nervous. We have played in a state championship game. We have played on the biggest stage up in Canton, right across the parking lot where we are going to be at in the biggest football game in front of the biggest crowd in the State of Ohio. They have been there and kind of done that and been through that. Now, they have played in a couple of big games over at Willard. Friday night, it was absolutely packed and a really cool environment and we withstood a really good South Central team and kept their composure enough to win there. Again, I just like my team and I’ll take my chances with these guys any night. They have played in plenty of big games and big situations and I know they will be up for the task,” said Iceman.

Published 3/10/20

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Lucas Outlasts St. Mary’s in Overtime

Lucas is in a district final for the first time since 2001 as they hung on to beat Sandusky St. Mary’s (72-61) in overtime to advance to the division IV district final on Friday night at Willard High School against South Central.

The Cubs (24-1) raced to a nine point lead (11-2) with 4:21 to play in the first quarter on a goal by Riley Gossom. Back to back threes by Logan Niswander and three by Gossom but Lucas up (27-12) with 4:46 to play until halftime. Lucas (30-17) at the intermission.

However, St. Mary’s (16-9) was not going to go away. Lucas by 15 (37-22) on an Ethan Sauder basket with 5:52 to play in the third quarter, but the Panthers would end of the quarter on an (18-3) run and Cole Kromer tied the game (40-40) with a three at the third quarter horn.

Lucas coach Taylor Iceman says his kids never panicked when St. Mary’s made it game in the second half. “It was making me feel old. A win is a win at tournament time. You take it anyway you can get it. St. Mary’s is a good team. We played pretty well early and then coasted a little bit. All the credit in the world to them. They made plays and came back and took the lead form us, but I’ve got a bunch of winners, played extremely hard, they never panicked. I told them that’s St. Mary’s is a team with a lot of spurts and will go on runs, just withstand it and be calm and deal with it,” said Iceman.

The Panthers took their first lead of the game (42-40) with 6:53 left a hoop by Nathan Roesch. Lucas tied it (42-42) on two charity tosses by Gossom. On next possession, St. Mary’s went up by two again (44-42) in scoop in the lane by Dylan Christian.

The Cubs again gained the advantage and led by five (52-47) on a Niswander basket with 3:23 to play in the game. However, the Panthers tied it again at (54-54) with :27 remaining on Kromer’s layup.

Gossom gave Lucas a (56-54) lead with 12 ticks left on a goal under the hoop, but Myles Bruno drove the length of the floor to lay it in with :04 left to send it to overtime.

St. Mary’s coach Chris Ceccoli says there was no quit in his Panthers on Tuesday night. “We were down 15 and I think we closed that quarter on an 18-3 run. It was kind of a microcosm of our season where we struggled early in the season and found a way to put together a nice little run down the stretch,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I think we were 5-6 in the middle of January and then closed the season on an 11-3 run. I was really proud of our guys. It’s hard to keep your focus on the next possession when you are down 15, but we just kept telling them one possession at a time and to our kids credit they did that.”

Gossom opened the scoring in the overtime with a three-pointer off the right wing and the Cubs never trailed in the extra session. “It just made us feel relaxed a little bit and took the pressure off. You get a three point cushion right off the bat like that it gives a whole different mindset to overtime. We made some free throws down the stretch, we missed some, we need to be better than that, but we made enough,” he said.

Niswander led the Cubs in scoring with 25 markers in the game. Sauder added 19 and Gossom 18 for Lucas. Roesch had 17 for St. Mary’s.

Lucas was able to put away at the foul line making 23-30 foul shots, but Iceman laments that there were some crucial misses too and they can’t have that going forward. “There were some timely misses. I would not have guessed it was that good, but I’ll take 30 attempts any night of the week. You get 23 points from the free throw line. We have some guys that can shoot free throws and they are good free throw shooters. There isn’t any sense in not making free throws,” said Iceman.

The physical defense played by Lucas seemed to bother the Panthers early in the game, but Iceman says they took the foot off the gas. “We slowed down a little bit, the game slowed down a little bit. There were moving pieces, screens, stuff like that. We kind of let off the throttle a little bit and you can’t do that,” he said.

The district final against South Central is a rematch for the Cubs. They beat South Central (70-54) on January 7 in a non-conference game.

Published 3/04/20

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Lucas Needs to Get Back to Playing Tough Defense

Lucas tangles with Sandusky St. Mary’s in a division IV district semifinal at Willard High School on Tuesday night.

The winner will play with South Central or Norwalk St. Paul for a district title on Friday night at Willard.

It is the third straight trip to the district tournament for the Cubs and coach Taylor Iceman says they are determined to win a game at this level. “This is our third time in a row we have gone over to Willard and we haven’t been able to get past this game yet. I think this group will definitely be able to get over the hump. St. Mary’s is very good team and coach (Chris) Ceccoli does a good job with them. They are not going to make it easy on us, but we are up for the task,” he said.

Lucas (23-1) hammered Danbury Lakeside (80-31) last Friday while Sandusky St. Mary’s (16-8) exploded in the second half to trounce Plymouth (72-46) in sectional finals played at Shelby.

Iceman says the Panthers have a lot of guys that can play, especially two of them. “They are just really deep. They have a really good point guard in Myles Bruno (17.6 PPG.) Their record is a little deceiving. They lost some games early this year when their big man Nate Roesch (10.2 PPG,) a first team all district player last year was out with a foot injury I think for six or eight games this year. He has been back and they have been playing a lot better with him in the middle. They have some guys that can defend. They have some guys that can knock down shots. They are a team that has people that can do a lot of different things. That is why they are ultimately successful. We will have to step up and play well to have a chance to win,” said Iceman.

Lucas can score points, but Iceman says paying physical defense is going to be the name of the game for them. “It is just like any other game with us we have to play defense. If we play defense and shut them down we will be fine. So much of our offense comes from our defense. If we can keep them in check and them get out and run in transition and the turnovers we are forcing then we will be just fine. At points this year we look really, really good on defense and really tough, but have to lock in on defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We need to get back to playing that kind of basketball. It has been a while since we have had kind of a big game feel and we have to get back to that. The boys are focused and ready to go and that is what we have been working on the last couple of days. I have a feeling they will show up. I have a lot of winners on my team and they do well in big games.”

Published 3/03/20

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Lucas Faces Buckeye Central

Lucas takes on Buckeye Central at Willard High School Thursday night in a division IV district semifinal.

The winner advances to play either Seneca East or Norwalk St. Paul for a district title on Saturday.

Lucas (21-3) dominated New London (57-27) to win a sectional championship last Saturday night at Crestview.

Coach Kathy Grover says they stayed consistent with what they wanted to do that night. “We played well. We played with some confidence. We started out a little slower than we would like, but we hung in there and stayed with our game plan and we ended up playing strong the second, third and fourth quarter,” said Grover.

The Lady Cubs shared the Mid-Buckeye Conference title with Loudonville. Buckeye finished a game back of Seneca East in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Buckeye Central (18-5) beat Monroeville handily (51-26) in their sectional title game.

Grover says Buckeye has three really good players. “They have a very good trifecta. They have the (Claudia) Pifher girl that shoots the ball and also likes to muscle her way into the lane,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “(Taylor) Ratliff, she is a hustler, she gets every loose ball and every long rebound that there is. (Lexi) Evak and her length and her long arms for rebounding.”

Grover says to get the win they have play hard and execute well for 32 minutes. “We need to fight all four quarters. We need to stay confident and stick to our game plan. They need to remember they are playing for one another and we will be alright,” she said.

Published 2/27/20

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Lucas Wants to be Unbeaten in the League

Lucas can tick off another accomplishment this year by beating Mansfield Christian on the road on Tuesday night in Mid-Buckeye Conference play.

A win would make them unbeaten in the league for the second time in a row.

Coach Taylor Iceman says it is another goal they can attain. “Our goal was to win the league, but when you put in the work and you get to 9-0 you might as well just try and go undefeated. If we are fortunate enough to do it (Tuesday) night it will be two years in a row. It is pretty special to go unbeaten in the league two years in a row. Just to show up every night and win I don’t care who you are playing it’s tough to do, so that would be an accomplishment in itself. We just want to keep playing well and feeling good about ourselves heading into the tournament,” he said.

Lucas (20-1,9-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Mansfield Christian (1-16,0-9) on Tuesday night. The Flames lost (53-31) to Mansfield St. Peter’s in a league game on Friday night. Lucas beat the Flames the first time (68-36) on January 13.

Iceman says they want to take care business early in this game and not mess around. “When we played then the first time around, they haven’t won many games, but they are not horrible. They have a little bit size and they gave us some trouble early. If we don’t come ready to play and focused you don’t want to give a team hope and let them hang around and the longer the game goes they are just going to get more confidence. That is the way you could drop one that you probably shouldn’t,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have been playing pretty good here lately, we just want to continue to focus on ourselves and go out and get better each and every game. After this one if you have a rough night and don’t play well your season is done. It doesn’t matter what all we accomplish this year and don’t play good in the tournament your season is done.”

Lucas will play Mansfield Christian again in tournament a week from Tuesday. Iceman says it has been a different season schedule wise for them, but they will be ready. “This is a rescheduled game due to the weekend we had the flu bug really bad and the game was pushed to here. It is nice from the standpoint that we would have had a pretty good layoff if we hadn’t rescheduled the game, we have played Saturday night against Clear Fork and then not again until a week from Tuesday in the tournament. So, it is nice to sort of break up a long week. It is going to be the same team twice, but we have done so many crazy things this year. We played Crestline really close together there, two games in a row for them, but this season has been unique in itself. Our kids have handled everything else, so we play them and maybe take a day or so off to get away from basketball and then come back at it hard and start preparing for them and the rest of our tournament run,” said Iceman.

Published 2/17/20

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Lucas Outruns Clear Fork

Logan Niswander and Riley Gossom combined for 62 points and Lucas beat Clear Fork (86-70) in a non-conference game played at Lucas High School on Saturday night.

A Niswander basket with 4:13 to play in the first quarter gave the Cubs an early (9-4) lead and they were on top (18-13) after the first quarter.

It was a huge second quarter for the Cubs as they outscored Clear Fork (30-13) to take command (48-26) at the break.

It seemed the Cubs got a lot of offensive rebounds and almost all of the 50/50 balls. Lucas had runs of 10 and five in the quarter.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they emphasize hustle. “We preach that. When I first took over all we could do was hustle we didn’t have much talent all we could do was outwork people. That has kind of carried over. Now, we have good talent. If you’ve got talent that is willing to work hard and do those things, then you are tough to beat,” he said.

The Colts took some quick shots on the break and didn’t make a lot of those, but Bechtel says the thing they talked about at halftime was defense. “We want to push the basketball and get an open look and unfortunately, some of those open looks just weren’t falling for us and they were for them and we have run into that a lot this year. I thought it was more at the defensive end than anything,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “That’s all we discussed at halftime. It was like, hey, we have got to step it up, and that’s why we switched to the press. I know they are a very difficult team to press and they handled really well at times and other times we were fortunate enough to get some steals or even get a quick shot and get a rebound. We love the effort and the Clear Fork pride in the second half, but we have to have that at the beginning, especially against a team like Lucas.”

Niswander finished with 32 points and Gossom had 30 for the Cubs and Iceman says they play with an unselfish nature. He says they are all about team. “That is a testament to our kids and just the whole team. They have been back and forth all year with who leads us and who doesn’t, but they don’t complain. They are happy for whoever gets it. We are just a complete team out there,” said Iceman.

Lucas (20-1) led by 22 points (53-31) with 5:16 left in the third after a Niswander goal, but Clear Fork started to chip away a little getting some steals off their press and making some shots, mostly from Brennan South, who had 21 of his team high 30 in the second half.

Clear Fork (8-13) reduced their deficit to as little as 13 points (57-44) with 2:42 left to play in the third after a Brady Tedrow hoop, but get no closer.

The Colts actually won the second half (44-38) and Bechtel says they have to play with that effort and execution for 32 minutes. “That is what we just got done saying. We shouldn’t have to press and play that way. Whatever defense we come out in, we have to come out with that Clear Fork pride like we talked about and just leave it on the line every single possession. I thought we did a lot better job of that in the second half,” said Bechtel.

Lucas won an outright Mid-Buckeye Conference championship on Friday night when they beat Kidron Central Christian (56-48) to claim the banner. They finish the regular season on Tuesday night against Mansfield Christian.

Iceman says they want to take some momentum into the postseason. “Now, we get Mansfield Christian twice. We finish with them on Tuesday and then we get them again in a week in the tournament to open up. So, hopefully, we can keep it rolling and keep playing well,” he said.

Published 2/15/20

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Lucas Can Win Outright Title

A win on Friday night at Kidron Central Christian would give the Lucas Cubs a second straight outright Mid-Buckeye Conference title.

However, Central Christian has been a den of horrors in the past for the Cubs.

They hammered Galion (72-47) in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they played much better defense in the second half and that was the difference. “We came out slow and didn’t play really great in the first half. It was 40-36 at the half, everybody says, well they shot the lights out, but we weren’t doing a really good job of guarding them. So, we kind of righted the ship at halftime and came out and held them to 11 points in the second half and played a little more like we expect on the defensive end. Riley (Goosom) and Logan (Niswander) both kind of did their thing. Riley ended up with 33 and Logan ended up with 22. When you get 55 from two guys, you are going to be in good shape offensively. The big thing was us getting back to playing defense like we are supposed to be and holding the to 11 in the second half,” said Iceman.

Lucas (18-1,8-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hits the road for Kidron Central Christian (14-5,8-1) on Friday night. The Comets beat Lake Center Christian (69-50) on Tuesday. They have not played a conference game since January 31 when they beat Crestline (72-51.) Lucas won the first meeting with Central Christian (72-55) on January 10.

Iceman says the Comets have more scorers this year. “In years past they haven’t had a lot of offensive firepower and they had to really slow the game down and possess the ball and run that 2-3 zone that they do. You would see several scores in the 20’s and 30’s and that is usually how it would go. They have some firepower and they have a couple of guys this year that can really score it. It’s a little bit of a different animal. They still play that really good defense, so they just have some offense to go with it, which makes them scary,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have to travel over there and they have been playing really good lately. It’s a big game for both schools. If they knock us off they can get a share of the conference. We obviously don’t want to share, we want to take everything ourselves. It will be a big game.”

Iceman says he is using a little psychology to hopefully give his team a boost in the game against Central Christian. “We struggle every time we go over there, we just always have. We don’t score like we usually do. We are aware of that, we obviously don’t want to plan for that, but we know if we happen to get off to a slow start or we don’t score a ton, we can still win. We want to be cognizant of it and hopefully come out and play better. I am hoping if I keep saying we always play bad maybe I will jinx myself and we will play good when we go over there,” he said.

Published 2/14/20

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First Place Lucas Hosts Loudonville

Lucas continues to lead Kidron Central Christian by a game in the Mid-Buckeye Conference standings and they are home for Loudonville on Friday night in conference action.

The Cubs did not play last weekend as the school was closed due to sickness.

They came back on Monday night and outscored Crestview (78-60) on the strength of a great individual performance by senior Logan Niswander, who broke the school record for points in a game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says without a team practice in almost a week, there were some questions going in. “I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t even seen my team since we last played. I didn’t have huge expectations. We came out and our defense wasn’t real great, but Logan Niswander went nuts and scored 43 and broke the school record for points in a game and then made nine three pointers. That was kind of crazy for him because he had been out basically for two weeks, I hadn’t even seen the kid. He hadn’t practiced or done anything and he shows up and did that. So, that was nice to see for Logan to get back and do what he wants to do. Logan was struggling and pressing because he just wasn’t himself,” said Iceman.

Niswander had been out for nearly two weeks, but Iceman says he knew Monday he was ready to play. “The thing with Logan is he was just kind of a zombie and we didn’t really know what his deal was. We were hoping it wasn’t anything really serious. I mean he was sick, he had upper raspatory, sinus infection, and the flu all on top of each other. We knew something was wrong, but we are glad it wasn’t something more serious. When I saw him Monday at school he was bubbly, he was himself, and he as back at least. To go out and play like he did was great for him,” he said.

Lucas (15-1,7-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against Loudonville (5-13,2-6) on Friday night. The Birds have lost their last four, including (50-47) to Mansfield St. Peter’s in a conference game last Friday. Lucas won the first matchup with the Redbirds (77-48) on January 3.

Iceman says they know what to expect. “We played them earlier this year. They kind of gave us a little trouble and we pulled away at the end. We know what they like to do and we are familiar with them. I have said it all year, we feel that if we worry about us, we are good enough to beat just about anybody,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We just have to continue to get better. We are getting into the home stretch here and we have the tournament draw on Sunday. So, we want to start feeling good about ourselves and get back to basketball. We had that little bit of a break. I think that was kind of a good thing to get away. It was rough not practicing or doing anything. We will get things started here with Loudonville. We want to close out the season on a high note as we have had a good year so far.”

Lucas travels to Norwayne (15-2,) to co-leader of the Wayne County Athletic League, on Saturday night in game that should be a good test.

Iceman says that’s what they are looking for. “Those are the kinds of games that you like to have late in the season. It’s a non-league game so nothing really is going to be won or lost. They are a good team and a really good test for us to see where we are at. You want to go out and beat good teams and feel good about yourself winning games. We are going to go over to their place and I’m sure it will be a hostile environment. We played them last year and they are just a solid team. They are very balanced with size and guards. That’s what you want at this time year to see some good competition that prepare you for the tournament,” he said.

Published 2/07/20

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Lucas Likes to Run the Floor

Lucas is the leader in the Mid-Buckeye Conference girls’ basketball standings and they play at a bigger school in Ontario in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

They have a record of (13-2) and were seeded second in the division IV district tournament. Their only losses this season come to Willard and Wynford. They have beaten Firelands Conference leader Crestview.

Coach Kathy Grover says they have an unselfish group of players that always play hard. “We have had great senior leadership. Our underclassmen have really bought into what our seniors provide. They hustle and we just play together. We like to play an up tempo pace and that helps us score,” said Grover.

Grover says the girls enjoy the fast break kind of style and it gets everyone involved. “They do like to get up and down the floor. They look to one another. We get more shots off and that is more of chance for everybody,” she said.

Lucas also plays Loudonville in a “MBC” game on Thursday. They beat Loudonville (58-57) back on December 14 and the Lady Redbirds, the defending champions, remain just a game back.

As far as Ontario (8-9) is concerned, Grover describes them as an athletic team, especially their leading scorer Carleigh Pearson. “(Carleigh) Pearson is very athletic. They have nice posts that like to shoot the elbow jumper,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I have seen them several times and I can’t quite put my thumb on what make them tick. We are going to five it our best shot (Tuesday) and play some solid team defense.”

Published 2/04/20

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Lucas Dealing With Sickness

Almost three quarters into the season, the Lucas Cubs lost their first game on Tuesday night and they face three games in four days all on the road beginning Friday at Mansfield Christian in Mid-Buckeye Conference play.

Waynedale, of the Wayne County Athletic League, dealt the Cubs their first loss (65-55) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they the Golden Bears hurt them with three points and they were also playing with a depleted roster due to sickness. “Waynedale is a pretty good team and we knew going in if we didn’t play well we would have an opportunity to drop one. I’m not making an excuse, but this flu bug has hit Lucas Schools hard. Being the “AD” I canceled all of the middle school games on Monday. Logan Niswander, everybody knows what kind of ballplayer he is and he has been out for just about a week, not in school, not at basketball, not doing anything. So, we didn’t have Logan again Tuesday night. I went into the locker room at the end of the third quarter of the JV game to get my team ready to go and I walk in and I have three guys asleep on the floor in the locker room. In pregame warm up, right before jump ball, Carson Hauger is running into the locker room and throwing up. I knew I had my hands full (Tuesday) night. We didn’t play horrible. Give Waynedale a lot of credit, they have a big guy, a 6’6” guy, that’s pretty tough. Us not having Logan really hurt from that standpoint. Logan is a good post defender, but when Logan is on the floor the big guys have to guard him with the makeup of our team and he pulls guys away from the basket. Not having him there, the big kid could stay inside a little bit,” he told Swamkonsports.com on Wednesday, “To top it off, they hit 11 three pointers. It was kind of a perfect storm for a bad night for us. We didn’t play too bad really, we just kind of ran out of gas at the end. With 3:00 to go in the fourth quarter it was a three point game and then they proceeded to hit three, three pointers in a row and it was a 10 point game just like that. Unfortunately, we dropped one, but it is not the end of the work and we are going to get better from it.”

Lucas (14-1,7-0) plays at Mansfield Christian (0-12,0-8) on Friday night. It has been a struggle for the Flames this season and Lucas beat them (68-36) on January 13 in their first game.

Iceman says the Flames were competitive early in that first meeting. “They last time we played them they played extremely hard. We kind of came out asleep and they were competitive with us. I talked to the kids (Tuesday) night, this is why no matter who we are playing, we have to come out and play one way, so if we are in a situation where we are not 100 percent, and we are missing somebody, good habits take over. I think in some of our games when we are projected to win, we come out and think we don’t have to play as hard or we can get away with making some mistakes and still be successful. We just have to come out and play one way all of the time, so when we get in these big games, good habits take over. This another opportunity for us to go out and work on us and just get better at those things,” said Iceman.

Lucas also plays at Galion (2-14) on Saturday and at Crestview (3-12) on Monday.

Iceman says those kind of road trips, especially with what they are dealing with, are not east no matter who you are playing. “I don’t care who you are playing that will affect you. I canceled practice (Wednesday) night. I had eight varsity players not at school (Wednesday.) So, that is just going to add to the mix. We hope to get Logan back. He was back at school (Wednesday,) so we are hoping he is on the mend. I know have a couple of guys that have this crap the second time through, so we have got to get healthy. When you have to go on the road and play it makes it that much more tough. We will have to be just as focused and really contrate on us and play better knowing we are not going to be 100 percent,” he said.

Published 1/30/20

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Lucas Holds Off Ontario for Big Win

Riley Gossom led Lucas with 21 points on Saturday and his last field goal was his biggest as he gave the Cubs a three point lead with just over a minute play and they went on to beat Ontario (53-50) in a non-conference game on Saturday night at the O-rena.

Lucas led by one when Gossom banked one in from the lane to give the Cubs a (51-48) lead with 1:12 to play in the game.

“The second half offensively we kind of struggled on offense. That is largely due to their defense. Coach (Joe) Balogh does a great job with them and we expected that. That was a huge bucket when we really needed it. Then it stretches out to three. I think Shaver through hit a three at the buzzer of every quarter, but that prepared us for that last little defensive stretch there,” said Lucas coach Taylor Iceman.

Logan Niswander made it (52-48) when he made one of two free throws with 51 ticks left. Jon Nagel rebounded an Ontario miss and stuck it back in to trim to lead to two (52-50) with 20 seconds remaining, but missed a free throw he was awarded. Shaquan Coburn rebounded that miss and was fouled driving to the basket. However, he missed the front end of a one and one opportunity. Gossom was then fouled with :09 seconds left and made one of two charity tosses. Lucas fans then held their breath as Ontario’s Griffin Shaver missed a tying three at the horn.

Ontario (9-4) has made threes at the end of each of the previous quarters, two by Shaver and one by Kolten Kurtz.

Coburn lead Ontario with 15 points. Shaver had 13.

Iceman says they defended Shaver well on that final play and he took a tough shot. “It seemed like every quarter he would come off a screen and hit a tough fall away three. Carson (Hauger) was doing a great job, those are tough shots. We had talked about how we needed to come off and basically double him and get the ball out of his hands. To his credit, he wanted to hit another one. He faded away and took a tough shot. I give credit to our kids for being focused in the moment and taking care of what we needed to do there,” said Iceman.

It was (34-31) Lucas at the half, but Ontario rallied and took a (39-36) lead on Coburn’s three with 4:10 to play in the third quarter. Shaver’s three at the end of the quarter gave Ontario a (44-43) lead heading to the final stanza.

Warriors coach Joe Balogh says they did make some halftime adjustments. “We weren’t pleased with how we played defensively in the first half. I thought especially early they really hurt us in transition, which was an emphasis as we came into the game, that is where we thought they were really good,” he told Swanknsports.com after the game, “I can’t be disappointed about the way we came out and adjusted in the second half. I think we were minus seven in the rebounding in the first half. I don’t know, we might have ended up winning the rebounding battle, so we were much better in the second half.”

Lucas took the lead (46-45) with 7:32 to play on a Gossom make and never tailed thereafter. Iceman says they did get rattled. “I’m preaching that and I think maybe I have a little more doubt in that than they do. At halftime, I said, now you guys know we belong. I thought we should have pushed the lead out more than we had it there. It’s a matter of going out and out working the now. We did just enough to pick up a huge win,” he said.

Balogh says Lucas had kids that made big plays in crunch time. “That is the thing that has impressed me as I have seen them play twice and you see them play on tape. Sauder is just a solid guy at the point. He doesn’t turn it over a lot. Gossom was really good (Saturday) night. He just put it in his hands at crucial times and was able to get some key baskets going to the basket. They are a poised basketball team. We thought maybe a little bit we could ware them down, but he plays six guys and those six guys play well. Give them a lot of credit,” said Balogh.

He added they knew Lucas was very good and they were not surprised by what they got from them. “They are a really good team. As I told our kids, I don’t care if they are division IV, III, II, whatever, they are good. Those kids have been through a lot of situations having to win close games. I give a lot of credit to them. This was a good game for them and I think is was a really good game for us because we have to find a way to make winning plays. They made the winning plays (Saturday) night and we did not,” said Balogh.

Lucas (12-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, leads the standings in the Mid-Buckeye Conference and they beat defending division IV district champion South Central (70-54) last week, but Iceman says this win was different. “We expected to be successful this year then with the big football run, we didn’t know where we would be. It’s a credit to our kids, we came out and played extremely hard. I told them before the game since I have taken over we have won some good games, and the South Central win this was a great win, but we didn’t have that win on the schedule when we said maybe we aren’t picked to win this one. So, we want to go out and beat someone and feel really good about it. Obviously, this is a big one for us and hopefully this will propel us and give us some life here. The start of the second half, that can be a lull, it’s a long season. We have to go out and take care of conference games now. We have some good non-conference games Norwayne, Waynedale, Clear Fork, there are a lot of tough games on our schedule,” said Iceman.

Published 1/18/20

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Unbeaten Lucas Wants to Get Better

Mid-Buckeye Conference leader Lucas play Crestline for the second time in less than a week on Friday night and then travels to division II Ontario for a non-conference game on Saturday.

The Cubs are unbeaten on the season and have just came through a stretch of three conference home games in four days, beating Kidron Central Christian (72-55) last Friday, Crestline (71-55) on Saturday and Mansfield Christian (68-36) on Monday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says that put them in good position in the conference, a one game lead on Kidron Central Christian. “It was a busy time and a lot of games in not many days, but played pretty solid and that put us through the first half of the league games. We are setting at 5-0 in the league and that is where we want to be. We have two more big games this weekend. They are just all stacked up on top of each other there. Hopefully, we can come out and play well this weekend,” he said.

In terms of playing Crestline twice in six days, Iceman, also the athletic director, says there weren’t a lot of choices. “That was because of the football season and the way it worked out. When we were trying to figure things out, we were running out of dates and kind of get it in when we could. It will be a little different than usual, but from our standpoint we are just trying to get better and going in and working on our stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We figure if we come out and play like we are capable it doesn’t matter who we are playing we are going to be successful. We just have to keep working to get better because we still haven’t reached our potential. We have some things that we are still working on. We just want to keep getting better every night out. It doesn’t matter who we are playing.”

Lucas (10-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Ontario (8-3) in a non-conference game on Saturday night at the O-Rena.

Iceman says they are looking forward to getting a test from the Warriors. “We are getting a little more media coverage with that one because there are two good teams. I just tell the boys, it’s a good test. Friday night’s game with Crestline will be game 11 for us, it is kind of the halfway point. It will be a great barometer for us to go out and play a bigger school in a big environment. A lot of people are talking about that one. It should be a good test for us to see where we are at at the midway point. Coach Balogh will have his kids prepared, we know that. We have a lot of respect for him and that program over there. We are looking forward to it. When you are a good team you want to go out and play other good teams an see where you are at,” said Iceman.

Published 1/17/20

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Lucas Starting to Feel it

If you thought football was all there was in Lucas, you would be wrong, the Cubs also have one of the better small school basketball teams around.

Due to the late start to the basketball season their schedule is scrunched together and they play three Mid-Buckeye Conference games in the space of four days all at home with Kidron Central Christian on Friday, Crestline on Saturday and Mansfield Christian on Monday.

Tuesday night, the Cubs likely played their best game of the season in thumping South Central (70-54) in a non-conference game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says it was kind of a coming out part for them. “It was a great game. Our guys came out and played really well. I know our potential and capabilities and we were certainly capable of doing that. I didn’t know exactly where we were at. We are still pretty early on here and I am trying to figure out where are conditioning level is at, where are shooting is at. Our kids came out and played extremely hard defensively and did a great job on an extremely talented team and an extremely talented player in Simon Blair. That was a great early season win for us to kind of jump start us here. We have three big conference games this weekend. We can’t overlook anybody and be excited about the big win we had and overlook anybody,” said Iceman.

Lucas (7-0,2-0) plays host to the Comets of Kidron Central Christian (7-3,4-0) on Friday night. The Comets beat Mansfield Christian (50-29) in their last league game on Friday and added wins over Navarre Fairless (54-43) on Saturday and Mapleton (63-32) on Tuesday and non-conference play.

Iceman says in addition to the outstanding defense they always play the Comets are scoring more. “Coach Martin does a great job and I have a lot of respect for him and the job that he does. This year they have a little bit of offensive firepower. They have a couple kids that can really shoot the ball. In years past they had to rely on their defense and slow the pace down. They are still going to play really good defense and hold your offensive output down. Now they just have a little more offense to go along with it. They are a dangerous team and for whatever reason we always struggle with them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They play a tough, aggressive 2-3 zone for whatever reason gives us fits. We know we are going to have to show up and right now they don’t have any losses in the league. We are the “MBC” champs from last year and they are going to be gunning for us. We know it’s going to be a tough game Friday night, but it is at our place and we have played pretty well early and we hope we can keep in going here.”

Crestline (5-4,2-1) owns a four game winning streak and trails the conference co-leaders by a game. Iceman says they will have to be reckoned with too. “They have some talented kids. Coach (Tyler) Sanders, young guy, I have a lot of respect for what he is doing over there. They have won four in a row, five of their last six. The Ronk boy can fill it up, I think he had 40 some (Tuesday) night. He is a guy that can get hot and pour in a lot of points in a short amount of time. With somebody like that they are never out of a game. They are much improved. It would be pretty easy for us to be feeling pretty good about ourselves and go in and not be ready to go and not ready for any of these next three games. We are aware of that and we try to avoid that happening. We have played a lot of games in not very many days and we are still trying to get in shape. We are going to keep playing and keep getting better,” said Iceman.

Published 1/09/20

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Lucas Has to Make Jump Shots

Lucas will receive its biggest test of its young basketball season when Northmor comes to town for a non-conference game on Monday night.

The Cubs beat New London (66-44) in a non-league game on Saturday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they took some small steps forward, but they still have a long way to go. “We played better in stretches. It was better overall, again, I have to be patient. We still have a ton we have to improve on. Our shooting still wasn’t there yet. We only made three, three pointers. We are capable of making closer to 10, but that will come. We had to struggle with the holiday, had a wrestling tournament in the gym on Friday, so we didn’t get to practice. We played Saturday and now we turn around and play again on Monday. It would be nice to get into the gym and shoot some. We are just working our way through with the games that we have got. I told our kids the other night that New London was kind of hurting us with our pressure. They were scoring on our defense. We could have pulled it off and just got back and won that way, but I told them we have to get in shape boys. We aren’t going to change, this is going to be our conditioning. We just have to kind of do it on the fly and continue to get better while we are playing games,” said Iceman.

Lucas (3-0) hosts Northmor (5-1) in game rescheduled for Monday night. Iceman says this is always a fun one to play. “Northmor has turned into a great basketball program. Coach Ruth is a great guy, great coach. We have a lot of respect for their program and the kids over there. It is always a really good game. They have had some really good teams the past couple of years. They are really good and we seem to play really good against them. Last year, we didn’t play really well and they took it to us. For whatever reason both teams seem to show up and get up for this game,” he told Swankonsports.com, “On a Monday night early in the season, especially for us, this is a big game and test for us. We have been trying to figure things out. We can’t make the mistakes we have been making against good teams, Northmor is a good team, and we are going to have to work through some things, make some changes and take care of some things we haven’t been doing so well. If not, we will drop on here early that we don’t want to. If we can go out and take care of Northmor, that would be a great win for us early on in the season.”

Iceman says they want to get out and run the floor and get some easies, but to win they are going to have to make some jump shots. “We want to play fast always. In year’s past Northmor has had great size. They are not as big as they have been, they still have really good size. We are not a big team by any means. We like to get out and run and score through our defense with our athletes. They like to pack it in and pack the lane, so you can’t penetrate. They box you out and they get rebounds and then they go down and run their stuff. It is not a great thing for us right now because to be effective against Northmor you have to make some outside jump shots to bring them out away from the basket. So, we have to shoot better than we have been shooting and that will certainly help. They use their size and their strength. We want to create havoc and shoot layups and sprinkle in the outside jump shots on top of that. We know what we are in for. They are going to play an ultra physical game. We have to make some jump shots,” said Iceman.

Published 12/30/19

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Defense the Deal For Lucas

Lucas is just getting its basketball season started after an appearance in the state final in football and so far they have been winning with defense.

They beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (43-32) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game last Friday and then downed East Knox (58-45) in non-conference play on Saturday.

They host New London (1-6) in a non-conference game on Saturday and Northmor (4-1) next Monday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says right now they are counting on their defense. “That is what we hang our hat on. Fortunately, I have all five of my starters back from last year, so they kind of know what the expectations are. We have a little bit of depth this year, I usually play eight or nine guys and we can give guys breathers. We are going hang our hat on our defense all year long, but especially right now. We know the offense will come at some point. We have to really work hard and just play good defense until the offense gets to where we want it to be,” he said.

They did get to scrimmage this year against Clyde, the division IV state football champion, and Iceman says that day maybe raised his expectations too high. “It was actually kind of cool. We got in touch with Clyde. Coach Ryan (Fretz) over there and we had scrimmaged in years past. They played in a state championship game right after us on Saturday. We got together on that Tuesday following state championship Saturday and we scrimmaged. Clyde is a pretty solid basketball team. We went over Tuesday and we looked pretty good and played a lot better than I thought we probably would. I had some higher expectations than I probably should have. We have struggled a little offensively, but that is to be expected. It was nice to get the scrimmage in, but it might not be good for me at least, I was expecting a little bit more than we got this weekend, but hey it was two wins,” said Iceman.

Now, with New London on Saturday, Iceman says they need to continue to work on executing their stuff. “It’s a new coach. For whatever reason we seem to struggle with New London, so we know we have to come ready to play. At this point it is not so much about who we play, we just need to play and continue to work on some things and try and get better. We will play them on Saturday here. It’s a triple header. We have freshmen, JV and varsity. We are going to start it 2 with freshmen. We moved it up because of the Buckeyes game that night. For whatever reason we always seem to struggle with New London and we are definitely not over looking them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have a pretty good team coming in Monday night (Northmor) in a game we had to reschedule, so it’s kind of thrown in on Monday night. We are going to have situations like this all year where we are playing Friday, Saturday, Monday or Friday, Saturday, Tuesday. It is going to be not an easy task playing on Saturday after a short week or practice because of the holidays, a wrestling tournament in here on Friday, where we only have one gym, and we don’t really get to practice on Friday. So, we are just going to have to work through things in our games.”

Published 12/24/19

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Lucas Not Changing Their Plan of Attack

There probably aren’t a lot of people across Ohio giving the Lucas Cubs much of a chance Saturday morning, but then again they don’t know the Lucas Cubs.

Lucas (12-2) plays Marion Local (12-2) in the division VII state championship game on Saturday morning at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton.

For the Cubs it is there first ever appearance in a state final. Marion Local has been there 13 times and won 10 state titles, the last coming two years ago.

Lucas won their third nail bitter in four playoff games last Saturday night when Logan Niswander found Riley Mounts on a 13-yard scoring pass with 54 seconds left to give Lucas a (15-12) win over Harvest Prep in a state semifinal.

Coach Scott Spitler says the kids just believe in each other. “I think it goes back to how much they care about each other and play for each other and just don’t want to let each other down. So, they play with every once of their being right to the end,” he said.

Lucas had the early lead last week and the week before against Cuyahoga Heights and Spitler says they need to good start again Saturday. “I think weathering the early storm of emotions and the moment is going to be key. Making sure we give ourselves a chance to be in it for all four quarters and not put ourselves behind the eight ball early,” he said.

Marion Local destroyed Patrick Henry (40-6) in their state semifinal last week. However, they have not been void of close playoff games. In week two, they needed overtime to beat Fort Loramie (24-21) to advance.

Spitler says they have the kind of team that you would expect from the Flyers. “Just another traditional Marion Local team. They are very well balanced on offense, very disciplined, aggressive, fast on defense. The things that stands out when you watch film on them they just do not beat themselves. They stress you with what they do. At this time of year, we just have to play it one play at a time and give ourselves a chance to be in it in the fourth quarter,” said Spitler.

Now, against a team like Marion Local you have to be mistake free if you are going to beat them. Spitler says the Flyers eat up your mistakes and he knows they are going to challenge them early. “If you make a mistake it is probably going to be points for them. That is going to be key, especially early. I’m sure with their experience and it being our first time I could see them in their game plan maybe looking to kind of come out and take a shot or two early to see if they can put us behind the eight ball so to speak,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “So, we have to come out focused, ready to play, from play one and just stay within ourselves and be who we are. It has been good enough to get us here and we just have to go out there and play each play one at a time. You can’t get caught up in the moment and try to do too much at once. So, I think we have to come out of the gates swinging hard and playing it one play at a time.”

Lucas runs the unique double tight, double wing offense that makes things look like a rugby scrum.

Spitler says it has been successful and they are not going away from it. “I think that’s where teams get in trouble at this time of year when they are facing such good opponents like Marion Local. If you know anything about small school football you know they are the bar, they are the team that everybody aspires to develop a program like and it is a great opportunity for us to see where we have our program and see if we can prove to ourselves if we can go toe to toe with them. We got here for a reason playing great team football in all three phases. It was good enough to get here, so we are going to stay true to who we are because if we get outside of who we are we are not going to be very good. We have to stay true to who we are,” said Spitler.

Published 12/06/19

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Lucas Needs to Play its Game Against Harvest Prep

Lucas clashes with Harvest Prep in a division VII state semifinal on Saturday night at Columbus DeSales Alumni Field. To the winner is a ticket to the state title game on December 7.

They beat Cuyahoga Heights (21-13) in a regional final last week to advance to their first ever final four.

Coach Scott Spitler says they controlled the first half, leading (14-0) at the intermission, and they rose up to make big plays to put it away. “At this time of year against just a tradition rich Cuyahoga Heights team you knew it was going to come down to a handful of plays, coming down to make a play to win the game and I am real proud of our kids and how they stepped up and got it done and faced some adversity in the second half after really controlling the first half. We knew at halftime when you have a team like Cuyahoga Heights with their 22 playoff appearances and their regional final experience and stuff you knew they were going to come out in the second half. We kind of helped them a bit with some mishandling of the football with the conditions and everything and let them back in it, but our kids withstood the swing in momentum with composure and we were able to put together a nice drive there at the beginning of the fourth quarter to go up eight and then make a play there at the end to win the game,” said Spitler.

Cuyahoga Heights had the ball inside the Lucas 10-yard line in the final moments of the game, but the Cubs forced a fumble. Spitler says they needed to make a big play. “Jordan Ammons did just a whale of a job on that play coming down and messing up the read in their option game by tagging the fullback and we were rolling up the safety and I think that kind of forced the quarterback to make a quicker decision than he was ready for and caught him off guard and it caused a messed up exchange and the ball got on the ground and Ethan Wallace got the recovery for us. They still had a couple of time outs left, but we were able to move the ball off the one foot line and take a knee and get the victory there,” he said.

Lucas (11-2) had lost in the regional final last year.

Harvest Prep (12-1) scored in the final minute of the game to beat Newark Catholic (22-15) last Saturday in their regional final. Their only loss to this year came to division III Columbus Eastmoor (13-12) in the first game of the regular season.

Spitler says this is a fast team that wants to use that speed to run the football. “Their overall team speed. They are kind of similar to us in that their offense is not something that you see on a weekly basis. They run a lot of unbalanced. Some very odd formations to really make you have a good alignment and be disciplined defensively as well as eye discipline in what they want to do in the run game. They have nice size up front and they have tremendous skill in the backfield. All they need is a crease and they can put it in the end zone in a heartbeat,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They remind me a lot of St. Thomas Aquinas as far as they amount of the athletes and the skill that they can put they can put on the field, but I think Harvest Prep is a little better up front on both sides of the ball in the trenches. It is semifinal football and it is going to be a whale of an opportunity for our kids and a great test.”

To get the win against Harvest Prep, Spitler says they can’t afford to make mistakes. “I think this is going to come down when you have two teams matching up very similar mentalities of wanting to run the ball. We want to control the game. We want to eat the clock with our possession and we want to make sure we take care of the football so those possessions end with us scoring points and getting our defense in good situations. We can’t afford to have turnovers or penalties to get us behind the sticks or put our defense in a bad situation because they are going to have their hands full with everything they bring to the table offensively with their attack,” said Spitler.

Published 11/26/19

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Lucas Faces Multi Faceted Cuyahoga Heights

Lucas plays in its second straight regional final on Saturday night as the Cubs play Cuyahoga Heights in a division VII game at Canal Fulton Northwest Stadium.

They did just what the game plan asked for last week in beating Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas (35-21) in a regional semifinal, which was also played at Northwest High School.

Coach Scott Spitler says they were able to keep the Aquinas big playmakers in front of them on defense. “We did a nice job of keeping things in front of us. It’s really easy if you just saw the score to say that you gave up 21 points, but when they are that explosive. We got our hands on about six footballs that should have been interceptions and they just went through our hands or we knocked to the ground. So, we really had our opportunities to shutdown their passing attack at several points. A couple of big plays that they did get on us we had an over rotation in coverage and we had a player slip down on a kind of a scramble drill type setting. The biggest thing was we were able to force them to be one dimensional and do nothing but throw the ball by also controlling the tempo of the game and running the football on offense,” said Spitler.

With their double tight, double wing offense they chewed up yards on the ground and never threw a pass. Spitler says it started up front. “Our offensive line did an awesome job of controlling the line of scrimmage right from play one offensively. Tommy Zirzow and Ethan Sauder did awesome job of toting the ball. Tommy had a career night with 260 yards rushing and five touchdowns and Ethan added another 70 yards rushing on 11 carries. So, when your offense is averaging a little over seven yards a carry running the football and you don’t have to attempt a pass you are doing good things up front. We were able to do that and finish all but one drive in the end zone,” he said.

Lucas (11-2) locks horns with Cuyahoga Heights (10-1) in the regional final. The Redskins have a strong tradition with 22 playoff appearances and state runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2017.

Spitler says they have a great coach and an offense that is kind of hybrid. “It starts with their head football coach Al Martin. He is a hall of fame high school football coach. They have been champions of this region in four of the last five years. So, they are well tested and well experienced in the post season. The thing that stands out to you is just their discipline. They are a multi formation, option based offense. Kind of a cross of what you see from the military academies, but mixed in with some spread,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They really keep you off balance. They are about 65-35 run pass. They have a great athlete at quarterback. They have a very solid fullback that they want to establish right from the get go. What impressed me up front is how athletic their big linemen are. So, we have our hands full. It is regional championship football and the margin for error is very slim in these type of games.”

Lucas and their offense is tough to get ready for in a week and Spitler says so is Cuyahoga Heights. “You have to try and simulate an offense for a team to run it takes a tremendous amount of time and reps to execute it well and then you are asking your scout teams to do it in a couple of days time and do it well enough to give your first units a look that will get them ready for game time, so that is difficult. Then add to it the ability to keep you honest with their passing game. So, just a well balanced team in every phase,” he said.

Published 11/20/19

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Lucas Has Playoff Matchup With Very Fast Aquinas

Lucas meets Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas in a division VII regional semifinal to be played at Canal Fulton Northwest High School on Saturday night.

Last week, the Cubs emerged from a first round game with a (21-20) overtime win over McDonald at Bob Wine Field at Lucas High.

Coach Scott Spitler says they knew that game was going to be a battle. “Once the postseason begins everybody is 0-0. Your seed is basically what a computer prints out based on division’s and stuff. We knew we were going to have our hands full. McDonald has a good tradition and play good football with hard nosed kids. It was a war. We put ourselves behind the eight ball a few times with some self inflicted mistakes, some penalties, some turnovers and stuff that were kind of uncharacteristic. Our seniors were able to step up and make plays when it was important and get the victory there at the end and we are on to week 12,” said Spitler.

Ethan Sauder scored a touchdown for the Cubs on their first overtime possession and McDonald matched that, but safety Logan Niswander batted down a two point conversion attempt to give Lucas (9-2) the win.

Spitler says their big game experience has taught them you have to play every play. “I was just looking (Thursday) our senior class will be playing their 47 th high school football game this Saturday. They have been to the postseason four straight years and this will be the seventh postseason game of their careers. That experience is not something that you can work on in practice and stuff. You have to be there to get it. Our kids understand that once you hit the postseason it’s a championship fight. It’s round after round of body blows and you have to work hard and stay the course and land the last one to come out victorious,” he said.

St. Thomas Aquinas (7-3) beat Toronto (35-0) in their opening round game.

Spitler says the Knights are blessed with just tremendous speed. “They are a very talented team. They have a tremendous quarterback. I think he has thrown 25 touchdown passes this season. I think he is one or two shy of having his school record. He has tremendous skill at the wide receiver and running back position in their multiple formation spread offense. Just speed, speed, speed, and they stretch you horizontally and vertically with what they do scheme wise. We have a very tall task ahead of us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I’m not sure in a total package speed wise we have seen a team this fast. This season we have had teams like Lima Central Catholic and Centerburg that have two or three individuals that were extremely fast, but they are four or five deep as far as they speed and athleticism. They have great length at the receiver position and they have good size up front.”

Of course, Lucas has made famous the double tight, double wing offense. Spitler says they have make sure they are the ones maintaining the tempo of the game. “We are going to have our hands full and we have to make sure we are on point to play our brand of football and play our pace in the football game and not try and play their pace,” he said.

Published 11/15/19

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Going to be a Battle up Front for Lucas

Lucas is making its sixth straight appearance in the football playoffs as they host McDonald in a first round game in division VII on Saturday night at Bob Wine Field.

They lost in the regional final in 2018.

The Cubs (8-2) dropped a game to Lima Central Catholic (14-7) last week to close the regular season. Their only other loss came to Northmor (14-13) on week two. Both of those schools are in the playoffs in division VI.

Lucas had a potential game tying or winning score called back on a penalty in the fourth quarter last week. Coach Scott Spitler says they had their chances in the game, that’s for sure. “We had our opportunities against a very good football program that were pretty evenly matched. I was talked to Scott Palte, their head coach after the game, and we talked about maybe not having it on week 10, but moving it to a different week because we are so evenly matched and it is such a physical game. We have played them the last two years and we got them at their place and they got us at our place,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You add up the two years scores and it is 28-28, so I don’t know how much more even you could get in a matchup of two good football teams. It was unfortunate that we came out on the wrong end there on Friday night because we had our opportunities, but we have to do a better job and tighten some things up and get back to work this week.”

Lucas hosts McDonald (6-4) on Saturday night. They lost to unbeaten New Middletown Springfield (38-21) last Friday in their final regular season game. They have beaten only team with a better than .500 record this season and that was Lowellville (6-4) by a (48-12) count on week nine.

Spitler says they want to run the football if they can and they have an outstanding quarterback in Dominic Schadl. “They have a good football tradition. They were 11-1 last year in division six and moved down to D-7 this year and are once again a playoff team. They are led by a very athletic and speedy quarterback in Dominic Schadl. They stress you with their multiple formations. They are very similar for us like when you face a Centerburg as far as multiple formations and spread offense. The quarterback just stretches you so much in space with his legs. They have a couple 6’3”, 6’4” wide receivers that they get involved as well. They are nice size up front. Then defensively they come downhill very aggressively and fast,” said Spitler.

Spitler says they have to win what he terms the winner’s ratio if they are going to come out on top on Saturday night. “At this time of the year in the playoffs everybody is good and everybody plays good football. So, we have to come out and take care of what we call the winner’s ratio. We have to win the turnover margin, we have to be the least penalized team and we have to give up less big plays than we create. So, it is going to come down to that. You have two teams that want to run the football and the line of scrimmage is going to be key. We like what we do up front on both sides of the ball and we have to continue to get better and do those types of things in the postseason,” he said.

Published 11/05/19

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Lucas Hosts High Scoring Lima Central Catholic

Lucas would like to repeat what it did last year and beat talented Lima Central Catholic on week 10 and have that boost their momentum going into the postseason playoffs.

The Cubs have clinched a playoff game in division VII for the fifth year in a row.

They didn’t play their best game last week, but they beat Leavittsburg LaBrae (28-14) on the road.

Coach Scott Spitler says there were too many unforced errors by the Cubs. “Anytime you can go on the road in that type of that distance and get a victory against a bigger school and keep being successful that is a positive. I think as an entire team, players and coaches, we weren’t happy with some of the sloppiness at times in the game, especially turning the ball over three times. We put our defense in some bad situations,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The game should have never been as close as it was, but because we turned the ball over and we weren’t really clean in some of our exchanges and things, that was the thing. The big thing is we weren’t happy because you never want to see a turnover, but when they are unforced that is even worse. So, we have to clean those things up or it is going to be a short postseason for us.”

Lucas (8-1) plays at home at Bob Wine Field against the Thunderbirds of Lima Central Catholic (8-1) in a non-conference game. The Birds beat Troy Christian (70-0) last week. They outscored “MOAC” co-leader Shelby (55-41) two weeks ago. They have had only one game where they have scored less than 40 points.

Shaun Thomas scored six times against Shelby and Spitler says the Thunderbirds are just loaded with athletes. “Shaun Thomas is a tremendous athlete, but you can’t sleep on his running mate Rossy Moore at the other wing. They have a talented fullback and a big offensive line. Once you watch film it is not hard to see why they are successful and why they are averaging 48 points a game. They do a nice job up front. They have a system that they stick to and they run it well and execute it well. When you have those type of athletes executing that system it makes you dangerous. Typical “LCC” is a lot of what we saw last year with them. Just a very well coached, very disciplined, lots of athletes all over the place. So, we have our hands full on week 10,” said Spitler.

Lucas beat Lima CC (21-14) last year on the road. To do it again, Spitler says they are going to have to play 48 minutes and win the line of scrimmage. “We told the kids (Thursday) night at the end of practice for us it is playoff football right now. The quality of opponent that “LCC” is that is the mindset that our kids have to play. In these heavyweight bouts, we have talked to our kids that it is going to be one of those 15 rounders where you have to keep throwing body blows. I think it is going to come down to who wins at the line of scrimmage and who protects the football,” he said.

Published 11/01/19

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Lucas Ready for Another Tough Opponent

Lucas takes a five game winning streak on the road to play Leavittsburg LaBrae in a non-conference game on Friday night.

Before you get out your maps, that’s in Trumbull County north Youngstown, near the Pennsylvania boarder.

Last week, the Cubs whipped Fisher Catholic (55-21) for their seventh in eight games.

Coach Scott Spitler says they played outstanding football. “It was a little bit more of a convincing win than the score. We gave up a special teams score there in the second half. Really their two touchdowns where just two big plays. Our defense actually played a pretty good game giving up 136 total yards, but just two big plays allowed them to get two scores. So, there are things we have to get back to work on and address and strive to get better at this week,” he said.

Spitler says the Cubs still understand there is room for them to get a lot better. “I think our kids do a nice job of being realistic and understand when we watch film and critique ourselves and look at areas where we can continue to improve that we are far from a perfect product. It has kind of been our mindset all season that we want to be better than we were the week before. So, we have had a nice week of practice and it’s going to take that type of preparation with who we have this week and the talent they have on the football field,” said Spitler.

Lucas (7-1) is at LaBrae (3-5) on Friday night. The Vikings lost (49-28) to Brookfield last week. Lucas is the first division seven school they have played all year long.

Spitler says they have some dangerous guys on offense, especially a sophomore running back. “They have a very tough schedule. They were a 10-2 deep playoff team last year and return their starting quarterback, four starters on the offensive line, and have found a pretty special running back in sophomore Devin Carter. The last two games he has rushed for a total of 502 yards and nine touchdowns, so they found something in him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When you look at him on film he just needs a crease and he can house it at anytime and he has done that the last two weeks. We are going to have our hands full this week trying to stop him.”

When it comes to keys for the Cubs it is no different against a defense with some size. “They are big and athletic. They have great size up front. Very athletic at the linebacker position and they are multiple. So, you are going to see different fronts and stems and schemes, so we have to be real sound. It is the same “M.O” for us each week. We have to be successful in trenches and control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” he said.

Published 10/25/19

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Cubs Want to Take Another Step

Lucas just continues to play outstanding football and this week they are on the road for a game at Fisher Catholic on Friday night.

