The Daily Standard
Sports Preview
The 108th round of the Battle of Grand Lake has the unique distinction of being a battle of two unbeaten teams that are early leaders in the Western Buckeye League.
Celina is 2-0 for the first time since 2014 while St. Marys is 2-0 for the first time since 2024.
Both teams won their league lidlifters last week. Celina's 7-6 defensive battle victory over Wapakoneta was the first time since 2023 that Celina won its league opener, ironically against St. Marys. The Roughriders' 35-14 win over Bath was the first time since 2024 that St. Marys last won its league opener, beating Celina 35-6 at Grand Lake Health System Field. The teams will be in St. Marys again this season.
The wins for Celina came in differing factors. After beating St. Henry 38-35 in the season opener, last week's defensive battle showed how the Bulldogs could slow teams down with tough defense. After Wapak recorded 335 yards of offense in a loss to Oregon Clay, Celina held the Redskins to 164 yards and four punts.
Celina's Eli Talmadge had a key interception to help Celina beat Wapakoneta in the Western Buckeye League opener. The Bulldogs travel to St. Marys in the Battle of Grand Lake on Friday.
After recording 431 yards of offense against St. Henry, Celina had just 125 yards against Wapak. Jett Warner, in his first start at quarterback after taking over in Week 1 after Parker Wynk's injury, was 7-of-10 passing for 54 yards and the lone Bulldog score on a 16-yard scoring pass to Caleb Schlater. Warner also had a team-best 40 rushing yards, over half of the 71 yards put up by the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs got big defensive efforts from Eli Talmadge, who got an interception, and Brenner Hinkle with a big sack among other big plays.
For St. Marys, it's been business as usual in using the Wing-T to build the yards, averaging 301 yards over the first two games. Dyllan Fink (147 yards, two touchdowns), Taylor Compton (140 yards, three TDs) and Tyler Holsinger (104 yards, two TDs) have been the main go-to ballcarriers with Tre Moore (98 yards) and quarterback Logan Payton (73 yards, two TDs) also contributing. Payton also has been efficient passing, completing 8-of-12 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown.
The Roughrider defense has been sharp in allowing just 26 points in the first two games. Compton leads the team with 21 tackles. John Youngs has a team-high four sacks with Eli Holsinger and Ryder Sullivan each adding two sacks.
If the game comes down to a PAT or field goal, both teams have solid kicking. Celina's Bridon Jeffries is 7-of-7 on point-afters, including the one last Friday to secure the win over Wapakoneta, and also has a 35-yard field goal. Ethan Ibrahim has made all seven of his extra-point tries for St. Marys. Piper Triplett, a member of the girls soccer team and younger sister of last season's All-Ohio kicker Bradey Triplett, has two PATs in late-game opportunities.
During Week 2, four Western Buckeye League teams opened conference play with a win to achieve a 2-0 overall record. After a phenomenal 9-1 mark in Week 1, the MAC teams faced non-conference opponents who were a combined 6-4 last week and compiled a more average 5-5 record. This is a decline from a 6-4 mark in Week 2 last year and an 8-2 record in the second week of 2024. MAC conference play starts this coming week.
There is just one matchup of undefeated teams in the WBL this week and it is a big one locally as Celina travels to St. Marys. Both of these teams were winless at this point last season.
The MAC also only has one matchup of 2-0 squads, but it too is huge locally as Minster travels to face New Bremen. Perhaps the most competitive of the other four games will be Versailles traveling to face St. Henry.
The computer points for the entire state, and especially the regions involving area teams can be found throughout the season at user.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/football.htm
St. Marys - 5th (4.90)
Celina - 6th (4.75)
Defiance - 10th (2.50)
Shawnee - 10th (2.50)
Wapakoneta - 16th (0.00)
The winner of this matchup of Celina visiting St. Marys will be almost a lock for the playoffs, as well as a favorite to win the WBL title. Celina has another tough game against Van Wert next week, while St. Marys faces Defiance before starting a stretch against Wapakoneta, Ottawa-Glandorf and Van Wert.
On the other end of the spectrum, both Defiance and Wapakoneta have less than a 50-50 chance to make the playoffs if they start their WBL schedule 0-2. Wapakoneta in particular has a tough road coming, playing Ottawa-Glandorf, St. Marys and Van Wert the next three weeks.
Shawnee faces four undefeated teams in their last six games, so a win against Elida this week may be critically important.
