Heart of Ohio Sports Observer 9-22-22

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Published on
September 22, 2022

By Joshua Morgret
On Twitter: @joshuamorgret
On Instagram: @joshuamorgret


One-third of the season is gone.
Like I said last week, if you’re fortunate to make a deep run in the postseason, your season is just
getting started. However, if you don’t make the playoffs, your season is halfway over.
That’s crazy to think. But, as we move forward, who is making the playoffs is getting clearer each week. The teams that are going to make league title runs and deep runs in the playoffs are getting a little bit more obvious each week. For volleyball, the tournament draw is just a few weeks away, so that will be revving up really soon too.

Let’s get to it!

High school football


Tiffin Columbian (4-1)
– It was no surprise that Columbian laid a shellacking on winless Toledo Waite
last week, 62-8. The Tornadoes’ offense is flying high right now after scoring just 14 points against
Fremont Ross in Week 1. If you missed it, Fremont Ross is still undefeated at 5-0. But back to
Columbian. The Tornadoes have the highest-scoring offense in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake
division as league play gets underway this week. Columbian is averaging 45.2 points per game through
five weeks, which is almost eight points per game higher than Perkins. Brayden Roggow has completed
74-of-115 passes for 928 yards and 13 touchdowns while Damien Brockington has run the ball 77
times for 753 yards and 12 scores. Jack Koerper didn’t play in the Toledo Waite win, but still paces the
offense with 24 catches for 308 yards. The Tornadoes host Sandusky on Friday before an absolute
monster of a gauntlet of a schedule with road trips to Clyde, Bellevue, and Perkins consecutively.
Getting a win over Sandusky would be a good way to start the league slate.
Current playoff look: 2nd in Division III, Region 10


Tiffin Calvert (3-2) – The Senecas got back to their winning ways – like they should have – in a
lopsided win over Fremont St. Joseph last week. Calvert scored a season-high 44 points in the win over
SJCC after mustering just 20 total points in losses to St. Paul and Gibsonburg in Weeks 3 and 4. Now,
the Senecas travel to a tough Margaretta (4-1) team that is coming off a close loss to Hopewell-Loudon
last week. For the Senecas, Jack Shultz has completed 66-of-123 passes for 979 yards and seven
touchdowns. On the ground, Jacob Rombach is up to 57 carries for 325 yards for Calvert. The Senecas
will have to contend with a tough 1-2 punch from Margaretta. Cameron Sosa has completed 36-of-61
passes for 535 yards while Jake Boggs has 91 rushes for 560 yards and nine TDs on the ground for the
Polar Bears. Calvert needs to get a big win or two yet this year and they will have the chance against
Margaretta, Bern Union (4-1) and Hopewell-Loudon (4-1) yet.
Current playoff look: (tied) 12th in Division VII, Region 26


Carey (5-0) – In the words of good ol’ J.R., former WWE announcer Jim Ross… BUSINESS IS
ABOUT TO PICK UP. After 20 consecutive wins, all by at least 12 points that included a Division VI
state championship last season, Carey travels to undefeated Colonel Crawford this Friday in what is a
colossal showdown between two heavyweights in Division VI. Carey had no issues last week in
pounding Buckeye Central, but a stiff rise in competition awaits. For the Blue Devils, Lance Rickle
leads the way with 23-of-41 passes completed for 402 yards and 53 carries for 356 yards and seven
touchdowns. Also for Carey, Conner Norden (49-304-5) and Eli Steen (56-286-3) are solid options on the ground for the Blue Devils. Colonel Crawford as a team has run 184 times for 1,277 yards and 21
touchdowns. The Eagles are currently above Carey in the Division VI, Region 22 standings, but the
winner of this will almost certainly lock up the No. 1 seed and potentially two home playoff games
when the playoffs roll around.
Current playoff look: 2nd in Division VI, Region 22


Seneca East (3-2) – Simply put, Seneca East has to forget about last Friday. The Tigers took one on the
chin against the aforementioned Colonel Crawford, 42-0. Coach Ed Phillips probably couldn’t grasp
many positives from that one, but SE has to re-focus with a trip to Buckeye Central (3-2) this week. It
will be the Tigers’ first road game since an Aug. 26 trip to Fostoria. Blake Foos continues to shine for
Seneca East, completing 65-of-120 passes for 856 yards and 10 touchdowns while running 102 times
for 524 yards and six TDs. It’s not crazy to think that Seneca East won’t be favorited in its next four
games (at Buckeye Central, at Bucyrus, vs. Mohawk, vs. Wynford) before a showdown with Carey in
Week 10. League title implications could be on the line then, but that’s a long way away. Seneca East
has to bounce back and play solid to beat the Bucks in New Washington.
Current playoff look: 12th in Division VI, Region 22