Last week, they stuffed division two Columbus St. Charles (20-8) at Bob Wine Field.

Coach Scott Spitler says they went out and controlled the point of attack. “Our coaches did a nice job of prepping our kids all week defensively. We had a whale of the game defensively. Offensively, we were able to grind it out and control the line of scrimmage and secure the win,” he said.

Lucas (6-1) is at Fisher Catholic (6-1) on Friday night. The Irish blitzed Fairfield Christian Academy (59-7) last week. Their only loss came two weeks ago to Worthington Christian (31-21) at home.

Spitler says this is another team, that like them, likes to run the football. “They are very multiple formation wise, but they want to run the football. They have got a really nice running back. He is about 6’0”, 227, a big power runner with decent speed. An athletic quarterback that is duel threat. They are big up front. This is just another matchup very similar to us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They just do it out of more multiple formations. It is going to come down to who can control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and who care take care of the football and not turn it over.”

Lucas has been as consistently successful as about any small school football team in this area over the last five years. Spitler says the players believe in what they are doing. “That is brand or style of football that we want to hang our hat on. The one our kids believe in system wise on what we do both offensively and defensively. It has worked for us and we are going to continue to get better at doing that and executing on a high level. That has been our focus each week is making sure that every Friday is the best version we can have of ourselves while you are preparing for the opponent. It really comes down to us doing our job in the trenches and ball security on Friday night,” said Spitler.

They don’t compete for a conference title, so the Cubs have their eye on the playoffs, they stand number one in their division seven region, but Spitler says they have been very good at keeping their focus. “The kids have done a nice job of taking the approach of taking it a week at a time and focusing on going 1-0 each week, but they also want a ticket to the dance, the postseason, and the opportunity to get to that part of the season. Once you get in the postseason everybody has the same record. It is basically a new season and you have to be playing at a high level. So, our kids have really focused on one week at a time putting themselves in position to earn that sixth straight playoff appearance,” said Spitler.

Published 10/16/19

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Lucas Hosts D-2 Columbus St. Charles

Lucas takes a step up in competition as they play host to St. Charles, a division two school from Columbus, in a non-conference game on Friday night at Bob Wine Field.

So far this fall, the Cubs have won five of their first six, including a (58-7) dismantling of Steubenville Central Catholic last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says they were able to dominate the line of scrimmage. “They were very similar to us in wanting to establish the line of scrimmage and run the football, so we thought it was very important for us to get out there and swing first and establish the line of scrimmage and control that from the get go. Our entire team did a nice job of that,” he said.

Lucas (5-1) plays at home against Columbus St. Charles (4-2) on Friday night. The Cardinals are coming off a (30-7) loss to rival Bishop Hartley last week. Their only other loss was (16-0) to Middletown Bishop Fenwick. They play only one other school that is smaller than division three.

Spitler says they understand it will be a challenge. “They are very talented. The are a much larger school that us being division two, but we were in a situation where it was play them or have a bye week. I just couldn’t let our seniors not have 10 football games. The postseason is never promised to you. So, it is an opportunity for our program to grow and our team to grow. It is a tremendous challenge for us,” he said.

The Cardinals are a power team running team, according to Spitler. “We are going to have to strap it because they want to run the football. They are very multiple. They will be in a spread formation one minute, a power “I” the next. They have great skill. The (Luke) Eversole young man at tailback is very talented. They have a tremendous slot receiver in Roland Rowe, who stretches you in so many ways. They are very big up front. So, we are going to have our hands full. We are going to have to do some things to try and even the playing field,” said Spitler.

The home crowd will pump up the Cubs, but Spitler says they have to make St. Charles play their game. “We have to be disciplined in our alignment defensively and gap sound and we are going to have to tackle well. We are fortunate enough the that we get to play them at home and that is a plus because we love playing before our home crowd. They will pack the stands and make it a very good environment for a high school football game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Once that whistle goes off and that first kick we are going to have to strap it up and play our game and force them to play our brand of football.”

Published 10/08/19

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Lucas Back at it in the Trenches

After facing Willard’s spread offense last week, the Lucas Cubs are back to what they know best slugging it out in the trenches as they host Steubenville Central Catholic in a non-conference game at Bob Wine Field.

The Cubs did a fantastic job of controling that spread last week and smacking the Flashes (41-0) for their second straight shutout of the season.

Coach Scott Spitler says their defense was on point. “When you look at earlier weeks of the season and teams they played early in the games they had scored some points. I know their game with Seneca East it was 21-14 after the first quarter. We knew they had the potential offensively to put points in the board quickly on you if you weren’t read to come right out of the gate. I thought our guys did a nice job. We kicked off to them and started the game and the defense forced a punt. We got the ball and went down and scored and just kind of kept that momentum the rest of the game,” said Spitler.

Lucas (4-1) plays at home against Steubenville Central Catholic (3-2) on Friday night. The Crusaders whipped Caldwell (35-2) last weekend.

Spitler says this is team that likes smash mouth football just like his Cubs do. “They are very similar to us in that they want to establish the line of scrimmage and run the football. They are going to run out of a lot of double tight formations. They are a little bit multiple formation wise, more than we are. They like to get in the “I” a little bit. They have a very talented tailback and a nice sized offensive line. They are going to try and impose their will. We have to come ready to play in the trenches on both sides of the ball this week,” he said.

Although they have been successful against other kinds of teams, Spitler says this is the kind of football that his kids are most familiar with. “I think we are familiar with it in the fact that that is how we prepare during the week and how we want to play football, but we have got a couple of weeks where we faced teams that want to spread you out and throw the ball around a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “So, we have had to really focus this week in getting back to on both sides of the ball of making sure we are gap sound defensively on the line of scrimmage and offensively establishing the line of scrimmage and impose our own will with our run game, so that it opens up the rest of our offense. So far this week I like where our kids are at, but we are hanging our hat on our seniors up front like Tristen Arnold, Blake Coffman and Jordon Ammons to get our guys in the trenches fired up and ready to play Friday night.”

Published 10/02/19

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Lucas and Willard with Contrasting Styles

Lucas plays a new opponent on their schedule as they travel to Willard on Friday night to meet the Flashes in a non-conference game.

The Cubs avenged their only loss of the season to Northmor on week three (14-13) to blank Troy Christian (43-0) at Bob Wine Field last week.

It was (24-0) after the first quarter and coach Scott Spitler says they wanted a quick start. “I thought it was a result of how the kids prepared during the week. We had a really good, strong week of improvement in practice. They were extremely focused and did what we wanted them to do. We wanted to start fast and get rid of that bad taste form the week before,” he said.

Lucas (3-1) is at Willard (0-4) on Friday. The Flashes are coming off a (60-30) loss to Ravenna Southeast last week.

Copper Parrott, the Willard quarterback, is one the best in the area. Spitler says he is a kid that that is very dangerous because he will make time to throw the ball and then deliver. “There isn’t a throw on the field that he can’t make. He escapes pressure really well with his size and his athleticism. He extends plays scrambling and he has great vision down field. So, when he is extending plays with his feet he is not looking to run with it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “He is looking for you to slip up and blow a coverage or for someone to get loose and he makes you pay because he can put it on a dime on the run. It is going to be an extremely tall task for our defense this week to control their offense.”

Spitler says Parrott reminds him of former Wynford quarterback Tyler Brause with the athleticism and accuracy he has. “Right when I first came to Lucas the Brause kid from Wynford was very similar, big, strong, great athleticism and can make every throw. That’s what Cooper Parrott does. You can tell he is their bell cow. He makes everything work offensively. They have great size and height and length on their offensive line. I know it is easy to look at their record, but you go back and you look at those games and they score points. They don’t have any problems scoring points. We are on their home field an it is going to be important for us to make sure we limit their opportunities and we have to control the tempo of the game ourselves,” said Spitler.

Willard’s problem has been defense, the Flashes have never allowed less than 41 points to be scored on them.

The Flashes have a turf field, but Spitler says that’s not what concerns him going into Friday night. “We have a lot a lot of experience on the team that has been on turf in the postseason and we have also had a few games in the regular season on turf the last couple of years. So, it is not something that is a shock to our kids. I am not worried about that. I am worried about making sure we block and tackle well, especially in space versus their spread offense,” he said.

Published 9/26/19

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Lucas Looking at War in Trenches

Lucas needs to get back on the winning track as the Cubs host Troy Christian on Friday night in a non-conference game.

Last Friday night, in a game delayed by lightning, the Cubs dropped a one point game (14-13) to the Northmor Golden Knights.

Coach Scott Spitler says in games like this every little thing matters, especially in special teams. “Whenever you are playing quality opponents like Northmor in a tight ballgame it is going to come down to the little things. The determining factor was we had a missed extra point that just haunted us the whole second half in a tight ballgame. When you go back and watch the film, we probably played the best total game that we have played during the season. We are seeing the improvement in our team. It is just when you play another quality opponent there is very little room for error and we came up short,” said Spitler.

This week, the players have been all business, according to Spitler. “I think when you play in games like that against quality opponents and the schedule that we have you are going to be better because of that. We went back to work. That is what you do, you roll up your sleeve and you get back to work. We have had a really good week of practice and I like where our kids’ minds are at. They are hungry to get back on the field and erase that taste in their mouth,” he said.

Lucas (2-1) plays at home against Troy Christian (0-3,) a division six school from Miami County in Southwest Ohio.

Spitler says the Eagles are a quality team that has some experience to go with their talent. “Those that don’t pay attention and don’t really know football look at a record and say it is 0-3 it is going to be a cakewalk. Their opponents are 9-0 and one of those opponents was defending state champion McComb. When you watch film, you see they are very talented,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They return six starters on offense and they return eight starters on defense. So, we are going to have our hands full. They have a really nice set of running backs. A very athletic quarterback that is throwing the ball well for them, but in the trenches is where they return a lot of experience. A key for us is going to be controlling that line of scrimmage on both sides of the football.”

Published 9/20/19

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Lucas Faces Tough Northmor Defense

Lucas hosts Northmor in a very compelling non-conference football game on Friday night between very good small schools.

Northmor has won the last two years and the Cubs are eager for some revenge.

Last week, Lucas (2-0) beat Centerburg (38-14) on week two.

Coach Scott Spitler says the seized the momentum right away. “I thought we started good right out of the gate with Carson Hauger returning the kickoff for a touchdown and that kind of set the tone for us for the whole evening. The kids just kept it rolling and put it away and got a good road victory to go to 2-0,” he said.

Northmor (2-0) hammered Worthington Christian (42-17) to be perfect through two.

Spitler says the Golden Knights may be missing their top rusher and scorer from last season, but they still have a lot of very good players. “Everyone wants to point out that Conor Becker is out with injury, but they are more than just him. They are well rounded offensively and very balanced running and passing. Obviously, it is a loss when you lose that quality of an athlete, but they have a great athlete at quarterback, they have great size and athleticism up front and on the defensive line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are replacing him by running back by committee. When you put in the film it doesn’t look like they are missing a beat. They are averaging 40 some points a game to start the season. Like year in and year out with coach Armrose they have played tremendous defense.”

Hunter Mariotti has turned into an outstanding quarterback and this year Spitler says he is doing more things. “I think they do a nice job of extenuating his strengths. You can see in film it looks like he has gotten a lot bigger and stronger. They run him a little bit more than they have in the past. He does a nice job in their “R.P.O.” system of reading and making the right key and passing the ball when the team gives him the right read. That creates that balance that they have. It’s obvious when you are averaging 42.5 points a game that it is working,” said Spitler.

The Northmor defense has been very stingy this season and Spitler says they have tremendous play on the defensive line. “I think first and foremost it starts up front led by All-Ohio defensive end Blake Miller. I mean he is 6’5”, 220, very athletic, he is also a basketball player, just to show you his athleticism. They moved his cohort at defensive end inside to tackle this year, the Blaney kid, who is also a great player. Then they have a big, 300 pound, defensive tackle. So, they set the tone for that entire defense. They are athletic at the linebacker position. Their skilled kids on offense are also their secondary. They are well coached, they are very disciplined, but the big thing is they just control the line of scrimmage so well with their defensive line,” said Spitler.

Published 9/13/19

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Lucas Takes on Athletic Centerburg

Lucas hits the road for a week two game at Centerburg on Friday night in non-conference play.

The Cubs are coming off a win (32-12) at Danville last week.

Coach Scott Spitler is pleased how his kids responded when Danville cut the lead to just one score in the third quarter. “We received the ball to start the second half after being up 12-0 at halftime and we thought we could take a couple of deep shots on them in our passing game to start the second half based on something we saw the first half and we came up a little bit short and had to punt coming out of the gate there and they were able to put together a drive to score on their first drive of the second half and made it 12-6. Then senior Carson Hauger took the kickoff back to the house to keep the spread at 12. Then we kind of kept it under control the rest of the way out,” said Spitler.

Spitler says Hauger told the coaches he was going to return that kick for a score and then did just that. “He is dangerous anytime he has the ball in his hands. A couple of seasons ago over at Colonel Crawford he took one to the house that ended up being the difference in us getting a victory of there. So, he is accustomed to making big plays, not just on offense and defense for us, but in the special teams. The kind of odd thing to it was right before we lined up for that kickoff return in a very serious tone he told us he was going to do that. I hope he can call a few more shots the rest of the season,” he said.

Centerburg was impressive on week one in smacking around Utica (52-6) last Friday.

Spitler says the Trojans have a lot of experience and a lot of athletes at their disposal. “They were a young team last year that traditionally always has great skilled kids that stretch you so much offensively. They return nine starters on both sides of the ball this year. Coming off a 5-5 season last year I am sure they have something to prove with all of the experience they have coming back. They definitely came out of the gates strong last week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are at their place and we are going to have our hands full. They are just another traditional Centerburg team that is very athletic and lots of speed at the skilled positions offensively. Defensively it is their trademark pursuit and just the relentless effort that they play defense with.”

With big playmakers, Spitler says tackling will be very important to the Cubs this week and they have been working on it. “They are very multiple in their formations and they want to stretch you along the line of scrimmage to create natural creases in your defense. Tacking is something our kids have to be focused on this week. We have been spending a lot of time on it this week and through all preseason. We are going to have to make sure we get our hips under us and do a nice job in that area,” he said.

Published 9/04/19

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Lucas Battles Danville

Lucas is starting to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the other traditional small school football powers with what the Cubs have done over the last half decade.

They play at Danville against the Blue Devils, one of those traditional small school powers, on Friday night in a non-conference game.

Coach Scott Spitler says his kids are pumped up to play Danville and who wouldn’t be? “If you can’t get fired up for week one and on top of that a great challenge that we have in playing a quality football program with a lot of tradition like Danville down on Tuff Street then I don’t know if you’ve got a pulse,” he said.

However, he knows you can’t live on emotion either, you still have to execute if you are going to win games like this. “You are not going to be able to play at a high level if you have a rollercoaster of emotions because of all of the excitement around opening week. So, composure is key and starting the game mistake free is key as well,” he added.

Spitler says his players have had a really good week of practice and he feels they are ready to play the Blue Devils. “Other than a little visit from Mother Nature on Tuesday I thought the kids have had really good focus and really rolled up their sleeves and gone to work in great preparation and now it’s time for that preparation to bare the fruits on the field on (Friday) night. I like where our kids minds are at we just have to go out and execute the game play,” said Spitler.

Danville was sub .500 last season for the first time in recent memory, but Spitler feels this is going to be a big test for his ballclub on the road. “Another traditional tough, physical, athletic, Danville team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They always play tough, physical defense and this year is no different led by a very good defensive line and two safeties that are extremely athletic and love to play downhill. Then on offense they want to get their speed on the edges and attack you vertically in their spread offense.”

Published 8/30/19

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Lucas Comfortable with Expectations

The Lucas Cubs have been in the division seven playoffs every season since 2014, that’s five straight years, and a pretty good signal that the Cubs have a program, not just a good class of kids.

Coach Scott Spitler says there are some expectations surrounding those kinds of accomplishments in the recent past, but they are alright with that. “That is what you want when you are developing a program is you want that expectation because I think kids want that opportunity to rise up and work hard to succeed and try and reach that level that the class before them put in place. That is what we experienced that last four or five years is each class wants to do their part in continuing that level of expectation and that level of success in our program,” he said.

Something success teaches in the benefit of hard work and Spitler says his players are putting in the work and eager to go up against another team. “The kids are working really hard and they are really chomping at the bit and excited. I think they are getting to the point where they are ready to see someone other than themselves across from them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We will get an opportunity to do that Friday morning versus Crestview at their place, which will be a good first scrimmage for us. They have a good football program and always competitive and it’s a great scrimmage to kind of kick off our preseason two a days here.”

Speaking of the scrimmage on Friday versus Crestview, Spitler believes scrimmages are an important tool when it comes to evaluating teams and individual players. “It is kind of hard to see the areas that you need to get better at and work harder at when you are going against yourselves, going against your scout teams or your younger kids versus your older kids. So, the scrimmages are the important times where you get it on film, which is a great opportunity to set down with your kids and says okay this is where we are doing things well right now and these are things we have to get better at so we can improve. I think film is such a great tool for your kids to see where they have to work harder and fine tune things,” said Spitler.

Published 8/06/19

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Colonel Crawford Advances With Win over Lucas

Colonel Crawford outscored Lucas (24-12) in the second half and beat the Cubs (51-39) in a division four district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

They play South Central (20-4) in the district final at Willard on Friday night. The Trojans beat Margaretta (57-53) in overtime.

Chase Walker scored a game high 18 points for the Eagles and coach David Sheldon says he really gave them some energy. “He has had a motor like that all year. A double-double, 11 rebounds, seven at the offensive end and 18 points. He has an unbelievable motor and he plays so hard. He is relentless. He knows his role and everybody on this team knows his role and we try to define those, but Chase is one where his motor was good for us,” he said.

Chase scored the first basket of the second half on a lay in with 7:30 to play in the third and added two more hoops in the first 3:40 of the third quarter to give Colonel Crawford a six point lead (35-29) with 4:20 to play in the quarter.

Lucas (18-6) wouldn’t go away and cut it to three (37-34) on a Riley Gossom goal with 7:03 to play in the contest, but the Eagles would go on a (7-0) run over the next 3:29 to take a (44-34) lead with 3:34 to play.

Cubs coach Taylor Iceman says they started to force some things in the final quarter. “That fourth quarter kind of killed us. We had a couple of defensive lapses and they got buckets and then we forced some jump shots and just weren’t able to get over the hump. It’s a Colonel Crawford team in the tournament and you can’t do that kind of stuff with them,” he told Swankonsports.com after the loss, “You can’t expect them to turn the ball over and let you back in the game. We didn’t shoot the ball very well. They are big and long and it is hard to get to the rim and if you can’t make jump shots it is hard to score the ball.”

Crawford point guard Jordan Fenner scored 16 points on the night and he doesn’t turn it over much. Sheldon says he knows the game. “He is talented. His handle is as good as you see and that’s what happens when your mom is a coach. He has lived in the gym since diapers, sort of like the Sheldon girls, and when you have grown up in the gym he is so cool, calm, and collected. Jordan never gets too high, never gets too low, he just plays the game. He is an old school player because he has got a 10 footer that you don’t see in this day an age. We live in a time of threes and layups and he has a nice little pull up,” said Sheldon.

There weren’t many second shots for the Cubs either. “I thought we did a great job on both ends of the floor. I thought we did an awesome job of rebounding. You have to hold teams to one shot. That is a very good basketball team. A very well coached team with Taylor (Iceman) and what he has done that is going to be back here,” said Sheldon.

Gossom had 12 points for Lucas and Ethan Sauder added 10.

Sheldon feels they did an outstanding job on Lucas’ leading scorer Logan Niswander, and he credits the play of Reis Walker. “I thought the second half to hold them to 12 points, 39 on the game. You look at their scores and what they average on the year. We did a phenomenal job on a first team all-district player in (Logan) Niswander. He has nine points (Tuesday) night and a three was late when we were in zone. That is a credit to number 2 Reis Walker,” said Sheldon.

He said they did some things to emphasize trying to take away Niswander, but he says it was mostly the play of Reis. “We wanted to deny him one pass away, in the post we wanted to make it tough with backside help and we put on the floor gap, but I thought Reis did a phenomenal job. Reis Walker on a kid that is averaging 20 a game and hold him to nine and one is a late three. That is what this team is it is a brotherhood. It is some of the best chemistry I have ever had on and off the floor,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (20-4) is 6’4” or taller at four of the five positions and Iceman says that made things tough on them, especially when they couldn’t connect from the perimeter. “They are bigger than us at basically every position. It would be a nice problem to have. I would take one of them, I wouldn’t need all five of them. The length prevents you from getting to hoop sometimes, so you count on making outside shots to bring them out on the floor, so you can use your speed and quickness to get around them and get to the hoop. We couldn’t hit shots for whatever reason. We have been up and down. When we hit jump shots we are tough,” said Iceman.

As for Friday, Sheldon says South Central will be a battle. “They are very, very talented. They are well coached. (Simon) Blair was the player of the year in the district, (David) Lamoreaux and (Isaiah) Seidel and on and on. They have won 20 games and you don’t get to a district final. That’s a very good basketball team that we have the upmost respect for and it is time to go to work,” he said.

Published 3/06/19

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Lucas Wants to Push Tempo

It’s Lucas against Buckeye Central in the first round of the division four tournament on Tuesday night at Galion High School.

Both teams seem to be playing at their best right now heading into the tournament.

Lucas (17-5) beat Chippewa (76-53) on Saturday and coach Taylor Iceman feels they got back on track after a less than stellar performance the night before against East Knox. “We came back and played Chippewa on Saturday night and played really well. We chalked the Friday night game up to it being senior night and things being a little different. We were never able to get into any rhythm or anything like that. We responded back an the kids played really well on Saturday night. We are really high right now and playing really well as of late. I like where we are at right now. We are ready to start that second season, everybody starts with a clean slate,” he said.

Buckeye Central (6-16) has won two of its last three and pushed talented Colonel Crawford pretty hard in a (50-42) loss on Friday night in “N10” action.

Iceman says they have settled into what they do well. “Coach (Eric) Picklesimer over there it is his first year and it wasn’t that long ago I was in the same boat. There is a kind of feeling out period where you kind of worrying about your team and then the kids kind of adapt to you and your system and it took them a little while, but they are much improved the second half of the season. Even some of their losses they have pushed games to the brink. Colonel Crawford the other night they played an eight point game with them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They played Crestview on a Tuesday night and I was able to get over there and watch them and see them live and that is an important thing. They are playing well, it is going to be a test for us. It doesn’t really matter who we play this year, I think if we play to our capabilities, I am confident every night no matter who it is. We have to play, we can’t just show up and go through the motions. We have a tendency to do that as well. It will be a good game.”

Tempo might be a key here, Iceman says they want to play a little faster tan Buckeye and they are going to try and make the game be that way. “That has been our M.O. all year and it is no surprise we want to play hard on defense and try and turn them over and score points that way and when they do get the ball over play, good, fundamental half court defense. Then go down and run our sets and try and get buckets that way. We are at our best when we are playing hard, aggressive defense, turning the other team over, and scoring in transition. I think they want to slow it down a little bit and we have struggled with some teams that do that. We are playing really well lately and doing a lot of the things we have tried to accomplish throughout the season. We are firing on all cylinders right now. We are going to come out and do what we do and hopefully that will be enough,” said Iceman.

Published 2/26/19

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Lucas Really Starting to Roll

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion, is likely playing its best basketball of the season as the Cubs have won their last four games, all in impressive fashion, heading into a non-conference match-up with East Knox on Friday night at the Cub Cave.

Coach Taylor Iceman can trace it back to the night they won the league outright in beating Mansfield St. Peter’s. “We played so well against St. Pete’s I think it kind of clicked for our kids. They were just really focused that night doing all of the little things that we have preached all year. I think they saw all of the results there. We thought maybe that would spark something. Against Loudonville and Plymouth we played really well. We are finally starting to play where I thought we should have been and could have been throughout the season. The kids are playing really well right now. We have two this weekend to finish out the regular season. We are just preaching to the kids to come out with that same intensity and focus and the rest will take care of itself,” said Iceman.

Last week, the Lucas dismantled Loudonville (70-37) in a conference game on Friday night and then hammered Plymouth (81-65) on Saturday night.

Iceman thinks maybe they are peaking at the right time. “This is my fourth year as a head coach and in year’s past I thought we had peaked a little bit too early and we got to tournament time and we were kind of searching for things are trying to get back to where we were at and this year it is completely different. We kept talking about it all year long. We were not quite where I wanted us to be. I think we are headed in that right direction,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I still don’t think we have played our best basketball yet, but we are doing a lot of the little things we have talked about throughout the season. The best thing for the kids is to go out and do that and see results and that has been happening and hopefully we can keep it going here. I am excited about us playing our best basketball of the season right now.”

Lucas (15-5) plays at home against East Knox (11-10) on Friday night. The Bulldogs finished in fifth place in the “KMAC,” but they beat conference champion Highland.

Iceman says they need to have some focus. “I couldn’t figure out that league. We played Fredericktown, Danville, Northmor and we have East Knox. It seems like you get on there are watch the film and stuff and you look at scores and they have all beat each other at different times and you can’t really figure it out. They have kids that are definitely capable of knocking down shots. We went and saw them play Loudonville here last week, so we are familiar with what they do. They are a good enough team to beat us if we don’t come out and play well. If we overlook them, we will struggle. If we just come out and do what we are capable of again we will be just fine. We want to keep rolling and finishing on a high note here heading into tournament time,” said Iceman.

Published 2/22/19

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Lucas Wants Clean Slate

Lucas last week clinched its first conference title since 1991 when they beat Mansfield St. Peter’s to earn an outright title, but they aren’t done yet.

They play at home against Loudonville in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night and at Plymouth in a non-conference game on Saturday night and they want to keep winning.

The Cubs bounced St. Peter’s (65-52) on Friday night and coach Taylor Iceman was very proud of what his kids accomplished. “We have had a lot of nice articles written about us in social media and coaches and even some referees have reached out to me, which is great and I apricate the heck out of it. Our kids picked a great night to play well,” he said.

They went on to beat Fredericktown (71-45) on Saturday night and Iceman was happy they were able to take that momentum forward. “We played again on Saturday night and you kind of wonder if there is going to be a little hangover or something like that. I think we learned a little about ourselves. That St. Pete’s game our kids where really engaged and focused on things they knew they were going to have to do in that game. Something clicked and it is something I have been trying to get out of them all year and I think they saw it and they saw the results. We came out and played pretty good against Fredericktown the next night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We beat them pretty well over there at their place. It was another good game for us with communication and engagement and a good team effort, so hopefully we are peaking here at the right time, but we have four games left and we are going to use them to our advantage and win as many games as we can this year and get ready for the tournament.”

Lucas (13-5,9-0) hosts Loudonville (10-10,4-5) on Friday night in “MBC” action. The Redbirds beat East Knox (57-44) on Tuesday night in a non-conference game and beat Kidron Central Christian (55-52) in a conference game last Friday. Lucas won the first meeting (58-44) on January 11.

Iceman says you have to get a hand in the face of the Loudonville shooters. “They go as they shoot the ball. They have three or four guys that shoot it extremely well. So, again that communication because they run a lot of sets and misdirection stuff and all those screens. You just have to be able to communicate and get to those shooters and make them make two pointers and beat you that way. We played them once before over at their place, so we now know what to expect. We want to finish it out 10-0 in the conference and that has been a big point of emphasis for us this week in practice. That is what we are striving for on Friday night,” said Iceman.

Published 2/13/19

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Win over St. Peter’s Gives Lucas the “MBC” Title

Lucas has had the lead all season and now they are just one win away from an outright Mid-Buckeye Conference title.

They are one game up on Mansfield St. Peter’s, the defending champion, and they host the Spartans on Friday night at the “Cub Cave.”

Now, on Tuesday night, call it a trap game if you want to, Lucas lost (56-49) to Northmor in a non-conference game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they were not ready to play. “All of the credit to coach Ruth and his kids. It always a good game with our two schools, but we sleepwalked for about two quarters and put ourselves in a hole, played pretty good for the third quarter, and played even the fourth. It was frustrating that we just didn’t show up. I’m alright with losing if you give it everything you’ve got, but we weren’t ready to play. Obviously, we have the big one Friday night, but that is no excuse we have got to be focused and win every game we can win. We went over there are weren’t ready to play and paid the price for it,” said Iceman.

Lucas (11-5,8-0) plays at home against Mansfield St. Peter’s (11-6,7-1) on Friday night with the title on the line.

St. Peter’s has been playing without their best big man in Jonah Ramey, who had mononucleosis. Iceman says they believe he will be in the lineup on Friday night. “We don’t know for sure what Jonah’s status is. We are preparing as if he is going to play. They haven’t had him and they have been winning. It’s not like it is really killing them. They are playing really well right now. If he is back that is a plus for them, but if not it is not like it is a foregone conclusion. They are making shots. It is going to be a test either way, whether he is there or not. We are preparing like he is going to be there. We will find out Friday night when they announce the starting line ups,” he said.

Lucas beat St. Peter’s (47-38) on January 4 to take the lead in the conference standings. Iceman says the Spartans play pretty much like they have when they made it three straight regional tournaments. “It is still similar. They do a lot of the same sets. They just don’t have the two or three offensive threats that they have had the past couple of years. So, early when I was watching them and scouting them, I think some of their guys were struggling to figure out where the offense was going to come from. Some guys were forcing a little bit. They have played through that stuff now. They are working well as a team and have found ways to fill roles and know who is going to score. I think early on they weren’t used to losing and they would get behind and two or three guys would say I’m going to do this, just different roles that they weren’t used to have to fill. I don’t think they are as aggressive, but I think that is due to a depth issue. They don’t have as many guys that they have hand in years past. If Jonah is not playing that hurts as well. So, they are not able to be as aggressive defensive and create as many turnovers as they did in year’s past. They do a lot of same things and they run it well. They aren’t running a whole lot of new things. They do what they do well and they get a lot of open looks,” said Iceman.

This has been the best season for Lucas in quite a while, however, one negative is they haven’t been able to put teams away and they have to that Friday night, according to Iceman. “That is something we are notorious for doing, unfortunately. It is something we have harped on and tried to learn and get better at. I think the things we struggle with is our kids want to go, go, go. I have been telling them all year long that that is great and that is who we are, but there is a time when you have to slow it down and value the possessions and put teams away. I give our kids grief all of the time. I do the stats and I am so sick of doing the steal, turnover check marks right next to each other. We do something great stealing and we should take advantage of it, but we turn it over and they score, it’s big swing. That is just stuff we have got to learn and get better at. I have keep reminding myself that I have three sophomores out there and two juniors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “At this point in the year we have to start taking advantage. We have big games, conference championship games or sectional championship games or district championship games where if you don’t do those kinds of things it could be the end of the road or you could lose the opportunity for a conference championship. Valuing the ball and taking it one possession at a time. When we get a lead, handle it, and extend, and play good defense.”

Published 2/08/19

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Lucas Has to be Focused

Lucas is in first place in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, but their lead is slim, just a game over defending champion Mansfield St Peter’s, so they have to keep winning.

Their assignment this week is a home game against Kidron Central Christian on Friday night at the “Cub Cave.”

Coach Taylor Iceman says they know that they must continue to play well if they are going to claim the pennant. “It would have been nice if St. Peter’s would have dropped one along the road somewhere here and can’t say I was expecting that. We just have to keep playing and keep winning and keep getting better and keep all of our conference goals alive here. We can’t overlook anybody. We are getting the best shot from everybody. Kidron we usually struggle with. We have to be ready to play. It’s our only game this weekend, so we have been preparing for them as much as we could with the temperatures and school closings and all of that. It has been an interesting week,” said Iceman.

Lucas (10-4,7-0) hosts Kidorn Central Christian (6-9,3-4) on Friday night in “MBC” play. In their first game this season, the Cubs beat Kidron (52-46) on December 21. The Comets take a two game winning streak into the game. They beat Mansfield Christian (44-43) in a conference game last Friday and downed Carrollton (67-59) in overtime in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

Iceman says the Comets are going to try and slow the game down. “When we play them, we try and speed things up as much as we can. They try and slow things down, they play their 2-3 zone. It is a conference game. It is the second time through. They know what we are going to do, we know that they are going to do. You just hope you handle it right and come out and play well,” he said.

Now, the second game with Mansfield St. Peter’s looms next Friday, which means this game could be a trap game if the Cubs aren’t careful.

Iceman says they have discussed that. “We talked about that (Thursday) night. I finally got to get back with the team (Thursday) and we watched some film and had a long practice and discussed those kinds of things. It is all part of growing and continuing to build a program. You can’t overlook anybody,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “You have to go out and take care of business every game, especially in the conference. When you only have a one game lead in your league. Next Friday, we have St. Pete’s and that looks like it is going to be a big game, but it won’t be near as big if we go out and drop one (Friday) night. So, this is the most important game for us right now. We are going to go out and hopefully play well.”

Published 2/01/19

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Clear Fork Shuts Down Lucas

Clear Fork outscored Lucas (27-6) in the middle two quarters and went on to beat the Cubs (52-38) in a non-conference game between conference leaders on Saturday night at Les Hauenstein Gym.

Lucas led (17-12) after the first quarter, but they only scored two points in the second quarter and trailed by five (24-19) at the break.

Clear Fork took the lead for good (18-17) on Jay Swainhart’s hoop with 3:12 remaining until halftime.

Colts coach Steven Bechtel feels their switching to a zone defense in the second quarter helped to limit the Cubs. “Honestly coming off that game (Friday) night and spending a lot of energy just getting up for a Saturday night non-conference game is big. We knew how good Lucas was and we knew we had to come out with a good effort. Just fighting that I think was big. The zone I think really affected them, they only scored two points in the second quarter. Then we were able to get after it back to our man to man in the third quarter,” he said.

Lucas coach Taylor Iceman admits they didn’t attack that zone like they should have. “That was a good move on their part. We didn’t handle it correctly. They are 14-2 and we forced them out of what they do and that’s a great thing because they have thrived on that to this point. We knew if we handled that correctly we could do that. It didn’t help having Logan (Niswander) in foul trouble. That takes away our inside presence, especially against a zone. The game plan was to get the ball inbounds, square up to the basket, see the floor, and see the double coming. We didn’t do a good job when they were in the zone of getting a rebound, getting it out, and pushing it in transition and getting ahead of that zone,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “It was a great move by coach Bechtel, it slowed us down a little bit. We were still playing solid defense, it was a five point game at the half, and they come back to their run and jump stuff. I told our guys it wasn’t that they went back to that zone because they were so great at it. They went back to what they do and we didn’t handle it real well because we were frustrated at that point. It stinks to play a good team like that and be in the position we were in and then kind of give it away. That is a good team and if we handle it correctly and learn from it. I am confident in our guys. That is a great environment to play in.”

Leading by five starting the third quarter, the Colts scored 15 of the next 17 points, punctuated by a Brennan South over the shoulder pass to A.J. Blubaugh, who then threw it down with the right hand to give Clear Fork an 18 point lead (39-21) with 3:58 to play in the third quarter.

Bechtel says they emphasized getting down the floor and not allowing Lucas to limit the possessions. “I think that was a big key there in the third quarter. We told them made or missed basket keeping pushing the basketball. We knew they wanted to slow us down a little bit. You could see that on rebounds with them getting after our rebounder a little bit. We were fortunate to get out and get some easy scores there,” he said.

Blubaugh led Clear Fork with 17 points on Saturday night. Brady Tedrow and Gannon Seifert added 10 each for the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leaders.

Bechtel was subbing a lot after a tough conference win Friday night (71-66) over River Valley. “We want to extend our depth because we know as the season keeps going and in the tournament that would be key. Getting those guys experience now not only for this year, but for next year too, that would be really helpful,” he said.

The Colts built their lead to as much as 25 (52-27) on Tedrow’s two free throws with 3:29 to play in the game.

Lucas (10-4,) in first place in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, has had an excellent season and Iceman hopes they grow from the loss. “My point of emphasis in (the locker room) was that I didn’t like how we handled everything. We have everything in front of us. They are a really good team. They are similar to us. I used them as an example, in their minds we are an inferior team to them. They got down early and they stayed with it. They changed up a little bit, but then they put their foot on our throats there and finished it off, whereas, we are notorious for letting teams hang around and make it closer than it should. It stinks to lose one like that, especially when we were in the situation we were in, but hopefully we can learn from it and get better,” said Iceman.

Logan Niswander led the Cubs with 21 points, 10 in the first quarter.

Clear Fork (14-2) leads the “MOAC” by three games with five to play. They have a chance to wrap up a league title this week with games against Buckeye Valley on Tuesday, Galion on Thursday and Ontario on Saturday.

Bechtel says they need to get some rest this weekend. “Three games, three league games. So, a lot of big games ahead of us. I told them to get off their legs and get some rest. We will be back in on Monday and ready for Tuesday,” he said.

Published 1/26/19

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Lucas Plays Important Game With Crestline

Lucas, the Mid-Buckeye Conference leader, hosts Crestline in a conference game on Friday night.

The Cubs hold a one game lead on Mansfield St. Peter’s, who plays Loudonville at home on Friday.

On Tuesday night, the Cubs downed Danville (64-44) in a non-conference game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says that could been a trap game for them, but they wouldn’t let it happen. “We played really good defense, in the first quarter we held them to two points. It was a pretty solid effort, I was petty happy. Sometimes Tuesday night games and traveling to Danville, they used to be in the league, a team we know is capable of beating us, kind of a trap game over there with three games in a week. We traveled over there and we played pretty well and got a win on the road, which is never easy. We had a two-hour delay at school, just a lot of outside things going on. We went over there are were focused,” he said.

Lucas (9-3,6-0) is at home for Crestline (5-8,2-4) on Friday night. The Bulldogs have won four of their last five, including a (59-57) win over Loudonville in a league game last Friday. Lucas beat Crestline (68-46) on December 14.

However, Iceman says Crestline is much improved and that is what he expected. “We knew all along they had some talent. They have a new coach over there in (Tyler) Sanders, a guy I really like and respect and knew he would do well. It took him a little bit to get things rolling. I was more surprised by the struggles they were having, it is kind of what I expected from them. It is at our place, which we definitely like. They are a very capable team and if we don’t come out and play well we will get knocked off. We had a conversation (Wednesday) about being that top dog and getting everybody’s best shot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We can’t overlook anybody. We know a lot about Clear Fork and how good of a team they are, but we can’t overlook Crestline on Friday night and lose that one game lead we have in the league. We need to go out and take care of business Friday night.”

Lucas travels to Clear Fork (12-2,) the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, on Saturday night.

Iceman says this would be a huge win for them and he says this is one they can get. “Coach Bechtel has done a great job over there. They had good talent coming. You heard about their middle school program for years. Now, it seems they have like 15 kids over there that are all solid basketball players throughout the different grades. They play fast and they can just bring kids off the bench. They are similar to us, but they have a lot more depth. It could be a different kid every night that leads them in scoring. (A.J.) Blubaugh has done well for them this year. I saw Brennan South has 20 some points (Tuesday) night. Tedrow, Swainhart, you can just keep going on with the names. They have a lot of solid basketball players. They play hard and they play fast. If somebody isn’t playing well, they just move on to the next guy and odds are they are going to find five that are going to come out and make you play well. It will be a good game for us to see where we are at. We definitely can beat them though. That is the nice thing about our team. It would be nice to put it all together and come up with a big win. We know if we don’t play well and come out and not be focused they will run us out of the gym,” said Iceman.

Published 1/24/19

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Lucas Getting Used to being Leader

Lucas is alone at the top of the standings in the Mid-Buckeye Conference and that is a new feeling for the basketball program.

That feels good, but it is also a little uneasy.

Coach Taylor Iceman says one plus is they will be at home at the “Cub Cave” for all of their games in the second round of the league. “We are where we want to be at this point, we got through. We are in a unique situation where we played everybody on the road the first time and we have everybody coming to our place the second round. We have an advantage being at our place. We just have to continue to improve and go out and take care of business,” he said.

Lucas (7-3,5-0) hosts Mansfield Christian (2-11,0-5) on Friday night. The Cubs overwhelmed the Flames (77-23) on December 7. However, the Flames have won two of their last three, including (62-55) Mansfield Temple Christian on Tuesday night.

Iceman says Christian is a lot better than they were in early December. A lot of their scores have been under 50 and Iceman says they prefer it that way. He says they would like to make that pace a little faster. “You can tell by just looking at the scores. When we played them, it was out first game and I want to say it was their second or third game maybe. They have a new coach. They had to replace a lot of players from last year’s group. I think they were kind of struggling to find their identity and figure out what they were going to do. Now, the Mount boy is back and playing for them, who was a player for their team last year. That gives them a little bit of offense. They are slowing the game down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “A lot of their scores have been in the 30’s and 40’s. They are keeping everything close. They have figured out how to win. They beat East Knox and Temple Christian (Tuesday) night. They are figuring things out. They have an identity now. We are going to prepare for them and hope we can speed them up and try and get it out of the 30’s and 40’s and if we do that, we will be good.”

Iceman says his players have to react well to having that bull’s eye on their backs, which is something new for a lot of them. “In years past we were the team that was kind of the underdog that could sneak up on teams and not get their best outing and they were overlooking you and you were just a “W.” That is not the case anymore going 5-0 the first time through. Everybody wants to knock us off. Everyone wants to be that team to beat the top dog. That is a cool thing to have, but also kind of a scary thing. It is not something we are used to doing, we are in that underdog role. That is all part of the change and where we are at and where we want to be. It is just another in the process of growing and becoming the program we want to be,” said Iceman.

Published 1/17/19

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Lucas Wants Good Start

Lucas has grabbed first place to itself in the Mid-Buckeye Conference and now the goal, of course, is to stay there.

That process starts with a game at Loudonville in conference play on Friday night.

Last week, the Cubs accomplished something they have been trying to do for years and that is win at Mansfield St. Peter’s. They did that with a (47-38) win after trailing by 10 in the first quarter.

Coach Taylor Iceman says the focus this week has been to follow that up with another win. “We have had those conversations this week. We said the only way we can ruin what we accomplished over there last Friday night is go out and overlook somebody here in the next few games. We learned that lesson last year we went over to Loudonville and just were not prepared and didn’t play well and lost one that we probably shouldn’t have in our eyes. The way the schedule has worked out we were playing every other night is seemed. Then we sat a week and played St. Pete’s and have had a week off after a big win like that we are kind of chomping at he bit to get back at it. So, we will go over to Loudonville and hopefully play a good game (Friday) night,” said Iceman.

Lucas (6-3,4-0) plays at Loudonville (7-4,3-1) and tied with St. Peter’s for second in the conference. They beat Kidron Central Christian (48-31) last Friday in a “MBC” game and have followed that up with two non-conference wins over Mansfield Temple Christian (71-38) on Saturday and Danville (59-41) on Tuesday.

Iceman says the Redbirds are a very good perimeter shooting team. “They have a lot of guards and a lot of guys that can shoot it. We went over and watched them play Danville the other night and they made around 13 to 15 three pointers. They have four guys that can consistently knock down jump shots. That has been a point of emphasis for our guys this week we can’t let them shoot and make three pointers. Anybody that makes that many three pointers in a game is going to be in it. I’m a big defensive guy, so definitely if we go over there and play defense I think if we are skilled enough we are going to score it just comes down to our defense. If w can keep the ball in front of us and know where shooters are at then we will have a good shot,” he said.

Defense if going to be critical on Friday night at Loudonville, according to Iceman. He says if they play strong defense they are always going to be in position to win. “We have not shot the ball real well to this point. I have a lot of guys that are very capable shooters and we have not shot the ball well at all yet. I have tried to hold our hope that that is going to come and I know it will. Small schools like Lucas, Loudonville is a small gym and a tough place to play, Mansfield Christian is a tough place to play and shoot. Defensively, everything stays the same,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Sometimes the smaller floors help you defensively. If we go over there and we are just focused in on knowing where shooters are at, communicate defensively, we will be just fine. At St. Pete’s we had that bad first quarter giving up 15 points. We were kind of caught up in the moment and eyes where not where they needed to be and we let St. Pete’s get going.”

Right at the top of the scouting report is getting off to a solid start in the game. Iceman says that is key. “A big point of emphasis (Friday) night is to come out and play well right from the start, be focused, be engaged, and not put ourselves in a hole. That would be nice. I think the last four or five games we have come out not ready to go right from the tip and put ourselves in a hole and had to play from behind. So, we are hoping for a better start and defensive engagement the entire game. If we do that and we are going to come out of our shooting slump at some point. If you put a game together where you play good defense and shoot it well, we will be in for a successful night,” he said.

Published 1/11/19

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Lucas Looking for Big Effort

The co-leaders in the Mid-Buckeye Conference square off on Friday night as Lucas takes its act to Mansfield St. Peter’s.

Both are (3-0) in conference play. Lucas has not beaten Mansfield St. Peter’s since either coach as has been at his current post.

The Cubs have lost three of their last four games overall, including a (71-62) setback to New London last Saturday in non-league play.’

Coach Taylor Iceman says they have been a little discombobulated in the last little bit. “We are not playing real great to be honest. We have played a lot of games. We have played five games in nine days with some solid teams. So, it is kind of test to see where we are at and we haven’t played very well. Our defense is what we kind of hang our hat on. We are trying to figure things out, but we are staying positive. We haven’t lost any league games and we still have everything in front of us. We know what we have on our plate for Friday night. I think we have struggled a little bit, but I think we are excited about the opportunity to figure things out and what a better game to go in and figure things out and send us on the way for this second half,” he said.

Lucas (5-3,3-0) is at Mansfield St. Peter’s (5-3,3-0) on Friday night in an important league game. St. Peter’s beat Cleveland Lincoln West (86-46) last Thursday, but they lost to Berlin Hiland (46-35) on Friday.

Iceman says the Spartans approach has been almost the same, but their personnel is a little different. “They are playing hard. There are a lot of similarities they just don’t have the big scorers they have had in the past, so that is nice from a defensive standpoint. They only play five guys. They have a couple of guys that come off the bench, but they don’t play a whole lot. We are going to try and take advantage of that. We like to play fast and attack the rim. With our smaller lineup we are going to try and take advantage of mismatches and try and attack. Hopefully, get them in some foul trouble. It is never and easy place to go over there and play. We seem to struggle over there and they seem to play well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are top dog in the “MBC” and it has been that way for quite a while. So, until somebody else does something about it they are the team to beat. We definitely know our potential and our capabilities and we are just trying to figure out how to get everybody to mesh together and put four quarters together and we haven’t done that yet to this point. Here in the last few games we have struggled in the first quarter and put ourselves in holes and had to play from behind. That is something we can’t do, especially with pretty good teams and St. Pete’s is a solid team.”

Iceman says it is going to be important to be able to adapt and find a way to get the ball to the player that is hot and let him put the ball in the basket. “We have got the guys to do that, but we are trying to figure things out. We have got six solid players kind of spanning three different grades. I have three guys that have played together and I have two guys played together. Jeb Grover has kind of been they catalyst in his class. Everybody is trying to feel everybody out and it can be a challenge because on some nights Jeb might be going, one night it might be Logan Niswander or another night it might be Ethan Sauder or Riley Gossom. We are trying to figure it out and fill our role as the game is going. I think we will get there. We definitely hate dropping games, by no means to we ever want to do that. If we just get back to playing extremely hard defense and I think everything else will take care of itself. It has been nice, we have had a week to practice this week to kind of slow things down and watch some film and learn. We were playing every other night it seemed like and against some pretty good teams. We are excited about this opportunity, this is a big game,” said Iceman.

Published 1/04/19

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Defense and Rebounding for Lucas

Lucas and South Central match unbeaten records as the Cubs visit South Central for a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

After wins last week over Crestline (68-46) in Mid-Buckeye Conference play on Friday and Hillsdale (66-43) on Saturday in a non-conference game, the Cubs has won all four other games so far.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they understand this is going to be toughest test of the season so far. “We have very high expectations this season. To this point we have kind of done what we thought we were supposed to do. We have beaten some teams we thought we were supposed to beat and we have played fairly well at times. We knew South Central was going to be really good this year and we kind have this one circled as a good early test here. It is a non-conference game and an early one. They are in our district and if you get this win you kind of have that head to head in the bag when you go to the tournament draw. It’s a big one, but it’s still early, but it’s a big game. I told our kids to look forward to games like this. These are fun ones to have. We are looking forward to heading over the South Central,” he said.

Iceman says the Trojans (5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, have a lot of weapons they can throw at you in a game. “They have a lot of good athletes. Simon Blair is a great basketball player. He can do a lot of things. He is probably one of the better scorers in the area, so he is always a tough guard. The (Isaiah) Seidel kid shoots the ball very well. They have some size inside with (David) Lamoreaux and some good role players to go along with those guys. They are similar to us a small school that had a really good football season with a lot of the same kids as they come onto the basketball court and they are having some success there as well. It is cool to see two small schools like Lucas and South Central kind of getting some spotlight here with two unbeaten teams and two similar communities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We know it is going to be a good one. We are excited about it. You look forward to these good games. Sometimes when you have the games you are supposed to win it is hard because you don’t have a whole lot to gain from it. If you don’t play well you could possibly loose and if you don’t win by enough, then everybody says you didn’t beat them bad enough. It is early enough where not everything would lost if we lose. You get to see where you are at and move forward.”

Lucas (4-0), #5 in our poll, has been able to score and Iceman feel like if they can play solid defense they are going to be right there. “With us always it is defense. We played them down here last year and played pretty good defense and then rebounding. They shoot the ball really well and in order to beat them you have to have them not shoot real well. If they are not shooting well then they are missing you have to close our the defensive possession by getting the rebound and then valuing the ball on the other end. We have played really good defense and created a lot of turnovers and that has led to a lot of our offense. Good teams aren’t going to turn the ball over as much and that is going to limit our opportunities, so we are going to have to value the ball in the half court and not turn if over. Ultimately, if we play defense we will be fine. We have enough athletes and scorers that we think if we can play good, solid defense and rebound the ball we are going to be a tough out for anybody,” said Iceman.

Published 12/18/18

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Lucas Confident in Itself

Lucas, starting the season last week with two wins, has two more games this weekend as they play at Crestline in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday and host Hillsdale in non-conference play on Saturday.

Starting a week late, Lucas blew out Mansfield Christian (77-23) in their opener, both overall and in league play, on Friday and then handled Crestview (76-61) in a Saturday non-conference game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says once they got their engine going they were able to play some petty good basketball. “We got two wins, which was great. Friday night against Mansfield Christian it was our first night out. We come out a little slow, but then we got things going. It is a challenging place to play other there in the smaller gym, especially with what we want to do. We want to push the tempo and create turnovers and stuff like that. We came out kind of slow and not really moving the ball and dribbled too much. I think we had everybody wanting to be the guy that was going to get us going,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It took us a little to get going, but when we did we found our stride and we played pretty well for three quarters that night. Then played pretty well against Crestview, not our best outing, but again it was just game two, I have to remind myself of that, and we did a lot of good things.”

Logan Niswander has a huge weekend for the Cubs. He had 36 against the Flames and 35 on Crestview.

Lucas (2-0,1-0) is at Crestline (1-3,0-1) on Friday night. The Bulldogs beat Ridgeway Ridgemont (72-56) in their last outing on Saturday night. They lost their league opener (66-49) to Loudonville last Friday.

Iceman says Crestline has some guys that can play, led by senior Ty Clark. “They have a few guys back. Ty Clark, I think this is like year 12 for him, it seems like over there. He plays hard. He is underneath the basket, rebounds and scores well around the basket. The Ronk kid is a very good shooter and scorer. We have to keep track of him. Then Max Anatra kind of sets the table for them as their point guard. They have a couple of other new kids that are in the starting lineup this year. So, we will deal with them the best we can,” he said.

However, this week, and all year really, Iceman wants his players concentrate on what they do on the court and getting better at that. “We have kind of went with the approach this year that we are not going to so much worry about the opponent. Obviously, we are going to do a scouting report where we talk about things. We feel that if we come out and play to our capabilities at one pace and one speed there are not too many teams that should be able to hang with us throughout the course of a four quarter game. Again, it is all about us if we come out and play like we are capable we should be fine, but Crestline is good enough to beat us,” said Iceman.

Published 12/14/18

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Lucas Can be Pretty Good

Lucas has been building to this season and this is a winter the Cubs just might be one of the better small school basketball teams in North Central Ohio.

After not playing the first weekend, Lucas travels to Mansfield Christian for a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday and hosts Crestview for a non-conference game on Saturday.

The late start was due to a very successful football season and coach Taylor Iceman, also an assistant football coach, says they are going to get things going. “I am part of the football staff. It is a problem that I am willing to deal with. As soon as you flip over to basketball from football it becomes an issue. At Lucas, it’s small school, it is a lot of the same kids. The first thing is getting them in basketball shape. They all think they are in shape from football and you get into the gym and it is completely different and they are huffing and puffing. Fortunately, I have a lot of kids back,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “So, as far as our offense and defense and terminology and stuff like that it is all just kind of a refresher. We have had some kids nicked up from football, so we are dealing with that. Taking our time getting our kids back and getting them in shape, but at the same time doing it just a couple of weeks’ time. We had some scrimmages cancelled, we were still playing football, so we couldn’t go do that. We were able to get a couple of scrimmages in, so that has been good to just go against somebody different. We are excited and ready to go. We have high expectations this year, so we are going to ease into it.”

