SPENCERVILLE-David vs Goliath. That’s all that needs to be explained in Friday night’s NWC opener between Columbus Grove and Spencerville.
Examining Goliath:
To no one’s surprise the Columbus Grove Bulldogs come into Friday night’s matchup a perfect 3-0 record. The Bulldogs have been victorious in a big way as they have defeated Pandora-Gilboa, Liberty Benton, and last year’s d6 final four finalists Patrick Henry by scores of 35-7, 42-13, and last week’s 27-13 victory over the Patriots.
“This off-season the focus and emphasis was to be 3-0,” said Columbus Grove Head Coach Andy Schafer. “The last few years we’ve done great at getting better throughout the season, but we’ve had horrible starts. Anything less than 3-0 was unacceptable. That put a lot of pressure on the kids, but clearly they responded.”
Columbus Grove will enter Friday’s matchup with Spencerville averaging 34.7 points per game and giving up just 11.3 per contest.
The Bulldogs will be highlighted by last year’s all state running back Trenton Barazza. Barazza comes in leading the NWC in rushing with 396 yards rushing with 4 touchdowns.
The Bulldogs come in on offense having 322 total yards of offense with 216 of those coming on the ground.
Columbus Grove has been dealt with a tough hand on the injury front last week as quarterback Landon Best suffered an ankle injury and did not return. It appears unlikely that Best will see the field on Friday so the signal caller will change to Barazza.
“Barazza has played QB a few times in the past as an option so it wasn’t unfamiliar territory,” said Schafer of Barazza. “We’ve also worked scenarios throughout practice where bad things like this could happen so I was not shocked at his poise and leadership. Barazza could play any position on the field and he would be an impact player, not just on physical ability but his mental ability.”
The Bulldog defense has allowed 254 total yards and it’s a balance of 118 yards rushing allowed and 136 through the air.
Confidence has been a big thing for both squads this season and Schaefer pointed out just what that means to the kids.
“Winning the first three games and going unblemished to start the season is an accomplishment we have not been able to do the past few seasons,” concluded Schafer. “Spencerville accomplished that task this year which builds confidence. In our level of football, confidence is just as important as athleticism. When kids believe they can win, they can overcome a lot of obstacles. Certainly Coach Koenig realizes that and has his kids playing extremely well.”
Examining David:
The Bearcats went just 3-8 a year ago and went winless in the NWC. However in just three games this season the Bearcats have matched their win total and are looking to surprise the heavily favored Bulldogs on Friday.
“The team has done a great job of adapting to situations and overcoming any obstacles that have been put in our way due to injuries or sickness,” said Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig. “I have been very pleased with the guys’ attitude towards everything, and they just come in and practice and play hard. Shows some great leadership on our veteran players and shows that we have really had to come together as a team and a family these first three weeks.”
Despite a few starters missing from last week’s game due to injury and sickness the Bearcats continued to do what they have done so far this season which is winning.
The Bearcats moved some pieces around on offense and it was freshman Kolton Grigsby that answered the bell for Spencerville last week. Grigsby had 123 rushing yards last week in the 24-21 win over Riverside.
“Kolten is just a great kid to have,” said Koenig. “He is tough both mentally and physically, plays hard at all times and is very coachable. We’ve prepped him to play the spots he played last week for a just in case situations and unfortunately those situations popped up and he had to adjust. Carder does a great job of helping him out in the huddle when he gets the positions mixed up and at the end of the day Kolten just runs hard. He goes 100% all the time and it makes up for a lot of the lack of experience he has in some spots.”
If the Bearcats want to have upset city on Friday and defeat Columbus Grove for the first time since 2018 the Bearcats will need to continue their ground and pound approach.
Spencerville comes in averaging 27 points per game while giving up 22 a ball game.
The trio of Zach Looser, Grady Smith, and Kolton Grigsby have rushed for over 500 yards on the season that will hope to look no different on Friday.
“Grove just has explosive athletes all over the field,” added Koenig. “They have state track athletes on the perimeter, a running attack with a strong, physical, experienced back that can do a lot of damage. It will be critical for us to be able to make some open field tackles and to swarm to the football to limit those big plays that they are capable of hitting.”
The Bearcats 3-0 start is their best start since 2018 and will look to make a statement on Friday.
“Preparation has been tough because they went wildcat package after Best got hurt at the end of the first half,” said Koenig. “We have had to prep for if they do and if they do not have a quarterback in. It’s been a lot of different formations and things to look for. Our guys have done a great job staying focused and I am looking forward to seeing us compete on Friday.”
Koenig knows what the Bearcats must do to pick up the win in week 4.
“We have to be able to run the ball,” concluded Koenig. “If we can run the ball and go on some of those long drives, we have been able to sustain the last couple of weeks then we limit the amount of time those offensive athletes they have from having a lot of time to make big plays. We have to stop their running attack. Control the line of scrimmage and make tackles in the open field when those times come up. If not, Grove can break some big plays.”
If you can’t make it to the game tune in to Zsports 3 as Nate Stidham and Shane Falke will have all the action with the pregame show at 6:30pm followed by kickoff at 7pm
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