Trojans aiming for second straight win when they take on Springfield

FINDLAY – Two teams coming off uplifting wins will square off at Donnell Stadium today when Findlay plays host to Springfield in a cross-over game between the Northern Lakes League schools.Following a 38-7 opening night beat down at the hands of Pine-Richland, a strong 5A program out of Pennsylvania, Findlay rebounded with a dominating defensive effort in last Friday's 17-7 win over I-75 rival Lima Senior.Eliminating that zero in the first column of the won/loss standings, especially this early in the 2025 season, had a galvanizing impact on a team with several new faces in the lineup and looking to establish an identity all its own."Some of the nucleus of the last couple of years, a lot of guys who played three, four years of football, aren't here anymore," said FHS coach Stefan Adams."This is a completely new nucleus of guys, and there were so many questions. It wasn't an easy summer, so getting that first win, that was big. Football, it's like life sometimes. There are going to be hard times. You're going to have to do things that aren't always easy. But, man, it feels so good to get those little wins, those small successes when you've put so much time and effort into something."You could see there was genuine happiness (after last Friday's win). That was fun for me to see, too."Findlay has had the upper hand in the two years the Trojans and Springfield have been members of the NLL's Buckeye Division. Findlay won the 2023 matchup 53-0 and last year's contest 42-12.Springfield, which swapped places with Oregon Clay from the Buckeye to the NLL Cardinal Division this year, has a new head coach in Sam Arredondo, several returning starters on both sides of the ball and, after one-sided wins over Maumee (42-14) and Sylvania Northview (44-10), has already achieved as many wins this season as the 2-0 Blue Devils have had in any of the past three years."Obviously every year brings new life. It's the same with our team," Adams said."They have a new regime, a new head coach, and you can tell their kids have bought into it this year."Quarterback Logan Goodrick is one of nine returning starters on a Springfield offense that averaged just 12.9 points a game last season, but is averaging 43 in 2025. The 6-foot-2, 196-pound senior has thrown five touchdown passes and run for three scores in two games."They use his legs a little bit, but he's also been throwing the ball, distributing it to their athletes," Adams said."He's a complete dual-threat guy."Goodrick has a quality corps of receivers in seniors Byron Jackson (6-1, 189), Rah'Mielle Martin (5-8, 165) and Richard Wright (6-0, 170). Gabe Gregory, a junior, and senior Jakobe May are the Blue Devils' top threats in the backfield.After generating just 46 rushing yards against Pine-Richland, Findlay churned out 215 yards on the ground against Lima Senior. Lane Miller led the Trojans, capping a 125-yard game with a 59-yard burst over the right side that gave Findlay a two-possession lead late in the third quarter.Shawn Hines II, slowed by an injury to start the 2025 season, added 33 yards and Griffin Lane had 36.The story of the game was a Findlay defense that limited Lima Senior to 34 yards rushing, 206 yards total offense and did not give up an offensive touchdown to all-Ohio quarterback Ja'Niaus Hall, who had amassed almost 9,000 passing yards and over 100 touchdowns in leading Lima Senior to back-to-back nine-win seasons.Findlay also forced five turnovers, with junior defensive back Jacob Gebhardt picking off two passes and linebackers Chase Harris, Cole Hull and Sebastian Brankamp all pouncing on Lima Senior fumbles."I don't know what you see, but what screams out on film is how physical our guys are, how hard they're hitting, and how fast everybody is going to the ball," Adams said."Right now, we're leaning on them."It was a balanced defensive effort against Lima Senor with linebackers Miles Bailey (9 tackles), Hudson Yeager (8) and Brankamp (6) leading the way. Safeties Alex Gonzalez and Will Hammer and Harris at a corner, had five tackles each; lineman Jack Young (1 sack) also had five tackles and Miller, Trace'son Hyde and Maysen Hetrick all had four."I loved the way our defense played. I loved the way our offense responded in second half," Adams said."There's a lot of things we can do better but nonetheless we stayed together, we didn't unravel when we could have."For a young team still cobbling together its own identity, the scene following last Friday's win was a rewarding one for Adams and his staff."That's what makes football such an awesome and unique game," Adams said."It's not like any other sport. How many sports get multiple games a week, multiple chances to get it right? We don't get multiple chances."You work all summer long, hot weather, pads, scrimmages …. You're trying to find yourselves and validate all of that. We learned some good things from our first game, then went into game two and all those things we talked about came to fruition."I think this group kind of thinks of themselves as underdogs. They know in order to be successful it can't be about one person, it has to be about the whole."I think they're starting to rally around each, and you love to see that."Tonight will be Senior Night for Findlay. The Trojans wrap up the non-league portion of their schedule with road games at Sylvania Southview on Sept. 12 and Fremont Ross on Sept. 19, then host Oregon Clay on Sept. 26 in their first NLL Buckeye Division contest.