Lucas is one of the favorites for the Mid-Buckeye Conference title. Iceman says he has been honest with the players about expectations. “As a coach you set and you think do I not want play that card, do I not want to tell my kids what the expectations are? How good we could possibly be? How do you go about that? I have just been completely honest. We have got good talent this year. We have a lot of kids back. In year’s past we had to outwork everybody to have a chance to be in games and now we have talent. If we outwork everybody and have talent that is where special teams are made. It’s getting our kids back into basketball shape and just working hard and making those good habits. We jump right into it this week with Mansfield Christian with a new coach and a lot of new kids. We don’t know a ton about them. We are going to worry about Lucas and come out and just play our style of basketball. I think if we come out and play like we are capable everything will take care of itself. That being said, you have to go out and do that,” said Iceman.

Mansfield Christian (0-2) lost twice on the opening weekend. They lost to (71-22) to Colonel Crawford and (67-45) to Toledo Woodward. Iceman says they have kind of an inexperienced lineup. “We were really familiar with Mansfield Christian and coach (John) Kurtz. We played a lot of summer basketball against those guys. We saw them playing them three times last year. You kind of knew what to expect. A new coach, a lot of new players. Going in and doing what we do is all we can do. We will adjust to what they do. We feel like if we come out and play like we are capable it doesn’t matter who we play. That has been one of my points of emphasis, we can’t play to our opponent’s level, whether it be the best team on our schedule or the weakest team on out schedule. If we just play like we are capable. We are going to be successful most nights,” he said.

Published 12/03/18

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Lucas Working on Improving its Defense

Lucas opened the girls’ basketball season with a win and they are looking to make it two in a row as they visit Crestview for a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

The Lady Cubs (1-0) downed Danbury Lakeside (51-33) on Saturday night and after a bit of a slow start coach Kathy Grover says they played some pretty good basketball against the Lady Lakers. “I was very happy with our effort and our hustle. We had some really good defense. Offensively, we had some peaks and some valleys there. After a time out or two we got refocused and things pretty much went our way,” she said.

Grover says they, of course, still need to get better. She says they were working Monday on a lot of defensive technique. “(Monday) night we worked on closing out a little bit better and sealing off the baseline. We are worried about Crestview driving to the rim on us, so we wanted to control a little bit more of that,” said Grover.

Crestview (0-1) lost to Cardington (69-51) last Friday in their first game. Grover says the players know each other pretty well and it should be a competitive contest on Tuesday night. “We went to see them on Friday, Crestview was at Cardington. The beauty of it is their junior class and our junior class had a real battle back in the day when they were in the middle school,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “So, they know each other quite well. We are pretty excited about our chances.”

Published 11/27/18

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Lucas Must Get Past Trimble

For Lucas to advance to its first ever state semifinal they are going to have to beat the school that eliminated them last year.

They face Gloster Trimble in a division seven regional final on Saturday night at Hamilton Township Alumni Stadium, just south of Columbus.

Trimble beat the Cubs (20-19) in a first round game at Lucas in 2017.

Last Saturday, Lucas drilled Waterford (33-14) in a regional semifinal in Coshocton.

Coach Scott Spitler says it was a good overall game for the Cubs. “I thought we came out and played well on both sides of the ball defensively and offensively and controlled the line of scrimmage. I thought in the trenches we really set the tone the entire night,” he said.

If you are into to comparing scores, and that comes with its dangers because there are so many other factors, Trimble beat Waterford (42-12) in a regular season game, so same sort of differential there.

Like all Lucas (10-2) games, Spitler says the line of scrimmage is going to be important. “We want to establish our run game and defensively we want to make teams one dimensional by not allowing them to run the ball. If we can get them in obvious passing situations, which makes our athleticism in the secondary dangerous,” he said.

After the heartbreaking loss last year, Spitler says they thought they might get another chance against the Tomcats this fall in the playoffs. “We are pretty familiar with them. They beat us 20-19 at our place in a first round match-up in the playoffs last year. They were primarily sophomores and juniors. I think if you would have asked both teams after that game last year with the amount of respect we have for them and vice versa both teams probably expected to be in this situation this year with the experience they had coming back. We know what kind of team they are they are very physical, hard nosed, with lots of tradition. It is a tremendous program, well coached. They get after you and they hang their hat on playing very solid defense and running the football just like we do,” said Spitler.

Trimble (11-1) handed Harvest Prep a (7-0) loss in their regional semifinal last Saturday. The Tomcats have an incredible nine shutouts this season, including their last six games and they have only given up 40 points in 12 games this season, that is a little more than field goal a game.

Spitler says to move it against Trimble you must sustain blocks or you are going to be punting a lot. “The big thing is the battle is going to be won in he trenches for both teams. They are a double tight wishbone team. We’re a double tight wing team. We both want to run the football and we both want to play good defense. I think the biggest thing with these guys because they are so athletic and so relentless going to the football is you have to sustain blocks and you have to be rule sound up front and you have to take care of the football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You can’t take a team like this an give them extra possessions because they are so good defensively. You have to understand that it is going to be a battle for four quarters. There is going to be ups and downs and adversity. You just have to keep plugging and keep plugging.”

Spitler says the purposely built their schedule this year with teams like Lima Central Catholic (which they beat 21-14) to make them ready for a game like this. “That is kind of our mindset. We knew what type of team we were going to have coming back experience wise. I think we challenged ourselves with our schedule this season to get ourselves ready for a postseason run. We played the teams that we played on our schedule so we could get ready for a quality team like Trimble. We’d like to think that playing games like Lima Central Catholic and the D-3 and D-4 schools that we had on our schedule this season that we are prepared for a four quarter, physical battle like we are going to get from Trimble this Saturday,” said Spitler.

Published 11/13/18

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Lucas Takes on Solid Waterford

Lucas faces Waterford in a division seven regional semifinal on Saturday night at Coshocton High School.

The Cubs (9-2) routed Hannibal River (42-0) last Saturday in a game that was played at Ram Field at Madison High School, their first playoff win in three years.

Coach Scott Spitler says they came out ready to play. He says there was no letdown against a team they had beaten (62-6) two weeks earlier. “I think the first round exit the last two years in the playoffs by one and two points respectively the kids didn’t want to let one slip away from them in the first week. So, they had a good week of practice and it showed in the game,” he said.

Waterford (9-2) handled Berne Union (34-14) last week. Spitler says they are led by quarterback Peyton Stevens, who accounted for five scores last week, and running back Brandon Bellville. “There are a lot of similarities to ourselves. They have an All-Ohio running back that has nice size 6’2”, 205, 210. They have a duel threat quarterback that is 6’3”, 215, who is tough as nails, he also plays down defensive end for them on the defense, so a guy with a lot of toughness and attitude and he extends plays for them because of how big he is and he has an arm that can make all of the throws,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Defensively, they get after you very similar to the way Centerburg gets after you with just relentless effort and pursuit. They like to run the ball. They do it out of multiple formation. One minute they could be in wishbone and the next minute they could be in four wides. So, they stress you that way. Make no bones about it they want to control the line of scrimmage just like we do.”

Lucas has allowed only two scores when the game has been in question the last month, both to Lima Central Catholic, and Spitler has confidence that that group can do the job on Saturday too. “Here in the second half of the season we have actually gotten healthy defensively and gotten people back into their normal positions. Being able to play solid defense these last five or six weeks is a testament to the kids getting back into being comfortable in their positions and our defensive staff did a nice job. Waterford is going to stress us quite a bit at the line of scrimmage and then with their formations. What makes their quarterback so tough when you think have got him in the grasp in the backfield he slips out and their wide receivers are good in finding the open area in the scramble drill. So, are defensive secondary has to do a nice job with not getting too nosy in the backfield and staying on their receivers,” said Spitler.

Published 11/08/18

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Lucas is the Top Seed in Their Region

Lucas is riding pretty high right now as they last Saturday produced one of the biggest regular season wins in program history and they are going to carry that momentum into the postseason where they are the number one seed in their division seven region.

They host Hannibal River for the second time three weeks at Bob Wine Field in a regional quarterfinal in division seven on Saturday night.

Last Saturday, they rallied with some big plays in the second half to get past previously unbeaten Lima Central Catholic (21-14) in a non conference game.

Coach Scott Spitler says it was a statement game for them. “When you are trying to build a program like we are working towards at Lucas you are trying to get the type of success that a program kike Lima Central Catholic has. So, being able to go over to their house and get a solid victory against a quality opponent with a lot of success, they were undefeated at the time, they were at the top of their region last year, and just a tremendous tradition for football, to go in and play on their turf and come away with a victory is just a testament to how hard our kids work,” said Spitler.

Lucas trailed (14-6) at the half, but they got a big play in their special teams in the second half and Spitler says their defense was outstanding all night long against the Thunderbirds. “It was back and forth. You had two teams that wanted to establish the line of scrimmage and run the football. We are a more off tackle, between the tackles team and they are more edges and stretch you in space type run team. It was a unique battle and I’ll tell you what our defense came to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “The defense only gave up seven points on the night. We had a kickoff return that we gave up, that’s how they got their 14 points. Our defense played lights out. We had a tremendous special teams play by Kaiden Thomas, where he blocked a punt and scooped it and scored. That was the deciding score to give us the victory.”

If you are thinking, didn’t Lucas just play Hannibal River? You would be right, in fact 10 days ago, with the Cubs winning (62-6) in a game that was (48-0) at the half.

Spitler says the teams certainly know each other. “I think both teams know each other really well. That is the one thing when you play somebody and you get familiar with them is you just can’t take things for granted because each team knows each other so well you know it is going to be a difficult battle when you playing somebody three times. This is the third time we will be playing them. It’s 1-1, they got us last year and we got them in the regular season this year. I am glad we are at home and they have to come to us, but they are well coached and we expect a good game from them,” he said.

Spitler says considering the results the last two weeks it will be his job to keep the players focused. “I think you look throughout sports and anytime a team comes away with a signature win like we did last Saturday against a good program and you are riding that high and you have a team that you beat the week before you really have to make sure as a coach that you get the kids grounded and they understand that football is a funny game and a fickle sport and it can change on a play here and there. It’s going to be a battle and if we don’t prepare you never know,” he said.

Published 10/29/18

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Lucas Plays Undefeated Lima Central Catholic

Lucas does not back away from anyone and they are facing a very good opponent on Saturday night as they travel to Lima to face the Central Catholic Thunderbirds.

“LCC” is unbeaten on the season and has only played one division seven school all season in Delphos St. John’s and that has been their closest game of the season a (20-10) win for the Thunderbirds.

The Cubs destroyed Hannibal River (62-6) last week in game that was (48-0) at the half. Coach Scott Spitler says they got started right away. “I thought the kids came out right from the opening kickoff and established what we wanted to do on both sides of the football. That is kind of what we have been stressing for several weeks now to continue to grow each week and get better and win the week 1-0. I thought we came out and established the line of scrimmage more importantly on both sides of the football right away and kind of took them out of the game immediately,” he said.

Spitler is proud of the tradition they are building at Lucas and he says they want to continue to do so with games like this one. “You can see from our schedule that it has been a schedule that that we have challenged our kids on a week in and week out basis. The last time I looked we were considered to have the sixth toughest schedule in all of D-7. It is what we are trying to do as a program. We are constantly striving the better our program. This is just another opportunity for our kids to challenge ourselves and have an opportunity to prove themselves against a quality, tradition rich program,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They were 10-2 last year and made a deep run in the playoffs and here they are 8-0 this year and number one in their region in D-6. So, we are going to have our hands full and it is going to be a tremendous challenge, but this is what we are working towards. Everybody in our program is working to become the kind of team and program that they are and have the tradition that they have. To do that you have to play good teams like this.”

Lucas (7-2) has already clinched a home playoff game.

Lima Central Catholic (8-0) beat Troy Christian (48-0) last week. Lucas had beat the same team (34-28) earlier in the year.

Spitler says the Thunderbirds have athleticism all over. “They have tremendous speed and athleticism on the offensive side of the ball. They just stretch you from their spread, wing-T offense. They want to run and establish the jet sweep and get to the edges quickly and put your defense in space. Just the thing that jumps off the film is the tremendous speed they have in every facet of the game. We have to be disciplined, they give you a lot of multiple formations and we have to do well tackling in space defensively. Anytime you are playing a tradition rich an quality football team like this you have to take care of the football. You can’t give them extra possessions. We just have to come out and try and establish our game and play our game and not get into the track meet that they want to get into on their turf over there,” said Spitler.

Published 10/24/18

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Lucas Welcomes Rival Hannibal River

Lucas hosts a team Saturday that they sort of owe something too.

Hannibal River, one of only two teams to beat the Cubs in the regular season last year comes to town with similar plans in mind. The Pilots used the win last year to vault into the playoffs. They stand ninth, or one spot out of the post season coming in this year.

Lucas earned a fifth straight division seven playoff appearance with a (40-6) win over visiting Cincinnati Aiken last Saturday.

Coach Scott Spitler says their line was able to control the line of scrimmage. “We had challenged them two weeks in a row against wo D-4 teams in Harrison Central and Aiken about coming out and being extremely physical and controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. I thought our linemen did that. When they do their jobs of the guys we have in our skilled positions get an opportunity to do theirs. It was just a great team effort. We got another victory and clinched our fifth straight playoff appearance,” he said.

With no league title to win, and the playoffs already wrapped up, Spitler says they want to be home for week 11. “Our mindset is to go 1-0 each week. Going 1-0 this week we give us an opportunity to host a playoff game. That is the next rung in the ladder so to speak for our kid’s goals. Then add to it a very good Hannibal River team that we have developed a little bit of a rivalry with,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “In a very tight game that we lost last year down at their place propelled them into the playoffs and they have an opportunity again this year. If they can come up to our place and knock us off they are going to put themselves in the playoff picture again. We have plenty of things to keep our focus this week.”

River beat Lucas (30-27) last year at their place.

Lucas (6-2) is at home River (4-4) on Saturday. The Pilots beat Crestline (42-7) last Friday at Crestline, so they are used to making the trip to the Mansfield area. They have won three of their last four, three of their four losses come to teams with at least six wins.

Spitler says like last year this is a very good team that likes to play power football. “From last year they lost a couple of All-Ohio football players to graduation, but they return a really good nucleus in the backfield, the Dennis twins, Carter and Hunter, are physical runners, and Michael Johnson, is their speedster. So, they have kind of a run game by committee. They run power “I” double tight. They are big and physical up front and a very hard nosed team that plays great defense led by Hunter Dennis at MIC linebacker. It is going to be a good old fashion high school football with two teams that want to play physical football,” said Spitler.

Published 10/16/18

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Lucas Entertains Athletic Cincinnati Aiken

Lucas plays at home on Saturday night against another bigger school in division four Cincinnati Aiken in a non-conference game.

The Cubs control their own destiny as they set in third place in their division seven computer region.

Last Friday, they beat Harrison Central (55-20) and coach Scott Spitler thought the beginning of the game was key for them. “I just thought the guys did a nice job from the get go establishing the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. They played really physical football. I think we caught them right at the get go coming out of the gate before they know what hit them and we kept it on strong for the entire game. Just really controlled the line of scrimmage,” said Spitler.

Lucas running back Jeb Grover had 350 yards rushing and six scores last week. In the process he became the Cubs all time leading rusher. “Every bit the football player he is even more so the character of young man he is. He is a great example to our younger players. He is a great leader on our team and he is great in the classroom. A high character guy and we are glad he is on our team,” said Spitler.

Lucas (5-2) hosts Cincinnati Aiken (5-2) on Saturday night at Bob Wine Field. Aiken has a three game winning streak in hand, including a (48-7) win over Grant County, Kentucky last week.

Spitler says they are big and fast. “They are very similar to Columbus Centennial. They are big up front. They have a couple of 300 pounders on the offensive line. One at 6’6”, 300 at left tackle and the right guard is 6’2”, 340, and then speed at every skilled position. They return their top receiver, their quarterback, and top running back that accounted for 30 some touchdowns for them last year in their 8-2 season. Very similar to Centennial they stretch you in space,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “You have to do a good job of tackling in space and keeping things in front of you. Defensively, they are extremely aggressive. Their defense is based on blitzing and stunting and creating chaos and letting their athletes make plays.”

Centennial is one of two schools to beat Lucas this year (51-36) three weeks ago.

Spitler says they have to be disciplined on defense to be able to contain the Falcons. “They are a multiple spread pistol offense. So, defensively, we have to make sure we have no misalignments otherwise that compounds their athleticism. We have to communicate through they tendencies and things they do out of different formations. We have to have pre-snap reads to put ourselves in good situations when we are in that open space. We have to run our feet and make good tackles,” he said.

Published 10/11/18

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Lucas Playing Another Athletic Team

Lucas jumps up three divisions to play Harrison Central at Bob Wine Field on Friday night in a non-conference game.

Last week, they hammered Crestline (48-0) to remain in a solid third place in their division seven computer region.

Coach Scott Spitler says they came out last week with the right attitude. “I thought we came out and played a pretty good game for four quarters. Offensively, we were able to sustain drives. We didn’t have to punt at all on Friday night. Defensively, we were able to make sure we didn’t allow their playmakers to hit the big play on us. Special teams were pretty solid. We got a lot of younger kids some playing time in the second half. So, a good week in all,” said Spitler.

They had been beaten the week before by Columbus Centennial (51-36,) but Spitler says his kids have been really good at responding this fall. “I think that is a testament to the type of kids we have and their buy in each week to being its own little season so to speak. Our focus each week is to go 1-0 that week and once that week is over it is over you can’t go back and change it, learn from it and work to get better each day. Go 1-0 the following week and that has kind of been our mindset each week,” he said.

Lucas (4-2) hosts Harrison Central (1-5) on Friday night. The Huskies have lost to three (6-0) teams in Sugarcreek Garaway (40-14,) Bellaire (14-7) and St. Clairsville (49-6) this season.

Spitler says don’t be fooled this a good team. “I think if a person was just looking at their record they would assume they are an average to below average team, but five of the teams they have played have a combined record of 26-1 at the division four level. They have played a very tough schedule to start the season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are very athletic and have good size, tremendous skill and speed. They have an All-Ohio running back in Tyler West, who is a danger that can take it to the house on any given play. Defensively, they get after you.”

Lucas is known for scheduling up and Spitler says they will be ready. “Playing up one division is always a tall task, but playing up from seven to four we have our hands full. We won’t use that as an excuse. This is the kind of program we are trying to build and want to become that we can play week in and week out with teams and the quality of opponent of a Harrison Central. So, although it is going to be a tremendous challenge it also presents a tremendous opportunity. I like where our kids’ minds are at. It is about us going out and playing the best football we can play,” said Spitler.

Published 10/03/18

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Lucas Needs Best Effort Versus Crestline

Lucas hosts one of the few teams on their schedule from the North Central Ohio area on Friday night as they play the Crestline Bulldogs.

Danville, Centerburg and Northmor, all of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, are the others that fall within a 75 mile radius of the Richland County village.

The Cubs (3-2) lost for just the second time this season when Columbus Centennial outscored them (51-36) at Bob Wine Field.

In that game, Jeb Grover, the Cubs potent running back and leading tackler was injured, but coach Scott Spitler expects him to suit up Friday night. “It looks like he will be ready to go on (Friday.) It will be a game time decision. He was at practice on (Thursday) and looked good, so we expect him to have a role (Friday) night,” he said.

Crestline (2-3) beat Gates Mills Hawken (59-7) last week.

Spitler says they have some gamebreakers that they will have to deal with this week. “They have quite a bit of experience coming back from last year’s team. They were junior dominated last year. They have a nice backfield with Ty Clark and Caleb Moore and Dakota Wireman, those are two real hard running running backs. Typically, with Crestline they are big up front led by their senior center Tommy Hale, who is 6’4”, 6’5”, 300 pounds. I think what it is for us every week it is controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football, play mistake free, and don’t turn the ball over,” said Spitler.

The double wing, double tight is a surprise to some teams, but Crestline is well away of what the Cubs do on offense. Spitler says the Bulldogs will be prepared. “Coach Sipes and the Bulldogs have been playing good football. He done a nice job even with the roster limitations and stuff he has them well prepared and they play extremely hard for him. We have taken the mindset all week that we are going to get on a week in week out basis everyone’s best effort and I expect nothing different from Crestline,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are going to give us the best game they have played this season. That is the way we have to come out and play (Friday) night as well. We have been focused all week going 1-0 (Friday) night. That is our mindset.”

Published 9/28/18

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Lucas Facing Tremendous Speed

Lucas, a division seven school, hosts division three Columbus Centennial out of the Columbus City League, in a non-conference football game at Bob Wine Field on Friday night in the beginning of a five game home stand for the Cubs.

Last week, Lucas took the two hour plus bus ride to Troy, north of Dayton, and came home with a (34-28) win over Troy Christian.

Coach Scott Spitler says that made the bus ride home seem a little shorter. “Anytime you can go on the road against an undefeated team in their house and get a victory you will take it,” he said.

Lucas had suffered its first loss of the season (36-16) to Northmor the week before and Spitler says they were committed to playing better football last week. “You just have to approach it week to week and fix and learn from the week before and hope that you are playing better ball this week,” he said.

The Centennial Stars (2-2) have been shutout twice, including last week by Columbus Northland (35-0,) but they also have two wins in which they scored more than 45 points in each game in beating Columbus West (53-6) on week two and Columbus Africentric (47-16) on week three, both of those schools are winless on the season.

Spitler says the Stars have some sprinters on their team capable of big plays. “We are going to have our hands full. They are a bigger school being D-3. Their athletes show it with a lot of speed and a lot of size. We are definitely going to have to be disciplined and play well in the open field against these guys,” he said.

Lucas beat Centennial (51-28) when they played them in C-Bus last season.

Spitler says they have to be sure tacklers because if they don’t Centennial is going to take it to the house. “As soon as I put the first film on that we got in our exchange they take the opening kickoff in the game film to the house for a touchdown and that is ability that these kids have from Centennial,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are just so athletic and so fast that any little crack in your defense, any misalignment, any missed tackle in the open field and it is not a big gain it’s a touchdown.”

Published 9/21/18

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Lucas Has to Get Back to Consistency

Lucas has built its reputation in part by being a consistent football team and they were not that last week and it cost them. They have to return to that mode.

They play at Troy Christian (3-0) down in Miami County, in southwest Ohio on Friday night.

Northmor beat them (36-16) last week and coach Scott Spitler says they just made too many mistakes, especially in the red zone. “Like I said earlier last week that Northmor was a little more dangerous than they were the year before because of how diverse they were offensively. They have more weapons. Their quarterback does a nice job. They have a tremendous running back and they are really solid up front and defensively they play solid football. Against good football teams like Northmor, teams with experience, you can’t be as inconsistent as we were last Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We would follow up a good play with a mistake or a misalignment. Those types of things will come back and bite you in the butt, so to speak, at the wrong times in the game. We got inside the 10 three times and come away with no points and we are in the red zone a couple of more times with no points. You can’t do that against good football teams. Not taking anything away from them because they are a good football team. You can’t have that rollercoaster of inconsistency. You have got to be on point on every down.”

Lucas plays a tough schedule for a division seven school and Spitler says they have to be on the top of their game every week. “Our schedule is not one where you can have that type of inconsistency or have those mistakes. We are playing a pretty darn good schedule and Northmor is a quality team and we just made too many mistakes against a quality opponent,” he said.

Troy Christian has scored more than 40 points twice this season. The Eagles beat Dayton Northridge (28-14) last Friday. Now, Lucas beat them (50-12) last season at Lucas.

Spitler says they have a lot of weapons. “They return several starters on both sides of the ball from last year’s team. They are very skilled on offense. They attack you in so many different ways. They have a nice big offensive line. They want to establish their fullback and their run game. Then they stretch you on the edges with their wingbacks and their wideouts. They have a senior starting quarterback that runs the show. They do it with a no huddle tempo that also adds another piece to it. Defensively, they come at you aggressive and we have to got to match that. We have a trip over there to play in their house against a good football team that started the season 3-0. We have to be on point and we can’t make any excuses. Week in and week out if you are looking for excuses you will find one, so we just have to take care of Lucas and make sure Lucas is playing better football than we played last week,” said Spitler.

Published 9/11/18

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Lucas Faces Balanced, Talented Northmor

Lucas plays at Northmor in battle between two small schools with playoffs aspirations on Friday night in non-conference action.

The Cubs added to their week one win over Danville (22-0) by beating Centerburg (42-14) at Bob Wine Field last Friday.

That is a lot of good football, but coach Scott Spitler says they haven’t played a perfect game yet. “For the most part I think we are making progress from preseason to week one and week one to week two. We still have a lot of things we can continue to get better at. I guess I would be a little bit more concerned if we were perfect to begin with at this juncture of the season. We want to continue to get better each week and be playing your best ball at the end of the season because that means you are progressing and the kids are getting better on a daily basis,” he said.

Consistency is a big part of football and high school sports and Spitler says they can still improve when it comes to that aspect of the game. “I think there are times this last couple of games where I thought we stalled ourselves on some drives with some silly penalties. Sometimes when you are playing hard you are going to get some aggressive penalties, but the silly penalties that stop drives we have to clean that up. Then we have had a few missed assignments and stuff on the defensive side of the ball that you can’t have when you play the types of teams we play on our schedule,” he said.

Northmor (2-0) has pilled up the points in the first two weeks of the season. They have wins over Marion Elgin (47-36) and Worthington Christian (48-26) so far. Northmor was one of two teams to beat the Cubs (26-7) during last year’s regular season.

Spitler thinks the Golden Knights might be tougher to defend this year. “We have had a chance to see them in one of their scrimmages. We have seen film of them now in our film exchange with them. Coach Armrose really has that program headed in the right direction. Their numbers are up, they are big and physical. I actually think they are more dangerous this year because they have so many more individuals involved on offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Last year, they had a tremendous athlete at quarterback in Johnson. In being forced to replace him they are forced to use a group of people. I think they have great skill at the wideout position, they have a big physical tight end. They have a real slasher at running back. I think he had over 200 yards and six touchdowns in their first game of the season. I really like the athlete they have a quarterback this year. He has a nice arm and he does a nice job in their passing game. Up front they are just big and athletic. Defensively, they are really impressive in the way they get after the ball.”

Published 9/05/18

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Athletic Centerburg Next for Lucas

After beating Danville for the first time ins 25 years it is on to the next challenge for the Lucas Cubs.

They host Centerburg (1-0) at Bob Wine Field on Friday night.

The Cubs handled their arch nemesis in Danville (22-0) last week, but coach Scott Spitler says they were far from perfect in the game. “We are definitely excited to start the season 1-0, but after watching the film we were far from perfect. We had a lot of things that we had to clean up this week and hopefully we have done a good job of that. We can’t have the penalties and the missed assignments that we had Friday night on week two against a good Centerburg team,” he said.

There was a lot be excited about last week, but Spitler says they had a full agenda when it comes to things they needed to work on in practice this week too. “It is definitely a lot better week coming off a win a fixing those things than the other side of that coin. Our kids are very cognoscente of what they expect of themselves. We just had a couple of lost yardage plays late that stopped a drive that was in the red zone that should have been a score. We had back to back touchdown passes called back in the third quarter that should have been scores. I just thought things got a little sloppy at times for us. They were self inflicted things with some penalties and missed assignment type things that you have to clean up with the type of schedule we play.”

Centerburg beat Utica (28-14) in a non-conference game on week one of the season and they appear to be back on track after a down season a year ago.

Spitler says they are blessed with a lot of athletes the Cubs will have to contain in order to win this time out. “They are a very talented team. As usual they play tremendous defense. They are fast and get several bodies to the ball every down. They created and covered four turnovers to lead them that 28-14 victory. We are going to have our hands full with a very athletic and aggressive defense. Then offensively their skill at the quarterback, running back, and wide out positions jump off the film at you. They do a nice job in their spread offense putting you in space and force you to play good, sound football in that space,” said Spitler.

Published 8/31/18

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Lucas Meets Old Foe Danville

Lucas and Danville used to play each other every year in the Mid-Buckeye Conference and now they lock horns again in the opening non-conference game at Bob Wine Field in Lucas on Friday night.

They didn’t play last year, but they are back at again.

Lucas coach Scott Spitler says the Cubs have been working hard at getting better at what they do. “I think our kids are coming to work each day to get better. We saw improvement in several areas from first scrimmage to second scrimmage to our jamboree scrimmage last Friday. We have to continue to progress that way. We play a schedule where everybody on our schedule is perfectly capable of beating us. So, each week we have to take the approach where it doesn’t matter who it is we have to make sure the product we are putting on the practice field each day and we are putting on the game field on Friday night is our best. We have kind of focused on is making sure Lucas is getting better every day,” he said.

Spitler says they have great respect for the program put together by Danville coach Ed Honabarger. He says really that is where they strive to be. “I think we have a tremendous amount of respect for the program that coach Honabarger has at Danville. When you talk about the size of the community and the size of the school they are very similar to Lucas. They have the long lasting tradition and expectation of success that we are working to build in our community and our program. We have had some recent success, but we are looking to build it over years and years and years like they have established at Danville. We have a tremendous amount of respect for them and their program and the type of players and the football team that they put on the field. They have another quality team this year and it is going to be a great high school football game and we are excited about that,” said Spitler.

Spitler says Lucas fans are going to see a lot of what they are used to seeing from Danville. He says they are doing the same stuff with different players. “I just think they continue to do a nice job in their spread offense. The caliber of athletes they have in the skilled positions. They were fortunate enough they got a move in quarterback that allows them to basically pick up where the Durbin brothers left off. They are always a team that hangs their hat on very tenuous defense and this year is no different,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “All of us small coaches have to year in and year out when you lose a big class to graduation you have a few returning, but you have to have kids that are going to fill those shoes. Their expectation level and what they are able to do year in and year out that is why they are a successful program. We understand what type of team Danville is and we know we are in for a good football game and a very physical football game on Friday night.”

Published 8/21/18

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Lucas Tweaking a little… maybe

The Lucas Cubs have remained consistent to what they do and what has worked for them, they might change their approach to the game a little, but not much.

Lucas has made the playoffs the last four years under the leadership of head coach Scott Spitler.

He says he likes the work ethic he sees from this year’s bunch. “I really like the focus and the effort the kids are giving so far this summer. Really it started back in January with our off season program. The success that we have had the last few years. The kid’s expectation level is so high and higher than anyone would have of them they have set for themselves. You can see in the way they approach each day, the effort and the focus and the tenacity that they bring on a daily basis,” he said.

Lucas runs the double tight, double wing, offense and they are not going to go away from that, however, Spitler says there will be some wrinkles in that offense this year because of the personnel they have. “Well, the foundation of on our offense and defense remains the same. We always look to improve each and every season and sometimes that involves adding some wrinkles here and there. We have a really nice athlete and leader coming back at the quarterback position in Logan Niswander,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The young man was a sophomore last year. He took over the reins at quarterback in about week four. That allowed Jeb Grover to go back to his natural position at running back. He really excelled for us and he grew up quite a bit and matured and became a great leader for us. He has continued to get better this off season. When you have him and Jeb Grover back you don’t want to change a whole lot.”

Spitler is a former offensive line coach and he knows how important those guys are and he thinks they have some good players filling those positions on the roster. “The offensive line we return three guys, both guards and center, with Rylan Wallace, Alec Scott and Robert Williams, who have been three, four year starters for us. Then Blake Coffman returns at tackle, he started for us last year as a sophomore and a you have Mike Bland, who looks to take over the left tackle position. So, we are pretty solid offensively. Then we have our top three tacklers returning on defense. A big key for us is staying healthy and remaining healthy long enough to build some confidence with our younger kids,” said Spitler.

Published 8/07/18

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Lucas Gets Past Seneca East

Lucas has advanced to its third straight birth in the division four district softball final.

They beat Seneca East (4-1) in Tuesday evening’s district semifinal at Shelby High School. They will return Friday to Shelby to play Mohawk, who beat Monroeville (10-3) on Tuesday, in the district championship.

Erica Westfield was tremendous on the mound for the Lady Cubs. Veteran coach Jim Rader says she is a cool customer in pressure situations like Tuesday. “We got excellent pitching (Tuesday) night. She was surrounded by a very good supporting cast of defense. Erica has just been throwing very well for us this year. When she gets in the pitcher’s circle I think she feels very comfortable, in the zone. She has a tendency to get stronger as she goes and she pitched very well (Tuesday) night,” said Rader.

Lucas scored twice in the fifth inning and added two more in the sixth on a two run homer by Morgan Spitler. Rader says they just had to be patient. “I kept telling the girls nobody was striking out and they kept hitting the ball. I kept telling them that we are hitting the ball, we are hitting the ball. Be patient and keep doing what you are doing and they are going to start dropping and they did,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We were able to put a couple of key hits together and take advantage of a couple of miscues on their part. Then a two run homer by Morgan Spitler and that sort of set the table for us and we were able to hold on an win a good ballgame.”

This will be the third straight year Lucas and Mohawk have played each other in the district tournament at Shelby. Lucas has won the previous two, (13-6) in a semifinal in 2016 and (7-1) in the district final last spring.

Rader knows they are in for a battle come Friday. “The last two years we have faced Mohawk. Two years ago we faced them in the district semifinals and last year we played them in the district finals. So, obviously they are a very good team because they continue to repeat as we have. We are going to have our work cut out for us. We have to prepare and keep doing what we are doing and hopefully put ourselves in position again at the end to win a ballgame,” said Rader.

Published 5/16/18

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Lucas Has a Chance

Nobody has beaten Mansfield St. Peter’s this season, but the Lucas Cubs feel they have a chance in the division four district semifinals on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

Last Friday, the Cubs (15-8) made a tremendous comeback in the fourth quarter and beat Mansfield Christian (76-68) in a sectional final.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they played like they were on fire in the second half. “It was an exciting win, it was a good win for our program. We came out slow and played bad for two and a half, three quarters. I figured we would come out nervous and a little slow to start with just because it was our first tournament game and we play quite a few young guys. I didn’t think it would last as long as it did. At halftime quite a few people asked we what did you do? They were playing harder and out working us and I kind of put it on the kids and boy did they respond and gave everything they had and they were rewarded for that. It was a great win and exciting game,” said Iceman.

Mansfield St. Peter’s (24-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Monroeville (70-30) last week.

Iceman is amazed at their consistency. “They have great consistency. Obviously to go 24-0. If they are 24-0 they are pretty consistent. To go in night in and night out and always play pretty well and be able to run the table like that is impressive. Coach Jakubick does a great job with his guys. They are a good team led by two really good players and then some of their other guys have stepped up this year and stepped in and filled some holes with kids that people weren’t sure about. They are done a great job at 24-0, so…,” he said.

St. Peter’s beat Lucas twice in Mid-Buckeye Conference games (68-44) at St. Peter’s and (73-56) at Lucas.

Iceman says they were competitive in those games they just have to play at that level for 32 minutes on Tuesday night. “We can’t have the slow start we came out with the other night. We did that is both games with St. Pete’s. This year times we are showed we are extremely talented and looked the part, but we can’t have the lulls that we have had where we go scoreless or we just let a team score 20-25 points in a quarter, we can’t have that. We just have to come out and play our brand of basketball and put it together. St. Pete’s is an extremely good team, but the good thing is we played them twice and our kids know they can play with them. For the most part in those game we were in it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We had a couple of bad stretches and it got a way from us. Don’t take anything away from them they are very good at doing that and then putting games away. Our kids I think are starting to believe. We have a game plan in place and we are going to go out and try and execute that and see if we can get a district semifinal win.”

Published 3/06/18

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Lucas Faces Mansfield Christian For Third Time

It’s Lucas and Mansfield Christian, two members of the Mid-Buckeye Conference, in the division four sectional final to be played Friday night at Lexington High School.

Lucas (14-8) finished the regular season playing a lot of games unlike some other teams, Mansfield Christian for example, that did not play at all over the last week

They went 4-1 over the last two weeks, but coach Taylor Iceman says they had some times when they didn’t play well too. “Yes and no, we were up and down in the last handful of games. We looked good at times and not so good at others. It is what it is at this point. It has been nice to have some time to practice. We haven’t got to do that for a while it seems. We had some time off to get a little healthy and practice. We went over and watched Mansfield Christian play (Wednesday) night so that was kind of nice. It was nice to have some time to watch film and practice. It just seemed we were so busy playing every other night that we weren’t getting a chance to do a lot of that. With a young team practicing and watching film and learning is extremely important,” said Iceman.

During “MBC” play Lucas won both games, (49-44) at Mansfield Christian on December 8 and (51-42) at the “Cub Cave” on January 19, but that was six weeks ago and Iceman doesn’t know how relevant those wins are now. “It’s the third time around and the teams know each other. We play in that same summer league over there all summer long. The kids see each other. They know each other. We played twice and we were fortunate to win those two, but I don’t know that it means a whole lot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have played a hundred times between last season and now and I don’t know what the final tally is. We know them, they know us it is going to be a matter of who goes out and executes and takes care what they need to. If we play well and do what we should then we will be able to come away with a victory, but it won’t be easy. Jered McPeak and Kyle Kurtz are two very good players. They are capable of getting hot and taking over a game. We have to make it as tough as we can for those two and hope we can play well.”

Mansfield Christian (14-9) beat Plymouth (44-40) on Tuesday night in semifinal play to advance, rallying for four down in the fourth quarter to do it.

Iceman says you have to at least contain McPeak and Kurtz, but that is easier said than done. “Everybody has the game plan don’t let Kurtz shoot the ball and Jared McPeak wants to penetrate and get to his left hand and finish. Everybody knows it, but they continue to go out night after night and it seems Kurtz will knock down five or six three pointers and McPeak will have 25 points penetrating and finishing with his left hand. Everybody knows what you need to do to stop them, but they are really good players and it is not easy to stop them. The nice thing is we have had several opportunities and lots of shots at it and I think we are getting better and we are going to go out and do everything we can and hopefully play well and limit those two. We know they are going to score and chances are they are going to play well. We want to make it as tough on them as we can,” said Iceman.

Published 3/01/18

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Lucas a Matchup Problem

Lucas is a team that a lot of times plays five guards and that can be a matchup problem for other teams.

The Cubs (13-8) are at home for Chippewa of the Wayne County Athletic League in a non conference game on Saturday night to close the regular season.

With a small lineup, coach Taylor Iceman says the players are understanding they are a tough guard for a lot of other teams. “We have talked to our kids about that all year and try and work that out as a strength for us and not a weakness when we walk in an see the big guys and we worry about how we are going to defend them. How are they going to defend us? Last week against New London is a great example, they have a little bit of size and we came out and jumped right on them and they pretty much went away from playing their size. It was nice to say, you know, they have had success with their size and we have pretty much taken that option away just because of who we put on the floor. It was nice to see a team react to us that way,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Teams are starting to know about Lucas and what we do and they are having to make changes where in the past teams would show up and do what they do and know they are going to beat us because we are not good enough. It is good to see we are kind of getting respect. It is kind of cool.”

In the postseason tournament next week will play either Mansfield Christian or Plymouth, a school that just beat them (56-50) last Saturday, on Friday night in the division four tournament. If they win they will likely see unbeaten Mansfield St. Peter’s.

Iceman explains why they chose the St. Peter’s bracket. “Being the three seed we had to look and see do we want to be with Colonel Crawford or St. Pete’s? St. Pete’s obviously is a very good team. We have played them twice, we know them. We have played Colonel Crawford last year and I got to see them play a couple of times this year. Our thought process was we don’t matchup great with Colonel Crawford and they got some good size with Harley Shum, a tough player and they gave a little bit of size coming off the bench as well. We just didn’t like that match up. We played St. Pete’s tough both times and they are a very good team. We are not saying we are picking them because that is the easiest route, but we feel all things being said it comes down to we matchup a little better with St. Pete’s and we would like to take a third shot at them,” said Iceman.

Iceman says to win the district you are likely going to have to beat the top two seeds. “It is tough to beat a team three times. Our mindset was you probably have to get through both of them. We get to play in Lexington and it is a little closer drive for us. The past two years we had gone to Sandusky to play our sectional games, so it will be nice to be closer to home,” he said.

Published 2/23/18

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Lucas Prepping for the Tournament

Lucas wants to do some damage in the postseason tournament and if they are going to do that they are going to have to get better.

They are going to play their way into the tournament with four games remaining on their schedule, including two this weekend, hosting Loudonville in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game and Friday and Plymouth (9-10) in non-league play on Saturday.

The Cubs are coming off a (51-45) win at New London on Tuesday night.

After a four game losing streak, coach Taylor Iceman says it was nice to win again, especially on the road. “New London is a pretty solid team. We were up 16-2 or something like that and had them burn a couple of time out early, 20-10 at the end of the first. We didn’t play real great for a stretch. We got a good win over there, it is always good to win on the road. New London is a solid team, coach Howell does a good job. It was good to get back in the win column after those tuff ones we had last week,” he said.

Lucas (11-7,4-5) plays host to Loudonville (10-9,4-4) on Friday night in an “MBC” game. The Redbirds have won two in a row beating Hillsdale (53-41) on Saturday and East Knox (65-58) on Tuesday.

Loudonville also beat the Cubs the first time they played (70-66) on February 3 and Iceman says they didn’t play very well in that game. “They are a solid team. Coach Seboe does a great job. Coach Seboe was my high school coach my senior year here at Lucas, so it is always cool to go up against him. We went over there and I don’t think we were quite ready to play. They came out and played a good game and we kind of slept walked through it and lost one at the end of the game. We have a little bit of revenge on our mind. We came out and weren’t ready play, so we had the loss there,” said Iceman.

Iceman says the Redbirds have some talent that they will need to defend in order to win this time. “They have some talent with Garrett Fry, Hunter Martin, and Logan Fisher, had a good game against us last time we played. We better be awake this time. I think after those three games last week even though we didn’t win any we are a different team. It was tough losing games, but I think we also leaned a lot. We want to finish season strong and then get into the tournament rolling with some wins here at the end of the season,” he said.

Lucas dropped games to Northmor (72-65) St. Peter’s (73-56) and Clear Fork (71-61) last week.

Lucas also has Smithville and Crestline to play next week and Iceman says they want to play their way into the tournament, in which they chose the bracket of conference foe, and unbeaten, Mansfield St. Peter’s. “Having a lot of games left, most teams are either done or finishing up this weekend. We still have four games left our schedule. That little run we had last week with those teams and that would have not been a good way to end the season. Playing pretty good, but losing three games is not how you want to end things. I said it wasn’t all bad. Would got to see where we were are at. We got to see a lot of good things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “My message to the boys has been let’s take what we have learned there and apply it is some games that we probably should win. Let’s do that and go out and improve and get rolling heading into the tournament. I think it is going to work out. We still have to show up every night and play like we are capable and get to that point. Plymouth is a team we could play that first night, so we definitely want to send a message and it is nice getting to see them.”

Published 2/16/18

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Three Tough Games For Cubs

Lucas plays three games at home at the “Cub Cave” this week and total losses among those three teams is four, that’s right four.

Northmor (16-1) is there Tuesday, Mansfield St. Peter’s (19-0) on Friday for a Mid-Buckeye Conference game and Clear Fork (14-3) on Saturday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says this is going to be a true test for the Cubs. “We have our hands full this week. We play three really good teams. We just finished up with practice and I told our guys it is a great opportunity for us to see where we are at. We have eight games left, we are kind of behind as far as games go at this point. So, it is a great measuring stick and it is not a horrible time. We are not playing real great right now, but like I said we have eight games left to kind of get right and get ready for the tournament. We will have our draw this Sunday and we have three really good teams. We are just going to try and prepare as well as we can see where we are at,” said Iceman.

Northmor, #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, comes calling on Tuesday night. The Golden Knights clinched no less than a share of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference title on Friday night with a (67-45) win over Mt. Gilead.

They are three players over 6’5” plus a very athletic point guard. Iceman says they are more concerned about executing well. “Their size is concerning. They are pretty deep. They have a lot of returning starters. A lot of kids we know as we have played them the last few years. We know what we bring. We have to deal with their size and then Demetrious (Johnson) is quick and as good an athlete as there is around. We know them and it is just about going out and executing and not worrying about who we are playing and just kind of worry about us. If we play like we are capable we are capable of beating anybody on any given night. We have also shown we are capable of losing to anybody as well,” he said.

Lucas (10-4,4-4) hosts Mansfield St. Peter’s (19-0,8-0), #1 in our small school poll, on Friday night. In the first meeting, the Spartans won (68-44) on January 5.

Iceman says they have already proven they can compete with the unbeaten Spartans. “That game was kind of deceiving. We came out slow and they jumped on us. We played pretty well for a quarter and a half. Two quarters and we fought back. It was a three point game in the third quarter and we got stagnate and we didn’t play real well. Our offense wasn’t real great and then we let two pretty good players kill us. We have been preaching to our kids that we can play with St. Pete’s. Obviously, they are a very good team. We have been telling them that and then they got to actually go out and see it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “At halftime, we were down I think only five there. We let them get a bucket right at the buzzer. It was big for our kids to come out and see these guys are good. We can compete and we can play with them. That was a while ago. We need to come out and play well against Northmor and be ready to go and just go out and play well. I don’t mind losing, but if we just go out and play hard and play our game we will be in the game.”

Published 2/06/18

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Lucas Wins One; Has Two More

Lucas beat Danville (64-49) in a non conference game on Tuesday night and now they play a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night against Crestline and another non-conference game at Monroeville on Saturday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they played pretty good defense against a solid Danville team on Tuesday night. “They have some good shooters and post players and we don’t have a tone of size. They use what they have really well. They post up Skyler Durbin and Corbin Hazen inside. They have two shooters that you really can leave and it makes it a challenge, especially with our size. We had to double down on those two and get back to the shooters. We struggled a little bit in the first half, but we played a really good defense game (Tuesday) night. They are a good team and they do what they do pretty well. It was a good win for us,” said Iceman.

Mansfield St. Peter’s is the “MBC” leader and they get a lot of attention, but Iceman feel they are pretty good too. “St. Peter’s gets a lot of recognition, and deservedly so. They have kind of been the standard for our league and our area. When they beat a team like Shelby the other night it was kind of little guys against the big guys. They are a solid team. You can’t take anything away from them. We have got a solid group. We are winning games and we are doing well. When we have got guys playing well and we have guys playing defense we are a petty good team. We have Clear Fork left in our schedule, Clear Fork is having a great season down there, and St. Peter’s and Northmor. We still have our shot to go our and prove ourselves. We are having a great season and I am proud of my guys,” said Iceman.

Lucas (9-2,4-2,) in second in the “MBC” plays at home against Crestline (5-7,1-4) on Friday night. The Cubs beat the Bulldogs (70-61) on December 15. Iceman says they always expect a good game against Crestline. “We always seem to play pretty close with Crestline. When you look at their roster they have a little bit of everything. They have shooters. They have some size and they have ballhandlers. They are scary and it doesn’t seem to matter it is a good game at their place or our place every year. We have to come ready to play. We have three games this week. We started it off great (Tuesday) night with a win against a very good team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the game, “I told our guys we have to come focused and ready to go against Crestline. Then you turn right around and have to play a non-league game and travel all of the way up to Monroeville. So, we have a busy week. We can only win one at a time. Crestline will not be easy. We never look past them. They beat a pretty good Mansfield Christian team there. They are capable of knocking anyone off. They have a little bit of everything it will be tough for us.”

Published 1/24/18

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Lucas Has to Keep Shooting it

Lucas and Mansfield Christian, two of the better small school boys’ basketball teams in the area, square off in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game at Lucas on Friday night.

The Cubs won the first meeting (49-44) and this one should be just as close, if not closer.

Lucas (7-2,3-2) beat Crestview (73-64) in a non-league game on Tuesday. Coach Taylor Iceman says they played well, but not that well. “It’s a team we know pretty well. We play in a summer league over at Crestview. We know coach Spencer and all of their kids pretty well several times through the summer with them. They like to pressure and they also have a little bit of size. They changed things up and didn’t start their big man and I think helped us a little bit early. It actually gave us some problems once they inserted him and started running their offense through him. We handled their pressure well and we shot it well enough early when we were kind of sluggish and not playing real great defense. Jeb Grover, I think he made his first three three pointers in the first quarter and that kind of kept us in it and then we kind of found our grove a little bit and didn’t play real great, but did enough to win,” said Iceman.

Mansfield Christian (8-4,1-3) has played well too, especially in non-league games. They have lost to Loudonville (67-50) and Crestline (66-55) in “MBC” games.

Iceman says the Flames have talented guards that can both shoot it and get the hole. “Mansfield Christian is over there in that same summer league with us. Another team we are super familiar with playing them two times a year, possibly three with them being in our sectional. Coach Kurtz’s kids always play extremely hard. They have two really good scorers and basketball players in Kyle Kurtz and Jared McPeak. You have to know where they are ar. They always play well against us. It should be a good game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are playing well right now. The thing with them you have to know where their shooters are at and keep McPeak in front of you because he gets to the rim with that left hand as good as anybody around. Hopefully, both teams play well, so it is a good game. I think both teams have dropped a game or two that they weren’t expecting. There is that potential that we could have an off night or something like that.”

With all the guards on the floor there are going to be shooters and shots put up. Iceman says they have to rebound the misses. “Kyle Kurtz is one of the better shooters in the area. The first time around he didn’t shoot it like he was capable and also went 0-4 from the free throw line, which is kind of unheard of. I know we can’t count on that this time around. That was the second game for us and that was an early game for them as well and you were still kind of trying to feel you way into the season and the jump shots maybe aren’t there yet. Both teams are playing pretty good now and kind of in the grove of our season. I am glad we are home here, it is always better shooting on your own rims. Hopefully, we can keep up our shooting. The other night we shot well, Jeb Grover had four three pointers, I think Logan Niswander had two and Ethan Sauder had two. We have a lot of guys that are capable we have all of those guards. The last time we didn’t box out really well. When they do miss, or we miss, and secure the rebound and take advantage of that,” said Iceman.

Published 1/19/18

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Lucas Ready to Move Forward

It seems like Lucas always circles Mansfield St. Peter’s on its schedule, but after a loss last week to the unbeaten Spartans, the Cubs need to move forward.

They play at Loudonville Friday night, weather permitting, another Mid-Buckeye Conference game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they played well in spots against St. Peter’s in a (68-44) loss to the Spartans, but they have to have better shot selection than they did that night. “We came out a little slow and then had a good second quarter. In the second half, we got off to a good start and the wheels just kind of came off. We preached to not turn the ball over and we did a great job of that we only had seven turnovers, but we took some questionable shots and we took some tough shots thought we were fouled and we kind of wined and cried about it. I told our kids, hey, we didn’t turn it over, but sometimes a bad shot or taking a tough shot and crying about and not getting back is just as bad as a turnover and that led to some easy offense for them. Their two studs did what they were supposed to do, but we made it a little easier on them than it should have been and they were able to knock us off,” said Iceman.

Iceman is confident they can beat St. Peter’s when they play them February 9 on their home floor. “The kids found out that we can certainly play with them and we are capable of beating those guys. It was good and bad, we lost by 24, I don’t necessarily know it was a 24 point game, it was probably a 10 or 12 point game. We have to keep moving forward and move on from that and learn and keep getting better,” he said.

Lucas played last Saturday and beat Kidron Central Christian (52-39) in an “MBC” game and Iceman says Saturday was particularly good for a couple of reasons. “We were going to be ready for that game regardless of what happened with St. Pete’s. We kind of let one get away from us early against Central Christian up at their place. We weren’t necessarily ready to play and we let one get away, we lost by one point. So, we were ready to get back in the gym and rebound from the night before, but also we had a bitter taste left in our mouth from the last time we played Central Christian. It was good to come out and get to play and get a good win and get that St. Pete’s game off of our mind and keep moving forward,” he said.

Lucas (6-2,3-2) plays at Loudonville (4-5,2-2) again weather permitting on Friday night. The Redbirds lost (70-53) to Danville on Tuesday night, but beat Kidon (52-47) in their last league game last Friday.

Iceman says Loudonville is pretty good and certainly in need of all of their attention. “I brought up to my guys that Mansfield Christian win. I don’t necessarily know that they know who they are yet. They have had some wins and they have had some losses than kind of make you scratch your head a little bit. I know coach (Kelly) Seboe really well. He was my high school coach my senior year, so I am good friends with him. We talk a lot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are certainly a capable team. We are hoping that they come out and play like that team that has lost some games. We will take that any night of the week, but we are not anticipating that. They have some good players, some good young players. The Fry kid is as good an offensive player as we will see all year. We have to know where he is at. Their offense goes as he goes. We are going to try and stop him.”

Published 1/12/18

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Lucas Not Backing Off

Lucas is one game behind unbeaten Mansfield St. Peter’s and they play the Spartans on the road in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night.

St. Peter’s (9-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has won the last three Mid-Buckeye Conference championships and they are very good again.

Lucas coach Taylor Iceman says they have been preaching to the players they can compete with St. Peter’s. “We have been preaching to our kids the past couple of years that that is were we want to be. They have been the standard there. They have another pretty good team. They lost Tyson Kent and obviously Mason Campbell from their team last year. They are still a very good team and they have some kids that have stepped up and played well. It is more of a matter of just getting our kids to believe and truly believe they can knock them off. I certainly think we are capable. This will be a great springboard our season. It is still pretty early on for us,” he said.

