{"id":137523,"date":"2020-11-25T04:52:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T09:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=137523"},"modified":"2023-06-15T06:54:09","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T11:54:09","slug":"2020-vw-cougars-a-magical-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/11\/25\/2020-vw-cougars-a-magical-season\/","title":{"rendered":"2020 VW Cougars: a magical season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Van Wert\u2019s 2020 football season will forever be considered a magical one by Cougar players, coaches and fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It ended with Sunday\u2019s incredible 31-28 comeback victory over Mentor Lake Catholic in the Division IV state championship game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon, a win that gave Van Wert High School its first ever Ohio High School Athletic Association team championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
With help up front, Owen Treece led Van Wert to the 2020 state title. Bob Barnes photos<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While reflecting on Sunday\u2019s championship game, head coach Keith Recker searched to find a key moment or play that sparked Van Wert\u2019s rally, but he couldn\u2019t come up with just one, noting it was different plays made by different players at different times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we were down 21-7 and 21-14, Owen (Treece) kept the play alive while Connor (Pratt) and Maddix (Crutchfield) made a couple huge third and fourth down catches,\u201d Recker said. \u201cDru’s (Johnson) interception was huge at the end of the game and then the first play of the final series when Owen hit Connor for a big gain to get us moving. Then I\u2019m so proud of Damon (McCracken) hitting that field goal. He showed a ton of confidence going in and making that field goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recker also noted the Cougars shook off some late second quarter struggles, including a fumble deep in Van Wert territory that led to a touchdown that gave Mentor Lake Catholic a 14-7 halftime lead. It was the first time all season that the Cougars appeared to be out of sync.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe told the guys they need to focus on things they can control,\u201d Recker explained. \u201cWe were getting frustrated in the first half because of our play which magnified some negative aspects of the game. We needed to continue to do our best each play and then move on to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sunday\u2019s championship victory ended with a gold trophy being passed to the Cougars. It also marked the end of the high school football careers of eight seniors on the squad – Treece, Johnson, Ian Cowan, Ries Wise, Jacob Place, Zach Mason, Spencer Blue and Killian Sudduth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur senior class was exceptional this year,\u201d Recker \u201cThere are eight seniors on our team and their game roles ranged from starters, to subs, to guys who didn\u2019t see the field. But as a group they were great leaders by example and were all willing to do whatever it took for our team to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treece finished with a rare 3,000-1000 yard season. The senior quarterback, who\u2019s in the running for Ohio\u2019s Mr. Football award, completed 235-of-348 passes for 3,099 yards, 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while rushing for 1,036 yards and 20 touchdowns on 198 carries. Classmate Dru Johnson caught 55 of Treece\u2019s passes for 1,236 and 16 touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pair of juniors also played key roles in Van Wert\u2019s explosive offensive attack. Running back Nate Jackson rushed 520 yards and 10 touchdowns on 85 carries and caught 53 passes for 375 yards and eight touchdowns, while wide receiver Connor Pratt hauled in 53 passes for 798 yards and four touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Van Wert’s defense was quick to the ball throughout the 2020 season. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The defense held opponents in check all season by forcing 35 turnovers and just 250 yards per game, while sacking opposing quarterbacks 19 times. Aidan Pratt and Turner Witten each had four sacks, and Cullen Dunn and Ty Jackson each had three. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recker also made sure to praise his assistant coaches – Cole Harting, Steve Sealscott, Josiah Poletta, Bryce Crea, Demond Johnson, Eric Hohman and Jordan Danylchuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a very committed, hard working staff,\u201d Recker stated. \u201cEach of our coaches puts so much time into making sure their position performs at the highest level it can. Our staff has a great understanding of our scheme and does a great job of teaching it to our players. The best thing, though, about our staff is they truly care about our players and want what’s best for them on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many fans weren\u2019t able to attend games because of COVID-19 restrictions, support by those fans didn\u2019t diminish at all, something that very apparent to Recker, the coaches and players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am so proud and humbled that our team was able to provide a state championship to our community,\u201d Recker said. \u201cThe best I can say is thank you, thank you for allowing us to coach our players, for supporting us during the good times and bad times, and for being a huge part of what makes a successful program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the shortened six-game regular season to five straight playoff wins on the road (three over top eight teams), 2020 is a season Recker won\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will remember how much fun this team had together,\u201d Recker said. \u201cWhether it was during games, practices, meetings, in the locker room, or during workouts, this group had a great camaraderie. We are so fortunate as coaches to be able to coach players who are willing to change their best every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes from Van Wert\u2019s 2020 season<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert\u2019s 11 wins set a new school record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars outscored the opposition 475-234, or 39.5-19.5 per game, and out gained their opponents 5,056-3006, or 421-250 yards per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fewest points scored in a game by Van Wert this season was 28, against Cincinnati Wyoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to converting his only field goal attempt of the season to help the Cougars win the state championship, Damon McCracken was perfect in his final 16 extra point attempts of the season. He finished the year 52-of-64.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert turned the ball over 16 times during the season, while forcing 35 turnovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert\u2019s playoff record now stands at 11-4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor Van Wert\u2019s 2020 football season will forever be considered a magical one by Cougar players, coaches and fans. It ended with Sunday\u2019s incredible 31-28 comeback victory over Mentor Lake Catholic in the Division IV state championship game at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon, a win that gave Van Wert High […]<\/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-137523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 07:37:26","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\/137523","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=137523"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167148,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137523\/revisions\/167148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}