Winning a regional championship is tough enough. Winning a regional championship you are expected to win is an even bigger challenge.
Both Shelby and Hillsdale carried the weight of impossible expectations into the season.
The Whippets returned a wealth of talent from a team that reached the third round of the playoffs last year.
The Falcons played in the Division VII state championship game in 2024 with a roster comprised almost entirely of underclassmen.
Anything shy of a regional title and a berth in this week’s Final Four would have been disappointing.
Neither team disappointed.
Shelby topped Galion 41-7 to capture the Region 14 crown in Division IV.
The Division VII Falcons held off Danville 25-20 for the Region 27 title.
“Expectations are a good thing,” Hillsdale coach Trevor Cline said in mid-July during a passing scrimmage at Ontario. “We need to find ways to … not let the outside noise, good or bad, get inside the locker room.”
That’s easier said than done, given the intrusive nature of social media.
A poster to one popular north central Ohio high school football message board predicted Shelby would win this year’s Region 14 championship — in early December of 2024.
“Our coaches talk about it all the time. The internet is poison,” Shelby’s Carter Kessler said. “It tastes good, but it could kill us at the same time. That keeps us focused each week.”
Veteran Leadership
Kessler is one of 18 seniors on Shelby’s roster. Hillsdale boasts 16 seniors on its roster.
That sort of shared leadership has made navigating the inevitable highs and lows of the season more manageable.
“We have a great senior class,” Shelby quarterback Brayden DeVito said. “That helps make that weight feel not very heavy.”
Having a target on your back is a good thing. It definitely motivates us to get better each week.
Hillsdale senior Jake Haven
Bull’s-Eye
Lofty expectations come at a cost. Every team the Whippets and Falcons have played this season wanted to be the one to take down the champ.
“Having a target on your back is a good thing,” Hillsdale senior Jake Haven said. “It definitely motivates us to get better each week.
“We don’t want to slip up and lose one because that would make someone else’s season.”
Shelby and Hillsdale took everyone’s best shot every week and answered the bell. They were a combined 19-1 in the regular season.
“We want to show why we made the state championship game last year,” Haven said, “and why we can make a run at it again this year.”
Ownership
Ask any coach and he or she will tell you a team is more likely to be successful if everyone is bonded. That means players hold their teammates accountable — even if it’s uncomfortable.
“We’re really close as a group. We hang out outside of football, too,” record-setting Hillsdale running back Owen Sloan said. “It can be tough if you have to (confront) a teammate, but they will thank you for it later.”
The memories of last year’s state final — a 74-0 loss to juggernaut Marion Local — is all the motivation Sloan and his teammates have needed.
“We learned a lot about ourselves,” Sloan said. “They were bigger, stronger and faster and dominated the whole game. That’s the truth of it.
“That drove us during the off-season. It put a chip on our shoulder to be better.”