DANVILLE — Kaiden Colopy pushed himself to the point of exhaustion multiple times Friday night.
There was the time, late in the first half, when he found himself doubled over on Danville’s sideline after a big run, gasping for air and dry heaving in the 80-degree heat. Then there were the moments in the fourth quarter when his hamstrings and calves cramped, leaving him sprawled out on the field as trainers rushed in to help.
Colopy left the field Friday with nothing in the tank. He walked gingerly around the field afterwards, sweat dripping from his hair and dirt clinging to his uniform.
But he also walked away happy. That effort – not only over the course of two hours against Fredericktown, but also in the eight months leading up to it – had paid off. It had made the difference.
Danville absorbed an early punch and kept on fighting, eventually overpowering and outlasting county rival Fredericktown, 28-7, on the opening night of Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference play.
The win marked Danville’s eighth straight against Fredericktown, dating back to 2015.
“It’s the heart in the whole team,” Danville head coach Matthew Blum said, when asked about the toughness Colopy exhibited Friday. “(Colopy) embodies everybody. Because all of our kids would do that. All of our kids do what we ask them to do and they’re coachable. They work their butts off. They trust us.”
Danville (3-1, 1-0) and Fredericktown (2-2, 0-1) both came into Friday night with KMAC title aspirations. They are two of the most experienced teams in the conference, boasting a combined 24 seniors and five all-Ohioans.
And both teams remain conference title contenders moving forward. There are six weeks of regular season football remaining, Blum noted, and the parity of this year’s KMAC could allow for chaos down the stretch.
But Danville gained an edge Friday. The Blue Devils recorded a wire-to-wire win in front of their home crowd – sending a message to not only Fredericktown, but the rest of the KMAC, that they are not to be taken lightly.
Junior quarterback Walker Weckesser was hesitant to say too much afterwards, given the number of games left on the schedule. But after Friday’s result, the all-state gunslinger said he believes his Blue Devils have put themselves in prime contention for their first conference title since 2018.
“I don’t wanna say anything too early,” Weckesser said with a smile, “but I think we’re up there.”
THE GAME: Things could have gotten away from Danville early, if not for that patented mental toughness.
Fredericktown received the opening kickoff and marched 66 yards down the field, capping off a nine-play drive with a 24-yard touchdown burst from senior tailback Teegan Ruhl.
Then, on Danville’s first offensive play from scrimmage, the tailback Max Payne fumbled. Fredericktown recovered at the 41-yard-line, and the scarlet-and-gray road bleachers erupted with joy. The Freddies would have a chance to go up two scores early.
But Danville dug its heels in. The Blue Devils stuffed Ruhl on a run up the gut, forced an incomplete pass, then bottled up wideout Kaid Carpenter on a screen pass to the boundary, forcing the Freddies to punt and neutralizing the scoring threat.
Weckesser, who also starts at free safety for Danville, said there was never a doubt the Blue Devils’ defense would be able to get it done.
“I think it was mainly just, we remembered what happened last week. …” Weckesser said of Danville’s lone loss, a 28-0 thumping at undefeated North Union. “We didn’t want that to happen again. We knew we had to bounce back and come out stronger the next drive and we did, so that’s all that matters.”
The Blue Devils rode the momentum from that defensive stop into their next offensive possession.
Weckesser led the home team on a eight-play, 88-yard drive that included two major completions to senior wideout Peyton Horn: a 47-yard completion down the middle of the field, moving the ball into Fredericktown territory, and a 13-yard touchdown pass four plays later, tying the game at 7 with 1:40 left in the opening period.
Danville would strike again moments later. After another defensive stop and a short punt from the Freddies, Colopy took a handoff and raced 41 yards to the end zone, flying past Fredericktown defenders after breaking into the secondary.
The Blue Devils led 14-7 with 11:10 left until halftime.
Fredericktown would have two more scoring opportunities before intermission. The visitors advanced to Danville’s 38-yard-line, then the 12-yard-line, on back-to-back possessions. But penalties and turnovers stymied both drives.
The Freddies jumped offsides on fourth-and-four from the 38, forcing a punt. Then, deep in Danville territory with 90 seconds left until halftime, Fredericktown quarterback Ben Mast was picked off by Colopy in the end zone, ending a drive that could have tied the game.
Danville took a 14-7 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Blue Devils’ first offensive possession of the second half ended with a punt – but one that swung the game, according to Fredericktown head coach Will Hartley.
Payne booted the ball 62 yards. It sailed high into the dewy night sky and landed softly near Fredericktown’s end zone, bouncing to the 4-yard-line before coming to rest.
The home crowd, knowing what was at stake, went berserk. This would set Danville up for quality field possession the rest of the quarter, and the Blue Devils would take advantage.
“When they hit the 62-yard punt, and then that pinned us deep, I don’t know if we got past the 50 until the game was pretty much decided,” Hartley said.
Fredericktown botched a punt snap two possessions later, deep in its own territory, giving Danville a golden opportunity to go up two scores. And the Blue Devils did just that.
Weckesser found Colopy over the middle for a 9-yard touchdown completion five plays later, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Colopy was hit after he caught the ball near the goal line, but the senior kept driving his legs and eventually reached the ball across.
