Trojans open with 'one of the best in the state'

They say to be the best you have to beat the best and that will be the challenge facing Findlay High's football team today when the Trojans open their 2024 season at Toledo Central Catholic."They're a quality program, obviously one of the best in the state," said fourth-year Findlay High coach Stafan Adams."That's something they can always have attached to their belt and their name."Central Catholic is riding a 31-game winning streak and has won back-to-back state championships, beating Bishop Watterson 27-7 to win last season's Division III title, and beating Akron Hoban 28-21 to earn the Division II crown in 2022.The state titles were the fourth and fifth – to go along with two runner-up trophies – for Greg Dempsey, who has compiled a staggering 250-52 career record in his 24 seasons as head coach.TCC's graduation losses would cripple most programs. There were 21 seniors on the 2023 Irish roster and 11 of them ended up earning all-Ohio recognition, including four first-teamers in running back Marquan Braswell, receiver Jaylen Watson and linemen Marc Nave and Mike Cannings.Top players want to play for top programs, though. Right now that is Toledo Central Catholic and backing up last year's starters – and earning starting nods themselves – was another star-studded group of athletes."They are at a good point in time where they don't rebuild, they reload," Adams said."The body types are the same: explosive athletes everywhere, big bodies up front, long and physical … Nothing changes on their end. They have what everybody is trying to build, consistency and championship qualities."Tyler Morgan, a 5-foot-8, 180-pound senior, was Central Catholic's No. 2 back behind Braswell, but still ran for 1,055 yards and 25 touchdowns. A couple of big boys – 6-4, 300-pound senior Kemar Walker and 6-3, 270-pound junior Zenage Liggons – will be foundations on the offensive and defensive fronts. A number of Division I college prospects will also be counted on, including junior tight end Preston Fryzel and four-star defensive back Victor Singleton, an Ohio State recruit.While Central Catholic will have a number of new faces in the starting lineup, Adams doesn't expect them to play like rookies."They played a lot of games last year (16), so those guys got a lot of reps," Adams said."They got six more practices (because of TCC's playoff run) and if they got up on teams, a lot of those backups saw the field and they played quality ball. They may not have been starters, but they played like starters."A pivotal matchup in today's game will be Findlay's passing game with Ryan Montgomery, a Georgia recruit who threw for 3,377 yards and 38 touchdowns as a junior, setting up behind a veteran offensive line that returns all five starters from last season. He'll be facing a perennial strength of the TCC defense, a secondary featuring Singleton and safeties Kevin Arnold and Dharon Arnold. Some years back, when Findlay and Central Catholic were both still members of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference, four players were selected first-team all-league defensive backs and all four were TCC players."I know this is coach-speak, but we're really just trying to find where we can find a hole, a seam," Adams said."Where is it in the run game? Where is it in the passing game? When are they going to present it to us?"When we prepare, we know where that is going to be. Obviously during a game that can change on the fly, but our plan is to attack where we feel the holes are."Findlay follows today's opener at Central Catholic with its first two home games of the 2024 season, next Friday with Lima Senior and a Sept. 6 matchup with Sylvania Southview, last year's champion of the NLL Cardinal Division.