The Daily Standard
Sports Preview
The first meeting between Marion Local and St. Henry was a dandy.
Nothing much has changed to think the rematch will be any different.
The Flyers and Redskins will face off for a Division VII regional title on Friday at Mercy Health/VFW Post 8445 Field in Wapakoneta in the Region 28 final. The winner moves on to the final four.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association will announce the state semifinal pairings later this week.
The rivals along state route 119 will be playing for the 61st time since St. Henry's first official varsity season. Marion has dominated the series with a 29-20-1 record. The last Redskin victory came on Sept. 25, 2009, when Jon Speck's 25-yard field goal proved to be the difference in a 10-7 win at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
St. Henry's Nick Lefeld (63) closes in as Marion Local's Brennen Hess (8) looks for running room during the teams' Sept. 5 meeting in St. Henry.
The Flyers came to the MAC opener at St. Henry on Sept. 5 having won their 66th straight game the week before against Crestview. St. Henry took a 7-0 lead on the second play of the game when Jack Huelsman picked off Brennen Hess for a 47-yard touchdown. The Redskins led 14-7 at halftime before Marion came back to tie the game late in the third quarter on a Brayden Mescher 10-yard touchdown reception off the Hess pass. With just under 5 1/2 minutes to play in regulation, Hess connected with his other favorite receiver Cale Nagel for a 35-yard scoring pass to allow Marion to leave with a 21-14 win. At that time, it was the closest margin of victory for Marion Local since a 14-13 win over Versailles on Sept. 22, 2023 in Maria Stein.
Marion continued to roll on and enter Friday with a 76-game winning streak, although there were a few close calls
The first came on Sept. 26 in Maria Stein, where Marion rallied to take a 20-19 lead with 2:58 to play in regulation on a Mescher 10-yard scoring catch, but the Flyers could only breathe easy after Derek Knapke picked off an Ethan Wilker pass with 63 seconds remaining to preserve the win.
Then came Anna on Oct. 10, where Kamden Eifert's fourth touchdown of the night gave Marion a 28-21 lead in the second overtime. Anna got a touchdown on its possession, but the Flyers defended a two-point conversion pass try to preserve a 28-27 win.
Finally, in Week 10, Marion was held to under double digits for the first time since Sept. 6, 2019 as Andrew Schmackers' 98-yard kickoff return proved to be enough in a 7-6 win over Coldwater.
After the bye week for earning the top seed of the region, Marion kept rolling, beating Lehman 42-12 and then defeated Fort Recovery 35-0 to reach the regional final.
St. Henry went on a tear after its loss, allowing just 27 points over the next six games before holding off Versailles 26-20.
The Redskins also picked up a first-round bye, then battled New Bremen for the second time this season after winning the regular season meeting 20-0. This time, the Cardinals were up for the fight before St. Henry got a 14-7 win. Last week the Redskins defeated Cedarville 49-12.
St. Henry quarterback Charlie Werling tries to get away from the Marion Local defense during the teams' first meeting in September.
A healthy Charlie Werling has allowed St. Henry to roll. The MAC Offensive Player of the Year has rushed for 1,528 yards and 28 touchdowns this season. Werling's passing game has been a solid complement, throwing for 1,250 yards with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Marion sophomore Brennen Hess has been exceptional in taking over at quarterback from Justin Knouff. Hess has completed 69.1% of his passes (112-of-162) for 1,089 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The two teams have been potent on defense. St. Henry has four shutouts and held four teams to single-digit efforts this season in allowing 9.4 points per game. Marion has allowed just 7.7 points per game with five shutouts and three single-digit shutdowns.
St. Henry's secondary has recorded 24 interceptions this season with three interceptions returned for touchdowns. Jack Huelsman has five interceptions on the season with two pick-sixes. Landon Schwartz added five picks. Linebacker Anderson Kramer leads the team with 109 tackles.
Marion has shared the wealth on defense with a number of players coming up with big tackles. Seth Heitkamp leads the team with 83 tackles with Nolan Eckstein adding 69 tackles. Brayden Mescher, the MAC's co-Defensive Player of the Year, has five interceptions to go with 51 tackles.