This gave Danville a 21-7 lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter.
“He’s one of our top playmakers, if not our top playmaker,” Weckesser said of Colopy. “He’s definitely one of my favorite people to go to with the ball – I mean, I know he’s my cousin, but his speed, his quickness, his shiftiness, everything. I just love him.”
Fredericktown turned the ball over on its next two possessions. The Blue Devils’ defensive line recovered a fumbled handoff late in the third quarter, then Colopy picked off another pass midway through the fourth, setting Danville up for its fourth and final score of the night.
Payne, who dominated after fumbling on the first play from scrimmage, took a handoff and ran 42 yards to the house, right through the heart of the Fredericktown defense. He pointed to the fans behind the end zone as he crossed the goal line, and they pointed back.
The route was on. Danville recorded one final stop, then drained the clock to secure the victory.
THE KEYS: Danville dominated at the point of attack Friday.
The Blue Devils’ offensive line carved out holes for Colopy and Payne, who combined for 176 yards rushing, while also giving Weckesser ample time to make decisions in the pocket. The junior threw for 134 yards, which was 16 more than he tallied the first three weeks combined.
Defensively, the line (and the backers behind it) managed to bottle up Ruhl, the KMAC’s leading rusher heading into Friday night. They made contact early and used multiple defenders to bring the all-Ohioan down.
The Blue Devils pressured Mast and forced four turnovers, including two interceptions and two fumbles.
And they did all this short-handed. Danville was down five starters on Friday, Blum said, due to injury. Three of those were two-way linemen.
It didn’t matter. The Blue Devils got the job done.
“It’s everything, man,” said Blum, when asked about his team’s resilience. “These boys have worked their butts off since January, and it was always, ‘Find a way to get the job done.’ And that looks different for everybody. And for us, it was just next-man-up mentality.
“You know, our kids, they’re just competitors, and they’re gonna do whatever we tell them to do, and they’re coachable when they do that. I just couldn’t be more proud of our kids tonight.”
Blum said his team – and particularly his line – showed him something Friday night. When adversity struck, they didn’t back down.
“It’s been a tough two weeks. … It’s not if, it’s when adversity’s gonna strike, and our guys have stepped up,” the first-year head coach said.
“We had a new center in tonight. I moved a kid out to tackle. I had a sophomore right guard that had never played offensive line before tonight. And again, they’re just coachable. They do what we tell them to do, and they give us everything we can ask for.
“One of our tight ends – we didn’t have a tight end in the second half. We would just pull a kid out, we would tell them what to do, and send the next kid in. So again, our kids just work their butts off and we’re really lucky to have good kids.”
Danville’s skill players showed out Friday as well. But none shone brighter than Colopy, who finished the game with nearly 200 all-purpose yards.
He caught five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns, he and carried the ball five times for 62 yards. He also recorded two interceptions at defensive back, helping put away the Freddies on both sides of the ball.
“He does everything for us, and he would give us everything when we ask him to,” Blum said of the senior. “He’s a great kid. I love coaching him.”
Despite Danville’s dominance up front, Fredericktown still had chances to tie the game in key moments. But turnovers and penalties plagued the Freddies.
“We had opportunities there in the first half. We had that nice opening drive, and then even in the second quarter, we had a guy wide open in the end zone and we missed the throw there. I mean, the second half, it just really came down to turnovers. …” Hartley said.
“I think we had three turnovers (in the second half) and then the bad snap on the punt that didn’t even get off the ground, so that’s really kind of another turnover there. You know, that really gave them good field position and it put our defense in a bind, where they were backed up and Danville took advantage of it. I think just those turnovers were really costly and something we couldn’t recover from.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Fredericktown will return home to face area rival Mount Gilead next week. The Indians (3-1, 1-0) opened up KMAC play with a 18-13 home win over Loudonville on Friday.
Hartley said his team will need to improve – and improve quickly – if it wishes to right the ship and remain in KMAC title contention.
“We’re already, in the early part of the season, I think this is the toughest three games we have – with Danville, and then this upstart Mount Gilead team, and then a really solid Northmor team. So we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves,” the sixth-year head coach said.
“We’ve gotta lick our wounds and come back out on Monday and get ready for a tough Mount Gilead team.”
Danville, meanwhile, will hit the road next week for a showdown against undefeated Northmor (4-0, 1-0). The Golden Knights defeated Cardington (1-3, 0-1) at home Friday, 27-13, and were the only KMAC team to receive votes in last week’s state poll.
Blum said he expects four quarters of physical football, much like his team experienced Friday night.
“We should get a couple guys back next week – hopefully three of my guys (are) coming back – so that will obviously help with our depth. (But that’s a) tough Northmor team. …” Blum said.
“They’re a tough team. They have another great running back and another good offensive line that we have to game plan and prep against. But we know it’s gonna be a four-quarter war against them as well. And then obviously, Loudonville’s been playing tough recently, and that’s our next home game.
“Again, the KMAC top to bottom this year is a tough conference, so we’ve just gotta prepare and plan each week, and put our kids in the best position to win.”
