Cougars prepping for WBL play, Elida

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

If you’re a member of the Western Buckeye League, you have just one week to iron out any issues before starting league play. That’s what the Van Wert Cougars are doing as they prepare for Friday’s WBL opener at Elida.

Mistakes hindered Van Wert in the first half of Friday’s game at Bryan, including penalties, including one that negated a 77-yard touchdown and a pair of turnovers.

“We need to limit our penalties, which hurt us in the first half against Bryan,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. “Also, we need to get into the plus side of turnovers. We were -1 against Bryan, and we can’t do that in WBL play.”

The Cougars were able shake off the miscues with a touchdown shortly before halftime to snap a 7-7 tie, then scored four straight touchdowns in the second half for a 42-7 victory over the Golden Bears. Zach Crummey completed 13-of-18 passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, plus 11 carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Keaten Welch grabbed four passes for 132 yards and a score, and Micah Cowan hauled in eight receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown. Xavier Kelly finished with 13 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, a pair of linebackers – Geary Hilleary and Briggs Wallace made a number of plays against Bryan.

“Geary did a good job of executing his assignments and he pursued the football very well,” Recker  said. “He is doing a nice job at linebacker after not playing there much last year. Briggs, after starting last year at outside linebacker and is really understanding his role and assignments. Briggs will give you great effort and is a very good tackler.”

One of Van Wert’s defensive starters, Javon Smith, missed the opener with a foot injury, and the 6-3, 548 pound lineman will likely miss extended time. In his absence, a handful of players are being called on to fill the void.

“Javon broke his foot, so he is going to be out for a while,” Recker stated.  “He has put in a lot of time with the football team so I am pretty disappointed for him. Jude Vetter, Trevor Dotson, and Conner Harris all got time on the defensive line and played very well. They all understand their jobs on the defensive line and how important it is to execute those.  Nick Edwards had a great game as well, and he does a great job of holding his ground on blocks and then shedding the blocks and getting to the ball.”

Edwards recorded a sack against Bryan.

Van Wert will make the short trip to Elida to begin WBL play and it won’t be easy. The Bulldogs (1-0), under fifth year head coach Kyle Harmon, rolled to a 38-0 victory over Toledo Rogers last Friday. However, the month of August has been a challenge for Elida, with the tragic August 15 passing of a team member, Kenny Schultheis, 16, a junior lineman vying for playing time.

“We had to take a step back and focus on the well being of our team,” Harmon explained. “We canceled our second scrimmage which with running a new defense and a new quarterback, we needed that scrimmage to get work in. I thought we responded well over the course of the practice week. We knew Rogers was going to be athletic and explosive. I thought our defense came out and setlled in and set the tone early.”

“Offensively we wanted to get our quarterback’s feet wet early and then we opened up the offense,” he continued. “Yes, the score was 38-0, but we have some basics we need to clean up.”

Like Van Wert, the Bulldogs have a sophomore quarterback taking snaps.

Against Rogers, Jonan Snyder (6-3, 185) completed 13-of-20 passes for 192 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Noah Jostpille was his main target, with four receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown. In addition, Cam Kaufman had 16 carries for 102 yards and a pair of scores.

Jonan is a very smart football player that is all in,” Harmon said. “He’s very smart for your quarterback and understands whats going on around him. He has a strong arm and can run well. We expect big things from him as he grows mentally and physically. He is a confident multi-sport athlete who we feel we can be very competitive with.”

“Elida has a very good group of athletes at receiver and defensive back,” Recker said. “Most of these guys played last year and gave us fits defensively. Elida will give us a number of different looks on offense that we have to defend, along with a variety of motions, and we will need to communicate and know our assignment to limit their big plays.”

When asked about Van Wert, Harmon noted he has several concerns entering Friday’s game.

“They have a big, strong quarterback who can sling it and get downhill on the run and they have speed all over the place,” Harmon stated. “They get the ball out in numerous ways and we need to be sound on our run fits and win one-on-one battles outside. Defensively, they return a large number of starters and are fundamental with their rules on defense. Schematically, they are different in the back-end than most other teams with speed. Their front is big so we need to focus on execution on our double teams and combos.”

Van Wert and Elida met in last year’s regular season finale, with a playoff spot on the line. The Bulldogs won the game 49-34 and went on to face Shelby in the opening round of the playoffs.

Friday’s game will air live on WERT 1220AM/104.3FM.