St. Henry’s Charlie Werling hustles for yards and a state semi-final win Friday night over Columbus Grove. The Redskins will make their first state finals appearance since 2006 next week in Canton. (Press Pros Photos by Lee Woolery)
Charlie Werling threw a pair of TDs on the first two drives, and an inspired St. Henry defense took it from there. The Redskins shut out Columbus Grove in the second half to claim a 13-10 victory. They’ll face Hillsdale in their first state title game since 2006.
At halftime of St. Henry’s state semifinal game Friday with Columbus Grove, head coach Josh Werling delivered a simple message:
“If they don’t score, we win.”
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And as simple as that, the St. Henry Redskins punched their ticket back to Canton for the first time since 2006. They protected a 13-10 lead over the Bulldogs all the way through a scoreless second half to win a weekend road trip two decades in the making.
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“Holy smokes,” Werling said. “I’m just so proud of our kids. We’re going back to state for the first time in 19 years, and I could not be prouder of that group.”
Next Saturday morning, they’ll get a shot at the Hillsdale Falcons (13-1) for the Division VII state title.
“It means a lot to us,” quarterback Charlie Werling said. “All of us as kids walked the halls and the weight room, and every morning we saw those state team pictures. Now it’s our turn to have a chance to put one up there. We talked about it since December. Our goal was to put ourselves in a position to win the last one, and that’s what we just did.”
A community starved for postseason triumph can finally devour a feast of success, the likes of which they haven’t tasted since before St. Henry’s entire roster was born.
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St. Henry, population 2,609, packed Troy Memorial Stadium with perhaps near that same number on a frigid night, around 28 degrees and dropping at kickoff. The Redskin crowd easily outstripped the crowd for Division I Wayne in the same stands two weeks ago, both in terms of numbers and volume.
St. Henry’s defense made 13 points in the first half stand up, shutting out Columbus Grove in the second half.
“You see that?” Werling said, pointing to the crowd behind him. “They’ve been so great all fall. Our volleyball team had a great run at Dayton, and they were there. This community is behind these guys 100%. And I’m just a proud ball coach.”
And they got plenty more of what they’ve become accustomed to across the previous 13 weeks. Both teams leaned heavily into the run. St. Henry depended on Werling on the ground, and Columbus Grove ran the jet sweep more often than not.
But it was two throws by Werling that made all the difference. On the Redskins’ first possession, he rainbowed a perfect ball to wideout Landon Schwartz for a 55-yard touchdown.
“I got behind the corner, and Charlie gave me a good ball,” Schwartz said. “It was barbecue chicken from there.”
Columbus Grove blocked the extra point.
St. Henry’s Landon Schwartz hauls in a perfect strike from Charlie Werling for a 55-yard touchddown in the first half.
St. Henry’s second drive extended its expiration date when Werling’s hard count drew an antsy defender offside on fourth down and four. He took advantage of new life, lobbing the ball up to Austin Zimmerman, lacing it perfectly between a pair of defensive backs for a touchdown and a 13-3 lead.
If Josh Werling knew before the game started that his team wouldn’t score a point after its second drive, he probably wouldn’t have loved his odds. But he wouldn’t have lost all hope, either. He knows his defense too well for that.
Columbus Grove QB Landon Best broke from his typical pop pass on the next drive, and heaved deep for the Bulldogs’ star receiver, Trevon Baxter. Baxter slipped, and the corner in lockstep went down with him. Schwartz, a safety playing a deep zone, was left all alone to intercept the pass.
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St. Henry flipped the field, as they did in so many big moments, but didn’t score. They likewise forced Grove to punt, but muffed it. Graedon Maag fell on it for the Bulldogs at the ’Skins 22 yard line.
The Redskins needed a heroic performance from the defensive front to contain Grove’s speedsters, and they got it all night.
St. Henry’s Trevor Rindler makes a play during the ‘Skins semi-final win Friday over Columbus Grove.
“They are extremely athletic,” Josh Werling said. “But Coach Craig Dues and the defensive staff had our guys ready to roll.”
Kale Schwartz and Nick Lefeld swarmed the middle, and Anderson Kramer and Drew Langenkamp helped clean up tackles before runners like Baxter could turn the corner.
They held the Bulldogs to 4.3 yards per play.
The short-field drive was no different. A tribe of Redskins enveloped Baxter in the backfield on a fourth and one toss.
“It’s hard because they’re a big physical team,” Columbus Grove coach Andy Schafer said. “It’s like hitting a stone wall.”
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St. Henry suffered a third special teams miscue, a shanked punt that set up yet another short field.
This time, the Bulldogs made it count. Baxter finally made the game-changing play he’s so accustomed to making. He ran a go route down the left sideline and reeled in a 38-yard TD to reclaim momentum before halftime, during which his team trailed 13-10.
Not much had gone right for St. Henry since the first two drives. But they had a pretty important advantage that counts for a lot more than momentum: three more points than the other guys.
Werling’s message was plain. Offensively, they would lean more on the run (eight passes, 12 runs in the first half). Defensively, if they played their game, it didn’t matter what else happened.
After just five carries in the first half, Charlie Werling carried the ball 18 times, threw it four times, and handed the ball off just once in the second half.
“That’s been our identity all year,” Josh Werling said. “And when it’s that time in the ball game, let’s lean into who we are, not reinvent ourselves.”
Josh Werling makes his point to the ‘Skins’ defense…”If they don’t score, we win.”
Loosely speaking, the Redskins had one play call: ‘Werling up the middle, stop us if you can.’
“When my number is called, that means my team trusts me, and my coach trusts me to go make a play,” Charlie Werling said. “And that’s what I have to do. I’m used to it at this point. I like being the guy that my teammates can count on. I take pride in that.”
He finished with 113 yards on 23 carries.
While he didn’t manufacture a second-half score, he did enough to help the defense out.
“There was a possession where we flipped the field, and that was critical,” Josh Werling said. “The whole third quarter we had our back against the wall. But we got three or four first downs, got to midfield, and punted inside the 10. And that changed everything.”
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Columbus Grove made a final push in the mid-fourth quarter, but turned the ball over on downs. St. Henry quickly invaded Bulldog territory and kept the ball there one way or another until the final whistle. Werling added the exclamation point with a sack that killed a desperation drive. The roar of the Redskin crowd said it all. They’re back.
St. Henry was ready for this one, which was maybe the hardest game to prepare for coming off a record-book win that garnered statewide attention.
“8 AM Saturday we were in the weight room getting ready for this one,” Josh Werling said. “And we needed every second of that prep time.”
If they prepared well under those circumstances for the semi-finals, then Hillsdale can count on this: the Redskins will come ready, and they will come hungry.
“It’ll take another good game plan, and we gotta execute,” Schwartz said. “If the community shows up, I think we can do it.”
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