Plymouth Big Red/Firelands Conference News

Plymouth Healthy Again

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          Plymouth takes on Tiffin Calvert Thursday night in a division VII district semifinal to be played at Galion High School.

          Last Thursday, they beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (63-45) to win a sectional championship.

          Coach Tim Brafford says the best news is they are healthy for the first time in about six weeks.  “Everyone came energized.  The locker room had a lot of energy in it.  The big thing I think is Jarrett Burrer is about back to 100% and he's a huge part of what we do.  He's very difficult to stop, whether he's out shooting a three or driving to the hoop and shooting the mid range jumper.  He just opens up a lot of things for us and for the other players.  So, having him back was huge.  St. Pete’s played wonderful.  #1 their 6’5” kid is one heck of a player, but we just made some big runs and once we made them it just started piling on,” he said.

          Plymouth (15-8) meets Tiffin Calvert (15-7) on Thursday.  The Senecas demolished Lucas (59-12) to their sectional final.

          Brafford says they have a solid, balanced lineup.  “Calvert is a very good team.  They're the number one seed in the pool that we're in.  We're number two.  They passed us the last day of the season when we lost the Western Reserve, so they got that honor and we're going in against them.  They're a tough team.  They have Grady Otterbacher, 6’4” at the point, who's running the show.  The (Logan) Ritzler kid is just unbelievable.  Averaging 18 points a game.  They're big and strong.  Vincenzo Lyons is a great rebounder, big post player.  Across the board they're loaded.  Otterbacher is the coach's son, so whenever you have a coach's son playing you know that he's well schooled and he understands the game and has a high basketball I.Q.  So, it's definitely going to be a challenge. but we're looking forward to it,” said Brafford.

          To be successful on Thursday night, Brafford says they have to be able to defend Calvert’s sets.  “Well, they run sets and they have quite a few of plays, so we're going to have to come out ready to go and defend the plays.   They love screens, they love to do some elbow screens off the high post and off the point and they love to shoot the three,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We've got to be ready to move and talk that is our biggest thing that we've been working on.  We'll probably run some zone, in fact I'm sure we're going to start in some zone, and see where we go from there.  We might end up having to face guard one of the kids and if we did it would be Logan Ritzler that we face guard.  We just have got to see what they going to bring and how we hold up against it, but I like our chances.”

Published 3/05/26

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Plymouth Expects Battle From St. Peter’s

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          Plymouth plays host to Mansfield St. Peter’s on Thursday night in a sectional final in division VII.

          With an chance to share the Firelands Conference title, the Big Red was bullied last week by Western Reserve (71-35) on Friday night.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they didn’t have any intensity in the game.  “It was very, very, very disappointing from a coaching standpoint.  We were not ready to play.  Our intensity was at zero and as far as I'm concerned we just gave up before the game ever started.  We got down and never fought to come back.  They pushed us around on the floor and we allowed it to happen.  Probably my fault, I didn't have them ready to go, so we're working on our intensity and hopefully we come out ready to play.  Ever since Jarrett (Burrer) sprained his ankle we've been down and we need to turn this around in a hurry,” said Brafford.

          At one time, Plymouth (14-8) led the Firelands Conference standings, by three games, but they have lost six of their last eight.

          Brafford says they have turn the car around right now.  “They've got to come out ready to play.  St. Pete's is no joke.  Roy’s got them playing well.  They've got some nice players, they run the floor, they get back in transition, and they play good defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “One thing I noticed is they're going to stay until the end of the game regardless of the score.  They've only won eight games this year, which is still a good number of games, but once the tournament starts it's a brand new season.  Everyone's 0-0, you lose and you go home, so we better come out ready to go.”

          Brafford says the Spartans have some size and athleticism.  He says they get all over offensive glass.  “I think it'll be huge.  Number #1 is a 6’4”, 6’5” kid is just a great player, runs the floor well can, shoots it, they've got a 6’3” kid that comes in and also is a great rebounder.  They've got some speed, they've got some ball handlers, play good defense, it's going to be a battle,” he said.

Published 2/25/26

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Plymouth Needs Quick Start

          Plymouth must win Friday night at home against Western Reserve to have a chance to share the Firelands Conference title.

          They also need South Central to upset Monroeville.

          Tuesday night, they beat Crestline (73-61) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Tim Brafford says their press was the difference.  “It was a great start to the week.  We have not been playing well since Burrer got hurt and he has been trying to come back and get back to 100%.  I think (Tuesday) night he was as close as he's been in a while.  We came out cold.  On threes we couldn't buy a bucket and we were at home.  We did much better with twos.  The thing that really got us going is we went into a 2-2-1 three quarter court press at the beginning of the third quarter and Crestline had great difficulty with it.  We went from a one point lead to 20 relatively quickly, so that's really what saved the day,” said Brafford.

          Plymouth (14-7,9-4) is at home for Western Reserve (10-9,8-5) on Friday night.  The Riders beat Crestview (64-56) in a league play last Friday night.

          Western won the first matchup (82-72) on February 2.

          Brafford says their full attention must be on Western.  “You can only control what you can control and that is the game that's at our forefront right now.  The one we're getting ready for now that Crestline is behind us.  We have to get out quick and stop Chase Hipp from getting open threes, which he's very good at.  When we played at Western we did not have Jarrett and ended up losing by 10, but did hit 17 threes at Western, which was a new school record.  We just have to come in prepared and ready to go from the jump.  We have a tendency to start slow and you can't afford to do that against a good team like Western,” he said.

          There has been some inconsistency in play from both teams this year and Brafford says that’s life with a teenager.  “I think when they have a big game, they get up for it.  Sometimes you play to the level of your competition and there's motivation that's lacking and we've experienced that as well.  They come out slow, they think we're going to win this game easily and you end up losing the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think it's just dealing with 15, 16, 17, 18 year-old high school kids and getting them to understand the importance that every game is an important game regardless of the level, or what you perceive it to be, and I'm sure that Chris (Sheldon) is dealing with the same thing.  I believe all coaches probably deal with some of that at some point or another during the season.”

Published 2/19/26

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Plymouth With Tough Task

          Plymouth, the Firelands Conference co-leader, plays at surging Norwalk St. Paul on Friday night in a conference game.

          The Big Red (13-6,9-3) fell back into a share of the lead with Monroeville when they lost (47-45) to Crestview on Saturday night.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they didn’t shoot well and Crestview took it to them.  “I was a tough loss for us.  I didn't think that we came out and played with the energy we needed too particularly where we were sitting in the conference.  Our shot was off across the board.  Usually, one or two kids might be off, but everyone was off on our threes.  We kind of live and die by the three lately, but we have gone scored 82 points 76 points and dropped there down to 45.  I just think Crestview played their butts off.  They played us very physical.  No excuses on our part.  They just kicked our butt.  Ben (McClay) had them ready to go and they came out swinging and we weren't ready for it.  We got down 10 or 12, came back tied it up, got down 10, came back tied it up, you can't continue to do that against a good team,” said Brafford.

          Norwalk St. Paul (11-9,6-6) won its last four league games and five of its last six, including a (50-45) overtime win over Western Reserve on Saturday night

Brafford says they have gained experience and found their game.  “They've really turned it up.  They're impressive.  They beat Crestview last week I believe on (Tuesday) and turned around and beat Western Reserve on Saturday night.  They're playing some good basketball right now.  They have a great coach with Steve Minor, I love the guy anyway,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “He's got these kids playing.  I think they're dangerous.  He graduated a lot after winning the conference and now they have some kids who have some confidence.  He does a great job coaching.  They've got some varsity experience now.  So, whenever you get a team in the late season that maybe started out slow you don't know what you're going to get, so we've got to be ready.”

          Plymouth won the first meeting (63-52) on January 9.

          Brafford says they must win Friday and next week against Western.  “I don't believe Monroeville will lose either of the last two games, so if we want to be in at the end.  We still have St. Paul, which is going to be a really tough game and we still have Western Reserve at home, which will be another tough one.  There's no easy path, so we're going to have to grow up, step up, and be ready to go if we hope to have our name up there as a conference champ,” he said.

Published 2/10/26

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Plymouth Needs Wins

          Plymouth now clings to a one game lead in the Firelands Conference as they travel to New London on Thursday and host Crestview on Saturday in “FC” play.

          They lost (82-72) to Western Reserve on Monday night.  The Riders, Monroeville and Crestview now trail the Big Red by a game.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they did adjust to not having leading scorer Jarret Burrer, but it was too late.  “We played without our leading scorer, leading rebounder, leader in assists Jarret Burrer, who was out with a sprained ankle.  When that happens during the season you've got to play next man up.  I think it psychologically affected some of our kids with him not being on the floor.  He's kind of our calming person that that takes care of the basketball and when he was out initially, I think they were panicking,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We went down I think 18 points at half.  Went into the locker room and talked to them and tried to get them to regroup and refocus and let them know that without Jarret on the floor we're still a very good basketball team.  They came out in the second half and responded, which we were thrilled.  It was a loss, but I was very happy with how we performed the second half, particularly after the Friday and Saturday games we played.  So, we ended up losing three in a row, but I think we learned a lot about ourselves.  We made 17 threes and scored 45 points in the second half and cut the deficit down to 10.  We still have aways to go, but I think moving forward towards the tournament it's going to be a huge advantage for us that the kids know now we are alright without Jarret on the floor.”

          Plymouth (12-5,8-2) is at New London (9-6,4-5) on Thursday.  The Wildcats are coming off a (63-52) loss to Norwalk St. Paul last Friday.

          In the first meeting on December 27, Plymouth won (52-40) at home.

          Brafford says the Wildcats play outstanding defense and have some kids that can score.  “Tom (Howell) does a great job in New London.  The (Jaxson) Schaffer kid and Henry Thomas are just really special players.  We're just going to have to deal with them.  The (Grady) Heileman kid also is tough.  Schaffer does a great job for them and fortunately Schaffer and Heileman are seniors, so they're going to leave after this year.  It's going to be a battle.  They don't give up anything easy.  They're great outside.  Their guard play is fantastic and Schaffer inside is a beast to deal with.  Just a great team.  We're looking forward to the opportunity to compete with them again.  We got lucky the last time and got one.  This time we're in their house, so we'll see what happens,” said Brafford.

          Plymouth beat Crestview (58-52) January 3 and Brafford says that will be another excellent game.  “Crestview will be a huge challenge.  Ben (McClay) is going a great job in his first year there.  They have some fantastic players.  Actually, they might have the best starting five in the conference.  Just big, strong, and physical.  They all can shoot the ball.  They run the floor.  The advantage we have is our depth, so if Burrer comes back I’m pretty comfortable that we’ll be okay.  You never know, you still have to play the game and get out there and try and keep them off the boards.  The (Karter) Goon kid is averaging big points and we have to try and stop that if we can,” he said.

Published 2/04/26

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Plymouth Wants Good Start

          Plymouth, the Firelands Conference leader, will be at home for Monroeville in a conference game on Friday night.

          They lead everyone in the conference by at least three games.

          They beat Mapleton (72-52) last Friday night in a conference game.  They handled Lucas (58-31) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they had to deal with some injury concerns.  “Last week, we played well.  I don't know if you're aware, but Friday night we lost Jarrett Burrer with a sprained ankle.  Fortunately, it was at the end of the game and we thought it was much worse than it was.  Took him to the hospital had it X-rayed, but he did practice (Tuesday).  So, he's back, which is a wonderful thing with these games coming up.  The Lucas game we came out cold.  We're used to him being out there as the engine and he wasn't there.  Th second half we kind of got it going and were able to come away with the victory,” said Brafford.

          Plymouth (12-2,8-0) will be at home on Friday night for the Monroeville Eagles (7-5,6-3), one of the teams tied for second place.  They lost their second straight conference game when Crestview beat them (68-57) last Friday.”

          They edged Monroeville in the first meeting (75-72) on December 9.

          Brafford says they have kids that can do a lot of things.  “Monroeville just has some athletes.  They're big, strong, jump well.  Ackerman, one of the twins is back, he can shoot the ball.  The Perry kid inside at 6’6”, I don't know what he weighs, 220 at least, is just a beast, someone that could play college basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We have our work cut out for us.  We have to watch inside with the Perry kid and they have got several shooters outside.  When we played them the first time, we got down 18 early and at halftime we were still to down substantially, but we were able to overcome that in the second half.  So, I'm hoping that we come out ready to play this time and that we don't get a deficit and we are able to take advantage of our shooters outside.”

          Brafford says they likely can’t afford to get behind like they did the first time they played Monroeville.  “They're just so talented, just very athletic and Bob (Fries) does a great job with them coaching.  He's been there for a couple of years and it's a challenge.  It's going to be a challenge.  One of the tougher games I think that we'll have, not that we have any easy ones, the Firelands Conference is pretty loaded this year,” he said.

Published 1/28/26

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Plymouth Keeping Focus

          Plymouth, the Firelands Conference leader, will be at Mapleton for a conference game on Friday night.

          Right now, they lead Western Reserve and Monroeville by two games.

          On Tuesday night, they beat Wynford (59-52) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they had to work hard to get the win.  “Actually, it was a really tough game, much harder than I thought it was going to be.  Adam's (Guinther) doing a great job at Wynford, which is a young team.  They're freshmen and sophomores. I believe he only has one senior, one junior and they shot lights out, which they always do.  They're known for three pointers and I think they had ten against us.  It seemed like every time we got a lead of eight, 10, 12, 13 points, two minutes later it was back to four or five.  They just kept fighting.  We changed defenses a couple of times and they adjusted very well.  So, we're happy to get away with the win,” said Brafford.

          Plymouth (10-2,7-0) is at Mapleton (1-10,0-7) on Friday night.  The Mounties picked up their first win when they beat Lucas (72-52) on Tuesday night in a non-league game.

          The Big Red beat Mapleton (78-52) on December 18.

          Brafford says the Mounties have some scorers.  “Mapleton can be dangerous.  I think they have some great athletes.  I think that they're lacking some great ball handlers, but they have all the pieces to put the puzzle together.  I know that Matt's (Brightbill) doing a great job there trying to get them up and running,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “The last time we played and they had two kids that hit double figures, but the big one Jack Sheppard had 23 on us and James Zehner had 11, but everything pretty much goes through Jack.  So, he'll be our guy we're concentrating on going into that game Friday night.  They do have a win now, so hopefully their spirits are up, their enthusiasm.  I've been on the other end when we aren't winning all the games.  That's a tough place to be in.”

          Plymouth has a rescheduled game with Western Reserve on Monday.

          Brafford says preparation at this time of year is a balancing act.  “It puts pressure on us at practice.  We have to make sure that the practices are tough enough to keep them improving, but at the same time we're at the point in the season now that we're cautious not to wear their legs out.  We're practicing right now for just one hour a day.  We have three games this week and three games next week, so we cut back our practice time.  We were off Monday this week because of weather, but we will be practicing this Sunday.  We have Western Reserve Monday and then two really tough games next weekend,” he said.

Published 1/22/26

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Plymouth Faces Traditional Power

          Plymouth, the Firelands Conference leader, plays at Western Reserve against the Roughriders on Thursday night.

          They plays South Central on Saturday night in another conference game.

          They lead Western by two games in the conference standings.  Monroeville is a game back.

          They rallied to beat Norwalk St. Paul (63-52) in a conference game last Friday.

          Coach Tim Brafford says again they were behind at halftime.  “We for some reason come out slow.  We keep harping to the kids the first three minutes are most important time of the game and it's going to set the tone for the game.  For some reason they don't listen and we get down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Fortunately, they’re some fighters and we've been down as far as 18 against Monroeville and came back we were able to get that win.  Last week, I think we were down nine at half and came back out first two minutes did some of the same and down a little further, and then decided to finally play.”

          Plymouth (8-2,6-0) is at Western Reserve (6-5,4-2) on Thursday night.  The Riders lost (60-53) to Crestview last Friday in a “FC” game.

          Brafford says they are always well prepared.  “Chris (Sheldon) just does a great job every single year.  They've got some great ones in there playing and this is no different. So, it's going to be interesting.  They run a lot of man defense and play some zone.  They've got some phenomenal shooters especially, Chase Hipp, who does a great job outside for them.  They've got several great ones though, so you've really got to watch everyone.  I think everything kind of revolves around Chase though,” said Brafford.

          The road to the Firelands Conference title often goes through Western and Brafford says they understand that.  “They're the ones that have been at the top for so long and you've got to get through them to get to the championship.  So, we are taking this game very seriously.  It’s the end of the first time through for the conference.  Saturday, we start the second time through.  So, it's important at this time that we continue to focus and we want to get through here 7-0 and get ready for Saturdays game,” he said.

Published 1/15/26

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Plymouth Has to be Ready

          Plymouth, the Firelands Conference leader, entertains the Norwalk St. Paul Flyers in a conference game on Friday night.

          They kept their one game lead on Monroeville and Western Reserve with a (58-52) win over Crestview last Saturday.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they beat a pretty good team.  “I was very happy with the results of the game.  Crestview's underperforming.  They have a ton of talent.  I thought for certain that we were on the possibility of an upset even going in there.  They just have a great group of kids.  Ben's (McClay), is doing a great job with those guys.  It's just difficult when you're trying to change an offense and a defense and some schemes to get everyone to get on the same page, but think that they have a great group of kids and we were thankful to get out of there with a victory,” said Brafford.

          Plymouth (7-2,5-0) hosts Norwalk St. Paul (6-5,1-4) on Friday night.  The Flyers lost (66-54) to Western Reserve in league play last Saturday.  They beat Crestline (50-43) in a non-conference game.

          Brafford says the Flyers have some players.  “We actually went and watched them play earlier this week against Crestline and they're always tough.  Steve Minor does a great job up there coaching.  He doesn't rebuild, he just reloads year after year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They've got some fantastic, players particularly the (Landon) Fries kid is averaging almost 20 points a game and Nate Griffin.  The five starters Brady Fritz, the Lindenberger kid in the Kaliszewski kid.  They've got five people that they're going to bring it.  I think we have a target on our back at this point with unblemished record in the conference everyone's gunning for us, so we're going to have to be at the top of our game.”

          Brafford says when you are in first place you always have to be ready to play.  “If they have a couple losses in the conference knocking down the first place team would be something that would really help their motivation and their enthusiasm as well as their season as they get ready for the tournament.  So, we really have to be wary as we go into these schools.  We have a tough slate coming up and we're just hopeful that we can get through there unscathed.  Again, we're going to have to give it everything we've got,” he said.

Published 1/09/26

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Plymouth Wants to Push the Pace

          Plymouth, the Firelands Conference leader, will be at Crestview to challenge the Cougars in a conference game on Saturday night.

          The Big Red remined unbeaten in the conference with a (52-40) win over New London on Saturday night.

          Coach Tim Brafford says New London didn’t shoot it very well and they benefited from that.  “Actually, I had some concerns coming into that game.  Tom (Howell) has New London playing fantastic.  Henry Thomas, the freshman guard that came in, has a big reputation and a great basketball player.  We came out in a 3-2 zone.  I know they're three point shooting is fantastic and we were trying to stop that as best we could.  I had planned on going to man at the end of the first quarter, but they really struggled against our 3-2 zone.  I think a lot of it was just an off shooting night and we've had those too.  Not anything really we did well particularly to stop it, maybe helped in some way, but they were just off.  It made it a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.  Not that it was easy by any stretch of the imagination.  I just know the conference this year is so tight and New London's definitely one of the better teams in it,” said Brafford.

          Plymouth (5-2,4-0) plays at Crestview (3-4,2-2) on Saturday.  The Cougars beat South Central (62-54) in a conference game on Saturday.

          Brafford says Crestview has as much talent as anyone in the league.  “I think the Cougars have underperformed so far.  No fault to Ben (McClay), he’s doing a great job.  I think it's tough when you bring a new coach in and you're trying to teach a new system both offensively and defensively.  Getting to know each other there's some growing pains there.  I think you experience those early.  They also have had a tough schedule.  I think they're as good as anyone in the conference and it's going to be a battle.  They have a lot of length.  So, we're really going to have to fight to get this,” he said.

          Brafford says they want the tempo of this game to be quick.  “We're definitely going to push the pace.  I think that every team has some strengths and liabilities and our strength is we have some phenomenal athletes and not a lot of length.  So, we like to get out push the pace, run transition, both offensively and defensively, pressure the ball.  We run a five out offense, there's no secret.  There are no sets involved in it whatsoever,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We just look at reeds and see what's available and that's what we take advantage of.  On defense, we run anywhere from a 3-2 to a 2-3 or 1-3-1 lock left. We do a lot of different things defensively, including man.  We just try and make adjustments based off what they're doing to try and slow some things down.  So, we'll definitely be pushing the ball.”

Published 12/31/25

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Plymouth Must Execute

          Plymouth, the Firelands Conference leader, entertains New London in Firelands Conference action on Saturday night.

          Last week, they dominated Mapleton (78-52) in conference game on Thursday, but lost (63-49) to Black River in a non-conference game Saturday.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they played well in the conference game.  “We did really well with Mapleton.  It was a great game for us.  They have a young coach and a young team and we came out ready to play.  Unfortunately, Black River was just the better team all the way around.  They shot, didn't miss, rebounded, crashed, transitioned well.  It was a really a tough matchup for us.  We were in it till about three minutes to go in the second quarter and they literally just walked away from us.  We were changing defenses, trying new things on offense, they have a nice ball club.  That’s one we just have to tell them congratulations, great game, we played hard just didn't come out on the right end of the stick at the end,” he said.

          This week starts the holiday break and Brafford admits that’s a concern.  “It's going to be very interesting to see where we come out.  Whenever we have even had Saturday games, even though we do shoot arounds, walkthroughs in the morning from 8-9, the rest of the day the kids are free.  I try to stress to them how they have to kind of stick to a routine of some sort.  Not just lay around on the couch, not lay around in bed, not play video games all day.  Unfortunately, most kids think it won't affect me.  I'm going to come ready to play, but they never do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Just watching the game you can tell who was up doing something and active and who wasn't.  So, the holidays are a huge concern.  I'm hopeful that our kids have learned from the two Saturday games we've had.  We came out and didn't play well at Seneca East and again at Black River.  Black River had a wonderful team, but I thought we were very sluggish particularly in transition and picking up defensively.  I'm just hopeful that we get through the holidays okay.  We still have four Saturday games after that, so that's also a concern.  Definitely something we need to pay attention and address daily at practice.”

          Plymouth (4-2,3-0) is at home for New London (5-1,2-1) on Saturday.  The Wildcats beat Norwalk St. Paul (58-53) in Firelands Conference play last Saturday.

          Brafford says New London has the personnel that could give them problems.  “New London has a great team.  Tom's doing a wonderful job up there.  It's his time I guess they haven't been really strong lately.  The new little freshman Henry Thomas is just a fantastic player, Jaxson Schaefer, Jarett Mencyl, all of them can score some points.  So, my concern just watching film, I haven't seen them play in person, is how quickly they transition from offense to defense.  On a shot they've got two guys getting back all the time and we normally rebound four or five guys.  So, we've got to be ready for that.  The other thing they do is really clog up the key well defensively whether they’re in a zone or man.  They played great weak side help and we're really going to have to watch and kick the ball out to take advantage of some threes.  Hopefully, we're on and we can hit them.  If we do, I think we're in good shape,” said Brafford.

