H-L ready to take on perennial power Coldwater

BASCOM – In Ohio football, everyone knows about the MAC Conference. Nationally, people were starting to find out about the MAC, especially Marion Local, who just had its 76-game win streak snapped last Friday night by St. Henry – another MAC school.But something schools like Marion Local and Coldwater have in common are a winning tradition. Overall, the MAC conference has produced 43 state titles in football, including 15 from Marion Local and eight from Coldwater.That eighth one was just last season as the Cavaliers beat Kirtland 31-7 in the Division VI state championship game.Now enters Hopewell-Loudon (12-1) as the latest challenger as the state semifinal will kickoff with Coldwater (10-4) at Wapakoneta Mercy Field Wapak VFW Field Friday at 7 p.m. "Our kids don't know a lot about their history, but us coaches, we know," H-L coach Brian Colatruglio said. "We know the competition they play in that league and all of the tradition that comes with it … I've actually had several chances against them and I'm 0-fer against them. I told the guys if we played their schedule I'm not sure we would've made the playoffs honestly, and they lost four games, but you know the beauty of it, you don't have to beat them for all 10 of them, we don't have to beat them multiple times, we don't have to win their league, we have to play a great football game on one night, this Friday night. I think we're capable of that on one night, playing our game and we'll give them everything we got."This year's Cavaliers lost to Division IV Clinton-Massie 14-7 in Week 2, 14-7 to Anna in Week 4, 16-7 to New Bremen in Week 8 and then to Marion Local 7-6 in Week 10, before rolling to four straight playoff wins, including getting revenge on Anna last week, 14-12.Coldwater surely has playmakers across the field, but everything starts with quarterback Karsyn Homan. He's 127 of 214 passing for 1,889 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions, but he's rushed for 1,098 yards on 201 attempts, which is over 100 rushes than any other player on Coldwater this season."He's a dual-threat guy and he can do everything for their offense," Colatruglio said. "They can spread you out and throw as he's got a good arm and you know with an athlete like that it's the off-schedule stuff that kills you. You watch a play, he scrambles for a first down as he moves around and he finds a receiver, which wasn't his primary target … those are the types of plays that are back breakers to a defense."Besides Homan, Derek Dues has 85 carries for 747 yards and 13 scores out of the backfield and on the outside, Cadin Obringer has 37 grabs for 734 yards and six TDs, while Caleb Schroer adds 41 catches for 438 yards and six TDs. "Everything starts with (Homan), but they have a tall, fast receiver and a couple others that are good too, but it's just a physical, tough football team, which is typical of a MAC team," Colatruglio said. "They are very disciplined. They aren't going to beat themselves, so you're going to have to play all four quarters to beat a team like that. They aren't going to make mistakes and hand you the game, you have to take it."On defense, Obringer leads Coldwater in tackles with 105, while Dues has 87 tackles with 10 tackles for loss and eight sacks. Nolan Mescher has five picks."They don't do a lot on defense, but again, they're just really good at it. Their three-down linemen are guys that are big, take up blocks and they're real aggressive and fast at linebacker," Colatruglio said. "They like to keep everything in front of them, so we're gonna have to get some tough yards and grind out some first downs, which has been kind of our formula these past couple of weeks. "Jacoby (Ellis) is going to have to make some plays too in the passing game, so we're gonna have to be balanced."Ellis is 118 of 171 passing for 1,593 yards with 23 touchdowns and six picks as Jack Colatruglio has 45 catches for 675 yards and eight TDs and Brody Brickman also has 45 catches for 628 yards and 12 scores. The three-headed monster in the backfield includes Brickman with 107 rushes for 759 yards and 16 TDs, Kellen Frankart has 119 carries for 739 yards and 10 TDs and Jaysin Cramer has 105 carries for 671 yards and seven TDs. "I'm just looking forward to the atmosphere Friday," Frankart said. "I mean, I've never played in this game before. I was a water boy when we went back in '21, and that was an amazing atmosphere. So that was the last time I've been to one of these games, so I just can't wait to play in that."