By Corey Perez
CANTON, OHIO – In the NFL people always talk about the Super Bowl hangover, not for the champions but for the runner-up.
Teams genuinely struggle the next season as they try and overcome a championship loss, the Division VII State Finals was a game with the opposite narrative.
The Minster Wildcats were appearing in the third title game in four season, as they were State Champions in 2014 and runner-ups in 2016. The Cuyahoga Heights Redskins on the other hand were coming off a 2016 season in which they finished runner-ups in Division VI.
Unfortunately for Minster and Cuyahoga Heights one team would have to once again be the bridesmaid, while the other would get the glory of being the bride, and Friday that was the Redskins, as Minster took home the state title with a decisive 32-7 win.
Ask any coach in the state one of their biggest keys to a successful season, doesn’t matter if it is week 1 of week 15 and I bet you get the same answer.
Don’t turn the ball over! While neither team did particularly well in this area this morning, in the Division VII championship. In fact both teams graciously showed us what would be in store on their first drives of the game, as both Minster and Cuyahoga Heights threw interceptions.
Football is a game where mistakes are made throughout the game, rarely does a team play perfect. The problem usually isn’t lack of perfection but the lack of ability to not let one mistake lead to a snowballing trend of mistakes.
Friday morning’s game had one team be able to recover from their mistakes, and one team see their state title dreams fade away.
The main reason is the play by Minster quarterback Jared Huelsman, who accounted for 362 total yards (221 rushing, 141 passing 4TDS).
“This group was so easy to coach because of these guys,” Minster Coach Geron Stokes said of his senior class.
“It’s not like a coaching staff trying to force values on kids. It’s kids that believe in the same thing you believe in. It’s an agreement.”
Cuyahoga Heights was able to put themselves in scoring position multiple times in the second half only to see each of those drives end in Ryan Polk interceptions.
The Redskins struggled to establish much of a consistent running game as they rushed 36 times for 136 yards, just 3.6 yards per carry, compared to the 6.7 yards a carry the Wildcats clawed their way to.
Coach Al Martin took most of the blame for the lack of points, as he attributed the 7 points to some questionable play calling, “We didn’t call the right plays in the right situations down there in the redzone. That was not good by me. As I’m the one calling the plays.”
When you go to a smaller school often times you’re asked to play both ways. Not only play but also to make plays on both side of the ball.
Those types of athletes usually start with the senior class, as they set the standard for the entire program. Coach Martin had very high praise for his senior class.
“These seniors have been incredible, they’ve played in 29 games in two years. We’ve never got to the state finals before last year, and to get back there this year after we graduated a lot of really good football players.We really leaned on our seniors to bring us back to this point.”
Wildcat senior running back Isaac Schmiesing was asked what it felt like being a state champion once again, and he let out a big smile while keeping his answer short and sweet “this feeling never gets old, the feeling of being a champion.”
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