Published 12/24/25

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Plymouth Wants Quick Start

          Plymouth hosts Mapleton in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          The Big Red (3-1,2-0) outscored South Central by 40 points in the second half last Friday and they belted the Trojans (88-56) in conference play.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they did a good job with adjustments.  “Last week I was very happy that our kids didn't give up.  We did the same at Monroeville.  We have just have some real dogs playing and they fight till the end.  When we got to the first half, we were getting crushed.  South Central came out with a great game plan and we had to make some adjustments.  We made some partway through the second quarter and started to turn the tide at halftime.  We really adjusted and came out in the third and fourth quarter and took care of business.  So, we were very happy with the win,” said Brafford.

          Mapleton (0-3,0-1) has struggled out of the gate.  They were buzzed (81-38) by Western Reserve in a conference game last Friday.

          Brafford hopes their experience is a factor here.  “It'll be an interesting game.  I've seen some film with them playing Western Reserve and probably not a good metric to measure against Western is a pretty good team.  Mapleton, I think struggles with ball handling.  Their offense is kind of wide open.  Defensively, they play some man.  Their rotations aren't great.  It's a game we're looking forward to.  They're young and inexperienced and that hurts and we've got some experienced players out on the floor, so we're hoping that gives us the edge, we'll see,” he said.

          Brafford says Thursday they have to go out and get better as a team and not be that concerned about the opponent.  “We've still got to run our offense, run our defense, and make sure we have our rotations because the Firelands Conference is a tough league and in any given night anyone could beat anyone,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We found out we went into Monroeville and they jumped on us hard early and we got down 15.  Went into South Central and got down 19.  We can't come out and start slow and that's something that I need to do as a coach to make sure we're ready to go.  We've changed some things hopefully in our warmup that will have us breaking a sweat and getting out on the floor ready to get after from the tip.”

Published 12/18/25

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Plymouth to Play Athletic South Central

          Plymouth is at South Central to battle the Trojans in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          They rallied Tuesday night to edge Monroeville (75-72) in a conference game.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they made some adjustments and they made some perimeter shots.  “I just loved that we never gave up.  We were down 15 early.  They had a big guy inside that we just had a great bit of difficulty with trying to stop him.  He's a fantastic player and he was tearing us apart.  We had to call a timeout and make some changes to prevent him from getting the basketball.  Although we weren't 100% effective we were pretty effective and it started to turn the pace of the game. We shot 40% from three, which was a big help.  Our offensive rebounding was not great.  They were big, strong and physical and we just continued to fight,” said Brafford.

          Plymouth (2-1,1-0) is over at South Central (3-1,0-0) on Friday night.  The Trojans are coming off a (81-69) win over Edison in a non-conference game on Tuesday.

          Brafford says the Trojans like to push the pace and they have the athletes to do it.  “We had the opportunity to watch them their first game of the year at Seneca East.  They have some great players.  They love to get out and run.  They push the pace and that's going to be a challenge.  We're going to have to get out with them and stop that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They have a player Weston June, who's 6’4” and just a powerhouse, takes the ball to the hoop, gets rebounds and a great shooter.  Another player that also gets to the hoop and Brayden Viock.  So, we're going to have to be ready for those two.  They have a great kid coming off the bench #2 Wyatt Hall, who is just a deadly three point shooter, not real tall, but just a great player.  So, overall it's going to be a handful.  We'll have to see what happens.”

          These schools are right around the corner for each other and Brafford says that makes a difference.  “When it's close the players all know each other and talk to each other.  We were at team camp this summer at Eastern Ohio and South Central was there with us.  So, South Central coach Dallas Yost and I got to spend some time together.  It becomes personal when you're friends and you know each other and you want the bragging rights until the next game.  I think we'll be ready to play,” he said.

Published 12/12/25

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Plymouth With Areas to Improve

          Plymouth hosts Seneca East in a non-conference basketball game on Tuesday night.

          The Big Red belted Buckeye Central (70-47) in their opener last Friday.

          Coach Tim Brafford says a good start was key.  “Buckeye Central was a great game for us.  We were ready to play and we have some phenomenal athletes.  Just some great kids who can really play basketball.  They went into that game ready to go and we took off right from the start got and got a huge jump on them.  I think that might have been the difference in the game,” he said.

          Brafford says there are clearly some areas for improvement going into Tuesday night.  “We need to really work on valuing the basketball.  We tried to make some passes that no way they could have got through.  For some reason we thought they could.  We struggled getting the ball in out of bounds on the baseline.  Getting a pass into an open player, had a couple of turnovers there that I was unhappy with.  Our defense, we are too far away from the offensive players allowing them to shoot threes, which is absolutely not an option in our defense.  So, we do have some things to work on (Monday) and that's what we're going to get ready for to see if we can clean it up for (Tuesday),” said Brafford.

          Seneca East also won its opener in downing South Central, also of the Firelands, (64-51) on Saturday night.

          Brafford says they have an excellent guard and some bigs that will have to contend with.  “Luke (Mason) can really play.  He's a senior guard and he has a lot of experience.  He had 22 at halftime.  I actually went over and watched the game with my assistant coach Matt Endicott.  They've got some size as well.  They've got a 6’4” kid inside, a junior, the (Landyn) Hicks kid and he did a great job.  They also have 6’3” Logan Collins.  So, we're going to have to be ready for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They like to run a diamond in one, or a 1-2-1-1 quarter court press back into a 2-3 zone.  We aren't going to change anything.  We're going to go with what we do.  It may be stupidity, but I don't make adjustments, unless we're doing it at halftime, and they stop us from doing what we run.  We'll just have to see if they can do that.”

Published 12/02/25

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Plymouth Can’t Wait

          There are high expectations this year at Plymouth and the Big Red gets to begin to find out if they can fulfill those as they travel to Buckeye Central for a non-conference game with the Bucks on Friday night.

          Coach Tim Brafford says they have had a super week this week in getting ready for Buckeye.  “Things have really picked up.  It's been a fun week.  We practiced on Monday and had a great practice.  Tuesday we actually went to Galion and scrimmage Tyler Sanders and his crew and that was a lot of fun.  I enjoyed going over to Galion and they’re competitive, which was a challenge for us.  (Wednesday) morning we had an early practice and we're ready we're to go,” said Brafford.

          Brafford says getting a quick start is going to be critical for the Big Red on Friday night.  “We have got to keep it under control, but one thing we struggled with last year as I looked back was a slow start in just about every game that we played in.  I have to make sure that they come out ready to go.  So, we're pushing that high energy and get them out and ready to go.  They are ready to play someone in an actual game other than themselves every day and I believe we're all looking forward to Friday evening,” he said.

          Brafford says Buckeye has a number of good shooters, but he thinks they can take advantage of the Bucks lack of quickness.  “They like to do a lot of ball screens, down ball screens.  They have some nice shooters.  Not a lot of quickness, which I think will take advantage of.  I believe four of their five starters are back from last year.  One of the players they had moved to I believe Mt. Gilead, it was one of their really good players,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We expect a battle, but I think we're ready.  They have a little bit of height.  They've got a 6’4”, 6’5” and a 6’6” kid and we have a 6’5” and 6’4” as well.  We'll be ready for that if it gets inside.  We like to play five out offensively, so they're going to have to come out and guard some of our shooters.  So, I think it's going to be pretty even, we'll see what happens.”

Published 11/27/25

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Plymouth Should be Very Good

          Plymouth looks like a team that can have a lot of success this season and perhaps contend for a Firelands Conference title.

          Coach Tim Brafford, in his first year with the Big Red, says they have a boatload of experience.  “We are really blessed.  We had three seniors that graduated.  All five starters return.  We did have one player transfer over to Willard, but the five starters are back.  We have a few other kids to add into the mix.  We have a great group of experience coming to the play,” he said.

          Brafford says they have going to have a lot of depth and so far his kids have really been getting after it.  “Our practices are fantastic with a lot of intensity.  The kids are excited.  I think it's going to be a really good year for Plymouth basketball.  We scrimmaged this past weekend against Marion Pleasant and Mt. Gilead, and the course Mt. Gilead didn't have their football players there, but we played very well.  I like how we run the floor, the offense we're running, the kids that are in for defense.  Because of our depth we subbed quite often.  We sub two, three, four, even five players a couple of times just to get fresh legs on the floor and that gave the other teams a little bit of trouble.  So, I think it's going to be an exciting year,” said Brafford.

          When you have depth it can be important in a number of ways.  Brafford says it allows them to structure their practice differently than some other teams.  “If we would have an injury we do have someone that's experienced to step in.  The depth I think is critical and it's going to be a big part of how we play.  We have 10 players that I think could start for most teams around here.  The great thing about that is that in practice normally the varsity scrimmages the JV and the JV gets better and the varsity stays where they are,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We have so many great players that we're not scrimmaging JV, we're scrimmaging varsity against varsity.  The scrimmages are brutal.  We had several injuries last week.  We just had a player get his teeth impacted up into his gums (Tuesday) night and one got a cut.  Just the intensity of the practices is phenomenal.  So, if we can keep them healthy, we're going to have a fun year.”

Published 11/13/25

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Plymouth Showing Good Chemistry

          Plymouth hopes that some gained experience will lead to more wins this season for the Big Red.

          They are coming off a (2-8) season a year ago.

          Coach John Gillum says they will have a number of kids with varsity experience.  “We lost a couple of absolute monsters in our front, but skill position wise and about three spots up front we feel pretty happy that we have experience there,” he said.

          Gillum says the players have shown a lot good chemistry this season so far and he thinks that’s important.  “We've been really competitive in camp with each other and just building.  Really the core that we have is doing a good job coaching up some of the younger guys and bringing them along,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “This is probably, so far, the closest group of kids we've had.  They just seem like they like each other, which is a big deal for us.”

          Plymouth hosts Van Buren in their first scrimmage on Friday night.

          They open the 2025 season at Lucas against the Cubs followed by home games with Willard and Wellington.  Their Firelands Conference opener is September 12 against Norwalk St. Paul.

          Gillum says that chemistry is going to be vital to them.  “We're hoping to see those results.  We're hoping that leads to better communication on the field, and then week to week, and that we just continue to grow closer and compete for each other,” said Gillum.

Published 8/07/25

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St. Mary’s Destroys Plymouth

          If Steven King had written a novel about bad basketball it would have featured the Plymouth Big Red team that played on Thursday night.

          Some sections of a (46-25) loss to Sandusky St. Mary’s in a division VII district semifinal on Thursday night were pretty frightening.

          In fact, the Big Red offense was as ineffective as discarding Coke for New Coke.

          Still, St. Mary’s was leading only (13-10) with 3:10 left in the half, but then Leo Will hit a three and Cayden Wikel two in a row to make it (19-10) Panthers at the half.

          Coach Kyle Hammond says that gave them momentum.  “That was a huge point.  It was a tight first half back and forth kind of a defensive struggle for both teams and you expect that from two young teams in their first district game, but those were two big threes by Cayden right before the half and kind of you know getting a little bit of breathing room comes up huge in the game like this,” said Hammond.

          Things only got worse for the Big Red as an (11-1) Panther run, cumulating with a Gabe Burch three put the game on ice at (31-16) with 2:24 left in the third and St. Mary’s would coast home for there.

          Plymouth coach Eric Picklesimer says they had a lot of problems running offense.  “Their pressure bothered us and pushed us outside.  We were starting our offense way out there and it hurt.  Then you get behind and start gambling defensively, making changes and they stayed with it they was able to take care of us.  So, they did a good job here pressuring us into some bad situations,” said Picklesimer.

          Hammond says their guards did a good job getting in passing lanes.  “We've got a couple guards that really can harass the basketball.  Blake Finneran, he's a great on ball defender and then Cayden Wikel, Leo Will, Bryan Gibson, Sam Lawrence, those guys all did a great job defensively,” he told Swankosports.com after the win, “Then we have some big guys with (Gabe) Burch and Brayden (Gill) that can kind of help them out in the paint.  That's where it all starts. We thought we had an advantage a little bit picking them up and harassing their guards.”

          The Panthers will play Norwalk St. Paul (19-5) in the district final.  The Flyers hammered Buckeye Central (68-35) in the first game Thursday.  “Did they just played really well in that game before us.  So, that's a tall task. We played them earlier at their place.  It's a rivalry game and a big night for both teams.  I'm excited to see what the Panthers can do,” said Hammond.

Published 2/28/25

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Rebounding and Defense Keys for Plymouth

          Plymouth faces Sandusky St. Mary’s in the nightcap of a district semifinal doubleheader in division VII on Thursday night at Shelby High School.

          The Big Red (12-11) advanced last Friday with a (58-32) win over Danbury Lakeside.

          Coach Eric Picklesimer says they had a good start and did a lot of good things.  “Our kids came out and we executed very well early on, which got us in a position to where we didn't have to really gamble much defensively.  Our kids really attacked the offensive glass, we kept their turnovers down, and our shot selection was much better than what it has been,” he said.

          Sandusky St. Mary’s (8-11) hammered Crestline (61-30) win its sectional title last Friday.

          Picklesimer says they plays a tough schedule and they have some quickness.  “They're good team.  They're quick, they have three guards that really get after it.  That team is definitely battle tested with the teams they play in Tiffin Calvert, Old Fort and Gibsonburg.   So, we're not really looking at the record.  They're a very tough team and you have got to be ready to play and firing on all cylinders,” said Pickelsimer.

          Picklesimer outlines some keys to a Plymouth win on Thursday night.  “We've got to take care of the ball.  We cannot have a lot of turnovers, especially in transition.  We've got to make sure that we defend well and make sure that they're shooters are shooting contested jump shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Our goal all season has been to limit our teams that we played to one shot.  So, that's kind of what we're looking at going in.”

Published 2/27/25

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Plymouth Starts Conference Play With Monroeville

          Plymouth, fresh off a big win, heads for Monroeville to challenge the Eagles in its Firelands Conference opener on Friday night.

          On Tuesday night they edged defending “N10” champ Seneca East (57-56) on the road.

          Coach Eric Picklesimer says it was a great win for the program, especially the way they got it.  “Our guys just kept playing hard from the tip to the finish they never stopped playing.  We had a nice early run in the beginning of the game and then Seneca East, they're very talented, they came back and they took a six, eight point lead most of the night.  In the fourth quarter, we hit some open shots and just got it done on the defensive end.  We knew they were a high scoring team, I think they were averaging 75, 76 points a game, something like that.  We had to defend really well,” said Picklesimer.

          Picklesimer says they were very good on defense and they handled the Seneca East pressure.  “We got some stops.  We have a new point guard this season and he just did an outstanding job of stopping dribble penetration from the top, which allowed our guys to pressure the guards and we rebounded exceptionally well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We handled their pressure.  Our guards really stepped up because they just get after you in the full court half court and the half court.  They're very talented on defense.  I thought along with our defensive effort we handled their pressure very well.”

          Plymouth (1-1,0-0) is at Monroeville (0-1,0-0) on Friday night.  The Eagles lost to the same Seneca East (71-57) last Friday.

          Picklesimer says Monroeville has some height and they are going to play hard for a new coach.  “They're talented too.  They have got some good size.  They have got some players that really play hard.  They've got a lot of returning letterman and they have a couple young guys that are developing well too.  They work really hard.  They have a new coach.  Coach (Bob) Fries, he's been with Monroeville basketball for a long time.  I know he'll have his team ready and we've got to be ready to battle Friday night,” he said.

Published 12/06/24

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Plymouth Has to Be Physical

          Plymouth will be the third Firelands Conference team to play Wellington this year when the Big Red meets them on Friday night.

          Last week, the Big Red (1-1) lost (24-21) to Willard in a non-conference game.

          Coach John Gillum says it was a bitter pill to swallow.  “A ton of disappointment.  I'm not sure we've lost a one score game in about the last three years, so I haven't been a part of ton of them.  It really hurt, especially for our kids.  I mean they did so much right.  So, a lot of disappointment, but you learn a lot about your team in those moments too,” said Gillum.
          He says they really did everything except win.  “You talk about your keys.  We won the turnover battle and we won the penalty battle.  I like to think that those two things put you over the top and I mean it put us right there and so those are definitely things we were happy with,” he said.

          Wellington lost their opener (34-23) to Western Reserve and then beat Mapleton (15-12) last week.

          Gillum describes the Dukes as a team that is tough to stop.  “They are an extremely explosive team.  They play a physical brand of offense and do a very nice job being physical between the tackles,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're excited for the opportunity and then you know it starts to feel like this is one of our first matchups that's going to get that feel for what Firelands Conference football is.”

Published 9/04/24

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Plymouth Must Take Advantage

          Plymouth entertains Oberlin in their season opener on Friday night in non-conference play.

          Coach John Gillum, in his second year as Big Red head coach, says there is nothing like an opener.  “Having the band there, having the cheerleaders there, more than just family in the stands and there's clear excitement when the lights turn on,” he said.

          Gillum believes they have been getting better this month as they prepare for that opener.  “You learn a lot in that last scrimmage where you kind of get to play what feels like a game for the first half there.  You never do know what you're going to get out of some people, guys filling in positions.  You just have got to learn something new every week and try to build on it,” said Gillum.

          Plymouth smoked Oberlin (40-20) in Gillum’s first game as their coach last August.

          To do it again, Gillum says they have to take advantage of their chances.  “As always, they're athletic and they make big play opportunities all over the field.  In their preview, they had a lot of negative plays and we have got to capitalize on those, that's what we're focusing on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “They're going to make plays and how we respond to that and keep them out of the end zone is going to make the difference in the game.”

Published 8/23/24

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Plymouth Must Tackle Better

          If Plymouth is to be a more competitive football team this year it is going to start on the defensive side of the football.

          They start the season on August 23^rd against Oberlin.

          Coach John Gillum says he likes the quality of players that the Big Red has this year.  “It's that time of the year where it feels like everything's kind of a grind.  Numbers aren't great, however, I do like the quality of what we have.  Hoping to hit our stride here this week and get a good look in the preview against Mt. Gilead,” said Gillum.

          Gillum says scrimmages are like quizzes and they want to learn from them and find out who can play.  “It's really your first chance to get honest film to look at and really coach to specific needs, your specific weaknesses if you will.  So, we've had a good week of that preparation.  Finding all over about who's going to persevere through the tough times and try to get ready for game action,” he said.

          Now for the Big Red to be a factor in the Firelands Conference this season, Gillum says they have to play better defense.  “You don't have to dig too deep.  We've given up 40 points a game the last two years in a row.  It's my opinion, it's really been just poor tackling and somewhat poor execution when you get your helmet near the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Really that's been a big focus this entire camp.  I didn't think we did it great in the first scrimmage and so we've been coaching that up like crazy this week.”

Published 8/15/24

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South Central Hammers Plymouth

          South Central erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and turned a close game into a blowout in a (12-3) win over rival Plymouth in a division IV district semifinal on Wednesday evening at Galion High School.

          They will be back on Friday evening to play Seneca East, the defending district champion, and (8-7) winner over Mohawk, in the lidlifter, for a district title.

          South Central was leading (4-3) after five and half innings on Wednesday when they put together the big inning, which included five hits and three Plymouth errors.

          Trojans coach Nick Kirk says the difference was their approach at the plate.  “The first couple innings we were allowing the pitcher to pitch.  We weren't being aggressive.  We finally started being aggressive putting the ball in play.  You put the ball in play you put pressure on the other team and that's what happens,” he said.

          Starting pitcher Eric Sanders turned in a solid effort for the Trojans.  He allowed only four hits, walked three and struck out eight.

          Kirk says he has the kind of quality experience you are looking for in these kinds of games.  “Here's got the experience.  He is one of our only two seniors and he knows how to work to get outs.  When he gets behind, he doesn't get flustered.  A lot of kids can fold, he doesn't, he's been in the pressure situation.  He's been on this field before.  Just big leadership from him,” said Kirk.

          Plymouth got on the board first when Jarrett Burrer walked to open the game and eventually scored on an error.

          In the bottom of the first South Central got a leadoff triple from Cole Frankart and two Plymouth errors led to a (2-1) Trojans lead.

          It became (4-1) in the third when three more Plymouth errors combined with RBI singles from Weston June and Caiden Wilson led to two runs for the Trojans.

          Plymouth would add runs in the top of fourth, on an RBI double by Garrett Bishop, and the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Elliott Hall.

          However, things then imploded on the Big Red.

          Plymouth had eight errors on the day and coach Jarrod Furr says they can’t win doing that.  “We talked about that before the game in order to beat South Central, who's a very good hitting team, we’re going to have to play clean baseball.  That's been our M.O. all year.  We've got to play clean baseball and we've got to come up with the timely hit and unfortunately, we didn't do either,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Then we had the one explosive inning that that they went off on and it kind of just killed morale there.  When you give up eight and it’s a close ballgame, it’s a one run ballgame at the time, and we're in it, we're right there and then things just started going badly and we couldn't right it.”

          The eight run sixth for South Central started with a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly and Kirk says they can execute that small ball game.  “We have a couple kids that can just straight out bunt the ball.  They sometimes ask if they should bunt in this situation.  We tell them it's up to you.  You see the field, see where the players are playing and if you think you can get one down the line go for it and they execute it perfectly,” said Kirk.

          Kirk says they were able to take advantage of the Plymouth mistakes.  “We told them at the beginning you have got to be aggressive.  It's a bigger field and when balls get passed through to not be overly aggressive where we’re getting thrown out and they executed that to perfection as well.  Balls are going by and we have got to keep taking bases and that's what they did,” he said.

          Plymouth is a very young ballclub and Furr says the future is bright for the Big Red.  “At the beginning of the year we didn't know what we were going to have.  We had 15 guys total come out for the program, so no JV.  We cut the JV program right off the rip.  With only 15 there's no way you can run a JV.  A lot of these guys could have benefited from JV pitching, a lot of the guys that didn't get to play much.  In order to get better you have got to play baseball, that's the only way to get better is experience.  So, we weren't quite sure at the beginning of the season what we're going to have and then things started clicking, things started rolling.  Our underclassmen really out performed themselves.  Jarrett Burrer had one of the best years on the mound and at the plate that that I've coached.  He's a bulldog, he's a great kid, and he’s only a sophomore.  Our starting first baseman is only a sophomore.  Our starting shortstop, not at the beginning of year, but here tonight is a freshman.  Our centerfielder is a sophomore.  So, of the five seniors, four of them started pretty much every day.  Our starting catcher is a freshman.  So, we just have got to get the numbers.”

Published 5/23/24

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Plymouth Needs Some Early Points

          Plymouth hosts Buckeye Central on Wednesday night in a division IV sectional semifinal.

          The winner will advance to play the top seed in the district, Colonel Crawford, on Friday night in North Robinson.

          The Big Red (9-13) downed South Central (50-38) in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          Coach Eric Pickelsimer hopes that gives them some momentum.  “That was a big win for us to end the regular season and give our kids a little bit of momentum headed into the tournament,” he said.

          Buckeye Central (4-18) lost (52-46) to Bucyrus in an “N10” game on Friday night.

          Pickelsimer says the Bucks play a big time schedule and they will be ready to play.  “They’re a solid team, they're not the same team we played the season opener against.  They played a tough “N10” schedule.  Those kids have seen every kind of defense and they're prepared.  We have got to be ready to play.  We have got to come out and get after it.  We have got to get out to a quick start,” said Pickelsimer.

