Blue Streaks try to make it four straight vs. Little Giants

There are "here-today" rivalries and then there are rivalries such as Sandusky vs. Fremont Ross.The second-oldest rivalry in Ohio high school football history will kick off for the 114th meeting Friday night at Harmon Field in Fremont, with community bragging rights and a three-game Sandusky winning streak hanging in the balance."Athletics is such a game of the now," said Sandusky coach Mike Franklin. "We've had so many rivalries stirred up lately that began with Perkins when we started the Hometown Showdown and then it was Clyde and now it's Norwalk."You try to explain to your kids about this game, but the nice thing about Ross is a lot of kids' parents and grandparents played in this game."Franklin, a lifelong Sandusky resident, was the star quarterback for the Blue Streaks during the early 1990s. He came back to work as an assistant coach and is now in his 14th season as head coach of the program. Ross coach Chad Long watched the rivalry from afar as a Clyde graduate, but has gotten a first-hand look in his seven years as an assistant and three seasons as head coach."There's a lot of deep roots on both sides and all the kids hear about it at home so they know what's at stake," Long said. "I always have a lot of people telling me, 'This is Sandusky week, you'd better be ready.'"There's a lot of dislike for this one week and it's more from the elderly than the youth."The series began in 1895 with a 6-0 Sandusky victory. The teams played two times in 1906, 1908 and 1983, with the second of the 1983 games the lone playoff game between the two, a 7-0 victory for the Little Giants.The Ross team nickname even came from the series, when the sports editor of the then-Fremont Daily News wrote that the squad should be called the "Little Giants" following a 1925 upset of Sandusky."There's a different atmosphere when you play Ross, especially over there," Franklin said. "The stands are so close it seems like the fans are right next to you. People still talk about this game. Some of the names who've played in this game are some of the best to ever play in the NFL and you've had some of the greatest coaches who have ever coached in this game."The Blue Streaks own a 57-51-6 mark in the series, which was the subject of a 2013 book by Vince Guerreri entitled "The Blue Streaks and Little Giants: More Than A Century of Sandusky and Fremont Ross Football.""This game is always a treat, especially the last couple of years," Franklin said. "The last few years it's been a touchdown game. Two years ago, we won with less than a minute to go and last year it was a one-score game because of the great defense."One big difference this year is freshman Kaden Holmes, who will start at quarterback for the Little Giants."Fremont always has great quarterbacks," Franklin said. "Playing a skilled position as a freshman is not easy no matter who you play, but he wouldn't be out there if he wasn't good."The first varsity action was rough for Holmes, who was 8-of-19 passing for 71 yards in a 35-7 loss to Tiffin Columbian. He bounced back nicely in Week 2, hitting 13 of 17 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-23 win over Toledo Start.Andrew Born is the team's leading rusher and followed up a 14-yard performance against Columbian with 130 yards and three touchdowns against Start."I would say everything runs through Kaden and Andrew," Long said. "What we hold our hats on is our defensive line and playing pretty sound defense. We haven't played great yet, but our guys up front is where games are going to be won or lost.""They are physical," Franklin said about the Ross linemen, who are led by Bowling Green commit Dontrez Brown. "They return four guys up front who we had all kinds of problems with last year. We've got our work cut out for us in the defensive-line piece. And we're seeing an offensive that we haven't seen all year with multiple tight ends, which is all about alignment and assignment. We're used to seeing spread teams, but this week it's about alignment and assignment on defense, which gave us a little problem last year."Of course, Ross has to prepare for Sandusky's 1-2 offensive punch of Terion Stewart and Shonsai Aaron, who has 265 yards passing and 264 yards rushing in the Blue Streaks' 2-0 start."Those two guys make their offense go," Long said. "Stewart kind of carried them the last two years and Aaron has developed into a dynamic quarterback who can run and throw. In my mind, Stewart is one of the elite backs in Ohio."Their defense is really good and we realize their secondary is extremely athletic. They are ballhawks."One thing the Little Giants will not see is Stewart rushing the ball more than 40 times like he did in 2018."Absolutely not," Franklin said. "Last year, we were more one-dimensional, but this year I think we've become more dynamic, which will help us in the long run."No one will be concerned with the long run at 7 p.m. Friday when the two teams line up for the kickoff with the stands at Harmon Stadium full of fans."It hasn't mattered if one team is 0-3 and the other is 3-0. There's always people to watch this game, and at least in my world, that's what you want kids to see," Franklin said. "You want them to be part of a game where there's that kind of excitement."The Blue Streaks take the field prior to last year's 14-6 home win over Fremont Ross. Sandusky has won three straight in the series that dates back to 1895.Sandusky's Xavier Parker returns a punt in last year's win over Fremont Ross as the SHS marching band looks on.Sandusky's Rashon Redding signals touchdown after Terion Stewart scored in the third quarter of the Blue Streaks' 14-6 win over Fremont Ross last season.