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Swank on Sports
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OFFICIAL
football Playoff Matchups Division II Marion Harding @ Uniontown Green Wooster @ Olentangy Berlin Division III Sylvania Southview @ West Holmes Lexington @ Mansfield Senior River Valley @ Medina Buckeye Cloverleaf @ Tiffin Columbian Division IV Poland Seminary @ Fairless Edison @ Bellevue Galion @ Clyde Toledo Scott @ Port Clinton Wauseon @ Triway Huron @ LaGrange Keystone Clear Fork @ Shelby Perkins @ Lutheran West Linden McKinley @ Highland Division V Richmond Edison @ Akron Manchester Kansas Lakota @ Eastwood Chippewa @ Ottawa-Glandorf Waynedale @ Indian Lake Marion Pleasant @ Elyria Catholic Wynford @ Otsego Division VI Pymatuning Valley @ Norwayne Hillsdale @ Middlefield Cardinal Northwood @ Crestview Van Buren @ Carey Cardinal Stritch @ Colonel Crawford Western Reserve @ Gibsonburg Seneca East @ Defiance Tinora Fredericktown @ Northmor Centerburg @ Nelsonville York Division VII Mapleton @ Lucas South Central @ Norwalk St. Paul Monroeville @ Warren JFK Vienna Matthews @ Dalton Plymouth @ Salineville Southern Hardin-Northern @ Hopewell-Loudon Mohawk @ Waynesfield-Goshen Reedsville Eastern @ East Knox Danville @ Newark Catholic |
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Lexington
Gets Another Chance Against Mansfield Senior Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Taylor Gerhardt
After eight weeks of the season nobody was thinking much about
Lexington and the division III playoffs as they had only one win in their
last seven games, but two wins to close they regular season gets the
Minutemen a ticket to the postseason.
They will play rival Mansfield Senior for a second time, this time in
a first round playoff game at Arlin Field on Friday night.
In what was likely their best performance of the season, the
Minutemen drilled River Valley (51-12) in a non-conference game last Friday.
Coach Taylor Gerhardt says they put together a very solid overall
performance. “We really put
together a complete game in all three phases.
Our offense was really humming, on defense they were flying around
and really executed their assignments and jobs excellently, and special
teams, other than the missed field goal, blocked a punt and a PAT, recovery
on a kickoff, as well making sure we are securing the ball when they are
onsiding or pooching. Really the
kids put together a complete game and that is kind of football we are
capable of playing,” said Gerhardt.
Karson Berry ran for 198 yards and two TD’s against River Valley.
Lexington (4-6) faces Mansfield Senior (8-2), who finished as the
runners up in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this season.
The Tygers blasted Madison (49-7) last Friday and won their last five
games.
Gerhardt says the Tygers are a very dangerous team on both sides of
the football. “Number one,
they are well coached and they are a disciplined football team and showed
when we played them. We were not
as disciplined as I would like us to be.
They can throw the ball. Their
quarterback is very dangerous when he tucks it and runs.
He is quick, he is shifty, but boy he runs hard.
Their defense is extremely opportunistic.
I don’t know if we have seen a more opportunistic defense this
season,” he said.
Back on September 24, Mansfield Senior beat the Minutemen (23-14) at
Lexington and Senior quarterback Brock Hill ran for 78 yards and two scores.
Both Lexington scores came in the fourth quarter.
Gerhardt says they have to finish drives like they have the last two
weeks and they must respond to big plays made by the Tygers.
“We just have to be confident in what we do.
One on the things is mentally and as a team being able to play four
quarters and finishing phases of the game.
We were not as mature as we are now, so we have to make sure we are
as mature as we have been the last two weeks,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Sunday evening, “We have to make sure we can bounce back from the big
plays that Mansfield is going to get. They
are going to get a big play or two on offense and they are going to make big
plays on defense. So, we have to
be able to settle in and respond to those.” Published 10/25/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Fredericktown
Make Playoffs; Has Rematch with Northmor Click
here to listen to an interview with coach William Hartley
On the strength of two straight wins to end the regular season, the
Fredericktown Freddies have vaulted into the division VI postseason playoffs
and will play at Northmor, a fellow member of the Knox Morrow Athletic
Conference, in a first round game on Saturday night.
They rallied to beat Centerburg (28-25) last week.
Coach William Hartley says more than anything they are just getting
healthy. “Our kids have been
playing really well. As I have
mentioned before we are really just getting to the point where we are 100
percent healthy. We did get our
quarterback back, Ben Mast, who had been out for the majority of the season,
and that has allowed us to move our big, athletic wide receiver Kaid
Carpenter back to wide receiver from quarterback,” he told
Swankonsports.com Sunday afternoon, “I think it has just opened up the
offense for us. I tell you the
offensive line too the second half of Friday’s game that is the best they
have played as a unit and we really started to have success running the ball
off tackle and that just made the entire offense flow much better throughout
the second part of the game.”
The Freddies finished 11th in the final standings in
region 23 and would have been left out of the playoffs without the recent
expansion by the OHSAA.
Hartley says the hope to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Wherever the state sets as the parameters for getting into the
playoffs you have to embrace it and here we are having an opportunity to
compete in week 11 and it is going to be a great atmosphere going back over
there to Northmor. We have
another opportunity to play against a team that maybe we thought we could do
a little better the first time we played them,” he said.
Northmor (8-2) won its first eight games of the season, but has since
lost two in a row, including (38-7) to Highland in a “KMAC” game last
Friday.
Hartley is not sure what affect the two losses will have on this
game, but he expects that Northmor will play with even more intensity.
“You never know. I am
sure they are going to be highly motivated to get back on track in the first
round of the playoffs. Hosting a
game is always special for a school, so I’m sure they are going to be
ready to go. They have played
two really tough teams, especially Highland, a big physical team that really
matched up with them physically and came out on top.
So, I don’t think that is indictive of where they are trending.
You look at them on film and they are still pretty solid.
They are really good at what they do,” said Hartley.
Fredericktown (5-5) lost to Northmor (40-20) on September 24.
Golden Knights quarterback Marcus Cortez ran for two scores and threw
for two more in the game.
Hartley says they have to convert their offensive chances and they
need to be ready for the play action pass.
“We have to finish drives. In
the first game, we actually only had one punt.
We did go for it a couple times on fourth down, but we had problems
finishing drives. We had good
offensive production at times, but we weren’t able to get it in the end
zone. We are going to have to
have more success and we are going to have to score the football.
Defensively, it is the challenge of taking away their tough, physical
running attack. That is the
first thing that you have to do and then their play action pass off of that.
They hurst us quite a bit with that play action pass where we had
some kids fall asleep in the back end and we are going to have to do a
better job with that as well,” said Hartley. Published 10/25/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Rivals
St. Paul and Monroeville Meet Click
here to listen to an interview with coach John Livengood
I always call it the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry of North Central
Ohio and it renews this week as Norwalk St. Paul hosts Monroeville on
Saturday night at Contractor’s Stadium inside Whitney Field.
St, Paul must win to have any chance to get a share of the Firelands
Conference title. They also need
Crestview to lose to Mapleton.
Last week, the Flyers lost for the first time this year, losing
(28-7) to Crestview and falling out of a share of the conference lead.
Coach John Livengood feels they have learned from that.
“It has gone as well as it can go this week.
Obviously, it is one of those situations where you are not happy with
the result the previous week, but there are lots of things to learn when you
get beat and you play a really good team like Crestview you see areas that
you need to continue to work on. Some
things that maybe you get away with against other teams against other
opponents you can’t get away with against a good team like Crestview.
We are using it as a learning opportunity, an opportunity to get
better and continue to improve as a football team, continue to play better
as we prepare for Monroeville and the postseason,” said Livengood.
St. Paul (7-1,4-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the small school division, hosts Monroeville (3-6,2-3) on Saturday night.
The Eagles have lost their last three, including a (34-20) setback to
Mapleton last Friday.
Livengood says the Eagles have an outstanding quarterback and some
other weapons on offense. “They
are a very senior oriented team defensively.
They have some really good seniors on their offense as well. Isaac
Roeder, their quarterback, is one of best athletes in conference.
He does a nice job running the ball, also throwing the ball,
especially to the flats. We saw
him live last week against Mapleton and he looked really sharp throwing the
ball in nasty weather. He did a
nice job throwing to the flats. He
is a tough, hard runner. He has
good speed, he has good size, and he is not the type of kid that is going to
go down with the first defensive player there.
We know we are going to have to really rally to the ball and try and
keep him in check,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We also know
they have a good running back in Brayden Schuller.
Actually, they have a number of good running backs.
Landen Roeder is only a freshman, but he has really good speed.
They are a really good football team and coach (Tylor) Nester is
doing a really good job.”
Livengood has coached against Monroeville more than 30 times and he
understands you can’t take anything for granted.
“I think anytime you play in a rivalry game, you throw the records
out. You don’t have to think
back too far you think about two years ago when we had a nice season going
and Monroeville was struggling a little bit and they came over here to
Whitney Field and knocked us off 14-0. That
is still for us very fresh in our minds.
We are well aware that anything can happen anytime you step on the
field. So, you always have to be
playing your best,” he said. Published 10/22/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Norwalk
Plays Talented Tiffin Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Todd Fox
Norwalk plays host to Tiffin Columbian in a game in the Lake Division
of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday and there is a spirt of uncertainly
about this game.
But, first last week, Norwalk lost (41-14) to Clyde in a division
game.
Coach Todd Fox says the Fliers were just better than them in every
way and it showed on the scoreboard. “Clyde
is a very good football team. There
was only one other game this year against Bishop Hartley that I felt like we
were outmatched,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Clyde
was just playing at a different level and we did not match that level last
week. We are looking at
rebounding from that and move on to the next game in the Lake.”
Earlier this week members of the Columbian football team were
involved in the act of vandalism involving three homes in Tiffin.
A report stated that those involved would be suspended this week and
any future playoffs games. However,
there have been some questions raised regarding the number of those
suspended and the length of those suspensions.
Fox says they are preparing for the possibility that everyone on the
Columbian roster is available on Friday night.
“Our approach is this is a very good football team, a very good
football program, a team coming off a state semifinal run last year.
So, they have next man up. So,
we just prepare to battle them and whoever plays Friday night we will be
ready,” he said.
A source not wanting to be identified told Swankonsports.com that
seven players will be suspended Friday and not available to play against the
Truckers. It is the policy of
this company not to release the names of the players involved.
Based on what he has seen on film, Fox says Columbian has a lot of
very good players and it is difficult to match the athleticism that Tiffin
can put on the field. “They
have two phenomenal quarterbacks, Beaston and Roggow.
They just do a nice job dispersing the football.
Their skilled guys are pretty hard to match.
They are tough to matchup with all around.
They are fundamentally sound and Brody Conley is just a leader on
both sides of the ball,” said Fox. Published 10/22/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Lexington
Coming into Its Own Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Taylor Gerhardt
Lexington concludes its regular season on Friday night with a
non-conference game as they host River Valley of the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference.
There is a chance the Minutemen can make the division III playoffs
with a win, but they will need some help.
They played perhaps their best game of the season last week in
thumping Madison (43-0) in “OCC” play.
Coach Taylor Gerhardt says they did a really good job of finishing.
“The kids really put it together.
I challenge them to give more into getting prepared, give more into
finishing what we started and they really grabbed hold of that and played a
really nice, clean football game and put things together and we got cooking
for a while,” he said.
Gerhardt says as the season has gone on his kids have learned what
they need to do to be successful. “We
have been bit by the injury bug throughout the season.
I think it has hit us in very single position at one point in time,
but it hits everybody else too. The
kids have been working really hard about next man up.
Missing certain people hurt us a little bit with some consistency.
We are taking care of that. The
group is learning a lot about how unforgiving this game is and how focused
you have to be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It is
an overused term you have to play four quarters of football, but there is a
reason it is an overused term. So,
we are learning to do that and the kids put it together last week.
We are working on putting together another one this week.”
Lexington (3-6) hosts River Valley (5-4) on Friday.
The Vikings lost (47-20) to “MOAC” leader Shelby last week.
Gerhardt says the Vikings quarterback Cayden Shidone is a playmaker
and they have to limit him. “They
throw it around quite a bit. The
quarterback is a really good talented runner, tough kid, throws the ball
very accurately on the run as well. It
is very, very different from what we saw last week.
So, we are going to have to spread it out and make sure we can
contain that quarterback and limit his big scramble plays to be
successful,” he said. Published 10/22/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Highland
Expects Physical Battle with Northmor Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Ty Stover
Highland wins no less than a share of the Knox Morrow Athletic
Conference title with a win at Northmor on Friday night.
They currently are tied for first with Northmor and East Knox.
The Bulldogs play at Danville Friday night.
This will be the last ever “KMAC” game for Highland.
The football program moves to the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference next
year. All the other sports
already compete there.
East Knox scored with 14 seconds remaining last Friday to beat
Highland (27-20) and hand the Scots their first conference loss.
Coach Ty Stover says they have to quit hurting themselves.
“We just have to start playing cleaner.
Last week, was probably our second consecutive game when I thought we
didn’t play very clean. So, we
worked on that this week. Of
course, we have to shore up turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday, “We turned the ball over three, four times, especially in the
second half. That is our own
fault. Those are things that we
are all dedicated to cleaning up this week and hopefully we do.”
Highland (6-2,5-1) is at Northmor (8-1,5-1) on Friday night.
The Golden Knights lost for the first time all year last week when
Centerburg beat them (14-12), which helped create this logjam at the top of
the conference standings.
Stover says Northmor is very physical and they won’t be in a very
good mood. “They are 8-1 right
now and they lost to Centerburg and I’m sure they are not happy about that
situation. Their size and
physicality and all of that stuff is a concern for us.
We are just going to go up there and try and clean up some things and
let the chips fall where they may. Hopefully,
our kids will play hard and get after it (Friday) night,” said Stover.
Both teams want to be physical run first kinds of teams.
Stover believes this game is going to be won and lost up front.
“There is no doubt it is going to won right they in the box Friday
night again. We have done a
great job tis year of just getting better and putting in a lot of effort.
We have got backs that are running hard.
We will see (Friday) night because like I said they are petty
physical on both sides of the football.
Our defense really has a challenge ahead of it.
Our kids know that. We
will see who can gain those six inches at a time and see what happens,” he
said. Published 10/22/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Wooster
Plays Athletic Ashland Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Austin Holter
Wooster concludes the Ohio Cardinal Conference portion of their
schedule at Ashland against the Arrows on Friday night.
A win by the Generals could get them a division II playoff berth.
They were throttled last week by Massillon (31-0) in a non-conference
game.
Coach Austin Holter says they played hard, but didn’t execute well
enough. “We started that game
about a bad as you could start a football game.
You pile that on top of the fact that was were playing a very
talented Massillon team and that happens.
They got out to an early lead. We
had a punt return for a touchdown on our first series there.
We had a kid actually make a heck of a play tracking it down.
He actually popped the ball out into the end zone.
It should have been a touchback, but none the less they executed very
well on special teams. Early, we
had a couple of red zone turnovers. I
was really proud of our effort. I
thought our kids fought hard for four quarters.
Looking at the yardage, our defense played very well when they got us
opportunities on the field. Offensively,
we just didn’t capitalize when we were in the red zone.
Obviously, you have to be very sound on special teams when you play a
talented roster like Massillon,” said Holter.
Wooster (4-5,2-2) visits Ashland (3-6,3-2) on Friday night.
Ashland fell to “OCC” leader West Holmes (28-7) last week.
Holter says the Ashland offense and quarterback Landon McFrederick
are very hard to contain. “I
thought Ashland took in a very challenging early schedule, which led them to
lose a few games early, but they have been playing some really good football
as of late. This is a very
athletic football team. Their
quarterback is a tremendous athlete. He
played some wide receiver for them a year ago.
Also played some quarterback as well.
Against us specifically he had about 80 yards receiving a year ago.
He has transitioned into a quarterback role for them last year as
well and ended going 11 of 12 for 130 yards on us,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday morning, “This kid is a very special
athlete. He is someone we have
to focus on defensively and try and contain in the pocket, contain the use
of his legs and making plays with legs as well as his arm.
They have some explosive wide receivers that have great numbers this
year. They have done a great job
of getting them the ball in space and they are a very fast team.
So, we have to do a great job defensively of being sound and rallying
to the quarterback and tackling the ball carriers.”
Holter says the Ashland’s defense is very good at taking away
things that you want to do. “For
us offensively we have to be sound in our pass protection.
We have to try and develop the run game early.
They run a three man front and use a variety of different coverages
to try and take away some of your best playmakers.
Their coaches do a terrific job in putting their players in a
position to takeaway the team they are playing’s best schematics.
So, offensively we have to identify and adjust to that early.
Establish the run early to help us develop some of that downfield
pass game as we get going into this contest,” said Holter.
The Wooster coach says they definitely have something to play for.
“Obviously, this is a rivalry game.
We are going over to Ashland and last year we thought we let one slip
by. Our kids are very motivated
by the fact that they get to play Ashland, a rival, on week 10.
It is our last regular season game for our seniors.
There is a lot of motivation there and pile on top of that the
potential to make the playoffs. Our
kids are hungry, they love to play football.
They are continuing to get better every week and they want to
continue to play. It is a very
motivated group right now. They
have been practicing their tails off,” he said. Published 10/22/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Buckeye
Faces “N10” Leader Carey Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Chad Jensen
Buckeye Central wraps up play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference
by hosting “N10” leader Carey on Friday night.
They are not eliminated from the playoffs due to the enormous number
of points that would be awarded for an upset of the Blue Devils.
They were competitive last week through the early part of the fourth
quarter before falling to Mohawk (27-6) last Friday.
Coach Chad Jensen says they gave themselves a chance.
“It was 13-6 in the fourth quarter and we were in the ballgame.
We just talked to our kids play better and we will be in it in the
fourth quarter with a chance to win and we were.
It helped that we were playing a D-7 school.
That was the third time all year that we were playing a school our
size. Obviously, when we play
D-7’s we are competitive at 2-1 on the year,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Thursday night, “That was a big factor, but we did play better and the
kids gave everything they had. Mohawk
plays is the same league we do and the same tough competition and they were
able to get some stops on us late in the game.”
Buckeye Central (2-7,0-6) entertains Carey (8-1,6-0) on Friday night.
The Blue Devils have won eight straight games, including a (37-14)
win over Wynford last week.
Jensen says they are physical and want to run the ball.
“They are really physical. They
are big, but they are also very athletic.
They do what they do very well. On
offense, they run the ball. They
line up in that stacked eye and run the football.
Then they will spread you out and throw a little bit.
Then they will get right back at it and run at you.
It doesn’t matter what down it is.
It could be third and 11 and they will line up in that stacked
“I” and run it right at you. Defensively,
what shows up on film is they are really quick, really fast, really
athletic. They don’t play a
ton of guys both ways, so they are fresh and you can see that throughout the
game. They really are just an
outstanding team,” said Jensen.
Jensen say nobody expects them to win.
He says the pressure on Carey, who wins an outright title with a win.
“We have told our kids we have nothing to lose.
We will say that again Friday pregame.
The pressure is on Carey because they are expected to win.
Our kids have practiced well all week and our kids are going to play
hard. They are going to give
their best effort and we will see what happens.
Our kids are going to give everything they have got.
I expect a great effort from our kids,” he said. Published 10/22/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Ground
and Pound for Galion-Pleasant Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Matt Dick
Galion is in position to claim a playoff spot in division IV.
Their biggest problem is they are playing a one win team in Marion
Pleasant in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action and there are not many
second level points available.
They could be passed by schools like Huron, Edison, Oberlin Firelands
or Bryan.
They lost to one of the better small school teams in the state in
Lima Central Catholic (35-7) last week.
Coach Matt Dick says it was more of the same for them.
Solid defense, not enough offense.
“I love how our defense played.
We had a couple of special teams touchdowns that put them in bad
spots, but our defense played pretty solid all night,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Offense, we still had some bright spots,
but still trying to get it to click and get our of our own way.
It has still been a struggle. Excited
to see Pleasant this week. Another
week and a chance to grow.”
Dick says his kids are ready to play and get their second straight
conference win. They had beaten
Ontario (7-6) two weeks ago. “1-8
verses a 4-5. This is going to
be a great matchup. This is
going to be a great game. It is
at their place. It is hard to
win up there. They have a big
senior class, so it’s going to be a great game on Friday night and our
kids are excited for it,” said Dick.
Although, Galion has had success throwing the football at times this
year, Dick predicts a game with a lot of running plays called by both sides.
“It is going to be smash mouth.
It is going to be one of those good old slugfests,” he said. Published 10/22/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Clear
Fork Trying to Solve Shelby’s Puzzle Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Dave Carroll
Clear Fork has the chance to share the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
title this year, but they have to win at Shelby on Friday night against a
Whippet team that is just very explosive.
After a loss to Marion Harding last week (23-21), the Colts fell a
game behind Shelby in the standings.
Coach Dave Carroll says they just didn’t do much of anything well
last week. “We made a lot of
mistakes and we know that. It is
what it is and it is over an now it is Shelby.
That is just the way we have to look at it and that’s they way we
are. We tried to learn.
Some of the stuff that happened I’m not so sure there are lessons
to be learned. We didn’t play
good and we should have scored a lot more points and we kind of let it get
away from us at the end. Hey, we
have the “MOAC” championship game Friday night at Skiles Field,” he
said.
Clear Fork (6-3,4-1) is at Shelby (7-2,5-0) on Friday night.
The Whippets drilled River Valley (47-20) last week to take first
place to themselves and clinch a share of the title.
Carroll says the Whippet offense is amazing.
“Their offense is fantastic. The
coaches went out and did a great job of coming up with this system because
it is definitely different from when they had Owen Fisher and Armstrong and
those guys. They know they have
a really, really good quarterback and good receivers.
They have fit this thing to the kids that they have and they have
some really special athletes. It
is fun to watch if you are a fan, but as a coach it is kind of nightmare
because if you do this, they will do that, if you give them that, they will
give you this. It seems that
they have an answer for everything. If
you want to cover this guy, they are going to go here.
If you go this zone, they will find the opening in it.
If you go man, they will pick it.
There are just all kinds of things that they do, it’s brilliant and
they execute it really well,” said Carroll.
Carroll says they have spent the week banging their heads together
trying to find a way to defend the Whippets.
He says you can not stay in your base defense, that’s a death
sentence. “The good news for
us is it is week 10. So, we have
all of these films of what people have tried to do.
You have the greatest hits of what has worked and what hasn’t
worked. We have tried to tweak
that to fit what we do to get the best scenario that we can come up with to
defend this,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It is
like Lucas in the opposite. Lucas
is going to jam it in and pound it and if you stay in your regular defense
you are going to find yourself in trouble with Lucas.
If you stay in your regular defense with these guys you are going to
find yourself in trouble. I
think that is why these guys are doing this stuff.
It makes you do something different that what you normally do.
It is like a chess match. You
are trying to figure out what you can do and can’t do and whatnot.
It also creates some nightmares because they are so good at what they
do. We feel that we have a good
plan. We just have to go out and
execute it and do they best you can. It
is definitely unique.”
Shelby has the reputation you could say of not being able to run the
ball. Carroll says that is not
true. “People says they
don’t run the ball, but yeah they do.
If you give them a weak box. You
give them three, four guys in the box, they are going to run it.
They will get their five, 10 yards.
They are not looking to get 200 yards rushing in a game.
They are looking to move the sticks and then they will hit you big
with a pass play when you start loading the box.
Their coaches are doing a tremendous job and their athletes are
great. We have our work cut out
for us, but we are up to the challenge,” he said.
Offenses have evolved a lot over the last decade.
Carroll says the Shelby offense is an outstanding example of a modern
day offense. “The brilliance
of this whole scheme is it can be catch the snap and throw it or it can be
catch the snap and I have the option to hand it off to this running back or
the quarterback to run the ball or throw it.
The R.P.O., or run pass option. The
whole offense is based upon the look that is given to them by the defense.
It is not just the look pre-snap, but the look as the ball is snapped
then they have options. That is
what is incredible about today’s world of football,” he told
Swankonsports.com, “Back when I played, you have 22 guys in a box banging
heads against each other and the tougher teams lots of times won.
You threw a couple of passes here and there and hope to God somebody
caught it. The evolution of high
school football is why the scores are 50 to 30, it’s incredible.
There is just some innovation in the game.
It used to be that the defensive innovation made it harder on the
offense, now the offensive innovation is making it hard on the defense.
To be a defensive coordinator in today’s of high school football
you have to have nerves of steel. It
used to be your goal was to have a shutout.
Now it is a successful night if you can hold a team under 28
points.”
Again, Carroll says they have drawn up a game plan to defend Shelby,
but really they isn’t a lot of answers.
“It is cool to see what they are doing and it is fun the match up
and try and negate it. They have
that option of run pass constantly. It
is a combination of the same exact play.
So, you have to be sharp. The
stuff we are planning for this week is I think coming together as the week
goes on. We are trying to give
them a combination. You can’t
reinvent the wheel over and over again.
We are still trying to come up with something that perhaps they
haven’t seen. Give them a
little different look. There is
only so much out there defensively left you can do against this stuff,”
said Carroll. Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Bellevue
Plays Clyde for Outright Title Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Ed Nasonti
Bellevue wraps up a second straight undisputed title in the Lake
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference with a win on Friday night, but it
won’t be easy as they travel to Clyde to face the second place Fliers.
A Clyde win produces a shared title.
Coach Ed Nasonti says there is a lot of hard nosed football in this
rivalry, but there isn’t any cheap stuff.
“We are playing an outstanding program that really hasn’t been
far removed from winning the state championship a couple of years ago.
Coach (Ryan) Carter has done a great job over there.
They have a rich tradition like we think we do.
It has been a fun rivalry since we started it back up in 1994.
The fact that the game has gotten moved to week 10 has added to it.
I think the fans enjoy it, the coaches enjoy it, the players enjoy
it. It is a respectful
rivalry,” said Nasonti.
Bellevue (8-1,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, took Sandusky to the woodshed last week (52-7)
and Clyde, #3 in our poll, thrashed Norwalk (41-14) in division games.
Clyde’s only loss in the division was a month ago when Perkins beat
them (21-20) with the Fliers failing on a two-point attempt with 11 seconds
left.
Nasonti describes Clyde and solid and physical on both sides of the
ball. “When I watch them on
tape, they are a typical Clyde football team.
They are physical on both sides of the ball.
They have good size up front. Their
offensive and defensive lines get off the football.
They are just blue collar, hard nosed, football players,” he said.
Last week, Bellevue quarterback Deegan Horn was hobbled with an
injury and replaced by Jax LaPata, who rushed for 184 yards and four scores.
Clyde’s leading rusher Michael Daniels didn’t play at all last
week, but Clark Norman and Dillon Overmeyer both scored twice.
Nasonti says to have a championship season you have to have kids like
that step up. “I think when
you try and run a good program you have everybody involved.
The kids understand their roles.
A lot of times you have those guys in backup spots and they are just
waiting for an opportunity and they have to ready when the opportunity
comes. Those are kids that were
in the wings waiting for their chance and to step up and help their team.
We talk to our kids all of the time about being a great teammate.
Sometimes that means maybe you are doing a great job on a special
team or maybe you are doing a great job on a scout team or maybe you are
that backup and you have to come in and preform,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It might be in the middle of a
drive. So, those are the kinds
of things that make the difference and can help you throughout the season.
The riggers of being in the Lake Division and playing a tough
schedule. I mean you go through
the gauntlet. So, you are going
to need guys to step up at some point and time.” Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Norwayne
and Dalton in “WCAL” Title Game Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Adam Indorf
Norwayne and Dalton clash on Friday night at Norwayne in the Wayne
County Athletic League championship game.
Both teams are unbeaten in league play.
Norwayne (7-2,6-0) blew out Chippewa (47-10) last week and Dalton
blasted (47-14) in league games.
Norwayne coach Adam Indorf says these are the kinds of games you want
to play in. “When you start
the season and you sit down and try and figure out some goals.
Obviously, you want to win at home, that’s always a goal of ours,
but you always want to win the league has well.
This is just another step in doing so.
This happens to be taking place week 10.
It’s two undefeated teams battling it out in Creston.
You try and sit back and tell the kids to take it in, but also not to
let everything overwhelm them. Just
do their thing and make sure they are taking care of business on Friday,”
said Indorf.
Norwayne won the battle (21-7) last year.
Dalton won (29-14) in 2019. Both
resulting in undisputed league titles.
Dalton (7-2,5-0), they had a league game against Chippewa cancelled
this year due to COVID. Their
only losses come to a pair of unbeaten teams in Garaway and Ridgewood.
Indorf says they are blessed with a lot of weapons.
“They are solid all over. Athletes
on the perimeter, athletes in the backfield and a solid offensive line.
Just a plethora of weapons at their disposal.
Defensively, very similar, athletes in the secondary and solid guys
up front. Definitely a bevy of
tools for them to utilize on both sides of the ball.
It’s a challenge for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
evening, “You would have to be under a rock to really not understand that
this is looming ahead. We are
working through this week making sure we are making ourselves better.
Trying to be as fundamental as we can in our pursuit of the
championship on Friday.”
Indorf says they have keep Dalton from building offensive momentum
and not be overcome by the moment. “I
think that is any team. You have
to come out and play fast and physical.
We always preach to our guys it is one play at a time and do your
very best that play. They for
sure are going to make some plays. We
just have to make sure we are weathering storms and we are continuing to
battle and eliminating mistakes and playing fundamental football for a
duration of four quarters on Friday,” he said. Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Conference
Title Awaits Crestview Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Steve Haverdill
Crestview is in position to claim its first outright Firelands
Conference football title since 2011. Thy
need a win at Mapleton on Friday night.
They put themselves in position to claim that title by beating
Norwalk St. Paul (28-7) in a battle of unbeatens last Saturday night.
Coach Steve Haverdill says they know their job isn’t done.
“We told our kids that as soon as we got done Saturday night
playing St. Paul. We told them
they have tonight to enjoy it and then our focus was on Mapleton and
rightfully so. They are getting
better every week and they have got a lot of weapons.
So, we have to make sure we are still playing and getting better
every week like we preached at the beginning of the year,” he said.
Crestview (9-0,6-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the small school division, plays at Mapleton (3-5,2-3) on Friday
night. The Mounties have won
their last two conference games, including a (34-20) at Monroeville last
week.
Haverdill says Mapleton does an excellent job running the football
and they do it with multiple backs. “They
have guys that can run it. They
have the (Hunter) Sanders, they have (Jake) Lesco, (Kollin) Cline, (Beau)
Galbraith, anyone of those guys can take it to the house.
So, we have to be very disciplined,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “They do a lot of things with misdirection to try and
get your eyes to full you a little bit.
So, we have to concentrate on that.
Offensively, we just have to continue to do what we do and try and
control the clock and keep their offense off the field.”
Doing what they do is handing the ball off a lot to Conner Morse, the
leading rusher in the Firelands Conference.
There are a lot of wing-T principles in what Mapleton does in their
run game and Haverdill says they have to be solid on their keys.
“If we take off with what we see as the flow and our defense goes
that way and the guy is running back the other way, we have nobody over
there. So, we have to trust our
teammates. We have played
together as a team all year and I don’t see any reason why we won’t
Friday, but again we have to be disciplined, play together, trust your
teammates to do their job and we have to go out and play four quarters,”
said Haverdill. Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Mansfield
Senior Ready for Arch Rival Madison Click
here to listen to an interview with DC Sean Adams
Mansfield Senior is going to need a near miracle to share the Ohio
Cardinal Conference title with West Holmes this year, but it all starts with
them beating longtime rival Madison on Friday night.
They trail West Holmes by a game and would need Mt. Vernon to upset
the Knights, which is not likely.
In fact, the Tygers took out Mt. Vernon (26-6) last week.
They only allowed 35 total yards and assistant coach Sean Adams says
they did a very good job on that side of the ball.
“We have great kids at Senior High.
They do everything we ask them to do.
It has just been fun year. We
are going to miss probably three seniors.
Myles (Bradley) graduates, Aveon (Grose) and Malachi Mays.
As we move on toward the postseason, we have a lot of guys coming
back next year. So, we are
really proud of the defensive effort. The
offense continued to score some points,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “We didn’t capitalize on some plays that we should
have and left some plays on the field. That
is really not a good sign for the fourth ranked team in division three,
region 10 of the playoffs. So,
we have to shore up a few things this week against our crosstown rival
Madison.”
Quarterback Brock Hill and running back Ricky Mills both rushed for
over 100 yards last week.
Mansfield Senior (7-2,4-1) hosts Madison (0-7,0-4) on Friday night at
Arlin Field. The Rams were
punished (43-0) by Lexington last Friday.
Adams says with Madison everything starts with Isaac Brooks.
“Well, I think it all starts with Isaac (Brooks).
He is a great kid, he is a great running back, great receiver, great
defender. He is their guy.
They want to try and get him the ball as many ways as possible.
So, we have to keep an eye on where he is at.
I am sure they are going to want to slow the game down and just run
the ball and keep the possession out of our hands.
