One more Non-Conference game stands between the Waynedale Golden Bears and the Wayne County Athletic League schedule. The Bears have run through their first two games for wins, however a long time foe awaits. Waynedale has been playing the Triway Titans since their inception in 1963. They meet again this Friday night in Shreve.
Last year, Triway won in Apple Creek in a marathon contest 72-47. The Bears shocked the #Titans when they jumped out to a 20-6 first quarter lead. The lead was 32-27 at the half but the Triway scored 47 points in the second half to win going away. Triway and the #Bears combined for 1249 yards in total offense. They ran 145 plays and each averaged over 8 yards per play. Brevin Riebe threw for 6 touchdowns, 5 to Nick Strausbaugh and one to Ant-Juan Lewis.
Now comes this year’s version of the Titans. A playoff team one year ago, Triway now is working their way through the loss of most of that team. In the early season their offense hasn’t lost a beat. The Titans fell in Week 1 to West Holmes 46-40, but beat Orrville last week 49-27. So a team that scored a whopping 72 points against the Bears one year ago, is now averaging over 47 points per game this year with a new quarterback.
The Titans graduated Parker Carmichael, who is the 3rd all time passer in the state of Ohio in yardage. Taking his place this season is the backup for 3 years, Sean Lacey. Lacey led the Titans JV team to an unbeaten record one year ago, and may have been the starter on other teams around the area. Last Friday, Lacey threw for 507 yards and six touchdowns against Orrville and has proven he can run the offense for Tony Lee’s crew. However Lacey has the benefit of one senior returnee at receiver.
Logan Garrett, a 6-foot-3 wide out, is Lacey’s “go-to” guy in the offense. Garrett caught nine passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns against Orrville. Last year Garret hauled in 7 catches for 109 yards and 2 TD’s against the Bears.
An explosive first 15 minutes of playing time last Friday night was all the Bears needed to pace their win over visiting Ridgewood 37-6. With 10 minutes left in the first half, Waynedale had built a 27-0 lead on TD runs by Nick Strausbaugh and Reid Stanley. Those scores, along with a fumble recovery for a TD and a scoring catch by Aaron Spidell got the Bears the lead. Jarrett Wonsick added a 20 yard field goal and the Bears had the game won at halftime, 30-0. The Generals scored late in the game to avoid their first shutout since the 2012 season.
On the surface, scoring would seem to be no problem for either team coming into this game. A key for either team is to stop the other. As it was last year, Triway was able to do that first and won the game. This year, both offenses are running on premium gas and moving at will. So whatever defense is able to step up will have an advantage.
Both teams play in Region 16 of Division 5, so this will mean playoff points to the winner. The game will be broadcast on ultimatesportstalk.com. “Golden Bear Rewind” will have a different twist this week. We will replay the first quarter of last weeks Ridgewood game. That begins our coverage at 6pm Friday night. The PNC Bank Pre Game show is at 6:30, with the Kick Off at 7.
