{"id":211184,"date":"2026-10-13T20:41:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T01:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=211184"},"modified":"2026-10-13T20:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T01:42:18","slug":"cougars-hope-to-snap-losing-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/13\/cougars-hope-to-snap-losing-streak\/","title":{"rendered":"Cougars hope to snap losing streak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Friday night\u2019s Western Buckeye League game between Van Wert and Shawnee will be the final regular season home game for the Cougars and perhaps the final game of the season at Eggerss Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will mark the final regular season appearance for 11 seniors on the roster \u2013 WR\/DB Keaten Welch, WR\/DB Zander Stemen, WR\/LB Caden Collins, WR\/DB Micah Cowan, WR\/DB Cohen Bragg, RB\/LB Roman Martin, OL\/LB Maddox Workman, OL\/DL Ashton Rager, OL\/DL Carter Bledsoe, OL\/DL Ben Verville and OL\/DL Billy Vaughn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur senior class this season is filled with some phenomenal football players but as good as they are on the field, they are even better people,\u201d Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. \u201cI have known the majority of these guys since they were little kids and it is hard to believe that they are seniors, but I am so proud of the contributions they have made to our program and school both on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Zach Crummey has passed for 2,300 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s possible the senior class and the rest of the Cougars could see action at Eggerss Stadium in Week No. 11. According to the website fantastic50.net<\/a>, Van Wert has a 93 percent chance of qualifying for the playoffs in Division IV Region 14. However, whether it\u2019s a home game is a question mark. In fact, it\u2019s basically a 50-50 chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To take a step toward a home playoff game and to snap a three game losing streak, Van Wert will need to defeat Shawnee, a team that enters the game 3-5 (3-4 WBL). The Indians have lost back-to-back games to Wapakoneta and St. Marys Memorial and like Van Wert, Shawnee has dropped four of its last five games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year\u2019s head coach, Shane Wireman, is now the head coach at his alma mater, Allen East, prompting Shawnee to hire Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach Bob Olwin, who has 271 wins in 40 years as a head coach. His previous stops include Tiffin Calvert, Ridgedale, Arlington, Fairview, Versailles, Lake, Ada and Edon, where he spent the previous six seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, Olwin\u2019s teams have been known for a wide-open style of offense and this year is no different. Quarterback Brogan Rayer has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, with 57 completions going to Bagley for 1,077 yards and 11 touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe new system is getting better every week,\u201d Olwin said. \u201cThe kids are developing an understanding of the routes and the overall offense. Of course, I would have liked to have won more games, but we are competing weekly, which is a positive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShawnee wants to spread the ball out and throw it around, and they do so with the leading receiver in the league in Jarin Bagley, who has great hands and great speed,\u201d Recker said. \u201cThey can also run the ball with both of their backs who compliment each other very well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Indians entered last week as the WBL\u2019s top team against the run, allowing just 465 yards all season. However, St. Marys Memorial nearly equaled that by rushing for 432 yards during last week\u2019s 42-31 win over Shawnee. Still, the Indians remain stout defensively and rank only second to Ottawa-Glandorf in total yards allowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDefensively, they again are big, strong, and athletic,\u201d Recker said. \u201cThey will play a physical football game and we have to be on the attack from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert is coming off a second straight tough loss, 38-26. Trailing 31-26, the Cougars advanced the ball to the Ottawa-Glandorf 12 before turning it over late on downs. The Titans were able to tack on an insurance touchdown after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we need to be more consistent for the entire game, playing relentless football for 4-6 seconds each play,\u201d Recker said. \u201cWe need to continue to work and get better at situational football, whether it is getting a stop on a 3rd and 10 or getting a first down on 4th and 2. We will continue to work situations in practice and be ready to execute when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert was able to move the ball against a Titan defense that ranked first in several categories. Quarterback Zach Crummey completed 25-of-35 passes for 280 yards, one touchdown and two interceptinons, taking his season totals to 177-of-258 for 2,300 yards, 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. Micah Cowan caught seven passes for 113 yards, giving him 53-720 for the season. Xavier Kelly entered the game as the WBL\u2019s leading rusher and finished with 64 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, putting his season totals at 121-888 and 17 touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVan Wert is a very talented and disciplined team,\u201d Olwin said. \u201cTheir execution on both sides of the ball is definitely our biggest concern heading into the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawnee won last year\u2019s matchup 45-24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday\u2019s game will air live on WERT 1220AM\/104.3FM and will stream live through thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports Friday night\u2019s Western Buckeye League game between Van Wert and Shawnee will be the final regular season home game for the Cougars and perhaps the final game of the season at Eggerss Stadium. It will mark the final regular season appearance for 11 seniors on the roster \u2013 WR\/DB Keaten Welch, WR\/DB […]<\/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-211184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 06:32:43","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\/211184","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=211184"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211194,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211184\/revisions\/211194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}