Burg, Local brace for ‘heavyweight fight’

It was the wee hours of the morning after his football team had just suffered a 9-7 heartbreaking playoff loss to then-four-time defending state champion Marion Local in the 2015 regional finals.

Mechanicsburg coach Kurt Forrest couldn’t sleep, rehashing every play and every call. Two things kept haunting him. So he wrote them down on a whiteboard at his house. They still haven’t been erased.

“I wrote two things real big: ‘More physical and more fundamental,’ ” said Forrest. “If we want to win this type of game, we have to out-physical them and out-fundamental them.” The fifth-ranked Indians hope to erase bad memories of past defeats at the hands of the mighty Flyers when they meet Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Sidney High School for the Division IV, Region 24 championship.

It will be a tall task.

“They are good at everything,” said Forrest of Marion Local. “They are not going to beat themselves. If you make mistakes against a team like that, you will pay for them.”

The Flyers are imposing. They had a 24-game playoff winning streak snapped in last year’s state title game, and their roster outnumbers the Indians’ 77-40. But do they have a mental advantage going into the game, never having lost to Mechanicsburg, or an Ohio Heritage Conference team for that matter?

“I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘advantage,’ ” Forrest said. “I think a lot of teams that play them psyche themselves out before they even play the game. It takes a quarter, quarter and a half to realize they can play with them. By then, they are two or three touchdowns behind.

“That won’t happen to us,” he continued. “We don’t care if the Green Bay Packers call us up and ask us to play them in a cornfield somewhere, we’re going to be there, we’re going to play hard for 48 minutes and we are going to be confident that we can win.”

Having senior record-shattering QB Kaleb Romero running behind an offensive line that averages 240 pounds and outweighs the Flyers’ by an average of 30 pounds per man is one of the sources of that confidence. Romero has rushed for 1,895 yards and 32 touchdowns and passed for another 1,259 yards and 17 scores. He accounts for 256 yards of total offense per game.

Junior Dustin Knapp gives the Indians a strong one-two punch with his 1,267 yards and 17 TDs. Alex Rhine is their top receiving threat, with 33 catches for 575 yards.

The Indians have outscored opponents 525-83. But the Flyers have been dominant as well, outscoring foes 413-51.

“We’ve played great defense pretty much all year,” said Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin. “We’ve got a lot of experienced seniors on that side of the ball.

“Offensively, we are pretty balanced,” he added. “We want to be balanced as much as we can, so we can hopefully have something that is working.”

Marion Local has its own double threat at quarterback. Senior Duane Leugers has run for 576 yards and 18 touchdowns and thrown for 1,619 yards and 16 TDs. Senior Nate Moeller leads the team in rushing with 837 yards, while senior Jack Homan has run for 526 yards. Senior Ryan Thobe leads the team with 36 catches for 635 yards and senior Matt Kahlig has added 24 catches for 566 yards.

According to Goodwin, the Flyers are bracing for their Mechanicsburg rematch.

“They’re a load,” he said. “They are very good up front on both sides of the ball, and when you put a phenomenal player like Romero behind them, well, it is going to be a great challenge.

“Obviously, defensively, we’re just going to have to try to contain Romero as best as we can,” he continued. “You don’t shut down a player like that, especially with an offensive line like they have. Even though we have a good defense, we need to score points to win this game.”

Forrest and the Indians are ready for the challenge.

“I think the key is keeping them off-balance,” he said. “Whether that means throwing the ball, different formations, or running new plays they haven‘t seen. You can do it in a number of different ways. You can’t let them get comfortable. You can’t let them get in a rhythm.”

Mechanicsburg is focused on becoming the first OHC team to beat a Midwest Athletic Conference foe in the playoffs.

“When you have competitive kids like we do, the opportunity to do something no one has ever done is something they cherish,” said Forrest. “They are competitors. They keep coming back until they get it right. Hopefully they get it right Friday night.

“I think both teams know that this is a heavyweight championship fight and both teams will be ready to go.”

FRIDAY’S GAME

Who: Mechanicsburg (11-0) vs. Marion Local (10-1) in the Division VI, Region 23 Championship

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Sidney High School

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