It's become a high school football game fans from around the state keep an eye out for.
And the 2024 rendition of Marion Local versus Coldwater should live up to the hype.
The Midwest Athletic Conference title will be decided as undefeated Marion Local travels to Cavalier Stadium to take on undefeated Coldwater.
For Marion, the win would give the program its 58th consecutive win, breaking the tie with the 1996-2000 Delphos St. John's teams for the longest streak in Ohio history.
The Flyers have been on top of the Division VII state football poll all season. The Cavaliers are tied with Kirtland at the top of the Division VI poll, with the teams having traded the top spot during the season.
The stadium will be jam-packed, the 50/50 raffle should give one lucky fan a four- or five-figure payout, and Spectrum TV will air the game live across the state to subscribers. Due to Spectrum airing the game, the kickoff will be at 7:07 p.m.
Now, the game itself.
Since Marion Local formed in 1955, Coldwater holds a 35-32-4 lead, not including the 9-1 record against Maria Stein St. John before consolidation. Since 1999 when Tim Goodwin came to Maria Stein, Marion holds a 14-12 advantage with the Flyers having won the last five meetings (the teams did not meet in 2020 due to the truncated COVID-19 season). Coldwater's last win came in Week 10 of 2018 with a 26-20 double-overtime win, but the Flyers came back three weeks later in the regional final to win 40-19.
The Flyers played a tough Minster squad last week, taking a 21-0 shutout victory, the fewest points Marion has scored in a game this season.
Coldwater enters the week having beat Versailles 52-14 on a night where the Cavaliers had two interception return touchdowns and Miles Pottkotter and Baylen Blockberger each had two rushing scores.
Both teams have plenty of depth when it comes to offense and defense.
Marion has six players with at least five touchdowns this season. Quarterback Justin Knouff has been sharp running the Flyer offense, throwing for 1,343 yards with 19 touchdowns this season. Victor Hoelscher has been the main threat to catch, recording 38 receptions for 746 yards and 12 toucodwns with Andrew Pohlman (329 yards, four TDs) and Griffin Bruns (217 yards, one TD) also in the mix. The running game as been big as well. Knouff has been running more of late and leads the team with 495 yards and five scores. Parker Hess has 491 yards and six touchdowns and Kamden Eifert has 332 yards and seven scores. Drew Lause has carried the ball 44 times for 239 yards and has rushed for 11 touchdowns. Fullback Ethan Heitkamp has 25 carries this season, with seven going for touchdowns.
Coldwater has also shared the wealth behind quarterback Blockberger, who has thrown for 1,279 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. Four players have 200 or more rushing yards this season, led by Pottkotter's 530 yards with 13 touchdowns. Among the receivers, four have 175 or more yards this season with Mason Welsch leading the teams with 425 yards on 29 receptions.
Defensively, the teams share the wealth. Coldwater has 10 players with 20 or more tackles with linebackers Pottkotter and Cody Depweg leading the team with 58 each. Defensive lineman Will Barry has a team high four sacks while three players have two interceptions.
LinebackerBryant Meier leads Marion with 60 tackles from a linebacker spot, but nine others have at least 20 tackles this season. Adam Winner has five sacks while Ryan Homan and Meier each had three interceptions.
The kicking game will be in play as the teams have the two most prolific kickers in the area. Coldwater's Bryce Couchot is 44-fof-46 on point-after kicks and has made all six field goals - the longest being 44 yards - to tally 62 of the team's 358 points. Marion's Carson Bills has 50 PATs to go with a 32-yard field goal for his 53 points. Backup Thomas Winner has made seven PATs this season, including all three last week against Minster.
In this article we shall try to project what the possible playoff matchups for each WBL and MAC school may be by predicting the final computer points for regions featuring local teams. Hopefully we can also show how an upset or two may change the projections.
If every game in the final week of the season yields the result predicted by Drew Pasteur's Fantastic 50 computer, here are the final rankings and first round playoff opponents of local WBL and MAC teams. Remember, any upsets can cause adjustments to these results, especially for teams hovering around the playoff cut line.
#Rank. Team (Record) Computer Points
1. Tippecanoe (10-0) 34.40
2. Wapakoneta (10-0) 26.65
3. Archbishop McNicholas (9-1) 26.08
4. Bellbrook (9-1) 25.60
5. London (10-0) 24.35
6. Bellefontaine (8-2) 21.70
7. Batavia (8-2) 21.60
8. St Marys (8-2) 20.55
9. Miami Trace (7-3) 17.90
10. Wilmington (6-4) 13.70
11. Celina (6-4) 12.75
12. Chaminade Julienne (5-5) 11.85
13. Ross (4-6) 11.60
14. Meadowdale (7-3) 10.95
15. Franklin (4-6) 9.90
16. Talawanda (3-7) 8.17
First Round Playoff Games:
#2 Wapakoneta vs #15 Franklin
#8 St Marys vs #9 Miami Trace
#11 Celina at #6 Bellefontaine
The above matchups assume Wapakoneta defeats Celina and St. Marys defeats Lima Bath.
