BELLVILLE — Dave Carroll and Doug Frye are old friends. But that won’t stop them from trying to pound one another Saturday night.
Rather, Carroll’s Clear Fork Colts and Frye’s St. Marys Memorial Roughriders will do the pounding, led by two veteran coaches who have been friends since before their current players were born.
That friendship will be put on hold at 7 p.m. at Bellefontaine’s AcuSport Stadium when top-seeded Clear Fork (12-0) and No. 2-seed St. Marys (11-1) meet in a Division IV regional championship game.
“Doug and I are old friends,” Carroll said Saturday night after the Colts defeated Lorain Clearview in a second-round playoff game. “He was the head coach at Danville before I was. Then when I was at Urbana, he was at St. Marys and that was our preview game every year.”
While at Urbana, Carroll earned a playoff win against Frye and St. Marys, an 8-0 regional semifinal victory in 2002.
“We are very familiar with St. Marys and their Wing-T (offense),” Carroll said. “It will be a heckuva challenge, but a familiar one. It will be fun.
“I love Doug. His sons played for him. They had a state runner-up team. He is one of the most disciplined, toughest (coaches) I know. His kids do things right.”
RUN, RUN, RUN: Frye is in his second stint at tradition-rich St. Marys, which has three state titles to its credit, along with three other Final Four appearances.
This is St. Marys’ third straight trip to the state playoffs and the Roughriders have a 32-5 record during that stretch. Frye’s bunch racked up 390 yards rushing Saturday night in a 55-20 playoff win against Van Wert.
Clear Fork advanced by dumping Lorain Clearview 26-8.
“I can already tell our kids, you’re gonna see the (Roughriders) come off the ball low. They’re gonna hit you in the kneecaps. They’re only gonna weigh about 175, 185 pounds, but they are going to dig at you for four quarters. That’s the way (Frye) coaches it and that’s the way they do it,” Carroll said.
The deceptive Wing-T features an offense where almost every play looks the same for the first few steps. It offers traditional football names like the belly, belly pass, buck sweep, power, trap and counter. One play sets up the next play and the blocking schemes are based on angles, rather than brute strength.
St. Marys runs it to perfection, averaging 43 points in 12 games this season, while only allowing 13 per contest.
“They’re gonna run, run, run, run, run,” Carroll said. “I have to admit, I cheated a little bit and peeked at them a little in the past few days. (Frye) is doing a few new things.
“I almost dropped my teeth when I thought I saw him in the shotgun once,” Carroll said with a laugh. “He has a great set-up (at St. Marys). We see each other at clinics.
“His superintendent played for him, his principal played for him, his guidance counselor played for him … probably all the cooks played for him. Everybody in that high school played for him during his first stint there and his sons are now coaching for him.”
DEEP ROSTER: St. Marys had 13 players earn all-Western Buckeye League honors this season, led by 185-pound senior running back Sean Perry, who gashed Van Wert for 235 yards and four TDs on 24 carries.
During the regular season, Perry ran for 1,146 yards on 139 carries and nine touchdowns. He also finished with the most all-purpose yards in the league with 1,632 yards. On defense, Perry had the third-most tackles in the WBL with 122, two interceptions and tied for a league-best three fumble recoveries.
Clear Fork, which has won 23 of its last 24 games, counters with a stout defense that allowed just 81 rushing yards per game and only 2.6 yards per carry.
The Colts, who offer a balance of run and pass, have plenty of their own weapons, outscoring 12 foes by an average of 43-11.
Clear Fork has rushed for 207 yards per game and passed for 194 yards per game with 44 TDs on the ground and 26 through the air.
Senior Trevon Trammell leads the Colts with 1,315 yards rushing on 161 carries, averaging 8.2 per try. Senior QB Jerod Schaefer rushed for 548 yards on 97 attempts, averaging 5.6 per carry.
Schaefer and junior Brennan South combined to complete 119-of-207 passes for 2,248 yards.
Presale tickets for the game are on sale Wednesday from noon to 2:30 p.m. at the Clear Fork High School. Tickets will also be on sale from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday.
All presale tickets are $8 apiece. Clear Fork High School keeps a portion of the presale tickets. Tickets at the gate will cost $9 each.
The gates will open at Bellefontaine at 5:30 p.m.
