Monday, December 9th, 2019
2019 OHSAA Division VII State Football Championship
One For The Record Books
Flyers beat Cubs to tie St. Ignatius for most all-time football titles
By Colin Foster
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Players from perennial powerhouse Marion Local celebrates after beating Lucas 28-6 on Saturday to win its record-tying 11th football state championship.
CANTON - A "We are Lucas" chant could be heard from the Southwest side of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Then came the all-to-familiar "M-A-C" chant from a group of people wearing Marion Local Blue and Gold.
A prideful group of Cubs from Lucas showed up at the OHSAA Division VII State Football Championship game. But in typical fashion, Midwest Athletic Conference pride won out.
Brandon Fleck rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns as Marion Local defeated Lucas 28-6 to give the MAC its 35th football state championship and 136th all-time. A day earlier, Anna defeated New Middletown Springfield 48-14 in the Division VI title game.
"I think this game was kind of a reflection of our season," said Flyer coach Tim Goodwin, who has guided the program to 11 state titles and 14 appearances since 2000. "Not a lot comes real easy to this team, but we have the ability to play through mistakes and fight through it and find something that works."
There were 4,551 fans in attendance to watch Saturday morning's game. They witnessed history, too.
With its 11th state football crown, Marion Local tied Cleveland St. Ignatius for the all-time record.
"I'm a football guy, so I know what St. Ignatius has done - just the absolute dominance they had in the mid-to-late 80s and 90s," Goodwin said. "I grew up with a dad (Hall of Fame coach Bill Goodwin, who assists his son at Marion) that took me to a lot of football games, a lot of playoff games. I knew the history and I saw those Ignatius teams, so it's pretty cool."
This season was unlike any other in recent memory for the Flyers, who entered the season with question marks across the board after graduating 18 starters from last year's team. But as many MAC coaches stated before the season - don't ever count out Marion Local.
"Us seniors and even the underclassmen, we knew what we had in the locker room. We knew if we worked hard in the offseason that we could get back to where we were," said Marion Local defensive end Matt Everman, who last week was named Division VII Defensive Player of the Year.
The MAC has now won four Division VII titles since its inception in 2013. Saturday marked the second title in D-VII won by Marion Local (13-2), which reached the D-VI finals in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The Cubs (12-3) made a compelling run to the school's first-ever state finals appearance. They, like most of Marion's opponents, simply had issues putting points on the board.
"They're probably one of the most physical teams that we've played other than (Glouster) Trimble," Lucas wide receiver/defensive back Carson Hauger said. "I think what the coach has done over there with how many straight final 4s they've been to and how many championships they've won, it's insane. It was awesome to play them. I think it's something I'll remember the rest of my life, regardless of the score."
"It was an honor to play them," Lucas quarterback Logan Niswander said. "They're one of the best programs in Ohio in all divisions. I thought we held our own out there."
Marion Local was forced to punt after picking up one first down on the game's opening drive. The offense returned to the field moments later, however, as Fleck was bowled over by a Lucas special teamer after punting to draw a personal foul.
Peyton Otte took an option pitch from QB Kyle Muhlenkamp for a 23-yard gain. Dylan Heitkamp followed with a 10-yard run and then punched into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown. Alex Klosterman's extra point made it 7-0 Flyers at the 7:45 mark of the first quarter.
Then Lucas' vaunted Wing-T offense took the field.
The Cubs ran 16 plays and picked up four first downs on their opening drive … and gained a net of 27 yards. Tommy Zirzow moved Lucas to Marion Local's 29-yard line with a fourth-down conversion run, but he was dropped for a loss on the next play. Facing a fourth-and-long a few plays later, Marion Local's Nathan Ungruhn sacked Niswander for a 14-yard loss.
Fleck ran for 38 yards on the first play of Marion's ensuing possession, which began at its own 49. That run put Fleck over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, and he soon scored the first of his three touchdowns when he hit pay dirt from 8 yards out.
Later in the half, the Flyers had a short touchdown knocked off the scoreboard by a penalty, and then Niswander intercepted a Muhlenkamp pass attempt just shy of the end zone.
Beginning a possession at its own 22, Lucas reached Marion's 37 after a fourth-and-short conversion by Zirzow. But on the next play, Everman sacked Niswander, forced a fumble and a loss of 11 for Lucas. Blake Schwieterman and Charles Huelsman knocked down pass attempts to kill Lucas' drive for good, and Marion headed into the locker room a 14-0 leader.
"It was about playing sound and being able to knock off pullers," said Ungruhn on facing the Wing-T. "They want to run downhill at you. Once you got used to what they were doing and slow it down, it makes them change up their game plan."
"You could kind of tell that our defense, somewhere in the second quarter I thought had a pretty good beat on what it was going to take to stop that running attack," Goodwin added.
After another Lucas punt to start the second half, Peyton Otte returned the ball 45 yards. An interception by Hauger ended that Marion Local scoring chance, though.
Lucas was then forced to punt from its end zone following a three-and-out to give Marion short field, and Fleck cashed in with a 6-yard TD run midway through the quarter for a 21-zip lead.
Hauger provided a spark for Lucas with a 96-yard kickoff return - his fifth of the season and the longest in state championship history.
That spark was quickly extinguished, however.
After missing their extra point, the Cubs scooped up an onside kick. But they couldn't get a first down against Marion on four plays. Fleck completed his hat trick with a 3-yard TD late in the fourth.
Fleck was all over the field defensively, too, racking up 11 tackles (three for loss), two sacks and two forced fumbles. Dylan Heitkamp had 12 tackles with Grant Meier tallying 10. Ungruhn and Everman had two sacks each. Charles Huelsman added an interception with Lucas trying to drive late.
It was the least amount of points scored by Lucas this season. The Cubs averaged 333 yards per game but were limited to just 192 against the Flyers.
"Hats off to Marion Local," Lucas coach Scott Spitler said. "We look at them as the bar of high school football, and this was a great opportunity for our program to see where we're at and where we still need to get to. I think now all of our younger kids know that we can play with the top (teams) in the state. This senior group has just left a tremendous legacy and I'm so proud of them."
The Flyers racked up 282 yards of total offense. Kyle Muhlenkamp, who passed for 289 yards in last week's win over Patrick Henry, completed 8-of-12 balls for 55 yards while the rushing attack gained 227. The first-year starting QB could care less about having a stellar stat line, however. Because winning a state championship is something that he and his senior classmates had dreamt about since childhood.
"When we were little kids, we were blessed enough to watch the older kids go compete for state championships," Muhlenkamp said. "You kind of set that goal for yourself, like 'Wow, I want to do that.' "
Now they've done that.
And this was one for the record books.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Marcus Billerman (66), Kollynn Meier (64) and Blake Schwieterman (26) douse head coach Tim Goodwin with water in the closing seconds of the OHSAA Division VII State Football Championship on Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Matt Everman (58) gets his hands on Lucas' Logan Niswander (3) in the fourth quarter on Saturday in Canton.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Peyton Otte (4) stretches for the first down marker as Lucas' Logan Niswander (3) tackles him in the third quarter.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Marion Local running back Dylan Heitkamp (21) scores a touchdown during the first quarter on Saturday in Canton.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Brandon Fleck (25) celebrates one of his three touchdowns against Lucas on Saturday in Canton.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Marion Local quarterback Kyle Muhlenkamp (7) throws a pass against Lucas on Saturday in Canton.