Van Wert - 4th (5.60)
Ottawa-Glandorf - 6th (5.50)
Elida - 9th (3.00)
Kenton - 15th (0.00)
Van Wert may have a tougher time than the records indicate as they try to remain undefeated against Bath.
Elida faces Shawnee in a toss-up game where the winner will be a lot more optimistic about the playoffs than the loser.
Ottawa-Glandorf should remain undefeated against Kenton, setting up a big game for the Titans against Wapakoneta next week.
Coldwater - 1st (5.55)
Bath - 19th (0.00)
During the preseason it appeared Coldwater might need eight wins to make the playoffs, especially if they lost one of their non-conference games. The Cavaliers came through intact, so now seven wins (and possibly even six) will get Coldwater into the postseason, since both Valley View and Clinton-Massie are expected to win seven of their final eight games.
Bath really needs to win their next two games against Van Wert and Shawnee to get into the playoff hunt. Both look like even matchups.
Parkway - 14th (2.75)
The computers have been wrong both weeks about Parkway, and were way off about this week's opponent, Anna, who lost to Fort Loramie last Friday. The computers like Anna this week, so perhaps this is good news for the Panthers? It currently looks like Parkway will need to find five MAC wins to reach the postseason.
Versailles - 5th (4.95)
Anna - 20th (2.00)
St. Henry - 23rd (0.00)
Versailles is going to be a huge benefactor from their win over Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, as this opponent is heavily favored in all but one of their remaining games. A win over St. Henry might yield little short-term computer point gain but could pay off in the long run.
Meanwhile St. Henry's postseason hopes will take a nosedive if they lose this game to start the season . Next week's matchup with Anna will also be critical.
Anna cannot afford another upset loss this week against Parkway, nor can the Rockets afford a loss against St. Henry next week.
Delphos St. John's - 13th (1.75)
Delphos St. John's needs to find four MAC wins to be likely in the playoffs. This week's trip to Marion Local is unlikely to yield one of those four. Critical games follow the next four weeks against Fort Recovery, New Bremen, Minster and Parkway.
New Bremen - 2nd (4.60)
Minster - 3rd (4.15)
Marion Local - 4th (4.00)
Fort Recovery - 6th (2.75)
This week's big matchup between New Bremen and Minster almost guarantees the winner a spot in the playoffs. This is especially true for the Cardinals who are expected to earn slightly more computer points from their two non-conference wins. Minster has an easier game next week, hosting Parkway, while New Bremen will travel to Coldwater to play the Cavaliers.
Though Marion Local is just in fourth place in the computer points, the predictive computers still have Flyer Fever and expect a huge win over Delphos St. John's this week. Watch out for next week's game at Versailles, as Tiger fans still believe they won last year's matchup.
Fort Recovery probably makes the playoffs with three MAC wins, though this week against Coldwater will be a tough get. It feels like the Indians will need a win over either New Bremen or Minster in the final two games of the season.
Last Season: The Flyers rolled to a 61-0 Week 4 win over the Blue Jays in Maria Stein, with Cale Nagel recording back-to-back punt return touchdowns.
The Flyers come in looking extend their MAC winning streak to 43 games, having not lost in regular season conference place since Week 8 in 2019 to Minster in Maria Stein. League play did not take place in 2020, although all six regular season wins came against MAC foes.
Marion is coming off a big 54-28 win at Harvest Prep in Canal Winchester. Camden Griesdorn had 145 yards rushing and four touchdowns in leading the way. Marion forced the Warriors into two turnovers and sacked Bowling Green commit Collin Boff twice in the contest. Linebacker Ben Meier leads the team with 22 tackles while Max Ranly has two interceptions on the season.
After opening with a 40-6 win over Lehman in Week 1, St. John's suffered a tough 41-0 loss to Lima Central Catholic in the gridiron edition of the Holy War.
Christian Young has rushed for 226 yards and five touchdowns this season, scoring 3/4 of his team's points this season. Quarterback Drew Martz has completed 53% of his passes this season with a touchdown.
St. John's is 8-of-20 on third down conversions (40%), but are minus-1 in turnover radio.
Last Season: Braxton Taylor's 17-yard scoring run with two minutes remaining in the third quarter broke a 14-all tie to give the Cavaliers the lead en route to a 28-14 win.
Coldwater wrapped up a 2-0 non-conference slate with a 14-6 win at Clinton-Massie, holding the Falcons to two first-half field goals.
Quarterback Karsyn Homan leads the team with 144 yards rushing as the Cavaliers have moved the ball on the ground slightly more so far by a 324-243 margin.
