Rams, Blue Devils prepare for playoffs
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It is often suggested that history has a way of repeating itself.
As the Ohio High School Athletic Association football tournament kicks off tonight, McDonald football coach Dan Williams is hopeful that history is indeed on the side of his Blue Devils.
Mineral Ridge coach Andy Hake hopes that his Rams rewrite the history books.
A year ago, McDonald defeated Mineral Ridge 20-14 in the final game of the regular season, giving the Blue Devils a perfect 10-0 record. In that game, the Rams battled from behind on several occasions, then had possession of the ball inside the Devils' 30-yard-line just before the clock hit zero.
McDonald went on to win a regional title - its first in 31 years.
Mineral Ridge lost a first-round playoff game at Garaway.
Last Friday, McDonald (9-1) handed Mineral Ridge (9-1) its first loss of the season in a game for the ages. The Blue Devils raced off to a 19-0 lead, only to have the Rams counter with 20 unanswered points. The Devils then scored the game-winning touchdown with 54 seconds left on the clock to secure a 25-20 win. The game ended with Mineral Ridge on the McDonald 31-yard-line.
Like it did a year ago, McDonald received a first-round bye after finishing atop the Division VII, Region 28, standings. On Oct. 6, the Blue Devils will host the winner of tonight's first-round game between Lowellville and Independence.
Meanwhile, Mineral Ridge - which finished fifth in Division VI, Region 21 - will host 12-seeded Wickliffe tonight at Joe Lane Sports Complex.
For McDonald, a first-round bye is a welcome relief following an up-and-down two-week stretch. The Blue Devils were 8-0 and seeking another undefeated season before suffering a Week 9 setback to Springfield. That was followed by last week's win over their backyard rival in a game which provided more twists and turns than Cedar Point.
"Honestly, I'm really happy we have a bye," Williams said. "Our kids were still flying high on Monday. We got to school Monday morning and all everyone was talking about was the (Mineral Ridge) game. If we had another opponent to prepare for this week, it would have been a challenge to get the kids focused early this week.
"We would have been OK as the week went on, but it was nice that the kids were able to take a breath and enjoy the win. Being able to take a step back and let a few days pass definitely was a bonus for us."
Despite not having to prepare for an opponent this week, Williams said he and his coaching staff strived to maintain a sense of normalcy throughout the week. Following a weekend off, the team met on Monday to watch film and to work on special teams. The rest of the week was business as usual, and a walkthrough is planned for today.
Tonight Williams and his coaching staff will attend the Lowellville-Independence game.
"Those two teams are very evenly matched, so it's not like we could have spent the week preparing for one or the other," Williams said. "(Saturday) we'll go right back into our usual regular season routine.
"We had success a year ago with how we handled the bye week. I think that experience was beneficial to the entire program. We were able to get healthier, we were able to rest our legs. There are a lot of highs and lows in a 10-week season. This allowed us to take a step back, refocus on football, set new goals and treat these two weeks as a preseason to the postseason."
While many area football fans expected a dropoff from last year's 13-1 finish, Williams said that "those within the program weren't surprised" at McDonald's ongoing success. He says that this year's group took a "reload, not rebuild" approach.
The Blue Devils did lose the bulk of their offensive production from a year ago, but they also returned five starters on both offense and defense.
"We had a lot of really good kids waiting their turn," Williams said. "Preston Van Meter, Dom Sampson, Quinn Schmidt, these are guys who were good enough to play their positions a year ago, but last year we had seniors who were fine-tuned and more experienced. This current group went to school with last year's seniors. They watched, listened and learned, then they took that leadership and applied it to this season.
"We also brought back a veteran offensive line, and when you have experience up front, good things happen. It also helps to have a couple of Krumpaks (Josh, Joey) on the roster."
While Williams welcomed the week off, Hake and his Rams are anxious to return to the gridiron tonight. In fact, if it was up to Hake, the first-round game against Wickliffe would already be in the books.
"Even if we won last week, I would have wanted to play (tonight)," Hake said. "Coming off the loss, as far as I was concerned, the quicker the better. Our kids were ready to play Monday. They were just dying to right the ship.
"I told them last Friday night to let it bleed for a day or two, let it hurt over the weekend, then come back after it. That's just what they did this week. They're ready to go. We had a great start of the week at practice."
Mineral Ridge's loss to McDonald was especially painful because it prevented the school's first 10-0 season since 1985. Rather than stress on the loss, Hake was quick to point out that there were positives to take away from the regular season - Week 10 included.
"We hurt ourselves that first half, and it could have been easy to throw in the towel," Hake said. "Our guys are warriors. In the second half they staged one of the better comebacks in the area this year. They weren't cowards. They didn't quit. Things just didn't go our way, and give credit to McDonald, that’s a really good team.
"We shared a league title, which is something we haven't had since 2004. We have a home playoff game. We went 9-1. We still have an opportunity to make history this year, and that's all you can ask for at this stage of the season."
Tonight, the Rams face a Wickliffe team which finished 12th in Region 25 with an 8-2 record. Wickliffe won its first six games, then finished the season 2-2, losing to Cuyahoga Heights (9-1) and Conneaut (9-1). Hake compared Wickliffe to Springfield, who the Rams beat on Sept. 11.
"They're a big and physical team, and they like to run downhill at you," Hake said. "They run a lot of off-tackle. They play hard and physical, so we have to match their intensity, but that's OK, we like playing that style of football."
Hake is confident his players will put last week's loss behind them and respond "in Mineral Ridge fashion" tonight.
"Look, I've gone up against McDonald 20 times as a coach, and I have a 13-7 record, but the only games I remember are those seven losses," Hake said. "They eat me up.
"Fortunately kids are much more resilient than adults. The kids are very anxious to move on to the next game. Last week was a life lesson, and now it's time to move on. This is a great group of kids who will be more than ready to go (tonight).
The winner of tonight's game will play Jeromesville Hillsdale next Friday.