Iceman adds that if they are to have any chance of winning on Friday night they have to believe. “I don’t want to take anything from the kids they have this year or the kids they have back. Those kids have stepped right in. They haven’t missed a beat. They are 9-0 and they have beat some good teams already and they playing well. We have to come ready to play. I think we are certainly capable. I think we have the team that is capable of beating these guys it is just a matter of going out and believing that and actually doing it. I think our team is still young and not sure how good we can be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “My coaching staff tries to preach that the proof is in the pudding let’s go out and prove how good we really are. This will be a great measuring stick for us. We have gotten off to sort of a slow start game wise. It is game 10 for them and only game seven for us. We got a couple pushed. We want to go over to their place and steal one and kind of propel us for the rest of the season.”

Lucas (5-1,2-1) had a game against New London postponed last Saturday night.

You have to limit your turnovers against St. Peter’s and Iceman says you have to attack and that is what they are going to do Friday night. “They did lose their point guard and Tyson Kent was a great basketball player. Mason Campbell was a very solid player. Those are two kids that can create their own shots. What they are doing this year is playing that same style by getting their offense from their defense. They create turnovers and then go shoot layups, easy offense. We figure if we take care of the ball and kind of make them work on defense and then slow their offense down and get our defense set instead of turning it over and leading to transition. Slow it down and do what we do and attack them. I think so many people try and say what are we going to do here? We are not going to change who we are we are going to attack. We play the smaller lineup with all of the guards. We are tough to guard as well. We are going to attack them. We have to limit turnovers that lead to that fast break offense,” said Iceman.

Published 1/04/18

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Lucas Outlasts South Central

After falling behind for the first time in the game with just over a minute and a half to play, the Lucas Cubs scored the next eight points and they downed the South Central Trojans (57-53) in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Tuesday night.

Lucas (4-0) took a (22-6) lead after the first quarter, but the Trojans closed to (28-20) at the half and (40-36) after three quarters.

‘ South Central (3-3) took its first lead of the game (50-49) with 1:35 to play on a basket in the paint by Alex Holland, but the Cubs would respond. Freshman Ethan Sauder it an open three to give the Cubs the lead back (52-50) and then Jeb Grover cashed in on a layup (54-50) and sophomore Logan Niswander made a free throw and a hoop off a steal to seal it (57-50) with :07 left.

“We have been pretty resilient this year. We show our peak and play pretty well, like in that first quarter, and then we have been bad stretches. I have been happy with our resiliency and our attitude and we stick with it. I guess than comes from experience I have some experienced guards. So, we will take that. They are making it rough on me. I wish we could just keep playing, so we don’t have to worry about that stuff,” said Lucas coach Taylor Iceman.

The Trojans had two critical turnovers once they got the lead. South Central coach Brett Seidel took the blame for those and their slow start. “I sat to start the game because I think that is what my parents want to see. I think they want to me to set down and be calm.,. not yell and scream and get into the game, not be passionate. So, I sat and we went down 22-6,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I don’t know why for whatever reason they need me to scream and yell at them, so that’s what I do. I take the loss because of lack of communication at the end of the game. I thought we dug ourselves, but we battled back and the kids some resiliency. They hit a couple of big threes from their young kids down the stretch that gave them the game.”

Lucas held South Central’s leading scorer in sophomore guard Simon Blair to 12 points and Iceman says it was part of the game plan to limit his touches. “The Blair kid is extremely tough. He is good with the ball. We were just trying to deny him the ball and not let him get it. We weren’t real successful with that and it led to some transition baskets for them. They spread you out. We played good team defense. We had good help. You have to try and make their other guys beat you,” he said.

Ben Lamoreaux led South Central with 14 points, all in the second half.

Lucas sophomore Logan Niswander led everybody with 22 points on the night. Jeb Grover had 12 and Brian Sauder 11 for the Cubs.

Iceman says Niswander has good skill. “Logan is as talented an offensive player as we have got. He is only a sophomore, so I think once he figures things out with that lineup we put out there he is going to have a nice match-up a lot of nights. I tell him to keep shooting even when he is cold. I think that is our fourth different leading scorer here in four games. So, it has worked out,” he said.

Published 12/19/17

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Lucas Growing and Winning

Lucas has got some kids playing different positions and trying to get used to what is expected of them, but the Cubs are doing that and still winning.

They play at Crestline in Mid-Buckeye Conference action on Friday night.

The Cubs (2-0,1-0) beat Mansfield Christian (49-44) last Friday in a conference game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says their play in the first quarter was the key in their win. “We came out of the gates well, which is one thing I wanted to do and not spot them a lead early on. We jumped on them and I think we were up 15-4. We held them to four points in the first quarter, which was great. All of that being said we knew they where going to make a run. That is a tough place to play over there. It was enough I am glad we had that early run because we didn’t play real good down the stretch. It was just enough to get a win. I’ll take a win anytime. A win ugly early is better than to lose. We will take it for sure,” he said.

Lucas is a team made up of guards and Iceman says they are finding a way to best use those players on both ends of the floor. “I start five guards pretty much. I have two sophomores, a junior, and two seniors. I have the five best ballhandlers from three grades. So, coming up through those are the kids that have probably had the ball in their hands and making all of the plays. Obviously, they can’t all be the main ballhandler, so guys are learning how to move without the ball and just do some different things that they never have done before that I think they are certainly capable of. At times they get caught just standing there watching. So, we are figuring it out.,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Obviously, it is good to win while we are figuring it out and that says something. It has been a good few games here early on picking up that win at Mansfield Christian at their place. I’m glad that is out of the way and we don’t have to go back there because they are going to be improved the next time we play them, so it will be nice to have them at our place. Each game I think we are going to continue to get better and I’m excited about it.”

Lucas plays at Crestline (2-0,0-0) on Friday night. Iceman says the Bulldogs are maturing and they always seem to give them trouble. “You look at their roster and it seems like these kids have been there for 10 years because it is a lot of the same names. They have been young and they just keep coming up through. They are going to be better, I have already told our kids that. They play us tough whether we are over there at their place or at home. They have a little bit of size, which we will have to deal with. Triplet, the Gregory kid, and Ty Clark, guys that have given us fits over the years. We are going to have to deal with those guys and do the best we can,” he said.

Published 12/12/17

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Lucas Opens “MBC” Play With Mansfield Christian

Who is going to contend with defending champion Mansfield St. Peter’s in the Mid-Buckeye Conference? We might get that question answered on Friday night when Lucas visits Mansfield Christian to play the Flames.

Lucas beat Fredericktown (66-57) in their first game last Friday night in a non-conference game.

They did it with a surge in the fourth quarter and coach Taylor Iceman says that was good to see. “It was a good game, a competitive game all of the way through. We were down a little bit early. In the fourth quarter it was nice to win a game like that. We made 12 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, which kind of put us over the top. That is a good thing to have game one. Sometimes you see that on down the road when you are in the grove a little bit, so it was nice to make free throws and take care of the little things that you hope to do as you come along. It was night one, and you always take the win, but it was good to win like we did,” said Iceman.

Mansfield Christian (0-1) lost to Colonel Crawford (63-47) in their opener last Friday.

Iceman says they have quality, veteran guards, and “The Furnace” is always a tough place for the opponent to win. “It seems like Jared McPeak and Kyle Kurtz have been over there for 10 years. They are two great kids and great ball players. We are very familiar with them. We play in a summer league over at Crestview and they are there every year, so we play all summer long against each other. They are a good team. Some of their young kids from last year have another year of varsity basketball under their belts, so they are going to be improved,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They also have some more youth coming up through. They always play extremely hard. Coach Kurtz does a good job, so you know it is going to be tough. It is never easy to go play at Mansfield Christian. That will be challenging in the opener for “MBC” play.”

This is the league opener for both and Iceman says the schedule might have done them a little favor this year playing at Christian this week. “I told our kids it is early and I know they are going to get better as the season goes on, so I glad we are going over to their place early. Hopefully, we can play well and steal one here and get to 1-0 in league play,” he said.

Published 12/05/17

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Lucas Working Hard

Lucas will feature a mostly new boys’ basketball team this year with a lot of its team from last year lost to graduation.

They play at home Friday night against Fredericktown in their season opener.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they have been working to make those kids ready for varsity basketball. “We have progressed well. It is still early on and I graduated 11 seniors last year, so I have a new crew and we have had a lot of room to grow. It has been nice to have this time. We have had a few scrimmages with some bigger schools that I think has prepared us well. We are just trying to feel things out and we are ready to go and see where we are at, but I think we can jump right into it and hopefully play well this Friday night,” he said.

With a lot of new kids to the varsity team, Iceman says scrimmages have been important to them this season. “We have been practicing. We had to move a couple of our scrimmages. We had to cancel one due to our football season and also we had Black River on our scrimmage schedule and they went a couple of weeks deep, so we lost one there, but we do have a lot of young guys and some guys doing some new things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “You sometimes get tired of going against each other and seeing the same faces and the same types of things everyday. You are playing against a defense that knows your offense. So, the scrimmages have been great, but we are to the point now that I think where we are ready to get it rolling and kind of see where we are at and look at film and go from there.”

When it comes to Fredericktown, Iceman says they don’t know a lot about their personnel, but he knows the Freddies will play hard. “They have a few kids back from last year’s team. It is a typical Fredericktown team. I don’t know that there is one kid that stands out that we are extremely worried about, but they all play hard. They haven’t had great talent the past years, but it is always a close game because they all play so hard. Being a coach myself that is all you can ask for. The special ones are when you get some good talent and you get that great effort and a will to win. We know they are going to play hard. It is game one, so you can’t count on jump shots falling and stuff like that. Usually it is just the teams that are going to be more prepared and ready to out work the other, so we will see,” said Iceman.

Published 11/30/17

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Lucas, Trimble are Similar Teams

Lucas is making a habit of making the playoffs. This is the fourth straight year.

The Cubs (8-2) are coming off a (54-3) win of Conotton Valley last Friday. They host Gloster Trimble in a regional quarterfinal in division seven on Friday night at Bob Wine Field.

Coach Scott Spitler says they are in this position because the leadership they have gotten for their seniors. “This senior class has been really tremendous for us. All four years of their high school career they have been in the postseason. They are averaging and 8-3 record throughout their four year career. Going into Friday night they 33-14. So, they have built that expectation level up. Our success this season has been a result of their leadership,” he said.

Spitler says they enjoy playing football at Lucas and that includes getting ready to play the game. “We talk to our kids all of the time about that you embrace the process and enjoy the journey because you can’t take these things for granted because this happens to be our fourth year in a row each year has been different. Your kids change due to graduation and eighth graders become freshmen, so each team has its own uniqueness, so you can’t take these types of situations for granted and our kids don’t do that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They applicate this type of opportunity. The fact that they are one of 200 some teams that earned week 11 in the postseason out of 700 some football schools. So, our kids have put it in the proper perspective. They are approaching this week with the same blue collar, workman type effort they have the first 10 weeks.”

Trimble takes a six game winning streak into the game, the last three coming in shutouts. Their losses are to unbeaten Nelsonville-York (21-0) and once beaten Waterford (30-12,) both in the first four weeks of the season.

Spitler says the Tomcats have a very good tradition themselves. “They have their own tradition. This will be their eighth straight playoff appearance. In those eight years in 2013 they played for the state title and lost to Marion Local. They followed that appearance in 2014 with a final four appearance. So, under coach Ferris this team knows success and they have an expectation of success all of their own,” he said.

It is the toughness of the Tomcats that becomes obvious, according to Spitler, and he thinks they quite a bit like the Cubs. “The one thing that jumps off the screen at you when you watch film of them is their tenaciousness. They are very physical and tough, a blue collar tough, physical mentality. It is going to be like looking across the field at ourselves with the brand of football they want to play. They want to run the football as well and do it from a multiple type attack from wishbone to power “I” to running it out of the spread. So, defensively we have our hands full to make sure we are lined up properly each and every play,” said Spitler.

Published 11/01/17

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A Bounce Back week for Lucas

Lucas is coming off a rare loss and needs to fell good again as they host Conotton Valley in a non-conference game at Wine Field on Friday night.

They have already clinched a fourth straight playoff berth in division seven, but they want to take some momentum into the postseason.

They lost (30-27) to Hannibal River last Saturday afternoon. They were driving for the possible go ahead score when they turned the ball over on downs late in the game.

Coach Scott Spitler says they need to get back on the winning track this week. “It was a tough football game. Both teams played pretty hard. We had our chances in the second half and just didn’t get it done. That is on me to get them better this week and hopefully get us back on track heading into the playoffs,” he said.

Conotton Valley (1-8) on the year and they have given up at least 40 points in each of their last four games.

Still, Spitler says they can’t go to sleep on these guys. “They have a single win on the season. They play over there in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference on the eastern side of the state. It is a one year contract for us to fill an open sport that we had coming into the season. They are going to come in and be multiple on offense out of a spread formation. They have a nice athletic quarterback. Defensively, they base out of a 4-3,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have talked to kids about we have to make sure we are getting better this week and making sure we are firing on all cylinders and not just finishing this season, but heading into the playoffs. It is senior night for us. One of the big things in our program is we make sure our seniors have an opportunity to get a victory on senior night.”

Spitler has talked consistently about not just a single team, but their program and he says senior night is a big part of that program. “Our seniors have done a nice job all season in leading our team. Setting the goals and pushing the team to achieve those goals. This week is all about them and our younger players and our coaching staff paying forward and making sure they get the victory (Friday) night and springboard us into the post season,” he said.

Published 10/27/17

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Lucas with Long Trip

Lucas continues to play outstanding football, which we shouldn’t be surprised about, because this is the fourth straight year they have been doing it.

They are second in their division seven computer region and on the verge of making playoffs for the fourth straight season.

They beat Colonel Crawford (28-21) last week and coach Scott Spitler says it was a quality win against a good program. “Anytime you play a program the quality if Colonel Crawford at their place and get a victory that is big. It was a great effort by our guys. They played a pretty complete game in all three phases and we were able to get out of there with a victory,” he said.

The Lucas defense made some big stops and forced some key turnovers last week and Spitler says his young defense just continues to get better as they mature. “We had to replace a loss to graduation three defensive linemen and two inside linebackers that we lost to graduation. So, those guys and that inexperience is now starting to mature a little bit and we just keep getting better week to week defensively. We need to because we are playing some pretty good football teams down the stretch here with Colonel Crawford last Friday and then with River coming up this Saturday. They are a very good football program as well,” said Spitler.

Lucas is at River (4-4) for a game that starts Saturday afternoon. Spitler says this a team that does a lot of good things and they do them on both sides of the ball. “They are pretty multiple offensively and led by an All-Ohio quarterback in Lucas Hillsbee. He is just as adept at running the ball as he is throwing the ball. He is going to be a handful for us. Just going down there in a new atmosphere and the drive and things and you worry about it being at a different time of the day on a Saturday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “There are a lot of things out there for a trap for the team, so we have to be focused and have a great week of preparation. Defensively they get after you. They bring it from just about everywhere blitzing wise and stunt wise and they are big in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They are led by a young man who is very large and very active on the defensive line at about 6’2” and 305 pounds.”

It has not been a great year for River so far, but Spitler says they understand winning and they need this one on Saturday very badly. “We are going to have our hands full. They know success. They were 9-1 last year and were in the playoffs and they have quite a few of those guys back. They need this win against us to make the playoffs this year. So, we are probably going to get their best shot on their home field,” he said.

Published 10/17/17

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Lucas Looking for Battle with Colonel Crawford

Lucas is at Colonel Crawford for a high school football game between good teams playing good football right now in non-conference play on Friday night.

Lucas (6-1) is in second in their division seven computer region and they in position to make the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Last week, they blasted Crestline (53-8) and coach Scott Spitler says their defense continues to mature and get better. “We had a lot of guys to replace due to graduation on defense. We are just constantly getting better week in and week out and it is starting to show now as we are getting deeper in the season. These younger guys on the defensive side of the ball are maturing and their experience is showing in their performances on Friday night. So, we like where we are headed and it starts with their tremendous worth ethic in preparation each week,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-4) has played as good a schedule for a small school in this area. Spitler says the Eagles are clearly battle tested. “If you just look at their record you are being silly as an observer because their schedule has been front end loaded with some quality programs like Seneca East, Mohawk, Carey, and Wynford, who at the time where either 4-1, 5-0 when they played Colonel Crawford and they were battles. I believe they lost one game in overtime and another game came right down to the end of the game before it was decided. They are battle tested,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are traditionally a quality program. They are well coached. They are led by two quality seniors in the backfield with Hayden Bute at quarterback and Trevor Shawber at running back. Those two are just tremendous athletes. Just the size and athleticism they have up front makes them hard to handle. Defensively, their linebackers just get after it.”

Spitler says the Eagles are a team that wants to run it, but they can pass it too. He says they just have a lot of athletes. “They do enough in the passing game to keep you honest and not allow you to load the box. They have game breakers at all of the skilled positions. The Shawber kid can break it at any second. The quarterback is an equally dangerous runner as he is a passer. The speed that they have outside in the wide receiver position just jumps off the screen when you are watching film of them. Defensively, they are extremely aggressive and get after you. They have a defensive tackle that is about 370 pounds and I tell you what he is pretty immoveable object. So, we have got our hands full. We feel like we are a good football team too and these are the type of games you want in high school football. Two quality teams, two quality programs, that are well coached. We have talked to our kids about believing in themselves and going out there and having fun and letting it all hang out and see where it ends at the end of the night,” said Spitler.

Published 10/10/17

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Lucas Needs to Take Care of Winner’s Ratio

Lucas and Crestline play football Friday night and it is a win the Cubs need in order reach their goal of making the post season playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

The Cubs won for fifth time in six outings last week when they beat Coshocton (46-21,) another school bigger than them.

It was another good start for the Cubs and coach Scott Spitler says that was because of their work ethic last week in practice. “I was really pleased with how the boys came out and played an it was indictive of the work and the focus that they had throughout the week and it showed immediately from the kickoff,” he said.

Crestline (3-3) is coming off a setback Saturday night to Miller (47-13) in a non-conference game. Their wins this year come over Grove City Christian (7-0,) Buckeye Central (33-18) and Ridgedale (35-0) two week ago.

Spitler says the Bulldogs are big in the trenches, which is going to make things tough for them. “I think coach (Kevin) Sipes does a nice job over there. They have limited numbers, but the kids play extremely hard and you can tell that they are well coached. They pretty much throw everything, but the kitchen sink at you with a lot of formations and a lot of movement. They try to Davon Triplett, the big wide receiver/tight end target in mismatches,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Defensively getting aligned properly is going to be key. No matter what year it is it seems Crestline seems to be built big up front. They have some really big linemen. We are going to have to be able to control the line of scrimmage on offense to have success.”

With Crestline doing a lot of different stuff out of different formations, Spitler says it will be important for them to know where they are supposed to be before the plays starts. “They do so much if you get one person out of alignment it is going to leave you venerable and that usually ends up in big plays for the other team. We have spent a lot of time on formation recognition and alignment in making sure that we have half the battle taken care of by being aligned properly,” he said.

Although it seems like it should be this is not the Mid-Buckeye Conference championship game, however, with Lucas in second in its computer region playoffs are again on the horizon. “With only two teams that play football in our conference they don’t actually recognize it as a championship game, but of course if you are the only two teams in the league that playoff football I am sure bragging rights would be a good thing to have as well. For us it is the next step to where we want to be at the end of the season. So, we have been pretty demanding this week of our kids and they have responded and we have to make sure we take care of the winner’s ratio on Friday night and take care of the football, win the turnover battle, time of possession, and be the lest penalized team,” said Spitler.

Published 10/06/17

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Lucas Must be Disciplined

Every week is a different sort of challenge on the high school football field and for Lucas this week it is to be disciplined in defending Coshocton’s wing-T offense.

Last week, the Cubs (4-1) had to go to Columbus and play division three Columbus Centennial and they were successful in winning (51-28) in the non-conference game.

The Stars had really good speed, but Lucas coach Scott Spitler says they were the ones that established how the game was going to be played early. “Anytime you go on the road and you playing up like we were you worry about your kids coming out strong at the beginning and I thought our kids did that right from the get go and set the tone for the game. We were able to establish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball early and take care of business. I am really proud of how the kids responded to a long road trip and getting the job done,” he said.

Coshocton (1-4) won for the first time this season in beating New Lexington (21-14) on Friday night. The Redskins look like they are getting better.

Spiter says his is a program that expects to win game. “They are a very storied program. I think they have been in the playoffs something like 16 times. They were a final four team last year in division five. I think every coach they have had in the history of their program runs the wing-T. They are very precise and efficient in their execution. They want to play physical football and run the football and keep the ball out of your hands. In different aspects of what they do it is kind of like looking at ourselves,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I liken their program to with what we faced with West Jefferson last year. They are a very storied program that expects success. They are going to play big boy football so to speak. The kids have to have a great week of preparation and be ready to play physical football on Friday night.”

The wing-T is a deceptive kind of offense with a lot of fakes in the back field. Spitler says they can’t fall for those. “Defensively, especially at the linebacker position we have to have great eye discipline this week and read our keys. The keys don’t involve that backfield. If we go peaking in the backfield they are going to have a good night running the football because we aren’t doing our job. We like to tell our linebackers the guards are like your mom they don’t lie to you. The backs are like your girlfriend they lie to you all of the time,” said Spitler.

Published 9/25/17

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Lucas Faces Speedy Centennial

Lucas make a trip to the Capital City this week as they take on the Centennial Stars of the Columbus City League.

After suffering their only loss of the season so far to Northmor (26-8) on week three, the Cubs rebounded to crush Troy Christian (50-12) last Friday.

Coach Scott Spitler says they played well because they practiced well in preparing for the game. “I think that is the result of the week of preparation they put in. We talked about you have to earn the right to gain victory. Our kids definitely did that last week in practice with the way they prepared day in and day out and it showed on Friday night with their performance,” he said.

Centennial (1-3) is four divisions larger than the Cubs, but Spitler says it is one of the few choices they had in terms of an opponent. “They are on our schedule because of what we talked about once before we are basically an independent football wise. After week three a lot of teams are in their league schedules. It was a situation where we had to find somebody to play or take an off week. They are D-3, a nice sized school out of Columbus,” said Spitler.

The Stars lost to Northland (62-13) in a league game last week. Their only win came on week three with an almost unbelievable score of (86-6) over Fairfield Christian Academy.

Spitler says Centennial has athletes. “The thing that jumps off the film is their length and speed offensively and defensively they have a really solid linebacker,” he said.

Everyone who plays Lucas says their double tight, double wing offense is tough to simulate. Spitler says that is the case for them this week with Centennial. “The tough part of it too is you have to be able to simulate in practice and that is difficult for us to do. We have some tremendous athletes that perform well in what we do with our schemes and stuff, but to try and simulate exactly what they do and the speed that they do it is very tough. Our scout teams are working very hard this week to get us prepared and hopefully it pays off,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I really like the mindset that our kids have this week and how they have come to work each and every day. I think with this little Indian summer that we are having here with the heat and the work you are putting in this week is going to determine how well you are able to perform Friday night. It looks like it is going to be one of the hottest days of the week.”

Published 9/21/17

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Lucas Schedule Getting Tougher

Lucas has won 25 football games over the last three seasons while at the same time the number of football playing schools in the Mid-Buckeye Conference has been getting fewer. The result is games against very good teams that far away from Lucas.

A good example would be Troy Christian’s, from the Dayton area, visit to Lucas on Friday night.

Last week, the Cubs (2-1) lost their first game of the season (26-8) to the Northmor.

Coach Scott Spitler says they have learned from that loss. “I think the coaches and players did a nice job Saturday morning evaluating what we did and didn’t do well on Friday night and where we need to improve. We have attacked that this week already. We had a great practice on Monday and followed that up with even better practice (Tuesday) and I challenged the kids to take another step farther (Wednesday.) So, I like where we are headed,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “The nice thing about the leadership that we have in our seniors and our captains is they understand that we didn’t play to our expectation last Friday night. It is not going to be any higher than what the expectation level is in our group. We did the best way we know how to overcome is to roll our sleeves up and go back to work.”

The Lucas coach says they must battle adversity and win. “Great things can’t come from easy circumstances. In order for a team to get stronger or a person to get stronger they have to be able to overcome adversity and hard times. So, we have been faced with an adverse situation with our first loss Friday night and we need to work hard and become stronger from it,” he said.

Troy Christian (2-1) beat Dayton Northridge (36-15) last week.

Spitler says the Eagles bring a lot of things to the table. “They are a very talented team. There were 9-1 and a playoff team last year. They have several seniors back. Some present some match-up problems on offense. They have a 6’9” 275 pound tight end that also starts on defensive side of the ball. They have some height and length at wide receiver and they have a big, bruising fullback. We have our hands full,” he said.

When you have the success that Lucas has had Spitler says it can be difficult to get teams to play you. “We have got our program to a situation to where the teams that are on our schedule are quality football teams that are competing to be in the playoffs year in and year out. Being an independent and not really having a football league, being us and Crestline, we have become kind of independent. Teams now that want to play us are good football teams. The teams that don’t feel they match-up well with us aren’t wanting to play us. If you look at our schedule we play up a lot of weeks and we play very good football teams,” said Spitler.

Published 9/13/17

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Lucas Charged With Containing Northmor

In one of the better match-ups in the North Central Ohio on Friday night the Lucas Cubs host the Northmor Golden Knights.

Both teams has played good football this year.

Lucas (2-0) belted Centerburg (37-7) last week in a game where they executed well on both sides of the ball.

Coach Scott Spitler says they had good focus last week. “I thought there was some improvement from week one to week two. I really liked the kid’s effort and focus during the week and it showed on Friday night against Centerburg. Now we have a new task this week,” he said.

Northmor (2-0) owns wins over Crestview (21-14) and Worthington Christian (40-14) last week. They have a new coach in Scott Armrose.

Spitler says he has done an outstanding job bringing confidence to the Golden Knights this year. “I think you can see the impact he has on the program just with the enthusiasm and the belief in what they are doing. He comes from a pretty solid program over at Colonel Crawford where he was an assistant for several years and you see a lot of imprint that he brought with him in the program at Northmor. It is similar to what they did at Colonel Crawford,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The kids are believing in it and they have some tremendous athletes. It is going to be a very tall task. They always play us tough whether it is home or away and we are expecting nothing different this Friday.”

Northmor has a special athlete is Demetrious Johnson, who plays anywhere on the field and on both sides of the ball. Spitler says you just hope to contain a kid like that and the Golden Knight have other weapons too. “He is a tremendous athlete. He has been since he started for them as freshman. They move him around in so many different spots. They put him at the quarterback position making him even more dangerous. It is not about whether you can stop him. You not going to stop a kid as talented as he is. What you have to try and do is limit the big plays that he has and try and make them line back up and run another play instead of giving up the home run ball. You just can’t focus on him. He has a talented mate in the backfield in the Becker boy. What they do scheme wise is very tough on you. They are playing pretty solid defense. This a very motivated and well coached Northmor team and we are going to have our hands full,” said Spitler.

Published 9/08/17

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Lucas Facing Athletic Centerburg

Lucas picked up a good win last week to open the season and now they have another challenge with Centerburg coming to town for the home opener on Friday night.

The Cubs held off East Canton (40-37) last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says his kids showed a lot of character last week in getting that win on the road. “I think when you are playing the quality team that East Canton was and your kids can have the character to face all of that adversity throughout the game and get it done at end that speaks volumes for what kind of kids they are and what they have potentially at their finger tips for the rest of the season,” he said.

Quarterback Jeb Grover ran for 179 and five scores for the Cubs. Lucas ran for 335 yards as a team out of their double tight, double wing offense.

All good things, but Spitler knows they have to get better in a lot of areas of the game. “We got in there Saturday morning as a staff and as a team and picked the film apart and we definitely had our share of areas where we need to improve on and get better or we are going to get exposed again. With the schedule that we have and the quality of the playoff caliber teams that we have on our schedule this year we can not afford to not get better every week. There are things we have to tighten up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Otherwise traditional Centerburg team, stingy and fast defense and a very athletic quick spread offense with an athletic quarterback and a slasher at running back and five or six receivers. They do a nice jop in their up tempo, no huddle offense. If we don’t tighten things up. Their program used to winning and being successful and being in the post season. They will take advantage of those things if we don’t tighten it up.”

Centerburg beat Utica (19-14) in its opener last week. Spitler says they will need to work on their open field tackling because that is a situation Centerburg wants to put them in. “They know what they do well. They have the type of athlete that plays well in space and with their speed. They don’t always have a lot of size, but they make up for it with their speed and athleticism. They play to their strengths just like we play to ours. That is one thing that is on the docket to get better at this week because we know they are going to stress us in space with their athleticism,” he said.

Published 8/29/17

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Lucas With High Expectations

Lucas with their performance on the gridiron the last several years has lifted the expectations of their fans, but their coach says no one has higher expectations than they do.

They kickoff the 2017 season on Friday night at East Canton.

Coach Scott Spitler says they have looked really pretty good in their two scrimmages this season and they feel this can be another pretty good year. “I really like where our kid’s mindset is at. I thought that was a good day for us against two really good football teams there that day at Crestview with Shelby and Crestview. You really get a chance to see where you need to improve as well as see how your kids can hang with two quality programs. I thought our kids had a really good day that day,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Then we had about a week and a half before our final scrimmage against New London. I thought our entire program, even our young kids, did really well that night and we got a lot of confidence headed into week one. We are going to need it because East Canton is a proven team with a lot of starters returning from a playoff team last year with real nice speed, so we are going to have our hands full.”

Spitler says nobody has more lofty goals for the team than the team itself and that helps to push the kids. “Our program has really come along in the last few years. It is a total effort from everybody involved from our pee wee program up to our middle school program to our high school coaches. We have great support from our community and our administration. We kind of borrow from P.J. Fleck everybody in Lucas is rolling in the right direction working towards having a first class program. Nobody has higher expectations than our kids do of themselves. We just had that conversation a couple of days ago with the kids. Nobody else outside of our group is going to have higher expectations than we do of our own team,” said Spitler.

Lucas beat East Canton (49-27) a year ago in the opener, but the Hornets ended up in the playoffs before losing (56-20) to Norwalk St. Paul. Spitler says they bring a lot of athleticism back from that team. “They return eight starters on offense and seven on defense from a playoff team in 2016. They have a returning starter at quarterback and a 1,000 yard rusher in the backfield. They have a lot of long length and size and a couple of tackles both over 265 pounds. It is going to be a tall task for us. Several of their skilled kids, including their quarterback and running back were on a state championship track team for them last spring, so they have really nice speed,” he said.

Plus, the Hornets will be dedicating a new playing surface on Friday night. “Then add all to that they are dedicating their new turf field on Friday night right before our game. They are going to be ready to play. So, we have to come out ready to play football from the first whistle on Friday night,” said Spitler.

Published 8/24/17

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Lucas Fighting to Get Better

Lucas has made three straight playoff appearances, winning at least one playoff game each year, and now they are building toward what they hope is another outstanding year.

They scrimmaged against Crestview and Shelby on Wednesday at Crestview in their first action of the 2017 season.

Coach Scott Spitler thought it was good to play solid teams to find out where they were and where they needed to go. “It was a great test for our kids to come out here. You have a big school in Shelby with a lot of tradition and coming off a great season last year. Crestview, a program that is headed, coming off a great season. They are expecting great things from their team this year. We have some nice guys coming back, but we had some spots to fill from last season. We lost three really good offensive-defensive lineman to graduation,” said Spitler.

Spitler says scrimmages like this are a great tool and he hopes they can move forward because it and become a better football team. “There were a lot of questions answered (Wednesday.) To find out where you need to be better you need these kinds of sessions. Sometimes it is hard when you are going against you own guys to find out where you have got some weaknesses and what you need to get better at. We seem to be pretty much healthy coming out of it, which is always a good thing. Now we have a week and a half to get ready for our next scrimmage. We will break down the film (Thursday) morning and find out where we need to get better,” he said.

Lucas plays at East Canton in their opener on August 25. Week two they host Centerburg and week three it’s Northmor at home.

When it comes to the preseason, or really the whole season, it is about getting better. Spitler says they don’t concern themselves with the opponent as much as what they are doing. “We talk to the kids about a faceless opponent because it doesn’t matter week to week who the opponent is it is about us getting better everyday and each game. We talk about the faceless opponent and about Lucas getting better all of the time,” he told Swankonsports.com after the Wednesday scrimmage, “That was what the theme was (Wednesday.) When I watch film or am out on the field I don’t want to see a lack of effort. If we make a mistake make it big and fast. We can fix those things, but we can’t fix lack of effort that has got to come from the kids and their guts and their heart and we got that.”

Published 8/10/17

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“MBC” Rivals Meet in State Tourney

Lucas and Danville have developed into quite a rivalry whether it is on the football field, basketball court or the softball diamond.

The two members of the Mid-Buckeye Conference face each other in the division four softball state semi finals at Firestone Park in Akron on Thursday.

Lady Cubs coach Jim Rader has been in high school coaching for a lot years beginning at Crestview back in the 1980’s and he knows a match-up like this doesn’t happen very happen. “This is a very unique situation. I’m not so sure how much this really happens,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Teams from the same conference do meet up in the sectional, they can meet up in the district and sometimes in the regional, but rarely do they meet up at the state level. This is a unique experience for everyone involved.”

It has been almost two months since Danville (28-2) beat Lucas (22-6) in back to back games (14-4) on April 10 and (9-4) on April 11. Rader says the Lady Blue Devils led by pitcher Shanna Mickley are very talented all over the field. “They are just very good. They play very solid defense, they are very aggressive on offense, and their pitching is very good. So, they play all sides of the ball very well. You have to really work to compete to find ways to compete with them and put pressure on them. You just have play good softball,” he said.

Lucas is on a 14 game winning streak and Rader says his players believe they will be successful and that is a big part of the game. “I believe winning begets winning. They have learned how to win here and understand what it takes to win. They are putting their game together at the right time and they are getting hot at the right time. They have done a really nice job and I am really proud of them. I certainly hope the trend that we have established continues,” said Rader.

Published 5/30/17

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Lucas on a Roll; Advances to District Final

Lucas has been playing some outstanding softball and that continued Tuesday when the Lady Cubs drilled Crestline (11-3) in the division four district semi-finals at Shelby High School.

They face Mohawk, who beat Monroeville (9-2) on Tuesday, on Friday in the district title game.

Coach Jim Rader says they have been getting a sold play in all aspects of the game and that continued on Tuesday. “We have been playing pretty well most of the year. At this point we have an 11 game winning streak. We are 19-6 and we are hitting the ball very well and getting very good pitching and for the most part we are playing pretty good defense, which is keeping us in games and helping us to win most ball games,” said Rader.

Sometimes we forget about the importance of defense, but Rader says if you want to be a team that contends for district titles then you better be able to handle the glove. “I preach the theory that defense wins championships. People come to see offense, but if you plan on winning close games and coming from behind and keeping a lead you have play good defense and we are doing that,” he said.

Lucas (19-6), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the small school division this year, finished second in the Mid-Buckeye Conference this spring.

Four of Lucas’ six losses have come to unbeaten Danville, who won the “MBC,” and Wayne County Athletic League champ Hillsdale. Rader says they have consistently been getting better at what they do on the field. “We have open gyms through the winter and then we start in late February for practice and you work all of the way through March and you start plying ball from late March through April. You progressively want to get better as time goes on and games go on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win over Crestline, “Come late April and early May that is championship month. That is what it is all about. We have put a lot of time in and a lot of work in and hopefully come May it pays off for you and you can get some great results individually and as a team.”

Published 5/17/17

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Lucas Feels Comfortable

Lucas the chance to win their first sectional title since 2010 as they meet Colonel Crawford in the division four sectional finals at Sandusky High School on Friday night.

Crawford has won five straight sectional crowns.

The Cubs (14-9) had to make an amazing comeback on Tuesday night beat Sandusky St. Mary’s (54-50) in their first sectional game.

Coach Taylor Iceman says there was no yelling at halftime, just some discussion on what they needed to do better. “I don’t know what the issue was. I understand jitters and stuff like that. Both teams took a couple of minutes to get the first bucket. We missed layup after layup after layup. I don’t think we hit a jump shot that whole first half and we only had nine points at halftime. We were down 19-9 and I went in and told them we only scored nine points and we are only down 10, so we are definitely not out of it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Several people asked me what did you do what did you say? We didn’t change anything up, I just told them we have to make layups and play a little harder and that I what they came out and did. We scored nine the first half and 45 the second. Better effort and better defense led to some offense and kind of got the lid off the bucket for us.”

Colonel Crawford (16-6), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, finished as the runner up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Iceman says they have good post players and they have good guards too. “They are very balanced. They have the big kid Starkey and Shaum is a very good player as well. I think he kind gets overshadowed because the Starkey kid is so big. So, we have to worry about those two inside. They have good guards as well. They are young, but they have three or four of them that are capable. The McCreary kid does a good job handling the ball and he has a good jump shot as well. They are young at the guard position so we have to try and take advantage of that. We have some big guys that can handle the ball, so we going to try and pull their big guys away from the basket and attack and just play our game. If we play defense and make some jump shots we will be fine,” said Iceman.

Iceman is hoping having already played at the “Big House” is going to be a plus for them. “We have a lot of common opponents and we have looked at a lot of film. We are prepared and hopefully we are thinking they will come out and have those jitters that we had first game and we are going to go back somewhere where we just played a couple of nights ago and hopefully not have those jitters as bad as we did. I know there will be a crowd there. Crawford has a great student section. If we play hard we going to have an opportunity to win the game,” he said.

Published 3/03/17

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Lucas Looking to Get Back in Form

Lucas had been playing pretty well until back to back losses to Mansfield Christian and Plymouth 10 days ago. They hope a win Saturday over Chippewa got them back on track.

They play Sandusky St. Mary’s in a division four first round tournament game on Tuesday night at Sandusky Senior High School.

Coach Taylor Iceman hopes they have gotten through most of their sickness and have their confidence back going into Tuesday night. “We had a rough weekend a couple of weekends ago. We weren’t play like we wanted. I don’t think I had my starting five together once. Even Saturday, I find out Saturday, one of my kids was at the doctor Wednesday and they said he had strep throat, so we didn’t have our point guard. So, we have been battling it. I think it is kind of a mental thing with us too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Kids are out sick and I try to tell them not be bothered by that and just go out and play basketball. We came out and played pretty well against Chippewa. Chippewa is a young team. It was good to get back on the winning side. We have 11 seniors, so it was a great senior night. We got everybody in and we had a good night. I think we righted the ship and started to get a little of our confidence back. We had a rough weekend with Mansfield Christian and Plymouth. We had a pretty good week of practice with the bodies I had there. It is a quick turnaround now.”

Lucas lost to a St. Mary’s team a year ago that lost in the district final last year. Iceman says they have got a close look at this year’s Panthers. “I have several films on St. Mary’s and we were able to go watch them play on Friday night since we played Saturday and it was nice to see them play live,” he said.

St. Mary’s (12-10) is without likely its best player in 6’7” Luca Mormina, who is out for the season with a knee injury. They have lost six of their last eight without him.

Iceman says it is tough to lose a double-double kind of kid, but the Panthers still have some players. “The Mormina kid is a great basketball player. We played them last year, so obviously we got a look at him last year. He is a great player and you hate to see a kid go down with an in injury like that and I wish him nothing but the best and he has a bright future ahead of him. They are still a good team and they expect to win. They have a winning culture up there. They play fast. They don’t have a ton of size now, so we look to take advantage of that. I have told my kids all week that they play extremely hard. Offensively they get it up in a hurry. They get back and play defense. The Miller kids are tough. They are great shooters. They don’t wait around for that good shot. They get open they hoist it up there and they shoot it with confidence,” said Iceman.

Iceman says the Cubs (13-9) want to get the ball in the paint, but they must make good passes and not try to force things like they have been doing a little bit. “We have got to box out when they do take that shot and limit them to one shot and then get back. We look to get it inside, but not force it inside. I think the last couple of weeks we have looked to force it inside too much and not let our guards be the athletes and players that they are. We are confident. Whoever has a good night we are going to ride that horse. I think our big guys should do well, but we are not going to force it inside. We like our chances and I hope we play well,” he said.

Published 2/28/17

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Lucas Has New Goals

Lucas has a Mid-Buckeye Conference game at Mansfield Christian on Friday night and plays at Plymouth in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

After losing two in a row to Mansfield St. Peter’s and Northmor, the Cubs beat Loudonville (69-51) last Friday and coach Taylor Iceman says that kind of got them back on track. “We had a pretty good game with Loudonville the other night. We were able to bounce back after a couple of tough ones and play pretty well. We finished them off and were able to get everybody in the game. Sunday we found out our tournament fate so we have kind of got some new goals. We can put some names to our goals. Mansfield Christian Friday we have to finish out our “MBC” season. If we win we will be at 9-3 in the league and solidify ourselves as runner-up. We only won three league games last year and to finish out with only three losses is kind of one of our goals right now,” said Iceman.

Lucas (12-7,8-3) plays at Mansfield Christian (6-14,2-8) on Friday night. The Cubs beat the Flames at their place (49-41) back on January 13.

Iceman says the kids have to understand that they just can’t assume they will win, they have to play well. “Jared McPeak is a great kid and a great ball player as well. He gets to that left hand and finishes as well as anybody in the area. He and the Kurtz boy are good guards. They are young, but they have some young kids that can hurt you. It is never easy to play over there. We think our advantage is inside against them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Hopefully we can get the ball inside to our big guys and have a good night. It is not going to be a game where you can go in and say we have this wrapped up because we beat them once and they have only won a few games in the league. That is not the case at all. Coach Kurtz always has his kids ready to go. We will have to go over there and play a good game on Friday night.”

On Saturday night, the Cubs play at Plymouth (4-15) in a non-league action. The Big Red has started to turn some things around. Iceman says they don’t look like a four win team. “You look at their record and it is a little deceiving. They have only got four wins, but when you go through their schedule they have played everybody tough. They have had a few games here and there where they have got beat pretty good. When you set down and watch film on them you wouldn’t think it was a four win team. We are definitely not overlooking them. It is good for us to be able to go over and play a good team, somebody we could run into in the tournament. We want to finish off the season playing some good competition and feel good about ourselves going into the tournament. Plymouth is a local team here in the area and we want to let everybody know what Lucas basketball is all about. We are not coasting here into the finish. We have set a goal of getting to 15 wins and we have three games left. We can get number 13 on Friday night and if we are fortunate then get number 14 on Saturday night,” said Iceman.

Published 2/16/17

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Big Fourth Quarter Gives Northmor Win over Lucas

Down by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, Northmor rallied to beat Lucas (41-38) in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Tuesday night at Northmor.

The Golden Knights trailed (33-21) with 6:06 to play after Lucas post player Dylan Dennison made two free throws. Two field goals and two free throws by Alijah Keen over the next 1:25 cut the Lucas advantage to (33-27) with 4:41 to play.

Northmor got within two (35-33) on Tyler Kegley’s rebound basket with 2:44 left. After Lucas went up three on Jackson Hauger’s free throw with 2:07 on the clock came the key sequence of the game. Demetrious Johnson went coast to coast to lay it in, Lane Pletcher scored off a steal, and Johnson scored again after another steal under the basket and Northmor led (39-36) with 1:45 left.

Northmor coach Zack Ruth says they haven’t pressed a lot this year, but it was key Tuesday night. “I used to press a lot, but I just thought with our size fatigue would set in. We have pressed three times now and three times we have come back to win those ball games. I am thinking I should have been pressing some other times sooner. I still don’t think we are conditioned enough to press from tip to finish, but we got after it,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “When you put a 6’6” guy on the ball like that and the speedsters up top and a 6’6” guy protecting the basket we rattle some teams. I keep telling the guys you can’t get comfortable with that. We only want to use that when we have to.”

Over the next 37 seconds there was an intentional foul on Lucas and a technical foul called on Northmor, but the teams combined to miss seven straight free throws and it remained (39-36) with 1:08 left in the game.

Lucas post Josh Murphy scored inside with 26 seconds left to make it (39-38.) He was fouled, but missed the tying charity toss. Plechter would cash in on two free throws to make (41-38) 13 seconds left. The Cubs would miss to three point attempts in the last eight seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.

Cubs coach Taylor Iceman says this is one they should have won, but they gave it away. “I told the kids throughout this season that we needed learn how to put games away when we were leading by 10, 15 points. I told them if we learned how to do that then we would probably take care of this one. They ran some press. We knew it was coming and we just didn’t execute. We missed 11 free throws, with 11 free throws we get in the 40’s and that is a big difference,” Iceman said.

Down (34-27) with 4:29 left Ruth called time out and he says his message was simple. “We went to Lucas last year and Lucas has made the football playoffs the last three years and these kids play football and these kids are winners. We went up there last year they got us in overtime. We are sitting here (Tuesday) night and we called that timeout and all I talked about was the Super Bowl. Believe in the system and keep chipping away and you will be there in the end,” said Ruth.

It looked at first like it would be a hockey score instead of a football one as nobody scored for the first 3:20 of the game and the Cubs led (9-5) after one, (15-10) at the half and (26-19) after three periods. “Gosh that was ugly we couldn’t hit anything. Coming off an emotional high last week beating Grandview Heights, taking care of East Knox, taking care of Elgin after they just beat Centerburg,” said Ruth.

The Northmor coach says the changing Lucas defenses gave them trouble for most of the night. “We went though that stretch without Kyle Kegley and everybody was zoning us, zoning us, zoning us and we hammered out zone, hammered out zone, hammered out zone and now we are seeing man again. I have to do a better job of preparation. Lucas was doing a good job of picking when to go zone and when to go man. Once Kegley gets aggressive inside there isn’t anyone that can stop him. If you look at home he doesn’t look strong, but he can put the ball on the floor. He blocks a lot of shots. He is 6’6”, but he is 6’11” wing span. Demetrious nobody can stay with him. Pletcher is my best foul shooter and he misses four straight,” said Ruth.

Northmor (14-5,8-3) and in a share of first place in the blue division of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference plays host to Fredericktown (6-12,4-7) in the league game on Friday night. Lucas (11-7,7-3) plays at home against Loudonville (5-12,2-7) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday.

Iceman thinks they have a good shot at tournament success. “That is the first one we have given away this year. It sucks, but the season is going to go on, at least this wasn’t the tournament. We still have a say in that right now, so we can go and work on things and get better and keep going, but that one hurts,” he said.

Keen and Pletcher both had 11 for Northmor, Johnson had 10. Murphy led Lucas with 12.

Published 2/08/17

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Lucas Gaining Confidence

Lucas picked up some confidence in a loss to state ranked Mansfield St. Peter’s and will be tested again Tuesday night when they travel to play Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference blue division co-leader Northmor.

The Cubs lost to Mid-Buckeye Conference champion Mansfield St. Peter’s (81-64) on Friday night in a game they had been pointing to for weeks.

Coach Taylor Iceman says he thought they competed really well against the Spartans. “I was pretty happy with our kids. I talked to them after the game. We lost by 17 points, but I told our kids after the game I said the scoreboard didn’t necessarily indicate it, but St. Pete’s knew they were in a game (Friday.) I thought we competed. We played extremely hard. I think we won a couple of quarters. They jumped out on us, we just didn’t play really well, they made some jump shots. We battled back and it was a competitive game all of the way through. I think St. Pete’s knows it wasn’t just a walk through game where they were going to blow somebody out. I was pretty happy with the kids. That is a very good team. Coach Jakubick does a great job with them and they are number three in the state for a reason,” said Iceman.

With confidence gained from Friday night, Iceman says they want to be able to take that momentum through the rest of the season. “That was my message. We have kind of struggled all year playing to the level of our competition, good or bad. I told our kids that if we play this way every night. We competed and hung with the number three team in the state for the majority of that game. If we bring that effort and play to our capability on a nightly basis we are a pretty tough team. I think it was great for our kids we gained some confidence,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We play a pretty good team (Tuesday) night in Northmor. Coach Ruth has done a pretty good job. It is always a competitive game with those guys. They are having a nice season and it is going to be a tough one for us. Coming off a big game with St. Pete’s we get a practice and a half in with a Saturday and a Monday and then travel down to Northmor and play a challenging team.”

Lucas (11-6) plays at Northmor (13-5) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night. Iceman knows games like this are going to make them better. “That was my message (Monday) night. You can translate things a number of ways. I am all about playing good teams right now. It is just going to test us and show us where we are at and maybe what we need to improve upon. We feel we are good enough to make a tournament run. After the St. Pete’s game we said we want to go and try get a good team on our resume for our tournament draw in Sunday and hopefully we can run into St. Pete’s in the district finals. It would have been great to win at home if we had beaten them. I would have loved to have beaten those guys, but I think we picked up some confidence. The next time we play them it is going to be for who moves on and who goes home. To have that is a district final game would be awesome. I think that was big to not only play against them and gain some confidence that we can play with anyone leading up to them. We know we have the capability to play with them and knock them off,” said Iceman.

Published 2/07/17

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Lucas Looks Forward to Opportunity

Lucas is looking for a signature win and that would come at home on Friday night against state ranked Mansfield St. Peter’s in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game.

The Cubs are two games behind the Spartans and a St. Peter’s win means they wrap up a share of the conference title.

It would have been closer, but Lucas lost (53-47) at Danville last Friday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they had their chances to win that game. “It was a tough loss. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy going down there to Danville. We didn’t play well consistently. We played well in spurts. We gave ourselves a chance in the end and we just didn’t hit the shots down the stretch and they beat us down there. I told our kids after that game is the good thing about basketball is you don’t have to wait too long,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We turned around and played against Monroeville on Saturday and we came out and played extremely well and put a team away. It was a good win and we got everybody in, got a lot of kids minutes. It was a good way to end the weekend. We have won seven of eight and we are happy about that. We have the number three team the state coming down to our house for a big game. So, we are excited in the position we are.”

Lucas (11-5,7-2) hosts Mansfield St. Peter’s (15-2,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday.

In their first meeting, the Spartans won (76-51) in game in which they pulled away in the third quarter. Iceman says they have to cut back on their turnovers to have a chance to win. “We did play a pretty good first half. They came out and jumped on us right from the start, but then we responded. We kind of settled down. We turned the ball over early. They capitalize on turnovers. That is a big part of their offense, that is why they score so much. They are really good in the half court, but their transition defense leads to points. We played a fairly even first half. We actually watched some of that film (Tuesday) night. Turnovers killed us. We just made too many careless passes. Like I said they turn them into points, so we have to take care of the ball. Play defense and make them take tough shots. They beat us pretty good over there and it was the third quarter that did us in. It was great that our kids saw that we can compete with them and play with them,” said Iceman.

In order to win a game like this you have to believe first and Iceman says they have that. “Last year when we had them at our place we were beating them at halftime. We have played with these guys. They are number three in the state and they have only lost two games to big schools, but I think our kids they feel they can play with these guys. They know them away from basketball it is not like they are this mythical team that is unbeatable. They are buddies and they are high school boys. I think we are comfortable with them we just have to cut down on the little stupid things. When you play a team like St. Pete’s you have to make free throws and make layups and do all of the little things that you need to do. We saw we had those opportunities, so if we just focus and take care of some things we will be alright,” said Iceman.

Published 2/01/17

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Lucas Wants to Keep Pace

Lucas has only one loss in Mid-Buckeye Conference play this year and that comes to conference leader Mansfield St. Peter’s, the rematch is next week, but first for the Cubs in visit to Danville on Friday night.

The Cubs have won six straight overall and they are continuing to play well.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they have to keep their eye on the Danville game this week. “We have put ourselves in position to keep that game alive. It is an important game against St. Pete’s, but we can’t look past Danville and our boys know that. We are taking one game at a time here and that is how we have won six in a row. To make that game against St. Peter’s key we have to beat Danville on Friday night. We have to go down to their place and it is never an easy place to play. We are on a little ride here. We are going to go down and try and beat Danville and then come back home and keep it rolling against Monroeville on Saturday night,” he said.

Lucas and Danville have become small school rivals, mostly because of football, Iceman, who is also an assistant football coach, says that spirit carries over to basketball. “It is two small schools so it is a lot of the same kids that are football players and basketball players. In football the last few years we have struggled with them. When we played Danville early on it was a big win for us because we wanted to beat Danville and we hadn’t done that in past few years and it was kind of becoming a mental thing for our kids. To come out and beat them I think that kind of helped us get to where we are right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They can ruin some things for us when we go down there on Friday night, so we have to come out ready to play to show we are continuing to get better and take care of business down there. It is not going to be easy. I hate to keep talking about the St. Pete’s game because that looms. We are definitely not looking past Danville that is not the case at all.”

Lucas (10-4,7-1) beat Danville () by the score of (51-39) back on December 16. Iceman says this is one the biggest games they have played in recent years. “We kind of got into last week because of our kids ability to win games because we have a lot of kids that are from our successful football program. There is something to say about winning. Danville is the same way, they are used to winning and they don’t like losing. It is going to be a good game. It is always physical. We have to come out and show we are progressing and getting better. I am sure it will be a good game, but we are going to try and keep things rolling,” he said.

Published 1/26/17

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Lucas Keeps Winning

Lucas has won its last four after beating Crestview on Tuesday and they face two Mid-Buckeye Conference games on the weekend at home against Kidon Central Christian on Friday and at Crestline on Saturday.