For the second straight season, Coldwater and Anna square off in the Division VI Region 24 final when the teams meet Friday at Alexander Stadium in Piqua. Last year, Coldwater won 45-21 at Sidney Memorial Stadium.
This time, the Cavaliers will look to avenge a 14-7 loss earlier this season as Coldwater looks to keep up its solid run in the playoffs.
The teams have played 23 times entering Friday with Coldwater holding a 19-4 advantage. It will be the fourth time the teams have faced off in the playoffs (2009, 2010, 2024, 2025).
The first meeting on Sept. 12 was a defensive battle. The teams played the first half to a scoreless tie. Coldwater broke the shutout with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter on a Braxton Taylor 12-yard run, only for Anna to tie the game with under a minute to play in the third on a Zebadiah Pleiman eight-yard touchdown catch from Logan Ziegenbusch. The Rockets took the lead with 3:48 remaining in regulation on Ziegenbusch's second touchdown pass of the night, this time going to Kale Hoying from 12 yards out. The Rocket defense held firm the rest of the way to get their first win over the Cavaliers since 2019 with a 14-7 score. Coldwater was held to 157 yards of total offense with seven penalties and a 4-for-11 third-down conversion rate.
Standing 2-2 after the Anna loss, Coldwater rattled off three straight wins before losing 16-7 to New Bremen, the first loss to the Cardinals since 1997. A win over Versailles helped lock up a home game in the opening round before giving Marion Local a battle, with all 13 points coming in the third quarter as Marion won 7-6.
In the postseason, Coldwater opened up with two straight shutouts in beating Covington 48-0 at Cavalier Stadium before making a trip to St. Bernard to beat St. Bernard-Elmwood Place 38-0. Last week, Coldwater faced an undefeated Tri-Village squad that had running clocks in each of its previous games. The Cavaliers jumped out quick with a 19-0 lead and never looked back in a 48-29 win over the Patriots.
Anna lost to St. Henry the week after the Coldwater win 28-7, then won two straight before heading to Maria Stein and taking Marion Local to double overtime before the Flyers survived for a 28-27 win. After that, it was wins over Fort Recovery and Parkway to end the regular season and lock up a home playoff game.
The Rockets rolled past Deer Park 54-15 and Mechanicsburg 46-12 before beating Springfield Northeastern 28-8.
Coldwater's Karsyn Homan has been a threat to throw and run this season for the Cavalier offense.
After the loss to Marion, the fourth time this season the team scored seven or fewer points, Coldwater has averaged 44.7 points per game in the postseason to move the season scoring average to 32.4 points per game.
Quarterback Karsyn Homan, coming off a 155-yard rushing, 142-yard passing game against Tri-Village, is a yard away from becoming the 11th Coldwater player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Derek Dues, who took over the primary running back chores after Taylor was injured in the first Anna game, has 676 yards and 13 touchdowns. Cadin Obringer leads the team in receiving yards with 643 and in tackles with 97 while Dues has a team-best eight sacks.
Kicker Bryce Couchot, whose consecutive PAT streak was snapped at 99 in the Covington game, connected on 10 straight before missing his second PAT at Tri-Village, putting him at 48-of-50 on the season and 5-of-6 on field goals.
Coldwater's Bryce Couchot (21) has scored 63 kicking points this season for Coldwater.
Ziegenbusch, a sophomore, is the catalyst of the Anna offense. Ziegenbusch has thrown for 1,774 yards with 22 touchdowns to just five interceptions while rushing for 1,147 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Pleiman has 60 receptions for 672 yards and nine touchdowns. Brody Murray adds 416 yards on 24 receptions and TJ Roberts has 325 yards on 30 receptions.
Landon Hewitt leads the defense with 93 tackles to go with five sacks. Nolan Wilt, who shared MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors with Marion's Brayden Mescher, has 79 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, eight sacks and two fumble recoveries, one going back for a touchdown.
Kamden Eifert, RB, Marion Local
Sam Rismiller, LB, Coldwater
