St. Paul looks to turn page at NL

Back to work. While there is no resetting or going completely back to basics, the St. Paul football team was shown it has work to do after last week's 46-14 loss to Western Reserve at Contractors Stadium. At the midway point of the season, the Flyers are 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Firelands Conference. They enter Friday's game at New London (2-3, 0-2) as the 12th and final team in the Division VII Region 25 playoff standings. St. Paul does not control its FC fate, however, much like it didn't a year ago when it got hot down the stretch. "I think the biggest focus going into this week is the team aspect of the game," St. Paul head coach Chris Doughty said. "We're really stressing being good teammates to each other on and off the field and the cohesiveness of working together on and off the field." Doughty said that was something the players felt strongly about following the loss to the 'Riders. "They had a list of things they wanted to work and improve on, and we're going to work on a lot of those things throughout the course of the week," he said. After 55 years of games off campus at Recreation Park, the Wildcats recently opened a brand-new football stadium at New London High School. The program did not field a varsity team from 2021 to 2023 but returned to 11-man football last season. New London started 2-1 with wins over Millersport and Vanlue but has since taken losses by 42 points to both Crestview and Monroeville. "They are climbing back from not having a varsity team just two years ago, and they have made some huge strides in that area," Doughty said of New London. "They have the toughest opening schedule in the FC by far with Crestview, Monroeville, and St. Paul. "That's a heck of a stretch to start with," he added. "They have a lot of nice pieces, and you can see their improvements each week." Quarterback Jarrett Mencl is 39-of-73 passing for 504 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions for New London. Jackson Mitchell has 13 catches for 279 yards and 6 TDs, while running back Hunter Chandley has 278 yards and 4 TDs on 60 attempts. "New London has some nice athletes, and the one that jumps off the page first and foremost is Jackson Mitchell," Doughty said. "He's having a really nice season as a sophomore receiver but also plays very well on both sides of the ball for them. "I have also been really impressed with Chandley out of the backfield," he added. "He does a nice job of breaking tackles and churning out yardage. They've definitely got some nice skilled position players, and it's a program that continues to improve." For St. Paul, Grant Kuhnle has completed 60 of 115 pass attempts for 921 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Landon Fries has 19 catches for 235 yards, and Levi Rospert has 18 catches for 295 yards and 2 TDs. Connor Lindenberger adds 15 catches for 293 yards and 3 TDs. Nick Pocos has totaled 200 yards and 3 TDs on 43 attempts, while Landon Fries has 127 yards and 4 TDs on 36 attempts, and freshman Casey Fries adds 152 yards and 3 TDs on 23 rushes. Raphael Gross leads the Flyer defense with 68 tackles. Nate Sandor has 44 tackles and a sack and is followed by Nick Pocos (30 tackles, one sack) and Abel Couch (30 tackles, 1 INT). Kade Houck adds 27 tackles and three sacks, and Rospert has 27 tackles with an interception and a fumble recovery. "More than anything for our kids, we talked a lot about how Western played a great game from start to finish," Doughty said. "They had a very good game plan, and their kids executed it very well. That's exactly how we want to be able to attack in a big game. We want a strong game plan that we can execute and attack with confidence." The second-year coach said moving forward, the Flyers have to continue to improve but also understand the type of team they have. "We do have a talented team," he said. "We just need to put four quarters together. We had a good week of practice; it just didn't show up on Friday night. The good news is we still have five games to go. "There is still a lot in front of us, and we have the ability to make improvements and play our best football at the end of the season."