We have to win first down defensively to try and force them into some
situations they don’t want to be in,” said Adams.
It was Brooks that produced a fourth quarter touchdown run last year
in a (13-7) Madison upset win.
Adams says they remember that loss.
“Anytime you get kids together things can happen.
We have had a really solid week of practice.
Let’s not be fooled, we are not going to fool ourselves or try to
fool you or the people in our community.
Madison beat us last year. If
you don’t think that has been brought up this week, then you are sadly
mistaken. So, that is in the
back of our heads. Getting
better this week as a team is something that we tried to do.
We are really, really looking forward to playing Madison here at
Arlin Field on Friday night,” he said. Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Win
Means Title For East Knox Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Cody Reese
East Knox is a win away from earning a share of the Knox Morrow
Athletic Conference football title. They
need a win on Friday at Danville, their arch rivals.
They put themselves in that position with a come from behind (27-20)
win over Highland last week. They
now share first place with Highland and Northmor, who play each other on
Friday night.
The Bulldogs scored with less than 20 seconds in the game to win last
week.
Coach Cody Reese says they made some big plays to get that win.
“We were able to get a couple turnovers there in thy second half
and we were able to turn those into touchdowns.
After we scored to tie it up, they blocked our extra point to keep
the game tied at 20 a piece. Our
defense did a great job and forced a punt with about 1:30 left in the game.
We were able to complete a pass and a deep pass down to about the
five. We were able to score with
about 14 seconds left in the game. It
was definitely an exciting end to the game, especially being able to come
out victorious, which we were fortunate to be able to do so,” said Reese.
East Knox (7-2,4-1), they had a conference game cancelled with
Cardington last moth due to a combination of illness and injury with the
Pirates, plays at rival Danville (4-5,3-3), they beat Mt. Gilead (35-21)
last week in a conference game.
Reese says the Blue Devils have the personnel to challenge them, no
question. “They are definitely
a hard nosed football team. They
play extremely hard. Every year,
year in and year out, this is a big game, throw the records out, it’s a
backyard brawl. It is going to
be four quarters of smash mouth football.
We certainly expect nothing less than that.
They have a quarterback that is a good runner and good passer.
So, we have to make sure we slow him down and do what we can there.
Their offense they have a good running back and good receivers.
They definitely have multiple aspects that they can hit you on.
We have to make sure we are in position to make plays,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Defensively, they like to blitz from
everywhere. On play in one area
and then they will shoot a guy they next play from somewhere else.
They like to do that to keep you off balance and they do a good job
of that. We just have to make
sure we are executing like we need to.”
It’s win and be rewarded for the Bulldogs and Reese says they look
forward to these kinds of situations. “We
tell our players that situations like these are what we work to play for.
When you put yourselves in these positions you have to be excited
about it. Focus on what you did
to get there and to execute. If
we make plays and play hard and play together at the end of the night, we
will see what happens,” he said. Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Wynford
Plays Aggressive Mohawk Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Gabe Helbert
Wynford needs a win Friday night at Mohawk in Northern 10 Athletic
Conference action to solidify a berth in the division V playoffs this
season.
Right now, they stand 14th in region 18.
The top 16 schools make it to the first round.
Thy lost last week to “N10” leader Carey (37-14) in a conference
game.
Coach Gabe Helbert says they played some good football, but they also
made some crucial mistakes. “I
thought we played hard. I
thought our kids came out and tried to execute.
We turned the ball over twice early, which doesn’t help.
They were the cause of that. They
hit our quarterback hard once and popped the ball out and another time we
had a bad snap. Those two early
turnovers hurt, but again Carey is an excellent football team and we knew we
would have to play perfect to have an opportunity for a win and we weren’t
able to do that. Credit goes to
them they have a share of our league by beating us and that is certainly a
big thing. They are a good
football team,” said Helbert.
Wynford (4-5,3-3) plays at Mohawk (4-5,3-3) on Friday night.
The Warriors beat Buckeye Central (27-6) last week.
Helbert says there are more things that are similar about the teams
than just their record. He adds
Mohawk has an excellent player in Zaiden Fry, who leads the conference in
receiving yards and is in the top 10 in rushing yards.
“I look at four teams in our league that are very similar with us,
Mohawk, Seneca East and Upper Sandusky.
Those four teams have battled back and forth between who has beat who
and stuff like that. They are
very similar to us in that regard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
afternoon, “They have an excellent football player that does a great job
in the pass game and a great job running the football as well.
They are very quick and aggressive defensively.
They get to the ball. They
are not overly big, which really means nothing because they are aggressive
and attack the football. So, our
work will be cut out for us. Our
kids are going to have to execute at a high level and you have to every week
in the “N10”. For the most
part you have to play your best football and that will be the same this
week.”
With Mohawk’s aggression, Helbert says there will be opportunities
for big plays, but they must execute. “There
are some opportunities for us to execute and hit some explosive plays, but
at the same point and time if we don’t they have the ability to get to the
ball carrier or to the passer. Those
are drive killers when stuff like that happens.
So, our offensive line will have to play with their eyes up, their
head up, and maintain contact because they do a nice job defeating blocks
and stuff like that. Again, our
work will be cut out for us from an offensive standpoint and then
defensively we have to do our best to contain #24 because he is such a huge
part of their offensive game plan,” said Helbert. Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Seneca
East Travels to Colonel Crawford Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Ed Phillips
Seneca East hits the road for Colonel Crawford and a game against the
Eagles on Friday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.
This is a game that will have a significant affect on the final
standings in division VI, region 22. Right
now, both are the edge of a home playoff game and a win would push them
toward that result.
Seneca East (6-3,4-2) hammered Upper Sandusky (40-7) in a conference
game last week. Quarterback
Gavin Hargis ran for 222 yards and four TD’s.
Coach Ed Phillips says they were sound in the running game.
“We ran it really well and did it in some different ways.
We changed things up and that went well.
When you run the football and you run it affectively it always gets
back to your offensive line. Those
guys did a great job,” he said.
Colonel Crawford (8-1,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the small school division, also a game behind Carey in the
“N10” standings, blanked Bucyrus (42-0) last week.
Phillips says they want to run it too.
“You talk about running the ball, they certainly like to do that.
I think if they have a preference, they like to get in two tight ends
and two backs. They are good at
running “iso” inside and the sweep and outside zone type play.
They don’t have a ton of plays, but what they do they do really
well. They have several guys
that they get the ball to and all very effective running the football,”
said Phillips.
Lincoln Mollenkopf leads the “N10” with 1,916 yards and 29
touchdowns this year.
Phillips says he is a heck of a back.
“He is really explosive. He
is a big play guy. In saying
that, he is also good the short yardage plays and gets the tough yards for
them. He certainly is a really
good running back for them,” he said.
Right now, Colonel Crawford is 9th and Seneca East 11th
in the regional rankings. The
top eight play a first round home game.
Phillips says this game is huge from that respect.
“We like to be home. Our
home fans and our home stadium and the atmosphere it does spoil us.
If we win this one, I think we do have a shot to be at home in the
playoffs. Regardless it is going
to improve our seeding, which is important at this time year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “So, a lot at stake for both teams and you
wouldn’t want it any other way. I
think it is exciting for them and us. It’s
great for the league to have a game like this for week 10.” Published 10/21/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Shelby
Wants to Keep that Trophy Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Robert Mahaney
Shelby with a win at home against Clear Fork on Friday night wins an
outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference football title for the third year in a
row.
They set up that chance with a (47-20) whipping of River Valley last
Friday as Marshall Shepherd threw seven touchdown passes.
He has 47 for the season.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a very good job of responding to
the loss to West Holmes and came ready to play and got a good start.
“We wanted to come back after what happened against West Holmes.
An opportunity to play another game and get that taste out of our
mouths. I thought the kids did a
good job of going over there and starting fast.
We knew there was some weather coming in and we wanted to get a lead
then be able to handle that adversity. We
did a good job of that. We
executed and came out 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Then the weather came and honestly, I thought we did a good job
handling that. Our kids came out
in the second half and put the game away.
Against our JV defense they put up a late score, but I thought even
when those guys came in, they played really hard and did what they needed
to. I think it was definitely a
great night for the kids. It was
a good bounce back win that we needed. We
were able to get a share of the league title and now we go out and try and
win it outright this week,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (7-2,5-0) host Clear Fork (6-3,4-1) on Friday night. The
Colts had am 11 point lead with 4:00 to play last week, but lost to Marion
Harding (23-21) and fall out of a share of first place.
Mahaney is impressed with their play on both sides of the ball.
“I think Clear Fork is a really good football team.
I think Dave Carroll is a great football coach and you can see that.
They are always tough. They
are always physical. They also
execute very well. They are
extremely well disciplined. Their
defense is one of the best ones we have seen.
They like to keep everything in front.
They are really sure tacklers. Their
defensive line is really good. They
have a couple of defensive linemen that are really, really good.
They switch up some things and they do a good job of game planning
and taking away what you like to do. So,
it’s going to be a big challenge for us offensively,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “For us defensively, they always find
new formations and new ways to attack the defense that they are playing, so
we have to be ready for that. They
have really good football players. Their
offensive line is really solid. Their
quarterback does a great job he is really efficient.
He does a great job running their offense.
They have a lot of different guys they can get the ball to.
All five of their skilled players are all pretty good.
So, they do a good job of spreading it around.
So, we have to make sure we are covering all of those guys and
covering the whole field on Friday night.”
Clear Fork likely has one of the best defensive lines in the area and
have been sound in stopping the run. They
have given up some pass yards, but Mahaney says do a very good job finding
ways to limit the pass too. “I
think they do a really good job of adjusting.
They played River Valley and they kind of changed up their defense.
They played a lot of cover 2 man and against Harding last week they
played a lot of cover 2 man. It
is hard to defend against those teams that pass.
I think they do a great job defensively of adjusting, so we have to
be ready for those adjustments. Again,
I think they are well coached and they are sound.
They are not going to make a lot of mistakes.
We are going to have to earn it.
We have to protect the football, limit turnovers and try and make big
plays when we can,” said Mahaney.
The Shelby coach says having part of the title is nice, but they want
it to themselves. “We told our
kids on Monday that we want to be greedy.
We want win the conference outright.
We won the last two outright. We
would love to make a third one outright.
I think our kids are preparing to do that.
We are excited to play at Skiles in the last regular season game week
10. We feel that if we are able
to get a win then we will host a playoff game in the first round, but we
have to take care of business. There
is a lot to play for on Friday and I think our kids are excited for that
opportunity,” he said. Published 10/20/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Lucas
Challenges Traditional Power Mogadore Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Scott Spitler
Lucas
plays at Mogadore on Friday night against the Wildcats, one of the most
tradition small school powers in Ohio.
They stand number two in division VII, region 25 and a win could
boost them into the top spot.
They blasted Fort Loramie (31-8) last week.
Coach Scott Spitler says they did a fantastic job swallowing up the
Redskins offense and when they had the ball they played with more
confidence. “I thought the
defensive coaching staff had a great game plan versus a high powered offense
and our kids went out and did a whale a job executing it.
I thought we played really good football on the offensive side.
I think getting Andrew Fanello back, although he is not 100 percent,
he is pretty dangerous when he is on the field and he went out and had a
whale of game and I thought that gave a little juice to our offense.
It got the confidence going with some other players and really opened
things up for us where they couldn’t concentrate on senior Grant Barrett
or our wide receiver Corbin Toms. It
just made us more deadly offensively and the kids went out and executed
well,” he said.
Lucas (7-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the
small school division, is at Mogadore (7-2), a (29-12) winner over Rootstown
last week.
It has been 15 years since the schools have played, but Spitler says
they still owe Wildcats something. “I
know our kids have the mindset they want to go out there and represent the
Cubs from the past because Mogadore the last two times we have played them
put us out of the playoffs in 2000 and 2006.
In the first round they got the Lucas Cubs an eliminated us from the
playoffs. So, our kids want a
little historical revenge so to speak for the Cubs that come before them.
It’s a great challenge, but I think our kids are up to it,” he
said.
Spitler says Mogadore likes to be physical and come right at you
running the ball and they have the personnel to do it.
“They are the type of program that you stive to be like.
They have had a tremendous amount of success and they are very well
coached. I’ll tell you what,
they do what they do very well. They
are going to hit you will all kinds of formations offensively, but they make
no bones about it. They want to
line up and test your medal at the line of scrimmage and run the
football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They have a
whale of a running back in Tyler Knight, he was also a state qualifier in
wrestling, he is big and physical. They
have been doing a two quarterback system.
One is more of a passer and the other is more of a duel threat, a big
physical kid as well at 6’0”, pounds, so they stress you there.
They have a 6’3” wide receiver that can take the top off the
defense. They can stretch you in
every facet offensively. Then
defensively, they really get after the ball carrier and create a lot of
chaos. They are a very
disciplined football team. It’s
a good challenge for our kids. Win
or lose it is going to make our program better.
At the end of the game Friday night, we are going to be a better
program because of playing a team of this quality.”
Spitler says both teams want to do the same thing and it is going to
boil down to who does it better. “It
might be one of the fastest high school games around.
Because we want to run the football, we want to establish the line of
scrimmage on both sides of the ball and they want to do the same.
They have got great size. What
they do offensively really stresses you with their multiple looks in their
two tight end sets and the skilled kids that they have.
It is going to be a whale of a challenge.
These are the types of teams that we are trying to build our team to
be and how we want to grow as a program.
You have to play these types of teams to get better.
Win or lose it is a growth mindset.
It is going to help us get better, especially heading into the
postseason,” said Spitler. Published 10/20/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Ashland
and Wooster For Playoff Berth Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Sean Seder
Ashland entertains Wooster in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on
Friday night and to the winner goes a place in the postseason playoffs,
Ashland in division III or Wooster in division II.
So, there is a lot of the line for these longtime rivals.
Ashland lost (28-7) to “OCC” leader West Holmes last week.
Coach Sean Seder says they made it a game.
“It was 7-7 in the third and 14-7 in the fourth quarter.
I thought we actually played a pretty good game.
What it came down to for us was turnovers.
Ironically, we out gained them, had more first downs, and better
third down conversion, all of the metrics you look at, time of possession,
you name it, but we had five turnovers,” he told Swankpnsports.com on
Tuesday, “So, anytime you turn the ball over and give them a short field a
good team like West Holmes is going to put points on the board and they
eventually did there in the fourth quarter with two big scores.
There were a lot of good things to take away from it.
They are number two in our region and undefeated and a really good
football team.”
Ashland (3-6,3-2) is at home for Wooster (4-5,2-2) on Friday night.
The Generals allowed to punt returns for scores and lost (31-0) to
Massillon in non-conference action last Friday.
Seder says they are pretty good on both sides of the ball this year.
“I think they are a good football team as well.
They played West Holmes in a really tight game.
They have had two tough weeks with Mansfield Senior and then
Massillon. They are going to
come ready to play Friday. #2
McKee is a really good receiver. I
think their defense is pretty stout. They
have some big boys up front and their quarterback can sling it.
I think it would be a really good football game Friday.
Both teams, it’s win and their in the playoffs.
There is a lot of play for, so it should be a good football game,”
said Seder.
It is win or go home for both teams and Seder says that is a pretty
good incentive to come out and play well.
“It is a nice carrot for us to be able to dangle as coaches.
We joked if this was one of those weeks when you have no chance to
make the playoffs and no chance of a conference championship it is tough to
get the moral up and your guys ready to go, but where we sit on our region
and where they sit whichever team wins is going to be in the playoffs and
whichever team doesn’t is going to be staying home, so if that is not an
incentive to get out there and get after it I don’t know will be,” he
said. Published 10/20/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Outright
Title Hangs in Balance For Carey Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Jonathan Mershman
Carey already has a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference
title this fall and they will win it outright with a win at Buckeye Central
on Friday night.
They would be considerable favorites to do so considering Buckeye has
not won a conference game this season.
Last week, the Blue Devils (8-1,6-0) beat Wynford (37-14) in a
conference game.
Coach Jonathan Mershman says it was a good performance by them.
“We played pretty solid. We
had some hiccups in the second quarter, but I thought overall we played
pretty solid for the entire game,” he said.
Mershman says they have done a good job this year of improving from
week to week. “There was a
pretty good stretch in there where I thought we grew big time,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Like I said, second quarter last week we
had some hiccups and hopefully we will learn from those mistakes that we
made and we can show that growth going into the playoffs this last week.”
Buckeye Central (2-7,0-6) played well into the fourth quarter last
week before losing (27-6) to Mohawk in an “N10” game.
Mershman says anytime you play Buckeye the Bucks are going to play
hard no matter what the situation. “They
are going to play hard. They
always do. At times we are
probably going to outmatch them in size, but overall they are going to be
very, very competitive. If we
are not ready to play, we could be in for a long night,” said Mershman.
The Carey coach says they are not in a sharing mood right now.
He says they want the title outright.
“I don’t like sharing this one.
We are all about helping other people and doing stuff as a program,
but we are going to be selfish on this one.
We are going to try and get this one outright for ourselves,” he
said. Published 10/20/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Perkins
Playing for Home Playoff Game Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Jalen Santoro
Sandusky Perkins is now locked out of a share of the Lake Division
title in the Sandusky Bay Conference, but they do have a chance to secure a
home date in the first round of the division IV playoffs and they can do
that with a win at Sandusky on Friday night.
Last week, they lost to Tiffin Columbian (52-24) to fall two games
behind division leading Bellevue.
Coach Jalen Santoro says made some mistakes that led to big plays for
the Tornadoes. “It is one of
those games that kind of got away from you.
Tiffin has some very good athletes.
They are very explosive, especially on the offensive side of the
ball. We were down a couple of guys in the secondary.
We knew going in that it was going to be a tough week being down a
couple of guys. I am not making
excuses for it. It is next man
up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We did a good job
with the guys we had in there. We
had some communication mistakes on the back half that resulted in some
scores. Offensively, we got
clicking but it was a little too late. Tough
one and we have to rebound from that.”
Perkins (6-3,2-2) visits Sandusky (3-6,1-3) on Friday night.
The Blue Streaks are coming off a (52-7) destruction at the hands of
Bellevue last Friday.
Santoro says this is a typical Sandusky team from the standpoint that
they have athletes that populate the team.
“They have athletes all over the field.
They do a good job of getting the ball in space and you have to
contain them. They have guys
that can take it deep, so we have to keep the ball between the tackles and
do a good job tackling in space,” he said.
Right now, Perkins is in the final spot that would allow them to a
host a playoffs game and Santoro says to earn that they have to beat
Sandusky. “That is something
to play for and obviously it is the crosstown rivalry with Sandusky, so
there is plenty to play for this week. Our
kids are staying hungry and that is something we have to keep preaching to
them. You are playing for a home
playoff game and that’s huge. There
is no guarantee if you win or you lose that you get one.
The best chance to be home for the playoffs is go out and win this
one,” said Santoro. Published 10/20/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Playoff
Berth Possible for Fredericktown Click
here to listen to an interview with coach William Hartley
After a win last week, the Fredericktown Freddies are in position to
make the postseason playoffs in division VI.
They most likely need a win, but they could qualify with a loss.
They host Centerburg in a Knox Morrow Athletic Conference game on
Friday night.
They scored with less than two minutes left and beat Cardington
(20-14) in a conference game last Friday.
Coach William Hartley says they found a way.
“We played good enough to win the ballgame.
It wasn’t a pretty game. We
had weather issues and the ball was real slick in the second half.
There were a lot of miscues and balls on the ground by both teams.
We were able to put a really nice drive together throughout the
second part of the fourth quarter. We
scored the go ahead with a 1:30 left and we just hung on.
They advanced the ball inside our 15 and then our defense stiffened
up and were able to make a couple of plays late and preserve the victory and
come out of there with a win,” said Hartley.
Hartley says it is great to have something to play for on week 10.
“We are taking it any way we can get it.
If we win, we are definitely in and if we don’t get a win with a
little bit of help we can still be in the hunt for a playoff spot.
So, we are in pretty good shape as far as staying in the top 16
through the weekend,” he said.
Fredericktown (4-5,2-4) entertains Centerburg (6-2,4-2) on Friday
night. Last week, the Trojans
handed Northmor their first loss of the season (14-12) in a “KMAC” game.
Hartley says they have speed on defense and on offense they do a lot
of audibles at the line of scrimmage. “The
biggest thing that jumps off when you watch them on film is their team
speed. They have tremendous team
speed. Defensively, they are a
really, really solid unit and they just fly to the ball and have some really
nice inside linebackers. They
have some big space eaters up front, which allow them to play their
linebackers off the ball, a little deeper than most teams we see do.
They are really quick kids, they really dissect plays and move to the
football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Offensively,
they present you with a lot of different formations and a lot of different
motions. They do do some check
with me offense where the quarterback is going to check with the sideline
and then make certain adjustments depending on what the defense is giving
him. They do a lot of the same
stuff out of many different looks, so we have to focus on their fundamentals
that they are doing in the passing and running game.
Also, we are going to have to try and disguise our defense, move
around, and not just be stationary, so they can’t get a good read on us
and advantage from those check plays that they have.” Published 10/20/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Hillsdale
Plays Biggest Rival Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Trevor Cline
Hillsdale hopes to solidify its playoff position on Friday night as
they visit Northwestern to face the Huskies in a Wayne County Athletic
League.
A (31-20) win at Waynedale put the Falcons in position to secure a
place in the top 16 of division VI, region 21.
Coach Trevor Cline says it was a huge win for them, maybe their best
performance of the season. “Last
week was a big win for us. It
was out first true, quality win against a team that had multiple good wins.
So, it was a big night for us, especially to be able to go there and
they had been playing well. Just
our history of success at Waynedale has not been very good.
So, it was great for our guys to go there and get a quality road
win,” he said.
Hillsdale (5-4,4-2) is at Northwestern (3-6,2-3) on Friday night.
The Huskies beat Smithville (13-7) last week and have won two of
their last three games.
Cline says this is always a big rivalry game.
“It is a rivalry game. I
would say it is our biggest rivalry game in our league.
So, anytime we play them it is always a really good game.
The majority of those games come right down to the very end.
I know two years ago in 2019 we ended up winning on a game winning
drive against them at their place. Then
last year at their place it came down to our last drive and they stopped us.
Year in and year out it is always a battle no matter what both
team’s records are,” he said.
In a quirk in the schedule this is the third year in a row that
Hillsdale is at Northwestern.
Cline adds the key this week is really the same as it was last week
and that is to make the quarterback feel uncomfortable.
“They return a lot of guys from last year.
I know their quarterback had a really good year last year as a
sophomore. He’s back, he’s a
threat running and passing. They
return a lot of skilled position players too.
They do a nice job of getting those guys out in space.
Whenever they get their athletes out in space they can put a lot of
teams in a bind,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We just
have to make sure we are doing what we did last week against Peyton Lemon
from Waynedale. Don’t give him
time to sit back there and pick apart our defense. We have to put pressure
on him and force him into some throws he doesn’t want to make.” Published 10/20/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Clyde
Plays Bellevue for a Share Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Ryan Carter
In one of the premier football games in North Central Ohio Friday
night the Clyde Fliers host Bellevue in the Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference with the division title on the line.
Bellevue already has a share and Clyde gets a piece if they win
Friday.
Clyde put themselves in position by beating Norwalk (41-14) last
week.
Coach Ryan Carter says they got off to a good start and had good
focus. “I was pleased with how
we came out and really had focus against Norwalk and established what we
wanted to do early. Defense got
us off the field early and then we were able to get up 7-0.
I think that is key against a team that I think had played pretty
well all year they just hadn’t had some breaks go there way.
So, you didn’t want them to have confidence and getting off to a
good start was important the other night,” he said.
Clyde (7-2,3-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, hosts Bellevue (8-1,4-), #2 in our poll, on
Friday night. Bellevue pounded
Sandusky (52-7) last week. Jax
Lapata replaced Deegan Horn at quarterback after Horn was hobbled with an
injury and he ran for 184 yards and four scores.
Carter says Bellevue is just good all over.
“They are a very, very good football team.
They are very well coached. Coach
(Ed) Nasonti does a great job with his program.
Their kids play the game the right way.
They are extremely disciplined and they play hard.
They have a ton of senior talent this year.
Their offensive and defensive line really make them go.
They are a run first offense as coach Nasonti has traditionally been
over there. They get pressure
with their down four and drop everybody else in coverage,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “So, they make it very difficult on
both sides of the ball. We have
our work cut out for us we know that. They
haven’t played a real close game since week one.
I know they played Shelby in a close game, but that was more of a
shootout. Since then, they have
just been steamrolling teams. We
are playing meaningful football games late in the season and our kids are
excited about that.”
Bellevue has great skilled players, but to have success against them,
Carter says you have to sort of get a deadlock up front.
“It is difficult to create a stalemate up front they are that good.
It doesn’t matter which one of their quarterbacks plays, they both
run it, they both throw it, they have capable wide receivers, kids that go
out and get it. A bunch of kids
at the defensive back position that are skilled athletic.
But, they really get it done up front.
Their running backs do a great job of blocking, their tight ends do a
great job of blocking and their front five.
We have our work cut out for us getting stops, but our kids are
looking forward to the challenge,” said Carter.
Bellevue has won three of the last four meetings, Clyde winning in
2019 when they went on to win the division IV state title.
Carter says this is an intense, but clean rivalry.
“It is a great rivalry and they play football the right way at
Bellevue. They do things soundly
and their kids are hard nosed tough kids and we feel like we have some of
those kids as well. It will be a
fun atmosphere on Friday night and we are going to put in a good week of
work and try and get ourselves ready to go,” he said. Published 10/19/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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It’s
All on the Line For Northmor Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Scott Armrose
It might be the biggest football game at Northmor since the cold war
or at least the last time the Browns were relevant as the Golden Knights
host rival Highland Friday night in a game where the winner will do not less
than share the conference title in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.
After winning their first eight games, Northmor (8-1,5-1) lost
(14-12) to Centerburg last week, but Highland lost (27-20) to East Knox, and
now the Golden Knights, Scots and Bulldogs share the lead.
Coach Scott Armrose says they felt pretty down after the loss, but
they have turned the page. “It
hurt and I could see the pain in our kid’s eyes.
We knew it was a painful loss. We
talked Friday night and again Saturday morning about how much we have left
to play for. (Monday) I just saw
how eager they were and how excited we are to have an opportunity to come
back to play in a big game this week,” he said.
Armrose says they know what’s on the table on Friday night.
“We still have a lot to play for.
We have an opportunity to win our first league title in over 30
years, almost 40 years at our school,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
evening, “We have a chance to set ourselves up for a good spot in week 11,
so there is still a lot left to play for.
Of course, we are playing our rivals in the Highland Scots for the
last time.”
Northmor stands fourth in division VI, region 23.
Highland is already in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference is the rest
of the sports. Football will
follow next year.
Dane Nauman leads the “KMAC” in rushing yards this season and
Armrose says they hope they can contain him.
“Their running back, the Nauman kid, is the best we have seen all
season. He is a phenomenal
athlete. He is a great runner.
He is one those kids where you can only hope to contain him.
Most of the time he is going to get his yards.
He is going to make his plays and we are going to have to make ours
too,” said Armrose.
Northmor’s defense has been their corner stone this season and
Armrose says they have to get a lot of tacklers to the football.
“You have to get a lot of guys to the football and you have to get
him wrapped up early because once he gets going he is gone.
That is something we have done really well this season is getting to
the football and getting a lot of guys to the ball and tackling well and
gang tackling and that is something you certainly have to do against
Highland,” he said. Published 10/19/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Physicality
the Key for Crawford Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Ryan Teglovic
Colonel Crawford plays host to Seneca East on Friday night in their
final Northern 10 Athletic Conference game of the season.
There is a lot at stake for the Eagles as they must have a win for a
chance to share the “N10” title with Carey, they trail of the Blue
Devils by a game, and perhaps host a first round playoff game in division
VI. Right now, they stand ninth
and the top eight are home week one.
Last week, they buried Bucyrus (42-0) in a conference game, but coach
Ryan Teglovic says they certainly have some things to clean up.
“I feel like our kids have been pretty business like in the way
they have handled things. It was
nice to get the win. I said
Friday night that there were some things that we just did not do well.
We have work on those things this week.
We will start here (Monday) getting guys in here and have an
offensive practice. Obviously,
the pre-snap penalties and those kinds of things will be high on the list.
Fumbled snaps and that kind of thing.
It was one of those things where we continue to play good football
and have a huge one coming up this Friday night,” said Teglovic.
Colonel Crawford (8-1,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the small school division, entertains Seneca East (6-3,4-2)
on Friday night in North Robinson. The
Tigers are coming off a (40-7) win over Upper Sandusky last week.
Teglovic says they have two very explosive backs in the backfield.
“At first glance probably the thing that stands out to me the most
is they have two thousand yard backs right now.
We are not even through the regular season.
Their quarterback Gavin Hargis and their running back Jessie Beckman
have over a thousand yards. They
are both high yards per carry, around eight yards per carry kind of guys.
So, they are two explosive athletes in the backfield at the same time
and that puts a lot of stress on our defense.
We have to make sure we take away the big play,” he said.
Hargis ran for 222 yards and four touchdowns last week against Upper.
Of course, the Eagles have the top rusher in the conference in
Lincoln Mollenkopf, who had 360 yards and three scores last week against
Bucyrus. He has over 1,900 yards
and 29 TD’s on the year.
Teglovic says they have to win the battle up front.
“We have to continue to play well up front.
Offensive and defensive lines are going to be critical.
We have to execute well on the offensive line.
We have to stand up to the physicality on our defensive line.
They are big,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,
“They are one of the bigger teams that we play, especially their center
and their guards are particularly big at 250, 260, so good sized dudes.
We are going to have to make sure we can establish ourselves along
the line of scrimmage to have an opportunity to win.” Published 10/19/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Plymouth
Must Control South Central Skill Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Mark Genders
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 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Ontario
Wants to Run it Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Chris Miller
Ontario finishes up play in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with a
visit to Marion Harding on Friday night.
They earned their first win in the “MOAC” last week in beating
Marion Pleasant (24-21) on Friday.
Coach Chris Miller says the start of the game was key from them.
“We had a great start. We
jumped up 17-0 in the first quarter. We
had the ball on their side of the 50 for majority of the quarter.
It seemed like that quarter took forever just with a couple of
turnovers and changes of possession. The
second quarter flew by and they punched one in.
They had a nice drive about midway through the quarter.
Went into halftime 17-7. Chase
Studer, a sophomore, got a pick six in the second half.
Pleasant just kind continued to scratch and claw,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They had kind of a breakaway big play for a
score and then they had a pick six. It
made it really interesting. We
punted the ball down inside the five with seconds left in the game.
They tried the throw it and pitch it around to try and get down the
field and it made for a really exciting and nerve racking ending to that
football game. It was really
good and I was happy for our kids and our coaches and everybody that put so
much time in to get a pay off on Friday.”
Miller says it would be great way to end the season with another win
and carry some momentum, but Harding will be a different challenge.
“I hope that that is rewarding and encouraging for our program and
our kids and we can kind of take that into this week.
Football is so much about matchups and there is a different matchup
for us this week. They do
different things on offense and defense.
The last two weeks we have faced predominantly run teams.
They are going to be a very 50/50 and we have to a good job of
defending the ball when it is in the air.
They are really athletic. You
have to be a good tackling team and hopefully take advantage of some things
and continue to kind of punch it in the end zone,” he said.
Ontario (3-6,1-4) visits Marion Harding (6-3,3-2) on Friday night.
The Presidents scored twice in the final four minutes to beat Clear
Fork (23-21) last week.
Miller says Harding is very athletic and they must do a solid job
running the ball. “They are
athletic. So, if they get the
corner on you, it is scary. They
can pop one inside and they have some nice receivers, some tall receivers,
that they can throw the ball up to. We
have to be sound in what we do and disciplined and make sure we are in our
spots and make sure we tackle in the open field or at least hold guys up so
the pursuit get there and finish the play.
Then offensively, continue to grind out on the ground and hopefully
create some angles for some guys by doing some different things up front.
Chase Studer is maybe 70, 80 yards away from 1,000.
We haven’t had one of those since 2012 at Ontario.
We would really like not only for him, but for that offensive line to
get a guy over that mark and hopefully it is on a winning fashion,” said
Miller. Published 10/19/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Madison
Faces Rival Mansfield Senior Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Dave Stupka
Madison tries to salvage its season by beating arch rival Mansfield
Senior at Arlin Field in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
It has been a disappointing season for the Rams as they have failed
to put up a win and had two weeks in the middle of the season canceled due
to health concerns.
They were hammered (43-0) by Lexington in an “OCC” game last
week.
Coach Dave Stupka says they just didn’t play well at all against
the Minutemen. “We did not
play well really in any phases of the game and Lexington really did.
It was one of those games where we just did not get off to a good
start. We had an opportunity to
change a little bit of the momentum of the game because we stopped Lexington
and had a nice defensive stand, but then we had a couple of penalties that
helped convert a fourth down for them. It
just kind of went south from there for us.
It’s a new week. A city
championship week. Obviously,
playing our big rival is a big game for both teams,” said Stupka.