          Plymouth beat Buckeye Central (40-29) in the season opener for both on December 1.

          Pickelsimer says they need to find some early offense on Wednesday night.  “We have definitely struggled and scoring at times throughout the season, but we've improved a lot on the offensive end.  We'll have everybody back (Wednesday), which is a big plus,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We've got to knock down some shots for sure, but of course our defense all season has kind of led into our offense and that's what we're counting on.”

Published 2/28/24

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Plymouth Playing Better

          Plymouth takes its act to New London for a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          The Big Red (6-8,4-4) has won its last three.

          Coach Eric Picklesimer says they have gotten better on both ends.  “We're getting better offensively and our defense is starting to create some better offensive opportunities.  At the beginning of the season, we struggled to score a little bit.  We're just finding more and different ways to get some points on the board.  Our defense is still standing strong.  We are getting better at rebounding.  We're just improving a little bit and getting better looks,” said Pickelsimer.

          Pickelsimer says they kind of used the holiday break to vault them into the rest of the season.  “We still have a lot we need to work on, but we definitely getting better.  The holidays are tough.  The kids aren't in school, so they're not really 100% with you in practice sometimes, so it's a tough time.  Our kids, we actually only had one kid miss practice through the entire holidays.  We were healthy and our kids definitely took those couple weeks and got after it,” he said.

          Plymouth won the first game between these two, (48-30) on December 15.

          New London (1-11,1-7) has struggled this season, but when you look a little deeper, the Wildcats have played better lately too.  “They are definitely a lot better since the first time we played them.  They're starting to score more, they're starting to defend better on the perimeter and they're starting to rebound better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We've got to be ready to play.  We just got out of practice a little bit ago and our focus is on Friday night nothing else.”

Published 1/23/2024

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Plymouth Must Handle Seneca East Pressure

          Plymouth will be at home for Seneca East in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Tuesday night.

          They smothered Buckeye Central (40-29) on Friday night in their opener.

          Coach Eric Picklesimer says they defended well against the Bucks.  “Our kids played really well on the defensive end.  Almost every shot we were able to contest and we limited their offensive rebounds.  We didn't shoot exceptionally well and I think at times we kind of settled for jump shots, but award the Buckeye Central kids, they were able to come out and defend us really well too.  So, we were glad to come out with a win, glad that our kids working so hard the month leading up to that game we're able to cash in,” he said.

          Picklesimer says the key this week to get better, they open Firelands Conference play against Monroeville on Friday, especially on the offensive end of the floor.  “I don't know if that ever stops during season.  We definitely identified some weaknesses that we weren't really aware of.  The last scrimmage we had scheduled a week prior to our first game was unfortunately cancelled due to the other school not having enough players due to sickness,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We hadn't played coming into that game for almost two weeks and we're rusty.  We were looking forward to seeing some things prior to that game, but we just didn't get that chance.  I told our guys that's just how it is.  You have got to be ready for what’s thrown at you and they responded.”

          Seneca East demolished Monroeville (67-37) in their first game on Friday night.

          Picklesimer says the Tigers are going to pressure them all over the floor and they have an outstanding guard in Luke Mason.  “Well, they're quick.  They full court press, they half court press and trap and they do everything.  They have a phenomenal sophomore point guard that we're going to have to figure out how to stay in front of.  They've got some great guards that can get to the rim and they shoot it well.  Our guys just have to handle the press, not rush into some shots.  I think we're going to do very well on the defensive end.  As long as we can handle the pressure, I think we're going to be just fine,” said Picklesimer.

Published 12/05/23

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Plymouth Working on Chemistry

          Plymouth has a team with a lot of upperclassmen and right now they are working on developing some team chemistry that is going to help them win games.

          Coach Eric Picklesimer says they have a lot of seniors, but they have some younger kids too.  “Well, we have eight seniors on the roster, which has created a lot of competition in the gym which we didn't have last year a lot.  So, with the eight seniors, they're not necessarily all of our varsity experienced, so they're getting a lot of experience in practice these last few days and they're picking up really well.  The younger guys are coming in and really competing with them.  So, we have got good competition in the gym right now and so that's something we you know we're proud of,” said Picklesimer.

          Plymouth opens the season on December 1 against Buckeye Central, but before that they have a number of scrimmages.  Picklesimer says those are important to them.  “Scrimmages open up a lot of weaknesses and they show a lot of strengths.  A lot of things we do in practice you're just competing with the same guys over and over.  So, that scrimmage creates an environment of something new, something different, something we haven't seen and everyone gets a hands on experience.  So, they're definitely valuable,” he said.

          Most of all in this preseason, Picklesimer says they are working on creating some chemistry on the team.  “Well, I could give you several areas we need some improvement on absolutely, but one thing that sticks out we're trying to create a better team atmosphere in the gym and that's something that's a bit of a challenge for our guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I don't think it's something that they have been really that been part of a lot.  So, we're trying to get that leadership and that team atmosphere and that's something we're all trying to get better at for sure.”

Published 11/16/23

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Plymouth Has to Win up Front

          It will be two power run teams squaring off this week in the Firelands Conference as Plymouth hosts Western Reserve on Friday night.

          The Big Red (2-1) forced a turnover and Eli Keefe scored with just over a minute to play lifting Plymouth to a (20-14) win over Wellington last week.

          Coach John Gillum says they were able to pull in out.  “I mean a little closer than we wanted it to be, got interesting, had a couple players come up and force a big turnover late, went down and scored.  If you want exciting yeah we had that,” he said.

          They will play the best team they have seen yet when the Western Reserve Roughriders (3-0) come calling.  Western held off Wynford (28-20) last week in securing the win.

          Gillum says the Riders are going to be physical and they will play smart. “Well, their brand of football is what I said, they are as Firelands Conference of a Firelands Conference team you'll ever see,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Very good up front, great physical runners, and they just don't seem to ever make a mistake.  They're always in the right play call so that’s what you seem to see with Western.”

          It almost always is, but maybe its emphasized a little more in this case, but the line scrimmage, and who controls it, will be key, according to Gillum.  “What we kind of have tried to pride ourselves on.  This is what's great about you know having a game like this, I think we find out truly if what we've been working to do we have because this is probably the best front we've seen, no doubts about that,” said Gillum.

Published 9/07/23

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Physicality Key for Plymouth

          Plymouth becomes the third Firelands Conference team to play Wellington this season as they host the Dukes in a non-conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, they were beaten by Willard (37-16) on week two.

          Coach John Gillum says he saw some good things, but they have to quit shooting themselves in the foot.  “A couple of things we emphasized last week we definitely improved on.  I mean we cut down on our turnovers and had none, but the penalty bug kind of bit us.  That's just a little attention to detail the coaches need to emphasize a little more this week,” said Gillum.

          Plymouth (1-1) hosts Wellington (0-2) on Friday.  The Dukes fell (42-28) to Mapleton last week.

          Gillum says they can make big plays.  “I mean again lots of athletes.  They seem to run a lot of RPO stuff and try to put their players in the best position to be successful.  They do some great stuff on offense.  It's just we have got to show up.  I think we have got to show up and be a more physical team and see how it plays out,” he said.

          Gillum again emphasizes they need to be more physical and also they have to be gap sound on defense.  “I think it comes into the physicality, but again on defense our defensive alignment is going to be especially crucial with the team that looks to put their players in the best position with RPO type stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They have got a very nice quarterback, who seems to throw the ball around and they've got some serious athletes on the edge.  So, making sure that we kind of have a little say in the looks that they choose to go with.”

Published 8/29/23

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Plymouth Faces Explosive Willard

          Plymouth begins a three game homestand on Friday night as they host the neighboring Willard Crimson Flashes in a non-conference game.

          It’s going to be a contrast in styles with run heavy Plymouth and pass happy Willard facing off.

          Last week, Plymouth beat Oberlin (40-20) in their opener.

          However, first year coach John Gillum says they certainly have plenty to work on this week in practice.  “It was exactly kind of what you hope as a coach.  You come out make mistakes, but you kind of rebound in the second half.  So, left with a lot of stuff to coach this week to correct, but also you leave 1-0, which is your goal every week,” said Gillum.

          If you are going to try and run the ball out of that tight set like Plymouth you have to block well.  Gillum says that is one thing they are working on in practice.  “I think shoring up those blocking schemes.  Making sure everyone's identifying who their man is and the angles we have got to take to create advantages and things like that.  Then when you have three turnovers, so obviously ball security is a major priority, as it always is, but you give a little extra attention to it this week,” he said.

          Willard lit up the scoreboard last year winning (77-35) in Willard, but the Big Red has won the last two times on their field (49-13) in 2021 and (46-12) in 2019.

          The Flashes beat South Central, also of the Firelands Conference, (35-6) last week in their first game.

          Gillum says their pass game, led by Isaac Robinson, who threw five TD’s against the Trojans, is going to be very difficult to contain.  “I have got a lot of respect for what they're doing over there.  I mean they throw and catch the ball about as good as anybody you'll see in the area,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “You try to put yourself in the best position to make tackles and close it down, but like I said they have got athletes all over the field.  The quarterback throws a great ball.  So, you try to limit their success.  I really think they're going to get their yards and you just have got to play off of that.”

Published 8/24/23

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Plymouth Must Limit Mistakes

          Plymouth opens the season on Friday night at Oberlin against the Phoenix in non-conference play.

          Coach John Gillum says they have worked hard this week to correct mistakes.  “I thought we took a step back and our second scrimmage, but had a real positive week of practice this week.  So, I feel like we got a little bit of momentum heading into Friday,” he said.

          Gillum says that if you make mistakes you would rather do it before they start charging for admission.  “You get frustrated in a moment, especially at the scrimmage, but they gave us a lot of stuff to coach.  So, there's a lot of things to talk about and point out flaws that we need to improve on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It gave us a lot of stuff to coach this week.  That is sometimes not a good thing, but you feel like that the preseason you'll take that.”

          Gillum says that Oberlin is in the same kind of situation that they.

          He says they must keep their athletes off the perimeter.  “Athletic like they've been the last few years.  They made some mistakes on offense that hurt them, but so did we all film.  So, we look to try to keep them in the box and not let them break contain too much.”

Published 8/17/23

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Plymouth Working on Discipline

          Plymouth has a new head coach, but not much is going to change in terms of philosophy and approach to the game of football.

          John Gillum takes over as the head coach at Plymouth.

          He says this year’s kids are doing what they should.  “The core that we have is a good, committed bunch.  They're not afraid to work.  We have put in a lot of time and effort here this last week and half,” he said.

          Plymouth has been running a lot of the double tight, double wing offense the last couple of years and Gillum says that is going to continue.  “It is going to be a similar thing.  We might throw a few wrinkles in there every now and then,” he told Swamkonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “That's kind of one of the identities of what we're trying to make our culture.  Our middle school kids have been running it for years and we are trying not to reinvent the wheel here.”

          When you have an offensive philosophy, Gillum says you want to start it at the younger ages.  “The concepts, they really transition well between the two and when you preach and you want your kids to be physical it's the perfect offense for that,” he said.

          Plymouth starts the season with Oberlin, Willard and Wellington in non-conference play.

          Gillum says they are working on their discipline.  “Well, I think it all goes down to the attention to detail and the discipline of getting our footwork just right on every play pre-snap and then post snap obviously, ball security all that stuff you can never spend too much time doing that and it's obviously of the utmost importance,” said Gillum.

Published 8/03/23

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Plymouth Working Hard to Improve

          Plymouth has a new varsity boys’ basketball coach this year and will have a lot of new players on its roster as well.

          Coach Eric Picklesimer, a former JV coach at Plymouth, and varsity coach at Buckeye Central, says he is impressed with his kid’s work ethic.  “The kids work hard at Plymouth.  I’m excited to be back.  We are getting used to each other and learning the lingo a little bit.  I like how hard our kids are working,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We don’t have a lot of returning starters, only a couple.  So, everyone is getting their chance to show what they have got and battle for that position.”

          Plymouth will scrimmage Edison and Sandusky St. Mary’s on Friday and Picklesimer says they are going to find out a lot about their team then.  “I think scrimmages are a good way to test all of the hard work that you have put in in the gym in practice.  Our first scrimmage is this week, so we will answer some questions.  Some kids that maybe haven’t experienced the varsity game yet will experience that for this first time, so we are excited and are ready to go,” he said.

          The Big Red opens the regular season November 29 against Seneca East in non-league play.  Their first Firelands Conference game is Thursday, December 1 against Western Reserve.

          With some first time varsity players, Picklesimer says it is going to be a jump up in competition for those kids.  “I definitely think the speed of the game and the strength and quickness of the players.  JV basketball is a big difference from varsity.  You go from the 14, 15-year-old kid to the 17 and 18-year-old kid.  So, they are naturally bigger, stronger and faster.  The young guys usually get their eyes opened those first few times in a varsity game or a varsity scrimmage,” said Picklesimer.

Published 11/08/22

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Plymouth Ends Regular Season With South Central

          Plymouth plays at South Central on Friday night in a Firelands Conference game.

          The Big Red (3-6,1-4) has an outside chance of earning a division VII playoff spot, but they would have to win and get a lot of help to qualify.

          Last week, they were overwhelmed (55-7) by (8-1) McComb in non-conference play.

          Coach Mark Genders says they played a really good team.  “Like a lot of teams at this time of the year, we are extremely banged up.  I will tell you this other than the 2009 and 2014 St. Paul teams, that is the best team that I have coached against in my 16 years at Plymouth.  They were really good,” he said.

          Plymouth’s leading rusher Shea Sparks is not expected to play in this game on Friday night.

          South Central (3-6,1-4) lost (42-12) to Western Reserve last week in a conference game.

          Genders says they are hard to stop.  “We are completely two opposite approaches.  We have known that and competed in some of the most competitive games over the last few years.  Their timing on their “RPO’s” in their passing attack is really so solid.  Their line blocks it so well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “This year especially with Mitchell being such a veteran, solid quarterback, they have been able to run the ball better.  They just attack you in so many different ways.  I know they have been hit by the injury bug as well.”

          When you end the season with a rival like this, Genders says it is always special.  “It is a big rival game. It is a lot of fun for both communities, I know that.  We are looking forward to it.  It is going to be bittersweet, the last game and all.  It’s a rival game and that is the way we are looking at it,” said Genders.

Published 10/20/22

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Plymouth Must Limit Mistakes

          Plymouth takes a break from play in the Firelands Conference for a non-conference game at home against McComb on Friday night.

          They were handled (39-13) by unbeaten Crestview in a conference game last Friday.

          Again, coach Mark Genders says they made too many mistakes to be competitive against a very good team like Crestview.  “The kids played extremely hard, but once again four turnovers to one.  We are just trying to get this thing right.  The turnovers were big ones too.  We are driving down and we fumble and they pick up and they take it down 50 yards.  Just big momentum shifters.  All four them were.  Like I have said before you can’t beat good teams, especially like them, when you lose the turnover battle, especially that bad,” said Genders.

          Genders says turnovers have been a problem all season, but the kids are working hard to correct the problems.  “To the kids credit, they keep working hard to make it right.  We can’t shake it.  We are doing all we can.  We are practicing hard and the kids keep fighting hard, and they are not giving up on anything.  We just want see what we are capable of when we don’t turn the ball over,” he said.

          Plymouth (3-5) hosts McComb (7-1) in a non-conference game on Friday night at Alumni Field.  They beat Cory-Rawson (52-7) in a game in the Blanchard Valley Conference last week.

          Genders says McComb is really good and they must play mistake free football to have a chance.  “They are pretty far away from us and we are not sure of the status of their QB and their really solid lineman.  With those guys this is as good a team as we have seen all season.  They are a very, very complete team.  Very similar with the stuff they do to Crestview.  Like I said, I am not sure of the status of their three year starter at quarterback.  He is as good as anybody I have seen in the last two years.  He is a special, special athlete.  Not only can he sling it, he can run.  You can tell they have leaned on him as their primary offensive guy,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We are preparing like he is going to play and we are also prepared if he doesn’t.  It’s a giant task.  They are one of the best small schools in the state, year in and year out.  We just hope to get the Plymouth versus Plymouth thing erased.  If we are going to lose, we want to do it on our terms.  We want to play as hard as we can and make the fastest mistakes as we can.”

Published 10/12/22

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Plymouth Must Be at its Best

          Plymouth entertains Firelands Conference co-leader Crestview on Friday night in conference action.

          Last week, they were outscored (54-43) by Mapleton in a “FC” game.

          Coach Mark Genders says they turned the ball over too much and they were not disciplined on defense.  “The turnovers continue to hurt us.  We are just not playing assignment football defensively.  Mapleton is another version of the wing-T, misdirection, they can hit you at any spot and give credit to them, they played a fantastic game.  We have to do our job to have success and we didn’t do that,” he said.

          Plymouth (3-4,1-3), losers of their last three, play host Crestview (7-0,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night.  The Cougars are coming off a (37-7) whipping of South Central last Friday in conference play.

          Genders says the Cougars are good all over the field.  “I just think they are a complete team.  They are fast and they are very disciplined.  You watch them on defense and they are gap sound and aggressive at the same time.  They have a lot of athletes on their team.  They are really well coached under Steve (Haverdill).  There are just a lot of positive things to say about them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They have the program running on a high level.  You have seen it over the last two years.  They really have it going well and they believe in what they are doing.  Ultimately, they are doing their jobs and the little things you have to do to win.”

          Genders adds that against the Crestview offense you cannot focus on taking just one thing away, they are too good for that.  “The big thing about Crestview is they can do both.  When they need to do it, they do it and when they don’t need to do it, they still do it.  That’s why they are really complete.  You take something away from them, they find what is available and they take advantage of it.  They have really good ballplayers on both sides of the football.  They create a challenge for anybody,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “That’s why they are one of the top teams in the State of Ohio in division VI.  We are going to have to play our best football game to just compete with them.  We know that, we embrace the challenge.  It’s just another game for us to get better.  It’s the Big Red versus the Big Red.  If we could stop shooting ourselves in the foot, and just play a complete game, and let it lay where its lays.”

Published 10/07/22

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Plymouth Must be on Keys

          Plymouth heads for Mapleton on Friday night for a Firelands Conference between two schools in need of a win.

          Last week, Plymouth dropped a (35-20) decision to the Norwalk St. Paul Flyers in “FC” play.

          Coach Mark Genders says, again, they were their own worst enemy.  “It was a good football game and the kids played as physical as we can ask.  We are still in a situation where we just killing ourselves.  Three turnovers and a shanked punt on our own three with 30 seconds left in the first half and they get a touchdown off of it.  Those are tough things to overcome, especially when you are playing against a program like St. Paul,” he said.

          Plymouth (3-3,1-2) pays a visit to Mapleton (3-3,0-2) on Friday night.  The Mounties lost their third in a row (31-0) to Western Reserve in conference play last Friday.

          Genders says Mapleton is potentially very explosive.  “They are about as explosive offensively as anybody I have seen to be quite honest.  Coach (Matt) Stafford does an amazing job with that version of the wing-T.  They are a lot like us in the fact that you have to have eye discipline.  If not, they make you pay.  I haven’t seen anybody yet that has stopped Mapleton really,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Western played a heck of game, and I know they got shut out, (Mapleton) kind of had what we had, turnovers and things like that.  They are a really explosive football team.  They fly around to the ball defensively.  They have a lot of great athletes.”

          Mapleton runs the shotgun wing-T.  Genders says they try to get your defense out of position.  “We run the single wing out of the gun and that doesn’t very that much.  It is all from the wing-T offense.  They hit you with the dive and they hit you with the sweep.  The beauty of their offense is they can really put a lot of pressure on you in all areas of the football field through the run.  The wide sweep, the under, the trap back.  There is all kind of pressure they put on you.  They make you play base and very intelligent football, if you don’t just like we do, they make you pay.  When it is clicking and teams aren’t focused they are in for a long night,” said Genders.

Published 9/29/22

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Plymouth Faces Same old St. Paul

          Plymouth returns home Friday night to face traditional powerhouse Norwalk St. Paul in a Firelands Conference game.

          They were their own worst enemy last week in losing (49-29) to Western Reserve in a conference game.

          Coach Mark Genders says they couldn’t get the snap executed.  “It was the tale of two things.  The kids were ready to play, but there were too many mistakes.  We had 13 snaps where we were under center that hit the ground and we lost to of them.  They way I looked at it was two fumbles and 11 sacks.  The snaps were anywhere from not good to dropped by both the quarterback or the running back in our option. We still had 427 yards of offense.  So, it really put us in s tough predicament. Honestly, we couldn’t recover from it,” he said.

          Plymouth (3-2,1-1) plays host to Norwalk St. Paul (3-2,2-0) on Friday night.  The Flyers outscored Mapleton (54-30) on Saturday night in an “FC” game.  They have won their last three.

          Genders says this is a typical St. Paul team.  He is especially impressed by the way they play on special teams.  “They are a solid group of kids that play extremely hard and are disciplined as usual.  They are very physical and they get at you.  They are aggressive and they run extremely hard and play extremely fast.  They put a lot of pressure on you and you just can’t make a lot of mistakes.  The one thing people don’t talk about much is how good they are on special teams.  We respect the heck out of them in that area as well.  They capitalize on many things and put themselves in great field position and really take advantage of that part of the football game.  We like to think we try and on do our best in that area as well.  We understand that is going to be a big piece this week if we are going to compete with them,” said Genders.

          St. Paul has won 297 games in John Livengood’s 32 seasons at the helm.

          Genders says their kids execute a game plan that is not fancy and they play hard for 48 minutes and that has been their recipe for success.  “They keep it simple.  They have been doing it for my 16 years and I am sure well before that.  You watch them for the last three weeks and how much better they get each week.  They are just really good at it.  The scouting reports look very similar every year.  That is probably a really important thing, their consistency.  They do it from the middle school all of the way up.  Kids understand what they are supposed to do.  This really smart group of kids knows what they are trying to accomplish.  Another thing is, they don’t shoot themselves in the foot too often,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Ultimately, if you are going to play with them, you have to play for four quarters.  You can’t rest on anything.  If you give them an inch, they take a mile.  So, you have to play for four quarters if you are going to compete with a team like St. Paul.  You have to match their physicality just the same.  We know we have a big task in front of us.  First and foremost we have to focus on Plymouth.  Right now, we have been doing a lot of Plymouth versus Plymouth stuff.  We just shot ourselves in the foot way too often.  We have to get that cleaned up before we even think about St. Paul.”

Published 9/20/22

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Plymouth Must Play Smart and Physical

          Plymouth takes the bus to Western Reserve on Friday to challenge the Roughriders in a Firelands Conference game.

          Last week, they buried Monroeville (41-7) to win their conference opener.

          Coach Mark Genders says he was pretty happy.  “We showed a lot of improvement.  I was overall pretty pleased, but we are still turning the ball over.  We had two turnovers and quite a few penalties.  So, we are really concentrating on eliminating those self destruct plays,” he said.

          Still, Genders says they have a lot of things to clean up in terms of execution.  “We came out and scored and our next drive took the ball down to one-yard line and fumble the ball.  They get the ball and drive and we end up holding them.  That puts a lot of pressure on the defense and the team in general.  Our focus, we are just trying to get better personally.  Every opponent is going to be different.  Monroeville has a really young backfield, but anytime you get Monroeville you are going to get a team that plays very physical.  They have a lot to be proud of over at Monroeville because those young guys really played extremely hard, but we are trying to concentrate on us.  When you turn the ball over a couple of times each week, it is hard to do that.  We are just trying to find who we really are.  We are not going to know that until we eliminate a lot of these mistakes,” said Genders.

