{"id":211698,"date":"2026-10-27T21:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T02:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=211698"},"modified":"2026-10-27T21:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T02:38:51","slug":"vw-cougars-to-joust-with-the-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/27\/vw-cougars-to-joust-with-the-knights\/","title":{"rendered":"VW Cougars to joust with the Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

448 teams have qualified for the OHSAA football playoffs and two of them will meet for the first time ever in Wood County Friday night, as the fifth seeded Otsego Knights (7-3, 5-2 NWC) host the No. 12 seed Van Wert Cougars (5-5, 4-5 WBL) in a Division IV Region 14 opening round game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the 16th playoff appearance for the Knights and the ninth for the Cougars. Otsego enters the game on a three game winning streak, including a 62-0 victory over Fostoria in the regular season finale, while Van Wert snapped a four game losing streak with a 55-28 win over Kenton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think our ability to run the ball and our ability to create turnovers were both huge factors in the game,\u201d Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said of Friday\u2019s win. \u201cWe have been inconsistent in both of those categories, so dominating both of those stats was a huge factor in the win. I appreciate the excitement our guys have shown in earning a spot back in the playoffs, as our seniors were freshmen the last time we went, and I know they are excited about the opportunity to compete against Otsego.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Xavier Kelly (11) has nearly 1,700 combined rushing and receiving yards this season. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The win over Kenton was necessary to qualify for the playoffs and most projections had the Cougars heading further east, perhaps to Oberlin Firelands or Medina Buckeye, but the team learned late Friday night it would instead make the shorter trek to the Bowling Green area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had looked into every team that was in range so we would have an idea of what we would want to do with film exchange come Friday night and Saturday morning,\u201d Recker explained. \u201cWe thought we’d finish somewhere in the 10-12 seed range, and with some upsets that happened in other games on Friday it pushed us to the 12 seed. To us, records and seeds don’t matter at this point, as it’s a one game season to get the chance for another one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To advance to the next game, Van Wert will have to at least slow Otsego\u2019s old school flexbone triple option attack, which allows the Knights churn out nearly 343 yards per game on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere aren’t even that many teams who are under center anymore,\u201d Otsego head coach Craig Rutherford said. \u201cWe’re hoping it’s difficult for the other team to get a good look in practice. We don’t throw the ball often. But even though the defense knows we’re probably running, we think it’s hard for them to know who is going to get the ball. If the defense wants to take one of our backs away, we hope we have an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quarterback Frank Grady leads the team in rushing (108 carries, 734 yards, 12 touchdowns), with fullback Zaden Ziviski right behind (145-718, 13 touchdowns). Dane Leiter has added 566 yards and four touchdowns on just 36 carries and Mason Kramer has 49 carries for 511 yards and seven touchdowns. Dane Fatzinger has just 29 carries but 377 yards and six touchdowns. Otsego has nine ballcarriers who average 10 yards or better per carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe play as many guys as any team I have ever coached,\u201d Rutherford said. \u201cWe will have three players start on both sides of the ball, but we are able to sub any of them out to keep them fresh. Similar to Van Wert, we have pretty good team speed. We aren’t big at many positions, but we have been able to get some big plays on offense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As Rutherford noted, it\u2019s a rare occasion when Otsego takes to the air. The Knights have thrown just 22 passes the entire season. Grady has thrown 21 of those passes and has been remarkably efficient, completing 15 for 349 yards, six touchdowns and only one interception. His leading receiver is Ayden Williams, who has six receptions for 190 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOtsego is a very good team, they play disciplined football and really force you to beat them, as they don’t hurt themselves too often with a lot of turnovers or penalties,\u201d Recker said. \u201cOn offense they come off the ball very fast and physical with their offensive line. They want to run the ball, and then run the ball some more. They have a lot of guys in their backfield who will earn tough yards on run plays but also have the ability to create big plays with the football.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt should help that we have played St. Marys Memorial, which gives us a feel for teams that will run the ball downhill in a fast, physical manner while still having to be disciplined against the pass so we don’t give up big plays,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In seven games this season, Otsego has given up 14 points or less, including three shutouts.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Keaten Welch leads the Cougars in receiving yards. Bob Barnes photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cDefensively they are very well coached and disciplined in executing their responsibility,\u201d Recker said. \u201cThey defend the run well with their front seven and are athletic in the secondary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Otsego\u2019s losses was to defending Division V state champion Liberty Center (53-17), a team considered the favorite in Division VI this year. The other two losses have come by a combined four points, 43-41 to Eastwood (9-1) and 35-33 to Lake (4-6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rutherford has notable ties to Eastwood \u2013 he was the head coach there for six seasons, taking over for his father, Jerry Rutherford, who was the head coach for 35 years. The elder Rutherford now serves as Otsego\u2019s offensive line coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scoring points hasn\u2019t been a problem for Van Wert this season. The Cougars average nearly 37 points per game, while averaging 425 total yards per contest. The high flying offense has been led by junior quarterback Zach Crummey, who has completed 217-of-323 passes for 2,723 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. His receiving corp has been balanced. Keaten Welch leads the team in receiving yards (56-890, seven touchdowns), while Micah Cowan is the leader in receptions (59-761, two touchdowns). Xavier Kelly has 49 receptions for 583 yards and eight touchdowns, and Cohen Bragg (27-254, one touchdown) has become another target as the season has moved along. Easton Putman (25-252, two touchdowns) is another reliable option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly broke the 1,000 yard mark in the win over Kenton and enters Friday with 156 carries, 1,111 yards and 21 touchdowns. Crummey has added eight touchdowns on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Van Wert is similar to us in that they aren’t really big at many positions, but they have good athletes all over the field,\u201d Rutherford said. \u201cThey obviously run a very different style of offense than we do and they are capable of scoring from anywhere. We always emphasize running to the football and preventing big plays. It’s going to be even more important this week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winner of Friday\u2019s game will head to southern Richland County to face No. 4 seed Clear Fork in next Friday\u2019s Region 14 quarterfinals. The top three seeds in the region are Ottawa-Glandorf, Shelby and Perkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur region has shown to be very competitive the last 5-10 years,\u201d Recker said. \u201cWhoever is able to come out as the regional champion is going to have a great shot at winning Division IV, as we have some of the top teams in the state.  Every win is going to have to be earned, as teams in our region are very well coached and play very disciplined football.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports 448 teams have qualified for the OHSAA football playoffs and two of them will meet for the first time ever in Wood County Friday night, as the fifth seeded Otsego Knights (7-3, 5-2 NWC) host the No. 12 seed Van Wert Cougars (5-5, 4-5 WBL) in a Division IV Region 14 opening […]<\/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-211698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-11-04 04:30:12","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\/211698","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=211698"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211705,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211698\/revisions\/211705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}