Wyatt Kaizer of Jonathan Alder leaps to catch a ball behind his head at the Springfield Shawnee one-yard-line. The Pioneers will play at Columbus Eastmoor Academy on Friday during the first round of the Division III playoffs. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
After a very slow start to the 2021 season, the Jonathan Alder football team will continue the program’s history of post-season appearances.
The Pioneers (6-4) won six of their final seven games of the regular season and qualified for the Division III playoffs.
Alder earned the No. 10 seed in Region 11 and will travel on Friday to face No. 7 Columbus Eastmoor Academy (6-3).
The Warriors will run an offense very similar to Springfield Shawnee, which JA beat 36-28 this past Friday.
“They will at times line up in the spread with 2×2 or 3×1 receivers,” said Pioneer coach Nathan Snedeker. “Then there will be times they will show a wishbone type of set with double tight ends.”
The top athletes for the Warriors’ offensive unit are quarterback Ahmad Armstrong and tailback Marvais Hampton.
“They are the ones who will primarily carry the ball,” said Snedeker. “We have to watch out for their running game, but they can also throw it as well.
“They do different things out of their formations, so our defense will have to be solid against both the pass and the run.”
The Eastmoor skill position athletes operate behind a big and strong offensive line.
The Warriors will work out of an even-man defensive front.
“Their defensive ends are great with takeoffs on the edges,” said Snedeker. “Their tackles do a great job of plugging up the middle.
“Their ends and tackles play off each other very well.”
Snedecker said Jonathan Alder’s offensive line will be undersized against the Warriors.
That’s nothing new as most the teams the Pioneers have faced this year have had bigger defensive fronts.
“Our line, which has played very well this year, will have to get good angles on its blocks against Eastmoor’s defensive line,” said Snedeker.
“That was something we did well against Springfield Shawnee.”
The first-year JA coach said the keys to victory are actually pretty simple.
“We have to get both our running and passing games going and we have to play smart defense,” he said.
Snedeker said he was very proud of how first-year starting quarterback Tabor Headings managed the offense during last Friday’s victory.
“Tabor has gotten much better as the season has progressed,” he said.
The Pioneers have been annual playoff qualifiers for much of the past two decades.
Jonathan Alder’s first post-season appearance, though, came in 1992.
That was followed by a berth after the 1997 regular season.
Since 2001, Jonathan Alder has earned playoff spots in all but three seasons.
It is a tradition of which the current team ws well aware.
After the 0-3 start, the Pioneers knew something had to change.
“A lot of people were ready to write us off going into the fourth week of the season,” said Snedeker. “Our seniors stepped up their leadership, however, no one on this team from all four classes ever lost sight of what we wanted to do.
“After three weeks, we still had the goal of finishing with a winning season and making the playoffs.”
The first goal was reached with last Friday’s victory over Shawnee.
The win also clinched a runner-up spot in the Central Buckeye Conference’s Kenton Trail Division.
JA also rose from No. 14 in Region 11 to No. 10 with the triumph.
That, in turn, gave the Pioneers a better playoff pairing.