Mohawk (2-3) – You know what two wins in a row is? A winning streak. It’s not a big one, but when
the Warriors lost their first three games of the season, they’ll take it. It also wasn’t a pretty win for
Mohawk, who slugged past Wynford, 12-8. It’s not always the good-looking ones that wear the crown.
Ben Bogner has continued to play well for the Warriors, completing 45-of-95 passes for 628 yards and
five touchdowns while running 46 times for 201 yards. Zaiden Fry has 32 rushes for 276 yards and four
touchdowns for Mohawk. The Warriors play just their second home game of the season when they host
rival Upper Sandusky this week. A win for Mohawk could set up a big league game against Carey next
week. The Warriors could find themselves on the playoff bubble from now until the final standings are
released barring a huge upset win somewhere.
Current playoff look: 17th in Division VII, Region 26


Lakota (1-4) – The Raiders’ offense played much better against Willard last week, but Lakota couldn’t
keep pace with the highest-scoring offense in the state entering Week 5, falling 41-31. Lakota went
from prepping for Willard’s high-octane passing offense to needing to find a way to slow down
Gibsonburg’s run-orientated offense this week. For the Raiders, Cody Biddle has completed 22-of-50
passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns while running 59 times for 435 yards and three scores.
Micah Williams adds 42 rushes for 244 yards while Chase Dussell leads the offense with 16 catches for
243 yards. Gibsonburg is led by Connor Smith’s monster numbers of 147 carries for 1,312 yards and 18
touchdowns. Lakota coach Mike Lento told me last week that he fully believes he has a good team and
that can turn it around. They will quickly have the chance to prove it against rival Gibsonburg. The
Raiders need wins and need wins quickly if it hopes to make the playoffs for the third straight year.
Current playoff look: 22nd in Division VI, Region 22


For other high school football teams in the area:
Despite six turnovers, clyde (4-1) slipped past Toledo Scott, 34-16… bellevue (4-1) clobbered Toledo
Start, 46-0 for coach Ed Nasonti’s 250 th career win… Hopewell-Loudon (4-1) picked up a big league
road win at Margaretta, 27-13… Upper Sandusky (2-3) bounced Bucyrus, 54-21… Buckeye Central (3-
2)
lost to Carey, 48-7… and Fostoria (0-5) continued its tough season, falling to Rossford, 47-7.


Current playoff look for those other teams in the area:
bellevue – 5th in Division IV, Region 14
Buckeye Central – 10th in Division VII, Region 25 clyde – 3rd in Division III, Region 10
Fostoria – (tied) 21st in Division IV, Region 14
Hopewell-Loudon – 7th in Division VI, Region 22
Upper Sandusky – 13th in Division IV, Region 14


This week's schedule:
Sandusky at Tiffin Columbian - LIVE on Heart of Ohio Sports
Tiffin Calvert at Margaretta - LIVE on Heart of Ohio Sports X-Stream

Carey at Colonel Crawford
Seneca East at Buckeye Central
Upper Sandusky at Mohawk
Lakota at Gibsonburg
bellevue at Norwalk
clyde at Perkins
Genoa at Fostoria
Lima Central Catholic at Hopewell-Loudon

College football


Heidelberg (3-0) – I was at Hoernemann Stadium last week when the Student Princes dispatched Ohio
Northern, 37-3. It was a bit of a slow start for Heidelberg as it had a 10-3 halftime lead, but the running
game of the Student Princes wore ONU down methodically. Heidelberg’s defense came through in the
clutch when it needed it most, forcing Ohio Northern into six turnovers including four interceptions.
The offense was led by Montavious Yearby’s 31 carries for 183 yards. Heidelberg is ranked No. 18 in
Division III in the country this week, but a stern test awaits when the Student Princes travel to face
John Carroll (1-1) in a big game on Saturday. If the Heidelberg defense plays like it has the first three
weeks – allowing a total of 10 points – the Student Princes will give itself as good a chance as any.
Next up: at John Carroll, 1:30 p.m. Saturday


Tiffin (2-1) – Just as things were winding down at Hoernemann Stadium, I nearly stopped at Frost-
Kalnow Stadium on the way out of town. But if I was rooting for the Dragons, I would have left
disappointed. Tiffin led No. 19 Indianapolis 20-7 with 9:40 left in the fourth quarter, but Indy scored
three touchdowns including the go-ahead touchdown with six seconds left to stun Tiffin. The game
opened with kickoff returns for touchdowns for both sides. Christian Carter completed 22-of-41 passes
for 208 yards and an interception for Tiffin while Darius Pinnix ran 14 times for 123 yards. He had an
80-yard TD run, meaning his other 13 carries went for just 43 yards. Things don’t get much easier for
the Dragons with a trip to Truman State (Missouri) this week. Truman State came to Tiffin last year and
topped the Dragons, 38-35. Similar to the Indianapolis loss this year, Truman State scored twice in the
final 3:29 including the game-winner with 26 seconds to go to defeat Tiffin.
Next up: at Truman State, 3 p.m. Saturday

Volleyball
Boy, do we have something special that could be brewing when it comes to Tiffin Calvert (13-1) and
Mohawk (12-0). As I noted last week, each are in separate districts that flow into the same regional.
The 2022 regional draw has been released and they are on opposite halves of the regional. Meaning,
they could meet for a regional championship and the right to go to Dayton. I’ve seen both play and it’s
a long way to go, but both will likely enter their districts as heavy favorites.