The Cubs found some offense on Tuesday night in beating the Cougars (73-61) and coach Taylor Iceman says they were able to get some things done. “I was giving the kids a hard time we hadn’t broke 60 yet this year and we took a timeout late in the game and I said we aren’t just go to get 60 we are going to get 70 tonight. We needed it Crestview has been a good offensive team all year and they got over 60 so we needed it. It was a nice change to score some points and it was a good game and an exciting game,” he said.

The game on Friday night will likely be a lot different for the Cubs because Kidron Central Christian is very patient plus they play an affective zone defense.

Iceman says they would like to get out and run the floor so they don’t have to face that zone very much on Friday. “They play zone defense and it is frustrating. When we played them the last time we have eight points at halftime. I thought I was losing my mind. We responded and we’re able to win 37-31. That is where they want it in the 30’s. They do such a good job it is hard to score on them. If we can get the rebound and get out in transition we won’t have to face that zone defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “That would help some. At least we have played them once already and it is the same thing every time we play, so we know. I certainly hope, but I doubt we are able to score 70 on Friday night, but that is our goal.”

In a double weekend of conference games, Lucas (8-4,5-1) is at Crestline (3-7,1-4) on Saturday night. In the first meeting on December 17 the Cubs won (49-47) in overtime.

Iceman says they tend to have close games against Bulldogs and he expects it to be another one on Saturday. “They are definitely coming. They are young. They match up with us pretty well. We seem to have good games with them. It will be our third game of the week and we have to go over to their place. We have to take them one at a time. We can’t get ahead of ourselves here. We have won four straight, but we are preaching one at a time. We will try to get Central Christian on Friday and go over there and knock Crestline off on Saturday. It the second time through the league, so everybody knows us. We have to come out and take them one at a time and win the ones we should,” said Iceman.

Published 1/20/17

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Lucas Wants to Get on a Roll

Lucas wants to use some momentum gained from a victory last Saturday and start to make a little bit of noise.

They host Mansfield Christian in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night.

They beat Clear Fork (55-53) on Saturday night and coach Taylor Iceman says he hopes they can get on a streak here. “We started out the year and we win one and we lose one and now we won a couple in a row. That was a big win over there at Clear Fork. We are excited about that and we have to build on it. We have kind of a stretch here we play Friday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and they are all very winnable games. If we come out and play hard and execute I think we can rattle a few walls, but we have to take them one at a time. It’s a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night and hopefully we can get things started there,” he said.

The Cubs have become better offensive team this year and Iceman says one of the reasons in they have more guys that can score the ball. “We don’t have that one guy that we have to rely on or count on for our offense. We are ten games in and I think we have had probably had four or five different guys lead us in scoring depending on foul trouble or what have you or who is hitting and who is not it could be anybody. I thought over there are Clear Fork we had kind of a size advantage and the way the game was being officiated we needed to attack the rim and throw it in to our big guys Dylan Dennison and Josh Murphy proved to be beneficial. We can get it done a couple of different ways. If we start making some jump shots it opens everything up. We have some slashers and we have some size and we have some shooters. It would be nice to put it all together one night,” said Iceman.

Lucas (6-4,4-1) hosts Mansfield Christian (3-6,2-3) on Friday night at their place. Iceman says they want to be able to make the Flames guard them in the paint. “Coach Kurtz does a great job and regardless of the age of the kids over there they are going to play hard. They are going to play great defense. He is playing a lot of the younger guys this year. His son is a great shooter. The McPeak kid gets to the rim as well as anybody in the area. It is going to be a challenge. They have lost a few here recently and hopefully they come in and don’t play as well as they can. We will take that certainly. Again we are going to have a size advantage I believe with them so we have to go inside first and attack and make sure we defend and know where their shooters are at,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think we should be able to pick up a victory, but it is an “MBC” game and you never know night to night you have to come out and play. We won three conference games all last year and we are 4-1 and we are taking each one one day at a time. We want to leave ourselves in the best shape for tournament seedings, which are right around the corner. Every game counts. Mansfield Christian is not only a Mid-Buckeye Conference opponent, but they are within our 13 team sectional. We need to pick up wins so we can put ourselves in the best shape there so we can make a little bit of a tournament run as well.”

Published 1/12/17

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Lucas Rallies Past Colts

Lucas rallied for an 11-point third quarter deficit to beat Clear Fork (55-53) in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Saturday night at the Les Hauenstein Gym.

The Colts took a (32-21) lead with 7:50 to play in the third quarter on a back door layup by Jared Schaefer, but the rest of the quarter was dominated by the Cubs, who immediately went on a (15-4) run to tie the game (36-36) on Jacob Miller’s three pointer with 2:32 to play in the quarter. They would take lead on a lay in by Jackson Hauger (41-39) with 1:15 to play in the stanza.

Clear Fork scored the final three points of the quarter to lead (42-41) after three periods.

Lucas would take the lead (43-42) with 6:42 to play on a jumper by Jeb Grover and then (47-46) with 4:04 left on another basket by Grover. They took their biggest lead at (51-46) on a rebound basket by Dylan Dennison with 1:55 left. They made enough free throws the secure the win.

“We handled it well. We missed some free throws and tried to make it as hard as we could on the coach. You can’t ask for any more than that. That is a sign of growth there to be able to win games like that. That was a great one. We have a stretch in our schedule now where we think we can win some games, so that was a big one to get us started,” said Lucas coach Taylor Iceman.

Lucas held Clear Fork’s leading scorer Chance Barnett to only four points on the night.

Coach Steven Bechtel feels they need to show a little more patience than they did Saturday night. “I think we did that is the first half too. We said we want a high percentage shot. Coming off last night our legs were not going to be there like a normal Friday night. I told them we have to be a little more shot selective. Lucas did a great job I credit then a lot. They made shots when they needed to and they got big stops when they needed to down the stretch,” said Bechtel.

Dennison led the Cubs with 17 points, Grover added 12 and Josh Murphy had 11. Iceman says it was nice to finally make some shots in the second half. “We have struggled to shoot the ball here, so it was nice to see some go through. If we can just make free throws and layups and jump shots all on the same night we will be pretty tough,” he said.

Lucas (6-4) plays host to Mansfield Christian in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game this coming Friday and then plays Crestview, Kidron Central Christian, and Crestline the week after that.

Iceman feels they were as physical as Clear Fork, if not more.“Obviously Clear Fork with the league they play in they see that kind of physicality every night. That is always what I am worried about coming over here. We didn’t handle to well early. We were able to fight threw it and get the win,” said Iceman.

Jay Swinehart led Clear Fork with 13 points, including a three with seven seconds left to cut the Lucas lead to one (54-53) but it was too little too late for the Colts.

Clear Fork (3-5) returns to Ohio Cardinal Conference play next Friday what they host West Holmes.

Published 1/07/17

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Lucas With Big Challenge

Lucas shares first place with Mansfield St. Peter’s in the Mid-Buckeye Conference standings and they face a huge test at St. Peter’s on Thursday night.

The Cubs won both of their conference games last week beating Danville (51-39) on Friday and Crestline (49-47) in overtime on Saturday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they played very well against Danville and not as consistent against Crestline. “We played pretty well Friday night, that was the one we wanted to get. With Danville there is a little bit of a rivalry there. I thought we played pretty well against a decent Danville team. We were happy with that. Then we turn around with Crestline and I was worried, that was a little bit of a trap game if you ever had one. It was our third game of the week and Danville had beaten Crestline by 20 and we beat Danville by 12 points. I was worried we were going by quite ready to play. We came out and played pretty well against Crestline actually. We got a 10 point lead right at the end of the half. In the third quarter we were pretty bad we only scored three points in that quarter. Crestline got hot and made a little bit of a run. Again we showed some growth. We found a way to win when we didn’t necessarily play that great. Overall I was happy. We are 3-0 in the league,” said Iceman.

The Cubs are becoming a team that can win when they aren’t at the top of their game and that has not been the case for several years. Iceman says it is frustrating and pleasing at the same time. “Last year we won seven games total and we lost five by five points or less. They were kind of moral victories but they are still losses. We told ourselves that we are done with those kind of moral victories. This year we need to take care of those kinds of games. Central Christian and Crestline both, games where we didn’t necessarily play that well, but we were able to find a way to win. That is a sign of team learning how to win and be successful. It is frustrating because those are games he we should win kind of handily and we didn’t for whatever reason come out and play well, but a win is a win. You have to take it for what it’s worth, learn from it, and move on,” said Iceman.

Lucas (4-2,3-0) plays at Mansfield St. Peter’s (5-1,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division on Thursday night. Iceman says they will have to play well, but this is game they can win. “They are a great team. They are solid 1-5. They have a little bit of size with Mason Campbell, Jakubick, Tyson Kent, Elijah Cobb and the Gerski kid they are solid all of the way. Against Loudonville it was Jakubick and Kent, one had 29, one had 25. Mason Campbell in the Mansfield Senior game had great second half and led them in scoring. They play really well together. They play fast and transition is a huge part of their game. They have been in the 90’s, they probably average somewhere in the upper 70’s. So, they want to get out and run and gun. They play great defense as well and that usually leads to their offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They create turnovers and they get our in transition and finish them. They are great team and it is going to be a good test for us to see kind of where we are at. I told our kids we have nothing to lose they are supposed to beat us. I think we have enough talent to beat them. I don’t think we have played to our potential yet. It would nice if we could do that. We are going to have play well to be in the game. You never know they have a lot of big schools in their schedule this year and sometimes it is easy to overlook little old Lucas.”

Published 12/21/16

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Lucas Looking for that Shooting Eye

Lucas is teetering on the edge of becoming a pretty basketball team. They just need to shoot a little better.

After beating Fredericktown (56-51) last Friday they took a solid Hillsdale team to the edge before losing (48-41) on Saturday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman says he thought they did a lot of good things against Hillsdale, especially on defense, but they just couldn’t make enough shots. “We came out and played extremely hard and we led for a little over three quarters of that game, but then we just couldn’t hit jump shots. We have talked about that the last couple of conversations. I think we went 2-19 from the three point line. They sat in a 2-3 zone with the big kid Rogers in the back of that zone and it was hard to attack the rim. We tried to shoot them out of that, but unfortunately the 2-19 didn’t get the job done. We played really hard and played great defense. We tried to preach to the kids that when you aren’t scoring you have to find a way to stay in the game. We did that and we stayed in the game with a very good team. We lost, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I was proud of our kids,” said Iceman.

Lucas won seven last year and has the potential to win more this season. Iceman says they are clearly headed in the right direction. “We knew it was going to be a process, but we are light years ahead of where we were a couple of years ago. We had a good season last year, but we lost several close games. Hopefully now we can take that next step and so far we have done that. We came out and beat a pretty good Fredericktown team and then and competed with a very good Hillsdale team all night Saturday night, but we weren’t hitting jump shots. If we hit some jump shots together with some great defense I think we are going to be just fine. We are happy with how we have started and where we are headed,” he said.

Lucas (1-1) opens up play in the Mid-Buckeye Conference on Friday night at Kidron Central Christian. Iceman anticipates the Comets are going to be patient with the ball. “I have great respect for coach Martin down there. His kids always, always seem to play extremely hard. Last year, one time they beat us 33-32. I think they knocked off Mansfield Christian last year with a game in the 30’s and one against Loudonville. They don’t have all of the talent in the world, but man do they play hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “For them to win games that is the way it needs to be. I think we are going to see a lot of the same this year. They are going to come out and take care of the ball. They are going to value the ball and they are not going to make mistakes offensively. They wait for a good shot.”

Iceman believes the Cubs will have an advantage, but they have to go out and prove it. “I think we are more talented then them. I think we should win, but we have to go out and take care of the ball and do all of the little things that you have to do to be successful. We have to travel to their place, which certainly are not going to help our shooting woes. We are going to continue to fight and it is an opportunity to get better,” he said.

Published 12/07/16

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Lucas Ready to Take Another Step

Lucas won seven games last season, which is more than in any recent season, and now they want to take more steps forward.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they have done some good things during the preseason, but they haven’t been consistently making shots yet, but he thinks that will come. “We have a good number of kids out again this year. We have had four scrimmages here so far against Black River, Clyde, Mapleton and Bucyrus. We have looked good at times and not as great other times. The kids are getting back into the swing of things playing hard defense, working hard, getting our legs underneath us and making jump shots. We have not had our kids hitting yet, but that is kind of what you expect early on. So far, so good,” he said.

They almost pulled a tremendous upset last year in the sectional tournament before falling to eventual district runner up Sandusky St. Mary’s. Iceman hopes they can take that momentum into this season. “We took great strides last year forward and we have a lot of those kids back, we only graduated two. For the most part it is the same group that is back again this year. In the tournament last year we played against a really good Sandusky St. Mary’s team. We came in and played hard and I think learned a little bit about ourselves and saw that we could compete against anybody. We need to go out there every night with the same mindset. We played with them for three and half quarters and ran out of gas. It is great to have all of those kids back again,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are senior laden this year. We have got 11 or 12 seniors out this year and we have three returning underclassmen to add to that. We are excited we took a big, huge step forward last year. We played harder. If we can bring that along and add that to our repute it would be good. If we get out in transition and make jump shots we are going to be just fine. When I started back here at Lucas I was the freshman coach and this group of seniors this year is the first group I had. These kids all know me and what we want to do and we are excited to get the season under way on Friday night.”

Lucas plays at Fredericktown in a non-conference game on Friday night. Iceman says they will have to play well. “Fredericktown lost a very good player in Kirk Mans that they relied heavily on last year, so it is going to be nice not having to deal with him. They had some nice young players last year. They have some new coaches and a new program over there. It is at their place. We are going to have to go down there and play well. We were fortunate enough to beat them last year and it is nice to have that in the back of your mind just knowing it is a team we can beat,” he said.

Saturday night, in their home opener, the Cubs play talented Hillsdale of the Wayne County Athletic League. Iceman expects athletes that will bring a lot of pressure. “They are good team again that has been pretty successful the last two seasons. They have Ben Rogers inside and Andrew Wolf playing guard and have a lot of other kids there that have been there the last few years. They are a very good team that plays extremely hard with pressure defense. It is kind of that Wayne County mindset that they play with. That will be a good challenge for us early. I told our kids that is a good thing to get them early on before they get in a groove. We’ll try and pick up our first home game victory of the season. We are talented enough this year that we can beat anybody on our schedule, but if we don’t play hard and do the little things right we could lose to anybody,” said Iceman.

Published 11/30/16

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Lucas Faces Multi Dimensional Team

Lucas is making its third straight trip to the division seven playoffs as they travel to Arlington for a first round game against the Red Devils.

They pretty much had to win last week to get in and that is exactly what they did with a convincing (55-8) win over Kansas Lakota.

Coach Scott Spitler says their goal was to honor their seniors and let the rest take care of itself. “We approached the last week with a mindset with what are expectation level is each and every year with our last home game and that is our seniors get a win in their last home game and if that was good enough for us to deserve to make the postseason then we accomplished that and it was. Losing eight seniors off of last year’s regional runner-up team and coming back with the expectation that our kids have of themselves, that they have always expected of themselves, to go out and get seven wins and a shot in the postseason, I couldn’t be more proud of them,” he said.

Arlington (7-3) beat good Leipsic team in Blanchard Valley Conference play (28-6) to conclude its regular season. Spitler says the Red Devils have good tradition and some very good athletes this year. “They are a very talented team. This will be their fifth straight year in the playoffs. They are a senior dominated group. They have a senior class of 10 guys that contribute on both sides of the ball. They are led by a dual threat quarterback in Matthew Crawford. He can stress the defense in so many ways with his athleticism as well with his passing. Then they have a Miami of Ohio commit at H-back and defensive end that posses a problem in Logan Spyer at 6’4”, 245. He is a tough match-up when you line him up in the slot. Defensively you have to account for him where he is lined up on the defensive line on every down because he is such a good player there. You have a team that has a tradition of being in the postseason and senior dominated, so we have our hands full,” said Spitler.

When it comes to the postseason, Spitler believes his Cubs (7-3) are well prepared for playoff football considering what they have seen this year. “I like where our kids mindset is and the preparation that we have had this week. Our experience the last few years in the playoffs will payoff in the fact that this atmosphere is not going to be a shock for us because we have been in it. Our five game road grind that we had earlier in the season kind of got us battle tested for being on the road. When you look back at our schedule in playing four playoff teams this year and splitting with them hopefully that pays dividends as well,” he said.

Spitler says the Red Devils do a lot of different things on offense and force you to be disciplined. “They are kind of a mix on offense. One minute they will be a spread gun and the next minute they will want to line-up and run unbalanced wishbone against you. They try to stay balanced whether they are in the gun or in the wishbone. That is kind of two different offenses when comes right down to it. What makes it go is the young man at quarterback,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The spread game that they run is based like some of things we have seen out of Danville and Centerburg and those types of teams. Their wishbone attack as far as some of the plays they want to run out of it is very similar to some of the plays that Colonel Crawford wants to run. Colonel Crawford tends to be a little bit of a different animal so top speak with the type of bodies they have in a year in and year out basis. This is a very storied program with a lot of playoff experience. We are going into their house, so it is going to be a nice test for us right out of the gate.”

Published 11/04/16

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Lucas Has to Play Better

Lucas did not win the Mid-Buckeye Conference title last week, but they still have plenty top play for this week.

They still have a chance to earn their third straight visit to the postseason playoffs in division seven.

They must have a win this Friday night at home against Kansas Lakota of the river division of the Sandusky Bay Conference if they are going to accomplish the goal.

Last week, Danville stuffed Lucas (14-0) to win the “MBC” title. Coach Scott Spitler says they didn’t finish things on offense and left their defense on the field too long. “It was a very good football game between two good football teams and I thought our defense played well. Well enough to win if we could have mustered up some consistency on offense. We were not able to finish a couple of drives. Our defense was on the field too long. That was last week and we are disappointed obviously, but we’ve got to move on and we have a challenge this week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have got a lot to play for here. It is important in our program that we send our seniors out with a victory in our last home game on senior night this Friday against Lakota. Then we still have an opportunity for the post season if we can take care of business.”

The Cubs (6-3) began the season with wins in six of their first seven games, but have lost their last two. They stand seventh in their division seven region. The top eight qualify for the first round of the playoffs.

Lucas has had a lot of big wins over the last couple of years and Spitler says you can not allow the week before to linger in your mind whether it was a win or a loss. “You have to move on to the next week because there is preparation and work to be done. You can’t celebrate too long and you can’t dwell on the disappointment on the other side of it. We watched film on Saturday morning and we kind of flushed it and moved on and are looking to get better this week,” he said,

Lakota (2-7) lost last week to Fremont St. Joe (29-22) in a river division game.

Spitler says the Raiders have some big play makers that can change the momentum of a game and they can’t allow that to happen to them on Friday night. “I think offensively they cause some problems with what they do out of their spread offense. The have a pretty good wide receiver corps with big play capability and that makes them very dangerous. That’s a concern because when they can hit that deep pass or that big play can change the momentum in a game. They have an athletic quarterback that does a nice job when things break down of making a play with his feet. I think it is going to come down to who can establish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. We have to get back to playing better football on both sides of the ball this week. Take care of the football and play defense in better situations than we did last week,” said Spitler.

Published 10/25/16

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Lucas and Danville Play For First Place

It has come down to these two again. It will be Lucas or Danville that claims the Mid-Buckeye Conference title in 2016. It will be the winner of the game Friday night at Wine Field in Lucas.

Last year, Danville won the showdown (41-0) at their place and Friday night the Cubs want to return the favor on Friday night.

Lucas (6-2,2-0) is coming off a (47-20) loss to Colonel Crawford last week in non-conference play.

Coach Scott Spitler says they got beat at the line of scrimmage by the Eagles. “We knew going into the game it was going to be a battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Colonel Crawford’s offensive and defensive lines kind of controlled that line of scrimmage for most of the night. Once we got behind we weren’t able to close the gap. Early in the fourth quarter we had cut it to 34-20 and forced them to turn it over on downs, but we were unable to do anything offensively. We come back the very next drive and force them to punt and we get a roughing the punter penalty. We had a n opportunity there to close it and we didn’t take advantage. When you don’t do those kinds of things against programs like that you come out on the short end. We are a good football team and we have to strap it back up and get to work this week,” said Spitler.

Danville (5-3,2-0) picked up and “MBC” win last week as they blanked Loudonville (31-0) for their third straight win.

The Blue Devils qualified for the division seven state semi finals last year, but they graduated 19 starters from that team. Spitler says this year’s team has found its stride. “A lot like us they graduated a talented senior class, but Ridge Durbin has passed they torch to his younger brother Skyler and offensively they really haven’t missed a beat. They are operating out of their spread offense and putting quite a few points on the board. He is the key to what they do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have a really athletic and speedy group of wide receivers that they get the ball to in so many different ways. They are going to stress you with how they spread the field horizontally and vertically, so you have to have a great night defensively. Offensively, we have to get back to controlling the line of scrimmage and controlling the pace of the game and force them to play our game rather than reacting and playing their game.”

This is a game for the Mid-Buckeye Conference title and Spitler says it is about pride too. “We knew going into the season that the league runs through Danville. They are the returning champions of the league. We knew going in that we would have to beat them to have a shot at it and here we are, just like last year, both of us playing the league title here on week nine. Looking back and talking to some of our alumni it has been a while since Lucas has beaten a Danville team. I think it is back around 1991. There is a lot more on the line than just a league championship. It is about program pride and they are coming into our house. Our kids want to make the post season and a win Friday will help that. We are focusing this week in making sure Lucas is getting better everyday and we are going to come out and play hard and see where the cards end up at the end of the night,” said Spitler.

Published 10/19/16

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Lucas Tangles With Colonel Crawford

Two teams that like to do a lot of the same things battle on Friday night in non-conference play as the Lucas Cubs host the Colonel Crawford Eagles.

Both teams feature the running game, but have also shown the ability to complete some key passes this fall.

Lucas (6-1,2-0) blasted Crestline (63-28) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game last week, running for more than 400 yards.

Coach Scott Spitler was impressed. “Coach Sipes has those guys playing well and they are very talented in the skilled positions. It was a good night for us. We were able to control the line of scrimmage and get the victory. We have a whole other beast to tackle this week,” he said.

When it comes to throwing it, the Cubs showed they could do that when they rallied to beat Loudonville (33-27) two weeks ago. They don’t go to it a lot in games, but Spitler says they work a lot on the passing game. “I don’t think we as coaches are really ever happy any part of our game. We are constantly looking to get better. I think all of us in the coaching profession are projectionist. We never get totally satisfied or happy. That is something we work on each and every week to get better at. That is a part of our game we definitely need to have when we get into games where teams match us well up front and are going to take our bread and butter away and force is into that type of situation. We spend a lot of time on it actually,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “A lot of people probably don’t believe that when I say that because we run the ball so well. It is something we do spend a lot of time on continuously. Hopefully when it comes time that we have to use it we can function at a high level and we were able to do that on that final drive against Loudonville and get the victory that night.”

Colonel Crawford (5-2) destroyed Ridgedale (61-8) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game last Friday.

They too like to run the football and Spitler says it is going to be a real battle up front between two pretty good offensive and defensive lines. “As a coaching staff when we watched film we came away thinking we were looking at ourselves almost in the philosophy that they employ as well and control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They want to run the football and control the game that way. With their quarterback and their talented receiving corps they can go over the top when they need to,” said Spitler.

Published 10/14/16

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Lucas Faces Improved Crestline

Lucas plays at home for the first time in more than a month as they host Crestline in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night.

They share the conference lead with Danville after beating Loudonville (33-27) last week in their league opener.

Lucas scored with less than 30 seconds to play to get the win when Jeb Grover hit Jackson Hauger with a TD pass. Loudonville had taken their first lead in the game with about three minutes to play and coach Scott Spitler was thrilled with how his team responded. “I thought both teams played really hard and left it all out on the field. I didn’t really expect anything less from either team in a rivalry situation. I thought early we had control of the game. We had a couple of turnovers there in the second half that let them back in it. We had to fight hard to get the win there at the end. I was really pleased with how our kids handled the adversity. We really stress to our kids and try to prep them to the fact that is not if, but when adversity hits and how do you handle it. I was really proud of how our kids handled it went out and regrouped and got that victory in the end,” said Spitler.

Lucas (5-1,1-0) has made the playoffs the last two years and right now stands second in its region in division seven. Spitler says last week is an example wins that a solid program gets. “That is what we are trying to do. We are trying to build that championship quality program not for just one season or two seasons, but on a consistent basis. I’ve got a great coaching staff and kids that are willing to come in and work hard on a daily basis and that makes things come together, especially with a supportive community that we have as well,” he said.

Last year Lucas crushed Crestline (61-7,) but this year it will likely be a little closer as the Bulldogs (3-3,0-1) are vastly improved, although they did lose (34-7) to Danville last week.

Spitler says the Bulldogs have a lot of weapons on offense. “They are definitely improved and coach (Kevin) Sipes is doing a really good job over there in preparing the kids. You can tell they are well coached. I’ll tell you what J.R. Wolfe at quarterback and J.C. Clark at running back are a pretty good tandem and they are making plays. Then when you toss it out to the outside there to a 6’4” wide receiver that is extremely athletic that can stretch the field it makes things tough. Then like always it seems like Crestline year in and year out puts extremely huge guys on their offensive line. This might be height and weight wise the biggest line we have faced all season. They are big and physical and do a lot of things that really stress you as a defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “The quarterback is just an unbelievable athlete. Some of things he does to extend plays when things break down it just keeps you up at night as a head coach and a defensive guy. Defensively they get after it. They are sound defensively. It is going to take a four quarter effort. We have to tighten things up here in practice so we can be ready for Friday night.”

Published 10/06/16

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Lucas With First League Test

Lucas has won four its first five games heading to their first Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night at Loudonvlle against the Redbirds.

A (28-14) win over Waterloo last Friday has moved the Cubs (4-1,0-0) into the top spot in their computer region in division seven. Friday night will be their fifth straight road game and coach Scott Spitler is very proud of what he has seen over the first half of the season. “We talked to our kids that we are at the midway point of the season here and this will be our fifth straight game on the road. The last two have been quite a trip being about an hour half, hour and 45 minutes one way to both West Jeff and Waterloo. So, for our kids to battle the way they have and get the victory last week we are really proud of way we are right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It doesn’t get any easier we have to go over to Loudonville on Friday night against a solid Loudonville team. I think people are going to look at their record and thinks different things about them. What I see is a team that is very talented that has played a very bear of a schedule the first half of the season with the like of Mogadore, undefeated Northwestern, and 4-1 Hillsdale and 4-1 Triway just name a few. They are battle tested. What I see on film is a team that is pretty talented.”

With only four teams in the “MBC,” Danville and Crestline are the other two, Spitler thinks you are probably going to have to run the table to win the league. “You look at the MBC the last two or three years you have to be unbeaten to be conference champs. I know that is one of our goals with our kids. Our football team has not won a conference title in any league they have been a part of, so I know that is one of the goals the kids set at the beginning of the season, but this is great rivalry. You have two communities that are real close together. A lot of our kids have grown up playing sports with kids from Loudonville in summer leagues and things like that. So, there is a tremendous amount of respect. There are a lot of families that have family members in both communities. It’s going to be a great atmosphere and this is why you play the game of football for nights like Friday night. Lucas and Loudonville are two football programs that want to win very badly and are going to leave it all out of the field,” said Spitler.

Loudonville (0-5,0-0) is coming off a (40-14) loss to Mogadore last week. Spitler the Redbirds have guys that can make big plays. “They run out of the spread, some gun and some pistol out of the spread. They have got a very athletic quarterback that can hurt you both running and passing as well as two hard running running backs in the backfield. They have nice size up front. They do a nice job of putting stress on the defense with a lot of formation shifts and motions and getting their guys in space against your guys defensively. I think tackling in space is going to be a key for us on the defensive side of the ball. On the offensive side of the ball we need to control the line of scrimmage, keep possession of the ball, and keep that talented offense off the field,” said Spitler.

Published 9/30/16

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Lucas Has to Get Back to Business

Last week, Lucas had the tables turned on them by West Jefferson and they need to get back headed in the right direction as they travel to Waterloo on Friday night for a non-conference game.

Most of the time it is Lucas that is running the ball and taking time off the clock, but coach Scott Spitler says last Friday that is exactly what the Rough Riders were doing to them. “It was a very physical game between two good football teams and they are a very storied program. They were motivated with us coming into their house. They did to us what we usually do to teams. They kind of kept the ball away from us and play a very physical game in the trenches and they came out on top in the end. Coming away from the game our kids and our program and our team is going to be better playing a team of that caliber,” he said.

Lucas (3-1) lost only once during the regular season last year, and that was to AP poll champ Danville, so they aren’t used to losing. However, Spitler chalks it up as a learning experience. “Like I said they pretty much took our blueprint and turned it on us. We had less than a dozen plays offensively in the second and third quarter because they kept the ball from us. That doesn’t happen very often to us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “That was pretty much the turning point in the game. The kids played hard for four quarters and it was a very good football game. We just came out on the short end of the sticks, but we are going to learn from it. There are some things that we didn’t do well. No one likes to lose, but at the end of the day we are going to be a better team playing that type of competition.”

Lucas travels to Waterloo (2-2) on Friday night to face the Vikings. They are coming off two straight wins over Conotton Valley (41-0) and Newbury (47-35) last week. Spitler says they can produce some fireworks on offense and he says they must keep them off the field the best they can. “They are a team offensively that kind of keeps you up at night. They have a returner at quarterback who is a splendid athlete at 6’2” and 210 pounds. He is a state qualifier in wrestling and is a tough kid. They run the spread option offense. You have to be extremely disciplined on defense with your assignments. I think they hard to simulate in preparation during the week. So, we have to have a great week of preparation. We have to play our brand of football where we control it at the line of scrimmage and keep their offense off the field to help our defense out. We have a lot work to do this week the get ready for their offense,” said Spitler.

Published 9/20/16

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Lucas facing Biggest Test

Lucas will likely get its stiffest test of the season on Friday night as they travel to West Jefferson to play the tradition rich Rough Riders.

On game three last week, they started a little slow, but rebounded to beat Northmor (37-12) to remain unbeaten.

There were only a couple of scores early for the usually high scoring Cubs, but coach Scott Spitler things they did a good job of getting back on track. “Last Friday was a little uncharacteristic. We had a turnover early and we had a big penalty that stalled a drive. We went right down the field and got in the red zone and got a holding penalty that kind of set us back behind the sticks a little bit. I wasn’t pleased with the crispness that we came out with last Friday, but our kids really railed and took care of business,” he said.

When it comes to battling adversity Spitler thinks the Cubs are pretty good and that is because of their training. “Our kids do a nice job and it is a result of my coaching staff doing a nice job of getting our kids to understand that it is not if adversity is going to happen, but when adversity is going to happen and how we handle it. It think when our kids faced a little adversity at the beginning of the game last week they kept their composure and got back to doing what we do fundamentally,” said Spitler.

West Jefferson (1-2) is an every year playoff school, but the Rough Riders have allowed some points this year, including last week’s loss to (49-9) to Jackson.

Spitler says his team is facing a big team that used to winning. “You are talking about a very storied football team. Their coach has been there 15 seasons now and they have been in the playoffs in 13 of those 15 seasons with a final four finish. So, they have a proud football tradition and they play really good football. It is just a great atmosphere there in a rural suburb of Columbus. When it is Friday night football time they are the only show in town. It is going to be a great atmosphere between two teams that want to get it done,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Offensively they are very multiple in what they do. You see a lot of different skilled positions being rotated in. Their size up front is probably the biggest team that we have seen this season so far. They average about 6’2”, 250 across their offensive line. We are going to have to do a good job defensively of controlling the line of scrimmage and preventing big plays.”

With the double wing, double tight offense, the Cubs have to be good up front and Spitler says that is especially the case this week. “I think that is important for us each and every week. That is why in the off season we spend the time in the weight room and the conditioning. With the brand of football we want to play we want to establish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football. We have pretty good experience of there, but they are going to get tested on Friday night. They have had a really good week of practice and now it is time to go out and get the job done,” said Spitler.

Publlished 9/16/16

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Lucas Working on Better Defense

Lucas is two for two so far on this young high school football season, but they are also a team with some potential.

They play at Northmor (0-2) in a non-conference game on Friday night.

They are coming off a (42-28) win over Centerburg last week. Coach Scott Spitler says they made some big plays and executed well, but he wants his team to finish the game better. “I really appreciate how hard the kids are working. They execute at a high level offensively. The big thing I think we need to do a better job at is making sure we keep that foot on the pedal for four quarters. Last week, we took the foot of the gas a little there late in the game and allowed Centerburg to tighten it up a little bit on us there at the end of the game. I think we are executing well up front and we probably have two of the best backs in the area. We are excited about how we are getting better each day,” said Spitler.

The Cubs (20-0) win on week one was also a high scoring game as they beat East Canton (49-27) to open the season. Spitler says their defense is young, but getting better. “I think that side of the ball has had the most losses due to graduation, so we have some inexperience and some youth playing there right now. That is something where we are getting better each day with every rep we are getting better. A lot of times it takes those game reps to get that experience and get that game speed,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It is really hard for the scout teams to simulate the team speed like we faced against Centerburg. I think defensively they are preparing well and taking to coaching and getting better every day and each game. When you lose some of the talented players we lost defensively to graduation young kids have to come along quicker than usual. They have been up to the challenge and working hard to do that.”

Northmor lost in overtime (24-21) to Worthington Christian last week. However, Spitler says the Golden Knights really have some game breakers. “They have went away from their more traditional wing-T offense to more of a spread package offensively led by senior quarterback Jordan Wiseman and Mr. everything slot back Demetrious Johnson. He is a guy that every time he touches the ball could take it to the house. It is real important that defensively we understand where he is and their formations and we tackle well in space. Offensively we have to be who we are and take care of the football and control the line of scrimmage. I think it is going to be a classic battle. They always do a nice job of playing us tough. We are at their place week three on the road. When we get over there we have to be ready to play football,” he said.

Published 9/09/16

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Lucas to Face Athletic Centerburg

Lucas got its season stated on the right foot last week with a win, but the challenge will be tougher when they face Centerburg on the road this week.

The Cubs scored five times in the first half last week went on to bury East Canton (49-27) in their opener at Bob Wine Field last Friday night.

Coach Scott Spitler says it was a solid effort by the Cubs. “It was a good way to open the season. The kids were well prepared and played well enough to get that victory. It is always good to start that way. It was extra motivation and kind of taking a step and preparing for this week. We have a tough task this week. The kids started Monday with some good preparation. We just need to continue to build on that each day this week with a good Centerburg team this Friday,” said Spitler.

Still improvement can be made for the Cubs. Spitler says the special teams need to execute better and they need to be able to contain the Trojans form getting to the perimeter. “I thought there were a couple of areas in special teams. Our kickoff team and our punt team where we can make some improvements. I think defensively being able to set the edge a little bit better from the outside linebacker position. It will be important for us this week against a very speedy Centerburg team,” he said.

Centerburg beat Utica (31-19) in their first game last week and the Trojans and Lucas have developed a little bit of a non-conference rivalry in recent years.

Spitler says Centerburg has a lot of athleticism on offense that they will have to contend with. “They return their starting quarterback from last year in Gunnar Gregory, who is a dual threat guy,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The have a running back that ran for 247 yards and three touchdowns last week Utica in Jacob Rings. They are led in their receiving corps by 6’3” 190-210 wide receiver Sterling Armstrong, who was All-Ohio last year at wide out. He has received a couple of offers from D-one schools.”

Published 8/30/16

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Lucas Wants the Line of Scrimmage

The strategy is pretty simple for the Lucas Cubs: dominate the line of scrimmage and they have been pretty good at it over the last couple of years.

Their football in a phone booth approach has led to two straight playoffs appearances.

They open the season on Friday night by hosting East Canton in a non-conference game.

Coach Scott Spitler says he likes the work they have been putting in and their approach to Friday night. “I am definitely confident in our players that they are going to be chomping at the bit to get out there and finally kick the 2016 season off. We still have some work to get done this week in preparation for Friday. I like where our kid’s minds are at and where their work ethic is at right now,” he said.

The Cubs were hit kind of hard by graduation and there will be some new guys getting their first varsity starts on Friday. Spitler thinks those kids will be ready to perform. “This is going to the first time for a few of them starting under the Friday night lights. That’s where they have to rely on that preparation and the confidence of being 1/11th of the team out there, the unit out there at a time and understand they don’t have to do it by themselves. Football is the ultimate team sport,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have to make sure we rely on each other and pick each other up. I think our upperclassmen, our experienced players, have done a nice job to this date with practice and preparation of doing that with our inexperienced young guys. Hopefully, that pays off on Friday night.”

East Canton is new to the Cubs schedule. Spitler says they have some beef and they are multiple in the offensive side of the ball. “They are big up front on the line scrimmage on both sides of the ball. I think that is going to be a nice battle to be had for both teams. We feel like we are pretty solid up front. We have kind of challenged our guys up front to battle what they bring in the trenches. Offensively they are going to be pretty balanced. They like to run out of the “I” but they will also do some shotgun spread. They have a three year starter at quarterback, who is kind of a duel threat. He really puts pressure on the edges of the defense. We are going to have to be very disciplined defensively. We are going to need to have a good game out of our linebackers Friday night. Offensively we have to we have to be who we are, take care of the football, and establish long drives,” said Spitler.

Published 8/24/16

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Lucas Gearing up for the Season

Lucas has been one of the best small school football powers in North Central Ohio over the last couple seasons, making the playoffs two years running and losing only twice last fall, to Danville and in the third round of the division seven playoffs to McComb.

This month they are trying to put together another strong team.

Coach Scott Spitler says his kids have worked really hard in preparing for the season, but more work needs to be done. “I really like our kids work ethic and how they have approached each day and each scrimmage, but I would say, probably like every coach in the state, we are still not were we want to be and we have things that we need to continue to work on and get better before week one gets here. It’s right around the corner and we are running out of time, so as coaches that is what keeps you up at night. We are really pushing our players to fine tune things are get ready for week one,” said Spitler.

Lucas opens the season next Friday against East Canton.

They play New London this Friday in their final scrimmage and Spitler says that is a good learning tool for the players. “I really appreciate the scrimmages and they are extremely valuable because other team’s older kids are going to help you find things that you need to work on and get better at more so than your scout team during the week. So, the scrimmages have been good so far in trying to determine where we need to be better and we have been able to see those areas. That kind of guides what we need to do each day trying to get ready for week one,” he said.

Spitler says this scrimmage in particular will be helpful in preparing the football team for next week, “I think the kids are always looking forward to go against somebody other than their own teammates because that is the guy they work against everyday. It also brings another level of intensity when they get to go against somebody else. Facing New London this Friday in our final scrimmage is good because some of the things they do offensively and defensively mirror what we are going to see week one against East Canton,” he told Swankonsports.com in a conversation on Monday night, “So, we are looking forward to getting better each day this week and hopefully find some things out against New London, some areas that we need to continue to improve on, so we can get them buttoned up before week one.

Published 8/15/16

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Lucas Still Thinking Big

Lucas won two playoff football games last year before losing to McComb in the division seven regional final.

They are confident this year will bring more success.

Coach Scott Spitler says the winning they did last season (11-2) has brought a good attitude this year. “I think the biggest thing it does for our program is the confidence our kids have in each other, but also it creates that expectation level that they have had for themselves. In setting their goals for the season in what they want to accomplish having that success and building on that has really set the table. In the four previous years they were hoping to reach those kinds of goals and now we have that expectation level and that is driving our team and how they prepare,” said Spitler.

There have now been three days of practice this week and Spitler there has been a lot of excitement and hard work. “I like the worth ethic of our kids. It seems like each year we are adding three or four new kids. This is biggest roster size I have had since I have been at Lucas. It keeps growing each year, that’s a positive thing. Our middle school program numbers are up. There is a lot of excitement in the program. Our kids are working really hard. There are some spots that have been opened up by a big senior class that did a lot of good things for us the last couple of years. The kids that are back are working to fill those open spots and keep the ball rolling,” he said.

Lucas lost a very good season class to graduation that seemed to get better every year. Spitler says this year’s players learned from them and they are ready to fill those shoes. “Even though last season we had a tremendous season from our running back Mason Galco we have a stable of running backs that are pretty solid. We are basically just handing the baton over. These are players that were a big part of our success last year as freshmen and sophomores. Now it is there turn and they are chomping at the bit and you can see it in there work ethic that they can take it to another level. We have good competition to replace Rueben Luna at the quarterback position. That is going to be one of our key battles this season to see who will step in and do that,” her told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have some bodies to replace at the linebacker position. We had a four year starter in Ryan Cook, who had been an all conference player for us the last couple of years. Our kids have really taken on the challenge and they want to keep things going in the right direction. The expectations they have set for themselves are probably higher than anyone else has for them.”

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Lucas Belts Mohawk in District Semis

Courtney Harris blasted two home runs and Lucas hammered Mohawk (13-6) in a division four district semi final on Tuesday afternoon at Shelby High School.

They return on Friday night to play Plymouth (19-4) for a chance to play in the regional tournament.

Coach Jim Rader says they were able to get some early offense. "We came out in the first inning and put some back to back hits together and scored four runs. Had some timely hitting and took advantage of some things and really had a good offensive night," he said.

Lucas (17-5) has shown solid improvement during this season. Rader says they preach a focus on all of the things that make a good softball team. "We started out the year buy beating Hillsdale and we have had some very key games in between and have put a lot of good things together. We have improved," he told Swankonsports.com after the win over Mohawk, "We talked about playing defense and being aggressive at the plate. We talk about communication and doing the little things that can make a big difference on a daily basis. They have improved a great deal and have done a great job so far."

Lucas has played a tough schedule that has included "OCC" champion Clear Fork and state ranked Danville and many others and Rader says that has made them better. "We have had an opportunity to play Hillsdale, Clear Fork, Danville, Loudonville, Crestview, and Black River. We have had the opportunity to play some really good teams. You can't always count on what is in your league, but you want to make your non league as tough as you can and get yourself in position to compete not only during the season, but in the post season also," he said.

Plymouth beat New London (2-1) on Tuesday and although they did not play the Lady Big Red in the regular season, Rader says they know what they are getting into, including Plymouth pitcher Addy Horne, who features a plus 60 MPH fastball. "We are going to see a good pitcher. We had an opportunity, way back in March, to have a scrimmage with them. Both teams had a very productive scrimmage at that point and time. We got to see them a little bit (Tuesday) night. We are going to have to bring our "A" game and continue to do what has got us this far. If we do that and continue to do that we can have some very positive results," said Rader.

Published 5/18/16

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Lucas Confident They can Pull the Upset

Lucas is sort of team ready to make a surprise and they believe they can challenge the number one team in the district.

The Cubs (7-15) play the Sandusky St. Mary's Panthers (20-3), #2 in the final Swanonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, in the division four sectional final at Sandusky High School on Friday night.

St. Mary's pounded Crestline (65-32) in a first round game on Tuesday night. Lucas coach Taylor Iceman says they looked good, but they see some kinks in the amour too. "They took care of business. They beat Crestline pretty handily. They have some size and some petty good guard play that's what they have won 20 games. They have done a lot of things right. At the same time I think we can match up with them. I think a lot of things we do well can cause them some problems as well. We are excited about the opportunity. We are telling our kids we have no pressure. We are supposed to get beat. I think we have a pretty good shot at it if we come out and play well. I was nice to see them live, we have some film, but t was nice to see them live," said Iceman.

Trenton Zimmerman is a 6'5' post that runs the floor and shoots from the perimeter for St. Mary's. However, Iceman feels they have a couple guys that can stay with him. "Fortunately for us our bigs are not true post up guys Ruenen Luna and Sam Davis, our two seniors that have some size, they are both about 6'2". They have some foot speed, they can move. I have asked those two to defend all types of players this year. I told them Zimmerman is usually an nightmare to match up with due to his size and shooting ability and he can handle the ball and shoot from the outside," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We don't have that big 6'4", 6'5" post up guy. Our bigs can get outside and move their feet. I am confident in what we've got. They are good, you don't win 20 games by being lucky. We are going to have to play well to have a chance. After seeing them play, and seeing some film, we are pretty confident."

Being the top seed there is more pressure on St. Mary's and Iceman says they want to make this a close game in the fourth quarter. "That is one thing we have talked about. They haven't had a ton of close games this year. A lot of the teams they have played are not from around this area, but two teams that we know very well, St. Pete's and South Central, are two of their three losses. Those are to teams that we have played and know very well. The pressure is on them. I don't know if they are going to overlook us, they are the number one see, we are the number 11 seed, we have seven wins, they have 20. I hope they take us serious because I think they should, but if they aren't going to I am all for it. It's about getting the kids to believe, because our coaching staff is confident that if we play well we are going to have a chance to win," said Iceman.

Published 2/25/16

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Lucas Looking for the Upset

Lucas is a basketball team still trying to get over that final hurdle and they will have a tough one to clear on Tuesday night as they travel to Mansfield St. Peter's to play the Mid-Buckeye Conference leading Spartans.

A St. Peter's win gives them no less than a share of the conference title.

The Cubs lost last Friday at Danville (60-51) in a conference game and then at Crestview (46-45) in a non-league game on Saturday.

Coach Taylor Icemen says the Saturday loss was particularly hard to take. "We started the weekend off with Danville down at Danville. We played fairly decent, but we just didn't make shots. but all and all it wasn't too bad," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Saturday, we went down to Crestview and played a great first half and were ahead by 11 at the half. The they made a run and we played pretty even the second half. Down the stretch they got the ball. They ended up getting three shots in the last 30 seconds or so. They kept getting offensive rebounds and put it up and we fouled. They made a free throw to go up one. We drew up a play and had a couple of good looks at it and we put one in, but it was about a tenth of a second too late. It was a tough way to lose, but it is learning process. That is a tough way to do it, but we have to take as much positive as we can from that."

Lucas (6-13,3-8) will be at St. Peter's (17-3,9-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Tuesday night.

In the first meeting, the Spartans were (57-40) winners at Lucas, but the Cubs led at halftime. Iceman says the Spartans show a lot of balance on the floor. "They move the ball well. They have three or four guys that can hurt you on any night. There is no one person that stands out. They share the ball, they play really hard defensively and offensively. A lot times their defense leads to their offense. They can get transition buckets by getting stops on the defensive end and they have some guys that can hit shots. Together it is the making of a good team. They are an all around pretty solid team, but we played with them the first time around. We are playing pretty good right now, so it is an opportunity for us to go out and see where we are at and play a good team at this time of the year," said Iceman.

The Cubs has shown some flashes of good play in about every game this year, but Iceman says they just have to be more consistent when they play, especially teams like St. Peter's. "That has been the story of our season we really haven't had a game where we have put it together for four quarters. We were beating them at halftime the last time we played. Even well into the third quarter it was a back and forth game we just ran out of gas. Learning how to play at their pace and at their level for a full game is what we want to do, but getting their is a different story. It is another opportunity to play a very good team. It is a great team to be playing at this time of year to find out where you are at and what you have to work on come tournament time," said Iceman.

Published 2/16/15

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Lucas Getting Closer

Step by step the Lucas Cubs are becoming a better boys' basketball team as this season unfolds.

Last weekend, they played two Mid-Buckeye Conference games, losing to Mansfield Christian (57-53) in overtime on Friday and beating Crestline (60-52) on Saturday.

Coach Taylor Iceman says they almost had the Mansfield Christian game too, but they just couldn't come up with the right play at the right time. "We played well. We were in it the entire game with Mansfield Christian, but unfortunately they kind of shot the lights out. They made nine three pointers. Last year when a team would make a run like that we would get beat by 25 or 30 and at the beginning of this year we would lose by whatever the run was because we were play even the rest of the game and we couldn't make up any ground," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "The boys fought back and played some defense and scored and were able to tie it back up there and get it to overtime. We missed some free throws, but like I said we played pretty well. You hate to lose a game like that being that close, but it all part of the process of learning to become a better team."

He says confidence is coming and the players are learning that if they keep working hard they can win games. "A big part to our second half of the season is getting our kids to believe in themselves, play as a team, and realize that we can be pretty decent. I think that is half of the battle and we are learning that. We need to keep headed in the right direction and keep having games like we had this past weekend and they will start to buy in and feel a little bit of that confidence and win games," he said.

Lucas (5-9,2-6) is at Kidron Central Christian (6-6,6-4) for a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Tuesday night. The Comets won three weeks ago (33-32) when the Cubs missed a last second shot. Iceman says the Comets are patient and try to make you do things you don't want to do. "A lot of their scores are down in the 30's. Mansfield Christian turned around and played them on Saturday night and Mansfield Christian won 34-31. That is right were Central Christian wants the score to be. They like to get in that zone and possess the ball when they have it. If you speed things up a lot of times you are going to have turnovers and that plays into their game as well. We have to be patient and look for good shots and not turn the ball over because they do pressure out of that 2-3 zone. We lost by one to them last time. That was a frustrating game, but that is what they do. It will be a tough game because they play well in their gym," said Iceman.

Published 2/02/16

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Lucas Can Do it

Lucas is certainly more competitive than they have been in recent years and now they are ready to win more.

Last weekend, the Cubs led talented Mansfield St. Peter's at halftime before losing (57-40) and then beat Monroeville (54-45) in the first game in Monroeville's new gym on Saturday night.

Coach Taylor Iceman feels their efforts last weekend were clearly a step in the right direction. "We are happy. We knew it was going to be tough to beat St. Pete's. We wanted to pay well and feel good about ourselves after that game. We played really good and at the half had a 23-20 lead. The they came out and you could tell coach Jakubick got into to those guys a little bit at halftime. They came out and kind of played at another level making some three point shots. All and all we played petty well. We got beat, but overall we took a lot of positives from that game. Then went over to Monroeville Saturday night in their brand new gym, nice gym and got the first win in that gym. It was good to win. Now we will start in with the "MBC" a second time and we are looking forward to that," said Iceman.

It is two games in the Mid-Buckeye Conference for the Cubs (4-8,1-5) this week at Mansfield Christian (7-6,5-2) on Friday and home for Crestline (1-15,0-10) on Saturday.

Iceman thinks they are ready to not just be competitive, but win more during the second half of the league schedule starting Friday night. "The first time around that was a out very first game. We all know the football story. We played pretty well, but I feel we are at another level now. We have some guys back, we are healthy, we have our legs under us, and feel a little bit of confidence coming off last weekend. After playing the first round of the Mid-Buckeye Conference we got to see everybody. I don't think there is anybody that was are absolutely scared of and we can't beat those guys," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We think we can play with pretty much anybody. Confidence is going to be a big thing for us going forward. Just believing in ourselves that we can do it and it starts on Friday. Going over to their place with our sectional tournament draw and all of that stuff coming up here. It would be a great time to go in there and not only beat a team that is in our league, but our sectional draw."

When it comes to the Flames, Iceman says they know they are going to have to be solid in their ball handling. "That is something that we have harped on all year. We have been better about it lately. That is a team we would like to model ourselves after. Coach Kurtz, he is known for that defense. We need to get after it and pressure and create turnovers. If we can do that we can create some offense that way. Playing hard defense is only going to create more offense. Like I said we have to handle the pressure and take care of the ball. We have been playing hard and working on a lot of the little things to value the ball, make some free throws and make some shots and we can beat anyone on our schedule the rest of the way out," said Iceman.

Published 1/29/16

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Lucas to run With St. Pete's

Lucas lost last week to a co-leader in the Mid-Buckeye Conference and this Friday night will play the other, but they will be different challenges.

Last Friday, the Cubs missed a last second shot and lost to Kidron Central Christian (33-32) in an "MBC" game. Coach Taylor Iceman says they certainly had their chances to win that game. "Kidron plays extremely hard and they are good at what they do. They also beat Loudonville and Mansfield Christian is the same kind of game. They like to slow it down. They play good aggressive defense. They force you to make bad decisions and we fell into that. We had 24 turnovers and I watched film the other day and I counted 15 missed layups. So, definitely a frustrating loss, but once again we are learning how to win games. We took the lead with under a minute to go and just couldn't finish. We are a young team and we are learning," said Iceman.

Iceman says that the Comets are really the kind of team they can be. "It is a perfect example of what I tell our kids Central Christian is not a very talented team, but they play hard and they do all of this little things right. I told our kids after the game they are a perfect example if you work hard and value the ball and do things right you are going to win some games that maybe you wouldn't think you would. It's a frustrating loss, but we will keep going as we head towards another conference game with St. Pete's on Friday," he said.

Lucas (3-7,0-4) will be at home for Mansfield St. Peter's (11-2,4-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, for a league game. Iceman says despite the Spartans talent, this might be a better match-up for them. "I actually watched the St. Pete's-Central Christian film and St Pete's was able to overcome that zone by just getting that ball out and running their transition and shooting layups. It all starts for them on the defensive end by creating turnovers and getting out in transition. We are an athletic team, we have a lot of athletes, we don't shoot the ball necessarily well, but teams with high tempo we can match up with. We don't have any big, true post players, so we match up with them well," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We have knack of playing to our competition's level, which is good when we talk about playing against St. Pete's. We also know if we don't come out and play they can run us out of them gym really quick. It will be a good test. It is the last conference team, we have played everybody else. We feel pretty good about ourselves. We can play with anybody. St. Pete's is obviously the class of the league, so we will see where we stand. We are going to come out and play as hard as we can and try to get better. We are good enough where we can beat anyone on any given night, but also if we don't play well and value the ball and turn it over and miss layups we can get beat."

Published 1/19/16

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Lucas With More Depth

Lucas is continuing to get better as this season goes on and the Cubs are developing some more depth.

