Cougars prepping for Elida in WBL opener

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

One thing about being a member of the 10-team Western Buckeye League – when football season starts, you have just one week to iron out any issues before jumping into league play.

That’s the case as Van Wert prepares for the WBL opener against Elida at Eggerss Stadium. Losing the league opener puts any team with league title hopes behind the proverbial eight ball for the remainder of regular season.

This week, the Cougars hope to continue improving along the offensive line. Behind a line with three new starters, the running game struggled to get going for much of the first three quarters and pass protection was an issue at times during the season opener against Bryan.

“Our offensive line does a great job of asking questions and constantly wanting to understand what we need to do to succeed as a unit,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. “They did get more comfortable as the game wore on and will continue to improve each week. While our sprintout protection was better than in our scrimmages, we do need to do better in drop back protection and run blocking to really make us difficult to defend.”

Despite the early struggles, the Cougars rolled up 488 yards of total offense, including 350 yards on 22-of-26 passing by junior quarterback Zach Crummey. Seven of his completions went to Keaten Welch for 175 yards and a touchdown, while Xavier Kelly had four receptions for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“Van Wert obviously has quite a bit of team speed and they get their playmakers the ball in space,” Elida head coach Kyle Harmon noted. “Their scheme allows them to show their talents. Crummey has a plus-arm and also combine that with his size he is able to extend plays and also run the ball down hill well. At wide receiver (Micah) Cowan is a problem as he has shown the last few years he can make plays. Kelly in and out of the backfield is a problem as well.”

Recker noted he was pleased with his team’s ability to convert third and fourth down situations, while preventing Bryan from doing the same.

“We were successful on 62 percent of our third and fourth down conversions offensively while Bryan was only successful on 25 percent of their conversion downs, so both offensively and defensively that was a big part of our victory,” he explained.

Linebacker Caden Collins and defensive lineman Ashton Rager were also bright spots, as the Cougar defense limited Bryan to just 223 total yards. Collins, a senior who missed all of last season with an injury, finished with a team high nine tackles while Rager, also a senior, had seven tackles and a sack.

“Caden plays with a ton of effort and great football instincts,” Recker said.  “After missing all of last season with an injury, he has played very well thus far. He is the one who makes our calls defensively and is a big part of why we had success against the run last week.”

“Ashton is way more comfortable this year while also playing both sides of the ball,” he continued. “He is an effort guy as well, and he will give you everything he has on the field. His motor is great and he works every week on mastering the techniques he needs to succeed.”

Friday’s WBL opener against Elida will present some challenges for the Cougars. The Bulldogs are coming off a 48-6 win over Toledo Rogers. In that game, Elida quarterback Jonan Snyder completed 19-of-30 passes for 335 yards and four touchdowns, including seven to Dalton Shafer for 139 yards and a two scores.

“Jonan Snyder brings leadership to the offensive huddle,” Harmon said. “Jonan is a student of the game that spends a lot of time preparing himself for friday nights. He has a relentless work ethic and is extremely unselfish. When he talks in the huddle people listen because of the amount of respect they have for him.”

“Elida’s quarterback does a very good job running their offense,” Recker said. “He has a strong arm and is very accurate on the short and deep throws. He really does a good job on their RPOs getting the ball where they want it to go. Between him, a big strong running back and athletic wide receivers, they have a very good group of skill players who are well coached.”

The Bulldogs didn’t run the ball much against Rogers, but they did it somewhat effectively, 15 carries for 86 yards, which included a 30-yard burst by Joseph Reddick. Defensively, Elida held Rogers to 158 yards of total offense, including just 28 on the ground.

Harmon noted his squad is a bit deeper than previous years, which is nice for any coach.

“Right now we have strength in numbers,” he said. “We have a lot of friday night depth that we have not had before. This has made competition amongst our team to get time and targets on Friday night.”

When the two teams met last season, Elida led 14-7 at halftime, but the Cougars rallied with a pair of second half touchdowns and a 19-14 win. Van Wert has won seven of the last 10 matchups against the Bulldogs.

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