          Plymouth (3-1,1-0) is at Western Reserve (1-3,0-1) on Friday.  The Roughriders lost (24-12) to defending conference champion Crestview last week.

          Genders says ignore the record, this a very good football team, like they always are at Western.  “They play an absolute grinder of a non-conference schedule.  You talking about Edison.  They played Wellington week one and that Wellington team I’m telling you is a solid group.  I tell my team if they played our schedule they would have the same record we do.  Just watching them against Crestview, I am not shocked.  They are big and they are very physical.  They have a monstrous quarterback, a former guard that played a lot last year.  He is very athletic and a big man at 6’3”, 240 pounds.  The off back is a six footer, probably close to 200 pounds.  They are not trying to hide anything from you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They are trying to run it down your face and they do.  It is almost one of those things where they point where they are going and here they come, stop me, and it is very hard to do.  It was uncharacteristic of them to put the ball on the ground twice.  That game is different because they played well.  There is no record watching when it comes to Western Reserve.  We know who they are.  We know how well coached they are.  If you don’t match the physicality part with them we are not even going to be in the football game.  It starts up front.”

Published 9/16/22

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Plymouth Faces Physical Monroeville

          Plymouth begins Firelands Conference play at home on Friday night as they host the Monroeville Eagles.

          It’s their first home game of the season here on week four.

          Last week, the Big Red outlasted Wellington (50-42) in overtime.

          Coach Mark Genders says they rose to the occasion.  “It was something else the ups and downs of that football game.  I tip my camp o Wellington and their staff and players.  They didn’t quit.  They were down three touchdowns late in the third and they fought their way back and put themselves in position.  Ultimately my team had a good, quick gut check and answered the bell and we got it finished,” said Genders.

          In a way Genders says they are still trying to find who they are as a football team.  He says hopefully they found that at the end of last week’s game.  “We are just trying to find our true, true identity.  We saw some things in that overtime that we thought we were going into the season.  We have highlighted that this week as far as how fast we were playing defensively in that last series and overtime.  We did a lot of good things offensively as well.  There were still a lot of mistakes and a couple of turnovers and things we have to sharpen up,” he said.

          Monroeville (0-3) lost (28-21) to Margaretta last week in non-league action.

          Genders says this is a typical Monroeville team that is always physical.  “They play a heck of a non-conference schedule.  Calvert, Lakota, a much bigger school that is always solid and then Margaretta, which has one of those teams this year.  We are not looking at their record.  We feel if they had our schedule they would be sitting right where we are at.  We know the tradition in Monroeville.  We respect them a lot.  The last couple of years we got caught looking at these records and they mean nothing.  Once you start Firelands Conference play it’s a whole new season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Coach (Tylor) Nester does a nice job getting his team prepared.  He is playing a lot of young guys that getting unbelievable experience and they look really strong.  One thing about beating Monroeville is you better be fundamentally sound, you can’t turn the ball over, and you have to match their physicality.  That is just the way it is over there.”

Published 9/07/22

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Plymouth Has to Right the Ship

          Plymouth hopefully has picked up the pieces as they head for Wellington and a matchup the Dukes in non-conference play on Friday night.

          Last Friday, they were blitzed (77-35) by Willard.

          Coach Mark Genders says there was a lot of soul searching going on this week.  “100 percent do your job.  It has been the basics, the little things, rerouting receivers, inside out zone reads, the whole nine yards, tackling, all the basics of football.  We got back to that, not that we went away from it.  Let’s just say that we have reenforced what we are supposed to do.  Our theme of the week, and it’s every week, is do our job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “When we don’t do that the perfect storm happened.  Not only did Willard play a fantastic offensive football game, but we turned the ball over four times.  We just didn’t play assignment football and didn’t tackle well.  I tip my hat off to Willard, they made us pay for that.  We had to come to grips with it on Saturday morning.  My team is resilient. They are tough kids.  We want to try and get this thing righted and get this thing going.”

          Genders knows he is ready to go on Friday and he hopes his kids are too.  “If they copy what their coach is like, I have had on my mind all week that I just want to get to (Friday).  It has been a crappy feeling inside.  None of us felt great about it.  You can’t make it right for seven days.  Football is so unique.  If they are going to mimic me, they are going to be ready to play.  I am counting on my senior group to rise up and make things right,” he said.

          Wellington (0-2) comes in after a (36-6) loss to Mapleton last week.  They lost (21-12) to Western Reserve on week one.

          Genders says the Dukes are big and physical.  “Just watching them against Western Reserve on week one you can tell going into the game was a team that was like, who are we?  They got to the second quarter of that game down 21-0 and they rose up.  They remind me of a couple years back when I had a team, Cade Collins and guys like that, just big and strong.  They have a couple guys that move and they are big.  They have a titanic 6’5” tight end that must be at least 250, 260.  They are big and they are physical and they try to run downhill.  If we don’t tackle it is going to be a very long night for us,” said Genders.

Published 9/02/22

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Plymouth Facing High Scoring Willard

          Plymouth played well in their first week win over Oberlin, but they will face a stiffer challenge this week as they travel the short distance to play the Willard Flashes in a non-conference game.

          Last Friday, they downed Oberlin (42-14) to open the season.

          Shea Sparks ran for 133 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

          Coach Mark Genders says it was a step in the right direction.  “We made some great improvements from that messy last scrimmage to week one and we are pleased with it.  We coughed the ball up a couple of times which we are working on this week, but overall, we took some pretty good strides from that scrimmage,” he said.

          Plymouth runs a single wing or double wing offence that focuses on eating up clock and scoring points.

          Genders says if you are going to do that you must avoid turnovers.  “I think ball security is always at the top of our list, especially when you do what we do.  We pride ourselves on possessions and taking care of the football.  I don’t know a team that doesn’t to be quite honest.  When you play in a conference like ours and play much bigger teams like Willard compared to us as far as student wise,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “You can’t turn the ball over or you are not going to win and that is just the way it is.  We were fortunate enough to make a few plays on them and manage those.  Especially early in the season those teams that seem to do a good job early in the year seem to have more success later in the year.”

          Willard was edged last week (44-43) by South Central as the Trojans scored with 15 seconds left and the Flashes missed a field goal at the horn.

          Genders describes Willard has a scary team.  “They are very athletic and they are senior and junior driven all of the way through their whole offense.  Four out of the five offensive linemen are seniors.  When you have guys with that kind of maturity levels even when they may not be as experienced.  They have shown a lot of athleticism.  They have some playmakers big time.  I think they moved their quarterback out to the slot.  Robinson is tough, Weirs is tough.  They are just well rounded.  They really like their coach.  He is doing a really nice job and you can see their numbers climbing.  They are dangerous.  You put 43 points on a Firelands Conference team that is a dangerous offense and we respect the heck out of them,” said Genders.

Published 8/23/22

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Plymouth Putting Things Together

          Plymouth Friday night kicks off the 2022 season on the road at Oberlin in a non-conference game.

          Coach Mark Genders says it has been a trying preseason at times for the Big Red, but they are prepared for Friday night.  “We delt early with a couple of key injuries on our team, but nothing, they are going to be back this week.  To say that we got thrown in a situation where we had to make sure we had the depth we did and it will be a blessing down the road for sure.  The first scrimmage was okay dealing with those kinds of things and the second scrimmage we were a little sloppier than I would have liked.  The blame is there for me and it’s on me.  Me and the staff created a lot of work to get done this final week with preparation for week one.  We think we have it all ironed out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We have had a really solid week of practice.  I have an experienced group that got down to business.  We were just making a lot of mental mistakes.  Not surprising, we had some guys that were replacing some guys that were hurt when you are small school football team.  There have to be some refreshers in what we do, get snaps, and things like that, it all makes a difference in the single wing.  We feel like we got those things taken care of.  We are chomping at the bit to get at it on Friday.”

          Plymouth runs some unique stuff on offense and Genders says they try and do a good job of disguising what they are doing.  “We are a double wing to a single wing.  It’s the same playbook, the formation is just a little different.  We are trying to do some things to help of situation to make them think a little more about what we are doing and how they are going to stop us moving formations around and things like that.  It’s all relatively the same.  What I say about this offense is we build around the talent that we have and the strengths that we have.  It has worked really well for us,” he said.

          The Big Red won last year’s meeting (51-13) as park of a sweep of their non-conference games last season.

          Genders says the Phoenix will be athletic and capable of the big play.  “As usual like every year they are extremely athletic in the skilled positions.  We like to think with my experienced front that we have a nice advantage there to take care of that and really step forward.  They have the kind of kids in the skilled spots that if you miss tackle or miss assignment and not close down lanes and close down gaps they are going to take it to the house.  We are going to have to play disciplined football.  We feel we are going to be in a good spot competing wise,” he said.

Published 8/19/22

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Plymouth Talented, but Thin

          Plymouth has the chance to be a really good football team this year, but a lot of it may depend on if they can stay healthy.

          Veteran coach Mark Genders says they are developing that chemistry that is so key to having a good football team.  “The kids are working hard.  You get a plan in place and you are hoping for the best outcomes.  What I am trying to get at is it just fun to be back at it to be honest with you.  These are the dog days of the summer.  Through all the years, I feel like this is the time of year when teams come together and the relationships start building.  Anytime you spend that kind of time together and you are creating a new thing it’s a pretty special time.  So, things are going pretty well,” he said.

          Plymouth will host Ontario in a scrimmage on Friday night and Mt. Gilead next week.  They open on the road at Oberlin on August 19 in non-conference play.

          Genders says they need to sharpen their skills, but they also need to stay healthy.  “Like everybody else we have our bumps and bruises and things like that.  Being division VII, being the smallest school in this whole area now, our numbers aren’t the greatest right now.  We are trying to keep these guys upright with quick whistles and things like that is a challenge.  We really don’t have any depth to say the least.  It’s a whole new dynamic when you are preparing because you want those full tackles and those basic things and it’s hard to do to stay upright and go into week one with a full team.  So, that’s a big challenge for us.  We have a nice experienced ballclub coming back, but we have to keep them up right,” said Genders.

          Plymouth has some good talent, they can compete in the Firelands Conference, but again Genders emphasizes they have to remain healthy.  “I have told you this before, we have to stay healthy.  We don’t have any depth.  Yes, if we are healthy, we are going to compete no question about it.  I am not going to sugar coat it, I feel we have a very competitive ballclub with experience and a lot of tools, but we are already seeing some banged up things, nothing too long term or anything like that, but it is showing it’s face early and hopefully we will get it out of the way before week one and get it going.  We feel good about our club,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It’s a youth dynamic, there are so many things these kids can be doing these days.  We feel like our culture in Plymouth is a good one.  Just seeing some kids choosing not to come out for sports and things like that, it’s just hard to see.  It seems like it is an epidemic everywhere and you would like to see that reversed and we are doing our best to do that.  You can’t control a lot of what is going on.  I really believe the parents in our communities really need to step forward and really start pushing these kids to get back involved in athletics and things like that.”

Published 8/04/22

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Plymouth Beats South Central for District Title

          There aren’t many times when a coach addresses the opponent after a tournament baseball game, but both coaches did that on Saturday amid the controversy surrounding the division IV district final at Heise Park in Galion.

          The work by the umpires in the game seemed to be inconsistent at best. The strike zone appeared to be a moving target.  There were a total of 16 walks in the game.

          Plymouth beat South Central (6-5) and will advance to the division IV regional tournament where they will face Antwerp at Patrick Henry High School on Thursday afternoon.

          Plymouth coach Jake Strayer says his players handled a difficult situation.  “They battled and fought through a lot of adversity, a lot of stuff they couldn’t control and they played hard.  They are 16, 17, 18-year-old kids.  A lot of them were put in positions (Saturday) that they were never put in before and they handled it.  That is something we talk about in the program is handle things the right way.  You don’t know how things are going to happen or why they are going to happen.  You have to make the best decision you can with them and I am proud of how our guys handled that,” said Strayer.

          The Big Red score twice in the top of the second inning when Shae Sparks belted an RBI triple and scored himself when the ball was thrown away trying to get him at third.

          South Central tied it (2-2) in the bottom of the second when Brandon Mitchell and Aaron Hauler walked, Eric Sanders singled home Mitchell and Hauler scored on a ground out by Isiah White.

          The Trojans took a (3-2) lead in the of the third when Mitchell again walked and scored on White’s double.  They added two more in the fourth on a couple of walks, three stolen bases a sacrifice and an error and it was (5-2) Trojans after four.

          After a scoreless fifth, things got interesting in the top of the sixth.  Trace McVey walked and Cole Wentz followed with what was called a two run home run down the leftfield line, although in the opinion of this reporter it appeared to be foul by a good 20 feet.  Third base umpire Mark McCoy called it a home run and when asking home plate ump Jeff Sutter, the call was confirmed.  Galion Police were called to the park to handle the unhappy crowd, but no physical altercations took place.

          That cut the South Central lead to (5-4), but the Big Red wasn’t done.  The next batter, Ethan Gilliam walked and Carson Tucker followed with a single.  Sparks sacrificed and Clayton Miller singled home the tying run.  Following a strikeout and a walk, Zeth Goth’s single gave Plymouth a (6-5) lead.

          Miller, who had replaced Goth on the mound, in the fourth, retired six of the last eight batters he faced to give the Big Red the win.

          South Central coach Mike Perry says he feels the performance of the umpires was inexcusable.  “The umpire tells my shortstop that he lost the ball in the sun, so he called it a home run.  Out there guessing in a situation like that is inexcusable and it breaks my heart that I have a bunch of seniors that are walking off a high school baseball field because a guy didn’t see it, so he guessed.  That can not happen in a district championship game and it did and they are dealing with that right now,” said Perry.

          Perry says they are in no way blaming the Plymouth coaching staff or players, but feels they were robbed.  “We are not mad at Plymouth.  I even told Plymouth, guys you just won a district championship, be happy, be loud, we are good with that.  I told (our players) not a lot of teams win 20 games and their conference and we were able to do that.  We felt like we were the better team.  Honestly, shooting from the hip, this game was taken away from us,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I told them that there are lessons that you are going to learn in this life and one of those lessons is not everything is fair, not everything balances out.  Sometimes you are going to end up on the short end of it.  You learn from it and move on.”

          South Central left eight men on base in the game and Plymouth coach Strayer says he feels his team took advantage of their chances.  “They responded to the options that they had.  I said it on Wednesday night that all we need is a chance.  We gave ourselves a chance and I couldn’t be happier with them,” said Strayer.

          Miller was a star for Plymouth, not only does he get the game tying hit, but he pitched four innings of one hit baseball for the Big Red.  “He comes in and throws strikes and he competes.  He does what we ask him to do.  He goes out there and he works quick and he works fast and he is efficient.  That’s what we needed and that is what he did for us,” said Strayer.

          The OHSAA has been concerned with the lack of umpires and that came to a head on Saturday.  The game was originally scheduled for Friday and was not played due to wet field conditions.  A new group of umpires had to be found for Saturday and there were more questionable calls than normal in a game of this magnitude.

Published 5/29/22

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Plymouth Holds Off Buckeye Central

          Plymouth scored at least one run in each of the first four innings and then hung on to beat Buckeye Central (8-6) in a division IV district semifinal played on Wednesday evening at Heise Park in Galion.

          They return to Galion on Friday to meet rival South Central, a (10-0) winner over Hardin-Northern on Wednesday, in the district final.

          Zach Hamman opened the bottom of the first with a single and with the aid of a walk and two errors, the Big Red jumped to a (3-0) lead.

          They added two more in the second when after back to back hit batters, Zeth Goth tripled to the left-centerfield wall and it was (5-0) Plymouth after two.

          Coach Jake Strayer says they barreled up some balls and took advantage of their chances to score.  “We came out and hit the ball hard.  The first inning or two the helped us a little bit by kicking it around, but we were hitting the ball hard.  That is an extremely good baseball team.  That (Alex) Kanney kid is a heck of a pitcher.  He has thrown well all year.  He threw well (Wednesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We just happened to get bats on balls and hit them hard.  Kudos for our guys being able to do that.  I know that hasn’t happened a lot to him this year.  There is a reason for it because he is a good pitcher.”

          Ethan Gillum walked with one out in the bottom of the third and scored when Cole Wentz singled and the ball was misplayed in the outfield and it became (7-1) Plymouth.

          Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen says the errors were uncharacteristic of the Bucks, plus with 10 runners stranded they had a lot of chances to cash I and did not.  “We have had the same defense all year.  Our kids have played well all year.  They hit it hard and we had a couple of miscues, but we had opportunities throughout the game.  That is not the reason that we lost.  We had opportunities.  Plymouth put the ball in play and took advantage of the opportunities that they had,” said Jensen.

          Plymouth added another run in their half of the fourth making it an (8-1) Big Red lead after four.

          The back came Buckeye with two in the fifth and three in the seventh.

          Strayer says they walked nine guys and that is way too many.  “I wish they would have made a few more plays.  They helped us out.  Especially with as many walks as we game up (nine).  That was our problem, we didn’t throw a ton of strikes.  We walked a lot of guys and that is where a lot of their runners came from.  They hit one or two balls hard and one was in the seventh inning.  That has got to get that fixed for Friday,” he said.

          Buckeye’s runs in the fifth came on three walks and an error.  In the seventh thy got a couple more walks and RBI hits from Clay Green and Graham Geissman.

          Pitcher Alex Kanney, a first team all district selection, went the distance for the Bucks and he gave up eight runs, but only three were earned.

          Jensen says his kids kept grinding.  “Our kids don’t quit.  Our kids at Buckeye Central don’t quit.  I am really proud of these kids and really proud of our seniors.  Alex is our senior.  He is our ace.  He is an All-Ohio kind of kid.  He was chosen to be in the All-Ohio senior series, so he is one of the top 80 seniors in Ohio and he proved that.  One thing about our kids they are going to be very successful in life because things happen and they just let it go and move on,” said Jensen.

          With two runners in scoring position when the final out was recorded, the Big Red almost surrendered that big lead, but Strayer says he will take a win anyway he can get it.  “The district semifinal win is a win. I don’t care what it is.  I don’t care how we win.  It is satisfying,” he said.

          Plymouth and South Central split their regular season meetings, South Central won the Firelands Conference pennant.

          Stayer knows it will be a challenge on Friday.  “I have coached there, dad teaches there.  We know each other.  Coach (Mike) Perry and I have a lot respect for each other.  At the start of the season this is who we expected to be here with.  They are a darn good team.  They know they are good because they saved (Karl) Ferber.  They didn’t throw Ferber (Wednesday) and he is a good pitcher too.  Let’s line it up and play ball,” said Strayer.

Published 5/26/22

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South Central Out Duels Plymouth

          South Central outscored Plymouth (6-0) over the last three innings and rallied to beat the Big Red (8-5) Tuesday evening in a Firelands Conference game played in Plymouth.

          The win keeps the Trojans (5-0,2-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, in share of first place with defending champion Norwalk St. Paul, an (8-2) winner over New London on Tuesday, in the conference standings.

          South Central scored twice in the top of the first inning when Karl Ferber and Eric Sanders scored when Kayden Hauler reached on an error.

          That remained the score until the bottom of the fourth when Plymouth erupted for five runs.  A double by Cole Wentz, a single by Shae Sparks and a walk to Carson Tucker loaded the bases.  All three scored when an infield grounder by Clayton Miller resulted in two errors.  Two more crossed on an RBI double by Zeth Goth.

          However, South Central battled back to score four times in the top of the fifth.  Ferber singled and with one out Cole Wuifrum walked.  Kayden Hauler delivered an RBI and single Brandon Mitchell tied the game on a two run single.  A fourth run would score on a wild pitch to give the Trojans a (6-5) lead.

          They added a run in the sixth on a Plymouth error and another in the top of the seventh on wild pitch.

          South Central coach Mike Perry says he believed his kids would rally when they were down.  “When we met in the huddle after that inning.  I told them to listen, they are being loud and excited and we are being quiet and we have our heads down.  We are a team, and I have always preached this from day one here, and other places I have coached, you make a mistake, you leave it behind you, next pitch, next play, and they a battled, I can’t say how proud I am of this group,” said Perry.

          Mitchell was a star and both the Trojan football and basketball teams, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to play baseball.  Perry is glad he did.  “It’s pretty funny a kid that didn’t know if he was going to play baseball this year has had big hit after big hit because he is smart.  He goes out there and he doesn’t try and work anything.  He will look for a pitch and if he gets it, he bangs it,” he said.

          Plymouth gave the ball to three pitchers in Wentz, who started the game and went the first four and third.  He was followed by Goth and Miller.  They walked a total of nine Trojans.

          Plymouth made two errors and coach Jake Strayer says they made a lot of mental mistakes and that cost them the game.  “We didn’t play very well defensively.  There were a lot of routine plays.  We were down mentally (Tuesday) night.  The guys on the bump battled and battled and battled and we didn’t necessarily play the best defense behind them,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They should have scored two or three runs and we gave them the other five or six.  That is a good team and they are going to make you make plays.  That’s what they did and we unfortunately didn’t make those plays.”

          Ferber went distance for South Central.  He allowed seven hits, walked two and fanned five.  He retried the last eight Plymouth batters he faced.  Bowling Green recruit senior shortstop Sam Seidel made a fabulous diving play in the hole with a runner on in the sixth.

          Perry says it was a gutsy performance by Ferber.  “That kid is a warrior.  There is no off switch for him.  He is always in attack mode.  He is always going to go after someone.  He was getting some pitches up.  He was hanging some curveballs, so we talked about it and he reset and went back out there and did the job.  The four pitch inning in the sixth really, really helped us. Sam Seidel making a fantastic play.  All of the adjectives in the world can’t describe how great that kid is,” said Perry.

          South Central hosts Plymouth (4-2,1-1) on Wednesday if it doesn’t rain too much and Strayer says that is a game they must win.  “It’s a big one in the league (Wednesday).  We have to essentially get that one.  We don’t want to get down wo in the league race against a team that is that good.  It is a big one and we really have to try and get that one,” he said.

Published 4/13/22

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Plymouth Looking for Momentum

          Plymouth closes the regular season this week with two games in the Firelands Conference at home against Norwalk St. Paul on Friday and at New London on Saturday.

          They beat Mapleton in back to back conference games last week and they lost to Mid-Buckeye Conference champion Lucas (66-36) on Saturday.

          Coach Marty McKenzie says they are healthy and headed in the right direction.  “Well, we had a pretty decent week last week.  We played four ballgames in eight days.  We picked up three wins and played Lucas until halftime.  Unfortunately, they came out and shot the lights out in the third quarter and we kind of ran out of gas.  Four good competitive games and we are finally back to full strength.  Hopefully, we can pick up a couple more this weekend and roll into the tournament,” said McKenzie.

          Plymouth (7-13,3-9) hosts Norwalk St. Paul (5-16,4-9) on Friday night in “FC” play.  St. Paul beat Mapleton (61-60) in a conference game on Monday night.

