MAC Football Game of the Week - Marion Local at Coldwater

For the past decade, the battle between the Marion Local Flyers and Coldwater Cavaliers has often been the marquee match up of the Midwest Athletic Conference season, and this year’s meeting in Coldwater is no different.  With the MAC portion of the schedule down to just three weeks, the Cavaliers are the lone unbeaten in the conference, while the Flyers sit just one game behind in the standings in a second-place tie with the Versailles Tigers.  For the past 17 seasons, either the Cavaliers or Flyers (sometimes both) have occupied one of the top two spots in the league with the other not far behind.  The Flyers won last year’s meeting 7-0, but the Cavaliers captured the victory the three previous years to that.  Marion Local head coach Tim Goodwin knows this week’s contest will be his team’s stiffest of the season.  “Every year if you have a team that can vie for a league title, you know that you will have to beat Coldwater,” Goodwin indicated.  “We have only been able to defeat them four times over the past thirteen years, so we have not had a lot of success getting it done.  This year, we will have to play our best game of the year and have some breaks go our way to have a chance of winning.”

Last week, the Flyers hosted the St. Henry Redskins and other than terrible weather, had little trouble downing the Red and White at Booster Field.  Sophomore running back Jacy Goettemoeller slashed St. Henry’s defense for nearly 200 yards on just 17 carries, while logging touchdown runs of 40, 31, and 79 yards.  “Our win over St. Henry was a big win for us,” Goodwin explained.  “I think that we have improved some over the past couple of weeks, while starting to develop an offensive identity.  Our offensive line played very well - they have been pretty solid all year.  Adam Bertke and Jacy Goettemoeller continue to make some plays for us.”

Last week in Anna, the Cavaliers fought and prevailed through their tightest test to this point in the season – a 7-0 victory over the Rockets.  While the weather slowed down the Cavalier’s potent offensive attack, their defense remained nail-tough, as they picked up their seventh win of the season and maintained their strangle hold on the top seed in Region 20 as well as being ranked as the number-one squad in Ohio in Division V.  “Last week was a recipe for disaster for us with the pouring rain  and going against a big and physical run-oriented offense,” remarked Coldwater head coach Chip Otten. “Our defensive front of Cody Madaj, Alan Kunk, Jordon Harlamert, Vinnie Droesch, Andrew Schwieterman, along with Zach Dickman and Derek Collett held up and kept Anna out of the endzone, which was huge for us.”

This week, Otten understands the battle his team will face and what is at stake in terms of the MAC title.  “This has been a huge matchup between us for several years, one that we really look forward to,” he commented.  “These are two teams that have a lot of respect for each other and will go at it for  four quarters.  Offensively, we need to deal with their blitz package that they put together so well.  We need to get the ball to our playmakers in space in order to give them a chance to make big plays if we want to come out on top.”

by Robb Hemmelgarn