Madison did beat Mansfield Senior (13-7) last year for their only win
of the season. However, Stupka
says that has little relevancy to Friday night and they are playing an
outstanding team. “We have
proven we can do it that we can beat these guys, but it’s a different
year. We look at in terms that we have to get ourselves prepared. What
happened last year is nice for the memory books for everybody, but we have
to focus in on playing this squad, this year in 2021,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They are a really good team.
I am especially impressed with them defensively where they are a
very, very good team. Really
well coached from a defensive standpoint.
Their offense has really come around the last three, four weeks.
They have some young players that have gotten better throughout the
year and they are formidable on offense as well.”
Madison (0-7,0-4) plays at Mansfield Senior (7-2,4-1) on Friday
night. The Tygers downed Mt.
Vernon (26-6) last week in game where they had two 100 yards rushers and
allowed only 35 yards of total offense.
Stupka says the Tyger defensive backs get a great jump on the ball.
“One of the things that stuck out to me in terms of preparing for
them is I can’t remember a team that breaks on the ball as well as they
do. I talk all of the time about
West Holmes and their pursuit to the ball, they are really good at that.
What really stuck out to me is teams that have tried to throw the
ball on Mansfield Senior, because they are really stout against the run.
Fundamentally they are sound is terms of planting and getting to the
ball. They do just a great job
with that. The ball is in the
air and they get breaks on the ball and get these interceptions and they
turn it into offense,” said Stupka. Published 10/19/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Columbian
Plays Underrated Norwalk
Tiffin Columbian, right now in possession of a home game in the first
round of the division III playoffs, plays at Norwalk on Friday night in a
Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
They helped their cause last week when they smoked Sandusky Perkins
(52-24) in a Lake Division game.
Coach Judd Lutz says their executed well on both sides of the ball.
“We did a lot of things really well.
It was a tight game throughout. We
were lucky to get some short fields and some scores at the end as we kind of
tried to kill the clock and punch some in and they were taking some risks.
We executed a high level in a lot of ways.
I thought we neutralized a really good running back, played some good
defense, were pretty explosive on offense at times and found ways to get in
the end zone. So, we played some
good football against a good team, which is what you want to do late in the
year,” said Lutz.
Quarterback Brayden Roggow threw six TD passes in the win last week.
He has 21 for the season.
Lutz says they did some things on defense that they don’t normally
do in order to contain Perkins running back Collin Nemitz, the leading
rusher in the division. “We
threw a couple of different things at him.
Didn’t blitz a whole lot but had a lot of eyes on him and were
really focused on our perimeter run fits and gaps.
I thought our guys did a great job all week of preparing for it and
then executed at a really high level and had some good results,” he said.
Columbian (5-4,2-2) plays at Norwalk (1-8,0-4) in the Lake Division
on Friday night. The Truckers
gave up 34 points in the first half and lost (41-14) to Clyde last week.
Lutz says they are not looking at Norwalk’s record, but rather the
level of play they see on film. “They
are a good team. The record
doesn’t always speak to the talent a team has, the grit they may have.
That is definitely true with these guys.
Throw the record out the door because they are playing competitive
football against every team they have played.
They can’t execute a couple of things down the stretch.
They had some really untimely turnovers, which are costly against
good teams. They have done some
really good things against good teams,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Sunday evening, “Obviously, we hope they don’t find their stride too
much and do something crazy against us, but we can’t bet on it.
We have to make sure we come ready to play with an edge and a great
attitude and execute at a really high level because they are capable of
being a very good football team. We
expect that with it being an “SBC” Lake game.
So, it’s going to take our best to get the job done.”
Plus, Lutz says they need to build on what they did last week as they
get ready for the playoffs. “You
want to trend in the right direction in what looks to a playoff berth for us
and feeling good about things, but also continuing to sharpen things and get
a little bit better and feel confident about some things you are doing
heading into hopefully what will be a great stretch.
After this it is one game at a time, but we have a lot of work to do
this week to prepare for Norwalk first,” he said. Published 10/18/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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South
Central Needs Win Over Plymouth
South Central, after an upset win over Western Reserve last week,
with another win this week at Plymouth has a chance to make the division VII
playoffs this fall.
Carson Music returned an interception 105 yards on the last play of
the first half and Brandon Mitchell hooked up with Kayden Hauler for a
scoring pass with 6:25 to play to provide the winning points in the (15-14)
win over Western last Friday in Firelands Conference action.
It was their best overall performance of the season, according to
head coach Corey Fickiesen. “Stat
wise you look at the numbers and offensively we didn’t put up great
numbers, but when you talk about a total team performance and grit and some
of those different things you associate with the sport of football it by far
was our best performance. The
kids just continued the battle and continued to fight and we made a couple a
plays when we needed to. That is
a great football team and it is a really well coached football team that we
were able to beat. We were
really happy with our kid’s performance,” said Fickiesen.
Fickiesen says it is great to have a reward if they are able to beat
Plymouth on Friday. “It is
what everyone wants you are ending the season here on week 10.
You have a chance, you win and you are in.
The crazy part of it is it is possible for every team in the
Firelands Conference this year to get into the playoffs, which tells you
about our conference. We
understand it is a big week for that, but it is also a rivalry game for us
against Plymouth. They are a
really good football team, so we are going to have to get ready this week
because we have to go beat another really good football team,” he said.
South Central (3-5,1-4) makes the short trek to Plymouth (4-4,1-4) on
Friday night. Plymouth didn’t
play last week, it would have been their New London week.
Their last game was (43-8) loss to Firelands Conference leader
Crestview.
Fickiesen says the Big Red has an excellent running back in Shae
Sparks, he has 1,038 yards, second in the conference.
He says to beat Plymouth you have to compete in the trenches.
“Well, anyone in the area knows the name Shae Sparks and it’s for
a very good reason because the kid is a great player.
I know him really well. He
is a former South Central kid. He
is a phenomenal player, athletic and fast and does a lot of things.
A lot of the other guys they have go unnoticed that are also really
good players. They play really
well up front. They have a lot
more misdirection this year than they had in the past.
A little more shotgun this year and let their quarterback runs around
a little bit. If you focus a
little too much in on Shae as some people have started to do for the right
reasons they can beat you with some other guys,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Sunday evening, “So, we are just going to need to be really
disciplined. We are going to
have to play really physical and usually that is what is comes down to
against Plymouth. Can you win in
the trenches? Can you play
physical? Can you stop the run
game? So, those are all things
that we are going to have to go through this week.
We have already kind of regrouped and we are focused because it is a
big one for us.” Published 10/18/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Crestview
Stuffs St. Paul; Claims Share
Crestview grabbed no less than a share of the title in the Firelands
Conference by beating Norwalk St. Paul (28-7) in a battle of unbeatens on
Saturday night at Scott Bailey Memorial Field.
Conner Morse rushed for 195 yards on 36 carries for the Cougars, who
beat St. Paul, who has won 21 conference titles in the last 30 years, for
the first time since 2011.
The Cougars (9-0,5-0) win an outright conference title with a win at
Mapleton (3-5,2-3) next Friday. It
would be their first outright title in 10 years.
They shared it last year with St. Paul and Monroeville. Crestview coach
Steve Haverdill says they finally got that monkey off their backs.
“We have had that so called monkey since 2011 and even past that.
Now, with this new turf we proved a point.
We respect them very much, but we are not going to fear them
anymore,” he told Swankpnsports.com after the game, “These kids keep
putting the work in and the coaching staff keeps doing what they are doing.
We are going to put the game plans together.
We are going to have a dogfight with these guys.”
After stuffing St. Paul on a fourth and one at the Flyer 37 with
10:08 to go in the first quarter, Crestview marched down the field and
scored on a Morse one-yard run with 6:01 remaining in the opening quarter.
They added a second score when Morse plunged over from the one on the
first play of the second quarter and they led (14-0) on a crisp night in
northern Richland County.
St. Paul drove inside the Crestview 10 the next time they had, but
were turned away on fourth down on an interception by Cougar linebacker
Brier Godsey.
Getting the ball near midfield with less than a minute to play until
halftime Crestview added another tally when junior quarterback Hayden Kuhn
connected with Adison Reymer for a score with 16 seconds left in the half.
After a Cougar penalty on the extra point, the second try was missed,
and it was (20-0) at the halftime break.
St. Paul coach John Livengood says Crestview was the better team
Saturday night, but he was very proud of the effort and intensity his kids
played with all night. “They
are a good football team, but the thing I want to point out is I am proud of
my kids. They played their butts
off, they didn’t quit, they didn’t give up.
They could have hung their head, but they didn’t do any of that.
We came out on the short end (Saturday) night, but it wasn’t
because the kids didn’t play hard,” said Livengood.
Going into the game it figured to be at battle at the point of attack
and Haverdill says they won up front on both sides of the ball.
“That was huge. That
was the difference in the game. Up
front on offense, up front on defense, that is where they have owned us in
the past. We made a huge effort,
not only in the off season, but throughout the year, to establish a dominate
front. That’s reason we are
9-0,” said Haverdill.
Livengood says Crestview’s advantage in the trenches was the
difference in the game. “They
controlled the line of scrimmage. That’s
the bottom line. I said whoever
controlled the line of scrimmage was going to win the game and they did
that. They are a great football
team. They are solid in every
position, offensive line, defensive line, the running back, their
quarterback does a nice job. They
are solid everywhere, they are a good football team,” he said.
Morse had only one long gainer, a 51-yard sprint in the second
quarter, but he a lot of the five to eight to 10 or 12-yard variety.
Haverdill says he did what he always does.
“He is a champion all of the way.
The line stood up there from him and made those holes and he found
them. He was very good running
the football (Saturday) night,” he said.
Unable to move the ball early the third, St. Paul was forced to punt,
but the ball was snapped over Tyler Perkins head and resulted in a safety.
After the Flyers kick, Crestview pounded it in again on a Morse
3-yard-run and lead became (28-0) Cougars with 6:11 to play in the third
quarter.
St. Paul (7-1,4-1) scored the only TD of the final quarter when
Quincey Crabbs broke at least five tackles and carried a Crestview defender
into the end zone on what was the most impressive individual play of the
night in scoring on a 32-yard run. St.
Paul would get the ball back and drive again to Crestview one, but was
turned away on fourth down with 5:50 to play as the Cougars made the play
that pretty much put it away.
Livengood says they made a lot of good plays, they just couldn’t
string another together. “That
was kind of the story of the night offensively.
We did some good things in different areas, but we had break downs
here and break downs there. Give
Crestview the credit. Coach
Haverdill is doing a great job over there and they have really good talent.
Their kids played hard and they deserved to win,” said Livengood.
Crestview ran for more than 230 yards on the night as a team, but
Kuhn also completed six of seven pass attempts for 77 yards and a score.
Haverdill says he does a great job of doing what they ask him to do.
“That is what he does. He
leads this team. He manages it
very well. Our receivers block
very well in the run game and they can get open in the pass game,” he said
Will Stieber had 106 yards on the ground and Crabbs added 67, but the
Flyers were not able to consistently pick up first downs.
Haverdill credits his defensive coordinator and the new defense he
has installed this year. “When
Lexington let Tim (Scheid) go, I was on the phone with him immediately
because I know what he can do. I
coached with him at Lex. A lot
of people want to say that 3-3 stack can’t stop the run.
Well, I beg to differ. I
knew what it could do and he has done a heck of a job with our defense.
These kids bought in and you can see what it has been doing for
us,” said Haverdill. Published 10/16/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Shelby
Must Contain River Valley Quarterback
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, travels to
River Valley for a conference game on Friday night.
They share first with Clear Fork and will host the Colts next week.
Clear Fork plays at home against Marion Harding on Friday night.
Last week, in non-conference play, Shelby turned it over five times
and lost (51-14) to unbeaten West Holmes.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they made a lot of mistakes last week, but
they have learned from them. “We
turned the ball over a lot. We
made a lot of mistakes offensively. Had
some bad breaks defensively. With
that you are not going to be successful.
I thought our kids did a great job of using that film and trying to
be better. We are going to use
that as fuel. We are not going
to look back anymore. We are
just going to keep moving forward from this point.
I thought our kids did that. I
think it helps that we are playing a really good River Valley team with a
lot on the line as far as the “MOAC” and conference championship hopes
and all over that kind of stuff. I
think we did a great job learning from last week.
I also thing we have done a great job putting it behind us and
getting ready for this week,” he said.
Shelby (6-2,4-0) is at River Valley (5-3,2-3) on Friday night.
The Vikings lost (56-40) to Marion Harding last week.
Mahaney says River Valley can hang some points on the board and have
an excellent quarterback. “They
are very talented. I think
Caydin Shidone is one of the best quarterbacks in our conference.
I think he is very good. He
can make all of the throws on the field.
He is good with the screen. They
have kind of built their offense around him and you can see why.
He is a tremendous football player.
I think Karson Lang at receiver is their all-time leading receiver
and he is a really good football player.
They try and get him the ball in different ways and he makes you pay.
They also have a lot of other receivers that are doing a good job,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Like I said, Caydin is a special
quarterback. He does good things
with his feet and he is able to keep his eyes downfield and make a lot of
plays. They are going to put us
in some tough spots and it is going to be a challenge for us.
We like to throw the ball a lot, but we really haven’t played
another team that throws the ball like them, so I think it will be a really
good challenge for us.”
Shelby’s Marshall Shepherd has thrown for 2,912 yards and 34 TD’s,
both league bests. Shidone is
second in both categories with 2,431 yards and 20 scores.
Shidone is also third in the conference in rushing yards with 554
yards and 11 TD’s.
Mahaney says he gets those yards in a number of ways.
“They do a really good job of defining some different formations
with some quarterback counters. Then
going in empty and letting him run. Like
I said, he has really good pocket presence, moves around on his feet and
extends plays. He will take off
when he needs to and he also extends plays and makes throws.
They are going to try and scheme our defense and find ways to run the
football with him and also when plays break down we have to make sure we can
get to him and also stay in coverage. He
is a really good football player, so defensively we have to make sure we do
our assignments to the best of our ability,” said Mahaney. Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Northmor
Plays Talented Centerburg
Northmor, the co-leader in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, hosts
Centerburg on Friday night in a conference game.
They share the lead with Highland and play the Scots next week.
Highland plays East Knox Friday night.
The Golden Knights (8-0,5-0) belted Mt. Gilead (49-16) last Friday.
Coach Scott Armrose says they were able to get the upper hand early.
“It was a fast start again offensively and defensively.
We were able to get up early and keep momentum in our favor all night
long,” he said.
Northmor scored three touchdowns in the first quarter.
Quarterback Marcus Cortez accounted six scores on the night for the
Golden Knights.
Armrose says momentum really jumped on their back in the game.
“When you get yards in big chunks early on that helps tremendously.
They decided to take the ball and we forced a three and out and then
we got yards in big chunks and we just kept that momentum going,” he said.
Northmor had 419 total yards. Mt.
Gilead has 212 on the night.
Centerburg (5-2,3-2) is the defending conference champion and they
are on a three game winning streak after a (26-19) win over Danville last
week.
Armrose says the Trojans can do a lot of things.
“They are a solid football team on both sides of the ball.
They play sound defense. They
have a good mix of big, physical guys up front and good, athletic seed guys
that play behind them. Offensively,
they have a big, strong offensive line.
They are very balanced. They
can run the ball and the can throw the ball,” said Armrose.
A team, like Centerburg, that is so well balanced forces the defense
to make choices, according to Armrose. “There
in a fine line with trying to get after the quarterback and be able to get
some pass rush, but at the same time trying to control the line of scrimmage
and stop the run,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “A team that
is balanced like Centerburg and can do both very well puts you in a bind
defensively. You just have to
play fundamental football and hopefully you can put them in definite passing
situations and we can get after them.” Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Colonel
Crawford Needs Focus
Colonel Crawford, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference
race, plays host to the Bucyrus Redmen in a conference game on Friday night.
They trail Carey by a game will need the Blue Devils to lose to
either Wynford or Buckeye Central to have a chance at sharing the conference
title.
They smoked Buckeye (76-0) last week.
Coach Ryan Teglovic says they were able to keep their focus despite
the lopsided score. “I told
our kids afterwards I thought they were really business like in what they
did. Sometimes you will go out
there and you will score a bunch of points and you will have a lopsided game
and that kind of thing, but you come away feeling like you didn’t do
things very well and we weren’t very focused and that kind of a thing.
We came out of that game feeling like we played well and continued to
get better offensively and defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday afternoon, “We didn’t turn the ball over.
Offensively, we had very few penalties.
Defensively, we only gave up eight yards rushing.
Our special teams were locked in.
We were ten for ten in extra points, just a variety of different
things that pointed to the fact that we have a lot of points on the
scoreboard here, but are we playing pretty solid football?
I thought our guys just did a good job staying business like.”
Colonel Crawford (7-1,4-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Bucyrus (2-6,1-4)
on Friday night. The Redmen lost
(27-0) to Mohawk last week.
Teglovic says it has kind of been the best of times and the worst of
times for the Redmen this year. “They
have been kind of different team at different times.
I think the Seneca East game is one that scares me the most.
That game is like 13-13 with three minutes left in the first half.
Seneca East puts one on late in the second quarter there right before
halftime to go up by a touchdown and they go onto roll and win.
That shows the kind of things they can do when they put things
together. Against Wynford they
played very well, hard, very tough, and Wynford scored about four or five
touchdowns in a five minute stretch and just put the thing away and quickly.
Their quarterback is a nice player, especially for a young kid,”
said Teglovic.
On defense in specific, again, Bucyrus has shown flashes of what they
can do. “If you look at the
Northmor game if you go back to non-league stuff.
They played very well defensively against Northmor.
The (Bryant) Phiefer kid is a good linebacker doing a very nice job
there. They have one of their
guys in the back end that has 75 tackles and they are playing pretty well.
There is a guy up front that is in the league numbers as far as sacks
and tackles for loss. So, they
have got some guys over there on defense that can cause you some problems.
It’s a game where we have to come out and execute well, especially
in the first quarter. It seems
like our guys are locked in this week and hopefully they will do that,” he
said. Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Perkins
Must Win to Have a Chance
Sandusky Perkins, a game back in the Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference, plays at Tiffin Columbian in a division game on Friday
night.
They trail Bellevue by a game in the standings and they must win to
have a chance at earning a piece of the division title.
Last week, tied 7-7 when lighting struck early in the third quarter,
the Pirates exploded and beat Norwalk (35-7) in a division game.
Coach Jalen Santoro says they were able to make some adjustments.
“The lightning delay, that was the first we have that this year.
We have been fortunate to have pretty good weather throughout the
year this year. We came out
there and we started to move the ball there.
We traded possessions there. We
punted after three and outs. The
second time we got the ball we got to the 35 and that’s when the lightning
struck,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We went in the
locker room. We had to set there
and wait a little bit. We got
back out there and made some slight adjustments and we went out and executed
and we were able to do what we wanted running the football there in the
second half. We took control
there and got Collin Nemitz going a little bit and we never looked back from
that point.”
Nemitz ran for 301 yards and four scores.
He leads the Lake Division with 1,530 yards rushing and 17 scores.
Perkins (6-2,2-1) plays at Tiffin Columbian (4-4,1-2) on Friday
night. The Tornadoes lost
(41-12) to division leading Bellevue last week.
Santoro says they are athletic and they are good.
“They have athletes all over the field.
You name the position and they have athletes out there.
They are well coached. They
are fast. They sling the ball
around. They present numerous
amounts of challenges to prepare for. 4-4
doesn’t jump out at you, but they are a very good football team,” he
said.
Columbian leads the division total offense and passing offense and
they feature two quarterbacks that play equally in Brayden Roggowand Logan
Beaston.
Santoro says they both are excellent signal callers.
“The thing with those two is it’s not like one is a heavy runner.
They are both very good at what they do.
They are both taller kids. It
presents a different challenge because they do some minuet things
differently, but all and all they are somewhat similar players and they both
do what they do very well. They
both throw the ball. They both
see the field really well. They
are very good with their timing. They
are both good quarterbacks. There
is not much difference that we have to prepare for.
They both present problems that your secondary has to be ready
for,” said Santoro. Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Western
Reserve Faces Athletic South Central
Western Reserve heads for Greenwich to play the South Central Trojans
in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.
Right now, the Roughriders (6-2,3-2) stand eighth in division VI,
region 22. The top eight teams
get a home playoff game and the result of this game could impact the
seeding.
They made some big plays late to edge Monroeville (21-20) last week
in a conference game.
Coach Ty Stevenson says they made some big plays when they had to in
order to get the win. “I have
been really proud of them with the way they have battled and continued to
play all year long. We score to
get to 19 and then we had to go for two and we got that two point
conversion, which gave us 21 that forced their hand a little bit,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday morning, “They were able to score and they
went for two for the win, which I thought was the absolute right call.
We were fortunate to get a hand on the pass and happy to come away
with a “W” Friday night.”
South Central (2-5,0-4) lost last week to Mapleton (34-20) in a
conference game.
They are one of the conference leaders in total offense this season
and Stevenson says they are explosive. “Well,
I think their record is deceiving. I
think they have a lot of athletes. Their
quarterback has thrown for about a million yards this year.
All five of their skilled guys can break it anytime, a couple of guys
that don’t even start for them. They
are very athletic on the edge and they have some big kids up front, so it
will be a great challenge for us,” he said.
It is a contrast in styles with Western a physical running team and
South Central a wide open passing team.
Stevenson says they have to control the big plays.
“There is no secret that we want to run the football and no secret
that they want to throw it around. We
have to make sure that we can take care of some of those big plays that they
are really good at getting it the Music kid and Adams and Hollar and Beverly
and Blair and Grace, they have a bunch of athletes.
The quarterback will run the quarterback draw too.
So, they have a bunch of athletes over there that we have to keep in
check and hope for the best,” said Stevenson. Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Lexington
Ready for Some Football
Lexington plays its final Ohio Cardinal Conference game of the season
Friday night as they travel to Madison to meet the rival Rams.
They are coming off a heartbreaking loss (36-34) to Ashland in
“OCC” action last week. Ashland
scored twice in the last two minutes recovering an onside kick that led to
the winning score, which came on fourth down.
Coach Taylor Gerhardt says it’s a game that causes you to go over
and over things in your mind. “When
you come out and play and fight that hard and things collapse as quickly as
they did it one of those things that you are always going to look back on
and wonder what we could have done differently, what could have happened
differently, but it just ended up to be a perfect storm for Ashland to
recover and unfortunately it lost us the game,” he said.
Gerhardt says the kids have been focused this week in practice.
He says there has been no feeling sorry for themselves.
“I really, really am so proud of our kid’s resiliency.
Saturday was a tough day. You
have a bunch of kids that giving everything they have and they didn’t come
out with what I thought they deserved, but what I told them was the game of
football and the game of life is never fair and you have to be able to get
yourself up off the ground and dust your knees off and you just have to go
back to work sometimes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday,
“That’s what we have done this week and these kids have responded.
They have great spirit. They
have great drive and character and I am proud to be their coach.
In short, we have had a good week of practice.”
Lexington (2-6,1-4) plats at Madison (0-6,0-4) on Friday night.
The Rams lost (21-13) to Mt. Vernon in a conference game last week.
Gerhardt says Madison has not given up on its season.
“When we exchange film with teams tapes come back of the season and
they have certainly improved. They
are running a new scheme over there this year as well and that is a tough
thing to do. They have some good
coaches over there. They have
kids that are fighting every single week.
You see that on film. They
are looking at this as their game and we are looking at this as our game.
I believe we are going to go into this contest and it is going to be
a donnybrook,” said Gerhardt. Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Norwalk
Plays Balanced Clyde
Norwalk looks to play spoiler as they as they travel to Clyde to face
the Fliers in a Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday
night.
The Truckers lost (35-7) to Perkins in a division game last week.
Coach Todd Fox says they competed, but they game got away from them
late. “We had a lightning
delay there midway through the third quarter and it was tied up 7-7.
We made adjustments, they made adjustments.
Their back a couple plays in scored a big one on us and they stopped
us and then they scored on another big one.
The score ended up being 35-7. It
was one those things where we had to try and make some quick scores up.
That’s what happens in good football games,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We were in a good football game late
in the third quarter. Not happy
that we didn’t finish it. A
testimony to our guys with what has happened through the year to us it was
not like they packed it up. It
was a good football game and they tacked on a late touchdown to make it a
little worse. Our guys have been
fighting and that’s all we can ask.”
Norwalk (1-7,0-3) plays at Clyde (6-2,2-1) on Friday night.
The Fliers beat Sandusky (33-14) last week.
They trail Bellevue by a game in the standings and play the Redmen
next week.
Fox says Clyde is balanced with a solid defense and offense and they
spread the ball around a lot on offense.
“Each week we get to wake up on Saturday and let’s turn the next
page. We get to turn the page to
Clyde and they are a very good football team.
Coach (Ryan) Carter always does a great job getting his team around.
We have had some great wars over there between us over the last three
years and we except no different. Offensively,
they are very balanced and talented on both ends.
They lead the league in total defense.
We have our work cut out for us, but we are ready to go to war,”
said Fox.
It is not easy to identity what to try to concentrate on containing
when facing Clyde, Fox says they just have to play fundamental defense.
“You go into games usually defensively and pick your poison,
let’s stop this and make them beat us with this.
Here is a team that can legitimately beat you both ways.
So, we have to be ready to go and play sound, fundamental defensive
football,” he said. Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Buckeye
With Manageable Opponent
Buckeye Central plays at Mohawk on Friday night in a contest in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Last week, the Bucks lost (76-0) to Colonel Crawford, but unlike the
week before, coach Chad Jensen says the effort was there.
“Crawford is a very good team.
We didn’t play very well the week before and we just challenged our
kids to just do the best they could. Don’t
quit, do the best they can and they did.
At halftime we are getting beat 62-0 and I told them that I was proud
of them because I was. They gave
everything they had. We were
under maned at every position, but we were in position to make plays.
They just have really good players.
They can rest kids and most of our kids are playing both ways.
They were fresh and it’s tough situation to be under manded like
that, but I was proud of them. The
kids did the best they could,” said Jensen.
The football field is a classroom too and Jensen says the players are
learning things this fall. “We
talk about life lessons all of the time that football parallels life in a
lot of ways. We talked about
when things get tough what are you going to do?
Are you just going to give up or our you going to keep fighting and
keep battling. The kids did
that. They kept battling and
they kept fighting and they never gave up, they did the best that they
could. That’s all we can ask.
Our kids last week had a great week of practice and the best they
could do in the game and that’s all we could ask from them,” he said.
Buckeye Central (2-6,0-5) is a Mohawk (3-5,2-3) on Friday night.
The Warriors blanked Bucyrus (27-0) last week.
Jensen believes this is a team they can compete with on the field.
“Everything on their offensive side runs through Zaiden Fry.
He is heck of a football player.
He is one of the better players in our league.
They are really quick on both sides of the ball.
They are athletic. They
are well coached. They are not
real big, but they are quick and they play really hard the whole game,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “What’s good about it is we
don’t have these 280 pound kids to deal with like we have the last few
weeks. So, we have kids that are
our size. We will see what
happens. They are a good
football team, but we told our kids that we are finally playing another
division VII team, which we haven’t done for a while.
We will give our best effort and see what happens.” Published 10/15/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Clear
Fork has Red Hot Marion Harding
Clear Fork shares the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title with Shelby
and they play the Whippets next week, but they must first take care of
improving Marion Harding on Friday night.
They were able to build a three score lead last week at Marion
Pleasant, but they had to hang on and win (28-19) over the Spartans.
Coach Dave Carroll says he was concerned going in due to the Spartans
power run game. “I was a
little concerned going into that game. I
even put it on our scouting report on Monday.
Told our kids do not take these guys lightly that they are much
better than what their record shows. They
have played a lot of good football teams.
They hadn’t played any teams that had won only one or two games on
their schedule. The team that
had the least amount of wins on their schedule was Wynford and Wynford has
some losses but it has been pretty good schools, Colonel Crawford and those
guys. So, these guys have some
big backs that can pound it and we hadn’t seen that, not since the Tinora
scrimmage, and we didn’t do a really good job against that at that point
in time,” he said.
Carroll says they lost their focus in the second half and they
allowed Pleasant to get back in the game.
“We came out and the second play of the game we score and then we
score a couple more. It was one
of those deals when it was almost too easy. So,
it is 21-0 and we had some other opportunities that was didn’t do a good
job on in the first half that we could have scored on.
Some guys that were wide open that we didn’t connect with.
I think if we had a couple more of those the ballgame is over, but we
didn’t. We gave them a little
life, they got excited, and them we had the lightning delay at halftime.
We tried to tell them the last time this happened to us last year we
didn’t come out in the second half and play very well, so let’s try and
keep our focus and intensity and we tried, but we came out in the second
half and Pleasant was fired up and we were a little flat,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We threw a pick six, let them
return a kickoff almost for a touchdown that put them in scoring range.
We didn’t do a good job of maintaining that focus and the high
level of play. I told the kids
we are finding ways to win and we are still undefeated in the “MOAC”,
but let’s not let that happen again. The
problem is we don’t have any more 1-6 teams on our schedule, so we have to
play ball now.”
Clear Fork (6-2,4-0) plays host to Marion Harding (5-3,2-2) on Friday
night.
Harding scored five second half touchdowns in beating River Valley
(56-40) last week.
Carroll says the Presidents have experience and a lot of athleticism.
“I figured going into this season they would be one of the top
teams in the “MOAC”. The
kids they have on the team have been starting the last two or three years.
You throw up the scouting report from last year and compare it to
this year it is almost identical. You
have a bunch of offensive linemen back, quarterback back, well the tailback
I think is a different kid, a bunch of the receivers are the same and the
same thing on the defensive side of the ball.
So, you have got kids that have been through the battles and are now
seniors for the most part. Now,
they have experienced success in the second part of the season.
They are a good football team. They
are very fast. The quarterback
has a cannon, plus he can run it. He
is very quick. He has thrown for
a ton of yards, I think he has 1,800 yards on the season.
They are a very good football team.
They have some size to go along with their speed,” said Carroll.
On defense, Carroll says Harding will show them a lot of looks and
has the athleticism to make plays on defense.
“They have a lot of the same kids in the secondary that are the
athletes on offense that are running the football or catching the football.
They have good speed back there, so you are not going to just line up
and toast these guys like we have some teams that we have played.
They are just too good of athletes.
They have some nice size up front.
Their linebackers are 190, 200 pounds and they are pretty physical
guys. They have a variety of
kids that they play. If you look
at the whole season, they have played different linemen.
Some of them are quick and athletic, some are big, stronger types, it
just depends on what you give them formation wise what they are going to
throw in there at you. They will
give you different fronts. They
will be in a 4-4 type look if you give them a heavy set.
They will be in a 3-3, a 3-4, and get more secondary people to work
against the pass. They adapt to
what they have face and they do a good job,” said Carroll. Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Bellevue
Plays For Share
A win over Sandusky at home Friday night gives the Bellevue Redmen no
less than a share of the title in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference, the toughest football league in North Central Ohio.
They put themselves in that position with a convincing (42-12) win
over a good Tiffin Columbian squad last week.
Coach Ed Nasonti says they were fundamental and they tackled very
well against the athletic Tornadoes. “We
knew going into the game that Tiffin had some weapons.
They play the two quarterback system.
They have some outstanding guys on the perimeter.
Kids they had coming back from a final four team.
So, we knew going in that they had the potential to be a very
dangerous team. I am really
proud of our kids. I thought we
were really solid on both sides of the ball.
We didn’t turn the ball over. We
contained their big play capability. We
tackled in space and we did all of the things that us are supposed to do
against a good football team and we came out with a nice win.
When you look back on it, it was a really nice win and a gratifying
win on the road,” he said.
Bellevue has gotten off to some good starts this season, but Nasonti
says they focus more on consistent play for four quarters.
“I know last week we started the game off with a nice kickoff
return, we got it up to the 50 and the first play will popped 50 yards for a
touchdown. Now, we got called
back, but we ended up scoring on the drive.
I think our kids are ready to go mentally and physically.
I think we as coaches work really hard to put together a good game
plan. I think our kids practice
well during the week. When you
put all of those things together it adds up to a pretty good performance.
We don’t really think about what we have done in the first quarter.
We just take it one play at a time and one series at a time until we
get to 48 minutes. If you take
care of all of the business at the end of the game, we are all going to be
happy about it,” said Nasonti.
Bellevue (7-1,3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays host to Sandusky (3-5,1-2), who lost
(33-14) to Clyde last week.
Nasonti says they must contain the Blue Streaks big play capability.
“When you look at Sandusky, coach (Mike) Franklin has been there a
number of years. His son has
been the starting quarterback for three years.
He is a very dangerous guy. He
throws a good ball. He is
dangerous when he gets outside of the pocket.
They have some nice running backs with good speed.
They have some big linemen on both sides of the ball.
They have the potential to be a scary team if you allow them.
When we are preparing for them and in our scouting report.
When we talk to the kids during practice.
We are talking about, let’s do a good job on defense, let’s
tackle in space, let’s take good pursuit angles, let’s make them execute
the going down the field,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening,
“I think this may be like the third team in a row that we have played that
have been big play teams. When
you play big play teams you have to make them play lefthanded.
