Playing through the pain
By CONOR NICHOLL
CLYDE -- Senior Scott Ochs, the biggest player on the Quinter prep football team at 6-foot-7, 270 pounds, has battled foot problems all fall. Ochs picked up plantar fasciitis in his foot and teammate Zach Nemechek's dad Victor, who is a doctor, gave Ochs a shot to quell the pain.
Then, in the first playoff game two weeks against Mankato-Rock Hills, Ochs pushed off his painful foot and tore some ligaments. Ochs didn't practice the week before Saturday's Eight-Man, Division I sub-state championship game at Clifton-Clyde.
"All he did was ice his foot and came out and worked with Coach (Jeff) Ruckman on his reads," Quinter head coach Greg Woolf said.
Ochs played Saturday and delivered a strong game with two sacks, including a critical one on Clyde's final drive. Quinter won the game 28-20 when they stopped Clyde quarterback Brayden Bloomfield on the two-yard line on a fourth down play. Quinter (11-1) will play for the state title this Saturday at Newton's Fischer Field against defending champion Baileyville B&B (12-0).
"Our teammates played great," Ochs said. "Cody Corwin and Zach Nemechek, they are just outstanding players both. If I had to pick two people in the state, it would be them. They are just amazing players. I have got a great surrounding cast. I felt good tonight."
Ochs' foot was covered in tape and limited his movement. He had a plastic support that held his foot in place, plenty of heel padding and some creams.
"We have a big piece of plastic going through his shoe where his foot can't bend," Woolf said.
"The coaches have been taking care of me pretty good," Ochs said.
Ochs, who had three sacks all season entering the contest, picked up his first sack on a 3rd-and-8 from the Quinter 12-yard line late in the third quarter. Clyde's snap skittered past Bloomfield and Ochs came untouched off the right edge and tackled Bloomfield in the open field for a 13-yard loss. Clyde eventually turned the ball over on downs. Overall, Bloomfield was held to 180 yards on 40 carries, yet 96 yards came on two runs. Nearly all game, Ochs and the Quinter defensive line bottled up the middle and shut down Clyde, the state's highest scoring offense at 640 points.
"That just goes to that defense," Clyde head coach Russ Steinbrock said. "Those guys came up. In our power set, they know that we are not a passing threat so they come up with their ears pinned back and they were going to stop the run. They hit that line of scrimmage and they made a pile and it's very hard for Brayden to find any holes or gaps. He did twice and those were probably the only holes they left open for us all night."
On Clyde's final drive, the Eagles had 1st-and-goal at the Bulldog 10. Ochs sacked Bloomfield again for a four-yard loss. An incompletion and a short pass followed, setting up fourth down at the Bulldog 8. Bloomfield went around left end, but Nemechek tackled him short of the goal line. Quinter moved into its second state championship this calendar year; they were second in Class 1A basketball last March.
"Boomer, he is a tremendous basketball player," Woolf said. "He has played at this level before, so he knew what he was supposed to do. He didn't take a snap all week. We held him out of every practice. He did a good job. He is smart."
Quinter offense adjusts
The Bulldogs struggled early offensively against Clyde. The first drive netted a first down and 17 yards, while the next three drives produced six, two and nine yards. The Bulldogs trailed 6-0 before they tied the game on an 18-yard run from senior running back Jordon Hargitt with 8:05 left in the first half.
Brian Roesch, the interim head coach and the offensive playcaller after Woolf had gotten cancer earlier this season, had to change up the plays.
"Roesch has on his playbook scripted what plays they hadn't seen on our films yet and we tried those out and they actually weren't working- the plays they had not seen," Nemechek, the Bulldogs' all-state center and nose guard, said. "What he did was he tried misdirection and it may look like he is doing one play a lot, but he does that play to see what they are doing, to see how they react."
Clyde keyed on Hargitt, Quinter's 1,820-yard tailback, all game and the Bulldogs changed their look. They switched Hargitt from tailback to fullback and moved sophomore Logan Reed, the starting fullback, to tailback for a play. In addition, Quinter sometimes used Hargitt as a decoy and ran senior quarterback Brady Reed more often. Hargitt rushed for a season-low 53 yards, his first game under 100.
Brady Reed, though, picked up 74 rushing yards and two touchdowns and Logan Reed had 32 yards on seven carries.
"Brady ran the ball a lot more," Nemechek said. "...We knew that was going to happen because of the misdirection that we were creating. We create misdirection and then just hop in behind and follow it."
Slowing down Bloomfield
Quinter's defensive line helped stop Bloomfield, Clyde's 1,677-yard rusher, but the Bulldog offense also contained Bloomfield. Bloomfield started at defensive back all contest. The Quinter coaches sent senior end Matt Bird on multiple long runs down the field to tire out Bloomfield. Bloomfield, who had averaged over 10 yards a carry entering the game, finished with 4.5 yards a carry. In the second half, Bloomfield had just 50 yards on his final 18 carries.
"We were fairly certain that they were match him up on Matty, so we sent Matty on long runs and we wanted to get him running," Woolf said. "When we got to him, we wanted to make sure we put pads on him. It worked. They had to pull him and bring in (senior Steven Steier) quite often. Bloomfield got tired and that is a big part of the game."
Woolf's status
Woolf, who told the team after Week 2 he had contracted stomach cancer, will miss the early part of this week's preparation for the state championship. He goes to Omaha, Neb. for treatment every third Tuesday. This is his treatment week. Woolf headed to Omaha, Neb. on Saturday night.
"I'm trying to come back Tuesday night," Woolf said. "I have full confidence that Brian and Jeff are going to come up with a good game plan against a very good Baileyville team. I come back and see what they need and help where I can and just keep on track. This is what we have been looking forward to the whole time."
Quotable
"I ended up crying before even the game on how much I love these kids. They've played so well together. They hang out together. They go to my house. They go to each other's houses. The leadership that these guys are holding is going to carry on for us for quite some time."
-Woolf on his senior class. Quinter started slowly before they moved to the eight-man ranks two seasons ago. Since then, the Bulldogs are 21-2 and have a chance to win their first title since 1992.