Depth at running back…Columbus Grove features senior Trenton Barazza. Marion has three options…Parker Hess (above), Drew Lause, and Ethan Heitkamp. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Can anyone stop Marion Local’s question for title 15, and have too many underestimated Coldwater? Both play tonight for a spot in next week’s OHSAA state final round.
Short and sweet, yesterday’s writer to Press Pros, from Lima, put it, “Can Columbus Grove stop Marion Local and its quest for another OHSAA football title?”
Well, Eddie, that’s why they play the game, so the old saying goes. Especially on a cold, windy night when it’s tough to play, tough to throw, and at 30 degrees…it’s tough to hang on to the football.
The other worn-out adage about football is…the team with the fewest turnovers usually wins.
Tired, but true.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
So Thanksgiving mail to Press Pros centered around tonight’s Division VI and VII matchups where two MAC teams (of course) play for one more trip to Canton, and one more state title opportunity. In this case Marion Local (Div. VII), seeking its 15th, and Coldwater (Div. VI) seeking its eighth. And just for a condiment cliche’, Marion coach Tim Goodwin says, “It never gets old.”
In this case…two MAC teams play two NWC (Northwest Conference) teams.
Another writer from Northport, Florida, wrote, “A helluva’ night for high school football.”
Another, from Wheelersburg, simply put it, “Delicious.”
Other questions: “What do you know about Columbus Grove?”
“Is the NWC as good as the MAC?
The ‘Edge’ proudly sponsors the Midwest Athletic Conference on Press Pros Magazine.com.
“Is [Grove’s} running back Trenton Barazza the real deal?”
And, “Where can we listen to the game?”
The easiest to answer is the last. You just tune in to WCSM, from Celina, and listen to Ron Brunswick do the call. It’s the surest answer of the weekend.
Nearly everyone concluded with, “How does Columbus Grove stack up with Marion?”
Columbus Grove’s offense centers around senior running back Trenton Barazza…quick, shifty, and good.
Well, I haven’t seen the Bulldogs. I saw them play in 2022 in this same game and Marion won it 27-0. Grove is a running offense, but they couldn’t run it that night, and currently if you look at NWC stats for the year through week eight Trenton Barazza ranked #1 in rushing with 1,200 yards and a hay wagon full of touchdowns. But there was no mention of passing, or receiving. Fort Loramie, who finished 6-6, led the league in passing. So apparently it’s pretty much run, or nothing. Even in 2022, when they were down 20-0 in the fourth quarter, Grove still stubbornly ran the ball, hoping to avert the shutout.
But despite Marion’s obvious statistical advantage and strength of schedule advantage, football games can turn on a dime – or a fumble, interception. I’m not picking a winner as I beat you up with these old cliches’ because anyone in Ohio can figure it out for themselves. But Marion’s depth advantage is so overwhelming that they simply have more ways to win a football game than any other team in Division VII. Which, as you know, is why so many question why the Flyers are still playing in Division VII? Enrollment, evidently, is the only advantage that they don’t have.
If you’re talking about Coldwater, and not many are, you might want to. Quietly, Chip Otten has had one of his best coaching years in his long history – taking a team with uncertain parts early in the year around quarterback Baylen Blockberger and pulling them together to finish 13-1, and with ‘quality’ wins over teams like Div. IV opponents Valley View and Clinton-Massie. And not just quality, but crushing.
Like Columbus Grove, I have not seen Bluffton, another NWC team that, in fact, does throw the ball, but throwing it in the wind and cold is a different challenge…and when you play Coldwater and Marion you’d better be able to protect the quarterback. It takes an extra second or two for receivers to come open, and the pass rush is deadly. Bluffton, and Grove, are going to see blitzing schemes that you just don’t see in the NWC.
Coldwater’s only loss came against Marion, 35-0, (uh-oh) on the final night of the regular season, so that might give you an idea.
And Coldwater did rip through Anna and Minster. two of the other four MAC regional finalist teams, to give you an even better idea.
They may not be the high-powered Cavaliers of Brody Hoying days, but the Cavs do have the requisite weapons to get to Canton and play Kirtland next week, and let’s not be coy. Someone is GOING TO BE PLAYING Kirtland. Whether it’s Bluffton or Coldwater…in this case it’s up to Bluffton. I know Coldwater. But I don’t know Bluffton.
As the man wrote…a delicious night of football!
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