Let’s look at Mohawk first. I made the drive down State Route 231 on Tuesday as they topped Carey in
four sets. The Warriors have done a tremendous job when pushed to the brink. They already have five-
set wins over Wynford, Willard, and Colonel Crawford – all of which were on the road – and four-set
wins over Clyde, Seneca East, and Carey. The Warriors open the second round of league play at
Bucyrus tonight. Big league matches await against Seneca East (Oct. 6), Colonel Crawford (Oct. 11),
and Carey (Oct. 13), as well as a tough non-league battle with Monroeville (Oct. 8). Mohawk will
almost assuredly be the top seed in their district when the draw rolls around.


Calvert’s train hasn’t stopped rolling. The Senecas are well on their way to another Sandusky Bay
Conference River division championship and potentially long tournament run. Calvert has looked
thoroughly impressive each time I’ve seen them and have only dropped one set in their 13 wins this
season. Besides dominating the SBC River, the Senecas do have two tough non-league matchups yet
against Division I Toledo St. Ursula at Bowling Green State University (Oct. 5) and at Division II
Liberty-Benton (Oct. 11). Those two matches will likely tell coach Lori Rombach what her team needs
to improve on most before tournament play starts.


Around the N-10, Carey and Seneca East both sit with two league losses, but are both 9-2 overall. They
will likely be rooting for each other when the other takes on Mohawk. Carey would need Seneca East
to beat Mohawk and then do it itself as well, while Seneca East would need to defeat Carey and then
take down Mohawk. Despite Mohawk being two up on everyone, the league race is far from over. What
stood out to me about Carey was the youth. The Blue Devils have two seniors – Tristen Courtad and
Julia Brodman – but a vast majority of production was coming from juniors and sophomores. Watch
out for Carey for the next few years too.


In the SBC River, the race for second place continues to be a heated race. The two teams currently tied
at three league losses are Fremont St. Joseph and Danbury while our area teams – Old Fort, Hopewell-
Loudon, and Lakota – are close behind. Those five teams really seem interchangeable, but Danbury’s
only league loss outside of Calvert was at Hopewell-Loudon. Challenging themselves day in and day
out will only make the team get better as we open the second half of the regular season.
In the SBC Lake, Bellevue, Clyde, and Columbian are all chasing Vermilion and Perkins atop the
league. I saw Columbian push Bellevue to four sets last week before falling short. Bellevue took out
Clyde in four sets Tuesday.

SBC Lake
Team – conference record – overall record
Vermilion – 6-0 – 10-2
Perkins – 5-1 – 7-5
Bellevue – 4-2 – 7-4
Clyde – 3-3 – 8-5
Columbian – 1-4 – 3-9
Norwalk – 1-5 – 3-10
Sandusky – 0-5 – 3-1


SBC River
Team – conference record – overall record
Calvert – 10-0 – 13-1
Fremont SJCC – 7-3 – 8-6 Danbury – 6-3 – 10-3
Old Fort – 6-4 – 7-6
Hopewell-Loudon – 6-4 – 8-7
Lakota – 5-5 – 7-6
Gibsonburg – 2-7 – 2-12
New Riegel – 1-9 – 1-12
Sandusky SMCC – 1-9 – 2-12


Northern 10 Athletic Conference
Mohawk – 7-0 – 12-0
Carey – 5-2 – 9-2
Seneca East – 4-2 – 9-2
Colonel Crawford – 4-3 – 10-3
Buckeye Central – 4-3 – 7-6
Wynford – 2-5 – 3-7
Upper Sandusky – 1-6 – 4-8
Bucyrus – 0-6 – 6-6

About the Author

Owner of Mullins Entertainment Productions, and head of sales at Heart of Ohio Sports, Nate has an associates degree in Music Business and over a decade of experience in media. Serving as play by play announcer on most broadcasts, Nate provides an energy and enthusiasm for sports that is unmatched in local sports media. Along with his duties at HOOS, he is a devoted husband, a father of three young men, Bailey, Gabe, and Issac, while also serving as the Sports Media Coach at Tiffin University. Follow him on twitter (X) at @N8_Mullins, or email nmullins@heartofohiosports.com.

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