SPENCERVILLE-Almost everyone in the village of Spencerville will have eyes on Memorial field on Friday for the Battle of 66 between the Wildcats and Bearcats. This meeting presents a playoff opportunity for Spencerville as it’s a win and in to move to week 11 next Friday night.
“Looking back to last week it really goes back to tackling for us,” said Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig. “We did not tackle very well even when we were in the right spots defensively. Crestview also went really fast on us and that also had a huge effect on our guys. We really had not seen the hurry up too much this year and they used it to their advantage last week so give them a lot of credit. I was encouraged at the beginning of the game because we were able to get some red zone stops, but offensively we just could not move the big guys up front for Crestview.”
The Jefferson Wildcats are coming off a 33-0 loss to Leipsic last week and have had to move players around this season after dealing with injuries. However head coach Damon Ulm has seen progress from his team this season in first season back as head coach when he led the program from 2003-2008.
“We have improved fundamentally over the course of the season and our young players got a lot of experience on Friday nights that will help them next year,”Said Ulm. “Our players have learned that we need to a physical, well conditioned team if want to compete with the teams on our schedule.”
Both of these teams will look to break out on offense on Friday. Spencerville comes in averaging 13.4 per game and Jefferson has averaged a touchdown a game. It will most likely feature the running game as the Bearcats average 131.2 while Jefferson averages 66.3. As far as total yards it’s two different tales with Spencerville averaging 210.7 while Jefferson averaged 85.5 per game.
It might be a different look at quarterback on Friday night for Spencerville as Carder Orr went down with an injury against Crestview but did come in for a play to block in the second half but not at the QB position. So sophomore Grady Smith might get his first career start in the biggest game of Spencerville season.
Defensively it will be two similar styles with Jefferson giving up 357.5 per game with the Bearcats giving up 404.3. The damage has been done in the running game against both defenses with the visitors giving up 225.5 and the hosts allowing 282.5.
It is also senior night as Zakk Harter, Carter Layman, and Nate Coulter will suit up one more time in the black uniform at Memorial Stadium.
“The three seniors we have had one crazy roller coaster of a senior year,” said Koenig. “I am really happy that Nate and Carter have been able to get healthy from their early injuries and have been playing well for us. I feel terrible for Zakk who is hurt to end his senior year. Zakk had such a tremendous off season and was working extremely hard to have the best senior year he could and has been a huge piece of our offensive line. All three have done a good job of setting a foundation to turn this thing around from last year. They have been huge factors in all 3 of our wins this season and I really hope that Carter and Nate can finish their season off strong.”
This rivalry between Jefferson and Spencerville has gone back a long time and know what it means to take part in the rivalry.
“Delphos week is always a big week,” commented Koenig. “I think you could ask a lot of people in the community about the season and some people would say that what we have done so far does not matter if we do not beat Delphos. That is how big the rivalry is between the two schools, especially after they beat us pretty good last year. Too add to it, this is for a playoff spot. Being one and nine last year and now having the opportunity for the playoffs is something our season leaders can be proud of and really give the younger guys some confidence going into the seasons to come as well.”
Despite the rivalry there is a lot of respect between these two squads.
“Spencerville has been a very respectful rivalry for as long as I can remember,” concluded Ulm. “Both sides get geared up for this game no matter what’s on the line. It is a fun game to part of. They are well coached. They have a young team that is getting better and better each week.”
“Delphos has had to deal with a ton of injuries, much worse than what we have had to deal with this year,” concluded Koenig. “From watching the film though the coaches do a great job of maximizing the abilities of their players and putting them in the spots that will allow them to play their best. They play extremely hard and still if you are not disciplined and we do not tackle they will beat us. We need to take a step forward this week and improve in the same areas that we have been preaching the last few weeks and play the game and not worry about the things we cannot control. We have to do our job and see what the scoreboard reads at the end of the night. Like I said it is Delphos week and it is a big rivalry, and we need to win to have a chance for week 11. There is a lot on the line.”
A victory would give Spencerville their first playoff appearance since 2021 when the Bearcats dropped a close game 28-20 to Edon.
If you can’t make it to the game tune in to Zsports 3 as Nate Stidham will have all the action with the pregame show at 6:30 followed by kickoff at 7pm.
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