          McKenzie says they are hoping the home court will help them this time.  “Early on we lost to them by three (38-35) up there, but we were short handed, which made it tough.  Mapleton had it tough, we took them in overtime up there (56-53) the in regulation here (56-54) and then they dropped another one 61-60.  They have been playing tough, but just didn’t come out on the right side of the scoreboard.  We are looking forward to the Flyers, but they are looking pretty solid,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They shot really well.  I watched that.  Hopefully, when they come in here, we should have a large crowd, which it being senior night an our guys are ready to play.”

          McKenzie says two wins this week can give them a push headed into the postseason tournament next week.  “That’s what we are hoping, five out of six would be excellent.  St. Mary’s, we have seen them several times now.  I’ll tell you what, we can get after them I think on neutral floor, a bigger floor, down there at Shelby.  I think we are going to be pretty competitive,” he said.

Published 2/16/22

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Plymouth Healthy Again

          Plymouth broke a six game losing streak with a win Saturday night and they now they are preparing for a Tuesday-Thursday back to back with Mapleton in Firelands Conference action.

          They are on the road Tuesday and home on Thursday.

          They beat Hillsdale (68-61) in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          Coach Marty McKenzie says they are finally healthy.  “It was the first time in a month, we didn’t win at all in January, but it is the first time in a month that we are almost back to full strength.  We still have one boy that will be back this week. But by and large we had our starting five for the first time in quite some time.  Believe it or not, we played pretty darn good Saturday night,” he said.

          McKenzie says it was hard for them to put a lineup on the floor on most nights in January.  “I have Clayton Miller out of 11 varsity guys, he is the only one that has played in all 17 games.  We sit down the other night and we are like 100 games missed with our personnel.  It is crazy how many ballgames we have not had five or six guys.  We are good right now, we are healthy and back in shape.  We had 27 field goals Saturday night with an unheard of 23 assists,” said McKenzie.

          Plymouth (5-12,1-9) plays at Mapleton (9-8,4-6) on Tuesday night.  They beat New London (62-42) in their last conference game on January 28.  Cornerstone Christian beat them (76-60) in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          McKenzie says it should be a good matchup.  “They got onto a hot streak around Christmas where they put six, seven wins on the board.  They are buying in to the coaches program.  They have really solid athletes.  They are playing well at home, so it will be tough for us to go on the road,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Early on I said I thought Western would be at the top and South Central and I said the dark horse was Mapleton and by golly they have put a good season together.  I am sure they are looking for us to come over there and pick up a couple of wins against us.  It’s going to be a battle.”

Published 2/08/22

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Plymouth Meets Physical Monroeville

          Plymouth pays its third unbeaten Firelands Conference team in a row as they welcome the Monroeville Eagles to town on Friday night for a conference game.

          They play at Crestline in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

          Tuesday night, they downed Mansfield Christian (63-48) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Marty McKenzie says they played well on both ends of the floor against the Flames.  “We played really solid defense.  We rebounded the ball well.  We limited our turnovers.  Our two good shooters Miller and Goth finally got on the roll together.  We kind of put them away early and played solid basketball throughout and got our bench players some solid minutes,” said McKenzie.

          Now, after getting the win against Christian, McKenzie says they have to build on that going into the weekend.  “Monroeville is coming in undefeated, so it is going to be a tough match for us.  It’s a big weekend.  Both teams are in our district.  We need to pick up some quality wins.  It is never too early to think about what we are going to do in tournaments, so this is a big weekend for us,” he said.

          Plymouth (2-4,0-3) plays host to Monroeville (5-0,3-0) on Friday night.  The Eagles hammered New London (67-27) on Friday night in “FC” play.

          They are led by the play of do it all senior Isaac Roeder.  McKenzie says Roeder is a who they run everything through, but  he is not all that the Eagles have either.  “Isaac is strong.  He handles the ball well.  He is 6’2”, but he plays like he is 6’4”, 6’5”.  He will vie for Firelands Conference player of the year, but he has some other kids around him.  The (Adien) Goodwin kid is pretty solid (Josh) Burrows can play.  (Jimmy) Clingman is pretty good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They are all returning starters.  They have five lettermen back.  He is going to run a four guard set at us with Roeder playing the high post.  They are going to do a lot of motion action.  They will pick us up three quarter court.  They will bang, they are going to be very physical, so if we are not ready to play physical basketball it will be a tough night for us.”

Published 12/16/21

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Plymouth Can’t Have Turnovers

          It is a double weekend of sorts in the Firelands Conference with games on Thursday ad Saturday and they are both road games for Plymouth at Western Reserve on Thursday and at South Central on Saturday.

          Last Friday night, Plymouth began its league schedule with a (58-43) loss to Crestview.

          Coach Marty McKenzie says the second half cost them.  “The first half with Crestview we played with them.  We had a few calls at the end of the half that went against us and they took advantage of it.  He made some adjustments at halftime and kind of came out and put it to us in the third quarter.  We got down quite bit, but we made a run at the right at the end, but came up short,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Good contest, tough scheduling though on the road at Crestview, then at Western Reserve and at South Central, I would say the top three teams in the league.  So, we have our work cut out for us this week.”

          Plymouth (1-2,0-1) is at Western Reserve (3-0,1-0) on Thursday night.  The Roughriders belted Mapleton (68-43) last Friday.

          McKenzie says that is a tough bus ride for them.  “It’s a long trip for us, they have a great student section.  Their home court advantage is probably the best one in the league.  A fine coach, good strong program, winning tradition, it is a tough place to go play,” he said.

          Offensively, McKenzie says they have to be patient against Western’s tough defense.  “You have to take your time.  You can’t go one pass and shot.  You have to work the ball, run your sets.  He knows what we do though.  He scouts of really well.  We just have to be patient with the ball.  Unforced turnovers is what beats you.  Sure, he is going to make you earn those turnovers, but you just can’t commit those ones on your own.  When you have an open look, you have to knock it home up there.  That is what we haven’t done the last couple of trips,” said McKenzie.

Published 12/09/21

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Plymouth Faces a Couple of Tough Ones

          Plymouth won their opener, but the competition will be tougher this week as they host Seneca East on Tuesday in a non-league game and open Firelands Conference play on Friday at Crestview.

          Zeth Goth scored 19 points and the Big Red outlasted Buckeye Central (51-41) on Friday night in non-conference play last Friday.

          Coach Marty McKenzie says they were good on both ends.  “It was a good, solid ballgame for us.  We limited our turnovers to very few.  We took very good shots and we concentrated on the defensive end.  Every time they made a run on us, we stifled it a little bit and ended up with a 10 point victory,” he said.

          Plymouth (1-0) hosts Seneca East (1-1) on Tuesday night.  The Tigers lost to Monroeville, also of the Firelands, (77-59) on Friday, but hammered Danbury-Lakeside (97-74) on Saturday.

          McKenzie says the Tigers can light up the scoreboard.  “I went over and watched them Saturday night against Danbury.  It was like a track meet, it was up and down and back and forth, both teams pressing full court, both teams running and gunning.  I don’t think there was a shot that anybody didn’t take,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Seneca East has a really good scorer in that Isaac Mason kid.  He dopped 25 on us last year and he has already had games of 25 plus and I think against Danbury Lakeside he got 46.  So, he is going to be a handful.”

          McKenzie says they have to make Tuesday night their kind of game.  “We are not going to get into a run and gun shootout with them.  We are going to try and slow it down and get into our halfcourt offense and make them play some defense for a while.  They like to full court press and they want you to turn it over in the back court. We are going to try and avoid that.  Hopefully, it will be a game around 45-40.  It is not going to be one of those 95 point ballgames like we saw Saturday night,” he said.

          When it comes to Crestview, McKenzie says it would be nice to get a steal on Friday night.  “I think they are the front runner to take the league title.  If we can get them early.  They are just getting their football players back.  They have been limited on scrimmages.  Hopefully, we can get them at their right time.  They are going to be talented.  (John) Kurtz is a heck of a coach.  I am going to have to be ready come gametime.  I think if we can play within ourselves, it will be a close ballgame,” said McKenzie.

Published 11/30/21

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Plymouth Wants to Force Turnovers

          Plymouth opens the season on Friday night on the road at Buckeye Central in non-conference play.

          Are they ready to start the season?

          Well, coach Marty McKenzie says that kind of depends.  “If you had been to practice (Monday) night you wouldn’t have thought we were, boy kind of horrendous to start.  We had a good day Saturday scrimmaging Mt. Gilead.  In all five of our scrimmages we have held our own pretty much.  Maybe we got that one bad practice out of the way maybe we can get rolling and get ready for Buckeye Central on Friday,” said McKenzie.

          When it comes to Buckeye Central, McKenzie expects some different defense looks, but he knows they are going to have to execute against man to man defense.  “Well, Tom Howell is over there.  It is his second season as their coach and he has his stuff in.  With all of the years he was at New London he liked to show that 1-3-1 half court trap a little bit.  He will set in some zone out of dead ball situations, but he will get after us man to man.  He has a point guard and a shooting guard.  So, if he can handle the ball, I think he is going to be pretty difficult to defeat,” he said.

          To be successful on Friday night, McKenzie says they must force turnovers and get some points in transition.  “Hopefully we can have them forced into some turnovers.  It gives us some easy run outs on baskets.  If we can score in transition a few east trips down the floor where we don’t have to get into our half court offense.  I think we can rebound against them a little bit easier than we did last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Last year, it came down to the very last possession of the game and the difference between a block and a charge was he difference in that ballgame.  I think this ballgame is going to be quite the same.  I don’t think there are going to be any big leads built in either direction.  Whoever can handle the ball and the pressure down the stretch I think is going to be the winner.”

Published 11/24/21

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Plymouth a Mix

          Plymouth is going to be one of those teams that is going to be battling in what should be a more balanced Firelands Conference boys’ basketball race this year.

          Coach Marty McKenzie says they enjoyed a nice summer and have looked petty good in scrimmages this month.  “We put in a pretty decent summer.  We got a lot accomplished.  We return four starters, so hopefully we can put stuff together this season a little bit better than last year.  We have concentrated on the defensive end of the floor most of this preseason.  We have held Clear Fork in check and Saturday we held Bucyrus in check.  So, things are rolling around and we are pretty excited where we are at this moment,” said McKenzie.

          Plymouth opens the season the day after Thanksgiving against Buckeye Central in a non-conference game.  They open conference play December 3 at Crestview.

          There is some experience back at Plymouth, but McKenzie says they are also introducing some younger players to the varsity level.  “We are counting on some sophomores to fill in.  Our backups are going young and inexperienced.  Right now, I am rotating 10 or 11 guys through.  I’m not sure what my rotation is going to be in two weeks.  Right now, we are playing quite a few people and there are quite a few people that are looking to get minutes.  So, our starters are getting pushed a lit bit and that is really going to help us,” he said.

          McKenzie says there are going to be a number of teams that have a chance to impact the conference race this year.  “Our conference was stacked last year.  I think we had nine 1,000 point scorers graduate from our conference last year, so that is a lot of firepower that is not back.  Crestview is loaded with athletes right now.  They had that great football season ad their track is tough.  I have a feeling they are going to be in the thick of it.  You know Sheldon is going to have Western right there at the top,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “St. Paul?  Well, Smitty has retired and they graduated quite a few seniors, so I’m not sure how they are going to come in, but they are always Norwalk St. Paul.  Seidel, he is going to have South Central ready to play.  I think Mapleton, even though they have been at the bottom of league for years, they have some athletes this year too.  Our Firelands Conference is going to be a tough go.  I don’t think anybody is going to run the table this year.”

Published 11/16/21

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Plymouth Has Rematch with Southern

          There are a lot of teams this week that are playing someone they have played during the regular season, but there is not circumstance like Plymouth and Salineville Southern.

          They played week three only because Plymouth was looking hard for someone to play because their game against Crestline was cancelled and now they play again at Southern, again, Saturday night in the first round of the division VII playoffs.

          Plymouth coach Mark Genders says it really isn’t that surprising to him.  “We had that feeling, I’m not going to lie.  Once we finished playing them, they are a solid team.  The people there are really gracious.  We just had this feeling, even the head coach and I said, somehow, I think we are going to see each other again and here we are.  We laughed about it the other night,” he told Swankonsports.com in on Wednesday, “It’s a long bus right, it’s two hours and 30 minutes.  All of the tour buses are booked up because of the FFA conventions.  So, we are going to have an extra bus and everybody is going to have their own seat and try and make it a little more pleasant.”

          Plymouth (5-4) makes the trip Saturday night to the Ohio River to face Southern (7-3) for the rematch.

          Plymouth won the first time (28-12), but Genders says both teams have evolved since then.  “When you go from week three to week 11 and the whole year is a process.  You battle though all kind things.  Right after us they went on a six game winning streak.  When you watch them on film, they got a lot better over time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “For us our whole conference is a meat grinder, so we have been in and out and good and bad and every night is a very physical, very challenging game.  We are hoping the battle tested Firelands Conference we just went through is going to show itself that night and help us get a another “W”,” he said.

          Genders says the Indians have a lot of options on offense.  “They have a lot of really solid athletes.  The one thing you notice with these guys is they are really well coached.  They are disciplined they tackle really well.  They are a challenge.  They run some stuff that we have seen.  The pro-wing and stuff like that that we see with St. Paul and Crestview.  They have a nice receiver and they like to spread out with 6’4”.  They bring a lot of challenges.  We had a great practice (Wednesday) night and the kids are just excited.  We are playing this late in the season and we want to keep it going,” said Genders.

Published 10/28/21

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Plymouth Must Control South Central Skill

          Plymouth, after a bye week, returns to Firelands Conference action on Friday night as they host South Central.

          This game was moved to week 10 to be part of rivalry week for the conference.

          Plymouth would have played New London last week, but the Wildcats downgraded to eight man football.

          Coach Mark Genders says they tried like crazy to find someone to play.  “We tried to get a game all of the way up until the last minute and kind of made a decision by 9 AM Thursday we would make a choice.  We thought we had a team in Cincinnati ready to play.  We were going to play at Wapakoneta.  They set it up for us, Travis (Moyer) did, and he was nothing, but gracious.  Then the Cincinnati team called back and said there is another Cincinnati team that is really close that was willing to come to their place for senior night.  We went ahead and said, that is probably best for the kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We practiced all week in preparation for South Central.  I’ll tell you want in all my years, in 30 years, I have never had a bye.  I’ll tell you as a head coach, I wanted the kids to have the experience.  He did all we could, but when we got to the weekend, we were nicked up a little bit.  Even for me and my staff we have never experienced such a grind.  So, being able to relax over the weekend was really rejuvenating and they kids felt the same way.  Just coming back (Monday) and going over scouting reports and things like that there is a fresh energy and we had a great practice.”

          Plymouth (4-4,1-4) hosts South Central (3-5,1-4) on Friday night.  The Trojans beat Western Reserve (15-14) last week to give themselves a chance to make the playoffs in division VII.  Plymouth might also need a win to secure a berth.

          Genders says South Central has played a lot of good football.  “In our conference, now that New London went to eight man, anybody can beat anybody, and you are seeing it. I said at the beginning this is as strong as the conference has been since I have been year, I think ’11 was about as close as it got, with the talent and the coaches and the whole nine yards.  South Central is no different.  They played a tough non-conference schedule with Cardinal Stritch, who has lost two games, and Northmor, who has lost one.  If they had played some softer teams they could be sitting at five or six wins.  They have been in every single game in the Firelands Conference.  We have all struggled a little bit with Crestview, they have really set themselves apart.  Other than that, they lost by a point to Monroeville, they just knocked off Western Reserve, they were right there with Mapleton tied up at halftime,” said Genders.

          Genders says South Central runs the R.P.O. offense, something they have not seen, and they run it very well.  “They have an experienced quarterback.  The Mitchell kid has been doing this for a bit and you can see it.  He is really matured as a quarterback.  I am really impressed with him.  Then you have a weapon like Music that does it all in three phases of the game.  An incredible punter, defense, offense, the whole nine yards.  So, they have a lot of skilled players over there.  They just create a whole different look then you are used to seeing.  We have seen the ground and pound, some spread stuff, but nothing like the R.P.O., that is the offense they run over there and they run it well,” he said.

Published 10/19/21

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Plymouth Can’t Make Mistakes

          Plymouth makes the short trip to unbeaten Crestview to face the Cougars in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          Crestview shares the lead in the Firelands conference with Norwalk St. Paul.

          Last week, the Big Red (4-3,1-3) had a big second half and broke a three game losing streak in beating Mapleton (60-38) in conference play.

          Coach Mark Genders says they found that needed intensity in the second half.  “It was a tale of two halves.  I credit Mapleton they came out ready to play some good football and we really didn’t and it showed.  They took it to us for sure.  We had a good halftime.  We came back out and got back to doing what we do and played much, much better.  I’m proud of my team for bouncing back down a couple of points at halftime.  We were down 30-12 and the last couple of drives in the first half we got some stops and turned them into points and we took care business in the second half,” said Genders.

          Crestview (7-0,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, thumped South Central (56-13) on Friday night.

          Genders says they don’t have any weaknesses.  “They are a complete team.  What stands out to me is the discipline that their kids play with and their responsibilities.  You always know Crestview teams are going to play extremely hard.  A coach (Steve) Haverdill coached team is going to play extremely hard and there is nothing new there.  They are very athletic, they are fast.  They are just a very good, solid, complete football team,” he said.

          Crestview running back Conner Morse scored five times last week against South Central.

          Genders says you have to force Crestview to throw the ball on your terms and nobody has been able to do that this year.  “Like many of us, they feature the running game.  Like us and other teams, we are going to keep you honest, but you also have to make me throw.  It seems like when they play, they do that.  They do a great job of being balanced as far as mixing in the play action and things like that.  Nobody has stopped them yet and that’s the biggest thing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “They have been running on all cylinders.  When you have a 1,000 yard back it says a lot about your up front guys.  They come off extremely hard.  They are just complete.  There are challenges everywhere when you look at their team.  We are going to have to play flawless football just to compete with them.  That is going to be a challenge in itself.”

Published 10/07/21

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Plymouth Tries to Rebound Against Mapleton

          After a heartbreaking loss to Norwalk St. Paul last week, Plymouth will try and get back to winning as they entertain Mapleton in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, Plymouth led unbeaten Norwalk St. Paul (21-12) with just over six minutes to play, but gave up two scores and lost (24-21) to the Flyers.

          A fumble led to the deciding touchdown and Genders says you can’t do things like that with the game on the line.  “The kids played their hearts out.  You have a nine point lead with six and half minutes left you have to take care of the football and do those little things.  It was two good football teams getting after it.  I couldn’t be prouder of my guys.  They just made one more play they we did and that was the game,” he said.

          Plymouth (3-3,0-3) hosts Mapleton (1-4,0-2) on Friday night.  The Mounties also played well last week before losing (21-14) to Western Reserve.

          Genders says Mapleton is better than their record.  “Mapleton is a solid football team.  Like I said at the beginning of the year this conference in stacked up.  Week in and week out you could lose to anybody.  They have a nice tough non-conference schedule.  We are not staring at their record by no means.  Conference wise we have played what they have played.  They are a really well coached, good football club.  You are to be extremely disciplined.  So, it is going to be a big challenge for us,” said Genders.

          Genders says Mapleton will spread the field with a well designed run game.  “The mix it up pretty good.  The run it inside to the middle range to the sweep.  You have to be extremely disciplined with these guys because they will hit you in all levels of the field and the timing of the play action passes if you cheat one way.  It’s a solid, solid set up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They had it going pretty fast last year with the way they finished off the year.  I see nothing but solid play offensively, especially with the seniors in the skilled spots with (Jake) Lesco and (Beau) Galbraith and (Collin) Grundy and (Hunter) Sanders now, he is the home run hitter on their counter stuff and their linemen led by (Joe) Shoup, he is a monster.  They are a good football club.”

Published 9/30/21

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Plymouth Has to be Disciplined

          Plymouth travels to Norwalk on Friday night to face the first place St. Paul Flyers in a Firelands Conference game.

          The Big Red (3-2,0-2) won its three non-conference games but has lost to Monroeville (42-39) and Western Reserve (35-22) in two conference games.

          Coach Mark Genders says Western executed well against them and they were not as disciplined as they need to be.  “Our kids played pretty hard, that’s a good, good football team, very, very physical, well rounded, very experienced team that beat us.  We just didn’t feel like we were there yet grade out assignment type wise.  When you play great teams like Western, they are going to expose that and they hurt you.  The game was tight for most of the football game.  To Western’s credit, they kept grinding and doing the job and they came out on top.  The effort from my kids was really strong.  We just have to bring it together discipline wise.  I’m proud of them, but we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

          St. Paul (5-0,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, hammered Mapleton (38-0) last Saturday in an “FC” game.

          Genders says they were outstanding on both sides of the ball.  “Just watching them on film they played a really complete football game.  They finally played a team that wants to line up and tries to run the football at them and their linebacker play we very, very good.  They pretty much took on Mapleton with a three man front.  Those guys did their job and their linebackers were able to flow and make plays.  They are going to do their thing.  They do their job, they read their keys, and they play responsible football and that’s what great teams do.  Year in and year out that’s why that program is where it’s at.  Everybody has a role and everybody has a job and they take that serious.  I know coach Livengood preaches getting better each week and that’s all you can do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We are trying to take that same approach this week.  We took a strong look in the mirror on Saturday and came up with some new goals and accountability.  Our goal this week to get better each week and that is our goal every week and that’s what we preach here at Plymouth, that’s the culture we want and we have to get back to it.”

          Genders says it order to take their play to the next level they have to be more like St. Paul.  “Everything runs together and keeps guys off of them and the backers can fly.  We talk about it like you are working in a factory.  Each guy has a job to do in the factory and if you don’t do your job on the line the factory breaks down.  For us, we have been having those break downs the last two weeks defensively an even on offense with missed blocks and not doing your assignment.  You can’t have it.  At St. Paul they know what their job is and you see that and it’s a direct reflection on that program and the tradition they have.  We are trying to get to that point with this football team and I think our boys are doing everything they can to get there, now we just have to do it,” said Genders.

Published 9/24/21

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Plymouth Plays Experienced Western Reserve

          Plymouth entertains Western Reserve in a crucial Firelands Conference game for both on Friday night.

          Both lost heartbreakers last week and need wins to stay in the conference race.

          The Big Red (3-1,0-1) lost (42-39) to Monroeville last Friday.

          Coach Mark Genders says they played some good football in the second half.  “We always try to take something positive out of about anything.  One thing that was positive is even though we came out sloppy and not as focused as I would have liked to have been, call it a hangover, not sure what it was, but to the teams credit in the second half we bounced back and never quit and put ourselves in position to have the football in our hands with three minutes left and two time outs and to Monroeville’s credit they stopped us, we just couldn’t get done,” he said.

          Shea Sparks, the leading rusher in the conference with 795 yards and 14 TD’s, was hurt last week and his status for Friday night is uncertain, according to Genders.  “Right now, he is 50/50.  He has a slight ankle sprain, obviously, if it were up to him.  We want to make sure he is in the right place if he plays and we aren’t sure yet.  He’s a tough kid and to get him off the football field is not an easy task.  It did hurt losing him for the last few minutes of the game last week, I’m not going to lie. But it has to be next guy up.  Sometimes you lean heavy on a guy and you forget you have to be that guy too.  We are off to a great week of practice this week and we are getting excited about Friday night,” said Sparks.

