When Old Adages Stumble…Talented Anna Falls To 2-3

It’s never a surprise to lose to Marion Local, but Anna’s Friday loss further fueled the conversation over why a team with broad expectation to win a conference title is suddenly struggling to simply…win!

Maria Stein, OH – By halftime of Friday’s Anna 41-14 loss to Marion Local those standing outside the fence encircling the playing field at Booster Field were hardly talking under their breath, asking each other:   “What’s going on with Anna?”

The Rockets, after jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game, then surrendered three unanswered Marion scoring drives in a row to trail 21-7 at the half.

And this, while giving every indication that they could move the ball on the ground and through the air thanks to the obvious athletic talent of junior quarterback, and All-Ohio candidate, Logan Ziegenbusch.

Ziegenbusch, a 6’0″, 170-pound nightmare to corral and wrestle to the ground, kept hopes alive for a comeback every time he handled the football.  And few in area high school football can have that said about them.  Ziegenbusch is that talented – that slippery.

But costly mistakes undid too much of the positives created by Ziegenbusch, both running the ball and through the air.

For instance, Anna would give up three Marion touchdowns Friday…on fourth down plays!

On first down, at midfield after a change of possession in the first half, the Rockets allowed Marion running back Cam Griesdorn to gallop through both the line of scrimmage and their secondary, virtually untouched, for a 50-yard score.

Nagging penalties added to the frustration.

Along with the reality, no doubt, that the pre-season expectations for the Rockets compared to present reality were for now as separate as east is from west.  This was a team favored in the pre-season to win the MAC regular season title.

This was a team talked about in terms of a being a threat for the Division VI OHSAA title.  And not unheard of because the Rockets actually won that title in 2019 under coach Nick Marino…who’s still coaching them.

Play after play, this is a team with a collection of talent and athleticism, headed, of course, by Ziegenbusch, who arguably is the best athlete in the conference.  And not much argument, at that!

But the shocking times through five weeks of play have outnumbered the expected outcomes.

There was a Week 2 loss to Shelby County rival Fort Loramie, who drove the length of the field with four minutes remaining and scored as the clock struck 0:00 to win, 13-12.

The following week the Rockets atoned, blowing out Parkway, 43-6…only to revert to puzzling form last week by losing to St. Henry, 39-0.

And a year ago, nearly to the day, Anna barely lost to Marion Local in two overtimes when a Ziegenbusch pass for a two-point conversion was tipped away in the end zone…28-27, Marion Local.

They then won the next five in a row before falling to Coldwater in the OHSAA regional final, capping a 10-4 season.

So yes, as the old adage reads…to whom much is given much is required…in 2026.  Only, it’s been a painful overture to the opera thus far.

“First of all, I thought the kids played hard tonight,”  said Nick Marino, following Friday’s Marion loss.  “We played hard, but we’ve got to execute better, obviously.  They scored three times on fourth down.  We’ve got to take care of that.  If we stop a couple of those it’s a different football game.  But I thought the kids competed tonight.

“Last week we didn’t do that.  Tonight we stuck with the game plan and I thought the kids competed and responded well.  We played hard tonight, but against a tough football team we’ve got to execute better.”

So…were the pre-season expectations too much?  Have they been a distraction…fair or unfair?

“No, that’s fine.  We graduated three All-Ohio players, and we had a lot of good players coming back.  So there was reason for high expectations,”  Marino added.  “Are we disappointed?  Sure, but right now our kids are competing, and we’re getting better.  We’re a little beat up…out of our senior class we have three that are hurt right now.  But the big thing is that our kids are responding, and they’re fightin’ right now against really good football teams.”

And at the eye of the storm stands Logan Ziegenbusch, still a statistical leader on his team, still the obvious leader by his willingness to, in Marino’ words, fight and compete.

Despite being down by 34 points late in the fourth quarter Friday, Anna put together one last finishing drive that resulted in a twenty-yard touchdown pass from Ziegenbusch to teammate Colton Eyink.

“Last week I didn’t think we came out and competed [against St. Henry]”,  said Ziegenbusch, post-game.  “We thought in the pre-season that we were better than we were, we got complacent, and we didn’t play to our potential.

“Don’t get me wrong, tonight they [Marion Local] were a really good football team.  We didn’t execute well enough, we made some mistakes here and there, and they took advantage of it.  That’s how they put up 41.”

And yet, Anna is a good football team…as good as many believed them to be in July.  Another well-worn adage:  Good teams sometimes go through periods like this.  “Iron sharpens iron”, they say.

“I do think we’re good,”  added Ziegenbusch.  “I just don’t think we’re playing to the level of expectations that everyone’s had.  I don’t think the expectations are too high, and I think they should be there.  But we have to continue to work.  We can’t let outside things get in our head and cause us not to.”

It seemed to take a while for the Rockets to clean out their locker room and board the bus back to Shelby County – as if considering how close they came a year ago, comparing to how they played on Friday.  Having witnessed both, the biggest difference, then and now, is probably a matter of confidence.  They had it then, and they’re looking for it now.

In the meantime there’s plenty for which to play.  Anna teams with three losses in the past have rebounded to finish strong and have post-season impact.

Iron sharpens iron….

That’s what they say.