Trotwood - Wayne Game - Intense

Last night I made my second trip to Wayne High School in less than a week. Last Saturday, the game with Canton McKinley, with all of its weather delays, ended after midnight. But McCallister ended his stay with the first weather delay. Trotwood Madison visited Wayne last night, and  at first, I thought history was repeating itself. Only one weather delay, so McCallister stayed and watched Wayne defeat Trotwood Madison 21-14.

My first Trotwood - Wayne game. Last year was Trotwood's first win in the series of seven games. For me, last night was really good game to watch. I heard all of these rumors that the series could get "nasty," or even ugly. From my view, I saw a lot of hard hitting. I saw alot of extra effort by the ball carriers. I saw some extra -ordinary athletic catches by receivers. I saw excellent coaching on both sides of the field. But, I did not see any "cheap shots," or, for that matter, any dirty play. I am sure there was "chirping" going on, but did not see or hear any.

With some fumbles, some pics, and some "not very good special teams play," the game was sloppy at times and not mistake free. But the game was hard hitting and intense. Of course, there were some very high profile players on both sides. There were also some "young guys" on both sides of the ball.

A little bit of disappointment for me was that three Trotwood players were out with injuries. Jarrod Clements (2013 was one of my first combine guys. Tre' Williams-Brown (2013) may be one of the most underrated players in the Ohio Class of 2013. At one time, we did not chat too much, but we do now. The third player I missed watching run the ball was RB Ashton Jackson, Class of 2014. Jackson might be one of the better RB's in the Class of 2014.

One of the hardest parts of watching a game in person, rather than on video, is that you have to concentrate on every play. No chance to use rewind. Making matters worse is when you have a large number of players that you want to see. Usually, I focus on underclassmen and just peek at the seniors. Before last night's game, there were some seniors who needed some attention. Last night, Trotwood had sixteen players and Wayne had fourteen players who had my attention. There were "cats" all over the field.

In my column "Around the State with MSR," the players from both teams will be covered. Now not all thirty players are going to get scholarships, but they all need to be looked at. The list includes sophomore, junior, and senior classes.

Watching two very good coaches at work was also interesting. Maurice Douglas has taken Trotwood to the highest level, with winning the OHSAA State Football Championship last year. Jay Minton has been  OHSAA State Football Championship runners-up twice. Both coaches had their teams ready to play last night.

I guess if you are around high school football long enough, you see alittle of everything. The game was delayed a few minutes because a Trotwood player in the pile took a Wayne player's shoe to the sidelines. The Wayne player could not find his shoe. Officials had to go to Trotwood's sideline to get the shoe. Trotwood did not give the  correct shoe to Wayne. A silly and really stupid thing to do. No one was injured and no arrests were made.

A Dayton guy told me of the shoe details, and also told me a few minutes ago that Trotwood may be terminating the contract with Wayne.

I guess that I possibly saw the last game in the young rivilary between Trotwood and Wayne. Whatever the case, I enjoyed the intensity and competition. Hope that is just a rumor.

Tonight I head south to Troy and then to Tipp City. No offense to any of the four schools, but I know I will not have thirty college football prospects to "look at." But, I know there are some very good ones to watch.