Trojans hope to bounce back against 5-0 Clay

FINDLAY – Pancake blocks.Some teams chart them, some teams don't.Teams facing Oregon Clay can expect a steady diet of them though. They are a main reason the Eagles have chomped their way to an unbeaten 5-0 record."They've been a physically dominant run group, a two-headed monster with their quarterback and running back," Findlay High coach Stefan Adams said during a drizzly, overcast day at practice this week."They have some splash plays. But they're pretty dominant on the ground."Through the first five games, opponents have been more bombs away than ground-and-pound when facing Findlay. Of the 1,949 total yards the Trojans have allowed, 1,309 have come through the air.That could all change on Friday when Findlay (4-1) travels to Oregon Clay (5-0) for the first Buckeye Division game for the Northern Lakes League schools.A strong run game has been a pivotal in Clay wins over Wapakoneta (27-21), Sylvania Southview (35-14), Bowling Green (62-0), Napoleon (52-13) and Liberty-Benton (56-14). The two-headed monster Adams referred two would be Eagles' quarterback Landon Echelberry and running back Bryce Besgrove.Echelberry owns the school record for passing yards in a single game, but it's not at Oregon Clay. As a freshman at Findlay in 2024, Echelberry was forced into a starting role when Ryan Montgomery, currently No. 3 on the depth chart for No. 2-ranked Georgia, was injured. In his first start, Echelberry threw for a Findlay single-game record 562 yards against, ironically, Oregon Clay.Echelberry's family moved into the Oregon School District before his sophomore year, and he's continued to shine. He was second-team all-NLL Buckeye Conference last season and is having another solid year, as much with his feet as with his arm.Echelberry, who completed 15-of-17 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns against Liberty-Benton last week, has thrown for 598 yards and seven TDs overall. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound junior is also Clay's leading rusher with 491 yards and 10 scores.Besgrove, a 200-pound junior, has rushed for 471 yards and scored five TDs.A successful running game needs a good offensive line and that's where the pancake blocks, defined as a block so well executed the defensive player is put flat on his back, comes in. Oregon Clay charts that statistic and according to posted numbers the Eagles have had 71 of them in five games. Augie Lohmeyer, a 6-2, 225-pound senior, leads the pack with 22, but Bennett Viers (11), Nick Zierhoff (10), Logan Gearhart (10), Robert Stewart (9) and 6-4, 310-pound senior Cash Mahr (8) have served up their potion of them as well.Adams said defensive discipline will be crucial to Findlay's attempt to contain a Clay offense averaging over 48 points a game."It's almost like triple option football from back in the day where everybody (on defense) had to have a responsibility," he said."I think sometimes you can get a little itchy to get the tackle so much that you forget about your role, your responsibility. It could be the pitch man, it could be the guy they're handing off to …. Everybody just needs to be in the right spot and, obviously, rally and tackle the ball."Findlay will be looking to bounce back from its first and only loss, a 37-28 setback to Fremont Ross in a game that saw five touchdowns scored on plays covering 60 or more yards."There were at least four major explosive plays that obviously you don't want to have happen," Adams said."We came up short. We understand that. We're not accustomed to giving up explosive plays like that. Why is it happening? Is it physical errors? Is it mental errors?"We're halfway through the season and we're asking ourselves questions anyway. Are we where we want to be? What are teams (opponents) starting to expose? What are we weak at?"We were starting to ask ourselves those type of questions. It just happened to come at a bad time, after a loss."Findlay displayed big-play capability as well against Fremont Ross, especially in the passing game by sending speedsters Carter Imke, Greyson Geiser and Grant Emans on deep streak patterns.Geiser caught six passes for 250 yards, including touchdown connections covering 65 and 80 yards. Imke, Findlay's leading receiver on the season with 34 catches for 448 yards and four touchdowns, had five receptions for 108 yards against Ross."We're kind of a unique offense, so we see different looks. You never know if you're going to see man coverage, zone coverage, junk coverage …" Adams said."That night (vs. Ross) it was strictly man-to-man, and we had to win that. Back in summer, 7-of-7 time, one thing I think we did a great job of was winning the 50-50 balls. That means it's man to man, you versus the other guy to see who comes down with it."As time goes on we see more zone (coverage). It was kind of nice to see us in that situation again, more man to man again, and see that come to fruition."We were a little disappointed we didn't hit a few more of those, but it was a step in the right direction."Following today's game at Clay, Findlay will host the big dogs of the NLL Buckeye Division – Perrysburg (5-0) and Toledo Whitmer (4-1) – before capping off the regular season on the road against Sylvania Northview (0-5) and Anthony Wayne (3-2).Findlay's 4-1 start also has the Trojans, who dropped from Division I to Division II this year, sitting well in the playoff picture. The Trojans are currently No. 2 in the Region 6 rankings, just behind Toledo Central Catholic and just ahead of Oregon Clay.