Embarrassment of riches…Ethan Heitkamp plunges across the line to score one of four Marion Local first half touchdowns in their win over Columbus Grove. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
They made it the usual business trip…Marion Local’s run game and defense overwhelmed Columbus Grove to claim its 63rd win in a row and a shot at their 15th title in next week’s OHSAA Final Four.
Lima, OH – As state semi-final games go this one was not unlike a lot of Marion Local’s other conquests…just that it came against a team that had openly coveted the opportunity of being the team that stopped the streak – of becoming a footnote in OHSAA football history.
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We’re talking about a talented Columbus Grove, who entered Friday’s Division VII state semi-final game at Lima’s Spartan Stadium with the state’s top-gaining running back…a #1 seed with an identical 14-0 unblemished record, and a strong community following who believed with all their hearts that they could be the team that stopped the win streak and reprise an ancient win over Marion Local in the 2003 state title game. Against any and all odds, or statistical unlikeliness, Columbus Grove believed that this could be the year of the Bulldog in Division VII football.
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As it turned out…uh, no. Marion used its own power running game, a smothering defense, and the surging confidence of the Dow Jones Index to rack up 376 yards, 278 rushing yards, and limit Grove’s Trenton Barazza to 108 yards (a hundred under his average) in a 41-6 win that, yes indeed, gives the Flyers that shot at title fifteen next Friday in Canton.
And if Grove had Barazza…Marion made sure to remind the Division VII football community in Ohio that it had not one, or two, but three talented runners in Drew Lause, Ethan Heitkamp, and Parker Hess…a veritable embarrassment of riches.
And, it reminded that tackle to tackle the offensive line could blow people out, creating gaping holes that allowed senior Parker Hess to finish the game with 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
“It was awesome…a fun game,” said Hess, afterwards. “Got to give credit to my line, though. They blocked super. We came out, hit ’em right in the mouth, took them down a little bit, and it made it a lot easier to keep pushing through.”
“It was an awesome game,” said Parker Hess. Above, he follows the block of teammate Drew Lause for one of his three touchdowns.
It sounds easy when you think of it in those terms. And now through 63 straight wins, are there any other things to consider?
“We wanted to get off to a fast start,” said Tim Goodwin.
And to that end, Marion stopped Columbus Grove on its first possession, a fourth and two from midfield in which Grove tipped its hand…hinting that they had to risk keeping possession of the ball, even that early in the game. They were obviously concerned over how many chances they’d get, and they had to keep the ball out of the hands of the Marion offense.
On fourth and two Marion’s defense batted down a short pass to Trenton Barazza, took possession at midfield, and six plays later Justin Knouff hit Vic Hoelscher in stride at the goal line for a 22 yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead at 6:01.
On the ensuing kickoff, Marion’s Thomas Winner popped the ball up off the tee and about twenty yards downfield, where Grove fumbled it, lost it, and Marion was staring at the goal line again, just ten seconds after scoring. On the first play from scrimmage Drew Lause lugged it 39 yards for a touchdown at 5:50, just 11 seconds removed from the first, and Marion owned a 14-0 lead.
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And then…it was all Marion.
At 9:59 of the second quarter Ethan Heitkamp drove the ball in from the three yard line to increase the margin to 20-0.
Grove collected itself enough following a Marion Local fumble to score on a Barazza 3-yard run at 3:39, cutting the deficit to 20-6 after a missed point after attempt.
Flyers Vic Hoelscher clutches a 22-yard touchdown pass to his hip for the game’s first touchdown.
But Marion immediately answered with a Parker Hess 30-yard run to score before the half ended…27-6, Marion.
Controlling the line of scrimmage, Marion was now blowing the Grove defensive front off the line to start the second half, allowing huge chunks of yards on the ground by Hess, Lause, and Heitkamp. And Hess added another score on a two-yard plunge in the third quarter to extend the margin to 34-7.
While Grove did throw, and did complete enough passes to extend drives, their only consistent threat to score rested on the legs of Trenton Barazza. And now teetering on the verge of a running clock, Marion’s defense began to tee off on the Bulldogs’ bread and butter. After Grove turned the ball over again on downs, Marion took no time at all in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
You guessed it. With 7:44 on the clock Parker Hess rumbled 47 yards for his final score of the game, a 41-6 lead, and the hissing sound you might have heard was not the Knipco heaters behind the benches taking the edge off a 22 degree night. But rather, it was the air escaping from Columbus Grove’s season, and their own title aspirations.
Afterwards, Tim Goodwin talked about the latest in the manner familiar with most Marion wins.
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“We got some key stops in the first half, some breaks with the kicking game, and that obviously changed the course of the game.”
That, despite the fact that Marion was good, but not vintage good. They made some mistakes – a pair of turnovers on an interception in the end zone and the first half fumble that denied them momentum, if not a pair of additional scores.
“Yeah, we had some unforced errors, some sloppiness, and kids are kids,” he said with a smile. “But we’ve got a week to correct what we need to correct. And that’s the good news.”
Columbus Grove running back Trenton Barazza got his yards, but the Marion defense left a painful reminder.
The bad news for Jeromesville Hillsdale, who narrowly beat Danville, 25-22, in the other Division VII semi-final, is that same embarrassment of riches of multiple running backs, the program’s best passing attack in history, and a defense that’s allowed a little over 800 yards of offense now in fifteen games. Goodwin was asked to scout, or assess how to play against the Marion juggernaut.
“I wouldn’t want to look at us on film and pick someone to concentrate on stopping,” he answered. “To be honest, our best running back (Justin Knouff) isn’t even running right now. He’s been dinged up a little. He’s something special when he gets the ball in his hands. We’re very blessed right now.”
When he played Goodwin was an offensive lineman, so it stands to reason that a huge part of their blessing is their ability to win at the point of attack. And any time you can gain 278 yards on the ground the odds are more than a bit in your favor.
It’s cold, and if you can control the line of scrimmage, run the ball hard, and play good defense you’re going to be successful. It’s Ohio…you’ve got to get through November.” – Tim Goodwin
“Yeah, for sure,” he concluded, careful to not take those five big guys up front for granted. “It’s just playoff football. It’s hard to function now compared to what it’s like in September. It’s cold, and if you can control the line of scrimmage, run the ball hard, and play good defense you’re going to be successful. That’s why when you go to the state finals you don’t see finesse teams there. You don’t see pure spread teams there. It’s Ohio and you’ve got to get through November.”
And you’ve got to start fast.
“You always want to get off to a good start, we did that tonight, and with everything we heard coming from Columbus Grove we felt it was important to come out fast. Sometimes you can want something too bad. You can focus on Marion Local too much. Teams can be too uptight at the start of a game. You can’t play with pressure. You have to come out and play loose.”
They’re within a game now of another title, their fourth in a row, 15 overall, and extending the win streak to 64.
So, is there any question…that they’re going to come out playing loose next week?
Talent notwithstanding, it’s the best blessing of all.
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