Trojans, Patriots clash in Region 2 playoffs

By DAVE HANNEMAN Like many football coaches watching game film on Olentangy Liberty, you could say Stefan Adams was awe-Struck by what he saw. "When I turn it on (film) I watch to see the guy that jumps out at you and he did … literally," Adams said of Jake Struck, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior running back for Liberty. "In one of the first films I watched he got through the line and jumped, just hurdled over a kid right there in the box. "Obviously he's an explosive athlete. We're talking about a high-level caliber athlete that's pretty special." Struck and his Olentangy Liberty teammates will invade Donnell Stadium on Friday to face Findlay in the first round of the Division I, Region 2 playoffs. Findlay enters the game with an 8-2 record and a share of the Northern Lakes League's Buckeye Division championship in its pocket. Liberty is 3-7 overall and placed fourth (2-3) among the six schools in the Central Division of the Ohio Capital Conference. Adams knows Findlay can't overlook the Patriots, though, not when their history – past and present – and the one-and-done atmosphere of the playoffs is taken into account. "The 3-7 record is a distraction," Adams said. "Seven of their opponents had 7-3 records or better, one team was 5-5 and the other two were 4-6, and they were competitive in every game. "We're not playing to a record, we're playing to a standard, and they are definitely not to be taken lightly." Liberty is in the playoffs for the tenth straight season and 16th time overall. That's a credit, Adams says, to Steve Hale, who was named head coach when the school first opened and ran the program for 20 years before stepping down last season. "It's what you'd call a consistently built program," Adams said. "Last year specifically, you could see how they were prepared to peak at the right time. They went 5-5 in the regular season, then won three playoff games, beating Toledo Whitmer (20-7), then Dublin Jerome (28-14) and then Perrysburg (14-3) before losing to a very tough Springfield team (35-7, in the regional final). "I feel they're going to be very comfortable being in this position. They're prepared for this next step because, kind of like what we experience, what we've seen year in and year out, you have to be prepared every week." A multi-sport talent, Struck headlines the Patriots' offense. Last season, Struck was the only sophomore to be first-team all-league in the OCC-Central Division football selections. Despite being one of the youngest players on the Olentangy Liberty hockey squad, Struck led the team in assists (42) and was second-team all-state in helping the Patriots become the first Central District school to win a state title in that sport. Struck's best sport, though, is lacrosse, where his 28 goals and 26 assists last spring helped earn him a scholarship from Ohio State. Struck is joined in the Patriots' backfield by junior quarterback Andrew Leonard, another three-sport standout who threw for 2,596 yards and 20 touchdowns during the Patriots' run to the Region 2 finals in 2022. Leonard was also on the 39-1-1 hockey team and was a member of a 27-4 baseball team in the spring. In Olentangy Liberty's 21-7 Week 10 win over Olentangy Orange, Struck rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns and Leonard had 97 yards rushing and was 14-of-20 passing for 169 yards. Offensively, Olentangy Liberty and Findlay favor different styles. While the Patriots prefer to control the ball, the clock and the flow of the game with a strong running game, Findlay has relied more on the accurate arm of junior quarterback Ryan Montgomery – 228-of-333 passing, 3,018 yards, 35 TDs – and a quick-strike capability that was on full display in the Trojans title-clinching 48-0 Week 10 win over Sylvania Northview. In that game, Findlay scored first-half six touchdowns on just 30 offensive plays as Montgomery's accuracy and great field position quickly decided the outcome. "We do what we do," Adams said. "It's so funny, though, that for some reason the idea of a passing team is so vastly different from that of a running team. When you look at us, it's really no different than us throwing a little screen (pass) behind the line of scrimmage. We're just doing it in space. "We ran the ball when we had to. We may not be 50-50, but we are very balanced. From that standpoint, when we run the ball we have to run the ball effectively, and when we pass, we do that at a high level, too." Dublin Coffman will play Kettering Fairmont in the other Region 2 quarter bracket. Friday's winners will square off on Nov. 3, with the higher seeded team serving as host.