You have to make them earn their way down the field.
In my experience in the 31 years being a head football coach it takes
a good high school football team to execute down the field with nine, 10, 11
play drives, those kinds of things. What
happens a lot of times is they shoot themselves in the foot with an offsides,
you might be able to get a sack on them, they might have another penalty,
they might throw a pick, they might put the ball on the ground.
So, all of those kinds of things weight into that.” Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Conference
Lead at Stake for Ashland
Ashland has a big opportunity this week as they host West Holmes in
an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
They trail the Knights by a game in the conference standings and a
win puts them in a share of first.
The Arrows (3-5,3-1) scored twice in the final two minutes last week
to rally and beat Lexington (36-34) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Sean Seder says their kids never gave up and made big plays in
the end. “For all intents and
purposes, we probably shouldn’t have come back and won that game, two and
half minutes down two scores. Credit
to our kids for not quitting and fighting.
That is something we talked about pregame was to give us everything
they had for 48 minutes and they did. We
had some great plays offensively and then on special teams getting the on
side, which is always tough to do and scoring with 20 seconds left to put
the game away,” he said.
West Holmes (8-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, demolished Shelby (51-14) in a
non-conference game last week, forcing five turnovers in the process.
Seder says they are just tremendously talented.
“They are a really solid football team this year.
Of course, with the addition of their running back Sam
Williams-Dixon, the kid can play. It
is crazy to thing he is only a sophomore because he is going to be a special
player for them. He is back
there at running back and they have him at corner and safety.
He is just a really good football player.
Their quarterback (Noah Clark) can sling it.
They have got a number of receivers that can make big plays on
you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Their secondary is really
good. They are able to get
pressure with their front three. Last
week, they beat a really good Shelby team that only had one loss at that
point. They really took it to
Shelby. They are really good on
defense and really good on offense.”
West Holmes can strike quickly and Seder says they can’t allow that
if they are going to win the game. “They
definitely have the big play ability. That
is a metric that we always focus on, the explosives.
We have to limit the explosives and make them drive the field for us
to have a chance at an upset against them because of how good they are on
both sides. We need to limit
their points and make it a low scoring affair.
They have the ability to make a big play on any given play.
That is kind of a challenge for our defense this week to really make
them earn it and drive the field,” said Seder. Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Carey
Want to Create Chaos
Carey clinches a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title
with a win at home against Wynford on Friday night.
They lead Colonel Crawford by a game.
Ironically, Wynford has won more “N10” football titles than any
other school.
Carey hammered a pretty good Seneca East team last week (49-0) in
conference play, holding the Tigers to only 100 yards rushing.
Coach Jonathan Mershman says they were outstanding on defense.
“I thought we played really well on the defensive end to hold them
to zero points. The gave us kind
of scare in the third quarter, they drove down, but we had a nice goal line
stand and then we drove it out of there.
I thought for the most part defensively we played really well,”
said Mershman.
Carey (7-1,5-0) hosts Wynford (4-4,3-2) on Friday night.
The Royals are coming off a (47-20) win at home over Upper Sandusky.
Mershman says this is a team that is improving and cannot be taken
lightly. “They have a nice
quarterback who is getting better and better every week.
We looked a little bit at their first film and saw his growth.
Last week, he had four throwing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.
So, I think they are getting better and better.
So, I wouldn’t sleep on the Wynford Royals, that’s for sure,”
he said.
Wynford quarterback Cobey Allen is second in the conference in
passing yards (1,455) and first Td’s (18) this year.
Mershman says they have to make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket
on Friday night. “One of our
mottos is let’s make feeling uncomfortable as comfortable as possible.
So, if that is what we try to do for ourselves,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Basically, we do the opposite for him.
Don’t make him feel comfortable being uncomfortable.
We are going to probably mix things up on him a little bit and try
and make him feel uncomfortable.” Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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East
Knox in a Must Win
East Knox must beat Highland at their place to have any chance to
share in the title of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference this fall.
They trail Highland and Northmor by a game with two conference games
to play.
They beat Fredericktown (49-8) last week to maintain their position.
Coach Cody Reese says they got off to a good start and were able to
build some momentum. “We had a
really good week of practice. We
knew Fredericktown was a good football team, well coached.
We wanted to jump on them early and get ahead from there.
We were able to do that. We
preformed at high level, executed, had a lot of fun, did a lot of things
right. We are just trying to
build off that momentum going into this week with Highland,” he said.
East Knox (6-2,3-1) hosts Highland (6-2,5-0) on Friday night.
The Scots beat Cardington (45-26) last week to maintain their share
of first place in the conference.
Reese says Highland is an outstanding running team.
“Obviously, they have a good back in Nauman, but that starts up
front for them too. Their
offensive line gets after it. They
fire off the ball. They are
really tough up front. They have
a good backfield with (Dane) Nauman and another running back back there with
him that is really good at carrying the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday night, “The quarterback does a really nice job of carrying
out fakes and throwing the ball down field. Offensively,
they are solid across the board. Defensively,
they just get after it. They are
pretty disciplined in the defensive backfield.
Their defensive line loves to cause disruption.
Overall, they are good team and there is a reason they have won five
in a row.”
Nauman has rushed for 1,707 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Reese says against a run team you have to do control first down in
order to put them behind the chains and force them to throw it.
“As an offensive play caller it definitely influences what you do
on second and third down based on the limited success you have on first
down. If you can win those early
downs and put the opposing team behind the chains that what you want to do.
You want to force running teams to pass.
If you can win the early downs, you set yourself up for success,”
he said. Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Hillsdale
Must Get Pressure
Hillsdale makes the trip to Apple Creek to play the Waynedale Golden
Bears in a Wayne County Athletic League game on Friday night.
The Falcons (4-4,3-2) pitched a shutout in beating Smithville (30-0)
last week in league action.
Coach Trevor Cline says the defense was outstanding.
“Our defense played especially well last week against Smithville.
We were able to get a shutout. Whenever
you can do that in football obviously that is a huge night and that’s what
it was for us last Friday. Offensively,
we moved the ball well and did what we needed to do to get us a win.
I was extremely proud of our players last week,” he said.
Waynedale (4-4,3-2) lost to league co-leader Norwayne (56-24) last
week.
Cline says the Bears have vast experience.
“Waynedale is a really good football team.
They have a lot of experience on their team.
They have guys that have multiple years of varsity experience.
So, we know that this game is going to be a really good game.
It is a big game for both teams.
Waynedale has a chance to get over .500 and the same thing for us.
This is basically the battle for third place in the league.
It’s a big weekend for both of us.
There are big playoff points too,” said Cline.
Waynedale also has quarterback Peyton Lemon.
Cline says he is a duel threat kind of guy that makes big plays.
He says they have to get some pressure on him.
“He is phenomenal. We
have gone up against him the last few years.
He does a really nice job of running their offense.
It’s the same thing again this year.
It appears they run a lot of R.P.O.’s, at least from film it looks
like they do that and he does a nice job of reading that,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “He usually makes the correct reads
and that puts your defense in a bind. So,
we have to make sure we do a nice job putting pressure on them, so he
can’t just set back there and pick our defense apart.
If he has time, he throws a really nice football.
It will put our defense in trouble if let him have that time.” Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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South
Central Has to Compete up Front
South Central is at home for Western Reserve in a Firelands
Conference game on Friday in a game very important to their fleeting
postseason hopes.
They have to win to have a chance to make the playoffs.
Last week, they fell (34-20) to Mapleton in a conference game.
Coach Corey Fickiesen says they were not up to the challenge on
either side of the ball. “It
was 14-14 at the half and we felt we missed a couple of opportunities there
in the first half offensively. In
the second half offensively, we just couldn’t put together drives like we
should have. We gave up a lot of
15, 12 play drives where they are running the ball.
We have them on fourth and eight and we jump offside, it’s fourth
and three and we jump offside again. It
was a lot of the little things and that has been the story in a couple of
our losses. In four out of our
five losses we felt like four or five little things here of there could
completely change the outcome of the game,” he told Swankponsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “But, you have to give some credit to Mapleton.
They have some good athletes. Their
offense is hard to defend. They
kept running the ball right at us and we just weren’t able to stop it
enough in the second half where we really needed to to get the ball back and
try to put together some drives. We
have to get some things cleaned up, especially with another team that likes
to run the football.”
South Central (2-5,0-4) hosts Western Reserve (6-2,3-2) on Friday
night. The Roughriders stopped a
two point conversion late and beat Monroeville (21-20) in a conference game
last week.
Fickiesen says Western has a lot of talented skilled players and they
are very good up front. “Ty
(Stevenson) has done a great job there.
They have been in contention for the conference championship the last
couple of years. A lot of that
is because of their guys up front on both sides.
They are really good in the trenches and in order to win conference
games, that’s what you have to be. They
do have a backup quarterback, but he is playing really well.
He throws the ball pretty well to keep you honest, but he also is big
and powerful and runs the ball pretty well.
The (Logan) Wiegel kid is really shifty and fast.
(Jacob) Jerrett we think in one of the best receivers in the area.
He kind of gets unnoticed at times, but very athletic and makes
difficult catches all of the time,” said Stevenson.
Jude Muenz stared the season as the Roughriders quarterback, but got
hurt in a week four loss to Crestview. He
has played the last two weeks in a limited role at receiver.
Fickiesen says he will impact the game.
“We expect (Jude) Muenz to be on the field.
The kid is a competitor. We
think one of the top players in the area just overall no matter where you
put him. He will obviously be a
factor somewhere it doesn’t really matter.
They are as good as advertised. So,
we are going to have to play really well in all three phases of the game,”
he said. Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Fredericktown
Needs to Get Healthy
Fredericktown visits Cardington for a Knox Morrow Athletic Conference
game on Friday night.
It’s a chance for the Freddies (3-5,1-4) to improve their playoff
position. Right now, they rank
17th in division VI, region 23.
The top 16 make the postseason.
They were blasted last week by East Knox (49-8) in a “KMAC” game.
Coach William Hartley says they are going through some injury issues
and last week their intensity wasn’t there.
“We have found ourselves the last couple of weeks in a bad injury
situation. We had a couple of
kids that were home sick and then we had a couple of kids that were injured.
So, we were really short handed, which is very frustrating.
You go in those types of games and you feel like you have one shoe
on. You coach up the kids
throughout the week and you hope those kids that are replacing your starters
are able to step up. We were
just really deficient last week and it showed on the field.
We came out and were flat and the effort wasn’t there either and
that was disappointing. Overall,
just not a very good outing for us,” said Hartley.
Cardington (1-6,0-4) comes in after a (45-26) loss to conference
co-leader Highland last week.
Hartley says this is a team that believes in analytics of modern day
football and will be very aggressive in their play calling.
“You have two teams that are kind of searching.
They have struggled a little bit here in the league.
They have been in a lot of close games and things just haven’t
fallen their way. I feel they
have this game circled as one they feel they can compete and win.
Going over there it is always a hostile environment and I don’t
think that will be any different on Friday.
They have a really nice quarterback.
He is a big strong kid that can hurt you in the running game and the
passing game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They
have played really solid defense pretty consistently throughout the year and
they do some very unorthodox things on special teams.
They will go for it deep in their own side of the field.
They will go for it in punting situations.
They never kick the ball for a PAT, they always go for two.
About three out of four times they will onside kick the ball as well.
So, we really have to be heads up and we can’t allow them to use
that as an advantage and hopefully we will be able to gain something in
special teams in the area of the kicking game and be prepared for all of the
things that they do that are unorthodox and unpredictable.”
Fredericktown is getting a little healthier and Hartley hopes that
helps in all aspects of the team. “Like
I said, the last couple of weeks we have had a lot of injuries and I don’t
think it lands itself to consistency. We
are starting to get kids back and healthy and hopefully that will transition
to a more consistent team on the field, both offensively and defensively and
special teams as well. We have
had some breakdowns in special teams. When
you get kids hurt and you are moving kids around to fill positions on
offense and defense and then you are shuffling kids around on special teams
as well to fill on your special teams. That
is not a really good recipe to be successful.
Hopefully, getting some kids back and being healthy will bring more
ability to all three units,” said Hartley. Published 10/14/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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St.
Paul plays Crestview in Title Game
Norwalk St. Paul travels to Crestview on Saturday night to meet the
Cougars in the unofficial Firelands Conference title game.
The two teams are unbeaten in the league and share first place coming
into the game.
St. Paul would have played New London last week, but the Wildcats
aren’t playing 11-man football and the Flyers took the week off.
Coach John Livengood says it was certainly different to have an off
week. “It definitely felt
different. As it turned out it
ended up being alright. We
practiced last week throughout the week through Thursday.
We gave the kids Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off.
Friday night we were going out scouting, but it was weird to leave
school and not be heading to football practice.
So, it was a little bit different, but we adjusted and it was good
for our kids to get off their feet a little bit.
We have a few bumps and bruises that we are trying to heal up.
All and all we used it to our benefit,” he said.
Norwalk St. Paul (7-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Crestview (8-0,4-0), #2
in our poll, on Saturday night. The
Cougars roughed up Plymouth (43-8) last Friday in their first game on their
new turf field.
Livengood says the Cougars are well disciplined and have a tremendous
running back. “Conner Morse,
he is the best back in the Firelands Conference by far.
He has extremely quick feet, accelerates in the hole, great vision.
He is just as good as a defensive player.
He is playing behind that MIC linebacker on defense and he makes a
lot of tackles for them. He does
a great job running to the football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “Overall, what you look at it is a team with great discipline.
They do things very, very well and they play hard every down no
matter who they are playing or when they are playing during the game.
They play hard every down and they play with discipline and they run
a good system. A really good
football team top to bottom.”
Livengood says they need to put Crestview in down and distance
situations when they have to pass. “When
you are on offense, you always want to pass on your terms.
That’s our philosophy and I think they share that same type of
philosophy. We want to win on
first down and even second down to put them in a position where they have to
throw and that can work in our advantage.
Containing their run is going to be a big part of the game plan.
It is also very important to us to play great special teams and
controlling that line of scrimmage is going to be very important this
week,” said Livengood.
St. Paul has won 21 Firelands Conference titles in Livengood’s 31
years at the school and he says they look forward to games like Saturday.
“That is what we tell the kids.
Every team in Ohio starts out the first day of practice talking a
conference championship and that type of thing.
Fortunately, here we are week nine and we are playing a meaningful
game like this for a conference championship.
That’s what you work for to put yourselves in good position and
hopefully you come out successful,” he said. Published 10/13/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Clyde
Takes on Dangerous Norwalk
Clyde, in second place a game behind Bellevue in the Lake Division of
the Sandusky Bay Conference, plays host to the Norwalk Truckers in a
division game on Friday night.
They were one of the schools last week that had to come back Saturday
afternoon and finish their game, which had been delayed the night before by
lightning.
They beat Sandusky (33-14) in a division game.
Coach Ryan Carter feels they handled the situation very well.
“Honestly, that is my first experience with that.
I played a lot on Saturday when I was in college, but that was the
first high school game that I have had to come back and play.
We have done that before at Clyde High School, but not when I was
coaching. It was really a
different experience for us. We
tried to take as much information form Friday night as we possibly could as
a staff. Piece it together,”
he told Swakonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We had our kids in early the
next morning to really try and make as many adjustments as we could.
I really felt we went back and played well on Saturday.
We got off to a good start our first drive that we had the ball
coming out after half. We drove
down and scored a touchdown. It
was just something that was different for our kids to play in the afternoon,
but I thought they responded really well.”
Clyde (6-2,2-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, is at home for Norwalk (1-7,0-3) who was beaten
by Perkins (35-7) last week.
Carter says they expect a tough game against the Truckers.
“Their record is not indictive of how they have played.
They have played a very tough schedule.
They have played a lot of very good football teams very close.
So, we are not looking at it like it is a week where we can get
healthy or anything like that. We
are looking at it like we are going to have to scratch and claw to get a win
because coach Fox’s teams traditionally get better as the season goes. You
can tell from watching their kids play they have not quit playing.
Their coaching staff does a great job of keeping their kids
motivated. So, we have to play
well and we know that going in,” said Carter.
Norwalk’s offense has been hampered by turnovers and the like this
season. Carter says their
defense has played a lot of very good offenses very well this year.
“We think that their defense is the highlight of their team.
They do a great job defensively.
Their kids really come off the ball.
They are always in the right spot.
They make you earn everything. They
have some capability offensively, but their defense really gets after you.
We have our hands full on both sides of the ball,” he said. Published 10/13/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Wooster
Plays Tradition Rich Massillon
Wooster plays at Massillon against one of the most historic high
school football programs in the state on Friday night in non-conference
play.
It was not a good second half of the Generals last week.
Trailing by only four at the break they were shutout in the second
half and lost (44-16) to Mansfield Senior in Ohio Cardinal Conference
action.
Coach Austin Holter says they didn’t execute the way you need to do
to beat good teams. “Last
week, I was really proud of our guy’s effort.
Late in the first quarter and into the second quarter we fought back
and played so well. We came out
flat in the second half. At the
end of the day, we had some turnovers offensively, couldn’t convert on a
big fourth down, and defensively gave up some big plays.
Playing a physical, fast team like Mansfield, you have to come out
and play your best football and we didn’t do so and it resulted in us
taking the loss here at home on senior day.
So, certainly a disappointing day for our seniors, for our program,
and definitely didn’t play our best football.
We are back to work this week trying to continue to get better and
trying to make sure we put a better product out there this Friday,” said
Holter.
Wooster (4-4) at Massillon (6-2) on Friday night.
The Tigers traveled to the Buffalo are to beat Canisius (23-13) last
Friday.
Holter says they know what they are up against in playing a school
like Massillon. “This is one
of the top teams in our region. I
believe they have won four consecutive regional championships.
This is a very good, very competitive, division II, football program.
So, a great opportunity for our football program to kind of bench
mark where we are at and where we inspire to go.
We are playing against a very physical and tuff football team.
They run the ball extremely successfully,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Defensively, I think their defensive line
is very talented. They get off
the football, they use their hands well.
They have great athletes in space that can cover one on one.
They are going to be a tough task for us.
For us it is going to be a matter of focusing on ourselves and
getting better and putting together our best brand of football.”
Holter says one of the keys for them is mental.
He says they have to treat this like it is any other game.
“You watch the film sometimes and you just notice teams make
unwarranted mistakes whether that is a botched snap, you watch one of the
games we had on film and they snapped the ball through the end zone for a
safety. Odd things like that
happen. I think some of that
comes from the Massillon name. We
keep talking to our kids, listen their players are the same age that we are
and they do the exact same stuff during the day that we do.
We have to come out and play football.
We have to execute our game plan that our coaches are putting
together and they are doing a great job of doing so.
It is another game that we have to come out and inspire to play and
focus on playing our best football,” said Holter. Published 10/13/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Ontario
Must be Physical
Ontario takes on Marion Pleasant at home at Copeland Field on Friday
night in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.
The Warriors (2-6,0-4) lost (7-6) to Galion in a conference game last
week.
Coach Chris Miller says it was frustrating because they were so close
to being successful. “It was
heartbreaking. I mean we had
opportunities to win the football game.
I thought offensively we had a nice game on the ground.
We just couldn’t punch it in when it mattered in the first half.
We had the ball inside the five a couple of times.
An errant field goal attempt and we didn’t kick it the second time
because we were a little nervous about the miss or the exchange on the first
one. Then it came back and got
us on the extra point. That was
not the reason we lost the football game.
We had opportunities to score the ball in the end zone and
couldn’t,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I thought
defensively we played pretty well. We
gave up a couple of big plays in the second half.
One of those was a big run for a touchdown, but outside of that
defensively we played pretty physical football.
It was just a tale of two cities.
Some weeks we play really well on that side of the ball, other weeks
don’t. Hopefully, we can put
two weeks together defensively. If
we had the same kind of output offensively as we did last week, we would be
happy with that. It’s just
punching the ball in the end zone when we get those opportunities.
It was a close football game. We
asked to be in the game in the fourth quarter and we were.
We just couldn’t come out on top.
Hopefully, we can change our luck this week.”
Ontario hosts Pleasant (1-7,1-3) in a “MOAC” game on Friday
night. The Spartans lost (28-19)
to Clear Fork, the conference co-leader, last week.
Miller says this a team that is big and physical and like to run the
football. “I think they are a
good football team. They are big
and physical. They move the ball
on the ground really well. They
have 1,500 yards on the ground for the year.
One of the better rushing teams in the league.
They don’t throw the ball a ton.
When they do, they have some efficiencies.
They set that up nicely. If
you look at their losses. They
non-league schedule was extremely tough with Wynford, North Union, Whitehall
and Canfield, that’s a tough go. They
have played some of the better teams in the league so far.
They are a really good 1-7 football team,” said Miller.
To have success on Friday night, Miller says they have to be just as
physical as Pleasant. “We have
to match that physicality this week in the box because they have a nice, big
tailback and they are just going to run it at us.
Defensively, they just kind of do what they do.
They line up in that odd front and take that same physical approach
to the box and say we are here, try and move us and they do a pretty nice
job of that is the box,” he said. Published 10/13/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Seneca
East Wants to get Back to Running it
Seneca East heads for Upper Sandusky for a game against the Rams in
Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.
They need a win to have any chance to share the “N10” title and
also secure a home game in the first round of the division VI playoffs.
Right now, the Tigers stand 11th in region 22.
The top eight get a first round home game.
Last week, they were buried (49-0) by “N10” leader Carey who
leads Colonel Crawford by one and Seneca East and Wynford by two games.
Coach Ed Phillips says the Blue Devils are outstanding and they also
didn’t help themselves. “They
are really good. They are very
experienced, very big and physical. We
played really well for the first quarter and a half and it was 7-0.
Then we turned the ball over a couple of times and it just kind of
snowballed in the wrong direction there for us,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday, “We did some good things against them, like I said, especially
at the beginning. They have some
big backs. We tackled really
well to start off. When we
turned the ball over it really went south for us.
Onward and upward.”
Seneca East (5-3,3-2) plays at Upper Sandusky (3-5,2-3) on Friday
night. Wynford beat the Rams
(47-20) last week.
Upper leads the “N10” in passing yards.
Phillips says they have a lot of options.
“They sling it around and they throw it down field a lot.
They have some good guys catching the ball.
They have some smaller, quicker guys, who are really good in the
slot. They have some size out at
the split. You have to put some
pressure on the quarterback and be really good in your coverage because they
are going to attack you,” said Phillips.
Last week, the Tigers, a run first team, only rushed for 100 yards
against Carey. Phillips says
they have to get back to what they are good at doing.
“We want to run the football and that is kind of our M.O. this
year. We run the ball pretty
well and we have a variety of guys that can do it in different ways.
So, that is no secret that we want to come out and do that to control
the line of scrimmage and keep their guys off the field,” he said. Published 10/13/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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First
Down Crucial for Madison
Madison entertains longtime rival Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Friday night.
The Rams (0-6,0-3) improved their play last week, but still lost
(21-13) to Mt. Vernon in an “OCC” game.
Coach Dave Stupka says they made a comeback, but ran out of time.
“It was still a loss, but a much better performance.
We really had a period of time in the third quarter where we let Mt.
Vernon take control of the game. We
gave them some opportunities and to their credit they took charge.
We played a nice fourth quarter, but we ran out of time. We got their
lead to one score and just couldn’t get it done there in the end.
It was encouraging that we played better, everything was better, but
still disappointing that we didn’t come away with a “W”,” he said.
Lexington (2-6,1-4) lost a heartbreaker last week when Ashland scored
twice on last two minutes to beat them (36-34) in “OCC” action.
Stupka says the Minutemen have an outstanding running game.
“I’m not exactly sure what their record is, but they are a very
good football team. They have
had some tough breaks. They are
really affective in terms of running the ball.
I’m impressed with their offensive line.
They have three running back that are pretty good.
The quarterback does a nice job in the play action pass game.
He throws the ball well and can move,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “That is definitely a concern of ours is their offense.
Defensively, they are always very sound and run to the ball and all
of that kind of stuff. So,
it’s a rivalry game, both teams will be ready to play and we are looking
forward to it.”
Stupka says both Lexington and the Rams are run based teams and a key
for their defense is to put the Minutemen in long down and distance
situations. “The two teams
that will be paying here on Friday night, both of us use the tight end quite
a bit, which is unusual in today’s football.
It is the first team that we have seen all year that uses a tight end
considerably more than 50 percent of the time.
Most teams don’t even use a tight end anymore.
When we get into trouble is when we get in second and 12, second and
14. That is what we have to try
and do to them is get them into those long yardage situations to take them
out of what they do best, which is running the ball,” said Stupka. Published 10/13/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Fairless
Can Win it
Fairless can earn no less than a share of the title in the
Principal’s Athletic Conference with a win at Wooster Triway on Friday
night.
They lead Triway and Akron Manchester by game going into this week.
They beat Manchester (41-40) in a shootout last week.
They are unbeaten on the season (8-0,5-0) and coach A.J. Sarbaugh
says they have had great leadership and the kids are comfortable in the
system they are in. “I think
we have had really good senior leadership and we have a lot of experience
back. Last year, we had a
winning record, which was only the third time since 2000 and a lot of those
kids are back. They have worked
really hard this off season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “It’s my fourth year, so we really haven’t changed a whole
lot offensively or defensively, so I think our kids are comfortable and they
play really fast in what they do and their really enjoy just playing
together. I think those things
right there have been a huge part of our success this year.”
Triway (5-1,4-1) beat Northwest (42-26) last week to remain a game
back.
Sarbaugh says they must contain Titans quarterback Zach Miller.
“They have a very good quarterback.
He is a three year starter, three sport athlete, definitely a leader
of their team. He can run or
throw. I think their kids really
rally behind him and they go as he goes,” he said.
Sarbaugh adds they must make Miller uncomfortable in the pocket.
“We want to pressure him, we want to drop a lot of people, we want
to give him different looks, so he is uncomfortable in the pocket and he
doesn’t know what coverage we are in.
So, there are a lot of different ways that you can do that, but we
don’t want him to be comfortable where he knows where he wants to throw
the ball,” he said.
It is huge game for both teams, but Sarbaugh says they can’t
approach this game any differently than they have all year.
“We have preached with our kids that we just want to get better
every day. We want our focus to
remain on Fairless because regardless of who we play it is about us and our
preparation, how hard we play, and the discipline that we play with.
If we take care of Fairless and play well on offense, defense and
special teams, not a lot of penalties and don’t turn the ball over then we
think we will put ourselves in a position to be successful,” said Sarbaugh. Published 10/13/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Lucas
Returns Against Fort Loramie
Lucas gets back on the field this week after not playing on week
eight of the season as they host Fort Loramie on Friday night at Bob Wine
Field.
Hilltop, a winless team, canceled their game with Lucas last week and
the Cubs were unable to find a suitable opponent.
Coach Scott Spitler says they could not find an opponent of their
liking and felt considering the circumstances that it would be best to take
the week off. “It is not
ideal. I think that maybe there
are some benefits that if you are banged up that maybe you can get some
health back and get some legs back under you.
Getting out of the routine is not always a good thing.
We got to Wednesday evening and didn’t have any luck in finding
anybody or being in a suitable situation.
We just felt with the late week and everything it just kind of forced
our hand to make the decision to go ahead and take the bye rather than put
our kids in a short prep at the end of the week if you could even find
somebody. There were several
places that we contacted that weren’t interested in getting together, so
it kind of forced our hand. We
just felt at the end of the time there on Wednesday that for the health and
safety of our team that is what we had to do.
So, we started preparing for Fort Loramie and try and get our guys
ready,” said Spitler.
Fort Loramie, making the trip from Shelby County in southwest Ohio,
is a school, according to Spitler, that faces many of the same scheduling
challenges as do the Cubs. “They
are a quality program that is independent, so they are in a lot of the same
situations that we are. When you
have success, it is not always easy to find games.
After week three most of schools are in their league schedule, so
that makes it tougher. They have
been in a situation like us that they travel all over the state to get games
and they are generally playing up and playing great competition.
So, it is kind of a victim of your own success type situation.
They have a very good football team, very good football program and
they play a tough schedule just like we do,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday evening, “They have lost three games by a total of four points this
season because of that type of schedule.
One week because of a cancelation they end up playing a D-2 school
out of Indiana. Last week, they
played up and played division II Sidney in a late schedule because of a
cancelation. So, they have
experienced a lot of the same things that we have experienced.
They have a great football team and they going to be a handful this
week.”
Lucas (6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the
small school division, faces Fort Loramie (3-5), coming off a (24-14) over
Sidney last week, on Friday night.
Spitler says the Redskins have a very potent passing attack.
“Their size and athleticism. They
have a wide receiver that is about 6’4”.
I believe he broke all of their single season receiving record just
last week, as far as single game, season, yards, catches.
They have a duel threat quarterback that just stresses you in the run
game as well as throwing. They
have a big tight end. This is
probably the most dangerous passing attack that we have seen this season.
It is a matchup problem because of how tall and the length that they
have at the wide receiver and tight end position.
They do a nice job of establishing the run game and not allowing you
to just focus on their pass game. They
have size up front and they get after you defensively too,” he said. Published 10/12/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Tygers
Try to Keep Momentum
Mansfield Senior, fresh off a big win over Wooster last week, plays
at Mt. Vernon in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, the Tygers (6-2,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, hammered Wooster (44-16),
outscoring the Generals (24-0) in the second half.
They need Ashland to beat West Holmes this week to move into a share
of the conference lead.
Assistant coach Sean Adams says they were outstanding in every way.
“It was a great effort by all of the coaches, the offensive guys,
the defensive guys, and the kids executed the game plan flawlessly.
We went over there to take care of business and that is exactly what
we did. It was a hard hitting
affair on both sides. Their guys
never quit. I really like that
#14, he is tough than nails that Wooster has.
It was a fun night, but we are looking forward to a chance to play
Mt. Vernon,” he said.
Mt. Vernon (2-6,1-3) edged Madison (21-13) last Friday in an
“OCC” game.
Adams says this is an old fashion kind of football team.
“It is always fun playing Mt. Vernon.
It reminds me of the old days. They
get in that wing-T and they pull both guards and they block down, block
down, kick out, wrap around and it just kind of fun to watch them play
football. I really like #44
Jonny Askew. He is a very
talented young man. The
quarterback I think can throw well and he is able to run.
Defensively, they always put pressure on you with that front four and
make you do things that you don’t want to do.
So, I don’t think their record is not really indictive of how good
they are and they are always well coached and they are always very
physical,” said Adams.
Adams says they are going to have to know where Askew is at all times
because he is a gamebreaker. “Last
week against Wooster they did a nice job of putting #2 in the backfield.
It is not necessarily to get him the ball every single time.
It just makes you think about something you are not supposed to think
about and they use that little, I call it, eye candy to try and get you off
your keys. Mt. Vernon does the
same thing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They motion
him, they put him in different positions, they send him deep, they put him
at running back. I really like
him as a defensive player. He
comes right up there and he just knocks you silly.
He tackles good. He is
physical. I just think he is a
great kid. He is going to have
our attention there is no doubt. We
are going to have to play tough, disciplined football against a very tough,
physical Mt. Vernon team.” Published 10/12/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Columbian
Meets Talented Perkins
Tiffin Columbian, though not mathematically eliminated from the Lake
Division race, is likely looking toward the division III playoffs, as they
host Perkins in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Friday
night.
Right now, they are seventh in division III, region 10 and would host
a playoff game if they can maintain or improve that spot.
Last week, the Tornadoes (4-4,1-2) were blown out by division leading
Bellevue (42-12) on Friday night.
Coach Judd Lutz says they got handled in trenches.
“Loved the effort of our kids for the most part.
Just didn’t execute really well.
We were the nail, sadly, many times when we needed to be the hammer.
They were big and physical up front and imposed their will in a lot
of ways. We did not handle that
well and need to moving forward. The
score got out of hand a little bit because we were trying to win the
game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “When we kick
onside kicks or go for it on fourth down when you are backed up to give
yourself a chance to maybe to cut the deficit and get into the game a little
bit and it can get away from you really quick by giving them a short field
and some easy touchdowns late. They
are a great team, taking nothing away from them whatsoever.
I did tell our kids put the score on me but take to heart the loss
and we need to respond a little better going forward.”
Lutz says they have to refocus and be ready to play a very good
Perkins team. “We have no time
to wipe our tears and blow our noses because a really good Perkins team is
coming to town with a tremendous running back and good offense and defense.
Coach (Jalen) Santoro is doing a good job in his short time there, so
they ae going to be hungry. They
are 6-2 for a reason and really good. So,
we have to have a great week of preparation to get ready for them,” said
Lutz.
Perkins (6-2,2-1) belted Norwalk (35-7) last week.
Collin Nemitz is the leading rusher in the Lake Division.
He ran for 301 yards and four TD’s last week against Norwalk and
has 1,530 yards and 17 scores for the season.
Lutz says he has sprinter’s speed.
“He can really move and really run.
He has shown the ability to break some tackles and make some moves on
the second level to get free and obviously, not a lot of people are catching
him from behind. We have to
contain him for sure in order to have success on defense.