Coldwater's defense has been efficient, recording a plus-2 turnover ratio (five takeaways to three giveaways).
Fort Recovery was unable to overcome a 21-7 first-half deficit and fell to Allen East 28-21 at Barrenbrugge Park last week. The Indians were outgained by the Mustangs 318-231 in the loss.
The Indians have not turned the ball over this season while forcing five turnovers. Linebacker Breaker Jutte has 33 tackles this season and leads the team with 116 rushing yards and two touchdowns, tying Brady Evers for the team mark.
Fort Recovery will have to watch the penalties, having already earned 10 flags for 87 yards in the two games.
Last Season: Carson Kaylor's touchdown with 8:20 remaining in regulation put Minster in the lead to stay as the Wildcats scored 20 unanswered points to win the 56th Battle of Route 66, 27-16 at Memorial Field.
Round 57 of the neighborhood rivalry has both teams coming in at 2-0 with dominating showings in Week 2. Minster had 395 of its 475 yards of offense via the rush in shutting out Crestview 37-0. James Kuehner scored twice with three others scoring via the run.
Taylor Fancher leads the team with 200 rushing yards and a touchdown with Kaylor passing for 253 yards. Kicker Beckhem Stephey has made all seven of his PAT tries and is 3-for-3 on field goals.
The Cardinals outscored their non-conference foes 75-7 after last week's 40-7 win over Covington.
It's the third straight home game for the Cardinals this week, finally hitting the road next week at Coldwater. New Bremen has six home games this season.
Quarterback Gavin Dicke has rushed for 235 yards and six touchdowns this season with another two passing touchdowns on 116 yards. New Bremen has yet to turn the ball over this season.
The Cardinals defense has been balanced with Ryan Leichliter's six tackles leading the team with a number of players with three or four.
Last Season: Charlie Werling's two fourth-quarter touchdown runs broke a 12-12 tie as the Redskins wrapped up the regular season at 9-1 with a 26-20 win, denying the Tigers a playoff berth with the loss.
The Tigers battled for two big non-conference wins in beating Harvest Prep 21-18 Week 1 before taking a 20-10 decision over Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy to give new coach and former Tiger Scott Broerman his first two wins.
Versailles has established the run in the first two weeks, averaging 217 yards per game. Oliver Brunswick has rushed for 234 yards and three touchdowns this season. Quarterback Blake Monnin has thrown for 163 yards and run for 73 this season. Monnin has also been potent on defense with two interceptions.
St. Henry, after a tough loss at Celina in the opener, was stymied by a tough Archbold squad by a 41-15 margin in the home opener last week.
Landon Schwartz has been solid in taking over full-time at quarterback, passing for 501 yards. Will Gerlach has 209 yards receiving and two scores with Tate Boeckman adding 205 yards and a score.
Drew Langenkamp leads the team in rushing (123 yards, three TDs) and tackles (16).
Last Season: The Rockets picked up a 35-0 in Rockford to give Parkway an 0-10 season.
Anna saw a 12-7 halftime lead slip in falling 13-12 to Fort Loramie in a battle of Shelby County teams. Quarterback Logan Ziegenbusch fired two touchdown passes in the loss. Ziegenbusch has thrown for 184 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions this season.
After snapping an 18-game losing streak in Week 1, the Panthers took a tough 13-6 loss to Delphos Jefferson in the middle game of a three-game homestand in Rockford.
Isaac Beveridge had an interception for the second straight game and his third touchdown of the season in the loss to Jefferson. Beveridge also has three point-afters.
The Panthers have forced eight turnovers with just one giveaway this season.
Camden Griesdorn, RB, Marion Local
Breaker Jutte, MLB, Fort RecoveryCelina at St. Marys
Van Wert at Bath
Defiance at Wapakoneta
Shawnee at Elida
Kenton at Ottawa-Glandorf
Anna at Parkway
Coldwater at Fort Recovery
St. John's at Marion Local
Minster at New Bremen
Versailles at St. Henry
| WBL | Overall | |
| Celina | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Ottawa-Glandorf | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| St. Marys | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Van Wert | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Shawnee | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| Defiance | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Elida | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Bath | 0-1 | 0-2 |
| Kenton | 0-1 | 0-2 |
| Wapakoneta | 0-1 | 0-2 |
| MAC | Overall | |
| Coldwater | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Marion Local | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Minster | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| New Bremen | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Versailles | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Anna | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Fort Recovery | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Parkway | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| St. John's | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| St. Henry | 0-0 | 0-2 |
