Griffin Johnson (22) of Marysville runs through the Westland defense Friday evening. The Monarchs rolled past the Cougars, 34-6, to remain unbeaten on the season. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
Marysville’s football coaches are learning that it’s very important to watch the pregame warmups.
Friday night against Westland, the Monarchs got their first tip that the Cougars would be running some wildcat offense just before kickoff.
Westland came out on its second series in the new offensive set, but it didn’t matter. As it has done all year, Marysville’s defense smothered whatever was in front of it, en route to a 34-6 home victory as the Monarchs remained unbeaten on the season.
Marysville’s defense, led by Ohio State commit Gabe Powers and a host of other returning starters, remains the talk of central Ohio prep football. Through four games, the MHS D has given up a total of three touchdowns.
The result is that teams are now trying the out-scheme Marysville’s athleticism. Because of that, Monarch coach Brent Johnson and his squad are content with a very straight-forward defensive plan, with very little stunting and few blitzes.
Basically, they line up, push forward and tackle.
“We are playing very basic defensively right now,” Johnson said.
But because Marysville’s defense is so talented and especially quick, it often appears they are sending more bodies into the backfield than they actually are. The Monarch defenders are able to rack up negative yardage plays simply by identifying plays and taking great angles to the ball carrier, Johnson said.
The Monarchs held Westland to 185 total yards, but much of that came in the fourth quarter when Marysville used reserves on both sides of the ball. At halftime, against the Monarch first-teamers, Westland had four rushing yards and 19 through the air.
Marysville threw the Cougars for negative yards on 11 of its 45 offensive snaps.
Strangely enough, the stat sheet really doesn’t reflect the blowout that saw Marysville ahead 27-0 at the half. The Monarchs only gained 217 yards on offense, all of it coming on the ground.
Griffin Johnson shouldered the load for the Monarchs, carrying the ball 12 times for 103 yards and three touchdowns.
Marysville’s stout defense, combined with relentless pressure on special teams, set up short fields all night long. Even when opposing teams got punts away, the kicks are often hurried and short.
The Monarchs’ longest scoring drive of the first half was 65 yards, combined with drives of 53, five and 20 yards.
Marysville opened the game returning the opening kick to its own 47.
The Monarchs gave the Cougars a nonstop diet of power running with Johnson and Powers picking up first downs.
The Monarchs came to the line numerous times with their Rhino package, trotting out an extra offensive tackle to stack on one side of the line.
Tackles Gavin Rohrs, Jack Blumberg and Braeden Gray had success collapsing the overloaded side of the line as the Monarchs moved inside the 10-yard-line.
From there, Johnson went into the end zone on a nine-yard run, but the point after missed the mark.
The Monarchs held a 6-0 lead with 7:42 left in the first quarter.
Late in the first period, Tanner Powers collected a Cougar punt and returned it 32 yards to the Westland 5.
On the next play, Johnson once again went into the end zone.
Joseph Riggsby nailed the PAT for a 13-0 MHS advantage with a little more than a minute left in the quarter.
The Monarchs put together their only true drive of the game early in the second quarter.
They marched 65 yards over five-and-a-half minutes. Griffin and Jerry McNeil did much of the heavy lifting, which was capped with a third touchdown for the Marysville junior running back.
Riggsby’s extra point was good and the Monarchs led 20-0 with 5:35 left in the half.
Marysville’s final score of the first half came after Powers ripped the ball away from a Cougar running back at the Westland 20. McNeil capped the short offensive push by the Monarchs with a two-yard run up the gut.
Riggsby was good on the point after and Marysville took a 27-0 lead into the half.
The teams did little offensively in the third quarter, but Marysville’s special teams continued to be stellar.
Cameron Jones came through on a Cougar punt and blocked it, allowing Ethan Musel to pick up the ball on one bounce.
Musel toted the ball 37 yards into the end zone.
Riggsby was good again on the point after and Marysville led 34-0 with just more than five minutes to play in the third quarter.
Westland scored its only points of the game against Monarch reserves.
The Cougars marched 96 yards and hit paydirt on a 26-yard run by Tim Smith with 9:25 left in the game.
Westland moved the ball again on its next possession, but fumbled the ball away in the red zone.
Marysville’s second team offense then had a nice drive against the Cougar starters, pushing the ball past midfield and killing the final 4:48 off the clock.
Marysville (4-0) will host 4-1 Hilliard Darby for Homecoming on Friday.