If Celina upsets Wapakoneta, then the Redskins will fall to #5 and the Bulldogs will rise to #9 in the standings. Wapakoneta would then play Chaminade-Julienne while Celina would travel to play St. Marys.
If St. Marys loses to Bath, they fall to #9 in the standings. The Roughriders will still play Miami Trace but will have to travel to Washington Court House.
1. Coldwater (9-1) 23.75
2. Cincinnati Country Day (9-1) 18.49
3. Anna (7-3) 15.85
4. Portsmouth West (7-3) 13.65
5. Paint Valley (8-2) 13.30
6. St Bernard-Elmwood Pl. (8-2) 12.05
7. Rock Hill (7-3) 8.41
8. Northeastern (6-4) 8.05
9. Madison-Plains (6-4) 7.20
10. Miami Valley Christian (4-6) 7.12
11. Purcell Marian (4-5) 6.89
12. Dayton Christian (4-5) 6.48
13. Chesapeake (5-5) 5.81
14. Lima Perry (5-5) 5.35
15. Deer Park (4-6) 5.30
16. Covington (3-7) 5.04
17. Frankfort Adena (4-6) 5.00
18. Lucasville Valley (3-7) 4.99
First Round Playoff Games:
#1 Coldwater vs #16 Covington
#3 Anna vs #14 Lima Perry
Coldwater will be the #1 seed no matter what happens against Marion Local. While Covington is favored to end up with the #16 seed, note how close the two teams above and below them are in the rankings.
These projections assume Cincinnati Country Day defeats St. Bernard-Elmwood Place as a two-point favorite. A loss by Country Day moves the Rockets up to #2 and where they would host Cincinnati Deer Park (or one of those other teams listed between #14 and #18).
1. Marion Local (10-0) 27.10
2. Cincinnati College Prep (7-2) 19.23
3. Minster (8-2) 18.70
4. Ansonia (9-1) 17.65
5. Lehman Catholic (8-2) 15.35
6. Waynesfield-Goshen (8-2) 13.85
7. Ridgemont (7-3) 11.85
8. St Henry (6-4) 11.30
9. Tri-Village (8-2) 10.75
10. New Bremen (5-5) 10.50
11. Fort Loramie (5-5) 8.65
12. Riverside (DeGraff) (4-6) 7.40
13. Lockland (3-6) 6.45
14. Twin Valley South (5-5) 5.55
15. Southeastern Local (4-6) 4.55
16. Manchester (3-6) 4.32
17. Cedarville (4-6) 2.96
18. New Miami (3-6) 2.82
19. Fort Recovery (2-8) 2.60
First Round Playoff Games:
#1 Marion Local vs #16 Manchester
#3 Minster vs #14 Twin Valley South
#8 St. Henry vs #9 Tri-Village
#10 New Bremen at #7 Ridgemont
#19 Fort Recovery is out
Marion Local will be the #1 seed regardless of their result against Coldwater. It is harder to predict the #16 seed. Southeastern Local is about as likely as Manchester to finish #16, though if Lockland loses their game to 4-5 Clark Montessori (Lockland is a 4-point favorite) they are projected to finish with 4.05 points and finish 16th.
Minster is projected to finish #3, though both the Wildcats and Cincinnati College Prep could lose some second level points to mild upsets. This means Minster could possibly move up to #2. On the flip side, Sidney Lehman is projected at 18.35 points if they upset 6-3 Dayton Northridge as a 6-point underdog. If one second level point upset also occurs, Minster could drop to #4.
Another mess involves St. Henry and New Bremen. This projection assumes St. Henry defeats 5-4 Versailles and New Bremen wins over 3-6 Delphos St. John's.
If New Bremen loses, the Cardinals will have 9.05 computer points, which keeps them at #10.
If St. Henry loses, the Redskins drop to 8.95 points. That moves Tri-Village up to #8, New Bremen to #9 and St. Henry to #10. In that case St. Henry travels to #7 Ridgemont and New Bremen travels to Tri-Village.
A win by Fort Recovery over Minster would give the Indians 5.70 points and probably the #14 seed.
#9 5-5 Defiance at #8 6-4 Richfield Revere
#20 2-8 Shawnee is out
This assumes Defiance will lose as a six-point underdog to Ottawa-Glandorf. Winning would improve Defiance to the #6 seed and they would host #11 6-4 Bowling Green.
Shawnee should miss the playoffs even if they upset Kenton.
#8 6-4 Ottawa-Glandorf vs #9 6-4 River Valley
#14 5-5 Van Wert at #3 9-1 Ontario
#18 2-8 Elida is out
#24 2-8 Kenton is out
This assumes Ottawa-Glandorf wins as a slight favorite against Defiance in Week 10. If Ottawa-Glandorf loses, they fall to #11 and travel to play #6 Clyde.
The assumption for Van Wert is that they beat Elida. If Elida wins this matchup, then they will take Van Wert's spot at #14 and Van Wert misses the postseason.
#10 5-5 Bath at #7 7-3 Miami East
#12 5-5 Versailles at #5 8-2 Indian Lake
This assumes Bath loses to St. Marys. Should the Wildcats upset the Roughriders as a 20-point underdog, then Bath rises to #6 and hosts Cincinnati Madeira.
