WarriorOne
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Huber Heights Wayne Vs Canton McKinley
“If anything can go wrong, it will.”
At last! The Canton McKinley High School Bulldogs travel to Southwest Ohio on Saturday, September 1, 2012 to face the Huber Heights Wayne High School Warriors. This ends the arduous four-game contract most Warriors fans hated. It was not just the grueling four hour road trip to Canton; it was the onerous and untenable iniquity in the terms of the agreement. The Warriors had to play three games on-the-road to host one in Heidkamp stadium.
Many Warrior fans wondered aloud, “What was he thinking?” The Athletic Director explained his reasoning by referring to the massive construction project currently underway on the Wayne High School campus.
Still, many Wayne fans believed his rationalization was nonsense (That’s putting it politely). “We’ve kept our home game schedule; and this year, we even have six home games while the construction is still going on,” said one ebullient fan.
Some Bulldog fans believe Wayne relinquished a home game to play in the 2010 Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic™ at Ohio Stadium.
Actually, playing in that event was an afterthought that had to be agreed to by both teams. Game two of the original contract was planned to take place in Canton when the teams were invited to participate in the classic.
The series started in 2009 at Fawcett Stadium. McKinley, loaded with several talented D-1 recruits imagined an easy victory. The Warriors turned that dream into a nightmare handing the Bulldogs a 14-27 point loss.
As noted, the second game was in Ohio Stadium televised nationally as part of the ESPNHS National Kickoff Classic.
The Warriors took the field without their quarterback, Braxton Miller, sidelined with a leg injury suffered in the first game of the season. But the Warrior fans were not overly concerned. They had witnessed several games when their Warriors were led successfully by his backup and current starting quarterback, Javon Harrison.
Then, according to Murphy’s Law, “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.” So naturally, Harrison went down with a horrific season ending injury in the very first series of the game.
In stepped the Warriors intrepid young junior varsity quarterback, Dorian Hendrix, only two-weeks removed from the 8th grade. The Bulldogs went on to embarrass the Warriors, 26-0, witnessed by a national television audience.
Humiliated, the Warriors went back to Canton in 2011 and seemingly took Murphy’s Law with them. Murphy was determined to continue proving his predictions are true.
The Warrior took an early 14-0 lead then Murphy took over. The defense quit playing and the Bulldogs handed the Warriors a devastating 32-21 point loss. That was the beginning of a downhill slide that seemingly would not end until the last game of the season was complete.
Like water, an offense seeks out and advances down the path of least resistance and that is exactly what opposing teams did to the Warriors. The Warrior defense seemed determined to give-up more points than their offense could score; it leaked like a sieve. It had so many holes Stevie Wonder could have scored on them even without his personal escort.
During the last four games in 2011, they yielded a record 63 points to Centerville, and a combined 79 points to Beavercreek, Fairmont and Northmont, the three lesser acclaimed teams in the GWOC Central Division. Yet, thankfully, the offense successfully muscled through six of the last eight games earning the Warriors at least the dignity and respect of a winning season.
Conversely, the offense scored 140 points against those seemingly perennial bottom three GWOC Central Division teams and that is the positive that carries over to this season.
This year, a common exhortation among the defensive coaches is, “We’ve got to keep our twenty-two best athletes on the field,” said a popular Warrior assistant. With that goal in mind, instead of reloading, special attention was given to the defense while partially rebuilding the team.
With better athletes on the defensive side, hopefully this will help restore their confidence and this is payback time.
The “Dawgs,” as they are sometimes endearingly referred, began the season with some concerns, and a large amount of optimism with their new head coach Todd Filtz. The new coach came to McKinley High School with the gravitas that requires respect. He led the Maple Heights Mustangs to the Division II championship over Trotwood-Madison in 2010.
Even so, according to some cautious fans, the “Pups,” another charming moniker, appeared to be playing somewhat restrained while narrowly earning a victory over the Jesuit Warriors. They were not the usual exciting team, at home against a carefully selected opening game opponent, Cuyahoga Falls, Walsh Jesuit Warrior team.
While at least the Wayne Warriors offensive team severely thrashed a formidable Winton Woods Warrior team on the road in the Cincinnati Crosstown Showdown. Still the Wayne defensive side, although they were impressive at times, they were not overly imposing against a much smaller but super quick Winton Woods offense.
Does this mean anything to the interlopers? No, but after last year, the Warrior fans certainly like it. “They still have some work to do but they have time to get it together,” said a happy Warrior fan.
He went on, “If the Warriors win next week, then the Bulldogs should owe us another game to break the series tie”. “This time, it must be played in Heidkamp Stadium,” he concluded.