Week 15 Marion Local-Buckeye Central State Championship Preview

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Three seasons ago, the Midwest Athletic Conference ended the first weekend in December with two state championships after the Coldwater Cavaliers and Marion Local Flyers each captured the gold in Division IV and V respectively.  This season the Cavaliers and Flyers are back in Northeast Ohio, only this time in Divisions V and VI.  Something that hasn’t changed though is how they each expect to return home once again with championship trophies.  The 12-2 Marion Local Flyers will look to secure their gold on Saturday when they face the 12-2 Buckeye Central Bucks in the Division VI championship game slated to kickoff at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday  A win would be head coach Tim Goodwin’s fifth state championship at the school since his arrival in 1999.  “Every year is different, but they are all special in their own way,” explained the veteran head coach.  “The way that we won the game last week definitely gives this one a feel very similar to 2000 and 2001, where the games went down to the wire.  I am very proud of our players and coaches for the way that we have grown throughout this year.  Not much has been said about it, but we lost a ton off of last year's team.  This year's senior class has been tremendous players and leaders.”

Last week, the Flyers locked horns with the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays and avenged their regular season loss with a 21-14 victory.  The Flyers didn’t seal the win until there was less than a minute to play with a touchdown pass from Adam Bertke to Lee Pierron.  After jumping in front 13-0 following a pair of touchdown runs by Jake Heitkamp, the Flyers offense quieted just as St. John’s heated up.  The Blue Jays scored a touchdown in each the third and fourth quarters, and with 7:03 left in the game they led 14-13.  The score remained the same until the Bertke-to-Pierron touchdown with 32 ticks on the clock.  “We got off to a great start, but then hit a stretch where our offense was stymied,” Goodwin commented.  “Our defense was put in very bad spots throughout the game, but they did a great job of holding St. John’s to only two touchdowns.  The offense then came up once again right when we needed it.”

Buckeye Central enters the contest with losses to Bucyrus Wynford and Ontario, who finished a combined 21-3 this season.  They squeaked by Berlin Western Reserve last week with a 22-21 victory - their sixth win in a row.  “They are a very big and powerful team who will outweigh us by 40-50 pounds in positions up front,” Goodwin pointed out.  “We need to stand up to their power on the line of scrimmage.  We also need to handle the distractions during the week and stay focused in order to play our best game of the year on Saturday morning.”

by Robb Hemmelgarn