Announcement
From the Wooster DAILY RECORD: By Aaron Dorksen, Sports Writer
WOOSTER - Triway football coach Jim Reynolds matter-of-factly said earlier this week his favorites to win the Mohican Area Conference title are Buckeye and Black River.
However, that doesn't mean the Titans (4-1) will be conceding anything when they visit Medina to take on the Bucks (5-0) as action in the six-team MAC begins this week. In other games, Loudonville (4-1) will visit Black River (4-1), while defending co-champions Clear Fork (3-2) and West Holmes (0-5) will meet in Millersburg.
Although it's only Week 6 of the football season, Reynolds sees tonight's game as a must-win contest if Triway is to realize its goals. And if his Titans play up to their potential, he sees them having a chance to win until the end.
"If we want to win the MAC and set ourselves up for the playoffs, this is obviously a crucial game," said Reynolds, in his second year as coach. "They don't get much bigger than this. Our kids will have to be ready."
Although the Titans suffered just one loss through the season's halfway point, the four teams they beat had a combined record of just 6-14. Last week's 34-12 win over Fairless came over an 0-5 team, not doing much for the playoff picture, where the Titans sit 17th in the Div. III, Region 10 rankings.
Buckeye, which has never won a MAC football title in the league's dozen years and has never made the playoffs, has set itself up for a historic season if it can stay hot.
The Bucks have charged past Wellington, Medina Highland, Avon, Vermilion and Warren JFK by an average margin of 24.8-8.6 and are ranked fifth in Triway's playoff region.
First-year Buckeye coach Chris Medaglia, who was the team's offensive coordinator the past two seasons, said his team has been successful by focusing on one game at a time. Although it's an old sports cliche to "take'em one at a time," it's certainly worked for the Bucks.
"Our approach since day one has been to focus on each opponent as they come," said Medaglia, whose team hammered Warren JFK 42-14 last week. "All through two-a-days we concentrated on Wellington and after that we focused on the opponent for the next week.
"We're looking at the season in terms of dominos. In order to knock down all 10, you have to knock them down one at a time and this week we've prepared for Triway as much as we can."
That preparation has included plenty of time spent trying to ready for the Titans' passing game.
"That No. 12 (Ryan Mullins) has done a good job of getting the ball over the middle to No. 7 (Chad McDaniel)," Medaglia said. "We have definitely paid attention to trying to stop those two."
Mullins leads area quarterbacks with 655 yards passing and has a sterling seven-to-one touchdowns to interception ratio. McDaniel has been his main target, hauling in 19 passes for 254 yards and three TDs. The Titans' Adam Bogner (389 yards rushing, 5 TDs) and Mike Ogden (364-5) have very similar numbers in terms of running the football.
Reynolds is also concerned with the quarterback his team will face.
Buckeye's Dan Cereshko has passed for 453 yards and seven TDs, while tossing just two picks. He has also run for 245 yards and a pair of TDs.
Fullback Forest Mercer leads the team with 312 yards rushing and one TD, while Darren Cereshko has 12 receptions for 257 yards and four TDs.
"I think it's gonna be a tough, knock-down, drag-out brawl," said Reynolds, whose school's only MAC title came when the Titans shared the crown with Black River in 1996. "They are a very talented team and I think we can give ourselves a chance to stay in it until the end if we play our best."
Reynolds said his defense has played slightly above the offense, but the real concern is special teams.
"We've had two kickoffs returned for touchdowns against us and about another half-dozen long runbacks," Reynolds said. "A couple of punts have been nearly run back against us, too. We have to do a better job on special teams."
With rain in the forecast, both teams might have to turn to the running game more than they'd like to. Neither team has a decided size advantage in the trenches, so it may come down to simply who wants it more.
"We've told our kids when it gets into MAC play the spirit and competitiveness gets higher," Medaglia said. "The teams know each other well and there really are some great rivalries. Our kids will be ready to play, I know that."
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