          Western quarterback Jude Muenz suffered a separated shoulder and didn’t play in the second half of their game with Crestview, a (21-13) loss to the Cougars, and his status is also up in the air.

          Genders says Western is very talented and extremely experienced.  “Many of us, including myself, called them the favorite going into the year.  Anytime you return a quarterback like they have and the experience that they have.  You look at 15, 16 kids that have lettered since last year and a lot of those have multiple letters.  I know he got nicked up as well.  We are prepping like he is going to play, he is a tough kid,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Watching the (Rhett) Gross kid come in for him and the leadership you see from Jared and (Logan) Wiegel and those guys stepped that up.  They have been practicing that for a while.  Anytime a kid like Jude comes off the field, or Shea, it is going to affect your team.  I am pretty impressed them.  You can just see the experience that they have.  Obviously, coach (Ty) Stevenson does a great job getting his team ready.  They are a complete club.  So, we are going to have to play a complete four quarters to compete with them and that is the understatement.  We are exited about it though.”

          Genders says this year in the Firelands any game is a tossup.  “Our conference is as good as it has been in many, many years.  You could win or lose every week.  That is kind of what you want.  I know as a conference we are proud of it.  It is a great group of coaches.  We like to think we are one best small school conferences in the state,” he said.

Published 9/15/21

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Plymouth Faces Tough Challenge at Monroeville

          Plymouth feels they are a competitor in the Firelands Conference this fall and they get their first test in a conference game at Marsh Field in Monroeville against the Eagles on Friday night.

          Last week, they traveled to Salineville Southern, a late in the week substitution for Crestline, and beat the Indians (28-12) in a non-conference game.

          Coach Mark Genders calls it a great learning experience.  “We took care of the business we needed to take care of.  Fortunately enough we really got an opportunity to really get a unique experience in traveling on a bus for two and half hours and playing against a really solid tradition.  We went through some of adversity and the things you want to test.  Made some adjustments at halftime and got the job done.  We learned a lot of lessons and learned a lot about our team and really improved from that,” he said.

          Sea Sparks ran foe 183 yards and two scores in the win.

          Plymouth (3-0,0-0) is at Monroeville (1-2,0-0), who is coming off its first win of the season.  They beat Margaretta (41-28) last week as quarterback Isaac Roeder accounted for five TD’s.

          Genders says he expects to a physical game.  “Coach (Tylor) Nester is doing a great job.  They are right there in every football game.  When you watch them, you can just see how well coached they are in the basics.  Obviously, they are led by Isaac Roeder and he is just a tremendous athlete, leader, who is a great quarterback, great on defense.  They have some speed and some size,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It is going to be a typical Monroeville-Plymouth game.  It is always a hard fought game, both teams like to be extremely physical.  We have to go over there and their great tradition.  We are going to have to play four solid quarters to have a chance.”

          When it comes to controlling Roeder, Genders says it’s difficult because he has some many skills.  “Anytime you have a quarterback that runs for the football a bunch in creates all kinds of intangibles, just look at it at any level.  When you have a threat like him, he is not just quick and all of the intangibles, but he is strong, he is huge, he is so powerful.  You not only have to know your responsibility on defense, but it is just like taking on a fullback that is tremendously athletic.  You have to tackle well and do all of those things well and you still have 10 other guys to worry about.  Anytime you have a quarterback that is that kind of weapon it really can put a lot of pressure on a defense,” said Genders.

Published 9/08/21

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Plymouth Plays At Crestline

          Plymouth travels to Crestline for a non-conference football game on Friday night.

          Last week, they beat Willard (49-13) and they did it without coach Mark Genders, who was quarantined.

          He says he will be back on the sidelines on Friday.  “I will be back at the end of the week.  Personally, I’m fine, but you have the protocols to follow.  I will be on the sideline ready to roll Friday,” he said.

          The Big Red (2-0) again was a big play offense last week and Genders says they didn’t miss a beat.  “They were fantastic.  All led by my staff.  They have been with me for a while.  I have such great faith in those guys.  We are a true program and no one person defines our program.  It was very evident Friday night and the coaches and the kids just got the job done,” said Genders.

          Crestline (0-2) was blasted by North Baltimore (64-0) in a non-conference game last week.  They have as few 12 kids available for the game against Plymouth.

          Genders says they play very hard and that is a tribute to their head coach and he has nothing but respect for the program.  “First and foremost I know coach (Johnny) King and his staff are working really hard to establish his new program and getting kids to buy in and everything and we have all been there.  The one that things that stands out to me is the kids just continue to play extremely hard for them and that is all you can ever ask,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have a great deal of respect for the Crestline kids and their staff and everything they are trying to do.  They have been on the other side of it the last two weeks, but anytime that scenario presents itself and you continue to see kids working extremely hard and playing extremely hard that is a testament to their coach.  He should be very proud of his team.  We have a giant amount of respect for them.”

Published 8/31/21

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Plymouth Must be Mentally Tough

          Plymouth plays at home against non-conference rival Willard on Friday night.

          Last week, they won the turnover battle 3-0 and beat Oberlin (51-13) in their opener.

          Coach Mark Genders says they were efficient.  “The kids played a pretty sound game.  Really proud of my coaching staff and my players with the short preseason.  My guys did a really good job of getting their kids in place and ready to go in all aspects of the game and anytime you only have two penalties, zero turnovers, and three take aways.  You get three take aways week one any coach will tell you they’ll take that and run.  It wasn’t a fluke, we practiced hard, my coaches coach them hard to make good choices.  All in all it was a good football night,” he said.

          It was a good start to the season, no doubt, but Genders says it’s about improvement and getting mentally tough.  “We have to get better every day.  Not just every day, but every minute, every play we have out here.  I don’t want to sound cliché, but it’s so important.  If you lose days, and you lose weeks, the great teams don’t do that, and that separates by the end of the season.  So, that has been our theme all season.  We have to take that mental aspect and we have to be as strong mentally as we ever have.  We are always there with the effort, the physicality, the toughness, people know when they play the Big Red they are going to get those things, but our focus this year is to add the true, true mental toughness and that is every play, every discipline, and all of the little things you have to do to become great,” said Genders.

          Willard was crushed (41-15) by South Central last week in their first game.

          Genders says it’s important to understand these are rivals here.  “They have some nice numbers out, which is always crucial, especially early in the year, like look at Friday it is going to be 90 degrees. They’ve got a lot of athletes, a lot of size.  A may be a new coach and everything, but it’s not unfamiliar to them with that spread.  The run a lot of RPO’s, they have a 1,000 yard returning rusher, great receivers around them, and the quarterback is pretty solid,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It is more about this rivalry between us.  I know it’s only week two, but you throw it all out the window when it comes to two cross town rivals and this isn’t going to be any different.  It’s going to take both team’s best efforts to win this.”

Published 8/25/21

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Plymouth Takes on Oberlin

          Plymouth will host the Oberlin Phoenix Friday night on the opening week of the high school football season.

          The Big Red will be one of the few teams in Ohio to feature the single wing offense, although they will be in some double wing, double tight and spread looks as well.

          Coach Mark Genders says they have worked hard to get ready for the season and he feels they are game ready.  “It has been a short preseason, but we have worked extremely hard.  We were delt the same cards as everybody else.  You always like those extra few days, but it’s not going to be that way.  We are prepared, we are an experienced team.  It was a pretty good transition throughout the summer.  The camp went well and preparation for Oberlin went pretty well,” he said.

          Genders says the Oberlin quarterback is outstanding.  He says he makes plays all over the field and is tough to contain.  “They only had one scrimmage.  They scrimmaged a pretty big team in Parma Heights.  They run spread and throw the ball around everywhere.  Their six athletes in the backfield, including the quarterback, are extremely dangerous,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are a very, very athletic team.  They don’t have a lot of numbers and they seem pretty young up front, but as far as skilled players and a dangerous quarterback they look really solid.  So, we are going to have our hands full.”

          On Friday night, Genders says it will be important for them to get some pressure in the backfield.  He says they can’t allow the Phoenix to have all day to throw it.  “He is that kind of quarterback.  He makes incredible decisions and you can’t stop covering because he keeps plays alive then he flicks it 40, 50 yards and the next thing you know they are in the end zone.  We have to be extremely disciplined with what we do defensively.  Our front four is going to have to play a really big game for us.  If we do those things, it should be a good one,” said Genders.

Published 8/20/21

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Plymouth to Feature Different Offensive Looks

          Plymouth going away from the double tight, double wing offense they have featured the last couple of years to hopefully force opponents to defend a variety of looks.

          Even with a shorter preseason, coach Mark Genders says things went pretty close to normal as far as preparation for a season that starts August 20 at home against Oberlin.  “We kind of liked it to be honest because you usually have to wait that extra week to face somebody in a different colored jersey.  The way we do our summer, and not that anybody else couldn’t have done it this year, we have been doing it since I have been here.  I know there was unlimited time, but we just used our 10 days and we lead them right up to our two a days.  It’s all learning and conditioning getting in shape.  We didn’t change anything.  So, it was a little different.  Only being able to hit a couple of days before going live with a scrimmage that was different, but rather than beating on yourselves and your teammates you might as well go have some fun and compete with another team,” said Genders.

          Plymouth scrimmaged Ontario last week and Genders says they competed pretty well against a bigger school and it helped them make some personnel decisions.  “You get apprehensive when you take your division VII team up against a division IV team.  I know Ontario is a little bit younger this year.  The matchups were pretty well balanced across the board.  We have a lot to work on.  Fortunately, we have a lot of experience back.  It didn’t affect us as much as a team like Ontario that is replacing so many players,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They have so much to see and they only have a couple of days to hit.  You don’t really know about a football player until they start to hit.  We are a situation where we are trying to find those four or five guys that we feel can play under the lights.  When you play such a solid program like Ontario they are so well coached we got everything we wanted out of that scrimmage to start identifying those guys and we did.”

          Now, Plymouth had gone almost exclusively with the very run heavy double tight, double wing offense the few years, but Genders says they still want to run the ball, but from different fronts.  “Let’s not get crazy we are a running team.  A former head coach of the Plymouth Big Red, Tom Lewis, came back and there is nobody that knows the single wing offense like Tom Lewis.  We are not just double wing anymore, we are running a lot of gun single wing.  We feel like we have some perimeter threats as well.  We are going to have a few different looks and make people really prepare hard for us.  Hopefully, we can take the offense to the next level,” he said.

Published 8/11/21

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Arlington Gets Past Plymouth

          Zavier Thornton gave up only one earned run and led the Arlington Red Devils to a (4-2) win over Plymouth in a division IV district semifinal played Wednesday night in Galion.

          They return Friday to play Mohawk for a district title.  The Warriors beat South Central (1-0) in Wednesday’s first game.

          Thornton stranded seven Plymouth runners in scoring position.  The Big Red left them loaded in the sixth and men on second and third in the bottom of the seventh as Thornton ended each threat with a strikeout.

          “That’s our senior leader that gets it done.  He has come a long way since I had him as a freshman.  He had to grow up as a sophomore and be our number one.  I don’t think we get that performance as a sophomore, that’s a senior that doesn’t want to go home,” said Arlington coach Aaron Cheney.

          Plymouth pitchers Cole Wentz and Zeth Goth were big in the clutch too.  They made some big pitches as Arlington on a couple of occasions threatened to break it open, but they too left them loaded in the fifth and sixth.

          Plymouth coach Jake Strayer says they were able to get out of trouble.  “They were bulldogs.  They got in some jams and they got out of them.  The two runs in the first inning are the difference.  They scrapped a couple more across.  That is how it went (Wednesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Hats off to the Thornton kid, he threw well.  I wish him well at Findlay.  That’s a good baseball team.  They put the bat on the ball.  I think we might have had three strikeouts all night, which in high school baseball is really unheard of.  There weren’t too many walks.  This was a good baseball game and playing in late May, that’s that you want.”

          Chaney says it never crossed his mind to take Thornton out of the game.  “It is going to be him the whole way.  He’s our number one.  Our number two tore his labrum in the preseason, so that is one we are going to ride.  Our goal was to make it to Friday.  I told the kids, I’m going down swinging.  I’ll do whatever it takes.  That’s our number one and that is the guy we are going to ride to get us to Friday,” he said.

          Perhaps the biggest hit of the game came in the top of the first when Austin Roush delivered a two out two run single.  Jason “Chuck” Launder turned in a hustle play in the fourth scoring from second base on a infield ground ball to make it (3-0) Red Devils.

          Plymouth battled back and scored in the bottom of the fourth when Luke Hamman scored on an error and in the fifth on a walk to Ethan Gillum, who then scored on passed ball and two wild pitches to make it a (3-2) game.

          Arlington added an insurance run in the seventh when Roush singled and scored on an error.

          Chaney says they try to make solid contact and be aggressive on the bases.  “We are not big hitters.  We don’t have a lot of guys that hit doubles and triples. We are line drive hitters that hit singles and run the bases.  Those are the hits we need so our guys can run, so our guys can go first to third and second to home when it counts,” he said.

          Strayer believes the future is bright for the Big Red.  “They came back and battled all night.  I am proud of way we battled all night long.  They could have laid down after those two runs and we didn’t get anything going until the fourth inning and that has been this team all year long.  They battle, they battle, they battle.  We only have two seniors, so we are bringing back a whole lot of guys. I don’t lose a single inning of pitching.  All we ask is for a chance.  They just had one more base hit than we did, just one more timely hit,” said Strayer.

Published 5/27/21

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Wentz Blanks Lucas; Sends Plymouth to Districts

          Cole Wentz fired a shutout and Plymouth beat Lucas (3-0) in a division IV sectional final on Thursday evening.

          The Big Red now advances to meet Arlington, a (18-4) winner over Crestline Thursday, at Galion next Wednesday in a district semifinal.

          Coach Jake Strayer says Wentz was on the top of his game and was efficient on Thursday.  “We had Cole Wentz, who has been our ace all year long.  He went out there and threw seven strong innings and had seven strikeouts and no walks and hit one guy.  He threw 95 pitches and 67 of them were strikes, so he was around the zone all night long.  He went out and battled and did what he needed to do and the defense got it done.  He was phenomenal (Thursday) night once again,” said Strayer.

          Wentz struck out seven, but more impressive was the no walks.  Strayer says he preaches getting ahead in the count.  “We have stressed that all year and even more this week that you have to get ahead early, you have to throw first pitch strikes and get the leadoff guy out.  It helps when you are not putting guys on base.  You are not putting yourself under pressure or putting your defense under pressure,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “That is the first game that we have had all year that we have had somebody go seven innings and not walk a single person.  If you do that, you set yourself up for success.”

          Plymouth put up single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to get the win.  Luke Hamman scored in the fourth when Camden Welch grounded out.  In the fifth, Wentz helped his own cause with an RBI hit.  Clayton Miller, one of the leading hitters in the Firelands Conference, added an RBI single in the sixth.

          Strayer says they could have scored more, but they got enough to win.  “We scored enough to win the game.  We got one across in the fourth, fifth and sixth.  We had to scrape them across.  There is the sixth we had an opportunity for more and didn’t get it.  You scrape and find a way to win ballgames at this point in the year no matter how you have to do it.  At the end of the day all you have to do is get it done,” he said.

Published 5/21/21

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Plymouth Win Creates Title Game

          Cole Wentz threw a no-hitter on Monday evening and Plymouth beat Norwalk St. Paul (5-0) to force a Firelands Conference title game on Tuesday at Plymouth.

          The Big Red scored three times in the third inning, including RBI hits by Zeth Goth and Trace McVey and a sacrifice fly.  They added two more in the sixth on an RBI single by Wentz and Clayton Miller scored on a wild pitch.

          A game behind St. Paul going in, Plymouth was in a must win situation and coach Jake Strayer says they delivered.  “It was absolutely our biggest game of the year.  We had to have this one if we wanted any shot at the league.  Cole Wentz came out and threw his butt off, he threw a seven inning no hitter, which is the first one that I have coached against a great hitting St. Paul team,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “They have guys that can hit the ball around all over.  We came out and did what we needed to do and played a compete game and set up essentially a winner take all (Tuesday) at our place.  What else can you ask for other than a chance?  All you need is a chance.”

          Tyler Perkins was also pretty good for the Flyers in going all seven and giving up only two earned runs.

          St. Paul coach Aaron Fries says Wentz says did a good job of keeping them off balance and the Big Red made the defensive plays they had too.  “Give Plymouth a lot of credit, they had their backs to the wall and came out and had an all world performance.  Wentz was excellent on the mound.  He was not overpowering, but he did a great job of attacking our hitters and his defense played well behind him.  Even when we did hit the ball hard, they were in the right position to make the plays.  I thought Tyler pitched well.  Defensively, we made a few mistakes and they were able to take advantage of it with some timely hitting.  We have to regroup,” said Fries.

          Wentz walked two and struck out seven Flyers.  Stayer says he was on top of this game and get the ball in the zone, not wasting pitches.  “He threw a lot of strikes.  He kept his pitch count down for the most part.  He went into some deep at bats, but he also got a lot of one pitch outs, two pitch outs.  He was all around the zone.  He had only two walks all night.  On top of that his defense played a great game behind him, we only had one error.  I think he would tell you the last time he came out he wasn’t throwing as hard as he usually does or had his best stuff.  (Monday) night he made up for it.  He came out and pitched a brilliant game,” said Stayer.

          Plymouth (12-6,10-2) will host St. Paul (17-6,11-2) in what is now the biggest game of the season for both sides.

          Stayer says these are games competitors want to be in.  “Growing up these are the games you want to play in.  This is fun.  This is what high school sports is all about.  This is absolutely what every kid should want to play in.  Every kid of both teams (Tuesday) should beyond excited to play in this game,” he said.

Published 5/11/21

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Plymouth Travels to Seneca East

          Plymouth will be at Seneca East for a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Tuesday night.

          If weather gets in the way, which it might, the game will be played instead on Wednesday.

          Last Friday, the Big Red (0-1) dropped their opener (50-46) to Buckeye Central and coach Marty McKenzie says they certainly had a chance to win that game.  “We played a petty solid first half.  We played very defensively oriented basketball, but Buckeye came out in the third quarter, we were up nine, and they went on a 10-0 run.  It was a dogfight to the end and we tied it at 46-46 with under 10 seconds to play.  We stepped in to take a charge, but it was called a block and they made a couple of free throws to beat us with no time left on the clock, so it was nip and tuck all of the way, but they got us in the end,” he said.

          McKenzie says they played last week with a very limited cast of players and they will be better when they get some of those guys back.  “We need to get some bodies back.  We had five varsity guys our first ballgame and we had a bunch of freshmen sitting the bench.  Guys logged 30 plus minutes, that’s a lot of time, but we are going to get some guys back (Tuesday), we are not going to get to use them (Tuesday) night, but we will have them back for the weekend.  So, as soon as we get more guys in the gym and get more stuff involved, I think by the time Firelands Conference time comes around we will be in pretty good shape,” said McKenzie.

          They play Crestview in a conference game on Friday night.

          This will be the opener for Seneca East and McKenzie says that presents a lot of unknowns going into the contest.  “Seneca East is heavy on seniors.  I think they have eight or nine seniors.  They have a new coach.  They haven’t scrimmaged yet I don’t believe.  We have tried to get some film on them, but that hasn’t happened and this will be their opener.  They are going to run and jump us I think, they switch on all screens,  they are going to be physical, I think they are going to be deeper than we are, and they are definitely taller than we are.  I think we will be short on every man I believe, but it’s going to be interesting,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They have a beautiful school and a nice gym.  Unfortunately, it will be limited, that place is usually rocking, but you know how it is this year.  It is going to be a competitive ballgame.  I am excited to go over there and the boys are ready to get after it again.”

Published 12/01/20

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Plymouth Still Finding Things Out

          Plymouth is set to get the season started on Friday night at home against the Buckeye Central Bucks in a non-conference game.

          However, coach Mart McKenzie admits there is more than a little nervousness on the week of the opener due mainly to the ongoing, and even expanding, COVID-19 pandemic.  “We are cautious, we are excited, we are worried, my wife just asked me what are you thinking about?  I’m thinking next man up type mentality.  We don’t have a whole lot in, but we are going to go for it.  The door is open and we have a few guys that are ready to play and we are going to play,” he said.

          At the direction of the state government, the OHSAA is providing guidelines to schools about limiting attendance at games to parents only or nobody at all.

          McKenzie says he not even sure what his lineup will be on Friday night because he is not sure who he is going to have available.  “We’ve got 25 guys on our roster and we have been averaging 14, 13 at practice and never the same guys.  We still don’t have a starting lineup yet for Friday night because I’m not sure who I’ll have come Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have been going red, white in practice and all of the younger guys in white have had the red shirts on and all of the older guys in red have had the white shirts on.  They have all been playing different positions.  We are just multi tasking trying to band aid things together, but the boys are moving along, the guys that are there.  We went hard (Tuesday) night.  The guys that we’ve got we are going to go with and it is going to be one of those seasons where this week is going to be guys 1-4 and next week it might be guys 5-10, we just don’t really know yet.”

          Buckeye Central is now coached by former New London coach Tom Howell and McKenzie says that give him a little insight.  “Buckeye was supposed to scrimmage South Central (Tuesday) night and that got postponed.  I talked to coach Seidel a little bit and he wasn’t so sure what they were going to have.  I know what Tom Howell is capable of doing.  We competed with him for 14, 15 years when he was at New London.  I think he will run some of that zone, sideline break and half court trap us, that’s his style.  He was supposed to scrimmage last weekend and I don’t think they got to scrimmage then, so there is not much film for us.  We know what guys he has coming back and pretty good understanding of what system he is going to run.  I’m sure he knows me.  I’m off Brad Turson’s coaching tree and he knows what coach Turson did.  So, I’m sure both teams will be ready for each other,” said McKenzie.

Published 11/26/20

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Plymouth Kids Are Getting Better

          Plymouth played a lot of younger kids last year and those kids are better coming into this season, which is about get started… hopefully.

          The word from Columbus is the state will not use its power to cancel the basketball season or even postpone it, they will instead leave that up to local officials from schools and health departments.

          The Big Red is supposed to open on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, against Buckeye Central.

          Plymouth coach Marty McKenzie says they have had kids come and go this month from practice sessions due to COVID-19.  “We are off to one of those up and down starts.  It has been pretty interesting and it has been pretty challenging on our coaching staff,” he said.

          Now, McKenzie says this summer at Plymouth was very productive and produced some kids that were improved in their skills.  “We had probably the best summer program we ever had.  We had to start in June with six guys in a gym at a time with one guy at a basket.  We did fundamentals one right after the other.  We went four 45 minute sessions four times a week with six guys in the gym at a time and six guys in the weight room at a time.  Before we could only have 10 contact days, but that was all out the window this summer,” he told Swankonsports.com Wednesday evening, “In groups of six I think we did 34 basketball practices and 28 weight rooms throughout the summer.  So, the kids really bought into it, but scrimmaging and playing defense and rebounding, those things went by the wayside.  We really hammered the fundamentals.  We developed some shooters and we have some ball handlers.  So, we were excited going into the season, we are still excited, but there has been a damper put on it for sure.”