They host Kidron Central Christian in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night.

Lucas lost a non-conference game to Hillsdale (62-45) on Saturday night, but coach Taylor Iceman liked the energy they showed in the game. "We talked about that Saturday night in he locker room after the game when I addressed the kids that we are more competitive. We knew we were going to have to play well to beat them. Certainly we could have beaten them if we came out and played hard. They weren't an unbeatable team, by any means, but we got better Saturday night. We had a little lapse in the second quarter where they were able to stretch it out to 10 or 12 points and then we were able to play even with them. I got a lot of complements from people about how well the boys responded and played Saturday night against a pretty good Hillsdale team. They have a good mix of size, guard speed and shooting. We weren't able to make up that kind of ground against a good team like Hillsdale," said Iceman.

Central Christian has played in a lot of games that are in the 40's or lower. Iceman says they are really patient. "What I have picked up on in watching some film on them is they are well coached, they don't have a ton of talent this year, but the kids know their roles and they are very disciplined and they play hard. They play smart and they don't turn the ball over. They are deliberate. They take good shots. They are going to throw some zone at us, which we have seen a little bit this year. It's another chance for us to work on that. It's a team where they have lost a couple where you wouldn't think that they would and they have won a couple that you wouldn't think they would either. It's another opportunity in a conference game for us to go out and get a win," he said.

Against a team like this, Iceman says you must make sure you show some patience and not try and force things and do things that are out of your skill set. "Being part of our football coaching staff, so I have been on the other end of that. It is frustrating when you get behind. A team like that forces you to do some things that you wouldn't normally do because you aren't going to have as many possessions. We know how that works. We have to keep working hard and getting better. It will be a good game for us and hopefully it will show some of our growth and maturity," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Our starting point guard, we plan on him playing again, he has been out for a few. We also have learned some things. One of our guards, Jeb Grover, a freshman, from the football season, we know is a great athlete, stepped up and played and got some great minutes and that is somebody count on down the road. Jackson Hauger, another one of our football guys stepped in when Brian Sauder, our starting point guard was out. I think we have more depth."

Published 1/15/16

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Lucas Finding Some Things

Lucas is starting to win games and more over they are competitive in most them and that is a change from they way it has been the last couple of years.

Last week, they lost one to South Central (62-44) and then turned around the next night and beat Fredericktown (61-51) and coach Taylor Iceman, in his first year, says that win over the Freddies has put some smiles on some faces. "We played pretty terrible on Tuesday night and South Central beat us by 18 and we came out the next night and looked like we knew what we were doing and played pretty good and beat decent team. So, it was good to end that way with the break now that we have had. It was a nice win," he said.

Lucas (3-3) has wins over Northmor (54-52) and Crestline (62-37) too. Iceman says they have been aggressive on offense and that have gotten them to the foul line and they have just been better on defense. "I have been really happy with how we have been attacking on offense. We have been shooting a lot of free throws. Now, we are only shooting 58 percent from the line, but we are shooting a lot of free throws. We are still early on with the football season, so hopefully we can cash in on that a little bit," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Our defense has been a lot better, there has been a lot of emphasis on that, It has given us a chance in games. The last three years we have flat out not been competitive in most games. The kids have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. It has been nice to get a few wins. It keeps them hungry."

The holidays can be a turning point for a lot of teams and Iceman feels it has been good for them. "We have gotten a week's worth of practice, which we desperately needed to get guys healthy and get their legs back and get to work on some things. The kids effort and their hard work in practice has been the major difference," he said.

Clear Fork (1-5) comes to Lucas for a non-conference game on Saturday night. The Colts play a number of freshmen and sophomores, but Iceman says those kids have talent. "They are a young team playing in a difficult league, obviously. I have gotten to watch the film with the Loudonville game. They are young and they are going to make mistakes, but at the same time the youngsters that they have are pretty talented for their age. Sometimes they are going to make mistakes, but they are learning. They like to shoot the three ball offensively, so we have got to defend the three point shots and box out and rebound and limit them to one shot. Hopefully, it will be a good game and we can get another "W," said Iceman

Published 12/31/15

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Lucas With Two Non-Conference Games

The Lucas Cubs have won two of their first four basketball games this year, which is an improvement when you think of the last couple of years.

They handled Crestline pretty easily (62-37) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Saturday night. Coach Taylor Iceman says they played pretty well after sluggish start to the game. "We played hard. We were a little sloppy early, but we got things going in the second half. It was good to pick up a win, the boys have been playing hard and there have been a lot of games and not many days, but we continue to get better," he said.

Iceman hopes the Cubs can be more competitive in conference games than they have been in recent years. He says the win Saturday is something they can build on for the rest of the year. "I have been around the program. I have been the freshmen coach here the last three years. Since we have rejoined the "MBC" we have won one conference game. We beat Danville last year, so that has been a point of emphasis. With three of our first four game being conference games it was nice to go out there and get that one and we can hopefully build on that," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "The conference is very balanced this year. I think there are a lot of teams that could contend for the league title. We played Loudonville on Friday night and we didn't play very well and lost by five. We told ourselves that we didn't play very well and were still in the game. It is something to build on there as we get into the rest of our conference schedule."

South Central (4-2,) the Firelands Conference co-leader, pays a visit to Lucas (2-2) on Tuesday night. Iceman says the Trojans can score the ball and they will need to play outstanding defense. "We have prided ourselves this year on trying to build a defensive program and it will be a challenge. We played them in the regular season last year and actually played them in the tournament. They have a lot of kids back from last year. They are very good on the offensive end. We have to bring our "A" game and continue to play hard on defense. We look forward to them coming to our place and have a good competitive game on (Tuesday) night," said Iceman.

It as weekday back to back for the Cubs with Christmas being on Friday this year. Fredericktown (2-2) will be at Lucas on Wednesday night. The Freddies, like Lucas had a long football run. They played Loudonville on Saturday night and lost (70-67) to the Redbirds in non-conference play. Iceman says they are going to try and control the tempo a little bit. "There will be two contrasting styles on back to back nights. It might be nice to slow down the pace on the second night. We did play Friday-Saturday and we will play Tuesday-Wednesday again. Setting down and watching some film they did play Loudonville. They played them Saturday and we played them Friday and they knocked them off by three. It is a good opportunity to win a couple of games here at home," he said.

Published 12/22/15

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Lucas Just has to Get in Shape

Lucas is just getting its basketball season under way and they still aren't in basketball shape quite yet.

In their opener last Friday, the Cubs lost to Mansfield Christian (60-46) in Mid-Buckeye Conference play. Coach Taylor Icemen, in his first year at the helm, says they really just ran out of gas. "I really wanted them to focus and play hard right from the start and we were up 11-5 after the first quarter. Everything seems to be going well and then one of our seniors got his faced smashed into the floor. He got five stitches under his chin, two on his nose, and broke his nose. So, we lost him and also there was a period of about 10 minutes when everything slowed down," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "At then end of the second quarter we got tired. We are not in the best of shape. We have had our team together for only two weeks and we didn't have a chance to do any scrimmages. That was our first game action and I knew we weren't in great shape. The second quarter killed us. I think we outscored them the other three quarters combined, but that second quarter we got outscored 21-6, so not good there."

As far as improving, Iceman thinks they aren't that far away as long as they can get their basketball legs. He knows they have the athletes. "I think it can be sooner than later. When we get ourselves in shape so we can concentrate on all of the little things we are going to be a different ball club. We have some athletes. The football team did well and in a small school it is a lot of the same kids. We do have the same athletes, but there is a difference between football and basketball conditioning. I think when we get that taken care of we will be headed in the right direction," he said.

Lucas will host Northmor (1-2,) of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference blue division, for a non-conference game on Tuesday night. Iceman says they are going to have to be patient in order to score the ball against the Golden Knights. "They have some size. I have seen a little bit of film on them. They like to get up and pressure and they like to attack them rim on offense. We just have to slow down and be patient with the ball and box out. If we do that we will definitely have an opportunity. We practiced a little Saturday, we came in (Monday) and then we are back at it (Tuesday.) Not is not a lot of practice time. We place Friday, Saturday and then turn around and play Tuesday, Wednesday. So, not a lot practice time to improve what we do and conditioning. We will have to do a lot of that conditioning through the game," said Iceman.

Published 12/15/15

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Lucas to Play in first Regional Title Game

Lucas plays McComb in the division seven regional finals of the high school football playoffs on Friday night at Tiffin's Frost-Kalnow Stadium for the right to advance to the state semi finals next week.

The Cubs (11-1) railed from a second half deficit to beat Tiffin Calvert (44-35) last week in a regional semi-final game. They trailed twice in the second half, but coach Scott Spittler says they didn't get rattled. "I think that comes from the leadership of our seniors and the type of family mentality that we have. It is a real brotherhood among all of the guys. They respect each other and play for each other. That is really what we talk about, playing for each other and who is going to step up and make the plays and it was several guys. It was a team effort. It just seemed that everybody was doing their part to make a play and go out and get the victory and I am just extremely proud of them," said Spitler.

This is the first time Lucas has ever played in a regional final and Spitler thinks he kids are just pumped for a chance to go out and prove something. "I think they are extremely thankful for the way that the community has supported them and they know how special that is. It is all family. It has just been a tremendous atmosphere. What I think it has done is it has made them even more hungrier to go out and get the victory on Friday night because they are just really enjoying the extra time together and they just don't want it to stop," he said.

This the 19th time the McComb Panthers have made the state playoffs. it the fifth straight time and the eighth time in the last nine years. However, Spitler says they aren't playing all of those other teams. "They have a lot of tradition, but we are not playing that tradition, we are playing this year's team. I really think our guys and approached this the right way. We are going to have our hands full. They are not the number one seed for no reason. They weren't projected as a state championship competitor in preseason for nothing. The analyses knew going into the season they were extremely talented and they have shown that week to week," he said.

McComb made the state semi finals in 2012.

They downed Leipsic (35-12) last week in their regional final. Spitler says the Panthers (11-1) are a big team than can run it or pass it. "They are kind of a different monster than we have seen this season. They are extremely large up front. They are the biggest team that we have seen all season and then they are extremely balanced in what they do. They can line up and pound you running the ball. If they need to throw the ball the quarterback is extremely athletic and accurate in the passing game and the skilled guys they have around him are really dangerous. They cause a problem defensively because of their balance," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Whether it is running or passing they are equally as good and that makes it tough for you defensively. Then on defense they are big up front on the line of scrimmage and their linebackers and DB's are extremely quick to the ball and are sideline to sideline players. We will have our hands full and we have to let in all hang out and see where we are at at the end of the night on Friday."

McComb's only loss this season came on the opening week when defending division seven state champion Marion Local, in division six this year, beat them (24-22) in a non-conference game. They then went the next eight weeks allowing no more than a score per game.

If they are to slow down the Panthers and give themselves a chance to win, Spitler says they going to have to play very sound defense. "In the simplest form the game is about blocking and tackling and we have to do well in both of those areas. We have to be tough at the line of scrimmage because of their size. They average 265 across the offensive line. They have twin tackles in Matt and Mike Cherry are both 6'5", 290. They have an all-district guard at 265 on the right side that is extremely athletic. They have a heck of a runner at the tailback in the Krause kid and then Abbot, their quarterback, is a dual threat. They just stress you in so many ways as a defense, so we have to be sound in our fundamentals and tackle well," said Spitler.

Lucas got out of their double tight, double wing a little bit last week and Spitler admits they are going to have to throw some on Friday. "We are going to have to establish the run and we are going to have to mix in the pass and be balanced like we were last week. When you are in this situation you have to do whatever it takes to win the game and that's our approach in all phases of the game. We are extremely confident in our quarterback and the guys around him to make our passing game affective. We want to trust our guys up front so we can establish our run game. Everyone wants to talk about the fact that we passed last week, but the thing was we were balanced. We had 250 passing and we had 225 rushing. So, the rushing was still there, but we were able to keep them off balance because they hadn't seen our passing game. So, we are going to have to do that against a quality opponent," said Spitler.

The game is at Tiffin, on turf, and Spitler thinks it is a fair location, and he says they would play anywhere. "Tiffin Frost-Kalnow Stadium is just a tremendous venue. I think when you get to this time of year your kids don't care where they are playing. They would play in a parking lot. They are ready to play the game. They are just extremely proud and excited to have this opportunity on Friday to play for a regional championship. We could probably play at Wal-Mart parking lot and they wouldn't have a problem. It is a tremendous facility over there. It is a good halfway point for both teams and I am sure they will be good hosts," said Spitler.

Published 11/19/15

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Calvert Peaking

Tiffin Calvert beat Hicksville in double overtime last week and the Senecas are starting to feel pretty good about themselves heading in their regional semi final match up with Lucas on Friday night.

In one the more exciting games around Ohio on the first weekend of the playoffs, Calvert (6-5) got past Hicksville (42-35) in double overtime. Coach Todd Fox says it probably gave him a few gray hairs, but the players did what they had to do. "We would love to not have to go through that to get a victory, bit it makes the fans happy and quite honestly it is good for the guys to go through that kind of battle and be able to respond the right way and come out on top," he said.

Calvert won four of its last five regular season games just to make the post season. Fox says they, and especially him, had to find our sort of who they are. "We finally started toward the end of the season putting some things together. We had to overcome some adversity with injuries and just some different concepts and issues that we have had. I think offensively for sure, and I think last week, for the first time since week three against Delta that had our defense at the level we expect them to play," said Fox.

Drew Ritzler has thrown 29 TD passes for the Senecas this year and with their explosiveness they are never out of a game as Hicksville found out last week.

Fox says their personnel forced him to change his approach to football. "It has changed we a little bit I am a run first coach. With this crew we have had to change our style a little bit. Our quarterback has done a great job slinging the ball around. He has a handful of talented receivers, so I have had to change philosophy a little bit," he said.

Calvert plays Lucas (10-1) in the division seven regional semi finals on Friday night at Bellevue High School. Fox says he really is impressed with what he sees with the Cubs. "Lucas and coach Spitler they have run that offense efficiently. I love the smash mouth football style and for years I have tried to infiltrate that into my team and my program. I had to go with a spread look and not let them know it was a smash mouth style," he told Swankonsports.com, "Coach Spitler there at Lucas he is going to stick it in there and he is going at you. It is going to be a tough challenge to slow that team down."

With their double wing, double tight offense, Fox says Lucas makes big plays in the run game and they stick with it even when things aren't going that well early. "They made big plays and they keep going. They are patient. They have great athletes and they are all buying into it. They do a great job," he said.

Published 11/13/15

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Lucas Wants to Take Next Step

Friday night Lucas will try to do something that has never been done in school history. That's win a second playoff game in the same season.

They face Tiffin Calvert in the division seven regional semi-finals at Bellevue Athletic Field.

Last week, they drilled West Unity Hilltop (51-6) in their first playoff game. "I thought our guys really prepared well during the week and were extremely focused and came right out of the gate and played well in every facet of the game," said Lucas coach Scott Spitler.

Calvert (6-5) downed Hicksville (42-35) in double overtime to advance. Spitler says don't be fooled by their record. "I think sometimes when you look at a record it cam be quite deceiving. They played quite a tough schedule this season and are battle tested and well coached. Coach (Todd) Fox over there does a tremendous job. They are extremely talented and led by a very athletic quarterback that can do a lot of things with his feet and his arm," he said.

Spitler says Calvert quarterback Drew Ritzler in tremendous. He says he puts a lot of pressure on the defense. "He does a nice job of extending the pocket and keeping his eyes down field. They have some really nice wide receivers that are long and lanky and have good height. With their size up front is definitely going to be a tall task for our defense. They have been playing really well all season," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "I think the biggest area of improvement for our team during the season has been the job our defensive kids have done and my defensive staff has done in getting that side of the ball to match the intensity and the style of play that we play offense, which makes us a total team. They are going to have their hands full with a pretty talented offense this Friday."

Ritzler has thrown 29 TD passes this season and ran for another eight.

Lucas (10-1) runs the double tight, double wing offense, that likes to run the football on nearly every down. Spitler says they like to eat some clock and that helps their defense too. "That plays into our defense's success as well. If we can control the ball and the line of scrimmage and run the ball that is less time for them on offense. It also creates a little panic for them because they have to make sure their possession is one of efficiency because they might not get very many. That goes with our guys up front doing their job and on the other side of the ball the defense doing their job getting the ball back so we can eat that clock. That is what has allowed us to get this position is the commitment to playing that style of football," said Spitler.

Calvert has allowed some points this year Swanton (42), Gibsonburg (50), Northwood (47), but Spitler says the Senecas are equally athletic on that side of the ball. "You see a lot of the same faces on defense. They are very athletic and quick and have good speed on defense. I am very impressed by what I have saw so far on film from their defensive line. They have a nice mix of size and athleticism and they have a group of linebackers that can flat out get to the football," he said.

This has already been a glorious season for the Cubs, but Spitler says they aren't done yet. "Last year the guys got a taste of making it to the second round, that hadn't been done in school history. That taste was left with a little disappointment at the end of the season. They kind of have the mindset that last season kind of ended with some unfinished business and that has been one of their goals this season since we went to camp this summer is to get farther in the playoffs than we did the year before and that can't happen without a good game Friday night and getting that second victory," said Spitler.

Published 11/10/15

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Lucas at Home for the Playoffs

With wins in nine of their 10 games this year, the Lucas Cubs are hosting their first ever playoff game at Bob Wine Field on Friday night in the division seven regional quarterfinals.

It is the fourth time the Cubs have made the post season and the first time in school history they have done it twice in a row. "I am really pleased our kids and their focus and using last year as a springboard into this season and to get where we are today," said Lucas coach Scott Spitler.

Their only loss came on week eight to unbeaten Danville (41-0,) but they were able to rally and beat Grove City Reining Sports Academy, a school not part of the OHSAA, (70-12) last week. Spitler says they got some good leadership last week. "It was a tremendous football game between two good teams, we came out on the wrong side of it, and you learn from it and then come back. Our seniors did a nice job of getting the team refocused and ended the season on senior night with a victory and getting us ready for this week," he said.

Hilltop (6-4) won their first six games of the season, but they take a four game losing streak into the game on Friday night, including a (48-18) loss to Gibsonburg last week.

Spitler says the Cadets recent struggles have been related to injuries from which they may be over now. "Your have a team that plays pretty good football. They have a really athletic quarterback and they run out of the spread formation. They lost him for a few games at the end of the season and he got back on the field last Friday against an undefeated Gibsonburg and threw for over 300 yards against a pretty good football team," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Defensively we have to be able to play in space and keep him in front of us and make them earn every yard they get. Offensively we have to control the line of scrimmage and do what we do."

Lucas (9-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, run the unconventional double wing, double tight offense.

Spitler says Hilltop kind of reminds him of Centerburg, of the Blue Division of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, a team they handled (30-14) back on week two. "The schemes that they run are very similar to, the formations they run are very similar to, the multiple offense that Centerburg runs. Centerburg was a little bit different match-up. Their quarterback is a very athletic kid and everything they do goes through him. He is not as big as Durbin from Danville, so that is a plus. I think we have an advantage up front if our kids come to play the way I know they can," he said.

Published 11/03/15

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Lucas Has to Get Focus Back

After eight straight wins to begin the season the Lucas Cubs suffered their first setback of the year to Danville in the Mid-Buckeye Conference championship game. Now they have to get back on track.

They host Reining Sports Academy from the Columbus area on friday night.

Last week, Danville, #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, and number one in Ohio division seven, drilled the Cubs (41-0) in a physical game. Lucas coach Scott Spitler says Danville's defense just took them out of what they wanted to do. "I thought it was a situation where defense was playing good football. It was 0-0 after one and it was still only 14-0 at halftime with a couple of blown coverages, but they didn't get the support from the offense. Danville was probably the best defensive line that we had seen all season. They did a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage and taking away our bread and butter and putting us in down and distance situations where we weren't able to be successful," said Spitler.

There has been no pouting this week in practice, according to Spitler. "We have had a great attitude and a great effort this week and focus. They understand this is senior night (Friday) night and it is our goal each and every year that our seniors get a win on senior night and this week is no different. I think our seniors have done a nice job of getting us back on track and springboarding us into the post season," he said.

This not necessarily who Lucas wanted to be playing this week, but Spitler says they really didn't have a choice. "There was a situation on the last week right before the regular season started where our week 10 opponent Fostoria St. Wendelin cancelled their season leaving us without a week 10 game right as the season started, so we were really scrambling. Mr. Teague, our athletic director, and myself, just trying to find anybody with the assistance from the state," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "This was our only opportunity to get our week 10 game back and have a senior night. Unfortunately it is not a game that is going to count toward the OHSAA playoff status. It is an opportunity for seniors to have a senior night and play a 10 game schedule."

Spitler says Reining Sports Academy has some guys with a lot of speed and the Cubs are going to have to control that so they don't give up big plays. "They have some real good athletes and some tremendous speed. I think we have an advantage up front, so we have to we have to do a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage. Then making sure we tackle well in space. They have big play capability in several of their skilled positions with their speed," he said.

Published 10/30/15

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Lucas and Danville Match Unbeaten Records in "MBC" Title Game

Lucas plays at Danville on Friday night and what is at stake is the outright Mid-Buckeye Conference title.

Both are unbeaten with Danville number one in the statewide poll and Lucas number three. The are also #1 and #3 in our Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in our small school division.

Lucas (8-0,2-0) is coming off a (48-0) win over Bridgeport last week and they have been challenged only once this season and that was a in a week six win over Loudonville (20-7) in "MBC" play. "I think our kids have really worked hard to get to where they are. I think this is a situation that they wanted to be in as far as the goals they have set for themselves this season. They are where they want to be and they have a great opportunity on Friday night. We have to make sure we are taking care of our business in practice this week to make sure we are ready for it," said coach Scott Spitler.

Danville has scored 429 points this year and they are led by 6'3", 245 pound quarterback Ridge Durbin. Spitler says he is a difference maker for the Blue Devils. "He is extremely talented and very experienced. He is pretty much their flag carrier. Their offense goes as he goes. He is also the key to their rushing game. We have definitely got our hands full with what they do and the kind of player he is," he said.

However, he is not Danville's only playmaker. Spitler says they can't put a spy on him. "I think they are just too talented at the other skilled positions to be in that type of scenario. I think that is what has made it difficult for teams that have faced them up until this point. They are extremely talented at the wide receiver and running back positions. You have to be extremely disciplined, You really have to make them earn every yard that that get." he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "You can't allow them to have the big play. They do so much with their formation and their motion. They do such a nice job catching you not aliened properly. They get a player free in the secondary and turn one play into a touchdown. We have to make it very difficult for them to drive the length of the field and make them earn every hard that they get.
Danville's defense is allowed only one score, that coming last week in a (49-6) win over Loudonville, since week two. Spitler says Danville is really improved on defense since they saw them last year. "They had a team similar to us that was junior dominated last season and had pretty much everybody coming back. I can tell by watching film that their biggest area of improvement from their team last year to their team this year is they way their defense is playing. Their special teams play really well too. You don't get to 8-0 without playing well in all phases of the game and that's what you have with both teams going in Friday night," said Spitler.

Too much hype? Too many distractions? Spitler says they have to keep their focus on the game. "You have to make sure you manage this outside noise and all of the hype. It's going to be how we handle our composure and handle that adversity and stay together as a team will determine the outcome. It is important that we stay on top of the winner's ratio with big plays, turnovers and penalties. We have to make sure we win those three areas to be successful Friday night," he said.

Published 10/21/15

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Lucas Takes Unbeaten Record of the Road

Lucas has made its share of bus trips this year, but so far they have been happy ones. The next trip for the Cubs comes Saturday afternoon as the will be at Bridgeport to play the Bulldogs.

They remained unbeaten on the season last week with a (61-7) romp over Crestline and Mid-Buckeye Conference play.

Coach Scott Spitler says they treated it like just another day at the office. "I am really pleased with how our kids are prepared and staying focused and approaching the season one game at a time and making sure each Friday night is the most important on our schedule," he said.

Bridgeport High School is most famous for being the alma matter of former Ohio State and Boston Celtics star and basketball hall of famer John Havlieck.

The Bulldogs (3-4) are coming off a loss to River (34-160 last week.

Spitler says they run a multiple offense and they will have to be ready to defend a number of things. "They have a team with some nice skilled position athleticism at linebacker position and in the backfield on offense. I think what we have to do is control the line of scrimmage that is where we have an edge. They do enough offensively with the way they mix it up. One minute they are going to be in a power football formation, the next minute they are going to be in spread. They have a pretty good athlete that they like to move around. Sometimes he will be at quarterback, sometimes he will be at wing or running back," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "So, we have to have good communication as far as knowing where he is at. It kind of tips their hand about what is coming offensively. So, communication offensively is going to be key and on offense we have to run the football and control the line of scrimmage."

Now, Lucas plays Danville in an "MBC" game next week and both are unbeaten on the season. Times for ticket sales for that game have already been announced, but Spitler says they can't be thinking about Danville when they have a game to play this week. "Our guys have done a good job of staying focused week to week and they know if we don't care of business this week it is not going to matter about next week. So, we are focused on Bridgeport and making sure we are getting better on a daily basis. We can't have any excuses. It's a game on Saturday this week rather than Friday. It's a daytime start rather than seven o'clock at night and there is a bus drive. We can't use those as excuses we have to ready to play and play our brand of football and that's what the kids are focused on," said Spitler.

Published 10/15/15

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Unbeaten Lucas Faces Winless Crestline

Two teams headed in opposite directions face off on Friday night as the unbeaten Lucas Cubs travel to Crestline to take on the winless Bulldogs in Mid-Buckeye Conference play.

Lucas (6-0,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, rallied to beat Loudonville (20-7) in their first conference, and toughest, game of the season last week.

Coach Scott Spitler says they did what they had to in order to get the win. "It was definitely a very good battle between two teams playing hard and our kids were able to make adjustments at halftime and get things done the second half," he said.

Running back Mason Galco ran for 186 yards and two scores against Loudonville.

Spitler says they made the right adjustments and started to play Lucas football in the second half of the game. "The big thing for us is we needed to do a better job of finishing drives. We had two drives stall in the red zone with a couple of penalties in the first half. Defensively, we had several missed tackles on their one score in the first half that allowed them to have that 7-6 halftime lead," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We went in and addressed the things we needed to do to fix those things so we could get back on track and we were able to do that is the second half and drive the ball and control the clock. Our defense really stood up and had some nice stands in the second half. Holding a team like Loudonville to seven points is a pretty good undertaking."

It looks like the Mid-Buckeye will be decided when Lucas plays Danville on week nine of the season. The Blue Devils destroyed Crestline (64-0) last week. Still, Spitler says the Bulldogs showed some good things on film. "The record doesn't show it, but coach Sites over there is really doing some good things and we can see their kids are playing better fundamental than they had in the past. It's only his second season as their head coach and he is working really hard. When you watch film you can see that things are improving for them. If they continue to get more numbers out and stick with him they are going to be headed in the right direction," said Spitler.

In his opinion, Spitler says there is no question the Cubs have to have their focus on Crestline or they will be surprised and disappointed at the outcome. "We are working on fixing things that we still aren't happy with and making sure we are stepping forward each week and towards the goals that we have set. Traditionally we have not gone over and played well at Crestline, at their place, so we have to make sure we have things going at our level of expectation and definitely not take this team lightly because they are talented enough if we don't go over there and take care of business we are going to be on the short end of the stick," said Spitler.

Published 10/07/15

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Lucas Starts League Play

Lucas has looked very impressive over the first half of the season, but now they get into the meat of their schedule as they host defending champion Loudonville in their Mid-Buckeye Conference opener on Friday night.

Probably the Cubs (5-0,0-0) most high profile win came over Centerburg of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, a (30-14) win on week two of the season. They are coming off a (44-12) blasting of Waterloo last week.

"I think our guys are working really hard. Our coaching staff is working hard. It is showing on the film on Friday night with execution by the players," said Lucas coach Scott Spitler.

Lucas qualified for the division seven playoffs last year, beating Plymouth in the first round, before losing the Berlin Center Western Reserve.

Spitler says they started this season with some lofty goals. "I think they players on our team have expectations. Every summer when we start camp our seniors leading the team set the goals for the season. Our guys have set some high goals and lofty expectations. We can see every day that is drawing them to work hard to prepare each week and it is no different this week. They have goals that they have set for themselves as we enter the league part of our schedule that they want to accomplish in the league. Add to that a quality team like Loudonville," said Spitler.

Loudonville was one of the very best small school teams in this area last year and they pounded Lucas (49-0) a year ago. However, this is another season with the Cubs returning a lot talent and Loudonville losing quite bit to graduation.

The Redbirds (3-2,1-0) are coming off a (42-21) loss to traditional powerhouse Mogadore last week, who also eliminated them form the playoffs last season.

Spitler says there may be some new faces and kids in different positions, but Loudonville is still very good. "They are extremely talented. They graduated some good players, but they just put other guys in slots. Van Sickle moved from wide out to quarterback. He is a young man that has tremendous speed. He can hurt you. All he needs is a little window and it's going to the house with his kind of athleticism and speed. Heath Snyder, their running back, is phenomenal. A very physical, hard runner," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They are extremely good up front. They are right around the 6'1", 6'2", 250 pound average. They have some nice size up front and they move well with their edges and slots they do a lot with their screen game."

Spitler says their little question that the Redbirds are the best team they have played yet this year. "They are very similar to what they have done in the past, but you can also see coach Rios influence on the offense. Defensively, it's trade mark Loudonville football. They get downhill at the football and get very physical," he said.

Published 9/29/15

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Cubs Face team with Size

Unbeaten Lucas really hasn't been challenged this season. Will it be this week when they play host to Waterloo in another non-conference game?

Last week, they destroyed Bealsville (66-0) and one of the good things, according to coach Scott Spitler, was they were able to get some quality time for their non starters. "Our guys came out from the get go and took care of business and we were able to get some young guys some time there and it made for a good night for our entire team," he said.

They are four for four on the season and Spitler says they are brimming with confidence. "I think they believe with the amount of work that they do each week. They are confident in each other and how hard each other is going to work and that builds their confidence and that allows them to play in all phases of the game at a high level," he said.

Can they get better? Spitler says they can and he says the kids know that is true too. "I believe we have a lot of room for improvement and that is something we tackle on a daily basis. We want to be able to do a lot of things. We want to be able to, as coaches we are never happy. The nice thing is as coaches, they have expectations of themselves and they know where they want to be at the end of the season, so they are pushing themselves to get better every day," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "I think my coaching staff does a nice job of making sure our practices are detailed enough that we are looking at our deficiencies in certain areas and making sure we are getting better and taking that step each day. We can't stay the same or take a step back we have to get better to reach the goals they have set for this season."

The Waterloo Vikings (2-2,) from the area of Ohio east of Akron, comes calling on Friday night. They hammered Newbury (56-12) last week. Spitler says this team has more size than anyone they have played this year and they have big play ability. "They are a spread option team out of the pistol. They have a really athletic, nice sized quarterback. He is about 6'2", 205. This is probably the biggest team we have faced this season. Up front in the trenches they can match us size wise. As a coach you are always extremely worried about a team that runs the option because it forces a team to be extremely assignment oriented and disciplined. If we don't come ready and be disciplined they have the capability to putting it in the end zone quick with their option game. Defensively they are almost a carbon copy of us. it's going to be a good battle for our guys and we have to come ready to play this week," said Spitler.

Published 9/24/15

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Lucas Ready for Another Challenge

Lucas is three for three so far and the Cubs continue to play sound football on both sides of the ball.

They downed Northmor last week (36-6) in the heavy rain that was last Friday. Coach Scott Spitler says they continue to do what they need to do. "Our defense really did a nice job controlling the line of scrimmage all night. Offensively, dealing with a muddy and rainy night we were able to establish our run game, sustain drives and get the victory," he said.

Lucas (3-0) is a team that doesn't throw much anyway and Spitler says the conditions last week made that even more the case. "I think when you have a steady rain like you had last Friday it helps to saturate the football and make it very difficult as far as the grip and stuff to be able to really execute the passing game with high efficiency because of how it effects the ability of quarterback to make a good throw," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Ruben did a nice job for us on a couple of play action passes early in the game and really did a nice job for us creating a three headed monster for us in the run game. He established himself as a weapon Friday night to show people it is just not all about Mason we have a number of weapons at our disposal to keep teams honest."

This week Bealsville comes to town for a non-conference game. Spitler says they were kind of lucky to even get this game on the schedule. "We don't know a whole lot about them. It was a situation where Open Door Christian cancelled on us there at the end of June and we were scrambling to find a game with somebody that was open. The OHSAA sent us a list of people they thought were open and all of them had already filled. We were really worried about possibly having and open week where we didn't have a game. We just took a shot in the dark in e-mailing their "AD" and they had an opening on their schedule. They are a small school over around West Virginia," said Spitler.

It's the first meeting between the two schools and Spitler says Bealsville is team that can do a lot of things when they have the ball and when the other team does. "One of my assistant coaches did some research on line and they have made the playoffs a few times over the last 10 years. They have struggled the last couple of years. They will come at us with a multiple offense. They are going to show us a couple of different things on defense, with a 5-2 and a 4-4 look. They have a nice athletic quarterback. We are looking to establish who we are and play our brand of football and get the victory on Friday night," said Spitler.

Published 9/16/15

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Lucas, Northmor Battle for the Line of Scrimmage

Lucas and Northmor both want to run the football and the team that controls the line of scrimmage probably wins on Friday, actually there is no probably about it.

The Cubs are off to a (2-0) start to the season after breaking a five game losing streak and beating Centerburg (30-14) last week. Coach Scott Spitler says they did a tremendous job. "I am extremely proud of my athletes and my coaching staff on the job they did all week and then the performance they put on the field Friday night," he said.

Coming off a year in which they advanced to the second round of the division three playoffs, Spitler says the Cubs are playing with a lot of confidence right now. "The experience that they got last year and the success they had last season has really built their confidence and their belief in themselves. We have always believed we had the talent and the ability to be successful, but sometimes doubt can creep in there. The confidence that they are playing with now allows them to go out there and play free and just play good football right now," said Spitler.

Lucas plays at Northmor Friday night and Spitler knows the winner is going to be determined by who can get that running game going best. "Another tuff team for coach Trainer. They always play us tough. This will be our third season playing them and we have spilt the last two years and it has been a six point game both years. Make no bones about it both teams want to run the football and establish the line of scrimmage," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "The last two games will be for not if we don't come ready to play this Friday against these guys because they have a good football team."

First down, and putting Northmor in bad down and distance situations, is going to be important to both sides, but Spitler says you can not afford to forget about the pass of the Golden Knights (1-1) have the potential to burn you. "That is what you try to do. That's what you want to do to any team, but especially a running team. You want to get them behind the sticks so they have to do something that they are unfamiliar doing. I'll tell you what the Farley boy at quarterback is a really nice athlete. He is pretty elusive. He has been a dual threat for them so far this season and then Johnson, the running back, who was the state champion in the long jump is a tremendous athlete. He is lightning in a bottle. He can put it in the end zone from anywhere on the field," said Spitler.

Published 9/11/15

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Different Styles For Lucas, Centerburg

Two teams that approach the game very differently will face off on Friday night in non-league play as Lucas plays host to Centerburg.

Lucas lines up in a double wing, double tight formation and will try to pound the ball at you, meanwhile Centerburg wants to emphasize their speed and athleticism out of the spread. The Trojans have had much the better of it recent years, winning the last four meetings, the last three by at least three scores. The Cubs hope to change that on Friday.

Lucas (1-0) was very good last week when they traveled over to the eastern Ohio and blasted Lowellville (70-0) on the opening night of the season. Coach Scott Spitler says they got off the bus and did what they wanted to do right away. "I was really pleased by how our kids responded after a long bus ride and just absolutely from the get go playing the style of football we want to play in every phase of the game. We are trying to build on that this week. We are working on things we need to get better at and we have done that this week. It was really nice to get out of the gate with a victory," he said.

The lopsided victory gave the Cubs a chance to play some younger kids and Spitler says they are very important to their success. "We were able to play the entire roster in the game last Friday night. That's nice because a lot of those young guys are working really hard to learn our system and doing a nice job of providing our scout teams. Our captains said to them (Thursday) night after practice we can't get better without them running the scout teams and giving us the looks that we need. I am really pleased by how hard they work and the looks they are giving us on a daily basis," said Spitler.

Centerburg (1-0) got a win in their first game too, downing Utica (35-20) last Friday.

Spitler says the Trojans are athletic and they look to hit the big play when then it is made available to them. "It is a lot of same for Centerburg. This senior class has been in the playoffs every year since they got in high school as freshmen, so they have an expectation of success. Like always they have tremendous team speed and they run their spread offense at a tremendous tempo. That is very difficult to simulate in practice during the week. They are not the kind of team that is going to drive it 10 or 12 play drives," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "What they do with their tempo and their multiple formations is they wait for you to have a breakdown in your alignment or a breakdown in your communication or your discipline and then they are hitting a home run on you. They very talented at the wide receiver and skilled positions and they have a real nice quarterback that makes it happen."

Published 9/04/15

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Lucas to Throw More?

Lucas coach Scott Spitler once described his double tight, double wing offense, as football in a phone both, but this year the Cubs might just throw it a few times... no kidding.

Spitler says they are not going to abandon hat has made them successful, including a playoff appearance last year. He says they are going to still feature the run, but throw in a few more passes. "I don't we will ever get away from our foundation. Our kids have really bought in an executed well, but with the guys we have at our skilled positions this year like our quarterback Rueben Luna and our stable of running backs we will do a few different things, a few little wrinkles out of it just to make us a little bit more dangerous. We are still going to stick to our base of running the football and allow it to open up things for us," he said.

On defense, Spitler says he thinks the Cubs are becoming more aggressive and really running to the football from the linebacker and defensive back positions. "I think our defensive staff is doing a really nice job. The guys have really sold out on playing on the defensive side of the ball the same way we attack the offensive side of the ball and that is being really tough up front in the trenches and really getting to the football from the linebacker and defensive back positions," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "I really like the swagger we are playing with and the intensity and the relentless effort they bring on a daily basis to get the defensive side of the ball to match the offensive side of the ball. They are finding out if we have that kind of effort and intensity it will be a really fun time."

Lucas makes the trip to Lowellville on Friday night to open the season. Spitler says they will be facing a wide open offense that has a lot of weapons they will need to defend. "They are team that made it to the playoffs in 2013 and they expect success over there in the Youngstown area and they have a very nice football team. They want to run the ball as well. They have a very nice 6'1" about 220, very physical kid that likes to run the ball and they come at you with several different types of spread formations," he told Swankonsports.com after practice on Wednesday, "We are going to have a match-up issue with the wide receiver, tight end. He's about 6'5, 210, and a pretty good athlete. So, we are going to have to be sound defensively and make sure we ready our keys and tackle well in open space. We can overcome a lot of things by continuing to get to the ball like we have in our scrimmages."

Published 8/27/15

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Lucas Working at Being Solid

Lucas was a football team last season that got better as the season went on. They made it to the division seven playoffs and beat Plymouth in the first round before losing to a big Berlin Center Western Reserve team in the regional semi finals.

2015 could be another good season for the Cubs, but only time will tell.

The first test came on Monday when they played South Central in a scrimmage. Coach Scott Spitler says he thought things went pretty well for the Cubs. "I thought the scrimmage went well. I thought our kids did a lot of good things. The nice thing about going against someone other than your own teammates mans you get a chance to look at some things that you definitely have to work on and get better at," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "A lot of times it is hard to find out when you are just practicing within your own team. I thought we did a good job (Monday) in several facets and there are some things that we have to continue to work hard at and get better and work to where we want to be one week one."

When running plays against Trojans, Spitler saw a lot of things that made him smile. "I thought our quarterback play (Monday) was well. In our passing game we made some really good decisions. From our backfield I thought all of are backs ran the ball really well, picking up from where they left off last year. I thought at times up front we did some really good things. Offensively there are some things we have to get better at. Defensively I was really happy with our tackling and how we got to the football," he said.

Lucas plays at Newcomerstown in a scrimmage on Friday and then at New London in another on August 21. They open the 2015 campaign against Lowellville on August 28.

Spitler says his team has some high expectations and he believes the players have the commitment to reach those goals. "We are certainly proud of what the team accomplished in the 2014 season. That was special not just for our team, but our community and our school, but this is a new year and some new faces. We do have some guys returning. In 2015 we do have some new faces on our schedule. This team hasn't earned anything yet. Their expectations are going to be higher than anybody else can put on them. They understand the 2015 team hasn't earned anything yet and we have to make sure we keep our nose to the grindstone and work each and every day to get to the expectation level and reach the goals that we have set for this season," said Spitler.

Published 8/11/15

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Lucas Knows What it has to do

Lucas has been a basketball team that has been right on the edge of more success this season, but they just can't seem to cash in when they have the chance.

Wednesday night is their last chance when they play South Central in the division four sectional semi-finals at Norwalk High School.

Last weekend was kind of a microcosm for them as they lost to East Knox (66-63) in overtime on Friday and to Hillsdale (53-34) on Saturday. Coach Kyle Pertuset says they had a chance to win both nights. "We really missed a lot of golden opportunities Friday against East Knox. Saturday against Hillsdale we knew we were going to have to play well, but at the same time we thought we had a game plan that if we were able to do a few things they would allow us to hang around and have a chance. We did it for about three and half quarters," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Unfortunately we had a few missed opportunities at the free throw line. I think we were down nine with about two and a half minutes to play and we had to come out and try and pressure the ball. They got a couple of easy baskets and we had to start doing some things out of our character."

South Central (17-5), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is the number three seed in the district. Pertuset says that is with good reason. "They are a good basketball team, very well coached, Brett Seidel does a tremendous job. I know he has Pat Durham over there helping him, so they are second to none as far as in game adjustments. We are going to have to be ready to play. We are going to have to be able to rebound the ball like we haven't all year. I have a locker room full of kids that believe they can get it done and know what we need to do, plus we have a good plan. We are just going to have to roll the balls out there and see what happens,' said Pertuset.

Lucas (4-16) needs a good start in this game, according to Pertuset. "We need to get off to a good start... that's crucial. We need to come out and make a couple of shots early and hopefully they miss. We need to limit Yost a little bit, he is their bread and butter, he is a great player. Hopefully we can be there in the end and have a chance to play for a sectional title," he said.

Lucas only lost to South Central (55-48) a couple of weeks ago and Pertuset knows they can pull the upset. "We are trying to sell our kids that now is the time. It is "March Madness," it is time to put it together and play our best game. In some capacities we are playing our best basketball and we are lacking in some others. We are trying to focus on those areas that have been costing us games. There are a couple of key areas that we just feel like that if we can be average on, and not below average, we will have an opportunity to win the basketball game," he said.

Published 3/04/15

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Important Weekend For Lucas

Lucas is a young basketball team still trying to get better and they have two more chances to grow this weekend with games against East Knox on Friday and Hillsdale on Saturday.
On Tuesday night, the Cubs didn't make very many shots and they lost a non-conference game to Crestview (51-39) at their place.

Coach Kyle Pertuset says they tried some new things on offense and they didn't work too well, plus they were not up to the challenge defensively in the second half. "We didn't' do a good enough job of executing offensively and I also though our defense was sorely lacking in the second half. At halftime it was 17-14, we had the lead and we gave up way too many points in the second half. Credit Crestview they made some adjustments and we had to get out of what we were doing defensively. I thought their staff really did a good job. Offensively we have been trying to put some new things in for the tournament and I don't think the kids are quite ready to execute those new things in game situations yet," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We have two more games and a couple more practices to get us up to speed as far as offensive execution before the tournament. We need to get back to the drawing board and simplify a few things, especially since we have a younger team. We are going through the peaks and valleys that a young team goes through."

A lot of teams may not want to play a double weekend heading into the tournament, but Pertuset says it is different for them. "We are really glad that we have our schedule like this and we play two more games. We wouldn't be feeling very good about ourselves if we had to go straight off of the Crestview game into the tournament. The fact that we get to lace them up two more times and at least two more practices before we go in and play South Central on Wednesday. It makes us optimistic that we can make some adjustments and make a long tournament run," he said.

Lucas (4-14) is at East Knox (2-17) for a non-conference game on Friday night. Last year, both were part of the Mid-Buckeye Conference and Pertuset says they certainly remember a two-point loss to the Bulldogs. "Like last year was it looks like a pretty even game on paper. If we come out and defend and do the little things we should be there are the end. It is definitely a big game in the eyes of the community and the eyes of the kids and our coaching staff. We went down to the wire with them last year and almost got our first win. The kids certainly don't forget how things went over at their place last year. When that game came out on the schedule the kids were excited to have the opportunity to play East Knox again. Hopefully we can bring that energy into Friday and hit a couple of shots. We really need at the worst to spilt this weekend so we can pick up some steam for the tournament," said Pertuset.

Published 2/26/15

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Lucas Feeling Some Momentum

Lucas is starting to become more competitive and that is showing in their attitude toward the game.

After chasing South Central pretty hard 10 days ago, the Cubs won their first Mid-Buckeye Conference game of the year when they beat Danville (53-50) last Friday night.

Coach Kyle Pertuset says he hopes that win can improve their confidence as they complete the regular season and head into the tournament. "We were really pleased, the kids were ecstatic. It was a good experience for them trying to pick up some momentum before tournament. I kind of thought we reached a turning point after the South Central game after how well we played over there. That kind of carried over to the week of practice and we had a good solid week of preparation and kind of springboarded into the Danville match-up. We came out early and executed and scored just enough points to get the win," said Pertuset.

Lucas has been the victim of a number of close losses this year, but Pertuset says they are starting to understand how to win games. "We really persevered. We trailed one time in the third quarter. We got down by eight and battled back and were down five at the end of three. We were finally able to get over the hump and close out one of those close games. We did the same two weeks back against Monroeville. We had another close one against South Central and then were able to pull one out against Danville. Hopefully we are hitting our stride. Now is certainly the time of year when you want to be peaked and playing your best basketball," said Pertuset.

Lucas (4-13) plays at Mapleton (6-12) of the Firelands Conference in a non-conference game on Saturday night. Pertuset says the Mounties will come into the game with some confidence. "They have some kids that can score. They are kind of up and down. You never really know what you are going to get, but I expect them to be ready to play us and see us as a game expect to win. We are going to have to be sharp defensively and rebound and communicate again if we want to continue this momentum towards the tournament," he said.

Lucas will play #3 seed South Central (16-3) in a first round game in the division four tournament. Having lost just (55-48) to the Trojans on February 7, Pertuset says they believe they can compete. "A couple of things happened that kind of caught me off guard. I think the top six teams chose play in games and I really didn't expect that to happen. I certainly see why they did that looking at the bracket. I can't complain too much about our draw. We probably wouldn't want as difficult a first round draw as we got, but that the same time we know that we play our best basketball this is a game we can come away with," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Another element to this is we know we are going to have their full attention. We aren't going to catch them off guard we are going to have their full attention after our first match-up. There is going to be no sneaking up on them."

Published 2/17/15

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It's Just the Little Things At Lucas

It seems to be just a play here and there that is keeping Lucas from winning more ball games and if they can do a few of those things they certainly has a chance Friday night against Danville.

Lucas put a little scare into highly regarded South Central on Saturday night before bowing the Trojans (55-48) in Greenwich. Coach Kyle Pertuset says if they could have just executed a little better. "In that South Central game unfortunately we had a couple of mental errors there late that took away our opportunities to win and spring the upset. I was extremely proud of the effort and that was one of the main things we talked about on Saturday for whatever reason we were not there on Friday night. Credit coach Seboe and his kids they played extremely hard. they beat us, that is about all I can say about Friday. I was really pleased with our kids resiliency to come out and battle one of the better teams in our area for four quarters," said Pertuset.

Loudonville hammered the Cubs (66-40) in a conference game last Friday.

Danville (7-12,1-7) will be at Lucas (3-13,0-7) for a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night. The Blue Devils won (66-64) on January 24 at their place. Pertuset says that one has been on their minds a little bit over the last couple of weeks. "We are really ready for this one. We have had it circled on the calendar. We were actually down by 23 points early in the third quarter over at their place and ended up coming all of the way back to tie and coming up short. Hopefully we can put together four quarters against them," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We were down 21 at the half at their place and we battled all of the way back. We understand we can't put ourselves in that position. Hopefully, we learned from our mistakes and what caused us to be down by 21 and have a successful 32 minute game rather than a dramatic comeback."

Okay, the team that scores the most points wins the game, but Pertuset says there are still a lot of little things that are stopping them from getting a chance to score. "We need to finish quarters and stay focused, don't take plays off mentally, being strong with the basketball. It is the little things we talk about everyday in practice. Our kids probably get tired of hearing it, but our coaching staff is always talking about do the little things guys. If we do the little things we will win games. Boxing out, coming to the triple threat position, making a pass fake. Our margin for error isn't really big right now," he said.

Published 2/13/15

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Lucas Feeling Pretty Good

Things are starting to turn around a little bit for the Lucas Cubs.

They beat Monroeville (68-63) in overtime last Saturday in a non-conference game to pick up their third win of the season. They play Loudonville in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game on Friday night and then play talented South Central in a non-league game on Saturday.

Lucas won back to back games against Gilead Christian and Mansfield Temple Christian in January, but coach Kyle Pertuset says the win against Monroeville was the best they have had so far this season. "I think it is our best win of the year without question. We were finally able to pull out one of those close wins. If we could have pulled out every game we were in down to the wire in the fourth we could be looking at a .500 record. It seems like things just haven't gone our way down the stretch for us for whatever reason. It almost looked the same way on Saturday. We were down three with about 45 seconds left in regulation and you think here we go again. The kids battled and persevered to get it to overtime and pull out the victory," said Pertuset.

With the win over Monroeville, and how it happened, Pertuset hopes that can bring them some confidence for the rest of the season. He says he had a number of kids turn in really good efforts. "We had a couple of kids that really stepped up huge for us. Jacob Miller had 25 points, Jacob Gerish had the big three in regulation to tie it. A kid I really want to talk about is Sam Davis, his effort and determination," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "He had so many rebounds in the fourth quarter, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, steals, hustle players. He had a critical steal in overtime that pretty much put it away. He stole the ball at half court and drove it all the way down and scored the bucket and one to stretch the lead to four. The kid played unbelievable, I couldn't be more proud of him and everybody else."

Lucas (3-11,0-6) plays at home against Loudonville (5-8,2-3) on Friday night at the "Cub Cave." Pertuset thinks this should be a pretty good game because the teams match-up well. "They are much better than their record shows and I feel like we are too. It's a pretty even match-up. I think every time we played over the last two years the biggest difference there has been is 13 points and that was last year at our place and that was a game where we fouled at the end to stretch it out. All of our kids know their kids and vice versa and they are just ready to play," he said.

Published 2/04/15

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Lucas with Three Games in Four Days

Lucas will play an NBA like schedule as they play Friday, Saturday and Monday and they are preparing their fitness to make sure they are ready for the test.

They also played on Tuesday night and lost to Kidron Central Christian (42-37) in non-conference play. Coach Kyle Pertuset says they played well on defense, but just had too many turnovers. "I thought we played pretty well. especially defensively. Offensively we just turned the ball over too many times. We had 22 turnovers and that is never a good thing, especially when you are playing a team that plays predominantly zone defense, you never want to turn the ball over that many times. We struggle to score sometimes and we can't give up chances to score the ball," he said.

Lucas (2-10,0-5) hosts Mansfield Christian (9-4,4-1) on Friday night in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game. Pertuset says they have to keep the Flames off the boards, which they didn't do the first time they played them in a loss (67-50) and he says they play better at home. "Over at their place we played okay and we got to foul line 28 times and made 20 of them. That was a big part of us being able to hang around in that ballgame until they kind of stretched it out at the end. We had to try and do some things out of our character to get back in the game. Kendall Cross absolutely destroyed us on the boards when we played them. He even made a 35 foot buzzer beater and when things like that happen you get the idea it isn't going to be your night," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We feel like if we can contain Cross and keep him off the glass. We do seem to play with a lot more energy and play pretty well at home. We are just hoping to be able to hang around and take their punches and still be standing with the opportunity to pull the upset."

After the Friday night game, the Cubs play Monroeville (2-9) on Saturday and Plymouth (14-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the small school division, on Monday. Pertuset says they know fitness is going to be an issue. "We are still trying to find some things out about Monroeville. Plymouth I have seen a couple of times and they are good. We are taking the one day at a time approach. We conditioned pretty heavy (Wednesday) night because we knew we were going to have to be light (Thursday) because of the game, so we ran the kids pretty hard (Wednesday) and hopefully we will have the legs to handle this three game stretch," he said.

Published 1/29.15

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Lucas Has More Confidence

After winning two games, their first two of the season, last weekend, the Lucas Cubs have two chances this weekend to win their first Mid-Buckeye Conference game of the season.

Lucas blasted Gilead Christian (74-49) last Friday and Mansfield Temple Christian (65-56) on Saturday, both in non-conference action.

Coach Kyle Pertuset knows things are going to be more difficult this weekend, but he says those two wins make everyone feel better. "It definitely gets the monkey off our back, but at the same time we understand we are going to take a tremendous jump in competition starting on Friday with St. Pete's and then on road Saturday with Danville. Anytime you can get a win and get that "0" out of your win column the kids work ethic changes and the mentality. It is a lot easier to get back to work," said Pertuset.

