Chieftains bottle up Blue Streaks, advance to regional final vs. Carey

BASCOM – After Hopewell-Loudon got off to a great start Friday night, momentum shifted to Archbold before the half as it scored 14 points in the final five minutes of the half to get within 22-14. But the Chieftains came out on a mission in the second half and the defense blanked the Blue Streaks to pull out a 30-14 Division VI regional semifinal win at home.The Chieftains have been no stranger to playoff wins, but next week will be the first regional final appearance since 2021. That means another week of practice for coach Brian Colatruglio and the seniors who walked off the home field for the final time Friday night."I'm excited because we finally did it," H-L all-Ohio lineman Aiden Ewald said. "It's sad that we don't get to play on this field anymore, but it's enjoyable to get a win on our home field and then going onto the next level next week."Colatruglio added: "I'm gonna go celebrate this win and I know we get to practice on Monday … this group is special," he said. "They're so tough, we're just built different this year. I'm just excited I get to spend another week with them."H-L (11-1) ripped off some big plays in the win, but it was the big guys up front, controlling the line of scrimmage on both ends that was the difference. The Chieftains only had to rush four on defense to either get pressure on Archbold's quarterback or hold the running game in check. Essentially, H-L made the Blue Streaks one-dimensional on offense. Archbold tallied 24 carries for just 77 yards, including holding running back Ryder Ryan to nine carries for 16 yards."They took it to us up front. We couldn't get the run game going early on and we had to play from behind," Archbold coach David Dominique said. "You never want to get into the fourth quarter and have to throw the ball 30 times like that, so it's not a good formula for winning late in the playoffs."After making Archbold (9-3) punt on the opening possession, H-L started its initial drive at its own 2. On a second-and-11, Brody Brickman exploded through a hole and galloped for a huge 54-yard gain. He then capped off the 10-play drive with a 3-yard rushing score. Kellen Frankart then found Jack Colatruglio on the two-point conversion pass as H-L led 8-0 late in the opening frame.After the teams traded possessions, H-L got an explosive play on special teams as Colatruglio retreated to catch the Archbold punt at his own 25-yard line. He proceeded to make his way through the Blue Streaks coverage unit and take the return to the house for a massive 75-yard touchdown. Down 14 late in the half, Archbold got the passing game going as Maddox Pinter went 4 for 4 on the next drive through the air before he scramble for a 5-yard TD to pull Archbold within 14-7 with 4:57 left in the half.But H-L responded.On a third-and-16 at its own 26, Brickman caught a jailbreak screen and followed his blockers for a 56-yard gain, which eventually led to a 6-yard rushing score from Frankart. Jacoby Ellis then hit Frankart on the two-point conversion, putting H-L ahead 22-7 with just 1:53 left.But Archbold only needed six plays to respond as Pinter hit Morgan Harris in stride for a 19-yard TD pass."The key to the game was that we basically played four guys in the box and they couldn't run," Colatruglio said. "That was the key. We made them one-dimensional and that's tough because we're dropping eight, we're covering them, still able to get a little pressure with our down three because they're really good … we didn't give up any big plays. That's a team that every game I watched they're getting big plays. "They're fast and they made a lot of big plays. I gotta be honest I didn't sleep much this week … I was worried about their offense and how explosive they were. We did a great job of containing them."H-L took the ball right down the field to begin the second half, but was stuffed on Archbold's 3 on a fourth down and turned the ball over on downs. But it did take seven minutes off the clock.After H-L's defense stood tall and made Archbold punt, Frankart caught a pass for 23 yards, ran the ball for eight yards and then lined up at quarterback and found a wide-open Brickman on a wheel route for a 26-yard TD. The two also connected then on the two-point conversion as H-L led 30-14 late in the third."Kellen made a couple plays in the pass game and we kind of have been sitting on some of that stuff. He was out for a long time (injured), so we never really got to fully expand what he can do," Colatruglio said. "He's a quarterback, he's a running back, he's a receiver … we have a lot of really versatile guys and I love how we've been using all of them. At the end, we're just trading carries and wearing people out."Frankart ended with 173 total yards of offense, while Brickman added 160 yards of offense as Ellis went 6 for 8 passing for 114 yards. With the win, the Chieftains will take on Carey (9-4) at a site yet to be determined. H-L topped Carey 30-7 all the way back in Week 1 in Bascom.