And, of course, fight.
“We just have to come out there and fight,” said junior quarterback and strong safety Aaron Conley. “That’s coach’s motto: If you come out there and fight, good things will happen.”
Lots of good things added up to a 42-14 Mechanicsburg victory. Last year the Indians (9-0) trailed Adena (8-1) 7-6 in the first half of a first-round game and went on to win 32-7. The Indians picked up where that game ended with their big-play offense.
The Indians used their speed and well-placed leverage on the line to get to the edge, and then down-field blocks put the end zone in sight. Chayse Propst scored on a 21-yard run and Conley on a 35-yard run in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Propst scored on a 35-yard run and Jake Hurst on a 17-yard run for a 28-0 halftime lead. The Indians gained 268 yards in the half, had no negative plays and their shortest plays were two four-yard runs.
“It felt great,” Conley said of the fast start, “because in their newspaper down in Chillicothe they said how they were very relaxed, so we wanted to come out swinging.”
Adena walked quietly to the locker room at halftime, but the Warriors fought back in the third quarter and cut the lead to 28-14 with 11:01 left with the aid of Mechanicsburg fumble. Then the Warriors forced a punt. But the momentum was about to swing back to the Indians.
Adena fumbled the punt, and Hurst scored on the next play from 25 yards out. Adena fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Hurst again scored on the next play, this time from the 10 for a 28-point lead. Hurst’s touchdowns came in the span of 14 seconds, and suddenly the game was out of reach with 8:46 left.
“That’s why you have to play every play,” Indians coach Kurt Forrest said. “It’s an emotional game and I know I’m an emotional train wreck a lot. Our kids played with a lot of emotion, and you never know what the next play’s going to hold.”
Like Mechanicsburg, Adena entered the game averaging over 40 points. But the Indians quickness on defense kept Adena to short gains and put it in difficult down-and-distance situations. And there was the play of the 5-foot-8, 170-pound Hurst at inside linebacker. He blitzed on pass plays and got in the backfield on run plays to often disrupt the Adena offense.
“Jake’s instincts are off the charts, and he knows how to play the game,” Forrest said. “And he knows how to play with leverage, and, man, is he fast.”
Next for the Indians is a trip north on Saturday to face top-ranked and unbeaten Coldwater, winners of six state titles between 2005 and 2015. The Cavaliers also bring with them the reputation of the Midwest Athletic Conference that has won a load of state titles.
“It will be a heavyweight championship fight is what it’s going to be,” Conley said. “They’re the MAC, They play good football up there, so you just have to come out prepared and ready to go.”
Forrest isn’t concerned about history, only this year. He expects his team to play hard, and be what they’ve been all season.
“You’re either a fighter or you’re not,” he said, “and our kids are definitely fighters.”
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