Allen East’s Jack Hoel evades Crestview’s Wren Sheets during a game earlier this season at Crestview High School. The Mustangs’ leading rusher had 113 yards on 24 carries in Saturday night’s 37-7 Division VI playoff victory against Tri-Village.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
HARROD — Marion Local.
The mere mention of the football program at Maria Stein conjures up a lot of thoughts of excellence and dominance.
The Flyers, with a trophy case full of state championship hardware, continued their winning ways this year as they have posted another undefeated regular season and have ripped through the postseason, outscoring opponents 137-3.
But 1oth ranked Allen East appears ready to take on the team and not the reputation as the Mustangs face the No. 1 Flyers in a Division VI regional final Saturday night at Wapakoneta.
“I think Marion Local is really good,” Mustang head coach Joel Billings said. “They are not tremendously big or anything like that. They have some players with some size but doesn’t jump out as gigantic or anything but they play with great speed and that is what stands out on film.
“I think their kids are very fundamentally sound and play hard and that has gotten them to where they are at. Definitely a quality opponent. We tell the players we are here for a reason and we have done the same things and won the same playoff games as they have and we are going to show up and compete. That is the one thing we expect our kids to show and compete and I am pretty confident this group will do that on Saturday.”
Allen East’s approach remains the same this week and Billings points out that the team knew the road to the final four was not going to be easy.
“As you go on your quality of opponent is going to go up and we just tell them about not making mistakes and capitalize on the plays that are there and every week you have to do a little bit more if you want to keep going,” Billings said.
Like Marion Local, Allen East has also been on fire in the playoffs as the Mustangs have outscored opponents 131-7. After shutouts in its first two contests, the Mustangs, on a snow-covered field, handled Tri-Village 37-7.
Billings said the defense has really spearheaded the team’s victories in the playoffs, especially stopping the run. In Saturday’s affair, the Mustangs limited the Patriots’ potent running game to 68 yards. Tri-Village running back Reed Weir came into the Allen East game with more than 1,300 yards and was held to 60.
“Defensively, I think we have been able to shut some guys down that have been pretty explosive during the regular season,” Billings said.
The opportunistic Mustangs recorded four turnovers and four sacks against the Patriots.
On the offensive end, the Mustangs, like the defense, have been producing points, averaging 43 a game.
Billings said the team has been more balanced. Running back Jack Hoel, who led the team in rushing this season, is the workhorse out of the backfield and the team has shown consistency under the steady guidance of senior signal caller Jacob Hershberger.
Due to the snowy conditions, Hershberger was an efficient 9 of 17 for 90 yards while Hoel plowed his way for 113 yards on 24 carries.
“We have really been throwing the ball more effectively,” Billings said. “Obviously last week we didn’t throw the ball a ton but the weeks prior it was a pretty good passing game.”
Not to be overlooked are the special teams that came up with two big touchdowns against Tri-Village.
Billings was unsure of how the postseason was going to play out because of the uncertainty of unknown opponents, weather conditions and the sheer bounce of the ball but said they have gone pretty well for his team.
“They play together and that is the one thing that stands out,” Billings said. “It is important to them. This group ask a lot of questions. If they don’t know something they are going to ask and they are going to make clear what is going on. It is important to them and that is why I think they are successful.”
3 Columbia Station Columbia (13-0) vs. 5 Columbus Grove (11-2) at Clyde Robert J. Bishop Jr. Stadium
After winning convincingly in its first two contest, winning by an average margin of 25 points, Columbia escaped with a 12-6 win Saturday night against Ashland Crestview.
Raider running back Marco Cirigliano is the team’s leading rusher and has rushed for a staggering 2,491 yards and 42 touchdowns.
As a team, the Raiders average 295.7 yards a game on the ground.
Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.
