Cougars look to return to win column

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

Believe it or not, Friday will mark the halfway point of the 2026 high school football season.

After two straight on the road, Van Wert will return to the friendly confines of Eggerss Stadium and will welcome in the Defiance Bulldogs. The game will mark 90 years to the day when football was first played at the historic stadium. On September 18, 1936, the Cougars played their first game in the stadium and defeated Fort Wayne South 13-0. While the opponent will be different, the Cougars and Van Wert fans are hoping for the same result.

The Cougars will try to bounce back from their first loss of the season, 49-28 at Celina. The undefeated Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-0 lead, only to see the Cougars rally to tie the game 14-14, but Celina scored the next two touchdowns and led 28-14 at halftime. Van Wert tied the game 28-28 in the third quarter but the Bulldogs scored the game’s next three touchdowns.

“Even though we gave up some yards in the run game, we did another decent job with our run fits outside of a couple quarterback scrambles and runs,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. “We showed a lot of fight against a big, strong team, and just need to find the consistency of doing it all game.”

Recker said entering the midway point of the season, the Cougars are relatively injury free, other than the typical bumps and bruises.

The Defiance Bulldogs (1-3, 0-3 WBL) won their season opener 9-8 over Napoleon, but have since dropped three straight. Upon closer examination, the three opponents were 4-0 Ottawa-Glandorf (considered the surprise team of the WBL this season), defending WBL champion Wapakoneta and preseason projected league champion St. Marys Memorial.

“That’s the WBL for you, it’s alway going to be competitive and the physicality, I think, is what separates it from a lot of the neighboring conferences,” second year Defiance head coach Steve Rittenour said. “You are always going to have your St. Marys and Wapaks, but top to bottom, anybody can beat anybody on any given Friday in the WBL. As far as OG surprising people, I think that some people might have overlooked the fact that they had quite a few guys see experience last year and even though they had a poor record, their players played in a lot of games, and gained a wealth of confidence and knowledge from that experience.”

“I think year in and year out, the WBL is one of the toughest leagues in the area,” he added.

Defiance entered the season with significant graduation losses, having lost eight offensive starters and seven defensive starters from last year’s team. Among the new faces this year – sophomore quarterback Jack Foster (29-of-62, 345 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions) and junior Mason Noirot, who has emerged as the team’s top running back with 46 carries for 291 yards and three touchdowns.

“They are young and gaining experience and I think both have the potential to be very good football players, but they will have to continue to focus on developing their skills and learning the game,” Rittenour said. “Jack Foster has the potential to be a good quarterback in this league, but he has to keep focusing on the little things that make quarterbacks successful, but they tend to be the hardest to learn so that is an ongoing process. All of our young running backs need to run with a lower pad level and learn to be more physical as a runner, but that too will take time.”

Chase Commissio has chipped in with 32 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown, and Reid Rowlinson leads the Bulldogs in receiving with 16 receptions for 255 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Defensively, Defiance is allowing 283 yards rushing per game but just 75 yards passing per outing, numbers that might be skewed a bit by the offensive philosophies of their first three WBL opponents.

“Defiance typically runs a 3-4 defense, and they have some good size and athleticism on their defense,” Recker said. “They have a big, strong and fairly athletic defensive end and tackle that gave us issues last year. Last week against St. Marys they showed a nice ability to run the ball. They will get into a decent amount of two-back sets and run the ball downhill, then will get into spread sets as well, making communication and alignment very key to give ourselves a chance defending them.”

On the flip side, while Van Wert running back Xavier Kelly was held to 12 yards on 10 rushes, the 6-1, 180 pound junior grabbed 10 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown against Celina. He also scored on a 76-yard punt return. For the season, Kelly has 64 carries for 391 yards and 10 touchdowns and 20 receptions for 312 yards and four touchdowns. The 312 receiving yards represents a team high to this point.

“The first thing you see when looking at Van Wert on tape is obviously Kelly,” Rittenour said. “He is the best athlete in the league and can score anytime he has the ball and that leads to a lot of sleepless nights for head coaches and defensive coordinators in the WBL. Then if Kelly wasn’t enough, you have to deal with (Zach) Crummey at quarterback. He’s bigger than most of our lineman and he can run well and can make any throw that he has to make anywhere on the field.

“(Keaten) Welch is a dangerous receiver and one of the toughest in the league and he will be difficult to stop as well,” he continued. “On defense, they have some athletes that can really hurt you and their inside linebacker (Roman Martin) is a quick as I have seen and we will definitely have our hands full accounting for his speed on the field.”

Crummey has completed 83-of-129 passes (64.3 percent) for 977 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Micah Cowan leads the team in receptions, with 27 for 247 yards, followed by Kelly and then Welch, who has 17 catches for 293 yards and a touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, Welch is tied for second on the team with Martin with 26 tackles, including eight against Celina. He’s also intercepted a pass and recorded a safety.

“Keaten is a smart, savvy, athletic football player,” Recker said. “He is ranked No. 1 in his class academically, so he picks up on things very quickly. Then you add in his physical abilities and he becomes a dangerous package. He is a threat on offense, and had a big game against Defiance last year, and has shown a lot of toughness on defense with how he has helped defend the run from his safety position.”

Van Wert has won eight of the last 10 games against Defiance, including a 36-27 victory last season.

It should be noted that the Cougars and Bulldogs own one of Ohio’s oldest football rivalries. Friday’s game will be the 107th in the series, which dates back to 1916. Some accounts have it going back to 1912.

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