A win would complete a 10-0 regular season, the first perfect slate in school history. Madison was 9-1 under Larry Brandenburg in 1966 and Al Klien in 1968.
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“I would love to go out with a bang,” said Tanner Limon, a senior defensive tackle. “Obviously we’re not too worried about our record because we’re interested in the bigger goal, but we would love to break some more records in our school.”
Mohawks coach Steve Poff isn’t stressing 10-0 because he wants the players to remain focused on the task at hand.
“It’s a neat thing,” Poff said. “We’re not taking it for granted, but I think there’s enough pressure on kids. Our only pressure is to not go out and beat ourselves, be good at fundamentals, run around and have fun, and let the score sort itself out.
“As far as the hype about 10-0, that’s for other people to think about. I’ll enjoy our accomplishments after it’s all said and done and we turn the jerseys in. Not to downgrade any of the people that came before them, but if we should win Friday night and with the way this class works and the fun they have with their work, they’re deserving of a 10-0 season.”
Madison (9-0 overall, 5-0 in the Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division), ranked second in this week’s Associated Press state poll, has wrapped up a share of its second straight SWBL Buckeye title and hasn’t had much serious competition this year.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Waynesville wants that to change Friday. The Spartans are 6-3, 4-1, and have taken a major turn for the better this year after going 1-19 the last two seasons.
A victory would not only give Waynesville a piece of the Buckeye crown (Milton-Union is also 4-1 in league play and travels to Carlisle on Friday), it would likely put the Spartans in the Region 20 playoffs and maybe even send them back to Madison in Week 11.
“The last couple years have been a struggle, but these kids stuck with it,” Waynesville coach Scott Jordan said. “They kept their nose to the grind and worked, and now you look at Week 10 and this is a huge, huge game for our kids. This is a big step for our program. The kids are excited. The coaches are excited. The community’s excited.”
He said part of the program’s revival has been the addition of Adam Szabo’s Excelerate Athletic Development strength and conditioning program.
“And we’ve had patience with our kids,” Jordan said. “We started a lot of young kids over the last couple of years, and we got older and the kids bought in. They’ve really responded to a lot of challenges we’ve put in front of them.”
The Spartans like to throw the ball around with senior quarterback Anthony Carmichael, who’s 108-of-158 for 1,516 yards and 17 touchdowns. Senior Riley Blankenship (54 catches, 725 yards, seven TDs) and junior Parker Struewing (34 catches, 433 yards, seven TDs) are having big receiving years.
Jordan said the team has achieved its goal of improving its ground attack in 2018. Waynesville runs the option out of the pistol and has quality runners in junior Hunter Fillmore (163 carries, 818 yards, seven TDs) and Carmichael (91 carries, 357 yards, five TDs).
The biggest question for the Spartans in this game: Can they match the Mohawks’ physicality?
“We’re going to challenge our kids to up our game physically,” Jordan said. “I don’t know if we can get all the way to where they are, but we’re definitely not going to back down. We’re still a young football team. We do have 10 seniors, but we’re starting six sophomores on the defensive side of the ball who get better and better each week.”
Senior safeties Daniel Butterbaugh and Kyle Rodriguez have seven interceptions between them (Butterbaugh has five). Linebacker Luke Osborn is among those starting sophomores, and Jordan said the play of senior nose guard Noah Little and junior end Anthony Curry has been strong.
Waynesville is unbeaten at home this year, which Jordan said was a goal. But the Spartans are only 1-3 on the road.
“Scott Jordan’s a great coach,” Poff said. “He grabbed a program in a little bit of turmoil, and it’s taken him a year or two to get it sorted out. We know they’re going to come in here and give us their best game. I don’t know that they’re exceptional in any area, but they’re really solid all the way across the board.”
Madison wasn’t as sharp as Poff would’ve liked in a 38-7 win over Monroe last week. Still, the Mohawks have outscored their opponents 386-45 this year.
“We have no reason not to be confident in what we’re doing, and athletically we match up with anybody,” Poff said.
Eighteen Madison seniors will be honored Friday. Limon admitted he’s a little surprised the program has reached the point of being a state power during his time at the school.
“We never really expected it, but as we just started winning, we became more and more confident,” Limon said.
He said Waynesville is deserving of respect as a quality opponent, but Madison is eager to extend its regular-season winning streak to 17.
“I feel like we’re pretty confident with the win streak we’re riding,” Limon said. “Right now, it just feels like we can’t be beat.”
Friday’s game
What: Waynesville (6-3, 4-1 SWBL Buckeye) at Madison (9-0, 5-0 SWBL Buckeye), 7 p.m.
Where: Brandenburg Field, 5797 W. Alexandria Road, Madison Township
Last meeting: Madison has a four-game winning streak in the series, including 62-14 in 2017
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