Black River vs. Wellington preview

I will be covering high school football tonight in Wellington, Ohio as the Dukes host their arch rivals the Black River Pirates. You can tune in to 1320 AM or listen online (replay will be available online as well). I'll be working with play-by-play announcer Bob Karlovec and sideline reporter Darrin Goats.

For 6-0 Black River, the Pirates have won 12 straight games going back to last season. That streak includes nine conference wins in a row and five straight on the road.

Sophomore Andrew Vaughn is one of the leading ground gainers in the area with 894 yards rushing on just 92 carries (9.71 per carry) including 15 touchdowns and 98 points scored. Seniors Austin Phillips and Jake Sexton join Vaughn in the backfield. Junior Dakota Kuntz has been solid at quarterback (35-of-64, 677 yards, 11 TDs). The strength of Black River is their offensive line that features three Division 4 all-Ohio linemen: Doug Church, Marshall Mayhugh and Terry Sas.

Wellington has a 3-3 record but that is misleading. The three losses are against undefeated teams (6-0 Norwayne, 6-0 Avon and 6-0 Firelands).

The Dukes are similar to Black River as they also are a run-first team led by 4-year starter Clay Wright who 98 carries for 663 yards (6.77 average). On September 16, Wright rushed for 273 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Columbia. Junior quarterback Dylan Weidrick has chipped in with 389 rushing yards on 48 carries and seven touchdowns and 12-24 passing for 123 yards and a TD. Wellington has a solid offensive line as well featuring returning starters Trey Brown, Ryan Alspach and Nick Sutherland.

The match-up is the ultimate rivalry in Lorain County:

• The schools are ten miles apart. 
• Both teams are members of the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division since 2005. Prior to that the teams played in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Two teams have played every year since 2003. 
• Black River has won three straight and six of the last eight meetings. 
• The road team has won four of the last five and six of eight.
• Wellington is the southernmost school in Lorain county, Black River is the southernmost school in Medina county. 
• Teams feature the longest-tenured coaches in their respective counties. Al Young is in his 22 season at Black River (Medina county), Matt Stoll in his 22 season at Wellington (Lorain County). 
• Matt Stoll started his coaching career at Black River. Who did he have on his staff? Al Young who took over the program in 1990 when Stoll went to Wellington