Van Wert-There are 16 teams left in the Division four state playoffs, but two of the top teams will meet in Napoleon on Friday as Van Wert will take on the Clyde Fliers.
Van Wert is coming off an impressive offense game that was led by senior Nate Jackson as he had perhaps his biggest game off the season with 25 carries for 144 yards and 4TDS last week vs Wauseon. It also proved to work well through the air as Aiden Pratt connected on 21 of his 29 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.
The Cougars will turn their attention to the Clyde Filers, as the Filers won a classic 42-35 victory in double overtime vs Shelby. The Fliers come in as one of the balanced teams on offense as their air raid will come from Jaden Cook as he as thrown 2,182 yards on the season while completing 148 passes on 227 attempts. The main target for Cook is Brady Wilson as he has 43 receptions for 843 yards and 5TDS.
On the defensive side of the ball the Fliers will try to force some Cougar turnovers as they force nearly two turnovers a game. The Clyde pass rush will come from Remington Norman who has compiled 15.5 sacks this season and 83 tackles. The leading tackler on the team belongs to LB Dillan Overmeyer who has tallied 134.5 tackles while getting to the quarterback with 2.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries while having two interceptions on the year.
The story for Van Wert has been the rise of the defense as they have been playing well as of late. Last week the Cougars forced four turnovers and got after the Quarterback. However the leading tackler goes to Carter Miller as he has 89 tackles with four of those coming on TFL. Van Wert heads into the regional semifinal plus nine in the turnover margin.
The winner of Van Wert vs Clyde will advance to the regional Championship game versus the winner of Sandusky Perkins/Port Clinton.
Be sure to tune into the game on Friday at 7pm on Zsportslive as my partner Nate Stidham and myself will have all the action from Napoleon’s Buckenmeyer stadium.
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