Preview: Talawanda football looks to continue momentum and stay undefeated at Franklin High School

Following a 2-game homestand, the Talawanda Brave hit the road to face a winless Franklin squad

On Sept. 4, the Talawanda Brave football team streamed onto the field through two rows of blaring and banging instruments. Hopping, skipping, jumping and pumping their arms up in front of a raucous student section and a packed crowd at Marvin Wilhelm Athletic Complex, the 2-0 boys in red, white and blue were ready for their next test: the Eaton Eagles. 

Talawanda emerged from the same rivalry victorious last season during its 10-2 run.  This year, sophomore quarterback Jake Van Gorden and senior wide receiver Camar Ellis led the charge. 

The Brave beat the Eagles 38-6 and now move into week four looking to remain undefeated.

“We had a couple of good practices this week,” Talawanda head coach Andy Stuckert said. “We’re starting to clean up some of the stuff offensively, and defensively, we’ve been playing really well. We’ve given up 12 points all year, so I think a lot of our focus was on cleaning up some little things on offense where we could be more efficient.”

The Franklin Wildcats are the second team that Talawanda will face from the Southwestern Buckeye League (SWBL) this season, with Eaton being the other. While this contest won’t technically be considered a conference game, as the Brave football team won’t be joining the conference until next season, it will be another test to see how they can fare moving forward.

Despite the wide margin of victory last week, Talawanda Head Coach Andy Stuckert did not mince words on his team’s efforts, calling it “kind of sloppy” postgame. However, he also mentioned there were encouraging moments during the game.

Van Gorden threw for a career-high 257 yards and one touchdown. Ellis finished 10 yards shy of the single-game Talawanda school record with a career-high of 164. Best of all, the Brave defense was stifling once again, only allowing one touchdown (just 12 points total for the season), and they ended up a net even on the scoreboard thanks to a pick-six from sophomore J.B. Bechin.

The Brave did see a couple of injuries through the contest, with senior right tackle and returning All-State lineman, Jordan Ellis, hitting the trainer’s table. In response, Talawanda’s coaching staff was forced to shuffle the offensive line, giving players like senior guard and another returning All-State lineman, Hollis Hofmann, who also is just coming back from a torn ACL in the postseason last year, into a larger role. 

“We had a couple of guys go out with injuries, which is always a negative thing, but we did have some guys step up and do a nice job,” Stuckert said. “And some of those guys who aren’t typically playing much of a role for us are a little more focused and dialled in because they see in one snap it can all change depth chart-wise. Obviously, you don’t want to lose anybody to injury and we want those guys to come back, but it’s nice to see some of those guys get an opportunity and run with it.”

Similar to Talawanda’s injury struggles, on the other side of the field this Friday will be a Wildcats team that is reeling due to their own injuries. They lost their first game against Butler High School 41-7 and followed that up with a 37-0 defeat against Valley View High School. 

Most recently, they fell 39-17 to Bishop Fenwick High School, getting off to a 0-3 start. They have allowed the most points in the SWBL (117) and scored the fewest (21).

The poor start was in part triggered by an injury to the team’s starting quarterback on the third play of the season. Sophomore Ryder Chamberlain suffered a broken collarbone, sidelining him and forcing Head Coach Brad Childers to make a major adjustment under center.

Now, the Wildcats are using 6-foot-3, 195-pound junior quarterback Ryan Michael. The passing has been a bit lackluster, completing seven passes across 23 attempts (30.4%) for 62 total yards in his last two games. However, against Bishop Fenwick, Michael found success in the run game. On 14 attempts, he ran for 90 yards and scored his first touchdown of the year. 

With the passing game awry, the onus has been on the running back room to make up for lost yardage. Freshman running back Levi Bradley has seen his number of snaps increase since the beginning of the season, culminating in a career-high 119 yards on 20 attempts against Fenwick. He also scored his second touchdown of the year, with the first coming against Butler on his two attempts and 65 yards rushing (longest of 53 yards).

The Brave are heading into a hostile environment against a team they beat last year 35-10 on the back of a 212-yard, three-touchdown performance by senior running back Lance Cantrell. Now, they’ll have to find new methods to pierce the Franklin defense.

“They’re going to be well-coached,” Stuckert said. “The staff that’s up there I’ve gotten to know, but they’re tough kids because that’s how Franklin kids are raised, and it’s going to be a battle for us. Like I told the kids all week, if you want to just look at records it says 0-3, but they’ve played three teams in their region that are probably going to be playoff teams. It’s going to be a battle for four quarters, and I think our kids are ready for that.”

Opening kickoff between the Brave and the Wildcats is scheduled for 7 p.m. E.T. on Friday, Sept. 11, at Franklin High School.