          Plymouth had a lot of younger kids get significant time on the floor last year, but McKenzie says they will be missing their best player due to graduation and they will have find a way to fill his shoes.  “We started three sophomores last year in Zeth Goth, Josh Beebe and Clayton Miller.  Clayton Miller started the year on the JV and worked his way into the starting lineup, but we were also led by Walker Elliott, the Mansfield News Journal scholar athlete of the year, so replacing Walker is going to be very difficult for us,” said McKenzie.

Published 11/19/20

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Plymouth Plays Rival Willard

          Plymouth will play its final football game of the 2020 season on Friday night down the road at Willard in non-conference play.

          The Big Red (5-5) erased a one-point deficit with about a minute to play last week in beating Northmor (28-23) in their final home game.

          Coach Mark Genders says there were a lot of mistakes, but they found a way.  “It was a great effort by my guys to keep battling through adversity.  Often when you have ten penalties and two turnovers you don’t win football games, but we found a way at the end to get a couple of stops and make a couple of plays and came away with a really exciting and fun football game win,” he said.

          Genders says he in players are still having fun playing football more than three months after they started.  “These last couple of weeks we have had a lot of fun with the kids.  Things are shortened up a little bit here and there for sure.  When you get to this point in the season you either know what you are doing or you don’t.  We rep a little and tweak some things and add some fun stuff and try and make some memories and fun stuff here the last couple of weeks.  We have done that this week, it’s the seniors last week with the last hitting practice (Wednesday).  (Thursday) they will walk off the field through the player tunnel, I’m sure it will be an emotional momentum for them, and I will be there at the end of that tunnel to thank them for all they have done for us.  It’s going to be a good afternoon and then we will play a week 11 football game and it makes me ecstatic that we got that in,” said Genders.

          Willard (0-10) is coming off a loss to Buckeye Central (20-14) last week in a non-conference game.

          Genders says the Flashes really aren’t that bad and remember this is a rivalry game for both sides.  “Willard has played one heck of a schedule.  They play up with the big boys and when you play Clyde, Huron, and all of those guys it’s a tough way and they started out the season that way.  I tip my cap to them, they haven’t won a football game, but they keep playing and they look like they are having fun to me.  They look like us and they are excited to get to play another week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They have some playmakers and they have some size up front.  They have four senior offensive linemen, so they kind of get in the way a little bit like we have.  It’s going to be a beautiful night for football on Friday.  More importantly, this is a backyard rivalry for us, these guys are next door.  We wanted to keep playing and this is one of the focuses our kids had because we wanted to play this game.  My kids and excited, and I’m sure they are too, and we can’t wait for Friday.”

Published 11/06/20

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Plymouth With Final Home Game

          Plymouth will entertain Northmor in a non-conference game at their place on Friday night.

          They wrapped up Firelands Conference play last Saturday in losing to Western Reserve (29-20) in a game that had been rained out on Friday night.

          Coach Mark Genders says their effort was there, but their execution not so much.  “We played extremely hard, but once again we kind spotted Western a couple of scores, nine points, and I thought the game kind of started from there.  Just a basic squib kick and we don’t jump on the ball, the defense holds, and they punt, they get a safety, we kick it off and they score.  It was just starting off not the way you want to start.  The effort of my guys, they played extremely hard and I could be prouder of them.  It was a tight game there to the end it was 23-20 and we thought we got them off the field and once again we kind of shot ourselves in the foot with an offsides penalty,” said Genders.

          Plymouth (4-5) hosts Northmor (2-7) on Friday night.  The Golden Knights have lost their last four after a (27-6) setback to Seneca East last week.

          They have had some problems scoring this year.  They have scored more than 14 points in a game only twice.

          Genders says it seems like they haven’t been able to get the play to extend drives.  “We had some similar issues to be honest.  I am sure the feel similar to the way we do.  We feel like we are right there and we are in all of these games.  They are a well coached team that plays extremely hard as well.  It seems like they just can’t get it revved up in certain situations and we have done the same.  All in all, you can just tell they have a solid program over there with coach Armrose.  We are excited about playing them and playing a different jersey again that we are not used to and different style,” he said.

          Genders thinks it’s important that his players, especially the seniors, get a chance to play another game.  “One of my biggest worries at the beginning of the year was these seniors being able to play and make these memories.  We are going into week 10 and as of now we are playing week 10 and I couldn’t be happier for those kids.  They are trying to cherish those moments.  It’s at the end of the year and there are no playoffs in front of you literally get to play football for the purpose of playing football.  You get to go play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I try to express to those kids this one sport you don’t get to mimic when you are done, maybe play some flag football.  If you are a baseball guy you get to play softball, golf and tennis you get to keep going, but unless you are going on to play college ball, you are not doing it anymore.  So, this will be the last time you put the helmet on, so enjoy it and make as many memories as you can.  We scheduled a week 11 because we want to make as many memories as we can and we are going to do that.”

Published 10/30/20

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Big Effort Required For Plymouth

          The assignment for Plymouth this week is to travel to Western Reserve for a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          That will wrap up conference play for both sides this season.  These two schools are doing what should be done, owing up their responsibilities to the conference.  South Central and New London plan to do the same next week.  The only school in the conference unwilling to do so is Monroeville, where equipment was packed up on Monday.

          The Big Red played a very good team in Dalton last week, losing (21-0) in a second round playoff game in division VII.

          Coach Mark Genders says he was proud of the tremendous effort they game last week against a very good team.  “My kids played so hard. We had a few opportunities we didn’t capitalize on, but other than that.  I thought defensively we played a really fine game, but you can only be on the field so much.  Our kids just fought so hard and I couldn’t be more proud of them.  Tip my hat to Dalton.  That was pretty much a whole returning team from the year before division VI, 9-1, and playoff team.  My kids went toe to toe with them for a long time and I couldn’t be more proud,” said Genders.

          Plymouth (4-4,3-3) is at Western Reserve (5-3,4-2) on Friday night. 

          Genders says Western is versatile on offense.  “Well, you know they are going to be well coached.  Coach Stevenson just does a fantastic job with what he is doing.  They have some great athletes.  Their quarterback Muenz and Gandy, those guys are just so explosive.  They formation you a lot.  They still like to run that football, but they pass so much more this year with such a solid quarterback,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “So, you have to be ready to go with a lot of stuff and we have to prepare like we do each week.  They have a lot of intangibles and you have to read your keys and do your job and if you don’t they make it a long night for you because they are always solid up front and they are big.”

          Like any other week, Genders says it boils down to intensity for them.  “We are going to have to match the intensity, like I say every week.  We are going to have to play well at the line of scrimmage in order to compete with these guys,” he said.

Published 10/21/20

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Plymouth Plays Very Good Dalton

          Plymouth, after winning the first playoff game in school history last week, travels to Dalton for a second round playoff game in division VII on Friday night.

          Last week, the Big Red (4-3) got off to a good start and pounded Lisbon David Anderson (46-12) in a first round game.

          They led (32-6) at the half and coach Mark Genders says that’s what the game plan called for.  “We finally got out to a solid start.  The kids played extremely hard that resulted in a nice opening drive touchdown.  We just kept the foot on the gas pedal and the defense stepped up and took charge of the game pretty quickly,” he said.

          Dalton (4-2) had a playoff bye last week.  The Bulldogs stand third in the tough Wayne County Athletic League.

          Genders says this is a significant upgrade in terms of opponent and the Bulldogs do a lot of things well.  “They had really high expectations.  They are just really solid, I’m not going to lie.  Even watching their two losses to Norwayne and Northwestern.  In the 7-6 loss (to Northwestern) I think they outgained them 3-1.  They just couldn’t get it in the end zone.  Against Norwayne they did some really nice things and you know how good Norwayne is.  They create some serious challenges,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They have 58 kids on their football team for division VII, which is an astronomical number.  They play with a lot of older kids from that division VI 9-1 team from last year.  Especially going over to their place and it is opening night for them as far as playoff time.  So, we are going to have to be sharp and play four really physical quarters just to compete with them.”

          Genders adds that Dalton will give them a lot of looks on offense and they are going to have to identify what they are seeing.  “They have Mapleton’s former offensive coordinator over there, so they formation you to death.  They do so many things, they come out in a spread, then they will line up in double tight, power “I” and then they run the midline option at you.  To say your have to prepare is crazy.  You have to keep it simple with your team.  We are going to go with our base and go out there and try and play assignment football and play as hard as we can,” said Genders.

Published 10/14/20

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Plymouth Needs to Stop the Run

          Plymouth is at home Friday night for a first round playoff game in division VII as they host the Lisbon Blue Devils.

          After winning their first three games of the season, the Big Red (3-3) has lost three in a row, to the three leaders in the Firelands Conference incidentally, including (33-12) to Crestview last Friday.

          Coach Mark Genders says turnovers did them in.  “We opened up the game and drove the ball down to their eight or nine-yard line and fumbled the ball.  They came down with a good steady drive punched it in and our very next drive we threw a pick six.  So, we went from being up 7-0 to being down 13-0.  Once again, three weeks out of the last four, anytime that happens that’s not a good thing.  The kids kept scrapping and it was a tight ballgame for most of it.  They got one late on us that kind of opened it up a little bit.  I can’t say many negative things about my club, they played extremely hard, but anytime you put the ball on the carpet or throw a pick and have three or four turnovers you are not going to win and that was definitely the case,” said Genders.

          Crestview also ran for 275 yards against the Big Red.

          Lisbon, the county seat of rural Columbiana County, has lost it’s last two.  The Blue Devils (1-5) lost (34-21) to Columbiana last week.  Their win comes two weeks ago (39-7) against winless East Palestine.

          Genders says the Blue Devils will feature a couple of backs that will be hard to contain.  “First and foremost, they have to make a long drive to get here, I would say it is 2:45, they are on the boarder of Pennsylvania.  They have a couple of really nice skilled players in their running back and their quarterback and they will come at you in almost a wildcat look,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “They will do a little bit of throwing.  They will try and spread you out and get some mismatches because those two are pretty quick.  They do play a few young kids.  They have a couple of real nice sized offensive linemen.  They show some athleticism and they look pretty gritty.”

          When it comes to the wildcat formation, Genders says they have seen it, or at least a version of it, this year.  “We saw it against St. Paul.  They gave us a pretty good diet of it.  I would like to think everybody has a little version of it some of our quarterbacks are so good.  Even Crestview with Ross Kuhn, he is such a solid quarterback.  With him you could almost say it is a wildcat series because they are running so much option and stuff off of it.  It is not something we haven’t seen.  It is one of those things that sometimes teams lean on a lot, especially if they don’t have an excellent throwing game.  We are going to see a steady diet of it Friday night,” he said.

Published 10/05/20

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Plymouth Must Control the Line of Scrimmage

          Plymouth has lost the battle for the line of scrimmage the last two weeks and that can’t happen again on Friday night or they are in trouble as they host Crestview in a Firelands Conference game.

          Next week, by the way they start playoff action by hosting Lisbon David Anderson (1-4) in a first round game in division VII.

          Plymouth (3-2,3-2) got handled (35-6) by Norwalk St. Paul in a Firelands Conference game.

          Coach Mark Genders says it is very simple, they lost the battle up front.  “We lost the line of scrimmage.  We did some really good things as well.  We played some pretty solid defense.  I believe they came out and took 12 plays to score.  We just couldn’t get that stop.  We were bending and bending like we do, we just couldn’t get that play.  We got a turnover and took it to the house, so good game there.  Ultimately, we could get the ball moving, just couldn’t get it going.  They had a short feel all night long and it cost us.  It all came down to the trenches and they outplayed us,” he said.

          Crestview (4-1,4-1) is in a share of second place with St. Paul, a game behind Monroeville.  The Cougars routed South Central (55-7) last week.

          Genders says Crestview is vey talented, but it all begins with quarterback Ross Kuhn, who has 15 TD passes this season.  “They have the best offense we have seen all year hands down.  They are just so balanced.  They average something over 400 yards a game.  They are really balanced, I would say their run/pass is like 55/45, something like that.  They have a lot of athletes on their team and they are led by the best quarterback in this conference,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “He is a stud.  He is big, he is strong.  The biggest intangible you see is the maturity and the leadership he brings.  Those kids believe when he has the football the play is never over until it’s whistled and that’s a fact.  They showed that against South Central.  He kept plays alive, put the ball up and they made plays.  When teams are running hot on offense and playing well those are the kinds of things you see and they are most certainly that.
          To have a chance to win this game, Genders says they must keep the football in their hands and out of Crestview’s.  “We have to control the football and try and keep that offense off the field.  That is no slight on their defense.  Where they have come since the beginning is pretty impressive.  They are so quick and they are just tough.  It is Plymouth versus Crestview, so we know they are going to try and gear up and stop what we do up front and it is all going to come down to that again.  If we can’t establish some kind of success up front it is going to be a very long night for us because they are going have the ball all night.  We are not going to stop them, we are just going to try and contain.  If we don’t play our style of football and get back to winning the line of scrimmage it is going to be a long night for us,” said Genders.

Published 10/02/20

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Plymouth Has to be Physical

          Plymouth, coming off its first loss of the season, plays at perennial powerhouse Norwalk St. Paul in a Firelands Conference game on Saturday night.

          The Big Red (3-1,3-1) lost (20-12) to conference leader Monroeville last week.  They were inches short of a score in the first half and a two-point conversion in the second half.

          Coach Mark Genders says they made too many mistakes to beat a good team.  “We played extremely hard, but we had too many mistakes.  We can’t have those like blown assignments and things like that.  Big games usually come down to a few big plays and the team that makes the most of them usually ends up victorious.  I tip my hat to Monroeville, they made the extra plays and they came away with the win,” he said.

          Norwalk St. Paul (3-1,3-1) lost for the first time last week too.  Western Reserve rallied in the fourth quarter for a (20-19) win at St. Paul.

          Genders says simply this is another solid St. Paul team that is just good all over the place.  “They are just as solid as they always are.  What sticks out to us is just the relentless effort each and every one of his players give.  They play extremely physical football.  They are not the biggest team in the world, but they play like a bunch of pit bulls.  Like any good team, you have to match their physicality, St. Paul, Monroeville, Western, Crestview, it doesn’t matter, you are going to have to come ready to buckle your chin strap and play aggressive, hard football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The thing is they attack the hole so quickly you have to be able to stand your ground and get off blocks quick.  If you don’t do that it is going to be a long night.  They get downhill fast and make plays, especially the Crabbs kid, he is explosive, he is physical, he is strong.  We are going to have to tackle well and play Big Red football.  We embrace the physicality part of the game and we are anticipating four quarters of physical football like has been the last few years.”

          Flyers starting quarterback Myron Stoll did not play last week against Western Reserve.  However, Genders says, his opinion, it doesn’t really matter who plays the position.  “They are going to adapt.  Even watching the young quarterback play on film, he knows exactly what he is doing.  He is going to do the little thigs right because that is what they do there.  If they use him or if one of their kids comes back, we are going to prepare for them like whoever is there, they are going to be a prepared athlete.  We are going to prepare like it is St. Paul because that’s what they are.  If they go with a young quarterback, maybe a little more run heavy, we will find that out Saturday night.  We are going to prepare for it all.  We are going to anticipate the on thing we do know, it is going to be extremely physical and if you don’t embrace that then we are not going to win.  That goes with playing anybody and we saw that last week.  If the trenches are won, it will be a really hard fought night.  That is going to be our key to get better up front this week,” said Genders.

Published 9/23/20

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Trenches Key for Plymouth

          It is going to a football game that Woody Hayes would love Friday night when Plymouth plays at Monroeville in a game between co-leaders in the Firelands Conference.

          Last Friday, Plymouth (3-0,3-0) dominated the second half and beat Mapleton (36-22) in a conference game. 

          Coach Mark Genders says they had to have better mental focus.  “For one reason or another, Mapleton give them all the credit in the world, they do a lot of great things with that wing-T offense, our guys weren’t really focused on assignment football that first half and they made us pay for that.  I tip my cap to them and coach Stafford.  At halftime we made some mental adjustments and got ourselves focused and we came out and we answered the bell.  I couldn’t be more proud of my team, they played extremely hard.  We imposed what we wanted to do and we took care of business,” said Genders.

          Running back Shae Sparks ran for a school record 390 yards against Mapleton.  Genders says it was a team effort.  “His up front guys started plowing some pretty nice sized holes, and he would tell you the same.  Shae did a great job of not only taking his holes, but he doesn’t like to go down and if you don’t tackle him well, he won’t, so he was able to break a few tackles on all of those long runs.  It was a testament to all of the work he does in the weight room and his competitive drive.  It was a nice night for us,” he said.

          Monroeville (3-0,3-0) used a strong second half as well last week and smoked South Central (41-19) in a conference game.

          Genders says it is hard to find any weaknesses with the Eagles.  “You can just tell they are a veteran team with a lot of kids that have been playing for a long time.  They are just very disciplined.  They do all of the little things right.  They play a lot of upperclassmen.  They just play a complete football game.  You don’t really see any weaknesses.  They are just solid all of the way around,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They have some really good athletes in key positions starting with their quarterback Isaac Roeder.  One of he kids that really stands out it is their linebacker, running back Eli Ott, he is just a bulldozer of a player.  He is going to be a handful to take care of on Friday night.  So, they just do a lot of things really well and they do what they do and they do it really well.”

          There are always a lot of factors in every game, but Genders believes this one is going to boil down to what happens in the trenches.  “It is every year.  When we have gotten together the last few years it is trench warfare, that’s for sure.  The battle up front is going to dictate this football game.  Obviously, it’s two good football teams playing on Friday night and those basic things like penalties and turnovers are going to come into play.  The team that does that and does the least amount of things and wins the line of scrimmage is definitely going to win this football game, there is no question in my mind,” said Genders.

Published 9/17/20

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Three in Seventh Gives St. Paul District Win over Plymouth

          Norwalk St. Paul scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and then survived a scare from Plymouth and beat the Big Red (5-4) in the division four district semi finals on Wednesday at Galion’s Heise Park.

          They will play New London, the school they shared the Firelands Conference title with this year, in the district final on Friday at Galion.

          Trailing (3-2) heading to the seventh the first two St. Paul batters were retired, but then they got busy.  Plymouth pitcher Austin Nester hit Curt Maxwell with a pitch and walked clean up hitter Luke Carper.  Colton Service then hammered a triple of the left center field fence sending two home and giving the Flyers the lead.  Shortstop Brandon Saldusky followed with an RBI single to give the Flyers a (5-3) lead.

          Plymouth battled back in the bottom of the seventh when Mitchell Chaffins led off the inning with a single and Jaret Miller added another single.  A.J. Hammond drove in Chaffins with a single to make it (5-4) a one run game.  St. Paul pitcher Nick Lukasko struck out Treven Lane to end the game.

         St. Paul coach Jim Carper says he had a little heart to heart with his players before the seventh.  “We had a huddle and that is the only one we had all day and I said you know this has been our M.O. all year and we have the top of the order up it and it is time to make things happen.  I said we do it now of we go home.  It’s all up to you,” said Carper.

          Nester gave Plymouth a (1-0) lead in the first inning with a solo home run, his fifth of the season, to right center.  The Big Red went up (2-0) in the third on an RBI single by Miller.  St. Paul tied it at (2-2) in the fourth on Service’s first RBI triple of the day and he later scored on an error.  Plymouth retook the lead (3-2) in the sixth when Hammond singled and scored on Anthony Montgomery’s ground out.

          Plymouth coach Jason Higgins says some of his kids didn’t react to pressure like he wished they would have done.  “Both teams played very hard.  There was a lot of emotion in the game.  Sometimes when there is emotion some guys tighten up, some guys start making plays.  We just got into a situation where we were on the wrong side of that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “That happens in the game of baseball sometimes.  It is not ideal for the last game of the year we wished this game had come a little bit earlier in the year, but we are going to learn from it.  We knew what our potential was this year.  No one thought we would be here, but we got here and we showed we can play.”

          St. Paul had slipped back into a share of the conference title with New London when they lost to Crestview (13-12) in a conference game on Tuesday.  Carper says he told them they had to put that game behind them.  “I told them out in the outfield fellows forget about that that is over.  Come out and have fun and give it all you have got and I think they did that,” he said.

          St. Paul faces New London, they spit during the regular season, the Wildcats winning (6-1) at their place and St. Paul getting revenge (6-4) at theirs when they played back to back on April 25 and 26, in the district final.  They will not have to face New London ace Ryan Lane, who went the distance on Wednesday.

          New London beat Wynford (3-1) in Wednesday’s first game.  “I am looking forward to going home and getting some sleep and hope these boys just keep doing what they are doing and what happens, happens,” said Carper when asked about Friday’s district final.

Published 5/18/17

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Plymouth Gets Past Colonel Crawford

          Plymouth used a four spot in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally past Colonel Crawford (5-3) in a division four sectional final game at Plymouth on Thursday.

          The Big Red scored an unearned run on a Crawford throwing error in the fourth and the Eagles really hadn’t done much at all offensively, just three hits, all singles, off of Plymouth starter Austin Nester, but they reached him for three runs in the top of the sixth.  Kaden Schell led off the inning with a triple and scored on a single by Jake Johnson.  Gavin Feichtner followed with a double to put runners on second and third.  Blake Treisch followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Eagles the lead.  It became (3-1) Crawford on an RBI single by Noah Toman.

          However, the Big Red (18-5), #5 in the Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the small school division, got busy in their half of the sixth.  After Colonel Crawford pitcher Ethan Studer issued back to back one out walks Anthony Montgomery singled in a run to make it (3-2) and coach Joe Swartzmiller removed him in favor of Toman.  Nester’s sacrifice fly to center tied the game and Mitchell Chaffins and Seth Bailey followed with RBI hits.

          Plymouth coach Jason Higgins says he got a little nervous, but his players responded.   “I told the boys you know you have something special when you can pull out a win like that.  You can tell my voice is a little different because I about lost it with the excitement.  They are a good team.  Joe (Swartzmiller) does a nice job with them.  They were ready to play, that was a big scare.  You know you are special when you can come back like that, just never do it to me again,” said Higgins.

          Swartzmiller says he felt he had no choice but to make the pitching change in the sixth.  “We come in and take a two run lead as a pitcher you have to know there are no walks, there are no free bases, they have to earn it.  My pitcher came in and walked two batters and I said that’s it.  I had to go with somebody else,” he said.

          Jake Johnson started the game and went the first four plus one batter in the fifth.  He did have some command issues walking two and hitting three batters.  He was replaced by Studer in the fifth.

          Higgins says they had to adjust to different styles of the Crawford pitchers.  “We are some quality at bats.  We started to figure out their pitchers.  They kept switching pitchers on us.  The first guy we got into him a little bit and then they brought in the next guy and the next guy.  Sometimes it is tough with the different arm angle.  The guys for some reason like that last guy they brought in and we were excited about that,” he said.

          Nester went the distance for the Big Red, who will play Firelands Conference leader Norwalk St. Paul, a (10-0) winner over Buckeye Central, in next Wednesday’s district semi-final at Galion High School.  He allowed seven hits, four in the fifth inning, walked none and struck out nine, including Schell to end the game.

          Higgins says it was just a normal game for him in a lot of ways.  “Nester pitched great.  He has been doing that all year.  Pitching to contact he is not going to overpower you.  He is going to throw strikes.  He is not going to give free bases,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game on the field, “There are a couple of things defensively we could have done a little better.  He gave us a great effort.  Our scouting report was great.  A couple guys surprised us with a couple of the swings they had. But for the most part we had our guys where they weren’t having to move too much to make the play.”

