On Friday Night, our Varsity Football team will head to Bascom to face the toughest test of the season. No team in the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division has had more success than the Chieftains of Hopewell Loudon. They have won the SBC River 5 consecutive SBC River Division Titles and have not suffered a league loss since October 25, 2019 when they lost to Tiffin Calvert. The Polar Bears battled Hopewell Loudon twice last season. The regular season game was a hard-hitting defensive contest. The Chieftains edge our Polar Bears 16-7 at the Duck Pond. Margaretta and Hopewell Loudon tangled in the first round of the playoffs in Bascom, and Hopewell Loudon jumped out to a quick 23-0 lead at the of the 1st Quarter. The last time the Green & White beat HL was in 2019, it was a 42-14 victory in Bascom. This year the Polar Bears roll into this showdown healthy and 5-1 coming off of last week’s 35-0 shutout of the previously unbeaten Woodmore. Hopewell Loudon comes in at 6-0 as they beat Lakota last week 34-6. The Chieftains are currently sitting at #1 in Region 22, and the Polar Bears currently sit at #3. The winner of this game could almost wrap up a 1st Round Playoff Bye in week 7. The improvement from Margaretta this year is evident when Chieftain Head Coach Brian Colatruglio turns on the tape as he mentioned, “Margaretta is much improved especially on the the line of scrimmage. Last year they had a very talented group of skill guys, but they were never healthy together, this year they are all back and still very talented. What stands out on film is the improvement on the line of scrimmage, last year we felt like we could control the game up front.” This year, the Polar Bears come in with confidence that they can compete with the kings of the River Division. Coach Quisno said, “The way we have been playing the entire season gives our coaching staff and players a lot of confidence we can go over there and compete with the best of the best. We are physical, we fly around defensively, and we aren’t afraid to hit. Offensively we have cut down on our negative plays and our turnovers. Our guys are confident, it’s a huge game, we understand the challenge, but our boys are excited to try to play a clean game and pull a victory out.” Hopewell Loudon has won 34 in a row in the SBC River games, when talking with Coach Brian Colatruglio about the streak he said, “it is a point of pride for our coaching staff. Most of our staff have been together for all those victories and we have done it with an lot of different kids, and a lot of different talent levels, but it is not something we talk about with our team now. Our group this year knows they haven’t accomplished anything yet, and they want to leave their own mark on the program, just because we won something five years ago that has nothing to do with this team. Hopewell Loudon- 6-0 (3-0) Offensively: 29.8 PTS PER GAME Hopewell Loudon will present a very balanced attack Friday night. Their Quarterback Jacboy Ellis has completed 68% of his passes for 696 yards and 13 touchdowns this year. The Chieftains also present a three headed monster in the backfield with Kellen Frankart and Jaysin Cramer who have both rushed for over 300 yards this season, but Hopewell Loudon also will put Wide Receiver Brody Brickman in the backfield who has rushed for 155 yards and 2 Touchdowns. The Chieftains passing attack is led by arguably the best WR tandem in the league with receivers in Jack Colatruglio and Brody Brickman. Jack Colatruglio who was a 1st Team All SBC last year. He missed the first two games of the season but has returned healthy. In Hopewell Loudon’s last four games he has 17 catches for 281 yards and 4 touchdowns. Brody Brickman has continued his hot hand catching 23 passes for 290 yards and 8 touchdowns. Coach Colatruglio said, “we believe we have a good group of linemen and its been our thing. When we can control the line of scrimmage and run the football and throw the football on our terms will be important.” Defensively: 5.8 POINTS PER GAME Hopewell Loudon’s defense is led by an outstanding front. They are big and strong and have done a tremendous job holding their opponents under 100 yards rushing in four of their six games. Just like our Polar Bears the Chieftain defense has shut out 2 opponents this year and allowed just single digits in all their other games but one. The leading tackler for HL is Mason Reinhart who has 51 tackles. Aiden Ewald has 40 tackles. Eli Brenner has 29 tackles, Scott Turoc has 27, and Brody Brickman has 27 tackles. Brody Brickman also has 3 interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Chieftains. When we spoke with Coach Colatruglio from Hopewell Loudon he said the big game Friday night will come down to, “Who can finish drives in the redzone and score touchdowns and who can take care of the football. That is always a focus of ours is to take care of the football. Third downs will be huge as well, both teams have multiple backs they can go too and a diverse running game and what team will be able to convert third downs and keep drives alive will be important Friday night.” Margaretta: 5-1 (3-0) Offense: 35.8 POINTS PER GAME The Polar Bears will look to keep their rushing attack going Friday night. The Bears rushed for 269 yards last week against unbeaten Woodmore. The passing attack was also successful last week as Margaretta threw for 92 yards. The Polar Bears are led by Senior Running Back Judah Keller who has eclipsed 600 yards on the ground with 9 touchdowns. Quarterback Jake Bouy is over 300 yards rushing and has added 8 rushing scores. Tyson Bailey has added 283 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season last week. The passing attack has been efficient for the Bears this season as they have completed 54% of their passes for 4 touchdowns. The leading receiver for Margaretta is 6’4 standout Kale Bailey who has 12 catches for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns. Coach Quisno said, “Offensively it is going to be very important that our offense keeps the chains moving and eliminates the negative plays. Our goal is to move the football and pick up first downs. It is to our advantage if our offense is on the field and their offense is on the sideline. Defense: 7.2 POINTS PER GAME Margaretta’s defense has been their calling card all year. The first team defensive unit for the Bears has not surrendered a touchdown since their week 1 loss at Vermilion. The Polar Bears have controlled their opponents rushing attack all season and that was on full display last Friday night at Woodmore. The Bears held the leagues leading rusher Landon Rich to just 59 yards on 19 carries. Rich came into the game averaging over 180 yards per game. Friday night the Bears will have to stop a Chieftains offense that has weapons all over the field, but it is a challenge the Coach Quisno and the Green & White are excited for as Coach Quisno said, “There big and strong up front, we have to hold our ground. We can’t focus on one guy for HL (like we were able to do last week with Woodmore), they have multiple weapons. We must be sound from the front end to the back end, and we have to tackle. We can’t allow a 3-yard gain turn into a 30-yard gain because we miss a tackle. If we can limit the big plays and play sound football, we feel like we can compete with anyone.”