Another big WR-St. Paul matchup Friday

This has started to become the norm. Western Reserve visits St. Paul Friday night in what will be the first of several big Firelands Conference football games for both teams. The Roughriders (3-1, 1-0) and Flyers (2-2, 1-0) have combined to win at least a share of 15 of the previous 18 FC championships. The only exceptions were in 2012, 2022, and 2023, when Crestview won the championship outright. Both teams entered the 2025 season with high expectations. The Roughriders brought back all but two players from a 7-4 team, while the Flyers returned 16 of 22 starters from a 6-5 team that shared the FC title. "This is a huge matchup between two solid programs," St. Paul head coach Chris Doughty said. "Coach (Ty) Stevenson does a great job over there. Ever since he's been there (2018), they have been consistently very good every year. "They were similar to us and had a very small senior class last year, and they handled us (28-7 loss) at their place," he added. "They are a physical team across the board and have basically everyone back. It's going to be a big challenge." In Stevenson's seven years, the two teams have played three games that were decided by a total of 17 points. "It's been fun," Stevenson said. "I think anytime you can face a good opponent that is well-coached and has good athletes that play hard, it's just fun. "It's always good to do that against another quality opponent on a Friday night, and that's what we have across from us this week." Western defeated Wellington (2-2), Wynford (1-3), and Mapleton (1-3) by a combined 134-8 in its three victories. The Roughriders lost 21-0 at Margaretta on Aug. 29 in Week 2. That was also the first full game the team played without quarterback Hayden Keith (5-foot-11, 210), who was injured in the first quarter of the season opener at Wellington. Keith's status for this Friday has not been determined. The senior started the past two seasons, and a year ago threw for 2,071 yards and 17 touchdowns while rushing for 853 yards and 14 TDs. "The big thing from last year was they handled us up front," Doughty said. "It was a difficult game in that regard. Their skilled kids are obviously very talented, and (Landyn) Wiegel is an outstanding running back as well. "But bottom line, their offense runs through Keith, and we fully anticipate him being out there Friday. He's a load and one of the strongest runners we will see right next to (Edison's) Bryson Wittmer. It's going to take a special effort of our defense rallying to the football but then also being able to stop the pass." Western enters Friday as the No. 11 seed in the first of six weekly Division VI Region 22 playoff rankings. Stevenson said he challenged his team after the Margaretta loss. "We hurt ourselves because we didn't play the way we're capable of, and I don't think we played hard enough," he said. "So we really challenged these guys after that, and though these last two opponents haven't been as good as Margaretta, I felt like we took care of ourselves much better than we did in Week 2. "Our response from there has been strong, and hopefully we continue to play hard, pay attention to detail, and execute the things we need to." For St. Paul, Grant Kuhnle is 55-of-100 passing for 850 yards. He has six touchdown passes and two interceptions. Connor Lindenberger has 15 catches for 293 yards and 3 TDs. Landon Fries has 18 catches for 221 yards, while Levi Rospert adds 14 catches for 218 yards and 2 TDs. On the ground, Nick Pocos has 190 yards and 3 TDs on 38 attempts. Landon Fries adds 117 yards and 4 TDs on 32 attempts, and Casey Fries has 110 yards and a TD on 15 attempts. "They are definitely throwing it around more with Kuhnle, who is a very good athlete with some skilled guys on the edge who can catch and make good things happen," Stevenson said. "But they can also still pack it in and run the football." Defensively, Raphael Gross leads the Flyers and the FC with 54 tackles. Nate Sandor has 31 tackles with a sack, while Pocos has 27 tackles and a sack, and Abel Couch has 23 tackles and an interception. "They have a lot of good athletes on that side of the ball, and they are doing some different things defensively, too," Stevenson said. "They are a bit more of an odd front. They are running a couple of different defenses that traditionally we haven't seen from them in the past. It's definitely going to be a good challenge." Wiegel has rushed 70 times for 584 yards and 10 TDs through the first four games. Meagrow is 40-of-68 passing for 425 yards with 6 TDs and 3 INTs. He's also rushed 18 times for 110 yards. Brexton Fraelich has 14 catches for 187 yards and 3 TDs, and Hayden Dobias has 14 catches for 156 yards with a TD. Before his injury, Keith was 4-of-7 passing for 77 yards with a TD and ran four times for 20 yards. Defensively for the 'Riders, Blake Welch leads the way with 26 tackles (eight for loss) and two sacks. Will Taylor has 24 tackles and an interception, while Braylon Witherspoon has 22 tackles (nine for loss) and two sacks. Caleb Carpenter adds 17 tackles (six for loss) with two sacks, while Cooper Roe has 15 tackles and two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. "It starts up front with their defensive line," Doughty said. "They do a nice job of maintaining the line of scrimmage because they are quick, strong, and play physical up front. Obviously, like every game, the offensive line technique will be huge. Their linebackers, with Taylor and (Austin) Kolb especially, do a great job filling in and blitzing to bring pressure. We have to be attentive with them as well, because they fly to the football." The Flyers are the No. 12 seed in Div. VI Region 25. After losing to Port Clinton (3-1) and Edison (3-1), St. Paul has defeated Tiffin Calvert (1-3) and Plymouth (0-4). "We have a lot of kids who are willing to perfect their craft and get better on a week-to-week basis," Doughty said. "We have a lot of guys right now who are veteran guys that are willing to learn techniques and get better. "But the younger kid has made nice jumps each week as well. But we can't flatline. We have to continue to get better, and our kids have done a great job of embracing that mindset."