Chieftains "out-Carey" Blue Devils in dominant 35-0 victory

FINDLAY – When Carey is rolling, the Blue Devils keep churning out first downs to extend drives and keep the opposing defense on their heels. That also keeps time ticking off the clock and keeps the opposing team's offense off the field. Well, Hopewell-Loudon flipped the script Friday night as it picked up a bunch of third and fourth down conversions to extend drives and eventually end the possessions in the end zone, demoralizing the Blue Devils.In the end, H-L crushed Carey 35-0 in a Division VI regional final at Donnell Stadium in Findlay to advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 2021."I think there's a misconception that we're a finesse team and that we kind of do some different things offensively … we are not a finesse team. We are a physical team, tough and out-physicaled one of the best teams in northwest Ohio tonight," H-L coach Brian Colatruglio said. "Our O- and D-lines absolutely took over the game. "We ran the ball, we stopped them in what they wanted to do. Our guys up front got the job done against a really good offensive and defensive line."After punting for the only time all night on the opening possession, H-L's defense came up huge as the first Carey play resulted in a fumble and Eli Benner recovered the fumble at Carey's 18. Six players later, Brody Brickman found the end zone on a 4-yard rush, but the two-point conversion pass failed as H-L led 6-0.Carey (9-5) responded with a 10-play drive, but H-L's defense stiffened up as Mace Puckett came up a yard short on a fourth-and-5 at H-L's 39.Meanwhile, the ensuing 10-play drive for the Chieftains (12-1) found the end zone as Brickman took a snap 14-yards for a rushing TD and Kellen Frankart ran in the two-point conversion to give H-L a 14-0 advantage midway through the second quarter.After another defensive stop, H-L capped the half with an 11-play drive with a score as Frankart ran in a 10-yard TD with just 33 ticks left in the half as H-L took a 20-0 lead into the half."I thought our defense came out right off the rip and played solid, but we just didn't get start offensively like we have the previous few games. We didn't move the ball much and change field position at least," Carey coach Jonathan Mershman said. "Offensively, we sputtered a little bit, we had our chances at times, but we didn't put enough of it together to get into the end zone and get some momentum on our side."You never want to start give them a short field on your own 20, but we did some good things tonight, but we didn't do enough good things consistently. That's a really good team. Like I said in Week 1: that's a really good team. They've gotten better, they've got what it takes right now and I wish them the best of luck. We didn't execute like we did the first three playoff games."After Carey turned the ball over on downs to start the second half, H-L executed a 13-play drive, converting two third downs and a fourth down to get into the end zone as Frankart scored from a yard out and then ran in the two-point conversion as well as the Chieftains led 28-0 at the start of the fourth.Frankart then capped the scoring with an 18-yard scamper into the end zone and Keagan Beebe's extra point was good."They were here because they were able to out-tough everyone else in our region," H-L senior Jack Colatruglio said. "They were able to take it to everyone else, so for us to shut them down and go right them, I was really proud of the guys. "When we got behind (the chains), we didn't just fall over, we were able to convert well on third down. Even on third and really long, we were able to get a few. We kept drives going and capitalized."Frankart finished with 17 carries for 66 yards, while Brickman added 13 carries for 48 yards, while Colatruglio caught four passes for 52 yards.H-L held Carey's Mace Puckett to 17 carries for 47 yards rushing. Tripp Phoenix led the Blue Devils with six carries for 71 yards as 53 of that came on a single run in the fourth. Overall, Carey only rushed for 142 yards on 32 attempts."We've won at least two playoff games for three years in a row, but we just couldn't quite get over the hump," coach Colatruglio said. "This year it's just a different group. I don't know if it's the most talented group we've had, but it's physically and mentally the toughest team that we've had. "We just keep getting better. That's three weeks in a row we've played our best game of the year. I don't know who we play yet, but I'm pretty sure we're gonna have to do it again next week."The Chieftains will indeed take on Coldwater (10-4), who topped Anna 14-12 Friday night, in a state semifinal next Friday at a site yet to be determined.