Wapakoneta’s Jace Knous works to get past Marion Local’s Landon Arling during Friday night’s game at Wapakoneta.
Don Speck | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA – Marion Local came into Friday’s season-opener against Wapakoneta, riding a 32-game winning streak.
Marion Local won back-to-back state championships the past two seasons. But the Flyers knew Wapakoneta, the defending Western Buckeye League champions, would give them its best shot.
And the Redskins did not disappoint.
Wapakoneta did not claim its first lead of Friday’s contest until early in the fourth quarter, when kicker Kyle Beach booted a 25-yard field goal to give the Redskins a 17-14 advantage.
Wapakoneta managed to pull out to a 26-14 lead with 5:27 left to play in the game.
However, Marion Local made the plays – offensively and defensively – down the stretch, to record a thrilling come-from-behind 29-26 win over Wapakoneta in a non-conference football game at Harmon Stadium.
With the victory, Marion Local has now reeled off 33 consecutive wins.
“They did what the Marion Local boys before them did – just never quit, and play hard,” longtime Marion Local head coach Tim Goodwin said. “Obviously, that is a really good Wapak team; and we’re not that good, right now. But we found ways to make some plays. And Justin Knouff (quarterback), for his first start, was one tough kid out there.”
Knouff, a junior, ended the game, 15 of 24 passing for 260 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 47 yards on 14 carries.
Marion Local capitalized on the very first drive of the game.
On a fourth-and-one situation, Knouff connected with Kyle Otte (3 catches, 64 yards), coming out of the backfield, for a 58-yard touchdown pass. With the point-after by Carson Bills, the Flyers led 7-0, just a little more than three minutes into the contest. Marion Locals’ 7-point lead held up to the end of the first quarter.
Wapakoneta got on the scoreboard with 2:45 left to play in the half.
Sophomore quarterback Caleb Moyer (head coach Travis Moyer’s son) connected with Kaden Page (2 catches, 29 yards) in the end zone for an 11-yard scoring strike to cap off an impressive 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive. With the PAT by Kyle Beach, the game was knotted, 7-7.
For the game, Moyer was 15 of 20 passing for 125 yards and a TD. He also threw two interceptions.
However, the Flyers were not ready to go into halftime, just yet. Marion Local promptly marched 80 yards on 11 plays in less than two minutes to add another score. Kyle Otte capped off that impressive Marion Local drive with a 3-yard TD run. With the PAT, the Flyers led 14-7, which held up to halftime.
In the first half, Marion Local rolled up 195 offensive yards (124 passing, 71 rushing). Wapakoneta recorded 117 total offensive yards (60 rushing, 57 passing).
For the game, the Flyers ended with 371 total yards (260 passing, 111 rushing). Wapakoneta ended the night with 254 yards (129 rushing, 125 passing).
Wapakoneta got the football to start the second half. And the Redskins made the most of it.
Wapakoneta marched 83 yards on 15 plays to hit paydirt. Jace Knous (25 carries, 102 yards) ran it in from nine yards out. With the PAT from Beach, the game was tied at 14. That score held up to the end of the third quarter.
At that point of the game, the Redskins seemed to have the momentum on their side.
With 10:37 left to play, Beach’s field goal gave Wapakoneta its first lead on the night.
Then, Wapakoneta’s defensive unit stepped up.
With 9:10 left to play, junior linebacker Bryson Pack blocked a Marion Local punt, deep in Flyers’ territory, and the football rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The Redskins now led 19-14.
Then, less than four minutes later, Wapakoneta’s defense took center stage, once more.
Marion Local had the football, deep in its territory. The Flyers fumbled the ball and Wapakoneta linebacker Joey Truesdale scooped it up and ran 28 yards for a touchdown, extending the Redskins’ lead to 26-14.
But here came Marion Local.
On their next possession, the Flyers made some big plays to move the ball down the field in a hurry. With 2:55 left in the game, Drew Lause ran it in for a TD. And with the PAT, the Redskins’ lead was cut to 26-21.
Then it was Marion Local’s special teams that stepped up.
On the ensuing kick-off, the Flyers recovered the loose football.
Less than two minutes later, Knouff connected with Andrew Pohlman (3 catches, 53 yards) for a 12-yard scoring strike. After a successful 2-point conversion (run by Otte), the Flyers had the 3-point advantage for good.
“We just didn’t quit, and we finished strong,” Goodwin said. “We told them in the locker room (at halftime), ‘If both teams give the same effort, then Wapak is going to win. We have to literally spill our guts and throw them on the field if we want to win’. … And I think we did.”
Last season, the Flyers gave up just 39 total points in their 16 games.
“That’s a good offense,” Goodwin said about Wapakoneta’s offensive unit. “We really had to re-tool, defensively (this season). We have a lot of first-year starters. We only have four starters back this year, and one of them is out with an injury. So, it was a tough matchup for us tonight.
“We’ve had to win like this before. … Now, it’s been a couple years. But these kids have seen it done before – where we came off the field a winner, when maybe we shouldn’t have. … It’s happened before. It’s Week 1. It (the win) is not going to get us a trophy, tonight.”
Longtime Wapakoneta head coach Travis Moyer praised his team for its effort.
“Give them (Marion Local) a lot of credit with getting that touchdown, right before the half. That’s usually a huge momentum swing,” Moyer said. “But our guys answered the bell (in the second half). We knew for us to have an opportunity to win tonight, we had to play 48 minutes. Unfortunately, about the last five minutes, we just came up a little bit short.
“But credit our entire program. Our kids played exceptionally hard tonight. This was a great high school football game.”
Victor Hoelscher led Marion Local in receiving with 7 catches for 133 yards.
Game summary
Score by quarters:
Marion Local 7 7 0 15 – 29
Wapakoneta 0 7 7 12 – 26
Scoring:
Marion Local–Kyle Otte 58 pass from Justin Knouff (Carson Bills kick)
Wapak–Kaden Page 17 pass from Caleb Moyer (Kyle Beach kick)
Marion Local – Kyle Otte 3 run (Carson Bills kick)
Wapak – Jace Knous 21 run (Kyle Beach kick)
Wapak – Kyle Beach 25-yard FG
Wapak – Bryson Pack – blocked punt for safety
Wapak – Joey Truesdale with TD on fumble recovery (Kyle Beach kick)
Marion Local – Drew Lause 4 run (Carson Bills kick)
Marion Local – Andrew Pohlman 12 pass from Justin Knouff (run good)
Marion Local Wapakoneta
16 First downs 17
371 Total yardage 254
111 Rushing yardage 129
260 Passing yardage 125
16-25-2 Passing (Com-Att-Int) 15-20-1
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
1-26.0 Punts-Average 2-31.5
2-10 Penalties-Yards 1-5
Individual leaders:
Passing: Marion Local-Justin Knouff 15-24-260; Wapak-Caleb Moyer 15-20-125.
Rushing: Marion Local-Kyle Otte 8-52; Jace Kous- 25-102.
Receiving: Marion Local-Victor Hoelscher 8-133; Wapak-Grant Jolly 6-50.