One thing that remains a concern for the Cubs is the way they handle the ball, and Pertuset says that has to get better. "I was pleased. I thought we did a real good job for the most part on zone offense, but if I could take one thing away from the weekend that I wasn't particularly happy with was how we handled full court pressure. Other than that I though we took some steps forward and will be ready to go on Friday," he said.

Lucas (2-7,0-3) plays at Mansfield St. Peter's (7-5,4-0), the "MBC" leader, on Friday and at Danville (4-8,0-3) on Saturday in conference games.

Pertuset says the Spartans were already pretty good when they beat them (61-46) in early December and know they are better. "They are on top until somebody does something about it. We are going to take our best shot at them, our best swing at them this Friday and see how we do. They have two transfers and they are pretty good role players for them. They make them deeper than they already were and I felt they were pretty deep to begin with," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We have to make sure the kids are well conditioned to play 32 minutes of basketball. It will be interesting to see with we can go out there and execute our game plan. I believe if we can do that we will give ourselves and opportunity to win."

Against St. Peter's Pertuset says the tempo is going to be key, but more than that they have to be able to rebound the basketball. "We like to run too, but tat the same time we understand our opponent and the scouting report and things like that. I believe that tempo is very important to us on Friday as well as rebounding the basketball. The first time we played them we gave up 20-plus second chance points. The point of emphasis all week in practice has been rebounding and also how we want to play offensively," he said.

Published 1/22/15

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Lucas Looking For Good Things

Lucas is still looking for its first win of the season and they get two more chances this weekend with a Mid-Buckeye Conference game at Danville on Friday and a visit to Clear Fork of the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Saturday.

They lost a battle of winless teams to Northmor (57-32) last Saturday and then this week the players have been out of school due to the cold weather and coach Kyle Pertuset says that has been a hardship for the Cubs. "After our performance against Northmor I was kind of ready for the kids getting back into the routine of getting up early and going to school and things of that nature. I thought maybe that would change things in the way we played last week," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Here we are back in school and we have been there two days. It is one of the things you have to adjust to and communicate with the kids and explain to them how important it is to get rest and not stay up all night playing video games and eating all of the garbage they like to eat."

Lucas (0-5,0-3) plays at Danville (3-5,0-2) on Friday night in conference play. Pertuset says they are a lot like them except they have senior Ridge Durbin. "They definitely have some capable players with the Durbin kid. He is a very intense physical presence and a good defender. He can take you off the dribble and shoot it at the same time. Anytime you play a guy who can get to the rim and shoot it it is going to be a challenge for you as a team defensively. They have a couple of kids that came up from the JV team last year that can play a little bit too. They are young a lot like us. As far as experience it is going to be pretty even out there," he said.

As far as Clear Fork (2-5) is concerned Pertuset says they always give them a lot of trouble with their athleticism. "Clear Fork is going to one of those games that is always going to be difficult. They really get out and pressure the ball. They present some match-up challenges for us with the way they pressure the basketball. All I know for sure is it is a very difficult match-up for us in terms of how they pressure the ball and their style of play compared to how we react to certain things. I feel pretty good about how we will play this weekend," he said.

Published 1/09/15

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Lucas Getting Closer

Lucas and Northmor continue to look for their first wins of the season and one of them is going to get it as they play at Northmor in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

In their last outing on Saturday, the Cubs (0-4,0-3), dropped a (58-52) decision to Loudonville in Mid-Buckeye Conference play. Coach Kyle Pertuset says that was really a game they could have won. "We kind of let that one get away from us. We had one or two too many mental break downs throughout the game that kind of cost us the victory we felt like. We were able to take away some positives, but at the same time we give the same old moral victory speech to the kids that they get tired of hearing as much as your get tired of saying it," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We'll go over to Northmor and hopefully have a good effort we feel like we are going to need to put in so we can get the monkey off our back so we can get rolling."

During the holiday break Pertuset says the extra time gives him and the team some extra minutes to sharpen their play and prepare for the opponent. "I know I can watch a lot more film, and like the kids, I can get a lot more sleep, so that is good. Northmor, I know they played Fredericktown pretty close. They have been competing hard and I am sure they are just as hungry as we are, so we have to come ready to play, do things right, and take care of the little things, and put ourselves in good position," he said.

Northmor (0-6) lost to Galion (69-51) on Saturday and they are playing a lot of young kids. Pertuset says they play hard and physical and they have to be ready for that come Saturday. "They really like to get up after you. They do a good job in that zone of getting out and pressuring you, pressuring the basketball, and getting their rotations. The key for us is we have to utilize the ball fake, be patient and attack when the opening are there. Just not get going too fast and hopefully we can find some openings and knock down some shots. Keep them off the offensive glass, that is always a key for us, we have done a better job of that, hopefully that can continue trending in the right direction as well," said Pertuset.

Published 12/31/14

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Lucas Must Rebound Better

Lucas is becoming a better basketball team, they are going to be more competitive this season that last, they just have to get over a few more hurdles, like rebounding.

Mansfield St. Peter's beat them (61-46) in their Mid-Buckeye Conference opener last Friday. Coach Kyle Pertuset just feels they gave St. Peter's too many chances to score because they didn't rebound well enough. "The biggest thing is we just can't give up that many second chance points. I thought our kids would have had a really good opportunity had they rebounded the ball better. We probably gave up 14 second chance points," he told Swankonsports.com, "I know they had at least eight second chance points in the first quarter alone and we ended up being down by nine after the first quarter. If we just do some of the little things that we talk about everyday in practice. We told the kids afterward that these are things we could correct. We try to stay as positive as we possibly can. It's not a talent issue."

The Cubs are still working on finding more scoring and Pertuset says they can't afford to get behind like they did to St. Peter's. "Right now we are having trouble scoring the basketball. We need to get a stop and it has to one and done. I think we kind of let one go on Friday night. I think if we just rebound the basketball the result could have been a lot different," he said.

It's not just rebounding, but scoring the ball too. Pertuset says they have to find more guys that can put points on the board. "We have to be more patient and we need some help from some other guys sharing the basketball. Right now we have Jacob Gerich doing a lot of scoring. He had 22 on Friday night. We have a lot of young kids out there playing with not a lot of varsity experience. I think our offense we really come with time. We added some things last week and I pleased in some areas in what I saw. We are still working to get the kids to know all of our sets. Sometimes getting the offense in gets placed on the back burner. We are focusing on the things that are going to give our kids the best chance to win," said Pertuset.

Lucas (0-2,0-1) plays at defending Mid-Buckeye Conference champion Mansfield Christian (2-2,1-0) on Friday night. The Flames beat Danville (60-49) in their conference opener last week. Pertuset says they are going to have to compete better on the boards to have a chance. "It just comes down to drilling it, drilling it, and drilling it and it becomes second nature when the shot goes up that we get a body on somebody. Sometimes when we get position we just fail to maintain that position," he said.

Published 12/15/14

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Lucas Has to Run Offense Better

Lucas needs to be more fundamentally sound in the way it runs its offense as the Cubs get ready for their Mid-Buckeye Conference opener on Friday night at home against Mansfield St. Peter's.

In their first game last week, they lost (47-27) to Fredericktown in non-conference play.

Coach Kyle Pertuset was very happy with what they did in defending the Freddies, but he says they have to be more focused when they have the ball in their hands. "It definitely didn't go as we visualized offensively, now on the defensive end I was quite pleased with our effort holding a team like Fredericktown to 47 points. If you would have told me Friday evening I would have said we are going to win the ballgame. Unfortunately, offensively we aren't where we need to be yet. We have made a few adjustments to get few more options to put our guys in better position hopefully to be able to score the ball a little bit more on Friday," said Pertuset.

In order to score more, Pertuset says they have to be more patient and find open guys in order to get better looks at the basket. "We need to be a little bit more fundamentally sound. Fredericktown did a pretty good job of defending us and took away our first and second options. We need to do a better job of having the presence of mind to be fundamentally sound enough to get to our third and fourth options without turning the ball over or allow their pressure to take us out of what we want to be doing," he said.

The Cubs host Mansfield St. Peter's (1-1), who is having some offensive problems too. They scored less than 30 points too in a (53-27) loss to Buckeye Central on Tuesday night.

Pertuset says they have to be able to keep the Spartans out of the lane and off the boards in order to win. "I expect to see an extremely disciplined team, especially in the course of the half court offense. I am really impressed with the stuff that coach Jakubick is running over there. I think he is doing a great job. He has a couple of freshmen coming off the bench right now that I could see it is just a matter of time until one of them cracks the starting lineup. They do a real good job coming off the bench and shooting the basketball," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Hammer does a really good job of penetrating and finding the open guy. You can't forget about Richard Shaw. I know he hasn't found his stride yet, but when he does look out. I just hope it isn't against us. We have to keep Barrick and the other big off the boards. If we can keep the guards in front of us and keep them off the glass we have a chance to win."

Published 12/11/14

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Lucas Must Handle Pressure

Lucas is trying to almost jump right from football season to basketball season as they play their first game this Saturday at Fredericktown, who is in the same situation.

Both schools lost on the second week of the football playoffs, jut over two weeks ago. Cubs coach Kyle Pertuset says they are trying to make sure they have the endurance needed to play basketball. "With the success of the football team I think we still need to shake some of the cob webs out a little bit. We got a two week late start and we trying to polish up the fundamentals, get into shape, and turn their football legs into basketball legs and that has been kind of a challenge. We are hoping also that the success on the gridiron can kind of translate over to the hardwood," said Pertuset.

Lucas won their first ever playoff game this year in the first round against Plymouth. Pertuset hopes to be able to take some of the excitement generated by the football team into the winter. "The community really rallied around the football team. We can just imagine if we can continue the trend what a great atmosphere we would get to play in. We have good athletes we just have to polish up our basketball fundamentals and make sure we can use our athleticism affectively and I think we can be alright," he said.

Fredericktown has a new coach in Randy Endsley Sr. and Pertuset says the Freddies are going to be a big challenge for them. "Fredericktown I think they are really, really good and we will have to take care of the ball because they like to pressure. If we can just take care of the ball and not fall into playing their game we might be alright," he said.

Lucas has a lot of young players on their roster and Pertuset says they are going to have to settle into the game Saturday night pretty quickly and not be in aye. "We only have one senior this year, so we have some young guys out there playing and they are just going to have to go out here and relax and play the game and not be overwhelmed in the moment. If we can do that I think we might be alright there," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We have to slow it down a little bit and handle the pressure that Fredericktown is going to bring. if we can still hang around and be in it those first couple of quarters and sustain their runs and their first initial pressure I think that will be key."

Published 12/02/14

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It's Lucas Against the World

Lucas was a kind of an upset winner in their first playoff game and no one is giving them much of a chance at all in their second... well, expect for the Cubs are their faithful.

They play Berlin Center Western Reserve (10-1) in the division seven regional semi-finals at Red Rider Stadium at Orrville High School on Saturday night.

Last Saturday, the Cubs (7-4) forced four fourth quarter turnovers and rallied from three scores down to beat Plymouth (37-34) on Rueben Luna's field goal at the horn.

Coach Scott Spitler says they simply never gave up. "I am really proud of our boys and the way the handled themselves in the rollercoaster ride that was last Saturday's game. It was just their attitude and the way they faced adversity at times during the game and the way they fought back to get the first playoff win in school history. It was really a special moment for our entire community," he said.

Luna is the Lucas quarterback, but he also handles all of their kicking and Spitler says it is something he works on all of the time. "It is not surprising if you know Rueben. He spends an inordinate amount of time outside of just regular football practice and the time that we spend on our special teams working on his kicking and punting. This young man has worked a lifetime on his craft and it paid off for us on Saturday night," he said.

The Western Reserve Blue Devils advanced to the state semi-finals last year and in 2011. This season they have averaged 40 points a game and beat Toronto (27-17) last week to advance. Spitler says they have great size. "They are a well coached team with tremendous size at every position, just not in the trenches and great athleticism. We are going to have another match-up problem as they have a 6'6", 210 pound wide receiver/tight end that is going to be a match-up issue," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Our defense is going to have to have a great week of preparation and be sound in our fundamentals on Saturday night. Offensively we are going to have to do a great job at the point of attack at the line of scrimmage to be able to move the ball against these guys because they are very solid defensively. They are probably the largest team size wise across the board that we have seen all season. They are very comparable to a Loudonville."

Across the state there likely aren't a lot of people that think Lucas has a chance in this game and Spitler says they use that to their advantage. "I think our kids are enthused with the opportunity that we have this week. They know they are well supported by our community and our fan base. We pretty much have to play week in and week out with a chip on our shoulder with the understanding that not a lot of people outside of our community expect a whole lot from us. Our kids take that personally and that drives them to prove people wrong. We are going to play that card and get after it Saturday night and see how we come out at the end," said Spitler.

Published 11/13/14

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Lucas Faces Plymouth Again

In the first week of the playoffs it's a rematch as the Lucas Cubs travel to Plymouth to face the Big Red in a division seven game on Saturday night. Plymouth handled Lucas (40-22) on the first week of the regular season.

Lucas (6-4) also lost to three other playoff teams in Centerburg (28-7), Loudonville (49-0) and Danville (28-14). Coach Scott Spitler says this is a team that has matured a lot this season. "We didn't start off the season the first two weeks the way we would have liked, but the kids kept their noses to the grindstone and kept working and believing and we got it turned around and headed in the right direction and finished the season on a successful note and earned the right to represent our school in the playoffs for just the third time in school history," said Spitler.

Lucas runs a double wing, double tight offense that concentrates on running the ball. Spitler says the offensive line has done a great job for them this season. "That group really jelled this season and really hold each other to a high level of expectation in their play and they have just gotten better each and every day," he said.

Plymouth (7-3) finished in third place in the Firelands Conference this fall. Spitler says they have a number of weapons on the offensive side of the ball that they will have to contend with. "They are very talented, especially on the offensive side of the ball. They have three tremendous athletes with Tyrell Edmidson, Chance Butcher and their quarterback Hunter Bailey," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They just threaten you in every avenue that they can with formations, personnel, and can move the ball really well. On week one we made eight turnovers and they recovered six of them giving them six extra possessions and you can't do that with any team let alone a team with the offensive talent that they have."

The Big Red gets in a number of different formations and Spitler says they must be aliened correctly before the snap. "We are definitely going to have to take another step this week in our development defensively. We are going to have to be able to communicate to make sure we don't give them anything easy because we are misaligned. They are very multiple in what they do," he said.

Even if they eliminate all of the turnovers they had in the first game against Plymouth Spitler knows they have to have a different game plan because Plymouth will be different too. "I think both teams have progressed all season and continue to get better. There are different dimensions on both sides of the ball for both teams as well as they development and experience of the players. You can't rely on what was week one. You have to prepare just like they are the next team on the schedule in the regular season. You have to be sound in what you do and make sure that you are fundamentally ready for what they bring to the table," said Spitler.

Published 11/06/14

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A Lot on the Line For Lucas

A win on Friday night against Allen East will put the Lucas Cubs in the playoffs for just the third time in school history, but right now they are just thinking about paying tribute to their seniors by winning.

Last week, they fell (28-14) to Mid-Buckeye Conference rival Danville in a game where coach Scott Spitler says they didn't cash in when they had a chance, especially in the first half. "In the first half we didn't do a very good job offensively. Three drives we got into the red zone and we shot ourselves in the foot with mistakes and penalties. You can't do that against any football team, let a lone a good Danville team. So, we went into halftime down 14 when we could have easily been up in that situation. When you try to play catch up against a good football team we just came up short there at the end of the game," said Spitler.

With a lot hanging in the balance this week Spitler says they have been moving forward, not looking back, and concentrating on what they need to do to win on Friday. "There is nobody more frustrated in the way that we played than our kids because they have great expectations of themselves and the pride that they have in being a Lucas Cub. We went back to work on Saturday morning evaluating film and moved on to Allen East," he said.

Allen East (3-7) has lost its last two to Ada (28-22) and Lima Central Catholic (55-21) last Friday. Spitler says this is certainly a team that can compete with them in the trenches. "It ought to be a quick game Friday night when you have two teams that want to run the ball as much as we do. They are extremely large up front. They might be the biggest team will have faced this season in the trenches. They run a hybrid wing-T offense. They have some really nice skilled kids. Their fullback is pretty close to 1,000 yards rushing already this season. We are going to have our hands full defensively this week trying to defend a big, physical run game that they bring to town. Then offensively we are going to have to control the line of scrimmage and run the ball to keep pace with their offense," said Spitler.

Even with playoffs a possibility for the program, Spitler didn't want to hear anything about that on Monday. "The most important thing to our kids right now is they want to get this win and finish with a winning season and send our senior out right in their last season as a Cub at Lucas Stadium. It has been our tradition the last two years to make important for our underclassmen to send our seniors out right," he told Swankonsports.com, "Our focus right now is to make sure we are getting better each day so we can send our seniors our right Friday night with a victory in their last home game and if that is good enough to earn a post season berth then we will play week 11. Our biggest goal is to get that sixth win and send our season out right in their last home game."

Published 10/28/14

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The Cubs Playoffs Hopes Riding on This Week

Lucas stands sixth in its computer region in division seven and their possible qualification for the postseason might be determined by the outcome of their Mid-Buckeye Conference game this week with Danville.

Last week, Lucas overwhelmed Toledo Horizon Science (61-0), leading (41-0) after the first quarter. Coach Scott Spitler says they were able to get some young kids into the game. "We were able to come out and play a really good first quarter and pretty much after that it was a lot of time for our young kids, which was a good pick me up for them. It was an opportunity for them to showcase the good work they do each week," he said.

Additionally last week, Lucas celebrated the history of their program by inviting some former players to come back home. "We honored the 50th year of Lucas football. We had members from every decade present since the 1960's, so it was a very good night for our entire program and community," he sent.

Although they only threw two passes last week, Lucas has thrown more this year due to the maturing of quarterback Rueben Luna. Spitler says he works very hard to get better. "He spent a lot of time this off season fine tuning his craft. The comical thing about coaching Rueben is he is his own toughest critic," he told Swankonsports.com, "So, we spend a lot of time trying to build his confidence and help him see that the mistakes that he makes are fixable and not to dwell on them because he expects perfection from himself. That is a good trait because it drives him to be successful."

Lucas (5-3,0-1), of course, concentrates on running the ball. They ran it 33 times for 440 yards against Horizon Science. Spitler says they have a talented backfield. "I think we have a really nice group of running backs, not just our starting two that run with some physicality, but also have some quickness that they need to break away lead by our senior Logan Spohn and our junior Mason Galco. We have been fortunate to have two quality backs and their backs ups are pretty talented too," he said.

Danville is coming off a (67-7) loss to unbeaten Loudonville last week, but still ninth in their computer region. Spitler says Danville (4-4,0-1) is a pretty good team. "Make no bones about it, Danville is a solid football team with a great tradition of playing blue collar football. We are going to have our hands full and our kids know they are going to have to have a great week of preparation and play well if we are going to reach the goals we have set for ourselves," he said.

Danville beat Lucas (41-0) last year and Spitler says they have to be able to score when they get into position. "They have a very talented quarterback. He is a big kid that can run the ball from the spread formation and they have nice kids that can do a lot of good things in space. We are definitely going to have to keep taking steps forward on defense this week. Last year, against them we were able to move the ball between the 20s, but we couldn't punch it in. We have to get better up front this week," said Spitler.

Published 10/20/14

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Lucas Becoming Good on Both Sides

Lucas is now over the .500 mark and the Cubs are striving to make their first playoff berth in since 2006 and only the third in school history.

Right now, the Cubs stand sixth in their computer region. The top eight qualify for the postseason.

Coach Scott Spitler says they are enjoying what they are doing and the players are giving it everything they have got. "The kids are working very hard and they seem to be putting some things together and getting things headed in the right direction for several weeks now. I am excited about our potential as long as we keep working as hard as we have been," he said.

Lucas has been racking up some impressive offensive numbers, mostly rushing yards, they had 330 last week in a (45-8) over Upper Scioto Valley. However, Spitler says the defense have been getting a lot better too. "We have begun to jell defensively here the last few weeks. That is a tribute to our defensive coordinator and our staff working the kids really hard and the kids holding themselves accountable to a high level each day. They have an expectation to meet their goal and reach their goals this season and you can see that in the way they practice," said Spitler.

They allowed only 146 yards of total offense last week.

This week, the Cubs (4-3) host Toledo Horizon Science in a non-conference game. Spitler says they might have difficulty matching up with the Lucas double wing, double tight offense. "They have really decent skill speed, which kind of concerns me. They kind of want to spread you out and play on the edges with their spread gun offense. Defensively they are based out of a 50 front. I think watching them on film I like the match-up up front, our guys in the trenches versus their guys in the trenches. We are going to try to do what we do best and play some physical Lucas football," said Spitler.

Perhaps, Horizon Science would be a school you would be surprised to find on the Lucas schedule, but Spitler says when you are in a league of three you can't be choosey. "We are in a league where there are only two other football playing schools so we might as well be an independent with all of the games that we have to try and find. After week three most schools are in their league season, so there is not a lot of variety out there to choose from. Sometimes you just can't be picky," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Rather than not having a game you have to go out there and schedule somebody that lots of times you might not think of matching up with. Beggars can't be choosers so to speak with the difficulty at this time of year of finding people to play."

Published 10/15/14

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Lucas With Big Assignment

Lucas takes a three game winning streak into Loudonville to play one of the better division six teams in the state on Friday night in the Mid-Buckeye Conference opener for both schools.

Mason Galco ran for 289 yards and five touchdowns last week in a (65-41) romp over Vienna Mathews in non-conference play. Coach Scott Spitler is encouraged by the improvement he has seen from his players. "We knew we had a pretty good football team. Against two good football teams at the start of the season we just made too many mistakes and some self inflicted wounds early in the season. We have gotten those things tightened up. Offensively and defensively the last three weeks we have been able to put some things together and get three straight victories and build some momentum and hope that springboards us into a good performance Friday night at Loudonville," said Spitler.

The Cubs beat Northmor (33-27) on week three and Elyria Open Door Christian (41-6) on week four.

Spitler says they have been gaining more and more confidence with each win. "Football is not easy or everybody would be playing it. The kids go through a lot of work and a lot hot days. When you have some success and put some wins together it makes that grind of the season go a lot easier. It puts more pep in your step and helps you focus each week on getting better," he said.

Loudonville (5-0,0-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, has outscored its five opponents 240-27 this season. Spitler says they have unbelievable players everywhere. "They are a very talented team in every phase of the game and they make you prepare for every phase of their game equally. They put a lot of pressure on you in the special teams area. They have a very fast and physical defense. Then on offense they really stretch you vertically and horizontally," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "The tremendous athlete they have at quarterback. He can run the ball just like a veteran tailback and he can also hurt you passing. They have some nice skilled kids around him and a big offensive line. They have had some success the last couple of years with some playoff appearances, so the kids have high expectations."

Spitler says they have to go to Loudonville and play their game, football in a phone booth, and just execute very well. "We are going over to their place, their stomping grounds, their turf. We are going into a hostile environment. Most important for us we have to get better each day and put our best foot forward on Friday night and be ready to go," he said.

Published 9/30/14

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Line of Scrimmage Big in Lucas Game

Lucas entertains Vienna Mathews on Friday night in non-conference play with a two game winning streak in hand.

They took a four touchdown lead into halftime and went on to bury Elyria Open Door Christian (41-6) last week. Coach Scott Spitler says they did what they had too do. "It was a good night for the entire team. We played really well and were able to get the victory. Now we are able to get back to work on this week's opponent Matthews," he said.

Lucas runs a double tight, double wing formation and has always concentrated on running the ball, but Spitler admits they are passing the ball a little more this season. "We have put it up a little bit more this year. Our quarterback Reuben Luna has done a real nice job of developing from last year to this year,"" he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We have a few more wrinkles in the play book and doing a few more things formation wise to keep people honest. We are still focusing on the line of scrimmage and being a physical run team."

Vienna Mathews (2-2) comes to Lucas (2-2) on Friday night for a non-league game. Spitler says Matthews makes no bones about it they want to run the ball on you. "It has been very similar to when we were preparing for Northmor. They are primarily based out of an unbalanced wishbone offensive set. They want to establish the line of scrimmage and run the football 75, 80 percent of the time. We have to do a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage ourselves. It is going to be a battle in trenches Friday night for sure between teams that want to establish a solid run game," said Spitler.

Anytime you are playing a teams that run the option you have to be secure in you assignments and Spitler says they can't allow Mathews to control the point of attack. "They are going to run some option, so we have to be disciplined with our assignments in the option game. The have an athletic quarterback that does a good job running the ball out of the option attack. We are going to have to be disciplined and control the line of scrimmage," he said.

Published 9/23/14

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Lucas Looks For Two Straight

After earning their first win of the season last week against Northmor, the Lucas Cubs are looking to make it two in a row as they host the Patriots of Elyria Open Door Christian.

Quarterback Ruehen Luna scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left in the game last week to push the Cubs past Northmor (33-27) in non-conference play. Coach Scott Spitler says the win has given them some confidence. "It was a nice win in a very close battle with Northmor. Our kids just stayed the course and were able to get the victory there at the end. It put the pep in our step in our preparation for this week," he said.

Luna also completed 11 of 19 passes for 185 yards. Meanwhile, Mason Galco ran it 17 times for 90 yards. Spitler says it was a much needed win for the Cubs. "We believe in our kids and we know we have a good football team. The first two weeks we played two pretty good football games against two pretty good football teams in Centerburg and Plymouth and came out on the short end," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "You start to doubt yourself a little bit as a teenager. Coming out last week against Northmor and being able to come back and get that victory at the end really builds that confidence."

Open Door (0-3) has lost games to Danbury Lakeside (47-18), Lorain Clearview (48-0) and Collinwood (56-12) last week. Still Spitler says the Patriots have some game breakers. "They are a senior laden team led by their six-foot-three, 185 pound quarterback, who's last name is Simpson. He is a very athletic young man with a nice arm. They are going to try and test us vertically and on the edges with the run game. They like to run the jet series. They put pressure on your kids defensively by putting them out in space. We are going to have to be very disciplined in the secondary and we are going to have to tackle well," said Spitler.

Published 9/16/15

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Lucas Can't Fumble

Lucas runs an offense that almost nobody else does and they only throw the ball when they absolutely have to and that isn't very often. If you going to do that you can't fumble much.

Last week, the Cubs had as many lost fumbles as they did pass attempts, four in each case, in a (40-22) loss to Plymouth. Coach Scott Spitler says they just can't allow another team to have that many extra chances to score. "You can't do that against any team, but especially against a team with the offensive skill that they have. You can't give them six extra possessions in the game because of your lack of ball security. I think that was the big factor in the outcome of the game," he said.

Lucas ran for 315 yards on 60 carries in the game, but Spitler says they kept putting their defense in bad positions. "I thought we moved the ball well and the offensive line did a nice job, but you have to protect that football when your teams relies so heavily on the run game," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We kept putting our defense in harms way with short fields and stuff for Plymouth with turnovers and you can't do that against good football teams like Plymouth. They ended up getting 26 points off those turnovers and it was an 18 point ballgame."

Lucas travels to Centerburg this week, the defending champion of the blue division of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. Spitler says the Trojans have a lot athletes with very good speed. "They have tremendous team speed on both sides of the ball, which is difficult to simulate in practice with your scout team. We will have to do well at playing in space. They do a nice job offensively and defensively putting you in positions to play against their speed in space. We are going to have to force them to play our type of football and slow them down a little bit, keep things in front of us and prevent the big play," said Spitler.

Centerburg blanked Utica (32-0) in their opener last week and they appear to be pretty strong again.

Spitler says they must better open field tacklers. "That is something that we didn't feel we did a very good job with last week. We have spent a lot of time this week focusing on those fundamentals and spending some extra time ironing those things out. Hopefully the kids have had a good week of practice here and that will pay off on Friday night improving those things that we saw the week before," said Spitler.

Published 9/04/14

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Lucas Can't Turn the Ball Over

Lucas normally isn't that flashy but they can be pretty good and they will need to be when they play host to the Plymouth Big Red on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

Cubs coach Scott Spitler feels his team is heading in the right direction as week one arrives. "I think we have made improvement over the summer since the preseason two a day stuff has gone on. Last Friday we had our last scrimmage versus New London and I thought we were a little sloppy, so hopefully we get those things buttoned up this week because we are going ton have our hands full Friday night with a pretty skilled Plymouth team," he said.

Lucas is a team that has some experience on the roster, but Spitler says it is still young experience. "We bring back a good nucleus of experience, but the funny thing is because most of them have played since they were freshmen and sophomores we only have five seniors on our roster this year. It boas well for future years not just this season. We like the experience we have coming back and we have some exciting younger kids to add to that group. I think we have a good group of kids we just have to make sure we don't shoot ourselves in the foot and work to get better each day," said Spitler.

Plymouth is expected to be a top tier team in the Firelands Conference this fall and Spitler says the Big Red has a lot of guys that can make big plays. "They return quite a bit of experience at their skilled positions. They have a very quality quarterback and a nice receiver corps and a couple of nice running backs. It seems that every year we play Plymouth it is a knock down, drag our physical football game and I don't expect anything less this Friday," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "I know coach Genders will have his group ready. The atmosphere is almost like a rivalry type atmosphere. We are similar type schools from small communities. Their fans are going to be coming into Lucas supporting their guys and our fans will be out. I think it should be a good football game."

Lucas is a team that relies on running the football and Spitler says they can not afford to put the ball on the ground while they are doing it. "I would think that the team that doesn't turn the ball over and stays away from the penalties and doesn't give up big plays. Their skilled position experience and quality lends itself to the big play and you really have to be disciplined so you don't give up the big play. Offensively we have to take care of the football. We didn't do a very good job of that last year and it cost us in a tight ballgame," said Spitler.

Published 8/26/14

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Lucas Working on Getting Better

It’s the second year of the reconfigured Mid-Buckeye Conference and there are only three teams left playing football in Loudonville, Danville and Lucas.

The Cubs were 4-6 a year ago, but winless in the conference. Two of the teams, Loudonville and Danville, were playoff teams in 2013.

Coach Scott Spitler says he has seen some good things out of the Cubs in the preseason, but some things that need to be better. “As a coach none of us are really happy right now. We are looking for our kids to improve and get better each day. In our scrimmages they will expose things that we need to get better and continue to work on. I don’t think any coach in the state of Ohio is extremely happy right now because we are all striving for that protection and trying to be the best that we can be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We look at the positives that we have each day in practice and find areas that we need to continue to get better at. We talk about continuing to take a step forward each day, not stay the same or take a step back.”

Lucas scrimmaged South Central of the Firelands Conference on Tuesday and Spitler thought they did a lot of good things in their running game. “I thought our kids did a nice job (Tuesday). We went out and did the things we wanted to do in our base packages and stuff and get some things on film so we can use that as a teaching tool and get better. I thought we did a nice job up front on the offensive line. Our depth at running back really showed the athletes that we have and feature there in our run game. We have quite a battle going on in our quarterback position with our two juniors that shared time there last year in Rueben Luna and Alex Switzer and the one that doesn’t win it will help us out at another position. They are just that talented and important to our team,” said Spitler.

It is on the defensive side of the ball where the Cubs need the most improvement from last year and Spitler says there have been some bright spots. “Defensively when looking back at last season that is definitely an area where we need to step forward. Our defensive coordinator has done a really nice job of pushing us through camp here. We saw a lot of good things (Tuesday) defensively. We are excited to have that teaching moment (Wednesday) in film and get back after it and improve before our scrimmage on Saturday,” he said.

The crucial play for Lucas seems to be third down, Spitler says they gave up a lot of big plays on third down last season and that can’t happen this year. “I think we need to do a better job of getting off the field on third down. I think we left a lot of teams off the hook in third down and long or short situations. I think being disciplined and knowing the down and distance will help us. I think we have a great group in the secondary that we are working with that will help us in that way that will help prevent some of the big plays that we gave up that let teams off the hook,” he said.

Published 8/13/14

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Lucas Looking For Upset

When they played on the first weekend of the season, Plymouth beat Lucas by nearly 50 points. Tuesday night the Cubs will be looking to pull one of the biggest upsets in all of Ohio.

The Cubs (2-20) face Plymouth (20-2) in the first round of the division four sectional tournament at Ontario High School.

Both of the Cubs wins come in the second half of the season and coach Kyle Pertuset says they have done some good things this year and now they have to put all of those things together. "I think we are playing our best in certain areas and kind of lacking in others. I told the kids (Monday) night at practice all of things we need to do to give ourselves an opportunity to be in the game and have a chance to win we have done at some point in the year we just haven't necessarily done them at the same time and that's what we need to focus on doing. Since the tournament draw we have had two weeks of intense practice to try and get better and give ourselves the best opportunity. The kids are excited and we are ready to go out and see what happens," said Pertuset.

Plymouth, #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the small school division, and outright Firelands Conference champions, have put together and outstanding season. Pertuset says they have the whole package. "They come at you with so many different elements. They have Tyrell Edmiston he averages like 12.3 rebounds a game and over five assists. They have him on the inside. They have two 1,000 point scorers on the outside. A couple of other guys that come off the bench and know how to play their roles. They play really good team basketball," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "It is really hard watching film to find a weakness. You really have to focus on not committing errors yourself if you want give yourself the opportunity to win and at the same time hope that they kind of play out of character. Maybe you can hang around long enough to make them press."

To have a chance at the upset, Pertuset says they have to get great perimeter shooting and they must keep the Big Red off the glass. "We have told our kids that if we go out and execute and try to hang around. we just have to take really good care of the basketball, execute how we want to execute defensively, keep them off the glass, there is a whole laundry list of things we need to do. Again we are capable of doing them. We need to make a substantial amount of three pointers and at last keep it even in the rebounding column," he said.

Published 2/25/14

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Rebounding Still a Big Key For Lucas

Lucas has certainly made some strides this year, but they would like to get a league win this year and Friday night is their last chance as they travel to East Knox for a Mid-Buckeye Conference game.

In their first meeting at Lucas, the Bulldogs came away with a (67-65) win in overtime. Cubs coach Kyle Pertuset hopes this time they can make enough little plays to get a win. "We have really been telling the kids this week that the last time we played them we missed a box out at the end of the second quarter and they got some points at the buzzer and we did the same exact thing at the end of the third quarter, that gives them four points, we lost by two, we had a couple of late breakdowns in the fourth quarter," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "It was just a variety, a combination of little things that denied us the opportunity to get that win. We have been trying to get the kids to pay attention to detail so if we are fortunate to be in position to win again it isn't stole away from us by us not doing a few little things."

Solid rebounding seems to be a good barometer for the Cubs, Pertuset says when they do that they have a much better chance to win. "Every game we have been in, or won, or had an opportunity to win is because we have been almost even on the rebounding or anytime we are getting blown our or are not playing well or having a bad half or a bad quarter, we are just getting extremely out rebounded," he said.

Lucas (2-17,0-9) takes the trip to East Knox (6-13,5-4) on Friday night. The Bulldogs seem to play a lot better at home. Pertuset says they most play good perimeter defense. "They can shoot it. We played a lot of man against them last time. We thought we did a decent job of getting a hand up on their shooters. We started out zone. They got hot a little bit. We switched up to man and we were able to stay in front of them and get some hands up we are hoping to do the same. They have some athleticism and we hope to keep them off the glass and take care the basketball at our end and hopefully go over they and have a good ball game and have an opportunity to win," said Pertuset.

Published 2/14/14

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Lucas Now More Confident

After earning their most impressive win in a number of seasons on Saturday night against South Central, the Lucas Cubs are feeling more confident as a basketball team.

They smacked the Trojans (63-45) in a non-conference game and coach Kyle Pertuset says they were able to get some things going on offense and a good first quarter led to a solid win. "We are really happy about that win. We came out in the first quarter and made seven three pointers and were leading by 15 after one. Our hot shooting allowed us to maintain that lead throughout the game and we ended up winning by 18," he said.

Early in the season the Cubs were having trouble scoring 30 points in a game, but Pertuset says they being more patient now and looking to get a better shot. "The difference we see is on the defensive end. We are bringing more energy and that makes us play more aggressive on offense. We are being more patient and grinding it out for good looks and running our continuity stuff better and learning how to play. When you play defense and stay in games longer and get more confidence you are more affective on offense. I think a difference is you don't go in the locker room at halftime thinking we're done. That's a big difference when you are in games," said Pertuset.

On the other end of the floor, Pertuset says they are getting more rebounds, which is allowing them to close out defensive possessions better. "These last couple of game Friday night against Loudonville and Saturday against South Central were the first two games all year that we were not out rebounded by double digits. Now that we have turned the corner rebounding and we are not absolutely terrible on defense we are going to have a shot," he said.

Lucas (2-16,0-7) plays host to Danville (7-9,2-6) in Mid-Buckeye Conference action on Friday night. Pertuset says they need to prove they are better than the first time they played the Blue Devils, which was a (63-38) loss. He believes they have a chance to make it two in a row. "Well Durbin is out for the season. The Prank kid, a guard that can shoot it, there is something going on there, and I don't know if he is going to be back or not. We are going to approach the game like he is going to be back," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We feel like we didn't play real well over at their place the first time that we faced them. We lost by 25 over there. It was a 12 point game late in the third quarter before they went on a final run. The kids are really confident. We have had two really great days of practice, probably the best we have had all year and we are ready for that first conference win."

Published 2/05/14

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Lucas Looking for Success

Lucas is a basketball team that is learning a lot and they are improving although wins are still tough to come by for the Cubs.

After a loss to Mid-Buckeye Conference rival Mansfield Christian last week (77-30) the Cubs play at Bucyrus (8-6) in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.

Coach Kyle Pertuset says he thinks they have been getting better in the games they have played over the last couple of weeks, they just have been competing against some pretty good teams. "Our schedule obviously picked up after we got that win. We played really well against East Knox and then right after that we had St. Peter's, Christian, and now Bucyrus. I knew after getting some wins it was going to be right back to some big boy basketball. It's been a challenge," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We have had some issues with eligibility and things like that and we have had to ask some younger players to step in maybe before they were anticipating to be called upon. I told them (Tuesday) that we were headed in the right direction. I know it doesn't always show on the scoreboard. We are still not where we need to be on the defensive end and rebounding. We got out rebounded by 13 by Christian and that's just not going to get it done."

Bucyrus is one of the leaders in the North Central Conference in defensive scoring average and Pertuset knows they are going to have to be patient in order to score. "They do play pretty good, disciplined defense. They don't get out and pressure as much as Mansfield Christian did, but they might want to do that against us. We have been working on having good possessions, being patient and waiting for the good shot. We don't want to push the issue or rush our offense against Bucyrus, we want all of our possessions to mean something," he said.

In conference play, the Cubs (1-14,0-6) play at Loudonville (4-10,3-3) on Friday night. The Redbirds won the first time they played (59-47) and Purtuset believes a good effort will give them a chance to win this one. "Kelly (Seboe) is a great basketball coach. I have had the pleasure of talking to him on several occasions and what you need to do to get better. I know his kids are playing a lot better they just beat St. Peter's. I think they played decent against Mansfield Christian, they are playing really well right now. The last time we played them we played pretty well. We ran a 1-3-1 against them the last game and I know he will have his kids ready for the 1-3-1 this time because we have been running it, so we don't know if we will be able to turn to that or not. We just have to be ready to play. I think the kids will have a little bit more confidence going into that game believing they can win," said Purtuset.

Published 1/29/14

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Lucas Must Hit for the Outside

After a setback in league play last Friday, the Lucas Cubs are looking to put things back together Tuesday night as they visit Kidron Central Christian for a non conference game.

Last Friday, things got away from the Cubs in the second quarter and they were blasted by Mansfield St. Peter's (87-38) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game. Coach Kyle Pertuset takes a lot of the blame for the loss. "When we came out he kids were definitely ready to play we just didn't shoot the ball very well. We were down by 10 or 11 in the second quarter and there was a call that didn't go our way and I ended up getting a technical foul. St. Peter's went on a huge run after that and I take that kind hard on myself. I don't know if our kids got discouraged after that, but none the less I can't get that technical foul and I told the kids at halftime that was on me," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday. "As far the preparation for the game I take it as a positive thing, but the result of the game was not quite what we wanted it to be. As far as mental focus our kids watched more film than they have all year and paid more attention to be what they had to do than they have all season. (Tuesday) night we really need to play well, win or loss, to be able to continue to take steps forward."

Lucas had won its first game of the season the previous Saturday against Gilead Christian and played well in an overtime loss to East Knox the night before.

Pertuset says St. Peter's is a good team and hopefully they can learn from the loss. "We understand that we shot 4 for 25 from the three point line. We shot 28 percent from the field. We were out rebounded by a quite a bit. There were so many elements that contributed to us losing that game. Coach Durham had his kids attention and did not let them take us lightly. He had them ready to play . They lost to Mansfield Christian by one point. I mean the top four seeds in our sectional at Ontario are just going to be very good. It's going to flip a coin with Buckeye Central, Plymouth, Mansfield Christian and St. Pete's then you have us and Crestline. It's just a really talented sectional," said Pertuset.

Tuesday night, the Cubs (1-12) will travel to Kidron Central Christian and Pertuset says it will be important for them to make outside shots because they are going to get a chance to shoot them. "They tend to play a lot of 2-3 zone, which I kind of like. At the same time I have my concerns one of the strengths of our team, although at times it's inconsistent, is our perimeter shooting. I am hoping we can come out and hit some perimeter jump shots on (Tuesday) and that will allow us to hang around and have a chance," he said.

Published 1/21/14

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Lucas Gets Win!

Lucas broke a 58 game losing streak when they beat Gilead Christian in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

It was their first win since February 19, 2011 against Crestline.

First year coach Kyle Pertuset says it feels really good and he is very proud of his kids for keeping their noses to the grind stone. “There is nothing better than winning. The kids have been hungry for it. I have been losing sleep without it and I’m sure they have too. We have been preaching and trying to tell them to stay with us all year and they have and I can’t thank them enough,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have listened to this young guy for the Ohio River and listened to what he says. I give it all to the kids.”

It has been struggle of the past several years with kids quitting or not going out for the team, but Pertuset says it has been a different story this year. “We really tried to explain to the kids that we would be better off if we picked up our defensive intensity. We have been putting a lot of extra time on defense in practice. We have just been trying to sell them the idea that we needed to the little things and they have bought into that. The proof is in the pudding,” said Pertuset.

Lucas almost beat East Knox, losing (69-67) in overtime last Friday, and Pertuset says they already looking forward to their next chance to win in the Mid-Buckeye Conference against Mansfield St. Peter’s on Friday. “We are greedy. We had a kid, one of our seniors, right after the Gilead Christian game, said okay let’s go get a conference win. He was already thinking ahead,” he said.

Published 1/14/14

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Lucas Needs Defense and Rebounding

Lucas needs to play better defense if they are going to give themselves chance to win.

The Cubs dropped two games this past weekend to Danville (63-38) in Mid-Buckeye Conference play and Clear Fork (69-23) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

This Friday, the Cubs (0-10,0-3) host East Knox (3-5,2-1) in an “MBC” game. Coach Kyle Pertuset says they have some guys that can make perimeter shots. “They have been up down all year, but they seem to get hot. They have won a couple here. Their kids are playing pretty hard and making shots. I’m sure they are gaining more confidence. During practice we have explained we need to get those 50/50 balls,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but we have to play better defense. It’s mainly about what we have to do and not about whoever we are playing.”

Scoring has come a little easier for the Cubs, but for them to win Pertuset says they must defend and hit the boards much better. “Right now we are having a very difficult time stopping people defensively. Then we do get a stop we are getting out rebounded maybe by double digits. When we do work real hard and get a stop then we allow second chance opportunities and just make it hard on ourselves,” he said.

One the Cubs big chances to get win this year comes when they visit Gilead Christian on Saturday night.

Published 1/10/14

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Lucas Getting Better

They knew at the beginning the season that wins were probably going to be few and far between for the Lucas Cubs, but they are a boys’ basketball team that has gotten better, especially on offense.

In game one this season the Cubs scored 16 points in a loss to Fredericktown, but last Saturday night they scored nearly four times that many in a loss (73-60) to Northmor.

Coach Kyle Pertuset, in his first year as a head coach, has seen some improvement and as the kids begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel intensity in practice has picked up. “We started out not quite where we needed to be and we found that out rather quickly. Once the kids started understanding what was going to work and grinding it out everyday we saw some improvement,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Once we started to compete I have seen more energy at practice and the kids are starting to have more confidence in their abilities. It was been pretty enjoyable lately.”

With the offense improved, Pertuset says they need to make that kind of leap on defense if they are going to start winning some games. “The main thing we have been discussing in practice this week is we have to get better defensively. We have started to figure out offense, but right now we can’t give up 70 or 80. We just need to get up and guard people a little better,” he said.

On Friday night Lucas (0-8,0-3) plays at Danville (2-5,0-3) in a Mi-Buckeye Conference game. Pertuset says they will stretch them defensively, especially from the perimeter. “They are up and down it seems like. When they are playing they can be a good basketball team. They have a big kid that can play inside and out. They have a couple of kids that can get to the rim off the dribble. They will hit open threes and that is one of the things we have been talking about we have to get a hand up. That is one the things we are struggling with is three point defense and that has been a point of emphasis all week,” said Pertuset.

Then on Saturday night the Cubs take a step up in competition as they host the Clear Fork Colts (2-4) in non-conference play. Pertuset admits Clear Fork is likely the most athletic team they are going to face this year. “We are going to have to hit the breaks a little bit. I know we kind of like to run too, but I don’t know if we want to get in that kind of game with them. I am looking forward to how we will respond to the pressure that Clear Fork brings. It will be a good measuring stick to see how much better we have gotten in handing ball pressure in full court situations,” he said.

Published 1/03/14

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Fundamentals the Key at Lucas

Wins have been few and far between for the Lucas boys’ basketball program in recent years, but there is a new voice in town that has accepted the challenge of growing the program.

Kyle Pertuset was named the head coach last summer. He comes to Richland County from the Piketon area of southern Ohio.

He thinks they have made some pretty good progress to that end this month. “We have made some good progress. You never get in all you want to get in as far offense and defense. The main thing we have tried to focus on is fundamentals and teaching kids to play the right way and learning as much about our opponent as we possibly can as we get ready to play,” said Pertuset.

At Lucas they are building from the ground floor up and Pertuset says consistent effort is the key for them. “Things aren’t always going to go the way we want them to go. We always tell our guys you don’t drowned by falling in the water, you drowned by not trying to swim. We try to tell them to keep playing and if you turn it over keep saying next play, next play,” he said.

With a shorter preseason than normal there hasn’t been as much time to prepare and Pertuset also says they want to run the floor, but they are faced with depth issues. “Of course, you probably aren’t going to practice on Thanksgiving. We are going to have the kids come in Friday morning for a walk through and to review the scouting report one last time. Another thing we are concerned about is our depth,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We are not real deep. We are a smaller team that likes to get it down the floor and pressure, but at the same time if you get into foul trouble or you have to save your legs especially in the Mid-Buckeye Conference where you play a lot of Friday and Saturday nights back to back you have to try and walk the line and try and save your legs, but at the same time play to your strengths. It’s been a challenge, but our kids are pretty well conditioned and we fell we will be up to the challenge.”

Fredericktown on Friday and Plymouth on Saturday come to Lucas to open the season. However, Pertuset says this weekend is more about how they are playing. “It is very important to take care of your business. You can scout all you want, but when kids don’t show up on defense or we don’t get back in defensive transition we can have all of the scouting reports in the world and it isn’t going to matter if we don’t handle our business. We have been stressing the fundamentals and really taking care of us. You have to do that before you can really game plan. We have had a pretty good week of practice considering the circumstances. We have had a couple of kids out of town. You never have enough time, but I hope we will be just as ready as they are,” said Pertuset.

Published 11/28/13

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Lucas Wants Gift For Seniors

It’s going to be the last football game of the season Friday night for the Lucas Cubs as they host to the Vermilion Sailors in non-conference play and they want to go out on a good note mostly for their seniors.

Last week, they lost (41-0) to a very good Danville team to finish the Mid-Buckeye Conference at 0-3. This is their first year in the league after the dismantling of the North Central Conference.

Coach Scott Spitler says the Blue Devils were a tough nut to crack. “They are a very good football team and playoff tested from last year and haven’t missed a beat by reloading this year. I thought our kids played well we just weren’t able to finish drives offensively. Defensively we found ourselves in positions to make plays several times and came out on the short end there,” he said.

With only four schools playing football in the “MBC” Lucas (3-6), and the other league schools, have had to work hard to find non-league games. Spitler says the Sailors are built as a power team. “They have a very talented tailback and great size up front in the trenches, so that is going to be a challenge for us. They are about the size of Ontario and they actually played Ontario this season, played them very tough. So, we know we have a very good football team coming into our house for the last game of the season. We will have to play well to have a chance to get a victory,” he said.

Like most games involving Lucas and their double wing, double tight offense, Spitler believes this game will be decided at the point of attack. “In the trenches on both sides of the ball we have to be able to control the line of scrimmage. We have to establish our run game and then defensively we have to try and take away their run game and make them do something they don’t want to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We are very similar in that both teams want to establish the run game. I guess it is going to come down to who can impose their will on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

Spitler has seen these seniors though their high school careers and he says they rest of the team owes them something. “The big thing for us is we owe it to our seniors to make sure that we send them out right. This will be their last home game and the last time playing for the Lucas Cubs. We’ve talked to our younger players, juniors, sophomores, freshmen about paying it forward and playing with the focus and the effort that they want future underclassmen to do when they become seniors. Our focus is we want to go out and get that victory and send our seniors out the right way,” he said.

Published 10/29/13

Lucas Wants the Ball

Lucas wraps up play in the Mid-Buckeye Conference with a game at Danville against the Blue Devils on Friday night.

Last week, no one scored in the second half when East Knox downed Lucas (20-13) in an “MBC” game. Coach Scott Spitler says they just couldn’t get that running game going in the second half. “We got in a little back and forth battle there in the first half. We came out in the second half and defensively shut them down and did not give up any points in the second half, but we just couldn’t get our offense clicking enough on a consistent manner to get back in the game and possibly get the victory and came up short there at the end,” he said.

This is Lucas first year in the “MBC,” which has only four schools playing football. Spitler says he likes where they are, but hopes the league can attract more football playing members. “I like the conference. I always thought over the years being around the area and knowing the type of football that has been played in the “MBC.” They have always played really good football and have had playoff teams come from it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It is kind of sad to see the Licking County teams and a couple of the Knox County teams leaving for other leagues because it has always been a solid small school conference with the likes of Loudonville and Danville. At Lucas we want to continue to build the “MBC” and look forward to adding some more teams that play football.”

Form an Offensive standpoint Spitler says the Blue Devils (6-2,0-1) are a lot like they were last season when they advanced to the regional regional final before losing to Newark Catholic. “They are a program that is extremely established and have had a lot of success in the past and the expectation is there. This year’s team is no different. They are very solid defensively and offensively they put a lot of pressure on you with their spread attack,” he said.

A goal of the Cubs every week is to possess the ball and Spitler says that is definitely the case this week. “What they try to do is spread you horizontally as well as vertically. When that is the case your kids have to do a good job of recognizing what they are doing and be able to tackle well in the open field. We have to do a good job with those things in our preparation this week and hopefully take care of business on the field. When we get the ball we have to put drives together than end up in the end zone because they have shown during the course of the season that they can put up points,” he said.

Published 10/22/13

Recognition big For Lucas

Defense is something that has been getting better for the Lucas Cubs and they will get a big test this week as the travel to East Knox to face the potentially explosive Bulldogs.

With only four schools playing football in the Mid-Buckeye Conference this year the Lucas road show continued last week with a trip to McGuffey to face Upper Scioto Valley

After a slow start the Cubs came away with a (26-8) win as Mason Galco ran for 181 yards and a score. Coach Scott Spitler praises their patience and second half execution. “I was really pleased with our kids and how they battled for the entire game. After the long bus trip I didn’t think we came out early and played like we wanted to, but we cleared our heads and played a real good second half and was able to get the victory and that’s attributed to the quality of kids that we have,” he said.

There have been some times that the Cubs have given up some points this year, 50 to Loudonville two weeks ago is an example, but Spitler thinks his young defense is getting better. “Starting the season with as many sophomores and juniors that we had playing on Friday nights we were really trying to find the pieces to fit together with a young defense and we have started to find where those pieces go and they have started to jell and perform better on Friday night and offensively we have been doing a better job of taking care of the football,” said Spitler.

This week it is back to “MBC” play for Cubs (3-4,0-1) as they travel to Howard to face the East Knox Bulldogs (3-4,0-1) on Friday night. Spitler says the Bulldogs can make big plays. “They are very talented offensively behind their quarterback Cody Howard and the running of their running back Dylan Wears they are nice little one-two punch. They like to run out of the spread formation with multiple looks with multiple wide receivers. We are going to have to be disciplined. They like to run some option game out of the spread formation, so it requires you to be very sound defensively and tackle well in space,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We are going to have to make them work very hard to get every inch they get. Offensively to help our “d” we are going to have to control the time of possession and make sure we finish drives in the end zone.”

With the ability of East Knox to do a lot of things Spitler says they must keep their eyes open on defense. “They try to give you several looks formation wise. They do a couple of different things with motion, but ultimately their flag bearers are their quarterback ands their running back and we have to be extremely knowledgeable about where they are at and what their tendencies are in certain formations,” he said.