This also assumes Versailles loses to St. Henry. Should they overcome the 11-point favored Redskins, Versailles will play 5-5 Carlisle, probably on the road but quite possibly at Hole Field. This would also bump Lima Bath down to #11, and they would then travel to play #6 9-1 Williamsburg.
#26 1-9 Parkway is out
#15 3-7 Delphos St. John's at #2 9-1 Upper Scioto Valley
St. John's is projected to finish with the #15 seed whether they win or lose against New Bremen. Upper Scioto Valley also looks very solid for the #2 seed.
Celina wraps up the regular season at Celina Stadium in hosting a Wapakoneta team that has already sewn up the Western Buckeye League title at 9-0 and 8-0 in league.
Celina bounced back from a tough loss at Ottawa-Glandorf by using two fourth-quarter interceptions - one resulting in a touchdown - to pull away from Defiance 28-6 at Fred J. Brown Stadium. While a playoff spot is more than likely, a win would lock down the berth and possibly get a home game should other factors work out.
Wapakoneta has allowed just a WBL-low 113 points this season and ranks first in two league defensive categories (pass defense and total defense) as well as leading the WBL in scoring at 36.3 points per game. Caleb Moyer has passed for 2,012 yards this season with 16 touchdowns and no interceptions and adds 633 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. Kaden Page being his primary receiver with 951 yards and seven touchdowns.
St. Marys looks to wrap up the regular season with six straight wins and sew up a Week 11 home game against a Bath team that has struggled after a hot start.
The Roughriders had three 100-yard rushers in beating Elida 52-31 last week. Dominik Osborne is 11 yards away from reaching 1,000 yards on the season
After starting 4-1, Bath has lost three of its last four after falling 48-20 at Wapakoneta. Quarterback Zach Welsch has thrown for 2,109 yards and 11 touchdowns this season with Mikey Hale rushing for 860 yards.
St. Henry has been playing hard since starting the season 2-4 with three straight wins into Friday's home game with Versailles.
Charlie Werling has taken more of the snaps at quarterback and has become a true dual threat, rushing for 814 yards and 15 touchdowns and passing for 602 yards with a 64.8% completion rate. Carter LaGuire has 36 receptions for 665 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Tigers have struggled after opening up 5-0 before losing to the bulk of the MAC heavyweights in Marion Local, Anna, Minster and Coldwater. Quarterback Ethan Wilker needs 70 yards to reach 1,000 passing yards for the season.
Fort Recovery snapped a long losing streak two weeks ago for its second win. A third win could put the team in the postseason, but would require a big win at Minster.
The Indians struggled in the loss to Anna, tallying just 127 yards of offense with a second quarter Reece Wendel touchdown preventing the shutout.
Minster played hard in the loss to Marion Local, and became the first team to keep the Flyers under 40 points this season. Brogan Stephey needs 130 rushing yards to join Jared Huelsman as the only Minster quarterbacks to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (Huelsman did it in 2016 and 2017 to go along with 2,000-yard passing seasons).
Both New Bremen and St. John's are locked in for the playoffs, which allows the teams to get a good tune up on Friday at Stadium Park.
The Blue Jays, got quarterback Drew Boggs back in picking up the 40-21 win at Parkway. His return helps counter the loss to running back TJ Werts.
New Bremen had a battle with St. Henry last week before losing 21-14. Quarterback Gavin Dicke has been solid at quarterback all season, especially of late with running back Rogan Muether adding more to the receiving corps.
With the playoffs out of the running, Parkway will look to wrap up the season with a chance for their second win of the season with a road trip to Anna.
Panther quarterback Brayden Bruns has thrown for 1,269 yards this season with eight touchdowns. Wyatt Carpenter has 33 receptions for 411 yards.
Anna's Zach Osborne has scored touchdowns rushing, receiving and on defense this season as his total stands at 19 touchdowns this season.
Wapakoneta at Celina
St. Marys at Bath
Ottawa-Glandorf at Defiance
Elida at Van Wert
Kenton at Shawnee
Marion Local at Coldwater
Versailles at St. Henry
Fort Recovery at Minster
New Bremen at St. John's
Parkway at Versailles
WBL | Overall | |
---|---|---|
Wapakoneta | 8-0 | 9-0 |
St. Marys | 6-2 | 7-2 |
Celina | 5-3 | 6-3 |
Bath | 5-3 | 5-4 |
Defiance | 5-3 | 5-4 |
Ottawa-Glandorf | 5-3 | 5-4 |
Van Wert | 3-5 | 4-5 |
Shawnee | 1-7 | 2-7 |
Elida | 1-7 | 2-7 |
Kenton | 1-7 | 1-8 |
MAC | Overall | |
Coldwater | 7-0 | 9-0 |
Marion Local | 7-0 | 9-0 |
Minster | 5-2 | 7-2 |
Anna | 4-3 | 6-3 |
St. Henry | 4-3 | 5-4 |
Versailles | 3-4 | 5-4 |
New Bremen | 2-5 | 4-5 |
St. John's | 2-5 | 3-6 |
Fort Recovery | 1-6 | 2-7 |
Parkway | 0-7 | 1-8 |