We have to play really good,” he said. Published 10/12/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Galion
Still Fixing Itself
The Galion Tigers host one of the best small school teams in the
state this week as they play the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbirds in
non-conference action.
They broke a three game losing streak last week by beating Ontario
(7-6) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.
Gabe Ivy’s TD run was the Tigers only score.
Coach Matt Dick says they are still shooting themselves in the foot
on offense. “We struggled a
little bit offensively. The
defense battled. Sometimes they
let them drive a little bit. But we hung tough when it got close down at the
goal line, which is kind of what our defense has done all year long.
We just couldn’t get it clicking on offense.
Bad snaps, holding penalties, missed assignments, just need to work
on grading that side of the ball up. There
have been some bright spots, but it just hasn’t clicked quite yet,” he
said.
Dick says this season has been a process for the Tigers.
They keep showing glimpses of how good they can be, but they aren’t
consistent. “It seems like for
some reason, we fix one thing and something else breaks.
It is frustrating as a coach and frustrating as a team and even the
fans, I think, are frustrated, hopefully sooner of later they are going to
see what it is like when it all works. I
think we can be something special on that side of the ball and it will
really change the whole momentum of the game, but I need all five linemen to
play well on the same night, I need the center-QB exchange to be good, and
we need make sure we don’t have holding penalties that put us in second
and 25. If we can do that it
would really be fun to see a defense stop us because it really hasn’t
happened all year. I think we
have enough talent. It is just
execution and we are going to keep working on it, but Lima Central Catholic,
they are a different animal,” said Dick.
LCC (7-1) is coming off a (37-20) win over Licking Valley.
Dick says they will spread the field with the very good athletes on
offense and get a lot people in the box on defense.
“They are good on offense and defense.
They just have a lot of talent. They
are well coached. Some of the
stuff they do when they stretch you is a little like Clear Fork, but on the
same note they have some athletes like Shelby.
It is a tall task for our defense this week for sure.
Defensively, I really like how they put a lot of pressure on the
offense. It feels like it is
suffocating. You see some big
plays, but it kind of reminds me of the old 5-2 defenses Clear Fork used to
play, where it is just all up in your grill.
If you can’t penetrate and get through that initial front wall it
makes for a hard night. Our kids
are going to have to play well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday,
“At the same note, when you play a good team, you get to prove how good
you are. I think our team has
been dying to prove how good we are. For
some reason we always seem to play at the level of the team we are playing.
So, hopefully, this week we are going to play at Lima Central
Catholic’s level and we are going to have our best game of the year and
find a way to win it in the fourth.” Published 10/12/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Wynford
Meets “N10” Leading Carey
Wynford will be on the road on Friday night to tangle with the Carey
Blue Devils, the leaders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
A win would give a tremendous boost to their playoff hopes in
division V. They currently stand
13th, the top 16 make it this year.
The Royals (4-4,3-2) broke a two game losing streak with a (47-20)
win over Upper Sandusky in conference action last week.
Coach Gabe Helbert says they showed some resiliency.
“It was an important game in our season last week.
Their offense posed a lot of problems because they are dangerous and
have good talent on that side of the ball.
I thought we played a relatively complete game.
I think our film showed that are kids executed pretty decent for the
most part. I was very proud of
the resiliency to bounce back. The
week before we had a tough loss and maybe didn’t play our best football in
that loss. It was good to see
the kids come out on their last home game and play with that enthusiasm,
energy and effort,” said Helbert.
Quarterback Cobey Allen has four TD passes against Upper.
Carey (7-1,5-0) destroyed a pretty good Seneca East team (49-0) last
week.
Helbert says they are deep in the trenches and very athletic in the
skilled positions. “They are
good in all phases of the game. Every
sing phase they are extremely impressive down to the kicker who can put it
in the end zone on almost every kickoff.
That kind of tells you how deep and talented they are.
Their offensive line is extremely impressive, they are very physical.
They take a lot of pride in playing very physical.
Their defensive line, which is an entirely different group of kids,
is also very physical. They are
able to platoon both sides of their front, which posses a problem in small
school high school football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
afternoon, “Their skill is very talented.
Their quarterback is a very impressive kid.
He was very good last year and again this year.
Skill wise, their backs are really good, they run hard.
They do a lot of good things, they gave a lot of good football
players and they are well coached. So,
put those things together and it creates a tremendous challenge for of
football program.”
Carey ran for 400 yards last week against Seneca East.
Helbert says they have to slow down the Carey momentum by stuffing
that run game. “Especially
with the style of football that they play.
They want to run the ball first and foremost.
They have a heavy tendency to run the ball, not that they can’t
throw it, but they want to run and they have the people to do it.
So, you want to try and take them out of their rhythm a little bit in
regard to that. They do such a
good job in controlling the line of scrimmage and being physical up front it
is hard to control that run. They
come downhill on you with so much violence,” he said. Published 10/12/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Norwayne
with a Different Challenge Against Chippewa
Norwayne, the co-leader in the Wayne County Athletic League, plays on
the road at Chippewa on in a league game on Friday night.
They outscored Waynedale (56-24) last week to maintain their share of
first with Dalton, who they play next week.
Coach Adam Indorf says they won up front.
“I thought we played really well offensively and controlled the
line of scrimmage. We racked up
some yards and had two 150-yard rushers.
That’s a good night,” he said.
Indorf says the Bobcat line takes it personal and they want to pave
the way for their backs. “Controlling
the line of scrimmage they take pride in that.
They really want to do that. It
was a good night for our offensive line.
Defensive line much of the same.
They were getting pressure sometimes, but Waynedale has a solid
quarterback and solid receiver and they were able to pass a little bit on us
and rack up 24 points,” said Indorf.
Norwayne (6-2,5-0) plays over at Chippewa (4-3,2-2) on Friday night.
The Chips beat Rittman (34-0) in league play last week.
Quarterback Christian Moyer had 230 yards rushing and two TD’s.
Indorf says Chippewa has some good athletes and they go about things
a little differently than a lot of teams.
“They are an athletic team. They
have a solid quarterback in Christian Moyer.
They do some things schematically that are a little abnormal.
They overload one side, they put two receivers on the ball out wide.
They will get in an unbalanced formation and things like that.
Those are things we just have to be aware of and picking that up and
addressing that with everybody defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday evening, “They have a 3-4 kind of look and that changes our
blocking schematically a little bit. We
have to be solid all week in understanding where we need to be and how we
are blocking those things. Just
communication this week and working on improving ourselves again.” Published 10/12/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Highland
Controlling Line of Scrimmage
Highland, the co-leader in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, plays
at East Knox in an important game for both on Friday night.
The Bulldogs trail Highland and Northmor by a game in the conference
standings and must have a win to have any chance at sharing the conference
title.
The Fighting Scots have put together a five game winning streak since
entering conference play and coach Ty Stover says they have been focused and
working hard during practice and games.
“The first reason is we have great kids.
The kids work hard every day. It
always helps when you can run the football and play defense and that seems
to be what we are doing best right now,” he said.
Sophomore running back Dane Nauman has 1,797 and 18 TD’s this
season and they have been punishing defenses with the run game.
Stover says sometimes they have actually scored too quickly.
“We have been lucky to have a wonderful sophomore back.
He has 1,800 yards right now. It
does help us take some time off the clock, but if you talk to our defensive
coordinator, he is saying we are scoring too fast.
It is kind of a double edged sword when our offensive line is
handling business in the box and we get one for 50 and then the defense has
to come right back on the field. So,
things are good when those are our issues,” said Stover.
Highland (6-2,5-0) beat Cardington (45-26) last week in a conference
game. East Knox (6-2,3-1)
responded to a loss to Northmor (24-7) to hammer Fredericktown (49-8) on
week eight.
Stover says the Bulldog’s spread offense is difficult to stop and
they have an outstanding defensive lineman too.
“They are senior heavy. They
have a wonderful quarterback in the (Peyton) Lester kid.
They have two receivers that really push you on the edge and then a
back that is just strong. So,
their spread offense is going to be a challenge.
Then up front defensively, #72 for them really gets after it,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “So, our kids have a big challenge.
East Knox has had a wonderful program there the last several years
under coach (Cody) Reese. We are
going to go up to Howard there and Friday night and see what we can do.” Published 10/12/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Crestview
Has to Sustain Blocks
Crestview hosts Norwalk St. Paul in what amounts to the Firelands
Conference championship game on Saturday night at Scott Bailey Memorial
Field.
Both are unbeaten on the season and these are the kind of games that
football teams and football fans look forward to with eager anticipation.
The Cougars and the Flyers are both high in their computer region as
well. Crestview is second in
division VI, region 22 and St. Paul is first in division VII, region 25.
The winner Saturday night will in all likelihood stand first in their
region. Although, Crestview’s
path to number one is less certain as first place Archbold plays Wauseon
(6-2), who is division IV.
In the first game on turf on their field last Friday, the Cougars
dispatched of Plymouth (43-8) in a conference game.
Coach Steve Haverdill says they played well.
“It was great to open that up and get a win against one of our
rivals. The kids played well in
all three phases of the game. It
was nice to get a running clock for that first game on turf as well,” he
said.
Crestview (8-0,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the small school division, is at home for Norwalk St. Paul
(7-0,4-0), #1 in our poll. Crestview
has not beaten St. Paul since 2011.
Haverdill says the Flyers are consistent in what they do and they
have been doing it for a longtime. “They
do what they do. They are very
good up front on both sides of the ball.
They are very physical, they tackle well, they are very disciplined,
very well coached, and they have been that way for 30 some years.
That is why they have kind of dominated our conference.
We have our hands full. We
have to play an A-plus game to beat these guys,” said Haverdill.
The Flyers have won 21 Firelands Conference titles in coach John
Livengood’s 31 years on the job.
St. Paul sprints to the line of scrimmage and they don’t waste any
time calling the play. Haverdill
says communication on defense is key. “They
get out of that huddle and get right up to that line of scrimmage.
So, you have to be quick knowing what you are seeing in front of you.
It is very important that we are communicating on the defensive side
because they do come up so quickly. We
have to make sure we are seeing is what we are seeing and then be able to
react to that,” he said.
Crestview has been very successful running the ball this fall led by
Conner Morse, a 1,000-yard back. Haverdill
says they have to sustain blocks in order to get Morse some room to run.
“We have to make sure know what we are doing up front, staying on
our blocks, sustaining those blocks. They
do a very good job of two gapping and getting off blocks,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “We know that, but we have make sure
we stay on those a create those holes for Conner (Morse) so he can get
through those holes. We know
those big plays are not going to be there as much as they are maybe in other
games. We have to be patient and
not turn the ball over and not have penalties to put us behind the
chains.”
St. Paul also has an outstanding kicker/punter in Tyler Perkins, who
averages almost 45 yards per punt. Haverdill
says Perkins can put them in the hole. “It’s
that third phase of the game where you can put yourself in the lead or help
you in a game situation. They
have a great punter that is going to Iowa State.
We have to be able to move the ball because field position is going
to be pretty tough with the way that kid punts.
If we are able to force those guys to punt.
He has a good leg so can kick deep field goals if need be.
We have to be able to match them on the special teams end as well,”
said Haverdill. Published 10/11/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Ontario
Wants to be Competitive
Ontario has not been competitive in their three “MOAC” losses
this year and they hope to change that trend when they host the Galion
Tigers in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night at Copeland
Field at Ontario High School.
They were pounded (45-7) by Clear Fork in a conference game last
week.
Coach Chris Miller says they have trouble moving it and trouble
stopping the Colts from moving it, not a good combination.
“We lost big. Struggled
moving the football a little bit. Their
defensive line is one of more solid lines that is just playing there and
doing their job and hitting and squeezing.
They have guys flying to the football and that makes it difficult for
us to move it. Defensively, we
just had no answer. We
couldn’t slow that ground game down. I
think it was maybe (28-0) at halftime, maybe it was worse than that.
We couldn’t recover. Gave
the opening kickoff for a touchdown and then the flood gates opened from
there. Just trying to get
better,” he said.
Ontario (2-5,0-3) is at home for Galion (3-4,1-3) on Friday night.
Shelby, who shares the conference lead with Clear Fork, beat the
Tigers (37-7) last week.
Miller says they have to their best to contain Hanif Donaldson, the
“MOAC’s” leading rusher (955 yards) on Friday night.
“I think they are a good football team.
Up front they are huge. Their
two guards are just enormous human beings.
They do a nice job utilizing those guys in their zone schemes and so
forth. Hanif when he gets going,
if he has a day, they are going to put up yardage, hey are going to score
points. He is a very dynamic
player. He is one of the best
athletes in this area right now. They
just create different ways to get him the football,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “They have other guys that can
contribute. It’s not like it
is just a one man show. We
definitely have to be aware of where he is on the field and locate him as an
individual and make them beat us with their left hand.”
Miller says they want the game to be in question until the end of it.
“At this point we are after a competitive football game.
Let’s be in a competitive football game, let’s fight for four
quarters, let’s believe in ourselves, let’s believe we can do this and
go out there and do our job. Unfortunately,
what happens when you get hit with adversities, when things are tough, it is
easy to kind of do your own thing. If
we can just do our job for four quarters, do what we are coached to do and
play hard, let’s be in a football game Friday night at home,” he said. Published 10/08/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Perkins
Can’t Have Turnovers
Sandusky Perkins, a game back in the tough Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference, plays host to Norwalk in a division game on Friday
night.
They lost to first place Bellevue (26-0) last week.
Coach Jalen Santoro says they have too many turnovers to compete with
a good team. “Anytime you turn
the ball over five times in a game it is tough to win.
Their defense did a good job tackling last week, they tackled well in
space. We just made a lot of
mental mistakes that are pretty hard to overcome in a game like that when
you are playing a good team. It
was a situation when a lot of guys were playing in a big game, playing in a
big moment, for the first time. I
just think it was something new for them.
Like I said, they did a good job tackling in space.
The did a good job running the ball.
It comes down to it in a big game like that you can’t afford to
have turnovers, let alone five,” said Santoro.
Santoro feels they did a good job this week in refocusing and getting
ready to play. “I think the
Monday practice that we had was one of the better Mondays that we have had.
We just got done with our Thursday practice and that was a very good
one as well. Guys just getting
back in the groove of things and getting back to what you do well.
Getting the guys mentally prepared to go out and forget about last
week, that is over and done with, there is nothing we can do about it, all
we can do is take care of business and move forward,” he said.
Perkins (5-2,1-1) plays at home against Norwalk (1-6,0-2) on Friday
night. The Truckers fell (26-13)
last week.
Santoro says the Pirates have they have to contain Norwalk
quarterback Plane Flores and reiterates they can’t have turnovers.
“They are a really good team. Their
record does not speak for how well they have played and how well they are
coached. They do a lot of really
good things. They have an
athlete at quarterback. He gets
out of the pocket and moves around a little bit, so it forces you stay home
and be responsible for the quarterback.
They tackle well in space too. It
is not going to be a situation where you allow home run plays left and right
have to make sure they earn it down the field,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Thursday. “When the defense executes you can force a turnover.
For us, that is one thing we can’t do no matter who we play it is
going to be lose the turnover battle. We
have been fortunate to win some games when we have turned it over. Moving
forward with the rest of the Lake schedule and in the playoffs, we have to
make sure we are limiting those turnovers.” Published 10/08/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Trenches
are Key in Carey vs. Seneca East Game
Carey, the outright leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference,
plays a big game Friday night on the road at Seneca East.
The Tigers (5-2,3-1) share second place with Colonel Crawford, a game
behind the Blue Devils.
Over the last three weeks the Blue Devils have outscored their
opponents (170-14), including a (56-0) win over Upper Sandusky last week.
Coach Jonathan Mershman says they continue to do good things.
“Yeah, we are playing pretty good right now in all three phases
Friday night I thought we played pretty well.
We were able to score in all three phases, which was a great night
for us,” he said.
Mershman knows Seneca East will be fired up to play and he says they
have to match that intensity. “We
are going to get their best effort because if they can put us down a loss,
they are tied with us for the lead and they are back with a chance to win a
league championship. They are
going to want to do that, so they are going to be highly motivated going
into this game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We are highly
motivated to stay up at the top by ourselves.
It should be a really good game.
Every time we go to Seneca East it seems like it is going to rain and
I think there is a chance for rain this week as well.”
Seneca East and Carey both have very good run games and Mershman says
this game will be won and lost in the trenches.
“They have two of the leading rushers in the league, number two and
number three, so, yeah, we are going to have to play solid up front in our
front seven on offense and defense. They
have some big boys and we are going to have to try and move those guys
around and do what we want to do. It
is going to be won up front week in and week out like we always try and
do,” said Mershman. Published 10/08/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Madison
Has to be More Consistent
Madison, still in search of its first win of the season, plays at Mt.
Vernon in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
After a couple of pretty good performances, the Rams (0-5,0-3)
didn’t play very well in a (57-21) loss to Marin Harding in non-conference
play last week.
Coach Dave Stupka says they started well again, but things went
quickly downhill. “We started
off really well. We played a
really nice first quarter and then we had a couple of bad things happen and
we didn’t respond to it very well and Marion took advantage of it.
It was disappointing for the team and we knew that after the game, so
it’s on to the next one against Mt. Vernon,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Thursday afternoon, “As we look forward to playing Mt. Vernon in a lot
of aspects we are kind of like mirror images of each other how the season
has gone. At times Mt. Vernon
looks really good and at times we look really good, but a series of plays
will happen that kind of swing the difference in games.
I think both of our clubs have struggled in being consistent in all
three levels of the game.”
Mt. Vernon (1-6,0-3) was blasted by Wooster (39-7) last week in an
“OCC” game.
They have an outstanding player in Jonny Askew and Stupka says they
are going to have to know where he is at all times.
“They place him everywhere and he kind of reminds me a little bit
of the player at West Holmes (Sam Williams-Dixon).
They do some similar things like coach Gardner does with his player.
They line him up in a slot, as a wide receiver, as a tailback, and
they want to get him the ball, which is a good idea because he has that game
breaking speed and he has made a lot of nice plays for them this season,”
he said.
Stupka says for them that have to get ahead in the game and keeping
answering, something they have not been doing.
“Really what we need to do is continue to get off to a good start,
but we have to get two scores ahead of a team.
A very simple goal, but nor easy to do, but can we get two scores
ahead of a team. Be the team
that scores next when a team counters our good start.
That’s where I think we have been lacking.
We haven’t been able to answer the other team when they fought back
against us, so that’s what we have to do this week against Mt. Vernon,”
said Stupka. Published 10/08/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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South
Central Keeps Fighting
South Central is at Mapleton in Firelands Conference play on Friday
night.
Both schools are hoping to generate a late season run that could land
them in the expanded postseason playoffs.
Last week, South Central roughed up by Crestview (56-13) in a
conference game.
Coach Corey Fickiesen says Crestview got the momentum and it turned
into a lopsided contest. “We
knew they were pretty good in a lot of different parts of the game.
Offensively, we felt like we were able to move the ball.
We got a couple of early touchdowns on the board.
I think our second and third or second and fourth drives.
You get down a score or two and it just feels like you have to make
up all of those points in one or two plays instead of just continuing to
take what they give us. When you
do that, you turn the ball back over to them and they are a really tough
team to stop because their run game is affective.
It was a learning experience for our guys.
We are just hoping we can learn from some of those things and get
better and be able to get back after this week,” he said.
South Central (2-4,0-3) is at Mapleton (1-5,0-3) on Friday night.
Mapleton lost (60-38) to Plymouth last week after leading (30-12)
during the first half.
Fickiesen says the Mounties do some very nice things in their running
game and they have to be disciplined. “We
are watching the film and they are three touchdowns up on Plymouth and we
are thinking how in the world did they lose this one?
There we just some unfortunate turnovers and various things that led
to that, but they are a good football team.
They have got athletes all over the place.
That wing-T gives you problems because it looks like guys are running
all over the place. So, if
you’re not disciplined and you don’t read the keys that we have been
working on for our guys to read, like last year, they put up a lot of points
on us because we stopped reading those keys and guys got free,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It has been the same thing since
week two when we saw Northmor, we have to be able to stop the run a little
bit better than what we have done, so we have been working really hard on
that offensively taking what the just taking what the defense gives us,
moving the ball down the field, and scoring when we get into position.
So, our guys have had good focus this week.
It has been a rough month for them, but their focus is good and we
are looking forward to getting to go play football.”
Fickiesen says up front they have to win the one on one battles that
they have not been winning so far this year.
“We have been talking about that quite a bit the last couple of
weeks. Those one on one matchups
we are not winning. Is that
moving people around? Is that
changing a little bit of scheme? We
have looked at a little bit of both of those.
Putting some guys in some different spots to hopefully give them a
better opportunity. But it comes
down to when you are on the field it is time to be ready to go make a play.
So, the guys we are going to put on the field hopefully are going to
be ready to do that whether that is offense, defense or special teams.
We are going to keep fighting. It’s
one week at a time. When you get
to the end of the season there are a bunch of teams that get into the
playoffs and you never know where you will end up.
We are just going to keep fighting and go out Friday night and give
our best effort and we will see what the results are,” said Fickiesen. Published 10/08/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Buckeye
Central More Prepared This Week
Buckeye Central plays longtime rival Colonel Crawford in a Northern
10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
They did not play very well last week at all in a (35-0) loss to
Bucyrus in an “N10” game.
Coach Chad Jensen says it started with a poor practice week.
“It was not a very good effort.
Last week it started on Monday. We
didn’t have a good Monday, we had an even worse Tuesday, little bit better
Wednesday, and an average Thursday. It
was our practice habits that were poor last week.
We talked about when you practice poorly, you are not going to play
well. This week has been the
exact opposite. We have had our
best week of practice this week, so we will see what happens,” he said.
The Bucks season has been hampered by injuries, which hit small
schools particularly hard. However,
Jensen says they are not about to use that as an excuse.
“We have had some injuries, but we are not going to make any
excuses we are going to get the most out of our kids.
We have had some kids that would have been contributors that
haven’t been able to play as much as we would have liked.
What we try to do is put the best 11 we have on field and get the
most out of them. Last week, we
didn’t play well, but this week in practice we have really had a good
week. We know we have a heck of
an opponent coming to town, but our kids had a great week and we will see
what happens,” said Jensen.
Buckeye Central (2-5,0-4) hosts Colonel Crawford (6-1,3-1), #5 in the
Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, on
Friday night. The Eagles beat
Mohawk (42-14) in a conference game last week.
Jensen says Crawford is an outstanding team with athletic kids all
over the place. “Lincoln
Mollenkopf is the best running back, maybe the best player, in the
“N10”. There are a lot of
good players in the league, but he is certainly one of them.
He is a heck of the football player.
So, they feed him the ball and that’s what they want to do,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They can run a little boot and
pass it as well because the quarterback is very accurate.
They can throw it up to Carter Valentine, who’s one of the best
athletes in the league. Offensively,
they are a load. Defensively,
they are just really solid. They
are really well coached. Their
linebackers are good. They are
just really a good football team all of the way around.” Published 10/08/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
For constant score updates Your First Source for All Things Sports |
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Columbian
in Must Win Situation
Tiffin Columbian, a game back in the “SBC” Lake, faces division
leader Bellevue in a home game on Friday night.
With only five games in the division this is a must win for the
Tornadoes.
They lost a heartbreaker (42-39) to Clyde in division play last week.
Coach Judd Lutz says they played well, but not well enough.
“We obviously did some good things, but did enough bad things to
find ourselves in the loss column and have got to improve.
It wasn’t terribly executed game, but we lost to a pretty good
team, who made more plays that we did. Kudos
to Clyde. We have to turn the
page quickly because we have a great team from across town coming at us to
give us their best, so we will be hungry and ready to go,” he said.
Columbian (4-3,1-1) hosts Bellevue (6-1,2-0), #2 in the
Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, on
Friday night. Bellevue blanked
Sandusky Perkins (26-0) last week.
Lutz says Bellevue has playmakers and they are really good in the
trenches. “They are extremely
physical up front. I think their offensive and defensive line in the
heartbeat of their team. They
have a lot of talent up there. They
can get after the passer and stuff the run really well defensively.
Offensively, they don’t miss many assignments and drive you off the
ball. It’s hard to create
negative plays and it is hard to stop them at the line of scrimmage,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They are going to run it
and create an advantage with their quarterback, but they also have a couple
of running backs to give it to with different skills with a little more
speed or a little more physicality. So,
it is going to be a tough out for sure.”
Lutz says they want to force some one on one matchup if they can, but
that’s not easy against Bellevue. “They
don’t play a lot of man to man defense, they play a lot of zone and
don’t want to give up the big play, keep the ball in front of them.
Make you throw into tight windows and drop guys under routes a lot of
times. They are really physical
up front with their defensive line and create a lot of pressure just rushing
those four guys, which creates an advantage because you don’t have to use
guys in coverage. You try and
create matchups with alignment, assignments or wrinkles, but at the same
point you are going to have to win a lot of one on one matchups at some
point to be successful,” said Lutz.
Lutz says there is no beating around the bush, this is a game they
have to win to get a piece of that Lake Division title.
“To have a chance to have a division title and win the conference
we have to win this game. We
can’t lose it and probably have a chance.
That importance is there and also playoff seeding and getting into
the playoffs, a lot of points on the line to put ourselves in a good
situation with a win as well. There
is a lot on the line for sure,” he said. Published 10/07/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Wooster
Plays Big Play Mansfield Senior
Wooster, the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, plays host
to Mansfield Senior in big game in the “OCC” on Friday night.
They both trail West Holmes by a game in the conference standings and
the loser is pretty much eliminated from the conference race.
Wooster whipped Mt. Vernon (39-7) in a conference game last week.
Coach Austin Holter says it was their best performance of the season.
“I thought it was our most complete game to date.
It certainly showed up in all three phases.
I am really proud of our staff and our team in all three of those
phases. In specifically trying
to take away one of their big playmakers.
Jonny Askew is a dynamic athlete from Mt. Vernon.
I thought our defense did a phenomenal job of limiting his touches as
did our special teams unit and really eliminating touches for that
individual on special teams. So,
they did some great stuff there. Offensively,
I thought we really got it going. We
are continuing to develop our run game, which is huge here as we get into
the stretch of the season. Just
proud of all three phases and the direction that we are headed,” said
Holter.
Wooster (4-2,2-1) is at home for Mansfield Senior (5-2,2-1), #5 in
the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, on
Friday night. Senior High
rallied with a late touchdown to beat Ashland (28-24) last week.
Brock Hill threw the game winning pass to Elias Owens.
Holter says Hill is a difference maker.
“This is a physical football team.
They have some terrific athletes.
I think their quarterback is playing really good football right now.
He is a duel threat player. He
can make plays with his legs as well as his arm.
On defense this week, they do some things formationally that we have
to be sound in our alinement. We
have to contain their quarterback,” he told Swankonports.com on Wednesday,
“We have to show him a variety of looks and keep him off balance. He
is a veteran football player with some experience and he is playing some
pretty good football right now. As
a defensive unit, we are going to have to fly to the football, we are going
to have to tackle well and we are going to have to be disciplined in our
assignments.”
Holter says Mansfield Senior will bring some pressure and force them
to make good decisions. “Defensively,
this is a fast and physical unit. They
are going to show you a variety of looks and pressures.
They play with confidence. As
an offensive unit, we have to continue to grow, continue to develop in being
sound up front in our pass protection, being sound in our schemes run game
wise and at the quarterback position we have to execute and eliminate
turnovers. If we do that, we
will put ourselves in a good situation to compete,” he said.
Mansfield Senior’s defense has put the ball in the end zone a
number of times this season and Holter says that they must eliminate
turnovers. “You watch them on
film and they have quite a few plays where they are turning these plays into
points immediately with their defense. A
credit to their players and their staff and what they are doing
schematically. On top of that
they just have some explosive players and playmakers over there.
It has been a point of emphasis for our offense this week we have to
continue to eliminate the turnovers. I
thought we have continued to grow in that area the last couple of weeks.
So, have been very proud of our quarterback play there,” said
Holter. Published 10/07/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Galion
Wants Fast Start
Galion, after three straight losses, travels to Ontario to meet the
Warriors in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
They were only down (22-7) after three quarters but lost (37-7) to
conference co-leader Shelby last week.
Coach Matt Dick says they continue to play well at times in games.
“I thought our kids played with a tremendous amount of heart and
effort. We were in the game the
whole way. I think if we finish
two drives, one at the end of the first half and one, I think, it was the
second drive of the second half, if we finish both of those, we are up going
into the fourth, but we didn’t. I
think that has been a problem of ours all season.
We have struggled to finish stuff and get this offense to click.
I do think we saw a flicker of hope.
We have worked really, really hard to bring that out this week.
We have three more weeks to grow as a team.
I am really excited about where we can get to by the end of the
year,” said Dick.
Dick says Friday night they have to come out and execute right from
the opening kick. “This week
we are really stressing a fast start. Anytime
you have an opponent that you think maybe you can jump on, I think that is
really important that you jump out and score points early.
It really helps momentum and how you call the game.
So, a really fast start is important.
We have to be ready to play in the fourth quarter.
We have struggled all year,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday, “If it is a game in the fourth quarter, we have got to be ready
to finish that game. All year
long, we have gotten into the fourth quarter against some really good teams
and just couldn’t quite find a way to win it.
So, this week hopefully we will have a fast start, but we have to
expect to play four quarters and find a way to win.”
Galion (3-4,1-3) plays at Ontario (2-5,0-3) on Friday night.
Ontario was pounded (45-7) by co-leader Clear Fork last week.
Dick says they must control the Warriors running game.
“They have a nice sophomore running back.
Their offensive line does a nice job.
They are going to pound the ball and shorten the game.
Give your offense less chances to score.
All that stuff they do a nice job of.
They play solid defense. We
just have to make sure we take that running back away.
We have done a good job on defense all year long of taking away what
other teams want to do and hopefully we will continue to,” he said. Published 10/07/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Wynford
has to Turn Things Around
Wynford needs to find some success if they expect to make the
playoffs, something that has been common place for one of the most
successful programs in North Central Ohio.
They lost (27-18) to Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference
game last week. They stand 15th
in their computer region, the top 16 make the post season this year.
They play at home against Upper Sandusky on Friday night in a league
game.
Coach Gabe Helbert says they got beat at the point of attack last
week and could not execute in the red zone.
“They dominated us up front. You
take that domination up front, some of the red zone issues we had turning
the ball over on downs, it is going to lead to a loss and that’s what it
did. Seneca East came out and
had a game plan. They were very
physical up front and it showed. They
controlled the line, they controlled the game from that point,” said
Helbert.
Seneca East ran for 331 yards last week against the Royals, a lot of
that in the second half.
Wynford (3-4,2-2) is at Upper Sandusky (3-4,2-2) on Friday night.
The Rams were roughed up by first place Carey (56-0) last week.
Helbert is impressed by Upper’s sophomore quarterback Kaden Holmam,
who leads the conference in passing yards with 1,715 this year.
“The quarterback jumps off the tape.
He is very good and he is only a sophomore.
He does an excellent job of distributing the football.
They have good receivers to throw to.
They have a lot of talent that returns from their team last year.
They are better, they are an improved football team,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We are going to have to play much better
this week to give ourselves a chance to win.
There are some teams that are very similar in this league.
It is going to come down to who can make plays. Who
can prevent big plays from happening. Who
can protect the football and stuff like that.
We have put ourselves in a position where we are behind the eight
ball a little bit. We expect our
kids to still fight and battle and claw and we want to see that Friday
against a good Upper Sandusky team.”
Wynford has lost two straight, which hasn’t happened very much over
the years. Helbert says they
have to find ways to win. “We
can’t be, it’s woe is me and feel bad for ourselves, Upper Sandusky
doesn’t care about that one bit. We
don’t have time to worry about that. We
have to work to continue to get better every single day and try to do that
throughout our days of practice and preparation.
It’s a position we haven’t been in a lot lately.
We are who we are and that is who we have been.
So, we have to find a way to change that and that is going to come
throughout day to day preparation,” said Helbert. Published 10/07/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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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 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Fredericktown
Plays Balanced East Knox
Fredericktown takes its act to East Knox to challenge the Bulldogs in
a Knox Morrow Athletic Conference game coming up on Friday night.
They lost (41-20) to Highland in a conference game last week.
Coach William Hartley says their defense could not contain the Scots
running game. “We simply could
not handle their running attack. We
hung around for a little bit. With
6:30 left in the second quarter it was a one score game 13-6 and then it
just seemed like the damn broke and they just had big play after big play.
I think they had three drives where it was a one play drive.
They just handed off to their big running back and he hit the edge
and we didn’t have any answer for that.
That really made it a one sided affair.
We had a lot of injuries to key guys.
In the second half we were in survival mode, moving some kids around
and just trying to get through the night,” said Hartley.
Injuries have been an issue for the Freddies all year long.
Fredericktown (3-4,1-3) is at East Knox (5-2,2-1) this week.
The Bulldogs feel from a share of the conference lead after a (24-7)
loss to Northmor on Friday.