Published 10/17/13

Lucas Faces Unbeaten Loudonville

After beating Vienna Mathews last week the Lucas Cubs have won two straight, but they face their toughest match-up of the season as they host undefeated Loudonville in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game this week.

Lucas moved to the “MBC” after the breakup of the North Central Conference.

Last Friday, the Cubs traveled all of the way to Trumbull County and beat Mathews, who had won three of their first four, (35-14), running for 465 yards in the process. Coach Scott Spitler says they came ready to play. “I was real pleased with how our kids handled the trip and came out ready to play. We really controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball for most of the night,” he said.

After allowing some points on week’s two and three to Centerburg (30-7) and Northmor (33-38), the Cubs defense has permitted just two scores each in their last two games. Spitler says his younger players are starting to get it. “We are starting to pick things up and play better as a unit and also fundamentally in our tackling we are getting better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, “We are making teams earn the yardage that they get. We are not giving up as many big plays as we were earlier in the season. I think that has a lot to do with our players maturing and getting better each day.”

Loudonville (5-0,0-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, rallied to beat Willard (28-14) last week. Spitler says they have a lot of weapons. “They work out of a multiple spread offense. What impresses me is how physical they are running the ball out the formation with their main running back Ryan Weber and their quarterback. They are two of the area’s leading rushers. They are going be physical too with a two headed monster like that. Defensively they do a nice job getting to the football. We are going to have our hands full this week,” he said. Spitler says they can allow the long gainers the Redbirds have been getting. “I think you have to prevent the big play and I think you have to be disciplined and make sure they have to work really hard to get all of the yards that they get,” he said.

Defensively, Spitler says the Redbirds have good size and pursue the ball well. “I am really impressed by their size and speed. We are going to have to do a good job and be sound in our blocking scheme and blocking to the whistle and establishing the line of scrimmage,” he said.

Published 9/30/13

Lucas Looking For Momentum

After winning their first game last week now the Lucas Cubs are looking for some momentum as they travel to Trumbull County, north of Youngstown, on Friday night to face Vienna Mathews.

Last week the Cubs pilled up nearly 600 yards rushing in beating Millersport (59-14) in their first win of the season. Coach Scott Spitler says a lot of things went right. “It was really nice for our kids to get that first victory under their belt. We have really good kids that work hard and have really been striving to get better each week. It was nice to see things come together for us Friday night and they get that first victory,” he said.

Mathews (3-1) beat Warren Reserve Academy last week (26-14) and Spitler says, like them, the Mustangs like to run the football. “After viewing film on them and getting a good look at them this weekend and getting our game plan set I really think it will be similar to the kind of contest we had against Northmor earlier in the season. They are very similar to us in that they run the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They do it out of unbalanced wishbone attack versus our double wing attack. I think it has the potential to be a very quick game when you have two teams that want to run the ball quite a bit, It is going to be won and lost from the trenches on both sides of the ball.”

With the wishbone offense, the defense has to play assignment football or teams like Mathews can make big plays. “You are going to have to be very disciplined. They do some things out of it that requires your linebackers to read their keys and you have to be disciplined on your defensive line and control their gaps and be gap sound,” said Spitler.

Sports are often about momentum and Spitler says if they can get another win on Friday they could be on their way to a pretty good season this fall. “We talked to the kids about getting that first one under their belt and learn how to win and enjoying that feeling and wanting to feel that way again. We started the week pretty well practice wise and we’ll try to finish strong here and get on the bus and head over there and hopefully get number two. We don’t want to travel all of that way and not get that victory,” said Spitler.

Published 9/25/13

Lucas Looking or First Win

They are getting closer to a win and now all the Lucas Cubs need to do is get over that final hurdle.

They host Millerport (0-3) in a non-conference game on Friday night.

Last week, they lost a shootout to Northmor (33-28) and coach Scott Spitler says it just boiled down to one mistake they made. “Northmor and us are probably evenly matched. We have very similar styles as far as what we want to do offensively and it was just back and forth. Neither defense seemed to stop the other team’s offense. What stopped us is we had a turnover and that was the difference in a five point ball game,” he said.

Defensively, Spitler believes they are making progress, but they still have to become better tacklers. “Last Friday we had breakdowns in our fundamentals in tackling, that was a big part of it and some communication issues on a couple of plays. I think we are getting better on a daily basis. We have to put things together and get over that hump and get that first victory,” said Spitler.

When you go through the non-conference portion of your schedule without a win you start to wonder sometimes about attitude, but Spitler says that is not an issue with the Cubs. “Our kids are really working hard. They have a great attitude and are pushing each other to get better each day and we are excited to get another opportunity this week against Millersport,” he said.

Millersport is new to the Lucas schedule. The Cubs have only three conference games in the redesigned Mid-Buckeye Conference. Spitler says they have some athleticism. “They come in to our house this week searching for their first win of the season as well. We are very similar in that aspect,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They have some nice team speed in the skilled positions. They are definitely going to put pressure on us out of their multiple pistol offense. Defensively they base out of the 5-2.”

Like most of their games, Spitler says they need to control the point of attack if they are going to win. “I think the big thing for us this week is to control the line of scrimmage and cut down on our mistakes,” he said.

Published 9/20/13

Lucas Working Own Game

Lucas needs to get its own house in order if they are going to start winning football games.

That is assessment of coach Scott Spitler after a 21-7 loss to the Plymouth Big Red last week. “We did a pretty good job of shooting ourselves in the foot with our own mistakes and turnovers. You can’t do that against a good football team. Take nothing away from Plymouth because they were ready to play, but we didn’t help ourselves out with our own mistakes,” said Spitler.

Mason Galco ran for 116 yards a touchdown last week against Plymouth. Spitler says they need more focus this week. “We have went back to work this week and really worked on taking care of our business and getting our things squared away, so we are not repeating those mistakes this Friday. We are going to need to be 100 percent focused because we have a pretty good Centerburg team coming in here,” said Spitler.

On Friday night Lucas will play host to the Centerburg Trojans (1-0) in non-conference play. Spitler says the Trojans are very good on defense and they are very aggressive too. “Defensively they are going to be highly aggressive and they do a nice job of getting to the football. Last week they held Utica to 25 yards total offense, so obviously if you are doing that you are doing good things on defense,” he said.

Centerburg handled Utica (28-0) in their first game on the season. Spitler says they have some balance on offense. “Offensively they are led by their senior quarterback, who is a three year starter and the coach’s son, so not only is he a pretty good athlete, but it’s like have a coach on the field,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They like to throw it around the field quite a bit. They keep pretty good balance because they have a stable of running backs that they rotate in the backfield to keep you honest in the run game.”

Lucas only threw six passes last week. They ram it 51 times. Spitler says they expect Centerburg to stack the box against them, but that’s alright. “We are used to people staking the box. We have to continue to be who we are and play our game, be disciplined and do what we do,” he said.

Published 9/5/13

Lucas Looking to Run it

The names may chance, but the philosophy stays the same with the Lucas football program. They want to be tough at the line of scrimmage and run the football.

With some new players in the offensive backfield the Cubs have been working hard to get things together for this season. Coach Scott Spitler hopes they have been successful. “We sure hope we are come Friday night because it is going to come whether we are or not. The kids are working hard and preparing and we will have a good contest with a pretty good Plymouth team,” he said.

Plymouth has the kind of talent that will make them a factor in the Firelands Conference this year. Spitler says they will be tough to defend. “They return some experienced skilled kids from last year. They have a really nice quarterback. He is kind of a dual threat with his arm and his legs. The guys around him have got some experience and are pretty good athletes as well,” said Spitler.

This game is not much different from any on the Lucas schedule in that they are going to have to control the line of scrimmage in order to have a chance to win, according to Spitler. “I really believe that we are going to have to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. And then prevent them from having big plays. I think if we can keep their big plays at a very minimum then we will be right there in the football game,” he said.

Plymouth has some playmakers and Spitler says to stop them is going to be a tough assignment, no question. “It is going to be a tall task. Like I said they have great skill. They have a tremendous match-up advantage at wide receiver with Tyrell Edminson. He is a pretty good athlete. I know he also plays basketball for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “He is definitely going to cause a match-up problem for us. We are going to have to be very disciplined in what we do and we are going to have to tackle well in space.”

Lucas is going to want to play keep away from the Big Red. Spitler says they want to eat some clock. “We are going to rely on our lineman. That is where we return a bulk of our experience. We also have a nice set of backs, although they are young. They are pretty good backs that are now getting their chance in Logan Sphon, Mason Galco and Colton Bernhart. We look for big things from those three in our backfield this year,” said Spitler.

Lucas Wants a Test

Lucas is in a new league which includes schools more their size and that should give them a chance to be more competitive.

We start to find out with the fall sports and the Cubs have a football scrimmage this Saturday against Newcomerstown.

Coach Scott Spitler says during two a day workouts he has liked the effort the players are showing. “I like our effort and our focus at practice and how hard we are working. You can just tell in the atmosphere that they are ready to hit somebody else instead of their own teammates,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We are looking forward to this Saturday’s scrimmage to kind of find out where we are at and what we need to get better at and see where we need to improve.”

They are counting on a veteran offensive line this season and Spitler says those kids are going top have to open some holes for some new running backs. “We are going to lean on them to pave the way for some new guys in the backfield. We lost two pretty good running backs to graduation and now some younger guys are going to step up. It is always nice when you an experienced offensive line in front of some young guys,” he said.

As for the less experienced backs the Cubs have this year Spitler says they will provide some versatility running the football. “They show a lot of promise and we are excited to see how we measure up this Saturday against another team. We are rotating probably three or four guys at the running back position. They all have something different they can bring to the table. We are excited to see it all together against somebody else on Saturday,” he said.

It has been pretty cool here in August for the two a day practices and Spitler says he hopes that doesn’t bite them in butt once the regular season begins in two weeks. “When you have cool temperatures like this you can pretty much guarantee that those first couple weeks are going to be unbearable. It’s seems to always workout that way. When the kids get used to a little coolness during two a days you can pretty much bet those first couple of Friday nights are going to be hot and humid and will test your conditioning level and your hydration and your conditioning for sure,” said Spitler.

Lucas opens the season against Plymouth in a non-conference game on August 30.

Lucas Playing Well

The young players that the Lucas Cubs have in the trenches this fall are starting to figure things out and it is sort of too bad that the season is ending for the Cubs.

A week ago, Lucas (2-7,1-5) beat Buckeye Central (32-16) in likely their best performance of the 2012 season. Coach Scott Spitler agrees. “It seemed that all phases of our football team came together there last Friday night and I hope that continues to be the case this Friday night,” he said.

Lucas has played well in parts of games this season, against Colonel Crawford and Ontario are examples, but Spitler says they put a complete game together against Buckeye. “I think a lot of our kids have really started to mature. Things are really starting to click for them. The game has slowed down a little bit for them. They are making plays that we knew they were capable of and it’s starting to show. It looks set on offense, defense and special teams,” said Spitler.

On Friday night, Lucas plays host to the Crestline Bulldogs (0-9,0-6) in a silver division game in the North Central Conference. Spitler says the Bulldogs are much better than they were a year ago. “One thing you can’t focus on and take them lightly is their record. I see a team that is a lot more disciplined than they were last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They have some nice skill led by their senior quarterback Nick Reynolds, who does a really nice job. He is one of those guys that’s a duel threat. He can hurt you by running the ball too. I believe he is a state qualifier in the 400 meter dash, so he is quite the athlete. He does about everything for them. He plays free safety and is also their punter. We have to do a good job defensively of keeping things in front of us.”

Crestline has given up more than 100 points the last two weeks combined against Galion (57-7) and Ontario (54-0), but Spitler says the Bulldogs aren’t too bad there either. “When we were breaking down film this week and working with our kids you can see defensively that they believe in what they are doing. They are more disciplined in what they are doing compared to last year’s team. That makes them more competitive. They have nice size on both their offensive and defensive lines. They are a little young, but they are big kids. I can’t believe how big they grow them over there,” said Spitler.

Lucas Meets Buckeye Central

Lucas and Buckeye Central are both trying to finish the high school football season on an up note.

Lucas (1-7,0-5) plays in New Washington against the Bucks (2-6,1-4) in game between two members of the North Central Conference silver division.

Last week, the Cubs were handled by Upper Sandusky (54-24) of the black division. Lucas coach Scott Spitler says not only do the Rams have a fine quarterback in Taylor Prichard, but they are a very physical team. “I’ll tell you what playing Ontario and them back to back really takes a toll on a small school like us. I really thought the difference was not just their talent in the skilled positions. They really controlled the game in big parts, big chucks, up front in the trenches. They are probably one of the most physical team we have faced to date,” said Spitler.

Buckeye Central advanced all of the way to the division six state title game last year, but many of those kids have graduated. Still, Spitler says the players that are still around got a lot of extra practice time. “They are well coached, coach Ratliff does a nice job. When they played as deep as they did last year those young kids all of that extra practice time definitely pays off,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I know another benefit of making the post season is your depth gets a lot more reps. It’s almost like having spring football almost.”

Michael Adkins was a key part of last year’s Buckeye Central team and he is its leading rusher and tackler this year. Spitler knows they will have to control him. “They still have some really nice players. They are led by Michael Adkins in the backfield. He is a bull of a ball carrier. We are definitely going to have to know where he is and make sure we gang tackle him,” he said.

Both teams like to feature the run. Lucas could go a whole game without throwing it. Spitler thinks this game will come down to turnovers and which team can make a big play in the kicking game. “The team they had last year was so talented in every aspect. They make no bones about it. They are very similar. I think we are similar teams. We have some youthfulness. We both want to establish the run game. I really see this game coming down to big plays in the special teams and taking care of the ball,” said Spitler.

Lucas Knows the Assignment

Lucas has the talent to win football games, but they have a small window in that they must do certain things in order to win games.

They have to be successful running the ball, take time off the clock and be able to keep opponents in front of them on defense. They did a pretty good for about 40 minutes last week against Ontario, but they fell just short. The Warriors beat them (41-20) in a North Central Conference game. Coach Scott Spitler says they really competed well. “We played a pretty good game until about six minutes to go in the game. With about 6:15 to go in the game it was still 27-20. We were within a score. Ontario was able to stop us on a fourth down conversion. Then we kind of let it get away from us there in the last six minutes. I am proud of the kids and their effort. I don’t think anybody outside of our locker room really gave us an opportunity to be able to play with a team like Ontario, but that just goes to the type of kids I have. They work hard every week and they come ready to play,” said Spitler.

Lucas (1-6,0-4) will be at home Friday night for the Upper Sandusky Rams (4-3,2-2) in another “NCC” game. Spitler says the Rams have a lot of solid players, especially their quarterback/middle linebacker Taylor Pritchard. “When you are evaluating them you try to look at common people you’ve played. They went into Ontario and beat Ontario earlier in the season. We know we have our hands full with a really good football team. They have nice size in the trenches. They have an extremely athletic quarterback with the Prichard boy. They like to spread it all over the place, so we are going to have to tackle well in space. Offensively we are going to have to control the clock and put points on the board when we get the opportunity,” said Spitler.

Sometimes at the pro or college level a defense will spy on a player or have someone assigned to that player at all times. Spitler says that is not something that happens at the high school level a lot, even when facing a player like Pritchard. “I don’t know at our level if you go as much as spying him at the quarterback position, but you definitely have to be aware of their tendencies. Your kids have to be aware when he has the ball in his hands he’s a full threat,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Not only can he get the ball down the field to one of their skilled kids, but he is a danger running the football. We have to be able to break down and wrap up. He is not a small kid either. He is a good sized kid that runs very hard. He plays middle linebacker for them, so that tells you what kind of player he is. He is going to be a handful.”

It’s Keep Away for Lucas

Lucas is improving, but they are still having trouble clearing the final hurdle and coming up with wins.

Last Friday, they took Bucyrus to the wire before losing (31-30) a North Central Conference game, the difference being a missed two-point conversion on the Cubs final touchdown in the fourth quarter. Coach Scott Spitler thinks they need to take better advantage of their opportunities. “With a young team we have progressively each week gotten better. There are still some things that we need to continue to improve on each and every day, but I think a lot of it is when we get in games like this is learning to finish the deal. Eventually we have to take the opportunity to make those things happen for us as a team,” he said.

Lucas (1-5,0-3) also almost beat Colonel Crawford (48-34) two weeks ago. Spitler thinks it is a lot more than just the defense giving up a lot of points. “I think there are a lot of things that go into it. At times we have put our defense in some tough situations with our special teams play, especially our punt coverage. I also think we have to cut down on the big plays we are giving up. I think we have done a better job the last couple of weeks of putting the opposing offense in long yardage situations and we haven’t been able to get off the field. We have to do a better job of preventing that big play on third down and long,” said Spitler.

Ontario (3-3,2-1), fresh off their huge win over Wynford last week, plays at Lucas on Friday night. There are a lot of good things about Ontario, but Spitler says that Warrior run game is hard to stop. “They are extremely talented with their personnel. Campbell is a special player. They try to get him the ball any way they can and they have other players around him that complement that,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I think the big thing that they do with their spread offense is they spread you horizontally giving him some great lanes naturally before they even block just because of their formations and stuff. We you have an athlete like that and you are giving him those kinds of lanes he is going to do something with it. So, we need to do a good job of being disciplined in our gap responsibilities and tackle well.” Spitler says there is a lot of deception in the Ontario running attack. “I think with Boatwright at quarterback and Campbell at the running back position in their offense. That is a two headed monster. You have to be disciplined. They run their counter scheme out of the gun. One minute he has it an then Boatwright is pulling it out of his stomach and he is heading the other way. You have to make them earn every yard they get,” said Spitler.

Again this week, Spitler says it’s going to be important for them to keep the ball out of the hands of the explosive Warriors. “That is the way we approach every game with our offense. One of the reasons we do what we do on offensively is we felt if we could possess the ball and keep other team’s offense off the field we aren’t going to put our young defense in a bad situation. We are going to continue to do what we do. We aren’t going to be fancy. We feel we are in a system that complements our kid’s strengths. Hopefully we can get into the fourth quarter and see what happens,” said Spitler.

Lucas Getting Better

The Lucas Cubs almost pulled one of the biggest upsets of the season so far last week, but they just could close the deal.

Their coach says they had Colonel Crawford on the ropes before losing last week (48-34) to the unbeaten Eagles. Coach Scott Spitler says he was very proud of what he saw from his team. “I thought my team played well. I was really proud of the effort we had. We kind of grew up a little bit in some areas with our young kids. We had one penalty, a little off sides on an extra point. Compared to past weeks I thought our discipline and maturity took a step in the right direction. We knew going in that our defensive backs would have match-up problems with the athleticism that Colonel Crawford would take the field with at the receiver position,” he told Swankonsports.com, “So, that wasn’t surprising. We were just trying to get in a situation that we could keep it close and wear them down with our run game, We ended up have that opportunity in the second half. We got it within one score and then mother nature kind of zapped out momentum. It was a little different story the next day.”

Lucas (1-4,0-2) has a number of young kids on its defense and on the offensive line. Spitler, a former offensive line coach, like the progression he has seen from the players. “I just think that every play we get on Friday nights our younger kids are getting better. We looked out there Friday night and we had two freshman linebackers and a freshman nose tackle. As a coaching staff we are excited because they are such good kids. They are coachable. They work their tails off each week. We see the improvement each week of how they are growing up and maturing as football players. We are going to return eight of 11 defensively next year because of having so many young kids. We will return everybody except one on our offensive line. We will lose a senior backfield. We are excited about what the future holds,” said Spitler.

This week the Cubs visit Bucyrus (2-3,0-2) for an inter-divisional game in the “NCC.” Spiter says new coach Aaron Eckert has the Redmen playing well. “They are a typical Bucyrus team. They are very athletic in the skilled positions. They have great size up front. Even though coach Brunner has moved on in his life to different things this coaching staff has these kids playing typical Bucyrus football. They want to accentuate their speed and athleticism. They do that out of the spread attack. They still do some of the things in their jet series that they have done in the past. Defensively they play downhill and attack and are aggressive. They really take advantage of your mistakes,” said Spitler. The Redmen have lost to two pretty good teams in the “NCC” in Ontario (47-25) and Galion (41-14) last week.

Spitler says they have to be good open field tacklers. “I think everything runs their quarterback offensively. He is such a dual threat throwing the ball as well as running. When you look at tape that we have on him the way they spread the field formation wise he just needs a crease. Then all of the guys they have around him at the skilled positions. We are going to have to break down, keep things in front of us and tackle well on Friday,” said Spitler.

Lucas Wants to Keep the Ball

The Lucas Cubs young offensive line has to do an outstanding job if they are going to have a chance to upset unbeaten Colonel Crawford in North Central Conference play on Friday night in North Robinson.

Last week that didn’t happen as Riverdale contained the Lucas running game and beat (28-14) the Cubs (1-3,0-1) in the conference opener for both schools. Lucas coach Scott Spitler says they made too many mistakes. “We had some situations where a couple key holding penalties on a couple drives forced us into bad situations. We had a couple of turnovers late in the game as well that put the kibosh on drives. Those are things you can’t do against football teams and it caused us to come out on the wrong end on the evening,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-0,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, has shown the ability to run and pass. Spitler says they are tough on a defense. “When you look at their offense you just don’t see any cracks in the amour. They are very big and athletic up front on the offensive line. They have a really nice running back that does a nice job in their running game. They have a quarterback that is a trigger man throwing to quite a few athletes in their spread offense,” said Spitler.

Crawford has also done a fine job on defense this season, especially in the first half. Spitler says they do the right things. “In my time in the “NCC” nothing has changed. They have always been a team that has played good team defense. They are very disciplined, they get to the football and they tackle well. When you do those things you are going to have success defensively,” he said.

If an upset is to happen in this game Spitler knows they have to play keep away from the Eagles. “I think that is one of the reasons that we are in the offense we are in, besides having our two senior running backs, it gives us the opportunity a lot of times to control the tempo of the game and limit others teams offensive possessions. We are going to have to do that on Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We need to control the time possession as well as when we get our chance on offense. We have to take care of ball security. You can’t give an offense as good as Colonel Crawford’s extra possessions because you turn the ball over. That is going to be key as well.”

Lucas Maturing

Lucas has some young players in key positions, especially in the trenches.

They have already been forced to execute in the final moments hanging on to beat Plymouth (48-42) on week one and being stopped inside the five and losing last week to Fredericktown (34-30) both in non-conference play. Coach Scott Spitler says they almost had that one last week. “We knew going in that is was going to be a good football game. They are very good football program with a lot of tradition. We knew we were going to have our hands full. Offensively the entire game we were able to control the line of scrimmage. Neither team’s defense was able to get a hold of the other team’s offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We actually went in at halftime with a two score lead. They were receiving the ball the second half. In the space of seven minutes we give up a scoring drive and got hit with an on side kick and the next thing you know it’s a one point lead. It was a battle all of the way to the end and we got stopped on fourth and goal from the three and they killed the clock.”

Despite the loss to Fredericktown, Spitler says they played a lot better than they had on week two when Centerburg stuffed them (38-7) pretty handily. “I was really proud of how the kids flipped it around from the week before and improving their effort. I thought we took a step forward even through we didn’t get the “W.” I think with the number of young kids that we have on our team this year it was just another learning experience,” he said.

On Friday night, Lucas will play host to Riverdale (1-2), who has a win over Upper Scioto Valley (49-8) on week two sandwiched between losses to Arlington (43-14) and Wynford (44-0) this year. Lucas won last year’s game (24-22) and Spitler says the Falcons on better this year. “I’ll tell you what they pretty much return the team they had last year. It went down to the wire and we were able to get out of Mt. Blanchard with a two-point win last year. It’s going to be a good battle for us on Friday night. They return their backfield from last year. They have been doing a real nice job of establishing the run. They are extremely quick and aggressive on defense. It’s the first league game for both of us and it shapes up as a pretty good battle,” said Spitler.

Lucas has given up an average of 38 points a game this year and Spitler says they are just going to have to keep learning what they need to do on that side of the ball. “We looked out their last Friday night against Fredericktown and we were starting three freshmen and several sophomores. We have to keep getting better each day and take that step forward and grow up a little bit, so when we get in those positions like we did Friday night we can come out on the positive side,” he said.

Lucas Needs to Find Running Game Again

After rushing for more than 400 yards in an opening week victory over Plymouth, Centerburg held Lucas to less than 120 last Friday.

The Cubs (1-1) will try to get that running game back in gear as they travel to Fredericktown (1-1) on Friday night. Coach Scott Spitler says they new the Centerburg defense, which has allowed only 10 points this season, would be tough to score on or even move the ball. “We knew going in that their defense was pretty stout. It was no different there Friday night.” Luca accounted for only 155 yards on the night.

Lucas has an experienced backfield, but they are young in the trenches. Spitler says those guys saw some different things and didn’t react very well to them. “I just think when you look at it, it just wasn’t our best effort up front and really as a team. This week we have to get back to doing what we do and giving a better effort communicating up front,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They were doing some things and we weren’t doing a very good job of communicating up front in our blocking scheme and making sure everybody is on the same page. So, we have to get back to work. The challenge doesn’t get any easier with a pretty good Fredericktown team.”

After a thrilling win over Highland (36-32) in their opener, Fredericktown was thrashed by Columbus Bishop Ready (49-7) last week. Spitler says even without Ryan Logan and Matt Smith the Freddies have some pretty good talent, especially at quarterback. “I’ll tell you what seeing them in their scrimmage and seeing their first two games on film I don’t think they are missing a beat with those two guys focusing on other sports. The Hathaway boy at quarterback he is carrying on his family name. He is quite the athlete. He just poses so much of a problem because he is such a duel threat. They like to move him around. He puts you in such a position that he has the opportunity to pass or take off and run. We have to do a good job of keeping him corralled,” said Spitler.

Austin Hathaway ran and passed for more than 200 yards and scored the game winner against Highland. Spitler says he forces the defense to make quick decisions. “Week one he was their leading rusher from the quarterback position and also had a fine game passing against Highland High School. That is going to be no easy task. It is going to be difficult for us to simulate him in practice. We have to have a good week of preparation and we have to be disciplined in our technique,” he said.

Lucas to Face Better Defense

Lucas outscored Plymouth in their first game of the season last week, but the Cubs will face a better defense when they challenge Centerburg on the road this week.

401 yards rushing for the Cubs on 61 carries led them to 48-42 win over the Plymouth Big Red last week. Coach Scott Spitler was happy with the run game, but not everything they did. “I think offensively we were able to do what we wanted to do with our run game. We ended up with more than 400 yards rushing led by senior Nick Swainheart with 272 on 32 carries,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We were able to kind of control the clock. I wasn’t real happy with the penalties that we had or our special teams giving them to good of field position. It was what we expected. We expected a close battle and that’s what we got.”

Spitler is a former offensive line coach and he thinks his big guys up front, many of them starting for the first time last week, can still get better. “I think we need to continue to get better up front and continue to take a step forward there with our offensive line and our fullback position with their blocking. Defensively, I think we just need to be more consistent from drive to drive. I thought we started off the game really well shutting them down on their first few drives and getting off to a 13-0 lead. Then I think we relaxed too much and didn’t keep that edge to us,” said Spitler. Plymouth had 289 yards of their own, with 196 coming on the ground.

Centerburg (1-0) beat Cardington 28-3 last week, holding the Pirates to 87 total yards and a first quarter field goal. Spitler says the Centerburg offense is pretty good too. “They are a spread, shotgun offensive team. They want to give you all kinds of formations and motions to try and get you out of position on defense. We have to really be disciplined there and prevent the big play and take care of the ball,” he said.

Spitler is very impressed with that Centerburg defense. He says it is very quick and aggressive and obviously hard to score on. “I had a chance to see them scrimmage early in the preseason live. I really think the defense is the heart and soul of their team. They are very fast, they are good tacklers, they are disciplined, and they are very rarely out of position. The rest of the team kind of feeds off that enthusiasm and that aggressiveness. I think it’s going to be a battle between the strengths of both teams, our offense versus their defense. It’s going to come down to our winner’s ratio penalties, big plays and turnovers,” said Spitler.

Looking For Another Close Game

It seems when Plymouth and Lucas meet on the football field the games are usually close and end of being decided in the fourth quarter.

The teams look pretty balanced again as they face off Friday night in Lucas.

Anytime you have a short roster injuries are a bigger concern, but Lucas coach Scott Spittler says they have pretty lucky so far. “We are no different then any other team we have your typical bumps and broses. I like where we are at health wise going into week one,” he said.

Lucas returns two 1,000 yard backs for a year ago in Nick Swainheart and Levi Harris. However, they will have some inexperienced filling some roles on the team, especially in the trenches. “I think we have made progress. We have taken another step each day with each scrimmage and each practice. We just have to continue each day to get better and take a step forward. When you have a young team like we are up front, especially, there are going to be bumps in the road. You just have to keep that work ethic up and keep pushing to take that step forward,” said Spitler. Even with two dynamic backs it is hard to run the ball successfully without a pretty good offensive line. Spitler says that unit, a young one, is going to be key in their success. “Their development is definitely going to be a factor in determining our success. We are very team oriented. Everybody has to take care of their job. I can tell you this they are working very hard and pushing themselves to get better. They have a lot of support from their teammates in that area. When you have a senior backfield like we do that’s good too and that helps overcome some of those bumps in the road a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com.

Last season, Plymouth beat Lucas 21-18 on their way to their first .500 season since 1998. Spitler thinks Plymouth has turned the corner with their football program. “I really think they are springboarding off the success they had last year. Coach Genders has them heading in the right direction. He has his kids believing and you see that on film. Every time we get to together it is a close game. Last year, it was no different. We have come ready to play on Friday night,” said Spitler.

Anytime you have a close game turnovers are going to be a big key and Spitler thinks that will be the case in this game. “I think we have to be sound in our special teams and we have to take care of the football. I think we have to win that turnover margin,” he said.

Lucas Will Run the Ball Again

Lucas was a team that ran the ball more than 90 percent of the time last year and little will change this season with the Cubs.

Coach Scott Spitler says they will return most of their offensive firepower from a year ago. “We are fortunate to be returning our backfield. Our school single season rushing leader in Nick Swainheart and his mate on the opposite wing Levi Harris also had 1,200 yards last year. Between the two of them we return about 2,600 yards rushing from last year. We also return our quarterback from last year Cole Barrett. Both Cole and Levi return defensively along with Dominick Strusel, between the three of them will have also 300 tackles back. We have some leadership back in those guys. We also have some youth and inexperience,” said Spitler.

Lucas will continue to run the kind of offense that would make Woody Hayes proud. “We run out of the double wing set. We are running it at our pee wee and our middle school level, so our kids are familiar with the system. With experience we have back in backfield we are just going to try improve our execution to get better at we do,” said Spitler. He says he is surrounded with what he thinks is a pretty good staff at Lucas. “I came into a good situation when I came to Lucas four seasons ago. We have a great group of young men that lead our pee wee program. They were eager to make sure we were doing the same thing from top to bottom. We have a great middle school staff. We have been able to work together supporting each other and improving Lucas football,” said Spitler.

Despite those very good rushing numbers, the Cubs ended last season with a record of 4-6. Spitler says there are things they have to get better at if they are going to be more competitive. “I think offensively we don’t throw the ball a lot, but when we do we need to complete a higher percentage. We are going to have to come along up front. We graduated several seniors off our offensive line and we going to have mature there. Defensively, I think there are areas that we need to improve our pursuit and our play in the secondary,” he told Swankonsports.com. Spitler says the young offensive line must improve if they are going to run the football like they did a year ago. “We try to make sure we put those guys together as much as possible in almost everything we do such as lifting and spending time together outside of football. They have to be cohesive and almost to the point where they know what each other is thinking without anybody saying anything. You try to put them in those situations to get as many reps as they can to try and get those guys ready for Friday nights,” said Spitler.

Lucas finished third in the silver division of the North Central Conference and Spitler know moving up is going to be a challenge. “I know that they had quite a few seniors last year at Buckeye Central, but coach Ratliff does a nice job and they are just going to reload. You always have Wynford, Ontario it seems just has athlete after athlete and Galion returns an excellent nucleus. I think from top to bottom it’s going to be an extremely strong conference,” he said.

Starting in 2013, Lucas will be part of the Mid-Buckeye Conference along with Loudonville, Danville, East Knox, Mansfield St. Peter’s and Mansfield Christian. Spitler expects Lucas will fit in pretty well. “It’s definitely going to be interesting as it will change our schedule dramatically. A lot of teams that we will be playing in that new configuration of the “MBC” are teams we have scrimmaged or we have had some sort of non-league contest with, so we are somewhat familiar with that. Years ago with the original “MBC” Lucas was part of it, so it’s like we are returning home a little bit. We will have to be creative in our non-league schedule because the league won’t be as big,” said Spitler.

Lucas Has to Limit Turnovers

This week may be a turning point for the Lucas Cubs basketball team. They just have to start doing things better.

The Cubs (0-5) lost Tuesday night to Crestview (63-30) and suffered a loss in their first North Central Conference game last week (76-42) when Crestline beat them.

First year coach Bobby Gossum says it is really the same issue as it has been all season. They can’t handle the ball without turning it over all of the time. “We just have to take better care of the basketball. We have been turning it over way too much. That is something we have been focusing on this week. We have been focusing on what we need to do and not worrying so much on Upper and what they are trying to do,” he said.

When things are going badly some kids bail on the situation and unfortunately that is what has happened at Lucas. Gossum says now they have an even more limited roster. “Unfortunately we have lost some guys due to injury and a couple people have quit the team. We are kind of short handed too and we weren’t very deep to begin with and now it’s even worse,” he told Swankonsports.com. He says they have been forced to move some players to the varsity level that were not penciled in there at the beginning of the season. “We have plugged some younger kids in here. We are starting two sophomores now. I think they have done a good job of stepping up. You know, it’s going to give them some experience and get them ready for the future. It will definitely help us out now. I think the biggest thing for them is just the pace of the game. They really didn’t play a lot of JV last year and now they are stepping in a varsity role, a starting spot. It’s a little transition for them and it’s a transition for everyone else playing with these younger guys they haven’t played with before,” said Gossom.

Friday night, the Cubs play host to the Upper Sandusky Rams (3-1) in an “NCC” game at “The Cave.” Gossom believes again they are going to face a lot of pressure defense. “Well, they are going to be big and physical and they get after it. Like I have said all along we don’t take very good care of the basketball. I’m sure they are going to come out and press us and pressure the basketball, which is pretty much what everybody has done to us all year. We have to take better care of the ball and keep our composure,” said Gossom.

Lucas is About Learning

Lucas may not win many basketball games this year, but the Cubs are going to continue to work on getting better at the game and by the end of the season they may surprise some people.

They absorbed a pounding from Clear Fork, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, last Saturday, when the Colts beat them 70-27. First year coach Bobby Gossom says the game is coming pretty fast for some of his young players. “We are still pretty young. We have a lot of younger kids who make a lot of inexperienced mistakes. We are just trying to work on playing a little better and taking care of the ball a little better and playin’ in a faster pace. They play in a little bigger conference than us and they are used to playing a little more physical and a lot faster than we are,” he said.

Lucas (0-3) plays at Crestline (0-4) in a North Central Conference game in the silver division on Friday night. Gossom says Crestline has two pretty good scorers who have played quite a few varsity basketball games. “Well, coach Endlsey is a friend of mine, so we talk quiet a bit. You know, he has a core group of a couple of veterans there in Coffman and Hatfield. That’s kind of what we are going to focus on is trying to stop them. We just don’t want to get either of them on a roll. If they both get going at the same time we might be in trouble. We need to do a better job running our offense,” said Gossom.

With both teams struggling to get wins this season, the team that plays the best early in the contest is going to have the best opportunity at winning their first game of the season. “It’s going to be crucial for both of us to get off to a good start and stay in the game. You know, we have a problem with kind of burying ourselves right there in the first quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “That is something that I have talked to the kids about coming out and getting a fast start and continuing that on for four quarters. I know Crestline hasn’t had the start they wanted and we haven’t had start wanted either. Both of us are hungry for a win. Like I said coach Endsley is a friend of mine, but I hope we come out on top.”

Lucas Trying to Get Experience

Inexperience is all around the Lucas basketball program this year. The players don’t have much and neither does the coach.

Bobby Gossom, a 1994 Lucas graduate, takes the reins of the Cubs boys’ basketball program. He was the junior varsity coach last year.

Lucas (0-2) lost to Mapleton (49-43) and Plymouth (78-52) on the opening weekend of the season.

Gossom says he knew when he took the job with Lucas that this year was going to be a struggle, at least at the beginning of the season. “I knew coming into this that we lost a lot from last year. I knew that we would be pretty young and inexperienced this year and it was just about making progress,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We were hoping to get off to a good start, but it didn’t happen that way for us. You know, as we make progress and go along here and give our young kids some experience we will make some improvement here as the weeks go on.”

With a number of kids getting their first varsity minutes, the Cubs are having some growing pains adapting to basketball at this level. “It’s a lot faster paced game and I don’t think the kids understand that. They think they are ready for it until they actually experience that. I don’t think they are at all ready for it. Our kids work hard in practice. We are pretty young and they didn’t get a lot of experience last year. We even have some kids that haven’t played in a couple years, so we have been working with them to get them up to speed on the fundamentals,” said Gossom.

Lucas plays host to Clear Fork in a non-conference game on Saturday night at the “Cubs Cave.” Clear Fork (1-0) beat Crestview in their first game. “It’s going to be another tough game. I mean they are real good,” said Gossom, “From my understanding they lost a lot of kids from last year and they are mixing some kids in along with some veterans. They play in a tough conference. They are very physical and they play at a lot faster pace than we are used too.” To have a chance against Clear Fork Grissom knows they have to execute a lot better than they did last week. “We expect them to pressure us a lot and just get after it. We have to do a better job this week with our help side defense and just boxing out. That’s what killed us the last two games and got us buried in a hole,” said Gossom.

Lucas Has to Get Back to Running the Ball

Lucas has built its team this season on their ability to run the football and early on they were doing it pretty consistently, but lately that run game has been bottled up.

Last week, Lucas (3-6) has handled by Buckeye Central 46-0 and that Lucas running game was held to only 64 yards by the Bucks. Meanwhile, Buckeye Central was able to pass and run the football. They totaled 370 total yards in the game. “They just came at you with so many different weapons. They are led by their quarterback Erwin and Hernstein at wide receiver and the Adkins kid in the backfield. Like I said they just came at you in so many different ways with their big play ability. The game Friday night was won up in the trenches. Their offensive and defensive lines did an outstanding job of controlling the game on both sides of the ball. We just have to get back to controlling the line of scrimmage and try to get back on track offensively,” said Lucas coach Scott Spitler.

Lucas completes its regular season on Friday night at Crestline (3-6) against the Bulldogs, who have lost all of their conference games so far amid numerous off the field problems involving coaches and the school board. “The thing that you look at is with all of the adversity and distraction they have dealt with the season you have to give it to their kids. They just play so hard,” Spitler told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “When you break down film on them, they spread you out with so many different formations. They have been able to move the ball and throw the ball pretty well on most everybody they have played. We think their passing game will give us troubles. We are going to have to be very disciplined on what we do and adjust to their formations.”

Crestline does have the potential to make big plays in the passing game with quarterback Nick Reynolds and Spitler knows they have to be able to contain that, but mostly they have to get their own running game going. “I think field position and special teams are going to be key. We are going to have to prevent the big play and make them earn every yard they get. When we are on offense we have to control the clock and get back to what we do,” he said.

Lucas in a Must Win Situation

Lucas still has a chance to win the small school division championship in the North Central Conference, but they must have a win this week when they host Buckeye Central in a conference game on Friday night.

Right now, Buckeye and Colonel Crawford share the division lead with 3-2 conference records. Lucas is a game back at 2-3 in the league after a 41-8 loss at Upper Sandusky last week.

Lucas coach Scott Spitler was less than happy with the play of his offensive line against Upper and that has been the unit that had performed most consistently for the Cubs. “Taking nothing away from them because they played a very good football game, I was a little disappointed in how we played up front in the trenches offensively and defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We gave up the big play quite a bit on defense. We have to get back to work this week trying to improve what we do as well as preparing for a pretty good football team in Buckeye Central.”

The Bucks (6-2) have one of the better quarterbacks in the area in Tyler Erwin, but they have also shown the ability to run the football and have a balanced attack. “I think they are very balanced. A lot of it has to due with the guys they have up front. They have a pretty good offensive line and several of those guys play on their defensive line. I really think it’s going to come down Friday night to who can establish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to give the playmakers the opportunity to make those plays,” said Spitler.

An old offensive line coach Spitler realizes the importance of the trenches and he believes the team that has control there is going to be the one that wins this game. “Make no bones about it Erwin is a tremendous athlete and he has playmakers around him. With the guys we have in the backfield offensively I think it’s going to come down to who can establish the line of scrimmage,” he said.

Lucas Has to Win in the Trenches

With three weeks to play the Lucas Cubs are in position to do something they haven’t done in, well, a long time, win a conference football championship.

Right now, Lucas (3-4) trails to Buckeye Central and Colonel Crawford by a game in the small school division of the North Central Conference. They have lost to Crawford, but they play Buckeye Central next week.

To make any of that happen they have to win this week at Upper Sandusky (2-5) in an inter-divisional game. And this comes on the heels of the Cubs worst loss of the season when they were destroyed 63-20 by Ontario last week. Lucas coach Scott Spitler says they simply got beat at the point of attack. “We knew we had a tremendous challenge on our hands with the athletes they can put on the field and the quality of team they have. We didn’t come out of the gate like I wanted too,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They were able to control the line of scrimmage and that was not something that we were used to. We had been able to hold our own on the line of scrimmage. This was the first team that really gave us trouble up front and they got their athletes in space and we struggled on defense.” Ontario had 432 yards of offense compared to 182 for Lucas.

With a 2-2 conference record the Cubs are still alive in the conference and Spitler says Monday they discussed that with the team. “We talked about that on Monday that we need to practice hard this week and get our game plan installed. It’s not going to be a cake walk with Upper Sandusky and what they do offensively. They put a lot of speed and athletes on the field and we are going to have to have to have a sound week of preparation. We discussed that we have an opportunity with three weeks remaining. We can have a winning season for the first time since 2006 as well as still be in a fight for our division of the “NCC,” said Spitler.

Upper Sandusky has some kids that can make plays, especially running back Gyen Musgrave. Upper tends to feature a lot of different formations, but Spitler says they can’t get caught up in that. “I think you have to look beyond the numerous formations they run and really get to the heart of what they really want to do out of each of them. I think we have a good grasp on that. We also want to force them to put the ball in someone else’s hands other than Musgrave at tailback. We think he does about everything except drive the bus for them. We are going to have to know where he is at. We have to dominate the time of possession,” said Spitler.

Run Game a Key In Lucas-Ontario Game

Lucas, now in a share of first place in the small school division of the North Central Conference, plays at Ontario against a Warriors team that lost their first game of the season last week.

The Cubs beat Bucyrus 18-10 in a conference game last week. They ran for 259 yards with both of their wingbacks in Nick Swainhart and Levi Harris running for more than 120 yards on the night. Coach Scott Spitler has adopted the old Woody Hayes philosophy about bad things happening during the pass game. “We got a little crazy Friday night, we threw two passes. We want to establish the line of scrimmage and run the football with what we feel are two pretty good wingbacks in Levi Harris and Nick Swainhart. Spitler told Swankonsports.com that both kids are good running backs and better teammates. “The best thing is they are such unselfish players and good character kids. It’s kind of funny when you get in the huddle during a time out and they are saying give the other guy the ball,” he said.

Lucas was able to hold Bucyrus (0-6) to just one touchdown last week and Spliter believes they are getting better on defense too. “We are kind of young on that side of the ball. Our kids have been focused during practice. We spend a lot of time in preparation focusing on the plays that the opponent really runs well,” he said.

Ontario has won its first five games of the year, but they were flattened by the Wynford Royals 33-7 last week and fell and game behind the Royals and Galion in the large school division standings. Wynford was able to hold the Ontario running game, which had averaged more than 200 yards a game, to just 65 yards last week. Spitler knows that doing something like that won’t be easy. “Absolutely, they are just so talented. They do it with more than one guy. Plus, they are pretty good up front. We are going to have our hands full. Coach Kreger really has his kids hungry. They got a taste of the playoffs last year and they want to get back,” he said. Spitler says you have to stop the Warriors from making a big play in the run game. He says they have to make them drive the ball. “No matter who you are playing, but especially against a team like Ontario you have to prevent the big play. You have to make them have 12 to 15 play drives. You are giving yourself a chance to make a play or maybe they make a mistake,” said Spitler.

Lucas is tied for first place in the small school division with Buckeye Central and Colonel Crawford. They lost 41-14 to Crawford last week and play Buckeye Central on week nine of the season.

Lucas Must be Disciplined

Lucas plays at home against the Bucyrus Redmen in an inter-divisional game in the North Central Conference on Friday night. The Cubs need a win to stay in the hunt in the small school division as they trail the Colonel Crawford Eagles by a game.

Last week, they stayed in the game for the first half against Crawford, but ended losing the game 41-14 when the Eagles outscored them 21-0 in the second half of the game. “Really for the whole first half it was back and forth and it looked like one of those games where it was going to be who had the ball last. They were up 20-14 at the halftime. We take the second half kickoff and go on a 16 play drive and come up short on a fourth and short situation. That took the wind out of our sails and it snowballed a little bit. When you play good football teams you can’t turn the ball over,” said Lucas coach Scott Spitler. Lucas had three turnovers in the loss to the Eagles.

Bucyrus comes into the game with a 0-5 record for the season after a 37-7 loss to the Galion Tigers last week. The Redmen led early in the game, but allowed Galion to score 24 points in the second quarter. “You can’t look at that record and make a judgment,” Spitler told Swankonsports.com, “They have played a very good schedule. They have played five games against real good football teams and lost some heartbreakers in the last couple of minutes of the football game. This week we have to take care of what we do. They are going to try and get their athletes in space.”

Spitler believes a real key for them will be the ability to make one-on-one tackles against the Bucyrus skilled players. “What they do with their spread, wing-t, jet sweep kind of offense is they really want to get to the perimeter. Your kids have to be able to come up and keep their feet under them and make plays in the open field. That’s something we have stressed this week in practice,” he said.

Lucas Facing Biggest Test of the Season

Lucas has run for nearly 1,000 yards over the last two weeks to even their record (2-2) on the season, but they face their stiffest test of the season on Friday night when they host Colonel Crawford in a North Central Conference game.

The Cubs took an 18-0 lead last Friday night at Riverdale and they hung on to win 24-22 in their “NCC” opener for their second straight win of the season. “I thought we played a good half to start the game Friday night against Riverdale,” Lucas coach Scott Spitler told Swankonsports.com, “I thought we kind of relaxed in the second half and got a little sloppy as a whole team, coaches and players.”

Spitler believes the key to their success this season lies in that they do up from and what they have done has been pretty good over the last two weeks. However, he still sees room for improvement. “I always think we can do things better up front. I mean we aren’t perfect by any means. We just have to continue to get better. This week against Colonel Crawford we are going to see more size and athleticism then we have seen the first four weeks. We need to tighten things up front so we can continue to run the ball,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (2-2) destroyed Crestline 56-0 last week totaling 456 yards rushing. It was the Eagles second straight win. They beat New London 28-25 on week three. “To the average person they see two-and-two and think, oh Colonel Crawford. They don’t understand with injuries and suspensions they weren’t at full strength. They are getting there now and they are starting to pick up some momentum. They are coming into our place with a lot of momentum. We are going to have our hands full they have tremendous speed and athleticism in their skilled positions. They are the biggest team up front in the trenches we had to deal with,” said Spitler.

Colonel Crawford beat Lucas 42-21 last fall. Last week Tyler Smith ran for 266 yards on only 12 carries against Crestline. The Eagles are still without quarterback Nate Kingenberger, who has an injured hand, but they still have shown some balance. “They haven’t gone away from coach Teglovic’s base offense. What they have done is become more multiple in their formations. They really try and spread you out horizontally as well as vertically. I tell you what I know they are without their intended starter for the season, but the Orweiler kid that moved from receiver that’s playing quarterback for them right now is a dual threat back there,” said Spitler.

Lucas Looking to Continue Momentum

Lucas got into the win column last week in no uncertain terms as they hammered Ridgeway Ridgemont 57-13 rolling up more than 550 yards of rushing offense in the process.

“Really I think the picture last week was the fact that on both sides of the ball in the trenches on the offensive and defensive lines we really had a good performance, especially offensively opening up some nice holes,” Lucas coach Scott Spitler told Swankonsports.com. Lucas had four touchdown runs of over 50 yards against the Golden Gofers. “Our wingbacks really had a good night. We had 11 carries for 318 yards and five touchdowns out of Levi Harris. He set a new single game record for rushing yards at Lucas. His partner in crime on the other side Nick Swainheart had a quiet 177 yards on 13 carries,” said Spitler. The Lucas coach, who began his coaching career as an offensive line coach, thinks they will go as far as their big guys up front can take them this year. “I think our seniors returning this year up front have really taken that leadership role on both sides of the ball. We are just getting better each week. We look for more big things from those guys all season,” he said.

Lucas begins its North Central Conference schedule with a trip to Mt. Blanchard to face the Riverdale Falcons on Friday night. Riverdale (1-2) was stuffed last week 40-0 by the Wynford Royals, they trailed 34-0 at halftime. “I think the Wynford game is not indicative of the team they have. They are moving more form their traditional spread package to more of a pro-con “I” running dominated package this year. They have went to more of a linebacker dominated package with a 3-4 look. I don’t think you can get an honest reading on a team when they play likes of Wynford,” said Spitler.

Lucas is not going to change what they do a bit. Spitler says they are committed to running the football this year. “Like I told you at the beginning of the season we are a run first team. We want to establish the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

Lucas Must Reduce Mistakes

Lucas and Centerburg were just about the same in total yards, but the Trojans won the game last week 32-12 because the Cubs just made too many mistakes.

Lucas had six fumbles and three interceptions in the loss.

There were some good things though. Running back Nick Swainheart had 42 carries for 213 yards for the Cubs. However, coach Scott Spitler says they just kept shooting themselves in the foot. “We had a good performance out of our junior running back Nick Swainheart,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Our defense improved from week one to week two. However, the negative is we didn’t take care of the football. We had some exchange problems between our quarterback and center.”

This Friday night they host Ridgeway Ridgemont in non-conference play. The Golden Gofers are also winless (0-2) on the season after a 30-12 loss to Crestline, also of the North Central Conference last week. “They are going to operate out of a spread double wing. On defense, they have shown a couple of different fronts. We have to be ready for multiple looks,” said Spitler.

Lucas has to quit putting the football on the ground and Spitler thinks they have to own the trenches. “For us to be successful we have to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” he said.

Lucas Needs to Get its Own House in Order

Lucas has more talent, or at least better refined talent, than it did last year, but they have to quit hurting themselves if they are going to have a better season in terms of wins and losses.

They lost 21-18 at Plymouth in their first game of the season last week.

Lucas coach Scott Spitler told Swankonsports.com that it was their own mistakes that really cost them the win against Plymouth. “Really what it boils down to for us in the game was we lost the turnover battle and we lost the penalty ratio. We gave up too many big runs to Tyler Hicks. At the end of the night it was those three things that were the difference,” he said.

Spitler believes they have some things they can work on and build toward more success. “Offensively we did some really nice things. Both of our wingbacks were over 100 yards. We were averaging as on offense over six yards a carry. We had a couple of drives end in turnovers and you can’t do that in close games,” said Spitler.

Lucas plays its first home game of the season on Friday night when they entertain the Centerburg Trojans of Mid-Buckeye Conference. “They are very up tempo, speed based team. They try to make some big plays vertically. Defensively they are in a 4-4, their strength is their team speed, they really get after the football,” Spitler said. Centerburg downed Cardington 22-8 in their first contest of the season.

Lucas is a team based on their running game and Spitler says they have to be the best team at the point of attack and be able to eat up some clock. “We have to have a good job out of our offensive line in sustaining blocks and our skilled kids need to make good decisions in controlling and holding on to the ball,” he said.

Lucas Hoping to Get a Boost

Two teams that have struggled quite a bit on the gridiron over the last half decade meet in the season opener on Friday night as Lucas travels to Plymouth to take on the Big Red.

Both teams were 2-8 last year and one of the Cubs wins was in their first game when they beat Plymouth 28-6. Both teams are counting on being better this fall and Lucas coach Scott Spitler thinks a win Friday night would be huge for both sides. “I think both teams are shooting to get that win under their belt and build on the confidence that first victory would bring. We are in a situation where we are not going to take anything lightly. Plymouth is a very improved team,” he said.

Spitler told Swankonsports.com that he has been very impressed by what he has seen at the point of attack from the Cubs this month. “I think our experience and our size up front in the offensive and defensive lines. That’s been a pleasant surprise for us this year. I really like that being a former offensive lineman and a trenches type coach,” said Spitler.

Plymouth features the triple option offense and Spitler says they have to know their assignments on defense or they are going to give up some big plays to the Big Red. “They force you to play very disciplined on defense with their option attack. They have a nice set of skilled kids. They really put pressure on your flanks. We have to do a good job of tackling in the open field,” said Spitler.

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