{"id":123265,"date":"2019-10-02T04:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=123265"},"modified":"2019-10-02T04:00:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T09:00:37","slug":"midseason-report-van-wert-cougars-2-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/10\/02\/midseason-report-van-wert-cougars-2-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Midseason report: Van Wert Cougars (2-3)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a 2-3 start (0-3 WBL) and three consecutive losses, the Van Wert Cougars are hoping to get back on the winning track this Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars opened the season with wins over Bryan and Defiance and have since dropped tough games against Wapakoneta (13-7), St. Marys Memorial (24-14) and last Friday\u2019s 35-28 overtime loss to Ottawa-Glandorf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Through five games, Van Wert quarterback Owen Treece has rushed for nearly 500 yards and has passed for almost 900 more.<\/strong> Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to get back to where we were earlier in the season in regards to big plays,\u201d head coach Keith Recker said. \u201cWe have given up too many big plays the last three games and have not created enough offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we don\u2019t give up big plays, we are one of the best defenses in the league,\u201d Recker added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars are allowing 269 yards per game, including just 94 yards passing per outing. Parker Conrad has 48 tackles, while Owen Treece has 41. Keagon Hammons has a team-high eight tackles for losses and five sacks, while Conrad has sacked opposing quarterbacks four times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert suffered heavy graduation losses along the defensive and offensive lines, but Recker is pleased with progress made by those units – tackles Colin Place and Ryan Pratt, guards Cullen Dunn and Conrad, and center Turner Witten. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witten and Dunn also play along the defensive line, along with Hammons and Holden Reichert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the number of guys we lost up front from last year, I am very proud of the way those guys are not only holding their own, but really playing well against typically bigger opponents,\u201d Recker explained. \u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon for use to be outweighed by 20-50 pounds up front, but our guys use their athleticism and strength to tilt the matchup in their favor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On offense, Van Wert has displayed a balanced offense by averaging 177 yards passing and 166 yards rushing per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treece has completed 75 of 129 passes for 886 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions, and the junior quarterback has rushed for 497 yards and four touchdowns on 90 carries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanner Barnhart leads the team with 25 receptions for 297 yards, while TJ Reynolds has 18 receptions for 114 yards. Connor Pratt has seven catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recker also noted that due to some injuries, some reserves stepped up during the first half of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am so happy for guys like Levi Newell, who got a chance to play quite a bit on Friday nights because of injuries,\u201d Recker said. \u201cBeing his senior year, he filled in admirably for Jake during the first three games of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a good thing for those backups who typically wouldn’t get a lot of snaps during a game, now they are seeing more action and showing what they can do. We have been forced to put more young guys on special teams as well, which gets them good experience on Friday nights as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While looking at the Western Buckeye League standings, Recker noted the challenges so far as well as the ones that lie ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have such a balanced league which makes Friday nights so much fun and so challenging,\u201d Recker said. \u201cThere are no off weeks in our league and it\u2019s a shame with as many good teams in our league that some will be left out of the playoffs because of only having one non-league game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars will kick off the second half of the season Friday night at Shawnee. After a 3-0 start, the Indians have dropped back-to-back games against Wapakoneta (28-14) and St. Marys Memorial (28-9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShawnee will through a lot of different formations at our defense, including unbalanced line, one back, two back and empty formations,\u201d Recker said. \u201cThey have a lot of experience with multiple guys being three or four year starters. Peyton Wilson seems like he\u2019s been playing at Shawnee for 10 years and he is a very good player on both sides of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the two teams met last year, Van Wert posted a 39-6 win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday\u2019s Van Wert at Shawnee game will air live on WERT 1220AM\/104.3FM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor After a 2-3 start (0-3 WBL) and three consecutive losses, the Van Wert Cougars are hoping to get back on the winning track this Friday night. The Cougars opened the season with wins over Bryan and Defiance and have since dropped tough games against Wapakoneta (13-7), St. Marys Memorial (24-14) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 02:32:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}