Findlay, Fremont renew rivalry

By DAVE HANNEMAN Stefan Adams might have his Findlay High football players packing a little heavy for this week's game at Fremont Ross. In addition to shoulder pads and cleats, the Trojans might want to include a lunch box and hard hat to the equipment bag. "We have to try and make sure the guys understand the mentality they have to be in," Adams said. "We have to understand the emotion (Fremont Ross) is going to have, too. That's why we need to be very business-like in our approach." Findlay and Ross will clash for the 101st time in the long-running series between the schools when the Little Giants host the Trojans in Friday's Northern Lakes League cross-over game. Findlay and Ross have been teeing it up as league rivals for 88 of those 101 seasons, starting with the Buckeye League (1935-1954) and continuing through the Buckeye Conference (1954-1986), Buckeye Central Conference (1987-1994), Great Lakes League (1995-2002), Greater Buckeye Conference (2003-2010), Three Rivers Athletic Conference (2011-2022) and currently into the NLL. The rivalry has featured some marquee names. Before winning the Heisman Trophy with Michigan in 1997 and a Super Bowl title with Green Bay in 2011, Charles Woodson led Ross to three straight wins over Findlay in the early 1990s. Before guiding Pittsburgh to Super Bowl championships in 2006 and again in 2009, Ben Roethlisberger once threw a state-record eight touchdown passes in a game against the Little Giants. Findlay has won nine of the last 12 matchups, but trails the Little Giants 58-39-3 in the overall series. Symbolic of any good rivalry, many of the matchups have been classics. In 2017, Fremont Ross scored late in the game, went for the tie, and ended up losing 55-49 in triple overtime. A year later, in an almost identical situation, Ross scored late, went for two, got it and beat Findlay 43-42. The 100th meeting between the two schools was, poetically, one for the ages. Findlay trailed 41-37 when Ryan Montgomery fired a 7-yard TD pass to Reece Little with 43 seconds left in the fourth quarter. That put the Trojans up 44-41. Fremont quarterback Kaden Holmes, a two-time all-Ohio pick, rushed for 26 yards and completed four passes, the last a 25-yarder to Elijah Hammer for the score that put the Little Giants back on top 48-44 with six seconds on the clock. On the ensuing kickoff, Luke Weihrauch fielded the ball around the 5 and headed up field. As he was being swarmed under around the 20, Weihrauch flipped the ball to his left. Dallas DeLaCruz caught the lateral, got to the corner and outran everyone for the game-winning score with zeroes on the clock. Understandably, Adams knows it will be a charged up Fremont Ross team waiting for Findlay when the Trojans make a return trip to Don Paul Stadium on Friday. "It's a rivalry game, and after what happened up there last year we have to be ready for business," Adams said. Record-wise, the dynamics have changed a bit. Fremont Ross, which entered last year's matchup with a 5-0 record, dropped this year's opener, 41-14 to a solid Tiffin Columbian team. The Little Giants beat arch-rival Sandusky 21-15, in the 118th meeting between those schools, then fell to two of the top teams in the NLL's Buckeye Division, Perrysburg (49-20) and Toledo Whitmer (29-7). Findlay (3-1) lost its opener 47-14 to a powerhouse Toledo Central Catholic squad that won a Division II state championship last season and is ranked No. 1 in Division III this year. The Trojans have since rattled off running-clock wins over Lima Senior (43-0), Sylvania Southview (49-14) and Oregon Clay (42-7). Junior Karson Kayden has replaced Holmes (now at the University of Toledo) at quarterback for a Ross team Adams says stills runs a "pass first" offense. "It makes sense (because) they still have a lot of skilled players there, and they rely on those guys to make plays," Adams said. "They have a diversified offense, a combination of the spread and they show a lot of different formations. We have to be in the right spots, execute at a very high level and see how our guys respond." Luke Weihrauch (30 tackles, 2 forced fumbles), Campbell Lane (23 tackles), Nate Riegle (21 tackles, 1 int.), Israel Moore (17 tackles), Keegan Klotz (12 tackles, 3 sacks), Baret Helms (13 tackles) and Elijah Johnson (2 sacks) have spearheaded a Findlay defense that has allowed just two first-half touchdowns during the Trojans' 3-0 run. "Defensively, we've done really well. We've been super sound with our assignments and techniques," Adams said. "We want to continue building on what we're already doing. We want to make sure our guys are coached up so we're getting lined up right, we're anticipating what teams will do in certain formations and we're getting 11 guys driving to the ball." Offensively, Findlay continues to ride the strong right arm of quarterback Ryan Montgomery. Through four games, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound junior has completed 101 of 138 passes (73.2 percent) for 1,306 yards and 16 touchdowns. In Findlay's win over Sylvania Southview, Montgomery not only set a single-game record for passing yards (491) but also threw his 69th career touchdown pass, breaking Roethlisberger's record in that category as well. Montgomery has thrown just two interceptions and been sacked just three times. Montgomery has connected with eight different receivers over those four games, with Ja'vonte Hill's 34 catches for 525 yards and nine TDs leading the way. Austin Hasselbach (17 recps., 215 yards, 1 TD), Ben Best (15, 193, 1), Jacob Ragland (12, 200, 1) and Little (11, 107, 3) have double-figure reception totals as well. Friday will be the last night for cross-over games in the NLL. From here on out teams in the Buckeye (bigger school) and Cardinal (smaller school) Divisions will be paired up in league contests. Adams, though, isn't looking that far ahead, especially with Fremont Ross on the schedule. "All we can do is take it one game at a time," Adams said. "Right now we have Fremont in front of us, so this week we just want to be 1-0."