Hartley says they have a dangerous pass game and their defense is
tough at the point of attack. “They
are a really balanced team offensively.
They have a really nice quarterback that moves around in the pocket
well. They don’t use him much
in the running game, but he is very mobile.
He keeps plays alive. He
really keeps his head down field. They
have a nice group of receivers that are able to find space, so they really
test you in the back end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
afternoon, “Their defensive line is really active.
They really rock kid’s heads back.
They really establish control of the line of scrimmage.
They have some nice guys playing behind that unit.
So, a really well balanced, disciplined team.
It is going to be another test for us.”
This is Fredericktown’s third straight game against a conference
contender, but Hartley say really every week they are playing a team that is
pretty good. “Week in and week
out it is just a battle in this league.
The league takes a lot of pride in its football.
All of the programs from top to bottom there are a lot of good teams,
a lot of talent in this league this year.
From week to week, it is very tough and you have to be on your
“A” game just to compete,” he said. Published 10/07/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Point
of Attack is Key for Sandusky
Sandusky entertains Clyde in a game in the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
The Blue Streaks (3-4,1-1) stopped a four game losing streak with a
(26-13) win over Norwalk in division play last week.
Coach Mike Franklin says it was a good performance by his kids.
“We played really well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday,
“We got a little soft there at the end, there is no doubt about that.
We talk about those things and we try and shore those things up after
the game. Coming off our losing
streak, we can’t complain about how we played.”
Clyde (5-2,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, held off Tiffin Columbian (42-39) in a Lake
Division game last Friday. Running
back Michael Daniels had 207 yards and three TD’s for the Fliers.
Franklin says Clyde makes you defend a lot of things.
“They are very balanced on offense.
They are going to keep you off balance as far as running and throwing
the football. We have to be
prepared for that. Their
defensive line is very impressive. We
have to be able to move the football and keep the clock on our time,” said
Franklin.
Clyde quarterback Jaden Cook is second in the division in touchdown
passes this season.
Franklin says the game will be won and lost up front.
“You have to be disciplined and you have to be consistent.
So, that is what we have been working on all week going through all
of the sets that they do. It is
really going to come down to the offensive and defensive line and big
plays,” he said. Published 10/07/21 © Swankonsports.com For the latest in local sports Go to the listen line at the top of the page |
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Mansfield
Senior Plays Wooster in Crucial “OCC” Game
Mansfield Senior and Wooster, both a game behind West Holmes in the
Ohio Cardinal Conference, meet on Friday night at Folis Field in Wooster.
The Tygers kept themselves in the conference race with a come from
behind (28-24) win over Ashland last week.
Brock Hill connected Elias Owens for a TD pass with 1:09 left giving
Mansfield Senior its only lead of the game.
Assistant coach Sean Adams says they showed great intestinal
fortitude to get the win. “It was good for our kids to be able to battle
back and fight through a boatload of adversity and conquer adversity and
come out with the win. We had a
couple of young guys really grow up on Friday night, which is good for the
future. Our seniors stayed the
course too. Aveon (Grose) played
well, Myles (Bradley) played well and Brock Hill had a heck of a game.
In big games like that, big time players need to make big time plays
and our guys did,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (5-2,2-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Wooster (4-3,2-1) on
Friday night. The Generals beat
up on Mt. Vernon (39-7) last week. Drew
Becker threw for 304 yards and three TD’s.
Adams says they have a wide variety of weapons.
“From a defensive perspective they have got a lot of weapons.
It seems like Wooster has 15-20 seniors every year and that’s the
same this year. I thought they
graduated a lot of seniors, but here they are again with these guys.
#2 in a great receiver, the quarterback is very accurate with a
strong arm, and then I like #14 and #10 too as wideouts.
They do run the ball and they try and keep you off balance.
It is going to be a formattable task, but we are looking forward to
going over to Wooster and playing another football game,” said Adams.
Adams says Micak McKee at wide receiver is a tremendous player, but
he is not all they have. “He
is one of those players, he is tall, he is rangy, he’s got good speed.
They want to try and get him the ball this year more so than year’s
past. They like to throw the
ball a little more than they run it. He
fits in perfectly with their scheme. He
is going to have our attention no doubt,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday night, “They have other weapons too.
Their offensive line is coming along and their defense is playing
well. It is going to be a real
test for us going over to Wooster this week, but we are up for it and we
look forward to another chance to play a football game.”
Mansfield Senior has not beaten Wooster since 2017.
Adams says this always a hotly contested game.
“That is just the way the “OCC” is.
Everybody is wanting to take a shot at everybody.
I don’t think (former Wooster coach) Doug Haas got enough credit
for what he did. If I remember
correctly there were at least three seasons or four seasons he didn’t lose
an “OCC” game and that is rather impressive.
I know the new coach is trying to do the same things and they have
got things going over there. We
are going to have to go over there and play disciplined Tyger football,”
said Adams. Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Crestview
Charged With Containing Plymouth
Crestview, the co-leader in the Firelands Conference, will be at home
finally, hopefully, to play the Plymouth Big Red in a conference game on
Friday night.
They share the conference lead with Norwalk St. Paul.
The Cougars (7-0,3-0) drilled South Central (56-13) last week in a
conference game. Running back
Conner Morse scored five times.
Coach Steve Haverdill says they put together a good performance last
week. “The kids played well
right from the start. We had
some a couple of communication errors early on and we corrected that and
they played solid the rest of the way in all three phases offense, defense
and special teams, played fast. It
was a good win on the road against a very dangerous team,” he said.
Plymouth (3-4,1-3) had a big second half in downing Mapleton (60-38)
last Friday.
Haverdill says they can be explosive.
“They are dangerous as well, just in a different style than South
Central. They can put up a lot
of points quickly, but more with the run game.
When you fall asleep with that run game they do have #31 that can
hurt you deep in the pass game. So,
they can hit you from both angles and their offense is very potent three is
no doubt about that,’ said Haverdill.
Plymouth runs a combination of a double tight, double wing and a
single wing offense. Haverdill
says their defense has to be solid on their keys.
“It is something you don’t see all of the time.
They still have a little of what they have done the last couple of
years, similar to Lucas. We did
see a little of that with Ottawa Hills earlier this year, but they have
their own wrinkles off of that, such as little spinner stuff,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Things to get your eyes not
focused. They do a nice job
getting to the outside and making big plays.
You start worrying about that they will hit you right up the gut.
If you are trying to load the box for that run, they will hit you
with the deep ball. So, we have
to be very disciplined this week.
Haverdill says it is exciting to get a chance to play at Scott Bailey
Field with its new turf installed. “As
of (Tuesday) we are still on there, hopefully there are no setbacks and we
will be able to open that up Friday night, which will be a great thing for
our community. It’s a
beautiful field, just about done, it will be nice to play there instead of
traveling for home games,” he said. Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Clyde
Takes on Athletic Sandusky
Clyde, a game behind Bellevue in the Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference, plays at Sandusky in a conference game on Friday night.
Last week, they outscored Tiffin Columbian (42-39) in a division game
to keep themselves in the race.
Coach Ryan Carter says it came down to one play.
“I was extremely proud of our kids for bouncing back and the week
we had after that Perkins game. Our
kids really responded and had a great week of practice. We knew it was going
to be a battle every time you play in our league, in our division.
We came out and we really battled, Tiffin is a great team, and I
thought our kids battled the entire night.
It came down to we just made one more defensive play than they did
with a pick six there in the fourth quarter,” he said.
Abe Morrison made hat interception return in the fourth quarter.
Running back Michael Daniels ran for 207 yards and three TD’s.
Clyde (5-2,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, plays at Sandusky (3-4,1-1) a (26-13) winner over
Norwalk last week.
Carter says they are a football team capable of big plays at any
time. “They are a very
dangerous football team. They
have athletes and they have kids all over the field that can score at any
point and time, so we are going to have to run to the football and
definitely be assignment sound. The
Franklin kid is an experienced quarterback.
They have athletes around him,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “They do a multitude of things offensively and same
thing defensively they put athletes out there and they really run to the
football and do a nice job up front. We
have our work cut out for us. It
is a road game for us. We
don’t traditionally play well in Sandusky.
We are going to have to go there ready to play.”
The Blue Steaks haven’t been as consistent as they would liked to
have been this year. They are
last in the division in total offense.
Still, Carter says the potential is there with the kind of athletes
that they have on their roster and they are going to have to win the one on
one plays. “There are times
when we have to make one on one tackles and there are times when we have to
make one on one plays it just the nature of the game anymore where they can
isolate you we are going to have to go up and be good players on the ball
and try to make one on one plays. We
are going to have to do that, it is going to come down to that and some
points and time. We are fully
aware that we have to look at those things this week and hopefully we can
put in a good week of work and get ourselves ready,” said Carter. Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Norwalk
Looks for First Division Win Versus Perkins
Norwalk travels to Sandusky Perkins for a game in the Lake Division
of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
They are coming off another tough loss to Sandusky last week.
The Blue Streaks beat them (26-13) last Friday.
Coach Todd Fox says unfortunately their season has been like a broken
record and it’s like broken disco record.
“It really is the same song, just a different week.
We just get ourselves in a hole.
Make mistakes at the least opportune time an then you fall short of a
comeback. I just keep preaching
to our kids that we have to keep our focus.
Focus on the little things and find ways to win,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Right now, I feel we are finding a
lot of ways to lose a game and we just have to find ways to win.
I am proud of our guys they work hard.
Each week we have been in every game and with a tough schedule.
We try to do things the right way.
If you do things the right way eventually things will work out for
you.”
Norwalk (1-6,0-2) is at Perkins (5-2,1-1) on Friday.
Perkins was blanked by Bellevue (26-0) last week.
Fox says they an improving team with a lot of athletes.
“They are having a great season.
They started on fire. I
expect that they are going to continue that way.
I think that shows what our league is like.
They beat Clyde, Clyde beat Columbian, and Bellevue turns around and
thumps on Perkins last week. Our
league is tough. They are a much
improved football team. Offensive
they are huge threat and defensively they are young.
There are some kids that are going to around for a couple of years.
We just have to play football and do things the right way,” said
Fox.
Perkins running back Collin Nemitz leads the division in rushing this
season with 1,227 yards. He also
have 13 touchdown runs this season.
Fox say he is real breakaway threat.
“One of our coaches said (Tuesday) he is a track superstar on the
football field. Once he hits the
lane, he is tough to stop. We
are focused on that this week trying to slow that down,” he said. Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Northmor
Faces a Different Challenge from Mt. Gilead
Northmor, the co-leader in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, plays
on the road at Mt. Gilead in a conference game on Friday night.
Tied 7-7 at the half last week, they owned the second half in beating
East Knox (24-7) to knock the Bulldogs from a share of the conference lead.
Coach Scott Armrose says they came out with extra fire.
“It didn’t have anything to do with adjustments or anything like
that. We decided we were
going to go out in the second half and play a physical football game and go
out and hit. We decided if we
did that the score would take care of itself and that’s what happened,”
he said.
Armrose says they didn’t change a thing in their game plan.
“They did exactly what we thought that they were going to do.
We only do a few things, so we decided we were going to continue to
do what we were doing in the first half and we are going to do it a little
better. We played a good
physical half of football. We
took care of the ball and played some darn good defense,” said Armrose.
Northmor has never give up more than three scores in a game, and
three times it has been one or less. Armrose
says the defense has been outstanding. “It
starts with pressure up front and the secondary has done a great job too.
We took an explosive East Knox offense and basically held them to one
big play and that’s quite an accomplishment,” he said.
Northmor (7-0,4-0) is at Mt. Gilead (2-5,0-4) on Friday night.
The Indians lost (49-14) to Centerburg last week.
However, Armrose says they have of big play makers.
“They are every bit as athletic as any team we have played this
season. They have speed all
over, a quarterback that can scramble and make plays,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Their defense makes you think a
little bit. They do a lot of
things on defense that are a little different.
It is a little bit unconventional what they do and where they bring
their pressure from, so we have our work cut out for us.” Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Colonel
Crawford Has to be Better
Colonel Crawford, a game back in the race in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference, plays up State Route 602 against longtime rival Buckeye Central
on Friday night in a conference game.
They beat Mohawk (42-14) last week, but coach Ryan Teglovic says,
frankly, they didn’t play very well. “We
did enough good things to win the game and we are grateful for that.
Our guys know we didn’t play our best football.
I didn’t think we were that focused all last week in general.
We have addressed that, talked about that and hopefully things get a
little better this week. I told
our kids on Saturday morning, there is one NFL football team all-time that
went undefeated and played a pretty good game every time they went out on
Sunday afternoon, so you are going to have those on occasion, but you
can’t string too many of them together.
We have to bounce back here and have a good, focused week,” said
Teglovic.
Lincoln Mollenkopf had three TD runs last week.
He has 1,375 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns this season, both
conference highs.
Teglovic says the goal this week in practice is to get better as a
football team. “If you can
focus on the fact that is not even who you play on Friday night.
It’s about yourself. It’s
about you continuing to make the improvement you need to make on Friday
night. That is what we have
always tried to focus in on. We
want to be better and now it is week eight and we want to better than we
were week one, week two, etc. That’s
the focus and hopefully we will get back to that this week,” he said.
Colonel Crawford (6-1,3-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the small school division, is at Buckeye Central (2-5,0-4)
on Friday night. The Bucks lost
(35-0) to Bucyrus last week.
Teglovic says they must be aware of the Bucks passing game and do
their best to control it. “I
like their quarterback the (Derex) Dean kid.
He is a nice player. He
has given them the ability to throw the football a lot better than they have
had in years. He is playing
pretty good football, especially for a sophomore.
He has some guys on the outside that he can throw the football to as
well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have a little bit of
size up front. They played Upper
Sandusky I thought pretty well. They
have had some spots where they have played well.
They have had some injuries and other things too that have hurt them.
We are going to have to slow down their passing game.
We have to play a lot better fundamentally sound football ourselves
this week.” Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Lexington
Still Engaged
Lexington welcomes Ashland to their place for an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game on Friday night.
The Minutemen (2-5,1-3) lost (27-10) to unbeaten West Holmes, the
“OCC” leader on Friday night.
Coach Taylor Gerhardt was proud of their effort, but they came up a
few plays short. “What I ended
up telling the kids was at the and of the day West Holmes made the big plays
ad we just couldn’t. They
played hard and they played nose to nose with those kids and a play here or
a play there things could have been a lot different.
The kids played hard. We
played a much more clean football game.
We are ready to continue to turn that corner,” he said.
Gerhardt returned to the sideline this year and he had a big goal in
mind. “When I came back the
most important part was the to start establishing the culture that I wanted
for this program. I have been
very, very lucky with the coaching staff that has been in lock step with me
with delivering that culture and up holding and modeling that culture and
the kids have bought in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It is
even more impressive because we feel like we could have had some wins here
and there, but we didn’t. The
kids are still on board, they are still showing up, they are still playing
for their brothers and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Ashland (2-5,2-1) lost a heartbreaker last week when Mansfield Senior
score with a minute to play to beat them (28-24) in “OCC” action.
Landon McFredrick threw three TD passes in a losing cause and
Gerhardt says he is hard to contain. “Ashland
is a good football team, they are always a good football team.
Their quarterback can do a lot. He
can hurt you with his arm, he can hurt you with is legs.
That’s a good football team, their record reflects them as it does
us, does not reflect the kind of quality football team that Ashland has.
So, they are going to bringing it and we have to be on top of our
game,’s aid Gerhardt. Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Norwayne
Must Control Waynedale QB
Norwayne, the co-leader of the Wayne County Athletic League, plays
host to Waynedale, a game back in the standings, on Friday night in a league
game.
The Bobcats (5-2,4-0) share first place with Dalton.
They hammered Rittman (56-7) last week.
Coach Adam Indorf says they went out and executed the way they needed
to. “The varsity came in and
did their job and performed as we expected.
A couple little blunders here and there, but not anything earth
shattering, so definitely performed well.
We got some experience for young guys last week.
Now, it’s time to move forward and see how we can improve our
potential this week,” he said.
Waynedale (4-3,3-1) dominated Smithville to the tune of (48-8) in a
league game last Friday.
Indorf says they have impact players.
“They definitely have a solid quarterback and solid receivers and
athletes. If you are not playing
fundamental defense, they can move the ball on you and score.
Defensively, those guys swarm to the ball and defensive linemen are
getting off of the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have
been challenging our young men to get better and to make sure that every rep
that they take in practice every day they are improving themselves and
making sure they are better at the end of every day than they were at the
beginning.”
Waynedale quarterback Peyton Lemon accounted for five scores last
week against Smithville.
Indorf says they are going to have to know where he is at all times.
“He is their guy. He is
their catalysis and their impetus all in one and is really a great athlete.
He definitely has our eye and our attention,” he said. Published 10/06/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Colts
Must Defend Power Run Game
Clear Fork, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, is at
Marion Pleasant against the Spartans on Friday night.
The Colts (5-2,3-0) led (31-0) at halftime and went on to crush
Ontario (45-7) last week in conference play.
Coach Dave Carroll was very happy with his players mental approach
last week. “Sometimes when you
are playing a team that is less experienced than you the kids kind of get a
little giddy or whatever it may be and don’t play well, but our kids came
out and played like they were supposed to.
I told our kids (Monday) night that that was the best game we have
played this year. It doesn’t
have anything to do with who we are playing.
We were doing things correctly, we were hustling, we were doing
things the way you are supposed to,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday,
“Two really ugly picks, interceptions, by our quarterback, I know you
can’t take them out, but if you take them out, the rest of it is really,
really good from the offensive line, defensive line, the secondary played
better. You can just go on and
on and on techniques and doing things they way they are supposed to be done
were improved. That is what we
are looking at as coaches. It is
not always about the opponent and how good they are or not, it is what are
we doing. I was proud of our
kids, we had some really good performances by a lot of kids.”
Pleasant (1-6,0-3) dropped a (49-14) decision to rival River Valley
last week in conference play.
Pleasant has a great football tradition and Carroll says they are
better than their record indicates. “I
told our kids (Monday) night in our scouting report meeting don’t be
fooled by their record because they have played three teams that are 6-1, a
team that is 5-2, the only team that they have played that has a losing
record is 3-4 Wynford and they have been beaten by a couple of really good
teams in Colonel Crawford and Carey, who are having fantastic years.
So, I think they are much better than their record is,” he said.
Pleasant focuses on running the ball and Carroll says they are going
to be hard to stop. He says the
fullback is a very physical runner. “What
concerns me is they have a couple of running backs that are big and they run
incredibly hard. We have faced
some fast kids and we have faced some good passing kids, but we haven’t
faces since our first scrimmage, and it didn’t turn our real well against
Tinora, where they had a big ole fullback, about 225 pounds, and he ran us
over. This #27 from Pleasant
plays nose guard on defense and lines up at fullback and a variety of
positions offensively, and he runs people over,” he told Swankonsports.com,
“We have been pretty good against the run for the most part other than the
Bellevue game and we have a pretty good front, so I feel pretty good about
that. We haven’t played
against a 210 pound back that lowers his shoulders and runs hard.
So, we are going to be tested with that.
You have to hit this kid low or he will run over you.
You better attack and get downhill.”
Carroll adds that Pleasant will come at you with a lot of different
formations, so pre snap reads are going to be important.
“Their coach does a great job.
He has all kinds of formations, shifts and motions to try and out
number you at the point of attack, like a lot of us try to do.
There are some new things that I haven’t seen in all of my years
that this guy is doing that are our kids have to be in tune with and be able
to adapt and adjust on the run. We
have our work cut out for us with this offense that they run.
I guess the good news is they definitely want to run the ball way
more than they want to throw it. I
think our dbs always breath a sigh of relief when you have that kind of a
team, but that’s what we thought against Galion two weeks ago and here
they come out and throw for 300 yards on us.
So, we have to be prepared for everything and anything, but number
one we have to be able to stop that power running game that they have,”
said Carroll. Published 10/05/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Lake
Division Leader Bellevue at Explosive Tiffin
Bellevue, now all alone in first place in the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference, plays at Tiffin Columbian, a game back, in a big
one in the division on Friday night.
Last week, the Redmen (6-1,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, blanked Sandusky Perkins (26-0)
in a division game.
Coach Ed Nasonti says they did a very good job on both sides of the
ball and won the point of attack. “I
was real happy with our kids. They
came focused, they came ready to play. We
had to go up against one of the better backs in northwest Ohio.
He has run all over the place. We
did a good job talking in space that we were concerned about, as we are
every Friday night. I thought
our kids did a nice job playing defense.
We won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
We were able to move the ball and put 26 points on the board and keep
them scoreless. It was a nice
win in the Lake Division. We
know that every Friday night is going to be a battle, so we have to be ready
to go this week,” said Nasonti.
Bellevue is also in first place in its division IV computer region,
but Nasonti says they can still improve.
“We have to continue to get better. We have stressed that each week
with our kids in the way we practice. I
think our kids have had a good, solid attitude towards working and
understanding the value of coming to practice ready to go every day and
focusing on the process of being a good football team.
We are sitting in a pretty good spot right now with three games to
go, but we feel that we can still get better as a team and those are the
kinds of things we are preaching to our kids,” said Nasonti.
Tiffin Columbian (4-3,1-1) lost (42-39) to Clyde in a Lake Division
game last week.
Nasonti says the Tornadoes are a very good team and they respect them
in their ability to play football. “That
was a shootout last week. They
scored 39 points, Clyde scored 42 and it was back and forth.
The game could have went either way as a lot of the games in our
conference can. When you look at
Tiffin Columbian in the preseason, they were a team that went to the final
four last year and they have a significant amount of players back form the
squad a year ago. So, they are
definitely a worthy opponent,” he said.
Brayden Roggow (14) and Logan Beaston (11) have combined to throw 25
touchdown passes this year. They
share the quarterback position for Columbian.
Nasonti says they have to be solid in their defensive schemes.
“We are focusing on the basics and the fundamentals of playing
defense. They each bring a
different quality to the game. They
do some things differently. We
talk to our kids about that, but we have some basic fundamental rules that
we have to follow in our defensive schemes.
We don’t want our kids to over think it.
We know one guy is more of a runner than the other and so on, but
they are both very valuable to their team,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday evening, “They are both outstanding athletes and they both can burn
you of you let them. So, we have
to do a good job on the perimeter. We
have to tackle in space. They
have some really nice skilled guys that if you don’t do a good job they
are going to take it to the house. They
are big play team and they have exploited a few teams this year and we
don’t want to be one of them.” Published 10/05/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Seneca
East Meets “N10” Leading Carey
Seneca East has a great opportunity this week as they host Northern
10 Athletic Conference leader Carey with the chance to move into a share of
first place with the Blue Devils.
The Tigers, along with Colonel Crawford, trail by a game.
Seneca East rallied to beat Wynford (27-18) last week.
Coach Ed Phillips calls it their best performance of the season.
“It was maybe our best game of the year, which is good because this
is the time of the year that you want to play your best football and we put
a lot of things together and beat a good Wynford team at their place and
that makes it even more gratifying,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
evening, “I think we have actually won two in a row at their place, which
is something we are petty proud of as a program.
A good thing to springboard us into this week against Carey.”
They ran for 331 yards last week against Wynford.
Seneca East (5-2,3-1) entertains Carey (6-1,4-0) on Friday night.
The Blue Devils blew out Upper Sandusky (56-0) last week.
Phillips says they are just good all over.
“They are a well rounded team.
They have good linemen and good backs, thy have some big ones and
some fast ones, their quarterback throws the ball well and is really
explosive running the ball. Defensively,
they are sound because for a lot of the same reasons.
They have some size up front and they have speed at the linebacker
and the secondary spots. They
are a pretty well rounded football team,” said Phillips.
He adds they have a lot of experience too.
“This is a good senior class for them and a lot of them played two
years ago. They are battle
tested. That is true,” he
said.
Phillips says a great opportunity is in front of them this week.
“There is a lot of stuff out there.
You win and you put yourself in a tie for first place in the league.
There is no doubt there are a bunch of computer points on the table
there that would do a lot of for you. So,
there is a lot to gain from this one. A
lot to be excited about,” said Phillips. Published 10/05/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Western
Preparing for Monroeville
Western Reserve needs to bounce back as they play at home against the
Monroeville Eagles in a Firelands Conference game on Friday night.
They lost (10-0) to conference co-leader Norwalk St. Paul on Saturday
night, falling two games behind the leaders.
Coach Ty Stevenson says they gave it all they had.
“That rain showed up pretty hard in the first quarter and probably
changed the game a little bit for both teams, but I thought our kids played
extremely hard. We missed some
assignments and had some turnovers here or there, but I thought as far as
effort and the things we did, I was very pleased front that standpoint,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Obviously, we wanted to
get a win, but sometimes the cookie doesn’t fall the way you want it to,
such as things in life as well, so we have to try and come back (Monday) and
play a good Monroeville Eagle football team this Friday night.”
Stevenson says they must look ahead and prepare for Monroeville.
“We talked about being a Saturday night game it is one day short in
rest and recovery. I told the
guys we need to sulk and think about this thing Saturday night and Sunday
but come Monday morning we have to get right back up and be ready to go
because Monroeville is really talented.
The Roeder kid is a three, four year starter and they have some good
kids up front and their other skilled guys are very good as well.
It will be a big challenge and we can’t wait until Wednesday or
Thursday to get back on the beam and ready to go,” said Stevenson.
Western Reserve (5-2,2-2) is at home for Monroeville (3-4,2-1) on
Friday night. The Eagles were
beaten (42-7) by Gibsonburg in a conference game last week.
Stevenson says the key is to not let Monroeville quarterback Isaac
Roeder get big plays. “If you
let Roeder loose, he is going to explode for some really big plays.
Some teams have had a little better success stopping that I guess
than probably the others have. If
you are too much coming up on him and he has some good receivers that he can
throw it to out on the edge. You
have to make sure you tackle #7 and play responsibilities and not let their
counter game hit you too hard,” he said.
Jude Munez was able to play a little at wide receiver against St.
Paul last week. Stevenson says
they will continue to work at getting more healthy here this next couple of
weeks. “We will just take a
week at a time, a day at a time, and the guys that are there and healthy and
ready to play we will put them out there and put them in the best possible
position to win and if they are not ready, then they are not ready and we
will continue to rehab. We have
an excellent athletic trainer here in Madison Myers that does a great job
for us. She is continuing to try
and get these guys back in playing shape,” said Stevenson. Published 10/05/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Ashland
Might Have to Slug it Out Against Lexington
Ashland, coming off its first “OCC” loss of the season last week,
travels to Lexington for an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
It was a tough loss for the Arrows last week as they were beaten in
the final minute by Mansfield Senior (28-24) in an “OCC” contest.
Tyger quarterback Brock Hill found Elias Owens for a scoring pass
with 1:09 left in the game.
Coach Sean Seder says it was a tough loss to take.
“It was a heartbreaker for us.
It was something we felt really good about.
We were playing tough. Had
the lead for 47 minutes and let it slip away in the that last minute against
a really good Mansfield Senior team. It
would have been a very good win for us and our program and would have been
still tied for first. We have to
kind of lick our wounds and regroup going into Lex,” he said.
Seder says their goals are still in front of them.
“Senior High played tight with West Holmes, who is still ahead of
us, and pretty tight with Lexington. We
told the kids we lost to a quality opponent. We
should have won the game. We tip
our hat to them, they made some plays. They
are well coached. We kind of
knew what we were getting into there. After
feeling like you should have won that game, we just can’t have a letdown
going into this week. We really
need to rally because if we take care of our last three games, we will at
least have a tie for the “OCC” and I think the postseason is locked up
too with the points out there with West Holmes and Wooster.
We just have to buckle down and kind of rally the troops and go out
and tack care of business,” said Seder.
Ashland (2-5,2-1) is at Lexington (2-5,1-3) in conference play on
Friday night. The Minutemen are
coming off a (27-10) loss to unbeaten and first place West Holmes.
Seder describes Lexington as a physical team that is very good at
running the football. “I
think they are a really good team, they are well coached.
A tough, physical team, run heavy.
It was 17-10 against West Holmes at the half and they have been
scoring points like crazy, so their defense did a pretty good job.
They have a really good run game and do a good job with their play
action,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “One thing I think will be
an “X” factor for Friday’s game is it is at Lexington and we are
playing on grass, it is supposed to rain all week and it is supposed to rain
Friday. I know they always have
always have a nice field that is well taken care of, but it could be that
old school, smash mouth, kind of a muddy game where it is run oriented,
which plays in their favor, so we have to make sure our defense is ready to
step up and the offense can put some points on the board.” Published 10/05/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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East
Knox has to Bounce Back
East Knox, coming off a loss to Northmor last week, will be at home
from Fredericktown in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference action on Friday
night.
The Bulldogs (5-2,2-1) lost (24-7) to Northmor and fell a game behind
both the Golden Knights and Highland in the conference standings.
Coach Cody Reese says they couldn’t get any momentum in the second
half of the game. “It was 7-7
at halftime. We ended up scoring
on a 41-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down to close out the end of the
first half. It seemed like after
the second half kickoff from that point forward we didn’t do things to
help ourselves out. Things went
against us, but you have to give credit to Northmor as well.
They are a really good football team, well coached,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “The kickoff we end up tripping and
giving them the ball on the five and from there it seemed like it just
snowballed. Like I said Northmor
did a great job defensively and offensively, especially the second half.
They were running the football on us.
We just couldn’t get a stop. So,
you have to give them credit for doing a great job.”
Northmor totaled 250 yards on the ground.
East Knox still has a lot in front of it to accomplish and Reese says
they have to be focused. “It
is what do we need to do to improve? What
can we overcome that we did not overcome last week going into this week?
We have to get back on track. We
still have a lot to play for. We
no longer control our own destiny in the conference.
We didn’t take care of business, but we still have a lot to play
for. We certainly have a goal of
a playoff spot and spot we want to be in.
We aren’t out of the league hunt either.
Like I said, we don’t control own destiny.
All we can do is focus on what we can control and that’s one week
at a time. We have to get our
mentality back right going into this week against a good Fredericktown
football team,” said Reese.
Fredericktown (3-4,1-3) lost (41-20) to Highland last week.
Reese says they must play physical football.
“You can tell on film that they have improved every week.
They are getting better at what they do on both sides of the ball.
They are a very physical team. They
are big up front. We have to
make sure we are prepared on both the mental and physical piece,” he said. Published 10/05/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Hillsdale
Knows What it Has to do
Hillsdale has a focus on the making the division VI football playoffs
this year. It would be their
sixth straight appearance in the postseason.
They host Smithville in a “WCAL” game on Friday night.
Their chances of a piece of the Wayne County Athletic League title
took a hit that week when they lost (41-20) to Dalton, the league co-leader.
The game was tied (14-14) at the half, but coach Trevor Cline says
they didn’t execute as well in the second half.
“Our players played well throughout the game.
We were right with them an tied at halftime and in the second half
our offense stalled a couple of drives.
Anytime you are going up against a good offensive team like Dalton.
When you get a couple of quick three and outs and give the ball back
to them, they are going to make you pay for that and that’s what they did
last week. They are a phenomenal
team. I expect them to make a
run at a “WCAL” title here. I
think they play Norwayne week 10 and I am sure the “WCAL” title is going
to be on the line at that point. It
is going to go to one of those two teams.
I expect Dalton to make a run in the playoffs.
We played well in the first half.
In the second half we just gave their offense too many opportunities
and they capitalized on it,” said Cline.
Hillsdale (3-4,2-2) is at home with Smithville (1-6,0-4) on Friday
night. The Smithies were
hammered by Waynedale (48-8) in a league game last Friday.
Cline says with their wing-T offense it is going to be important to
read their keys on defense. “They
have a new coach there and they are implementing a new offense.
What we have seen on film it looks like they have a physical line up
front and they have multiple athletes who can make plays.
We are going to have to be disciplined against them because they like
to run traps. They run like a
wing-T type of the offense. So,
if we are not disciplined in reading our keys.
Their linemen are going to take us to the football.
We have to make sure we are reading them or we are going to be in for
a long night on defense against them because they do have size.
On the offensive and defensive side of the ball they do have good
sized kids,” he said.
Hillsdale finishes the season with Waynedale and Northwestern and
Cline says three wins to close the regular season will mean a playoff berth
for the Falcons. “We have
talked to our players this week that all three of these next games are
important if we want to get back in the playoffs for the sixed year in a
row. If we win all three of the
games we are going to be back in the playoffs.
All three games are winnable, but all three games are games we could
lose if we don’t take care of business,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday night, “Even though Smithville is 1-6 I feel they are a better team
than that. Waynedale and
Northwestern are also good. If
we take care of business the next three weeks will be back in the playoffs.
We are sitting 14th this week in our region.
Our main focus this week is just playing to our potential and take
care of business against Smithville and then we will worry about the next
two games.” Published 10/05/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Shelby
With Marquee Matchup with West Holmes
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, hosts West
Holmes, the leader of the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night in a much
anticipated contest.
Shelby (6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, beat Galion (37-7) in a “MOAC” game on Friday
night.
Coach Robert Mahaney felt they were solid on defense and improved in
the running game. “I thought
we did a great job defensively to hold them to seven points.