Published 5/12/17

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Plymouth Belts New London

          It has been a very good season for the Plymouth Big Red and Tuesday night might have been their most impressive win of the season as they knocked off New London (6-0) and kicked the Wildcats out of first place in the Firelands Conference.

          Norwalk St. Paul took over sole possession of the lead with an (11-6) win at home against Mapleton.

          Plymouth coach Jason Higgins says he really liked the way they battled back after losing to New London (7-2) on Monday night.  “We always talk about how are you going to respond to a little bit of adversity?  We faced (Ryan) Lane the other night.  He is a heck of a pitcher and he is around the zone.  He challenges you at times, but then he will throw some off speed to throw you off.  It is hard to get much off of him when you really don’t see anybody else all season close to his capabilities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “It was good that we rebounded (Tuesday) and played a really, really clean game.  We shut them out and I don’t really know how many times that has happened in the history of these two schools playing and we are really happy and it is good motivation going into the tournament.”

          The Big Red (17-5) will play host to Colonel Crawford (13-8) in a sectional final game in division four on Thursday.

          Higgins says due to their success they have had to reassess their goals for this season.  “We set some goals.  We started off we wanted to get 15 wins and a sectional title.  We have surpassed the 15 wins and now we have set the goal at 20 wins.  We are still wanting to get that sectional title and we are going to have to play one game at a time, but whatever the outcome is I know my guys and going to come and play.  We are excited to see what is going to happen at the end of this week and hopefully the coming weeks,” he said.

          Plymouth beat Colonel Crawford (13-10) in non-conference play on March 28, but they was six weeks ago and Higgins knows that both teams are better now than they were then and this is a whole new ball game.  “What is really scary at times is we played a really close game with them early in the year.  We have improved and I am sure they have improved.  We know that they are going to be ready to play.  It was a 13-10 win early in the year and we are not the same two teams, so we are going to have to come to play,” said Higgins.

Published 5/10/17

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Plymouth Rips Seneca East

          Plymouth has proven this season they are a force to be reckoned with on the baseball diamond.

          On Thursday, they hammered Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Seneca East (19-9) in six innings in non-conference play.

          Coach Jason Higgins says they played some good baseball, especially on offense, and they may have caught Seneca East on a bad day.  “The biggest thing is I want stay Seneca East that is a great program, a great team.  We played really well (Thursday) night.  They probably didn’t play their best game.  If we played them 10 times I don’t know how many times we win, but luckily (Thursday) night for us we came out on top.  We swung the bat well, we had some timely hits, and we ran the bases well.  We took advantage of some mistakes they were making that I am sure they usually don’t do and we came out on top,” said Higgins.

          There probably weren’t many people talking about the Big Red (13-4) at the beginning of the baseball season, but they have been pretty consistently good over the first month.  Higgins says they have been telling their kids how good they can be.  “We tell our kids that the potential is there.  They had some struggles last year in baseball, they had some struggles in their other spots, but we feel like we play good baseball.  When we play a clean game we feel like we can play with about anybody,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It is a mentality thing.  If you can get through the kids heads and tell them you guys can play ball and you guys are capable of beating some really good teams things kind of work out.  We are really excited about the guys and how hard they are working this season.”

          The tournament draw is on Sunday throughout the state.  Higgins hopes they can get a pretty good seed and he hopes the coaches take into consideration what they did on Thursday night too.  “At this point we are kind of thinking St. Paul and New London probably will get the seeds over the top of us.  Ridgemont has a similar record.  Unfortunately on our bio that we submit this win over Seneca East will not be there.  I watch the scores every night and I know what teams are doing and hopefully other coaches are looking at those scores and seeing that we can play with the big boys,” he said.

Published 4/28/17

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Plymouth Fights Back

          After being blown out by rival Crestview on Monday, Plymouth fought back and edged the Cougars (1-0) in Firelands Conference action on Tuesday.

          The win keeps them on the edge of the conference race, three games behind New London and Norwalk St. Paul.

          Coach Jason Higgins says they had to show some guts and some more heart than they did on Monday and they were able to do that.  “Monday night was probably one of the worst games we have played all year.  I told the guys we have another game with Crestview and you are going to come back and I am going to look your in the eyes and you are going to be a group of guys that are going to lay down and take it again or man up and play a good baseball game the next day,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday, “Luckily for us we showed a little heart, we showed a little desire, and we showed a little passion.  We played a really fine game.”

          Higgins says they were able to field the ball better on Tuesday and they got a good performance on the mound from senior pitcher Austin Nester.  “There wasn’t a tone of earned runs on Monday.  I think we gave up between three and five earned runs.  Austin Nester, my senior pitcher, really did a great job.  I think he gave up six hits, had a decent number of K’s.  He got ahead of guys.  He was above 66 percent strikes, which is about the number you want to be at.  Keep your pitch count down and pitch to contact and try to get guys out,” said Higgins.

          Plymouth (8-4,3-3) plays at Western Reserve (7-5,3-2) on Thursday in more Firelands Conference action.  Higgins says they need to keep winning if they are going to reach some of their goals.  “We have two huge games with Western Reserve on Thursday and Friday. We are there on Thursday and back at home on Friday.  They are key games.  Every one of them is a key game.  You have to get that record up so you can sell yourselves when you are getting seeded in the tournament.  You never know what is going to happen in the conference.  You always want to be competing,” he said.

Published 4/19/17

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Plymouth Gets Back on track; Belts Willard

          After back to back tough losses to Norwalk St. Paul, Plymouth got back to winning as they pounded Willard (11-1) in five innings in a non conference game on Wednesday.

          Coach Jason Higgins admits those losses to St. Paul (5-3 on Monday and 6-5 on Tuesday) were thought to take and it was nice to get that win on Wednesday.  “As a spectator those games were probably pretty exciting against St. Paul, but as a coach those close games they sting right afterwards and they sting the next day.  It was nice we took care of business (Wednesday) night against Willard,” he said.
          Baseball can be an everyday event in Ohio if the weather cooperates and Higgins says he told the players on Tuesday night that another chance to win was right around the corner.  “It told the kids after the St. Paul series one of the nice things about baseball is most of the time you playing the next day or the next couple of days,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It is all about how you respond to it.  Early in the season it is especially important to respond positively because it can be a long road if you start getting poor attitudes and losing confidence.”

          Plymouth (6-2,2-2) gets back to play in the Firelands Conference on Monday and Tuesday against the rival Crestview Cougars.  Higgins says those games against Crestview, they kind of mean more.  “The kids know the other kids by name and they have been competing against them their whole lives.  Emotions play a part of it.  There is a lot of competition.  Anybody in conference they don’t want to lose to.  Sometimes that Crestview game seems a little more important.  They have been playing some good baseball.  I think it is going to be a really, really fun series for us,” said Higgins.

Published 4/13/17

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Plymouth Sweeps Mapleton

          Plymouth started out Firelands Conference play with a sweep of its two game series with the Mapleton Mounties this week.

          They won (9-1) at Mapleton on Monday and (9-5) at Plymouth on Tuesday.

          Coach Jason Higgins is pleased and added they might have gotten Mapleton at the right time of the season.  “We are really excited to be 2-0 in our conference so far.  It was fortunate for us that Mapleton, who has some experience and can hit the ball a little bit, didn’t get a scrimmage or a game in before they played us.  They are going to beat some teams.  They are going to surprise some people in the league.  They are going to compete.  Lucky for us we got them early in the year,” he said.

          The Big Red (4-0,2-0) has scored at least nine runs in each of the four games this year and Higgins says they continue to take a good approach to the plate and that is a plus.  “There are some things we still need to work on with our approach, but we are lucky to get into this grove a little early and hopefully it sticks around.  We have three home runs on the season so far and I think that is more than we had last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, we are hitting for a little bit of power.  Like I said last week we are really preaching hitting gap to gap and the guys are responding pretty well right now.”

          There were cloudy skies and 40 MPH wind gusts to deal with on Tuesday, but Higgins says they wanted to do all they can to get on the field because they have some momentum right now.  “I went down this morning and our field had a bunch of water on it.  We got the water off and the wind helped dry it out a little bit.  We knew we needed to play (Tuesday) regardless of what the elements were because we have been playing well.  We have to get these guys to continue to get better everyday because we are going to run into days where we are going to have to play in weather like this.  I would rather get that out of the way early in the season so they are used to it,” said Higgins.

Published 4/05/17

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Plymouth Hitting the Ball Hard

          Plymouth has won both its games so far and they have hit the ball well both times.

          They beat Mansfield Christian (21-0) in five innings on Thursday.  Monday they outscored Colonel Crawford (13-10) in their first game of the season.

          Coach Jason Higgins says they have worked hard this preseason in developing a solid approach to hitting.  “I will give a shout out to my assistant coach Jack Bault.  He does a great job with our hitters and gets them prepared.  We have taken a little bit of a different approach and really talked about the mental side of being in good counts and what kind of hacks you should be taking in those counts and trying to drive the ball gap to gap,” said Higgins.

          When you work yourself into good counts like 2-1, 3-1, or 3-0 Higgins says you have to be selective in what pitches to take and which ones to try and drive somewhere.  “We tell the kids in good counts if they throw a good pitch that is on the corner that you are not going to be able to drive somewhere it is a good pitch to take.  When we are in good counts we are looking for balls we can drive into the gap and try and knock somebody over with it,” he said.

          Plymouth (2-0) plays Bucyrus in a doubleheader on Saturday, weather permitting.

          They begin Firelands Conference play next Monday and Tuesday against the Mapleton Mounties.

          Higgins says there are number of good teams in the Firelands Conference this season and he feels like they are going to be in the mix this spring.  “I think we will compete with about everybody in the conference.  New London has some good pitching and that is going to keep them in games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night after the win over Christian, “They are the team to beat right now because of their past success.  I think St. Paul is doing well right now.  Mapleton is always a team that swings it pretty well.  Crestview has a lot of numbers and you don’t know what is coming up from year to year.  Western Reserve is off to a really good start.  It is going to take a little time to see what is going to happen with the conference.  I think it is going to be really competitive this year.”

Published 3/31/17

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Plymouth Wants to Get Better

          Plymouth hosts traditional rival Crestview in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night in their final game of the season.

          They lost (20-12) to Mapleton in a conference game last week.  Coach Mark Genders says it was a game where again they played hard they just couldn’t get enough things done to win.  “The kids played hard.  We dug a hole in the first part of the game.  We put them in good position and they capitalized and scored early.  It was a tight ball game, 14-12, with a couple minutes left in the game.  They made one more play and scored on a long run.  We did drive back down the field and get in their territory, but we didn’t get it done.  We ran the ball pretty well.  We ran for over 200 yards and 400 yards the week before, but we can’t get over that bump.  We are proud of our kids.  We are sitting here 2-7, but kids keep fighting and that was the case Friday night,” said Genders.

          Crestview (6-3,4-2) after losing back to back to unbeaten Norwalk St. Paul and unbeaten Monroeville throttled New London (52-7) in their conference game last week.

          Genders says the Cougars have great speed and their offense is designed to confuse you.  “They have team speed, they are quick.  We don’t really have anybody in this conference with that kind of speed as a whole.  They try to get you to do a lot of things defensively to stop their formation shifts.  They only run a certain amount of plays, but they do it from so many different formations,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Untimely you have to stay focused on what you do.  We have to play hard because if you don’t tackle well they will burn you.  There are so many things that they come at you with and they do it with a lot of speed.  To say you have to do the little things well and be disciplined is an under statement.”

          With this being the final game for the Big Red (2-7,0-6) Genders says this is the jumping off spot for next season.  He says they want to go into the off season with a good taste in their mouth.  “We have really tried to be focused on that the last few weeks.  We are playing some younger kids.  We are trying to get them used to the lights on Friday night.  They have done a really nice job of improving each week.  Our focus right now is on getting better.  We want to continue that on Friday night.  More importantly we want to play hard for four quarters.  I think once you get that established that you are going to play solid football for four quarters, especially when you are a young team with young kids who ultimately are going to get stronger and quicker that intangible will be taken out of it and hopefully success follows,” said Genders.

Published 10/25/16

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Pass Defense a Concern For Plymouth

          Plymouth gave up too many yards passing last week and they have to clean that up as they play pass happy Mapleton this week in Firelands Conference action.

          The Big Red (2-6,0-5) lost a shootout to New London (45-43) last week in conference play.

          Coach Mark Genders says they did some good things, especially running the ball.  He adds the way it ended made it really hard to take.  “A lot of kids played.  I think we had four of five kids get hurt over there.  They have some pretty good athletes over there.  They made some big plays.  Our guys stepped up are tried to do what they do.  We had 400 yards on the ground.  It is kind of hard to swallow when you rush for 400 yards.  To their credit they had 350 yards in the air trying to do what they want to do.  Both teams went after each other and we both scored 40.  I tip my hat to my team they kept scrapping all night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They had the ball with 4:30 left and were driving the ball and our kids got the stop that we needed about the 30.  We drove the ball down to 15, 16 yard line and attempted a 32 yard field goal.  It might have been 12 inches, if that, wide left.  It would have been good from 50, but just a little wide left.  I am really proud of the guys and sometimes it comes down to one play.  There were quite few plays made on the field that night and they just made one more play than us.”

          What impressed Genders last week was the fight that was in his ball club all night.  “We have up too many big plays, but I was proud of effort and basically that’s what is comes down to.  When you fight for four quarters that makes a coach proud.  Sometimes you are on the “W” side and sometimes you’re not.  It was hard for the kids to swallow and that is the way it should feel.  We have had a couple of good days of practice and that’s what we need for the rest of the week as we try to compete against a really good Mapleton team,” he said.

          Mapleton lost (48-14) to unbeaten Norwalk St. Paul Saturday night, but they took unbeaten Monroeville to a five point game (33-28) and lost by one (14-13) to Crestview. 

          Genders says their pass game is really outstanding and that means they have to be better in that area.  “Their sophomore quarterback Logan Pharmer, he is a special talent, he really is.  They are a well coached team and we know that.  They have taken the best teams in the conference to the edge.  Coach Mahaney puts them in position every week to compete.  They create a ton of challenges for us.  Watching them on film as much as we gave up in the air last week we have to be better.  We are trying to full court press that this week in practice to try and slow them down as much as we can.  They are really, really talented in that aspect of the game,” he said.

 

Published 10/19/16
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Plymouth Dealing With Youth

          Plymouth started the season without much depth and they have less now here on the eighth week of the high school football season.

          They are being forced to play some young kids, but they are getting better.

          Last week, they lost at Western Reserve (35-13) in a Firelands Conference game.

          Coach Mark Genders says they made mistakes on some key plays.  “We just couldn’t put it all together.  We had the ball going in to tie the game and to Western’s credit they stopped us on a fourth and one.  It seemed after that into the fourth quarter we were pretty dejected.  We didn’t answer back after that and it got a little out of hand, so something to work on all week.  We need to keep plugging away,” he said.

          Due to some injures the Big Red (2-5,0-4) is playing some kids really before they are ready and right now that is showing a little bit.  “We are nicked up like everybody else.  We are really thin numbers wise.  We started two freshmen and a sophomore on our offensive line.  Those kids fought hard and they did what you think a freshman would do, a blown assignment here and stepping the wrong way here like freshmen will do.  In a big game like that it can set you back.  That lack of execution can cost you a football game.  Even on that fourth down and one that was one of the places it happened,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are going to get better.  That is the one thing about playing with young kids they are going to get better week to week.  Hopefully by next season those Friday night lights won’t be an issue with them.”

          Plymouth is home for New London (2-5,1-3) on Friday night in a conference game.  The Wildcats lost to Monroeville (46-13) last week.  Their only conference win comes against Western (48-28) two weeks ago.

          Genders says the Wildcats have one of the best players in the conference when he is healthy.  “Let’s first start out with Jacob Molnar.  He is one of the top athletes in this conference.  He is explosive.  They have scored some points.  They can do some damage.  I know he was nicked up last week, but I’m sure he will be back this week.  Everybody is dealing with that this time of year.  We have to be ready to go.  We have a tall task in front of us.  We are trying to get that first win in the conference and it is going to take a four quarter effort to get there.  We are going to do our best,” said Genders.

Published 10/14/16

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Plymouth Looking For Success at Western

          Plymouth travels to Western Reserve on Friday night for a Firelands Conference game between two schools looking for their first league wins of the season.

          The Big Red lost to conference co-leader Norwalk St. Paul (42-0) last Friday night, two of their conference losses have come to unbeaten teams, Monroeville beat them (35-21) in their first conference game.

          Head coach Mark Genders says St. Paul is a very good team and they knew what they were getting into.  “They are everything we thought they were.  They are very disciplined and very strong in all areas.  Like I said they are relentless and they come at you every single play of every down.  They are a quality group,” he said.

          A good thing to come out of the game with St. Paul was the Big Red (2-4,0-3) had to turn to some younger players up front and they played pretty well against the Flyers.  “I had a couple of players out even before the game due to a loss in the family and stuff like that and they were fount line guys and I had to put in some of my young kids, a couple of them we are looking forward to for the future,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They really showed up and did a fantastic job against one of the better fronts in the area if not the state of Ohio.  What we thought was coming is.  Those kids stepped up and played really hard.”

          Western Reserve (0-6,0-3) has not had the kind of season that the Rough Rider fans are used too.  They are coming off a (48-28) loss to New London last week in Firelands Conference action and have had some concerns on defense all year long.

          However, Genders explains they have played a very tough schedule and they must be respected.  “There schedule has been a real meat grinder.  Edison, Black River, St. Paul, they have played some of the best small school teams in the state, even in your poll.  So, we are not blind to that.  Watching their last three games they have been banged up just like everybody else and in key positions.  They have the ability to do some damage.  They moved the ball well against St. Paul, scored early and that was a tight game.  They don’t have the numbers that they usually do, but they have enough athletes and good fronts.  I really believe this should be a whale of a game and whoever executes the most is going to win,” said Genders.

Published 10/04/16

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Plymouth Must Limit Mistakes

          Plymouth has to be at its very best on Friday night as the Big Red hosts unbeaten Norwalk St. Paul in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, the Big Red (2-3,0-2) lost a tough one to South Central (33-27) in overtime in conference play.  The Big Red kicked a 45-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.  However, coach Mark Genders says basically they made too many mistakes.  “It was a whale of a game, but ultimately we made way too many mistakes, especially in the first half.  We couldn’t get it going.  It was first and 20, first and 15, something like that, but we kept fighting.  Both teams were making big plays.  We had a big field goal to tie it.  South Central made one more play than we did and they deserved the win,” he said.

          Plymouth threw an interception in the end zone on their overtime possession and then Aaron Lamerauex scored on a touchdown run for the Trojans.  Genders says you can’t put yourself behind the eight ball.  “When you get to week five you expect the execution and the mental mistakes not to be there.  We just made too many of them.  When you do that most of the time you aren’t going to win.  When you have over 80 yards in penalties, a couple bad snaps here and there.  To put yourself back in a hole like that it is hard to get out.  My kids almost pulled it off.  One mistake too many can cost you a game and I think it did,” said Genders.

          Norwalk St. Paul (5-0,2-0), #2 in Swankonsports.com football coaches in the small school division, hammered New London (56-0) on Saturday night in a conference game.

          Genders says against them you have to be ready to play every play of the game or you are going to lose and lose by a lot.  “I have watched three game films and every play, every squad, every special teams, every single one of those kids are going hard.  Every single player, every single one,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You just don’t see a kid take a play off here or there, full bore coming at you.  He has built himself a championship style football program.  They never relinquish that pressure on you.  If you don’t match it, or try to, or anything, the game is going to be out of hand.  If you feel sorry for yourself as a player it is going to be a long night.”

Published 9/27/16

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Plymouth Must be Ready Emotionally

          Plymouth takes on South Central in Greenwich on Friday night in Firelands Conference action and they have to come ready to play.

          Coach Mark Genders says that wasn’t necessarily the case last week against Monroeville.

          The Eagles won (35-21) and Genders says they were not playing as hard as they could have been.  “I don’t know how you can say it because they were unbeaten and you were opening the Firelands Conference, but we took a lot of emotion into that Willard game and we didn’t come out with that fire.  We marched down early and put a score in, but after that we weren’t ourselves for some reason and we are trying to find it and fix it.  I think that sums it up.  We have gotten back to work this week and tried to fix that inconsistency,” said Genders.

          So, far it has been a different story of the Big Red (2-2,0-1) in practice this week and Genders says that is a step in the right direction.  “It has been pretty good.  The kids have been working an hopefully they will respond this week and get that bad feeling out of their guts and play the kind game and style that we want to.  It is another rival game with South Central, so it is going to be physical and we are going to have our hands full,” he said.

          South Central (1-3,0-1) was handled last week by Crestview (49-7) in their first conference game.  They have also lost to unbeaten Seneca East (54-20) this year. 

          Genders says they have played a tough schedule and the Trojans deserve to be respected.  “Look at the schedule they have played.  They had Seneca East, who is unbeaten, Crestview, who is Crestview, they had Rittman beat, and lost to them really late in the game, and they beat a Crestline team that is improved.  They have a team that has some athletes.  We are not fooled by any of it.  They are a good football team.  They have some really nice athletes.  They throw the ball well.  They are always well coached,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “You add in the rival factor.  We are going to have to come emotionally ready to play and if we don’t we are going to get beat.  That is what it comes down to.  We like to be physical.  They are a physical team, but they like to throw the ball around.  We are going to have to do what we do and do it well.”

Published 9/23/16

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Plymouth Faces Tough Opening Conference Game

          Plymouth hosts unbeaten Monroeville in the Firelands Conference opener for both on Friday night.

          Both teams played well last week and look like they are taking some momentum into the game on Friday.

          The Big Red (2-1) went up 61 and across 224 last week and beat Willard (37-20) in non-conference action last week. 

          Coach Mark Genders says they went out and executed their game plan pretty well last week.  “We got on the field and did what we needed to do.  Both schools like their sports and we just went over there and bowed our backs and got some opportunities and were able to take advantage of them.  Defensively we played pretty sound.  Offensively we were able to do what we wanted to do against them, try to run the football, and take care of business,” he said.

          When the Big Red has had success this season they have been able to run the ball very well.  Genders says their goal is to make teams defend the width of the field.  “Like I said at the beginning of the season it is one of those things that you are trying to find your identity.  We have run the ball in some different ways than we have been accustomed to.  We are really trying to get that inside, outside kind of game.  You can’t just keep doing it one way.  We did a better job of that last week and hopefully we just keep stepping forward,” he said.

          Monroeville (3-0) stopped Margaretta (28-16) last week and they have played some pretty good football this year after making the playoffs last year.  Genders says they run the ball well and they play with a lot of confidence.  “They play a lot of upper classmen.  They are really well coached with coach Stacher and that group.  They really have built upon that run they had last year.  They have high expectations over there.  They are obviously one of the top teams in the conference,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have the best running back in the conference back in the (Blake) Anderson kid.  They are getting some great play.  They are just well balanced.  They are sound defensively.  You can’t make mistakes against them.  You are going to have to match their intensity.  We have a couple of things we are going to try and do this week.”