Whippets eye stern playoff test from Rossford
Daily Globe Sports Editor
Shelby embarks on postseason play Saturday night at W.W. Skiles Field at William J. Wilkins Stadium against Rossford in a Division IV, Region 14 football contest.
The second-seeded Whippets, who are 6-0 and had a firstround bye, will battle a Bulldog squad that possesses big play capabilities and is coming off a 44-34 win over Wooster Triway.
Trailing 28-24 at the intermission, 15th-seeded Rossford outscored the Titans 20-6 over the final two quarters en route to an offensive performance that featured 616 total yards and boosted their record to 4-3 on the season.
Having watched video of the Bulldogs, SHS coach Rob Mahaney said “they’re a really good football team.”
Rossford’s spread offense success starts with 6-foot, 195-pound sophomore quarterback Alex Williams and his cannon for an arm. In the win against Triway, he completed 12 of 19 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns while carrying the ball another 21 times for 205 yards.
“Their quarterback is really good and has a strong arm. He also has a good, physical build and runs the ball hard too. He can make any throw on the field. On film we saw him throw the ball 55 yards in the air,” noted Mahaney.
The receiving corps is anchored by 6-foot3, 185-pound senior Jamari Croom and 6-foot-3, 175-pound junior Ben Morrison.
Croom had a monster game a week ago with eight catches for 260 yards and five touchdowns. The remaining four completions were collected by Morrison.
“They have two really good outside receivers that go up and get it,” said the Shelby coach.
The Bulldogs are huge in the trenches and anchored by 6-foot-6, 290-pound senior Nick Walker.
“Their line is big. They have a 6-6, 290 at left tackle and other kids that are wellsized,” said Mahaney.
In the win, Rossford turned the ball over four times — three fumbles and one interception.
“Offensively, they remind me of River Valley because they have a quarterback with a strong arm and a lot of skills kids,” said Mahaney.
The coach of the Whippets say his club will face the best defensive line they have seen to date.
“They have size and they run around and get to the football. Their defensive line makes most of the tackles. They play a lot of man coverage, so our receivers have to be able to win. It will be a good challenge for us,” said the SHS coach.
Defensively, the Bulldogs have similarities with Galion because both like to blitz and play man coverage.
Rossford posted wins against Millbury Lake (35-0), Genoa (28-7) and Woodmore (3514). They lost in week No. 2 to Elmwood (1726) and also fell to Eastwood (14-0) and Otsego (59-28), who were a combined 11-1in the regular season.
With a bye in the firstround, the Whippets were able to relax and work on some things mentally.
“When you get into the grind of the season is where you worry more about your opponent and you don’t have time to fix things and work on yourself. During the bye week we had a lot more individual time. The main thing is we got healthy,” said Mahaney.
During the time off, senior defensive end Marek Albert was cleared medically to resume practice and play. SHS had been without the services of their first-team Allohio and Northwest District Player of the Year after breaking his collarbone late in the game of the red and gray’s season-opening win against Ontario.
“That’s good news for us. We’ll add him to a defense that has been playing really good,” pointed out the red and gray coach. Through the first six games Shelby was allowing opponents 15.2 points and 222 yards a game.
In Albert’s absence, Caleb Baker filled his role at one end while Nate Zehner manned the opposite end.
“Caleb’s played so well with Marek out and we don’t want to take him off the field. Nate has been playing at an elite level. With Marek back there’s three defensive ends and we have to figure out ways to keep them on the field. The good news is it frees up an offensive lineman who can stay fresher for us offensively and help the offense as well,” said Mahaney.
During the first six games, the Whippets put up 43 points and churned out 411 yards a night. Quarterback Marshall Shepherd completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,105 yards and 13 touchdowns. His top targets were Blaine Bowman (24 receptions, 379 yards), Andre Hill (21, 316) and Cody Lantz (13, 209).
The SHS ground game was led by Owen Fisher. He rolled up 1,036 yards on 121 totes with 16 touchdowns to lead the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference in those categories.
Leading tacklers for Shelby are Carson Ingram (56), Brinson Delauder (47) and Logan Green (43). Ingram and Zehner were the sack leaders with seven and four, respectively. Hill picked off three opposing passes.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
team hosted Mansfield Madison Thursday night in a non-conference affair. Above, Lady Whippets Reyna Hoffman, left, and Kassie Stine battle a Ram at the net. Below, Sydnie Seibert is ready to receive the serve.