Trojans hope to honor '75 team with its play Friday vs. Clay

FINDLAY – Before Friday's football game, Findlay High will be recognizing the 1975 team that went 10-0 and won a Buckeye Conference championship.FHS coach Stefan Adams has some specific ideas on just how the Trojans can do that."It's a great opportunity to honor those that came before you by going out and putting a good product on the field," Adams said."Those (1975) guys are being recognized because they obviously were able to achieve excellence on the field, right? It's the standard that you play, and I think that's how you honor them. The end result will take care of itself. The most important part is how we represent the Blue and Gold, how we represent the Trojans … ultimately, that's how we want to be remembered."Findlay will host Oregon Clay on Homecoming Night in the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division opener for both teams. Findlay is 4-1 and riding a four-game winning streak; Clay is 3-2 and coming off a 49-6 win over Toledo Bowsher.It's been a season of transition for Clay, which last year went 8-3 and won the NLL Cardinal Division title. The 2025 season opened with the Eagles having:--- A new head coach with Derek Pennington replacing John Galyas.--- A new quarterback, with Landon Echelberry replacing multi-talented University of Pittsburgh commit Mason Heintschel, who generated 482 yards total offense (295 passing, 187 rushing) and accounted for five touchdowns in Clay's 54-40 win over the Trojans in 2024.--- And a new league alignment, with the Eagles swapping places with Springfield in this year's NLL Buckeye Division.Adams expects a lot of similarities to what the Trojans have faced in the past, though."They have an O-line that is big and wants to get physical and they have a great running back who is also one of their top linebackers," Adams said."They have some skilled players and they're going to try to get the ball to their playmakers."There's an ironic twist to the quarterback situation.Last year as a freshman, Echelberry was Findlay's starting quarterback and had an outstanding season, throwing for 1,481 yard and 12 touchdowns. In the Trojans loss to Clay, Echelberry completed 29-of-42 passes for a Findlay High single-game record 562 yards. The family moved over the summer, though, and Echelberry, a three-sport standout (football, wrestling, baseball) now attends Clay.Through five games, Echelberry has completed 52-of-93 passes for 706 yards and nine touchdowns. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound sophomore is also Clay's leading rusher (246 yards, 1 TD) along with senior Collin Greenawalt (202 yards, 1 TD) and sophomore Bryce Besgrove (200 yards, 1 TD).Clay's top receivers are senior Carter Walendzak (10 receptions, 128 yards), 6-4 junior Max Morrison (13, 180) and sophomore James Derr (12, 264, 2 TDs), with Derr, who has averaged 22 yards per catch, a legitimate deep threat.Balanced offensively, Clay has generated 791 passing yards through five games, and 718 yards on the ground.Findlay's four-game win streak has been underscored by a harassing defense that has forced 14 turnovers and given up just 28 points since a 38-7 season-opening loss to Pine-Richland, Pa. and an increasingly effective offense that has put up 41 and 42 points in its last two games."Schematically, things are working for us," Adams said."I think it comes down to confidence, confidence in what we're doing and validating what we're doing."If Friday night is going to be a successful ending, Adams says the foundation has to be laid early."Our soul goal, intentionally, is about getting better every single day in practice," Adams said."I genuinely don't care about tomorrow until we get through what we need to do today. Our focus each day, each moment, is to be able to go out and execute at a very high level on Friday."That's how you can honor those players and those teams that came before you. And that's how we want to be remembered, too."NOTES: Findlay will be recognizing the 1975 team that posted the first 10-0 regular season in school history. Featuring a stout defense the 1975 team shut out five opponents and allowed just 38 total points in 10 regular season games. The Trojans went 8-0 in league play and won the championship of the Buckeye Conference, at the time considered one of the premier prep leagues in the state. Findlay qualified for the Class AAA state playoffs, but lost its first game, 28-16, to nationally ranked Cincinnati Moeller.