Columbus Grove has a bright future after great '25

Andy Schafer admitted he was having a hard time summing things up to his players Friday night. The Columbus Grove coach had watched his team come oh-so-close to a Division VII state final berth before losing to St. Henry, 13-10. "That's really, really difficult," Schafer said, "I was trying to talk to them afterwards, I didn't even know what to say." The fact that Columbus Grove was in the state semifinals probably surprised some people, given how the Bulldogs' 2025 campaign started. There were losses to Pandora-Gilboa, Liberty-Benton and Patrick Henry. "I don't know how you define this year," Schafer said. "Everybody talks about the 0-3 start, but to me, it was just, 'You lost the first game. So what? Move on to the next one, move on to the next one.'" Columbus Grove rebounded from that 0-3 start. Still, going into Week 9's game at Lima Central Catholic, a playoff berth – something that feels like a certainty for the program – was very much up in the air. But Grove was really just hitting its stride. Behind receivers and defensive backs Trevon Baxter and Gavin Barraza and quarterback/DB Landon Best – all seniors – the Bulldogs topped LCC and Bluffton to claim the NWC title. "The seniors that we had are pretty special," Schafer said. "You look at the leadership we had at the skill position…we knew we were young up front, so we needed our skill to make some plays. All year they've been doing it. Gavin Barraza, obviously Trevon Baxter and Landon Best. Those three definitely carried us throughout the year." In the playoffs, Columbus Grove continued to win convincingly, beating Gibsonburg, LCC (again) and Leipsic to reach the state semis. And, just like in the past three seasons, there was a Midwest Athletic Conference school standing between the Bulldogs and the state final. In the previous games against the MAC, Grove struggled to keep the games close. And, in the beginning, it looked like – against St. Henry – that might be the case again. St. Henry went up 13-3 in the first half. But as they had all season, the Bulldogs battled back, and were – perhaps – just a few plays away from playing for a state championship. "That is a tremendous program," said St. Henry coach Josh Werling after the game. "That coach (Schafer) is about the right stuff, and that's a whole lot of sophomores and juniors over there. They're gonna be a problem." It's tempting to look ahead with all the players Columbus Grove has coming back next year. Among other returners, the Bulldogs will bring back their entire front seven on defense in 2026. But, then again, thinking that way has never been Grove's style. "Here we were," Schafer said. "We won a league title, we won our region again, and played toe-to-toe with a pretty good MAC school. Things are in the right direction, I was hoping tonight was the night we got over that hump. "Hats off to our kids, man. They really played with emotion, they played with heart, they played with fire." Columbus Grove has a bright future. But this season was one to remember.