I thought offensively we did a good job of establishing the run game
throughout the middle of the game and through the end of the game we were
able to run the ball. We had 179
yards rushing, which is definitely the must we have had all year.
So, that was good to see. We
still made plays through the air like we have all year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “We had kind of a slow start.
We are still turning the ball over in the red zone, which is
something obviously we have to get better at still.
We did a good job defensively responding, playing 11 guys as a team,
and were able to get a 30 point win over as team as good as Galion and a
player as good as Hanif, I thought we did a good job.”
West Holmes (7-0), #1 in our poll, beat Lexington (27-10) on Friday
night in an “OCC” game.
Mahaney says they are unbeaten for a reason.
“They are just extremely well coached.
They are physical. On
defense, all 11 guys fly around and get to the football and make tackles.
They are just really sound in coverage.
Offensively, They have a lot of different playmakers.
Sam Williams-Dixon, their tailback, is a really good football player,
he is special. They quarterback
is really good, really efficient. Their
fullback-tailback, the other guy that they use, #5, does a good job.
They have receivers that go up and make plays.
All of the way around the board they are well coached.
They have a guy at every position.
There is a reason they are 7-0 and it sticks out in film that they
are pretty darn good,” said Mahaney.
West Holmes quarterback Noah Clark leads the “OCC” in passing
yards and touchdowns and they average 38 points a game, however, Mahaney
says they are excellent on defense too.
“I think their defense is really good.
They have 11 guys that understand the scheme and where they are
supposed to be. They do a good
job of playing team defense. They
do a good job of running to the football and tackle.
You don’t see a lot of yards after the catch against them because
they do a good job in coverage and running to the ball.
They are pretty sure tacklers. Their
defensive line, linebackers and dbs are all good tacklers.
For us offensively, as a team that likes to get yards after the catch
it is going to be a big challenge for us against dbs that are good tacklers,
sure tacklers,” he said.
It is week eight of the season and Mahaney says they need a game like
this right now. “There is a
reason they are 7-0, they are a really good football team.
We have got two big games after this in the “MOAC” with River
Valley and Clear Fork. So, it is
going to be a good test for us. Let
us know where we are and what we need to get better on before those games.
Hopefully, things go the right way with playoffs after that.
It will let us know where we are at and what we need to work on.
In general, when you are playing a 7-0 team, or 6-1, there is going
to be a good atmosphere. I think
Skiles Field will be ready. I
know our kids are going to be excited to play in a game with a lot of eyes
on it,” said Mahaney. Published 10/04/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Mansfield
Senior Must Contain Ashland Offense
It’s a crucial game for both sides as Mansfield Senior hosts
Ashland in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
Ashland shares first place in the conference with West Holmes.
The Tygers trail by a game.
Mansfield Senior (4-2,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, kept themselves in the race with
a (23-14) win over Lexington in “OCC” play last week.
Assistant coach Sean Adams they need to play more consistently for
four quarters. “It was a good
game. I thought for the most
part we controlled the game from start to finish.
Give Lexington credit, they came back late in the fourth quarter and
got a couple of touchdowns. We
all wish we would have not given up those touchdowns, but we did.
I think it has kind of made us realize that we need to be focused for
48 minutes instead of 24,” he said.
Ashland (2-4,2-0) got past Madison (20-7) last Friday.
Adams, as usual, Ashland is difficult to contain when they have the
ball. “It is always a tough
matchup with their offense. They
do so many things and they do so many things well.
It seems like they just keep reloading with these big running backs
and these quarterbacks. I really
like this quarterback that they have now.
I don’t think we played a kid quite like him yet this year that can
extend the play. As somebody
that does the defense that is a nightmare,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday, “I just don’t like kids that can extend the play and then the
ball is in the air and anything can happen.
I just think they are so well versed in their offensive scheme and it
just puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”
Adams says Arrows quarterback Landon McFrederick, who threw three TD
passes against Madison, forces you to make smart, quick decisions on
defense. “He can think on his
feet. I watched the Madison game
again the other night. I looked
at the sticks and it might have been fourth and 16 on the Ashland 25, 30
yard line and Madison brings pressure, he escapes it, is rolling to his
left, throws across his body to a kid sprinting across the field for a
touchdown. The name of the game
is blocking and tackling and when you don’t tackle and you let him escape
bad things happen. So, we have
to contain him. He is going to
get his throws. #21 is a good
receiver and the sophomore running back is good.
We have to play good, sound Tyger football,’ said Adams. Published 10/01/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Big
One Between Bellevue and Perkins
It seems like every game is this way in the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference, but it’s a big one Friday night when Bellevue
travels north to face Perkins.
Both teams won their division openers last week.
Bellevue blanked Norwalk (14-0) and Perkins hung on to beak Clyde
(21-20) last Friday.
A big factor in the
Bellevue win was turnovers. Norwalk
had five.
Bellevue coach Ed Nasonti feels that was a big factor in their win
last week. “Our defense came
up big last week. We had three
interceptions and two fumble recoverees.
I thought our kids ran to the ball well,” he told Swankonsports.com,
“A couple of times we had our backs against the wall and made some big
plays. I was really happy with
our tackling. It was a nice
effort on the defensive side of the ball.”
The Redmen are second in the division in turnover ratio at plus 12.
Nasonti says they take time during practice to work on forcing
turnovers. “We work hard on
ball disruption to try and create turnovers.
I think you see that more than you ever did.
One guy comes in and secure the tackle and the other guy is trying to
strip the ball. All of those
things that we work on with our kids and it makes you feel good as a coach
when you see that stuff getting done,” said Nasonti.
Of course, you have to hang onto the football as well because the
other team is going to try and take it away.
Nasonti says avoiding those turnovers is a key to winning.
“The times that we have struggled over the years is when we have
turned the ball over. We stress
that all of the time with our kids. Hold
on to the ball, that is one way you can get beat, turning it over,” he
said.
Perkins comes into Friday night a minus three in that turnover ratio.
Bellevue (5-1,1-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, is at Perkins (5-1,1-0), #5 in our poll, on
Friday night.
Nasonti knows it will be a battle.
“They are playing good football.
They have some good athletes and they utilize them.
They have played solid football since the beginning of the year.
It will be a typical Lake Division battle, I’m sure of that,” he
said. Published 10/01/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Shelby
Plays Dangerous Galion
Shelby, who shares first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
with Clear Fork, is at home for the Galion Tigers in a conference game on
Friday night.
Last week, they beat Marion Harding (38-12) despite committing four
turnovers in the game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they must do a better job of ball security.
“Obviously, that was a big emphasis for us in practice this week to make
sure we are protecting the football and doing a lot of little things right.
When you are driving the ball into the red zone you have make sure
you can finish it. When you get
inside the five yard line we have to find ways to put the ball in the end
zone not turn the ball over and give the other team extra chances.
I thought we did a good job defensively rallying to the sudden change
and making plays to get off the field. For
us this week taking care of the football and protecting it.
You can’t do anything in football, you can’t score without the
ball. We have to protect it, so
that was a big emphasis this week in practice,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (5-1,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, averages more than 40 points a game.
Marshall Shepherd has thrown for almost 2,500 yards and 30
touchdowns. Andre Hill and
Blaine Bowman are the two leading receivers in the league.
Hanif Donaldson of Galion (3-3,1-2) leads the conference in rushing
with 841 yards and nine scores.
Mahaney says they have to know where Donaldson is at all times.
“I think Galion is a really good football team.
I think they do a lot of things right.
They want to run the football and they do a good job of that.
Hanif Donaldson is one the elite athletes in this area.
Definitely one of the best athletes in the conference.
So, we have to make sure we can find ways to stop him.
They do a good job of lining him up in different positions,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “On top of that, I think their
offensive line is really good. The
quarterback is developing into a really good football player and the other
guys around him are developing too. They
have done a good job defensively of growing every week.”
Galion lost to Clear Fork (36-21) last week, but they threw for more
than 300 yards.
Mahaney says they must defend both the run and pass.
“Coach (Matt) Dick has always had a pretty balanced offense.
They like to run the ball, but they also have the ability to throw
it. I think defensively we have
to be able to defend both. For
us it is going to be find where Hanif is at and how we are going to adjust
and do different things. At the
same time, we have to make sure we are defending the whole field.
Like I said, their offensive line is really good.
It’s up to defensive line and linebackers to get their run stopped
and also our dbs have to be able to cover because they are not afraid to
throw the ball and take some shots.” Said Mahaney.
On defense, Mahaney says Galion will blitz a lot and they have to be
ready to pick that up. “I
think defensively they fly around and get to the football.
They like to bring a lot of pressure, so we have to make sure up
front we are talking and communicating and finding where that pressure is
coming and designing our protection and make sure we can pick it up,” he
said. Published 10/01/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Crestview
Plays Potentially Explosive South Central
Crestview, the Firelands Conference co-leader, is at South Central to
meet the Trojans in a conference game on Friday night.
They share the lead with Norwalk St. Paul, who hosts Western Reserve
on Saturday.
Last week, the Cougars beat Ottawa Hills (35-10) in a non-conference
game. They would have played New
London last week.
Coach Steve Haverdill says they gutted it out for the win.
“It was a little unusual playing a non-conference game in the
middle of your conference season. Ottawa
Hills made the two hour trip and were a very good football team at 4-1 and I
thought our kids played well. We
made some mistakes early on. I
don’t know if it was that midseason hump or whatnot.
We corrected some things there throughout the game and ended up
getting the win, which was a good win against a good program,” said
Haverdill.
Crestview (6-0,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the small school division, plays at South Central (2-3,0-3) on
Friday night. The Trojans lost
(47-46) to Monroeville last week in conference play.
Haverdill says South Central has the ability to score points.
“Their offense is explosive. They
can score points at will, very athletic on the outside and if you sleep on
the run the Beverly kid can hurt you too with the run game.
We have our work cut out for us defensively this week, there no doubt
about it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are getting
better every week defensively you can see them getting their athletes moving
in space a little bit more. We
expect them to try and stop our run game like most teams do.
Hopefully, we can get that going and set up our pass attack as
well.”
Sometimes the best way to slow down a high scoring offense is to keep
them off the field and Haverdill says that is their goal.
“We want to make sure we keep the time of possession in our favor.
That was an advantage we had in playing Western earlier in the year.
We do a pretty good job of that by keeping our offense on the field,
which is another extension of our defense so to say.
We definitely want to keep their offense off the field.
The more times we are out there offensively the better off we are,”
said Haverdill.
Crestview has longtime rival Plymouth next and then St. Paul.
Haverdill says focus this week has not been an issue.
“Our kids have done a great job doing that all year.
They understand how dangerous South Central is and they are better
than what their record states. I
don’t have to worry about those guys this week, their focus has been
really good. We just need to go
out there and do what we’ve done all year and just play Crestview
football,” he said. Published 10/01/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Wynford
Must Contain Seneca East Run Game
Wynford plays at home against Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game on Friday night.
They share second place with Colonel Crawford in the conference
standings a game behind Carey.
It wasn’t so good last week for the Royals (3-3,2-1) as the were
beaten (48-21) by Crawford.
Coach Gabe Helbert says they made too many mistakes against a very
good team. “We were playing a
very good football team in Colonel Crawford that has explosive athletes all
over the field and have the ability to score very quickly.
We had to try and match that and we weren’t able to do that.
They did a nice job of creating the turnover after the onside kick.
We had a great opportunity to cut it to seven before halftime and we
had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty.
We continue to break the rules of the game and get caught doing it
and that’s on us. We need to
clean that up. We had 10
penalties in that game. A lot of
pre snap penalties with lack of focus and discipline.
I have to do a better job from a coaching standpoint.
When you commit 10 penalties and have a touchdown called back, have
two turnovers, it is going to be tough against any team, and it is gong to
be really tough against a really good team like Colonel Crawford,” said
Helbert.
Seneca East (4-2,2-1) lost (20-14) to Mohawk last week when the
Warriors scored with less than a minute to play.
Helbert says these are similar teams and when the Tigers play well
they are very good. “When I
look at them, I see a team that is very similar to us.
They have some very good football players.
They have the ability to score quickly.
They have some talented kids. At
the same point and time, they have had some struggles.
They obviously have a very good record, but they have had some
struggles like we have had. They
have had some things not go their way at times, like the Mohawk game, a
tough way to finish that game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “They have done a great job there for a longtime.
Coach (Ed) Phillips does an excellent job and has built a winning
tradition. Their back is good.
He can hit home runs all over the field.
The quarterback is a very hard runner, a versatile athlete, and a
duel threat kid. The work is
going to be cut out for our defense. We
have to try and limit mistakes offensively.”
Jessie Beckman is second in the conference in rushing yards (802) and
quarterback Gavin Hargis (646) is third.
Helbert says they have to put the Tigers behind the chains.
“We want to be good on first and second down.
That is easier said than done. Their
offense year in and year out is one of the best in our league and that’s
the case this year. They have
one of the best rushing offenses in the league statistically.
Overall, on offense they are always very sound.
They do an excellent job of doing what they do.
So, we are going to have to be very good on first and second down.
If not, it is going to be a tough night for us,” he said. Published 10/01/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Norwayne
Focuses on Improvement
Norwayne, who shares first place in the Wayne County Athletic League,
entertains the Rittman Indians in a league game on Friday night.
Both the Bobcats and Dalton are unbeaten in league games.
Despite a slow start, Norwayne beat Northwestern (34-19) in
“WCAL” action last week.
Coach Adam Indorf says they adjusted as they got deeper into the
game. “I thought we came out
flat and didn’t play really well right out of the gate the first half.
Kudos to Northwestern for keeping us off balance a little bit with
the defensive adjustments they made,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday, “The kids responded and calmed down and came out after half and
took it a play at a time and understood they needed to give their very best
and 100 percent every play and it’s one play at a time.
We started grinding on them and were successful in the end.”
Norwayne (4-2,3-0) is at home for Rittman (2-3,0-2) on Friday night.
The Indians lost (40-7) to Waynedale last week.
Indorf says they have make sure they get better.
“Rittman is a hard nosed team.
They are going to come out and hit you.
Really this week what we did was really try and refocus on ourselves.
Focus on making sure we are doing our very best.
Each individual is doing their best each and every play to take
advantage and make themselves better and increase their potential and as a
whole increase the potential of the team,” he said.
Indorf adds their goal every week is to improve as individuals and as
a team and this week is on different. “As
we continue to work and strive to really make sure we are hitting our stride
and increasing our potential each and every week.
It takes each individual eliminating perfunctory performances through
the week is key an really making sure that matriculation towards that
potential is steady and increasing day to day, rep to rep and week to
week,” said Indorf. Published 10/01/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Ontario
With Big Challenge in Clear Fork
Ontario heads to Clear Fork to play the Colts in a game in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.
The Warriors beat Clear Fork twice in regular season games last year.
This season, the Colts share first place in the conference with
Shelby.
It was not a good performance last week for the Warriors as they were
routed by River Valley (49-14) in a “MOAC” game.
Coach Chris Miller says from a matchup sense he likes this week
better. “When it was 49-14,
not what you set out to do. Matchup
wise this week I feel a little better. Clear
Fork is a really good football team. They
are just so well coached. I have
a tremendous amount of respect for coach (Dave) Carroll and what they do,
they set things up really well. They
line up in a different dang formation every week.
They always keep you guessing,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday, “They really make you prepare for everything.
Put the stress on you during the week, kind of stretches your time.
You have to work on a lot of stuff.
You don’t get as much tie to work on every little detail because
you just have to make sure you are lined up right.
It should be fun game. I
enjoy bouncing around and solving puzzles.
Every time you play Clear Fork you have to solve that puzzle.
So, looking forward to it.”
Ontario (2-4,0-2) plays in the valley against Clear Fork (4-2,2-0) on
Friday night. The Colts beat
Galion (36-21) last week and opened play in the conference with a (41-19)
win over River Valley.
Victor Skoog, the Clear Fork quarterback, accounted for four
touchdowns last week. Miller
says he stretches a defense. “He
is a nasty little player. He
likes being physical. He gets
out of the pocket and he turns into a running back.
He is a football player. Then
on the outside, they have a bunch of athletes that they spread the ball out
to. That became evident when
they lined up against River Valley and played man coverage underneath and
just got physical. So, they are
a physical football team. They
are good in the box they are disciplined defensively.
They do their job. They
put their bricks in the wall where they are supposed to.
They are just very well coached,” he said.
The Colts defensive front has been solid all year and Miller says it
can be difficult to get any movement up front.
“They get hands on and they do a nice job of squeezing and really
play sound defense. You know what they are doing, now you have to get them
off a spot. They have always
been that way. I know they are
running a different scheme this year, but their guys have always done a good
job of squeezing the play and taking in somewhere different.
Where you are trying to get the ball, they are trying to take that
away and they play good at the line of scrimmage, linebackers flow well, and
the dbs have show the ability to cover guys down the field.
They are good over there. We
are going to have our hands full on both sides of the ball,” said Miller. Published 9/30/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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St.
Paul Meets Balanced, Tough Western Reserve
Norwalk St Paul, the co-leader in the Firelands Conference, will be
at home Saturday night for the rival Western Reserve Roughriders.
Western has beaten St. Paul the last two years.
The Flyers (6-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the small school division, rallied in the late going to beat
Plymouth (24-21) last Friday.
Coach John Livengood says they made big plays and key times.
“I am real proud of the kids effort.
The kids did a great job fighting back.
We were moving the ball pretty well and playing pretty decent
defense, but we weren’t able to finish some drives.
We had one come up short right before halftime.
Kind of ran out of time and went for it on fourth down instead of
kicking a field goal when we were down 14-12,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday afternoon, “Gave up a touchdown early in the third quarter,
but our kids kept fighting back and we were able to punch one in and cut it
to 21-18. The next series our we
were able to force a fumble in our half of the field and we were able to
drive that down and take it in for a score with about a minute and half, two
minutes left.”
Western Reserve (5-1,2-1) beat Mapleton (21-14) last week.
They have been playing the last two weeks without their best player
in Jude Munez, who was injured in their loss to Crestview three weeks ago.
Livengood says they have adjusted well.
“They are a very good football team, very well coached, very well
balanced, they have a nice run game, nice pass game.
Jude Munez is their quarterback and their offense is centered around
him and they have had to make some adjustments.
Rhett Grose has stepped in for them and done a nice job.
They have a nice football team. Muck Grandy is a nice running back
for them and they are big up front, they some big offensive and defensive
linemen and are aggressive. Ty
(Stevenson) does a great job over there getting the team prepared.
We kind of expect that Jude Munez will be out on the field and
playing against us this weekend,” said Livengood.
Munez is still their rushing leader with 427 yards for the season.
The Western defense has been solid all season and Livengood says they
have talented players in on both sides of the ball.
“Nobody is really putting up points on them.
They are doing a nice job, especially in the red zone, they really
tighten down. Again, they are
big up front, they have good linebacker play, their secondary is tough,
their kids fill from the safety position and they are able to lock onto with
some kids, with some good skilled athletes at corner and defend the pass
really well. They are a very
good football team, very balanced all of the way around at the line
positions and at the skilled positions,” he said. Published 9/30/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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East
Knox Has to Execute Against Northmor
East Knox and Northmor, who share the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference
lead with Highland, play each other on Friday night at Northmor.
The Bulldogs (5-1,2-0) have won their last three, including a (49-10)
shellacking of Mt. Gilead in conference play last week.
Coach Cody Reese says they got off to a fast start and were able to
defend the Indians pass game. “We
were really pleased with how our boys played.
We came out from the first snap.
In week’s past it seemed like we came out kind of slow.
We were firing on all cylinders coming out last week and that was a
good feeling to have. We held
them on the first series and I think the second or third play from scrimmage
got a fumble and the next play we end up scoring running one in from about
30 yards out. We were just able
to have intensity from the word go and physicality and that was the big
difference,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They had had
a lot of success throwing the ball and that was a focus of ours last week to
get our defense amped up to stop the pass and for the most part they did a
pretty good job. They busted
some long runs on us and there are things we need to fix there.
Overall, pleased with our execution on both sides of the ball.
We were able to run and throw the ball successfully.
Just trying to play at a high level for four quarters of football and
keeping high school kids in that mindset.
We had a lot of fun last week and certainly hoping to build off that
momentum with the opportunity we have with Northmor.”
Northmor (6-0,3-0) outscored Fredericktown (40-20) last week to
remain unbeaten on the season.
Reese says they have an outstanding running game and a defense that
just very fundamental. “They
have a really good run game. Max
Lower is a fantastic running back and the quarterback is a great runner and
he is pretty accurate throwing the ball when he is rolling out.
They have some skilled guys on the edge that are good receivers.
They put you in some positions that are going to give us fits going
into Friday night. Defense they
play in their base defense and they are solid and like to keep things in
front of them. They are just a
physical team, so we have to make sure we are matching that physicality and
bringing it on Friday night if we want to put ourselves in position to be
successful,” said Reese.
With Northmor’s defensive philosophy, Reese says they have to be
patient and execute when they have the ball.
“It definitely shortens the field for you on offense.
Defenses do that because they want you to have more plays and make
you execute and hope you are going to make a mistake at some point.
They have good athletes, so their guys are going to make plays as
well. We just have to make sure
we are executing at a high level. We
have to make sure we are taking care of the football.
We can’t be turning the ball over either,” he said. Published 9/30/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Columbian
Has to be Patient
In a key matchup in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference,
Tiffin Columbian plays host to the Clyde Flyers on Friday night.
Columbian (4-2,1-0) belted Sandusky (40-13) in their first division
game last week, their third straight win.
Coach Judd Lutz says it was a tougher game than the score indicates.
“Every game within conference play is a tough game with familiar
foes and atmospheres. So, it was
a tough game, we expected it. We
were able to pull away a little bit and get away with a win.
They are not easy, so we enjoyed it for a little bit and then turned
the page relatively quickly and get ready for the next challenge,” he
said.
Clyde (4-2,0-1) lost a heartbreaker to Perkins (21-20) last Friday.
After scoring with :11 left, the Fliers went for two and didn’t
make it.
Lutz says Clyde has playmakers on both sides of the ball.
“It’s another really, really good Clyde team, they are tough kids
notoriously. They have a great
mix of size and speed and athleticism and that is what you see on tape. A
really stout defense with playmakers at different levels.
They have guys up front you have to account for, in the linebacker
corps, and on the back end. They
have a couple of key playmakers at all of those levels on defense that we
have to account for and make sure we get hats on and block,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Offensively, they are very multiple.
They can spread you out with their speed, athleticism and their
quarterback has a great arm and is really good with his feet, but they can
also go big on you and bring an extra lineman or two and try and pound it
down your throat a little bit. It’s
tough preparation of both ends to get ready for a really good game.”
The Tornadoes lead the division in passing and total offense this
season, but Clyde is second in total defense, just behind Columbian.
Lutz says they have to be patient to move the ball against a very
good Clyde defense. “You have
to be able to be patient and take what there is when they give it to you,
which isn’t a whole lot. Sometimes
there are things and you have to take it and it may not be in big chunks,
but you have to be patient. There
will be times when maybe they will be a little more aggressive and you can
get the ball down the field or have some angles maybe to get an explosive
play and you have to take advantage of it because it isn’t going to be too
often. They run at the ball
really, really well and they don’t stay blocked and that’s the sign of a
good defense. That is why they
are tough to score against every year and this year is no different,” said
Lutz. Published 9/30/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Madison
Just Needs a Little Bit
Madison is becoming a better football team and now they need to take
it to the next level and get in the win column.
Their next chance comes at home Friday night against Marion Harding
in non-conference play.
They lost (20-7) to Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader Ashland last
week.
Coach Dave Stupka says they put together a pretty solid four
quarters. “It was really the
best game we have played all season. It
is no solace for not being able to win the game.
We really competed against a quality opponent.
We came up short in the fourth quarter.
Extremely proud of the way we played and it was really the best game
that we played,” he said.
Stupka says playing well is good, but the goal is to win.
“We are hard at work this week trying to fix those things that we
need to fix and terms of being able to come through and get ourselves over
the hump and get that “W” because we have really played good football
the last two weeks, the best football since I have been here where we have
been competitive against two really good teams.
We have to take it over the hump.
We have proven we can play and be competitive, we have to get it over
the hump and that’s our challenge this week.
That is really what it is all about,” said Stupka.
Madison (0-4) hosts Marion Harding (3-3) on Friday.
The Presidents lost to Shelby (38-12) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference game on Friday night.
Stupka says they do a lot of things well.
“We are really impressed with Marion.
One of the things that sticks out to me is they are a very veteran
team. I think they have 23
seniors on their team, so they have a lot of experience.
They are good size, athletic. I’m
impressed with their quarterback. He
is a pretty savvy player, pretty athletic.
Good running back and good receivers,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “The big thing, their receivers all catch the ball
very well, they run great routes, but what has really shined out to me
watching the film is their downfield blocking.
It is something that a coach notices.
They give really, really great effort blocking down field and it has
led to some very big plays for them in games.
In what might be a 12 yard run turns into a 60 yard touchdown just
because of the great effort and execution that they have.
Defensively, they have been very stout.
Just really impressed with them, so they are a good football team.” Published 9/30/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Wooster
Needs to Continue to Grow
Wooster is now in a must win situation after losing last week to West
Holmes and Friday night they host Mt. Vernon in an Ohio Cardinal Conference
game.
They lost (41-37) to West Holmes last week when the Knights scored
with less than :30 on the clock. The
loss dropped the Generals a game behind West Holmes and Ashland.
Coach Austin Holter says West Holmes made the plays when it counted
the most. “It was a highly
contested football game for four quarters and there at the end they were
able to make a few more plays than we did.
Certainly, a tough loss for us and our program, but it gives the
opportunity to kind of rally our troops and see what we are made of here and
respond to a very emotional and tough loss for us.
Now, coming back home this week and playing Mt. Vernon for our
homecoming, so we have a lot to play for and a lot of energy and the kids
have been preparing well,” said Holter.
Wooster (3-3,1-1) is at home for Mt. Vernon (1-5,0-2) on Friday
night. The Yellow Jackets lost
last week (53-21) to Watkins Memorial in a non-conference game.
Holter says they can’t look behind, they must look ahead.
“We have talked to our guys about that.
There were some things on Friday that I thought we did really well.
It may not show up on the scoreboard and it certainly didn’t show
up in the win column, but we are a program that is continuing to get better.
So, we are going to continue to build on that.
We have to mentally put hat game behind us and focus on the task at
hand and that’s the Yellow Jackets. They
are going to present a challenge to us on Friday night and we are going to
be ready,” he said.
Holter says Mt. Vernon has a tremendous player in Jonny Askew that
they must contain. “They have
an extremely dynamic young man that plays just about everywhere for them.
He plays at wide receiver, he plays at running back, he is their kick
returner, punt returner. I have
seen him take it to the house a couple of times on kick returns for them.
He is a young man we have to keep our eye on.
We have to rally to him from a defensive perspective and tackle
him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “From an offensive
perspective we have to find ways to grow and build our run game.
We showed some really nice signs last week of that.
Our staff is working extremely hard at it.” Published 9/30/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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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 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Seneca
East Plays Wynford
A couple of the second place teams in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference meet on Friday night as Seneca East is at Wynford to play the
Royals.
Both trail first place Carey by a game after losses last week.
Mohawk scored with a less than a minute to play to beat Seneca East
(20-14) last Friday.
Coach Ed Phillips says they have to put that loss behind them.
“You can’t keep looking back or you are not going to see what’s
in front of you. We have a good
game in Wynford and I think that is good for us.
It’s two programs that have had a ton of success in recent years.
It’s always been a battle here.
It is something we are really excited about and a good opportunity
for us to come back and hopefully come out and play well and kind of right
that wrong that we had last week,” he said.
Seneca East (4-2,2-1) is at Wynford (3-3,2-1) on Friday night.
The Royals lost (48-21) to Colonel Crawford last week.
Phillips looks for a competitive game.
“I think you have a lot of teams in the “N10” that are pretty
similar that have different strengths and weaknesses and it comes down to
matchups and playing well on that Friday night.
I think their team and our team that are a lot alike this year.
It comes down to which one comes out Friday night and plays well up
front, takes care of the football. When
we have been successful this year we have played well up front and taken
care of the football and when we haven’t that has been our two losses,”
he told Swankopnsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It probably goes for
most teams on Friday nights. It’s
a big rivalry for us and something we are excited about.
Like I said, in the “N10” you have a lot of really competitive
teams and it is kind like the old “Royal Rumble” in the WWF, you have a
lot of guys in the there that can throw punches and you have to see who
comes out surviving.”
Seneca East had two turnovers in the loss last week to Mohawk.
Wynford is second in the “N10” in passing yards and Phillips says
they run a very good passing game. “They
will sling it down field and they will sling it downfield a lot.
They have some guys that catch the ball really well.
It is something to see them line up and throw it as well as they
do,” he said. Published 9/30/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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Clear
Fork Hosts Improving Ontario
Clear Fork in a share of first place with Shelby in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference plays longtime rival Ontario in a conference game at
home on Friday night.
The Colts (4-2,2-0) beat Galion (36-21) in a “MOAC” game last
Friday.
Their game plan began speculating that the Tigers were going to try
and run the ball, something they have been successful doing, according to
coach Dave Carroll. “You look
at their films and all of their statistics and they were 85-15 run to pass,
especially in the last two games. You
rely upon more of what they do recently.
You go back to game one, game two, you look at all of that stuff, but
a team as they go through a season evolves.
They evolved into a heavy running team and they were having a lot of
success. We pretty much figured
that has to be our number one priority to stop the run,” he told
Swankonsports.com, “You have to stop Donaldson from running the ball all
over the place and #16 as well. We
knew they had thrown the ball around a little bit.
We always like to have plan A, B, and C and sometimes a D just in
case. I didn’t think with
their offensive line. Three kids
that weigh 295 plus. It is the
Mayflower Moving Company up there. I
thought if our defensive line has success like we think they can going into
the game, they might throw a little more.”
Galion took the lead 14-0 and Carroll says they had to adjust and
play more pass defense. “They
did try and run in the beginning, but our defensive line stemmed them and
our linebackers, they did a really good job.
So, they went to the pass and had success early.
They had two touchdown passes, so it’s lets do that.
We were able to run the football and move the football.
We had some penalties that hurt us early on and we have done that
throughout the season, which we really need to stop doing at some point in
time. Quit playing this catchup
ball,” he said.
Clear Fork took the lead with a touchdown early in the third quarter
and Carroll says as the half went on they were able to possess the ball and
force Galion into a passing mode. “Thank
goodness our kids were resilient and came back form a 14 point deficit.
It was 21-20 at halftime, but the good thing was we came out and
scored. We had a nice long drive
that opening drive and we ate a lot of clock and we held them.
It kind of got into a situation where they are behind now, we’re
moving the ball, I don’t want to read coach Dick’s mind, but it was like
they felt pressure and needed to throw the ball a lot.
So, we were able to go into a pass mode defensively.
In the first half it was like are they going to throw it?
Are they going to run it? Once
they started throwing it we had to back off our man to man coverage a little
bit and get those safeties back there and play more zone,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We couldn’t go to an all out pass
defense at that time because they could run it down your throat.
As the second half transpired. We
didn’t score a bunch. We
scored the touchdown and got ahead, but them we held the ball.
The one time we punted them down inside the five, so it kind of put
them in a pressure situation where they had to throw the ball.
So, now we could play pass defense.
We could go with a three man line package and put an extra defensive
back in and do some different things there and that really saved our hind
ends in my opinion that are offense sustained those drives and ate clock up
even though we didn’t score as much as we would have liked there.
It put them in a hurry up sense.”
Ontario (2-4,0-2) lost to River Valley (49-14) last week.
Carroll says they are improving, especially with quarterback Peyton
Dzugan back in the lineup. He
says Dzugan is a tough player. “They
have their quarterback back. That
is devastating when right off the bat he breaks his thumb and they have to
put a backup in. It is just not
the same. It wouldn’t be the
same for all of us. Now, they
have got him back and their offense looks much smoother.
They can throw the ball more and he is a good runner.
He is just a tough kid. I
remember watching him in junior high and he was a thin kid, he has put on
some weight since then, but I was this kid is little, but he is tough.
He has been stating on defense and this kid comes up and hits people,
he can defend the pass. He is
just a really, really good athlete. They
have him back and things are clicking much better for them.
The (Chase) Studer kid at running back runs really, really hard.
Colton Ramion in a heck of a football player.
He started for them last year,” said Carroll.
The Clear Fork coach says Ontario is clearly improving a lot.
“They are definitely on the upswing of things in my mind just
watching them. Most of us saw
them playing Lexington week one on TV. They
are a much better football team than what they were that week.
They have a lot of young kids playing.
They are kind of in a transitional year, or whatever you want to call
it, but they are definitely getting better.
You can tell they are very well coached.
Coach (Chris) Miller, coach (Aaron) Eckert, those guys do a really
good job,” he said. Published 9/29/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Perkins
With Big One with Bellevue
Sandusky Perkins plays host to Bellevue in a huge game in the Lake
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
Both are 1-0 in the division after wins last week in their division
openers.
