Bulldogs Battling Back: Playoff Football Face-Off with St. Charles Cardinals
Bulldogs' Resilience and Cardinals' Struggles
Tonight (10/27), Green stays on home turf for first-round playoff action against St. Charles Prep at 7PM. The Cardinals (5-5) hope to begin a regional playoff push, being ranked 14th in the OHSAA computer rankings and returning to the playoff picture. Green, coming off of a 7-3 regular season, want to continue their success into the postseason. Green’s dynamic playmakers sprinkled in their scheme look to be a good matchup for St. Charles.
Here’s what you need to know before tonight.
St. Charles Football: A Season of Ups and Down
St. Charles had a promising start to the year with a winning streak of 4-0 but things have gone downhill since then, as they have lost 5 out of their last 6 games. They are now coming off a devastating 31-0 defeat against Columbus Hartley, a division IV team with a record of 8-2. The Cardinals employ a varied offensive strategy and their quarterback Ryan Mooney has the agility and skill to execute plays both inside and outside the pocket. The team's defense, from looking at film, appear to run a 4-3 defensive scheme.
It is worth noting that the last time St. Charles made it to the playoffs was in 2020, where they suffered a heavy defeat of 37-7 against Lake in the first round.
Bulldogs Bounce Back: Braving Adversity with Stand-out Players
Similar to St. Charles, the Bulldogs started their season 3-0 before having a rough road loss to Jackson in week four. Losing two crucial linemen in senior Ben Casper, sophomore Dario Lombardi, and his senior quarterback Samino Manson to injuries prompted many people to begin writing Green off. Green fought through that adversity and proved everyone wrong with a strong finish to the season.
“Any time you go through adversity you’re gonna’ have a lot of people question what’s going on or what you can do. But our kids believed, and they kept believing in the last month and a half,” remarked Green head coach Mark Geis after their week ten win against Lake.
For Green, this has truly been one of their best seasons in program history, due in part to their loaded playmakers.
The absence of senior quarterback Samino Manson mentioned earlier prompted the emergence of sophomore Tyson Hunka, who stepped into the quarterback role for the past five games. Hunka's contributions have been instrumental in maintaining Green's winning streak.
Hunka has had the privilege of working with some outstanding offensive weapons. Senior wide receiver Zach Baglia has been a standout player with an impressive 58 receptions for 735 yards and 11 touchdowns, showcasing his ability to make big plays and crucial gains. Junior Antonio Martin has been a versatile asset with nine touchdowns, both rushing and receiving. Additionally, senior RB Jorden “Beyldozer” Beyl had a remarkable performance last week, scoring two touchdowns and achieving a career-high of 125 rushing yards on 30 carries.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior two-way lineman Michael Schaal displayed his dominance in the previous game with three sacks. Schaal has made his presence known throughout the season, accumulating seven sacks and 16 tackles for loss. His brother, senior Nick Schaal has ten TFL for himself. Junior LB (and occasionally WR) AJ Fortunato has played some dominant physical football these last few weeks, and senior safety Josh Just lead the Federal League in interceptions (six). Antonio Martin, while being used primarily on offense, has made his case for being the best two-way player in the Federal League. He’s secured four interceptions of his own, along with his impressive offensive statistics.