SPENCERVILLE-For the eighth time since 2004 the Spencerville Bearcats will have a November to remember. This year it will feature a new opponent in Huron and a group of players that will look to win their first playoff game since the Covid season in 2020.
If you take away the Covid season the last Bearcat playoff victory came in 2017 under then head coach Chris Sommers when they defeated Mechanicsburg 34-0.
As for Huron the Tigers went 8-4 last season and won a playoff game before falling to last year’s state runner up Liberty Center 41-7. This is the Tigers 13 playoff appearance since 2013 and the third straight under seventh year and Tiger grad Samuel Hohler who played in the early 1990s for the Tigers.
Hohler is the third head coach in Huron football history since 1966 as he took over for the legendary Tony Legando who won 153 games in 22 years as head coach of Huron.
It will be your classic March Madness style 7 seed versus 10 seed matchup.
The Huron Tigers come into the matchup with a record of 6-4. The Tigers are part of the Sandusky Bay Conference which has three divisions in it. To find the Tigers they are part of the Bay division which consists of the likes of powerhouse teams such as Bellevue, Milan Edison, Port Clinton, and Vermilion. All of those teams made the postseason except for Bellevue this year.
As for the season the Huron Tigers will look to refocus for the playoffs as they come in losers of three straight. The combined of their last three games are 25-5. That included close calls against Vermillion 13-10, Clyde 20-7, and the Bearcats playoff opponent from last year undefeated Edison 28-3.
The Swiss Army knife for the Tigers will be junior Quarterback Landon Hohler. Hohler has completed 94 of 168 passes for 1031 yards with 11 TDs and 4 INTs. Hohler has also ran 114 times for 596 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground.
Not to mention Hohler shares the punting duty and has 11 punts for 437 yards on the season.
“Huron’s QB is a big concern for this week,” said Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig. “They do a lot of zone read type of play where he has the freedom to pull it and take off running whenever so it will be crucial that we have someone responsible for him at all times. We also have to keep him in the pocket and hopefully get some sacks or force him to throw the ball away and not let him get big chunks of plays out of scrambling. He reminds me a lot of Parker from LCC. He’s mobile, makes smart decisions and does a great job of commanding that offense.”
His main target this season has been Tommie McDonald he has hauled in 45 receptions for 498 yards and 5 touchdowns on the season. On the ground it’s by committee after Hohler as Paul Maloney has ran 64 times for 357 yards and 2 touchdowns while Hayden Wilson has 59 carries for 319 yards and 1 touchdown.
On defense this is a team that likes to get to the quarterback. The Tigers have 21 sacks on the season so taking care of the football will be a must for the Bearcats on Friday.
Jackson McNulty has 110 tackles on the season with five sacks and has an interception on the season while Maloney leads the team with 114 tackles with a sack and a fumble recovery.
Winning the turnover battle will be a must for both teams on Friday. The Tigers have forced 15 turnovers while the Bearcats have also forced 15 turnovers this season.
Spencerville was able to get back on track on Thursday against their rival Jefferson in the 54-7 victory over the Wildcats.
“It was a great way to end the regular season,” said Koenig. “The guys did a great job of executing the game plan last week and finished the regular season off well and hopefully it built some momentum for us going forward.”
The Bearcats had 370 yards of total offense last week. Will Sensabaugh got hot for the visitors as he had 108 total yards with 56 yards coming on the ground and 52 through and found the end zone three times last week.
It will be a battle of two talented do everything quarterbacks on Friday night as Carder Orr had his best game through the air last week as he completed 9 of 10 pass attempts for over 100 yards.
“It was really nice to see Carder be able to air it out a bit last week,” said Koenig. “Our line did a great job protecting him all night and receivers ran great routes to get open and Carder did a great job of getting them the ball. It was really fun to watch.”
On Friday this will mark the first time that the Spencerville Bearcats will play the Huron Tigers.
“I enjoy playing against someone new,” said Koenig. “It’s fun preparing for someone you have not seen and trying to come up with a different game plan for them. There is some familiarity with Huron as their last game was against our opponent last year in the playoffs with Milan Edison. They play in the same conference as Edison, and they have been competitive against good teams who they lost to. So, we know going into this week that they will be ready to play on their home field and we need to be able to counter whatever they throw at us.”
Huron has played a couple of teams that likes to run the football in Genoa Area and Vermillion who both ran over 50 times and over 300 yards so running the ball will be familiar to them.
There will be some key quarters to check out in this contest. In the first quarter this season the Tigers have outscored their opponents 50-7 with Tiffin Columbian being the only team to score on them back in week 5. On the flip side Huron has only scored in the fourth quarter in three games this season as they have been out scored 45-27 in the final chapter.
You have to go to week 5 to find their first fourth quarter score against Columbian when they put up 21 points followed by three points in each of the next two games.
Spencerville is no stranger to playing a Sandusky Bay conference opponent as the Bearcats made the three hour trip to Milan Edison to take on the Chargers. The trip will be a little less on Friday and the experience should be helpful when they make the 2 hour and half hour bus ride to Wicci Field Memorial Stadium.
“We have made some adjustments with travel to help the guys out and keep them a little more comfortable on the bus ride up there,” commented Koenig. “Our guys understand it’s a long trip and that they need to take the time up there to get their minds right and be ready to go once we arrive.”
Koenig understands the importance to playing well in the playoffs and what it means to the community.
“We know that we have to play well if we want to come out with a victory and that is how it should be in the playoffs,” said Koenig. “Our guys know that they have to play well and match the physicality that Huron will bring to the table.”
“Making the playoffs is always a special thing,” added Koenig. “The guys work hard all year, we won games when we needed to and were able to get in. The community has been wonderful in their support throughout the year, and it is really special to be able to make it in the playoffs and play in front of them for another week and hopefully more.”
Koenig talked about the keys to victory against the Tigers on Friday.
“The keys to victory for us are 1. We have to control the line of scrimmage,” concluded Koenig. “Getting our run game established and keeping the ball out of their Quarterbacks hands will be huge for us. 2. We need to be aware of the Quarterback run. He will scramble and keep it on a lot of plays and our linebackers need to be ready to come up and make tackles. 3. Special Teams play. They have a really good kicking game that can flip the field. We need to be able to get some solid returns and make some big tackles on special teams to make them drive the field as well. 4. Force some turnovers. If we can give ourselves more possessions it will ultimately help us out in the long run.”
If you can’t make the long drive to Erie county be sure to listen to the guys on Zsports 3 as Nate Stidham and Brock Blythe will have all the action with the pregame show set for 6:30pm followed by kickoff at 7pm.
B-rockblythe.org 