Perkins rallied to nip Clyde (21-20) in thriller at Clyde.
Perkins got a TD run from Collin Nemitz with 1:20 to go to take the
lead and then survived as Clyde scored with :11 left, but missed a two-point
conversion.
Coach Jalen Santoro says they were able to find some rhythm late in
the game. “It was a big win
and it was against a very good team. We
were down 14-0 there, but all game I felt like we were putting some drives
together and moved the ball. We
had one called back early on. That
was promising for us going into the half that at least we could move the
ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We had to wait for our
moment and finally we took off there and we stared figuring out what we
needed to do and got it done there and made some big plays in the fourth
quarter. It was good for our
kids to be able to battle against a good team like that and battle back and
come out on top.”
Santoro was an All-Ohio quarterback at Bellevue for coach Ed Nasonti.
The Pirates lost to the Redmen (28-14) last season in Santoro’s
first game against his alma mater.
On Friday night, the Pirates (5-1,1-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com
football coaches poll in the large school division get Bellevue (5-1,1-0),
#2 in our poll, at their place.
Santoro says Bellevue wants to run the ball.
“Bellevue is obviously a very good team.
Deegan Horn, a kid I know really well, he runs the ball really well,
he is very explosive, and runs hard. Their
offensive line is a physical line. A
lot of those kids I have coached before.
They are well coached. They
are going to be tough in the trenches. Obviously,
you have to stop the quarterback from running the ball.
Everybody knows that about Bellevue, but it is easier said than
done,” said Santoro.
Nemitz (1,115) and Horn (746) are the top two rushers in the
division. Bellevue has the top
rushing offense in the division.
Santoro says they need to put the Redmen behind the chains.
“I think everybody has the same idea when they play Bellevue, but
you still have to do it. Obviously,
it is a similar system from when I played to now, but again that’s easier
said that done. They have good
athletes they are coached well up front and they are physical up front.
If you can get some stops on first and second down that would be
huge,” he said. Published 9/29/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Western
Reserve Plays Rival St. Paul
Western Reserve plays at Norwalk St. Paul on Saturday night in a
crucial game in the Firelands Conference.
Right now, the Roughriders (5-1,2-1) trail St. Paul and Crestview by
a game in the standings. They
have already lost to Crestview.
They beat Mapleton (21-14) last week to remain in contention.
Coach Ty Stevenson says they had to grind it out.
“Mapleton, I think their record is very deceiving.
They are good up front and they have some really good skilled guys on
the edge. I thought it was a
good game both ways. I thought
our kids played well, I thought their kids played well.
Luckily, we were able to get a fourth quarter score that put us up
seven and our defense did a great job of holding on to get us the win,”
said Stevenson.
St. Paul (6-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the small school division, scored twice in the final six minutes to beat
Plymouth (24-21) last Friday.
Stevenson says the Flyers are going to take it right at you and be
physical at the point of attack. “They
are physical like always. They
are going to come out with their straight-T or their two back with a wing
and they are going to pound the football at you.
You have to be willing to stand in and absorb that and take some of
those and make sure you are lined up where you need to be and you are
physical and ready to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “So, that is the main thing that you do.
Coach (John) Livengood has done a great job for a long time and it
going to take our best effort and hopefully we are able to put that out
there and see how it goes.”
St. Paul fullback Will Stieber has 771 yards and 11 scores this
season. Quincey Crabbs has 483
yards rushing and seven TD’s.
Stevenson says really it is more of the same on defense.
St. Paul is going to be well disciplined and physical.
“They have run a lot of three front defense this year, typically
they are more of a four front. It
is kind of the same thing on the other side of the ball.
You are not going to get them out of position.
They are going to be well schooled in where they need to be.
They are coached to make sure their kids understand what it is going
to come at them on the other side of the ball.
So, they are fundamentally sound defensively and physical on that
side of the ball as well,” said Stevenson.
Western Reserve has beaten St. Paul the last two years.
Stevenson says the keys are really same as any other week.
“I don’t know if we have the secret.
It has been two great football games the last two years and we have
been fortunate enough to come out on top.
This year it is the same about every week.
You can’t turn the ball over. You
have to be physical. You have to
win the line of scrimmage, take care of the ball and win on special teams.
If you are able to do those things most weeks you are able to get a
victory,” he said. Published 9/29/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Lexington
Plays Unbeaten West Holmes
Lexington has another tough assignment on Friday night as they play
at West Holmes against the unbeaten Knights, the co-leaders in the Ohio
Cardinal Conference.
Last week, the Minutemen (2-4,1-2) lost to rival Mansfield Senior
(23-14) in an “OCC” game.
Coach Taylor Gerhardt says the hurt themselves with mistakes and you
can’t do that against good football teams.
“We shot ourselves in the foot.
We made too many mistakes for a good football team like Mansfield.
They were disciplined and took advantage of our mistakes.
I thought our kids played hard. It
is hard to come out with a “W” when you are playing the team across the
field as well as yourself. It’s
tough to win when you are playing two teams,” said Gerhardt.
West Holmes (6-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, scored on a Sam Williams-Dixon TD run
with :29 seconds left to beat Wooster (41-37) last Friday.
Gerhardt says Knights record is well earned.
“What jumps off the page is they are extremely well coached and
disciplined football team. The
second thing is they have the athletes to execute what they are trying to
do. They are undefeated for a
reason and that’s a good football team over there,” he said.
West Holmes also has an excellent quarterback in Noah Clark, who
leads the conference in scoring passes.
Gerhardt says their balance makes them tough to defend.
“They can do both, they can throw the ball and they can run the
ball. When you are as balanced
as West Holmes is it makes it very difficult for a defense because they
don’t change formations. They
don’t give you tells. They are
going to run the ball and they are going to throw the ball,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They execute extremely well.
So, we have to be disciplined. We
have to know what our assignments are. We
have to stick to our assignments and we have to play hard.
If we play hard and we play our football we can compete, so that’s
the goal.” Published 9/29/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Turnovers
Still a Problem for Norwalk
Norwalk entertains Sandusky in a game in the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night at Contactor’s Stadium inside the
Whitney Athletic Complex.
Both need a win after a slow start the season.
Norwalk fell (14-0) to rival Bellevue in division play last week.
Once again, coach Todd Fox says they had too many turnovers.
“We played a great football team and when you play great football
teams, it seems like I have said several times this year, you can’t turn
the ball over. We had five
turnovers plus the safety where we basically recovered our own fumble there.
You just can’t do it,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Tuesday
night, “We didn’t punt last week. Now,
having said that a good potion of that was because Bellevue’s defense was
playing well, but then again so was ours.
We held a team that was averaging 41 points a game to 14 and we gave
them two of those points.”
Norwalk (1-5,0-1) hosts Sandusky (2-4,0-1) on Friday night.
Sandusky lost (40-13) to Tiffin Columbian last week.
Fox says this year is no different than most.
He says the Blue Streaks have athletic players capable of big plays.
“They are athletic all over the field.
I have said this before, anybody in our league can win on any night.
They have had some tough games with St. Vincent/St. Mary and Padua.
Coach (Mike) Franklin has done a nice job.
His son is the quarterback, who is a great field manager and is a
duel threat that we just have to be aware of.
It is going to be another battle, just like every night for us.
We have to be mistake free,” said Fox.
Sandusky has played some good defense at times this year and Fox says
they are going to have to execute to score on them and they have to quit
shooting themselves in the foot. “The
good news is we have been playing against good defenses.
They are not different than any of the ones we have played.
It is just a matter that we can’t afford to turn the ball over.
We need to take advantage of opportunities in the red zone.
From there we will see what the triple zeros are.
I still think we have a good football team here that is capable of
turning things around and still contend for the “SBC” title,” he said. Published 9/29/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Fredericktown
Has to be Physical
Fredericktown plays rival Highland in a Knox Morrow Athletic
Conference game on Friday night.
Highland shares the lead in the conference with Northmor and East
Knox.
Northmor beat the Freddies (40-20) last week.
Coach William Hartley says a bad start to the game did them in.
“We had a slow start, which has been an issue for us in a couple of
games this year. That was
unfortunate. They took the
opening kick back for a touchdown and two possessions later it was 13-0.
We took the kickoff back to the 19 yard-line and then we stalled out
on a drive and that was a really big shift in the first half.
If we would have been able to get some points there, maybe we would
have been able to hang on and close the gap a little bit more there in the
first half,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “The second
half we took the kick back for a touchdown and then we kind of settled in.
It was tough for us all night they are a very physical team and they
have a really physical running attack and they were just able to hold on to
the ball and go on some really long drives that just killed clock throughout
the fourth quarter.”
Fredericktown (3-3,1-2) entertains Highland (4-2,3-0) on Friday
night. The Scots beat Danville
(35-13) in a “KMAC” game last week.
Hartley says this is another physical run team they will be facing.
“Two weeks in a row we are going to be going up against a really
physical running attack. They
have an outstanding sophomore running back.
He is putting up really strong numbers throughout the year.
Defensively, since they started league play they have only given up
20 points. So, it is going to be
a real challenge for us. Hopefully,
the kids are ready to do. It is
our homecoming, so that’s always special and you always want to put your
best foot forward on that occasion,” he said.
Hartley says they have shown they can be physical at times, but they
have to be more consistent. “That
is definitely something we challenged the kids with after the game last week
because the physical part of the game, Northmor won that.
I’m not sure that is something you can remedy in one week.
That is more of a culture thing and building the program over the
years. The kids know that is a
deficit and they have to step up and just become a more physical football
team, more consistently. Sometimes
we do play really well and we do step up physically and at other times not,
so really it’s just building that consistency,” said Hartley. Published 9/29/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Carey
Meets Blitzing Upper Sandusky
Carey, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader, is at Upper
Sandusky to face the Rams in a conference game on Friday night.
They took sole position of the lead last week when they walloped
Bucyrus (65-0) while Wynford and Seneca East both lost.
Coach Jonathan Mershman says they were able to get on a roll last
Friday. “Last week, I thought
we came out with great intensity and we played well, especially in the first
half. I thought when our younger
guys got a chance to come in and play, they played really well as well.
Bucyrus is an improving team and you can see them improvement from
last year. We were just able to
take control of the game from the get go and they just weren’t able to
stop that snowball effect,” said Mershman.
Carey (5-1,3-0) visits Upper Sandusky (3-3,2-1) on Friday night.
The Rams are part of a logjam in second place a game back after
rallying to beat Buckeye Central (27-16) last week.
Mershman says Upper is a lot better than they were last year when
they beat them by more than 60 points. “Upper
is a much improved team as well. Last
year, I think they had some younger guys playing and you can see now that
those guys have some varsity experience.
They are going give us everything we can handle this week,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I know on their defensive side they are
going to blitz us and bring the house. Can
we handle all of their stunting and all of their stuff up front?
It’s going to be a challenge for us and we are going to have to
take care of the trenches.”
Upper leads the conference in passing yards this season.
Blitzing creates a big play for someone and Mershman says they need
to execute to ensure it is them. “It
is who executes their play. It
is going to be feast or famine. It
is one of those types of deals. If
we can’t handle then it is going to be a long night and we will be on the
losing end of that snowball effect, but I’d like to be on the winning end
of that,” he said. Published 9/29/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Ashland
Faces Aggressive Mansfield Senior
Ashland, a co-leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at
Mansfield Senior in an “OCC” game on Friday night.
Senior High trails Ashland and West Holmes by a game.
The Arrows (2-4,2-0) beat Madison (20-7) last week in a conference
game.
Coach Sean Seder says it was kind of ugly, but they did enough to
win. “It wasn’t the
prettiest of wins, but we joked with our kids afterward, we said if we had
to win a game 2-0 we would take that. The
defense did a pretty good job. Tip
your hat to Madison, they were much improved and a pretty physical team.
They did a really good job of time of possession.
I don’t think we even had a possession in the fourth quarter.
They had the ball a good bit. Our
defense was a bend, but don’t break defense and kept them out of the end
zone. We got enough points to
put away a victory. Now, we are
moving on to Mansfield Senior,” said Seder.
Mansfield Senior (4-2,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, beat Lexington (23-14) in an
“OCC” game last week.
Seder says they hang their hat of their defense.
“I think they are a really good team, they are well coached.
They are going to probably be the most aggressive, most physical team
that we have seen this year. We told our kids they are like most Mansfield
teams, they really hang their hat on their defense.
They are going to show us on all kinds of pressures, man coverage,
quarters, two, they disguise it pretty well at times,” he said.
Seder sys the Tygers also have some explosiveness on offense.
He says they have avoid giving the ball away.
“On offense, they have a lot of the same athletes.
The Bradley boys are all really good.
They have Aveon Grose and Brock Hill, who is a pretty good
quarterback. I think he is a pretty good run threat.
So, they have some pretty good athletes.
It is just one of those teams where we told our kids we can’t give
them extra chances. This year
they are averaging almost two turnovers a game on defense and they are
converting a lot of those to points with pick sixes and stuff.
So, we have to play a really clean game on our side,” said Seder.
The key for Ashland when they have the ball is to make good, quick
decisions because Seder says Mansfield Senior will pressure them.
“We told our kids they are going to get some plays.
They are a good defense and they have a lot of really good skilled
players out there. Some of their
guys they are going to bring on blitzes and they may just be faster than the
guy we have assigned to block them. So,
we have to get the ball out quick and recognize those blitzes and identify
hot routes and stuff like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
evening, “The other thing a defense like that does, they try and make your
quarterback make bad decisions because he is under direst.
We are really focusing on making good decisions and protecting the
football. If it’s a blown up
play, survive the play and have another down.
Don’t just chuck it out there and hope for the best.
When the ball is in the air, they have the guys that can take it.” Published 9/28/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Galion
Needs Consistency Against Shelby
Galion plays longtime rival Shelby in a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference on Friday night.
The Tigers (3-3,1-2) will be looking to play spoiler being two games
behind both Shelby and Clear Fork.
They lost (36-21) to Clear Fork last week and coach Matt Dick says
they couldn’t run the ball at all and that cost them.
“It was just how the ball bounced.
We got out to a fast start. Cooper
Kent played well all night, but when you can’t do a base run play or get
any type of ground game going it makes for a long night.
We got different play action passes, pop passes, like I said, I
thought Cooper threw the ball well. That
base run play their stout defensive line gave us problems all night.
I think over the course of all four quarters that became a really big
thing. Hats off to Clear Fork,
they played all four quarters and found a way to win,” he said.
Shelby (5-1,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, dispatched of Marion Harding (38-12) despite
four turnovers in the game.
Dick says Shelby has a high octane offense and they come out and
force you to stop what they do. “They
can really throw it. They have a
quarterback, two or three receivers that are just exceptional.
Defensively they play a stout 4-3 defense and it looks like they are
adjusting a little more to what you are running.
So, it’s a tough task. For
us, offensively we have taken some steps each week.
Hopefully, this week we can stablish some repeatable plays.
That’s what we really talked about in (Monday’s) scouting report.
Defensively, I thought we played great at times against Clear Fork,
especially late. We gave our
offense a chance to win in the fourth quarter.
I think that is all you can ask.
Hopefully, our defense can play a little better early on.
We made some adjustments at halftime that really helped us out.
Some of that is hats off to Clear Fork coming in with the good game
plan,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I’m not sure Shelby is
that way. They just kind of line
up with their athletes and they do what they do and they force you to play
their guys one on one in space. I’m
excited to see what our defensive coordinator and our defensive players come
up with this Friday and hopefully we can take away some of that passing
game.”
Dick says they have to keep Shelby’s offense out of rhythm.
“If you mix up what you are doing on defense, I think that’s
important. Sometimes you will
give them this throw and other times you with give them that throw and you
make it so the offensive coordinator and the quarterback have to work for
it. If you do that, sooner or
later they are going to score some points they are way to explosive to hold
them that long, but on the same note if you can make them work and get a few
picks and get some momentum, that’s how you beat a team like Shelby.
They are a really, really good football team.
If you want to be a good football team, you have to beat a good
football team. We have played
with some good football teams, but to beat one, we haven’t quite pulled
that off in the fourth quarter just yet.
This week or the next four or five weeks we have a shot to do that
and that is really what we are trying to do,” said Dick. Published 9/28/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Clyde
Focused on Tiffin
It is battle two in the war that is the Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference as the Clyde Fliers travel to Tiffin to meet the Columbian
Tornadoes on Friday night.
Clyde lost (21-20) last week to Perkins in their opener in division
play. Perkins running Collin
Nemitz, who had 194 yards on the night, scored on a TD run with 1:20 left to
give the Pirates the lead (21-14), but Clyde would get a score on a pass
from Jaden Cook to Andrew Kauble with 11 seconds left.
They went for two and didn’t get it.
Coach Ryan Carter says they battled all night, but just came up
short. “Those games are great,
but when you come out on the short end it is not quite as fun.
I thought we played very hard. I
thought our kids executed well. They
came in with a little different game plan and it took us a couple of
quarters to figure it out, but I thought our kids battled.
We had a couple of kids that were down and I thought our backup kids
came in and really battled. They
just made more plays than we did. They
are a good football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,
“You have to give them a ton of credit.
They have a great running back and they did a nice job of coming
back. We got up 14-0 going into
the fourth quarter and they made some plays.
We scored late and went for two and it just didn’t work out for
us.”
Carter says they have to focus mentally.
“That’s tough coming off a loss like that and to boot you have to
go back and play a very good team like Tiffin.
We have to put that out of our head.
We have to have a good week of practice and get ourselves ready for
Friday night,” he said.
Clyde (4-2,0-1) is at Columbian (4-2,1-0) on Friday night.
The Tornadoes blitzed Sandusky (40-13) in their division opener.
The schools share the #5 spot in the latest Swankonsports.com
football coaches poll in the large school division.
Carter says Tiffin has a number of weapons.
“They are very, very good offensively.
Two outstanding quarterbacks, a great running back and good kids up
front. They have one of the
better linebackers and runners in the league in the (Brody) Conley kid.
They have athletes all over the field.
They stretch you a bunch of different ways.
We have our work cut out for us, we know that.
Like I said, we are trying to bounce back and get some of our guys
healthy and try and hit this home stretch playing the best football that we
can play,” said Carter.
Columbian plays two quarterbacks a lot in Brayden Roggow (1,159
yards, 13 TD) and Logan Beaston (654 yards, 6 TD) and the Tornadoes have the
most politic passing attack in the division at 302 yards per game.
Carter says they have to prepare for and difficult to defense.
“Well, it becomes tough, you have to prep in a couple of different
ways. They are both really good
and they both do some unique things. It’s
not easy and you can’t just focus on their quarterbacks because they have
a great running back and some skilled receivers. We
are putting in a good week of work and try and get ourselves ready for
Friday,” he said. Published 9/28/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Lucas
Focused on Getting Back on Track
Lucas lost for the first time this year last week and they need to
get back on the beam as they host Tiffin Calvert at Bob Wine Field on Friday
night.
They lost last week (15-0) to Canton Central Catholic and coach Scott
Spitler says the Crusaders were good, but they were their own worst enemy.
“Taking nothing away from them they were a good football team like
we believed they were, but we had a 0-0 halftime game.
In the first quarter we had a touchdown pass called back because of a
penalty. Then we failed to score
on a fourth and goal at the two in the third quarter.
Just too many inconsistencies offensively that killed drives and had
some turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “You can’t
do that against good football teams. Our
defense played well enough to win. The
nice thing is when you play this type of competition you are finding out now
during the regular season what you need to be better at and improve on and I
would rather find our now than in the post season.”
Lucas (5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the
small school division, plays at home against Tiffin Calvert (3-3) of the
River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Calvert blanked Margaretta (31-0) in a division game last week.
Spitler says the Senecas will spread you with athletes.
“They stress you in their spread offense.
I know they are leading their conference in passing offense.
They have two of the top three receivers in their conference.
Their quarterback really stresses you through the air as a thrower.
If you’re not disciplined he is going to hurt you with his legs.
They have nice size and athleticism up front.
Defensively they are very multiple, so being able to figure our what
you are seeing defensively will be key,” said Spitler.
Spitler says their goal this week is to get better as a team.
“I think the approach after last Friday night is we have to get
back to playing better football and being more consistent on both sides of
the football. So, while we will
prepare for them it is really about Lucas getting back on track and
improving this week,” he said.
Spitler added nobody wants to get better more than the Cubs do.
“I say it all of time there are no higher expectations of our team
than what our kids have of themselves. They
were disappointed in their performance.
They took Saturday morning film very seriously with the focus of
improving. Coming right out of
the gate (Monday) at practice you could tell their mind is set on getting
better and making sure that Lucas is better football team this Friday,”
said Spitler. Published 9/28/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Co-Leaders
Northmor and East Knox Meet
Northmor and East Knox are two the leaders in the Knox Morrow
Athletic Conference, Highland is the other, and the Golden Knights and
Bulldogs meet on Friday night at Northmor.
Highland plays at Fredericktown.
Last week, Northmor exploded past the Freddies (40-20) in a
conference game, scoring 20 points in the first quarter of the game.
Coach Scott Armrose says that start was key for them.
“We were able to connect on some big plays early on, including a
special teams plays, which helps. We
set the tone early. We came out
with a fast start. We had
probably our most balanced offensive game of the season,” he said.
Running back Max Lower has 785 yards and 11 TD’s for the Golden
Knights this year.
Northmor returned the opening kick for a score last week and gave up
a return for a score. Armrose
says they have hot and cold in that area all year. “It has been up and
down. We made a big play in
special teams and returned the opening kick for a touchdown and then came
back and gave up a big kick return. Then
gave up a kick return or a touchdown in the second half,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We do some really good things and then we
have some breakdowns, so we have to continue to improve there.”
Northmor (6-0,3-0) hosts East Knox (5-1,2-0) in “KMAC” action on
Friday night. The Bulldogs
throttled Mt. Gilead (49-10) last Friday in a conference game.
Armrose says the Bulldogs have a tremendous team.
“They are a very athletic football team.
They have a lot of team speed and they match that with some big
physical kids as well. So, it is
going to be a good, physical football game,” said Armrose.
Armrose is a former offensive line coach and he knows where games are
won and lost. “It is every
week. I know it sounds cliché,
but every football game is won and lost at the point of attack,” he said. Published 9/28/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Crawford
Keeps Position
Colonel Crawford remains a game behind Carey in the race in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
They hammered rival Wynford (48-21) last week in conference action.
Coach Ryan Teglovic says they were very good on both sides of the
ball. “Offensively we never
punted the football, so every time we had the ball we scored.
That is a tremendous feat for a team when you play a program like
Wynford. Offensively, we were
very efficient. We rushed for
about 400 yards or just shy of it. Just
felt like we were clicking pretty well there.
Defensively, we did what we needed to do.
They have some big weapons on that offensive side of the football.
We were able to at least slow them up and I felt like do some good
things there. Maybe slow down
the running game and force them into throwing the football,” said Teglovic.
Lincoln Mollenkopf ran for 253 yards last week against Wynford and he
has 1,122 yards for the season.
Teglovic says that run game has been working well all season.
“We have been able to run the ball efficiently.
We have the leading back in the league right now in Lincoln
Mollenkopf. He is averaging
right around 10 yards a carry. The
offensive line has been extremely efficient in making good calls on their
rules to do what we need to do there. We
have been able to pass the football as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday afternoon, “Kam Lohr has been very good in the pass game with over
600 yards in six games. He has
made throws when we have needed to make throws.
We will get tested this week. Mohawk
is always a good rush defense. They
play a great 3-4 scheme. Their
kids play it all of the way through and they know it and they do it very
well.”
Colonel Crawford (5-1,2-1), #4 in the Swnakonsports.com football
coaches poll in the small school division, is at Mohawk (2-4,1-2) on Friday
night. The Warriors scored on a
Garvin Barth TD run with less than a minute to play to beat Seneca East
(20-14) last week.
Teglovic says they are improving.
“That was a hug win for them against Seneca East last week.
They are starting to get healthy with the (Gavin) Barth kid back and
linebacker and he is a three year starter at linebacker and he is very good
there. He is also one of their
better running backs. He has
missed a couple of games here as of late and it has really hurt them when he
is out. He was back against
Seneca East and I thought he had a heck of a game.
They are getting healthier overall.
Getting those young kids that they have been playing some experience.
I think they are playing their best football right now,” said
Teglovic.
A game behind Carey, having already lost to the Blue Devils, Teglovic
says they have to keep winning. “We
have to take care of business every week.
There is nothing we can control with what happens with Carey, but we
can control what we can control. What
we have to do is continue to go out there every week and play our best
football because we want to make sure we take care of our opportunities on
our end. This is a big week for
us,” he said. Published 9/28/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Trojans
Must Contain Crestview Run Game
South Central hosts Firelands Conference co-leader Crestview in a
conference game on Friday night.
The Trojans (2-3,0-2) lost a heartbreaker (47-46) to Monroeville in
“FC” play last Friday. After
scoring late they went for two and were stopped.
Coach Corey Fickiesen says it was a tough loss.
“I am sure it was an exciting game for a lot people that were
there, but as a coach you are just on pins and needles the whole time trying
to make sure you score so you can keep up and try figure out how we can get
a stop on defense. It comes down
to the end and we just didn’t get it done.
There are multiple plays here and there that you just look back and
question all weekend long and I probably will for a long time.
Someone had to win and unfortunately it wasn’t us.
So, we have to get some things corrected and get ready because we
play a pretty good team this week,” said Fickiesen.
Crestview (6-0,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the small school division, beat Ottawa Hills (35-10) in a
non-conference game on Saturday at Community Stadium in Ashland.
Fickiesen says the Cougars have balance on offense.
“I think it would better to say what’s not good, the list would
be shorter there. They do
everything well. They run the
football really well. They like
that double tight “I” and try to just get a 10 to 15 play drive and hang
on to the ball and then score it at the end.
Conner Morse is unbelievable at running back.
Their guys up front do a really good job of executing the game plan.
They have some really athletic kids on the outside and when they
choose to throw, they go to them and they can make a play at anytime,” he
said.
Fickiesen says Crestview plays a unique defense.
“On defense, they play that new 3-3 stack.
It is pretty difficult to make sure you get all of those guys
blocked. They will play cover
zero behind it and force you to win one on one match ups.
So, there are a lot of different things we are going to have to do
well. It has to start at the
beginning of the week. We have
to get some things corrected from last week.
Hopefully, be able to get better every single day and Friday night we
are ready to go and we can put up a good fight,” said Fickiesen.
Crestview has made some big pass plays, but Fickiesen says they come
from play action off of their run game.
“Their pass game feeds off of their run game.
That is how any good running team is. They
will run the ball at you and then run some play action off of that,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “That is the thing with their
play action, usually it is a big play because they run the ball so much and
more affectively that you dbs feel the need to get up there and get involved
in the run game and they get caught looking in the backfield.
They are not in the zone that they need to be and they hit one over
the top. They live and die
though but the run game. So,
that is what you have top hone in on. Last
week, we weren’t able to stop the run very well, so we have to get that
fixed.” Published 9/28/21 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source For All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday From 10 to
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Hillsdale’s
Job is to Eliminate the Big Play
Hillsdale faces a tough challenge this week as they travel to Dalton
to play the Bulldogs, who share first place with Norwayne, in a Wayne County
Athletic League game on Friday night.
The Falcons are a game behind the leaders.
They smoked Chippewa (30-7) on Friday night in league action.
Coach Trevor Cline says they played better on defense last week than
they have all season. “We
played extremely well last week, especially our defense.
Our defense was able to stop their quarterback, who coming into the
week had four straight games of 200 yards or more rushing and we were able
to limit him. That was huge for
us because that was our best game of tackling this year so far this year.
When you tackle well you will be able to stop the offense most
nights,” he said.
Hillsdale (3-3,2-1) plays at Dalton (4-2,2-0) on Friday night.
The Bulldogs blasted Smithville (40-7) in their “WCAL” game last
week.
Cline says they are blessed to have a lot of playmakers on their
roster and they have experience too. “They
are one of the most talented teams in the area.
They have really good skilled position players.
Anyone of their skilled position players can turn a small play into a
big play. A lot of those guys
have been playing since their sophomore year.
They had a lot of sophomores playing when they won the league
championship two years ago. Their
line is physical up front on offense and defense.
They just have multiple guys that can make plays.
They are a very disciplined team.
Year in and year out that is how Dalton is,” said Cline.
Stopping the big play is something the Falcons failed to do in a
(42-7) loss to Norwayne two weeks ago. Cline
says that is a must this week. “If
we want to put ourselves in a position to be able to compete with Dalton and
beat them, we are going to have to limit those big plays and make them earn
every score that they get. They
toss it out to their receiver, they have an All-Ohio receiver, he was
All-Ohio as a sophomore. He is a
three year starter for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening,
“They also can get the job done on the ground.
Their quarterback does a very good job running the offense.
They have multiple athletes that can make plays.
So, it’s not one guy we can key on, there are multiple guys that we
will have to slow down for us to be able to slow down their offense.” Published 9/27/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Buckeye
Central Must Execute Against Bucyrus Pressure
Buckeye Central needs to continue to improve this week as they play
at Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
Last week, they clearly got better, and were ahead in the fourth
quarter (16-14), but lost to Upper Sandusky (27-16) in a conference game.
Coach Chad Jensen says that was a tough loss to take.
“That was a tough loss for us.
We had the lead in the fourth quarter.
Definitely as a coach there are some decisions that I made that I
would have liked to change, taken back, done things differently, but as I
told our kids in life sometimes you make a decision and go with it and you
live with it and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
In this case Upper got a couple of stops and scored there in the
fourth. We will grow from it,
improve, and we need to get ready for Bucyrus this week,” he said.
Buckeye Central (2-4,0-3) is at Bucyrus (1-5,0-3) on Friday night.
The Redmen are coming off a (65-0) destruction at the hands of
conference leader Carey on Friday night.
Jensen says they have some athletes that can make some plays and on
defense they are going to be aggressive.
“On offense they are going to sling it.
They have a young quarterback Malachi Bayless who can throw it and
they have some guys that can catch it. They
want to throw it 30 times, but they will run it too with their running back
Eddie Dagher, so they are pretty explosive on offense.
Defensively, they are really aggressive.
Their line gets off the ball and their linebackers flow pretty
well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “They are going to
be excited to play us. We were
able to beat them last year and end our losing streak.
So, they are definitely going to remember that.
It’s their homecoming, so we are definitely going to have to bring
our best effort again this week.”
Execution is going to be the key for the Bucks.
Jensen says Bucyrus is going to come at them and they are going to
have to handle that. “We
really improved from when we played Wynford two weeks ago, that was a
disaster. This past week against
Upper we improved so much. We
challenged our kids to execute better. That
is really what we worked on last week and they did.
They accepted the challenge and played well enough to win and
unfortunately we didn’t, but this week is the same thing.
We have to execute, we have to continue that improvement because that
is going to be the key. Bucyrus
is a big play offense and a big play defense.
For us to succeed against them we will have to execute
consistently,” said Jensen. Published 9/27/21 © Swankonsports.com For 24/7 local sports click on our listen
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Lexington
Plays Explosive Mansfield Senior
Lexington and Mansfield Senior, both a game back in the “OCC”
race, face off at Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday
night.
The loser of the game falls out of the conference race.
It was a bad second quarter last week that cost the Minutemen as they
gave up 24 points in the second quarter and lost (38-14) at Wooster in a
conference game.
Coach Taylor Gerhardt says he did not have the team prepared, but as
team, they need to learn from that experience going forward.
“Take away 24 points in five minutes in the second quarter it’s a
different football game. That’s
on me as a coach,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “If
we have that kind of breakdown in is just not an individual force to look
at, you have to look at everything because we are certainly a better
football team than that. But, it
happened, we have to learn from it and move forward.”
Lexington (2-3,1-1) hosts rival Mansfield Senior (3-2,0-1) on Friday
night in a game that dates back to the late 1980’s with the formation of
the then Ohio Heartland Conference. The
Tygers have dominated the recent match ups in winning seven of the last 10
games. The Minutemen won in
2011, 2016 and 2018.
The Tygers have lost their last two games.
Last week, Tiffin Columbian downed them (40-27) in a non-conference
game and in their opening “OCC” contest two weeks ago they lost (20-17)
to unbeaten West Holmes.
Gerhardt says Senior High makes big plays.
“They are explosive. They
certainly have the capacity for the big play on both sides of the ball.
Their defense is certainly the strong part of that team.
They come up with big plays, they will score, they will get big
takeaways, and give their offense the opportunity to score on a short
field,” he said.
Two of Mansfield Senior’s scores last week came on interception
returns.
Gerhardt says to be successful and have a chance to win Friday night,
they must play more consistent football.
“I think consistency is the key.
We have to be consistent in what we do.
That is the things that has really plagued through the first half of
this season is game consistency. So,
we have got to focus on doing what we do and doing it consistently even when
there is a big play or we make a mistake.
We have to get back and get focused and play the play in front of
us,” said Gerhardt. Published 9/24/21 © Swankonsports.com On Friday nights log onto our scoreboard At www.swankonsportshosting247.com
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