Sailors can check another box in battle with Tigers

Vermilion is constructing a special football season. Longtime rival Huron is standing in the way of another memorable Friday night. The Sailors and Tigers both are 6-1 overall and trying to stay unbeaten in the SBC Bay Division heading into a Week 8 showdown at Vermilion. "For us to be in this position, and in this matchup to decide who stays on top in the Bay, it's pretty big," Vermilion coach Bill DiFucci said. "We talk about checking boxes with this team, and this is another opportunity." Vermilion has not checked the Huron box in many years. The Tigers have won all 13 meetings this century and the Win Oar has found a near-permanent home in Huron. Huron's overall win streak in the series — which took a hiatus with conference moves — is 15. Vermilion last defeated the Tigers in 1966. Since competitive games in 2016 and 2017, Huron has six straight by a combined score of 256-37. That includes a 56-0 Huron win last season. The teams used to play in the old Lakeland Conference in the 1960s and '70s before the series took a break. Now the Tigers and Sailors are in the Sandusky Bay Conference. "It's good for the league," Huron coach Sam Hohler said about the excitement surrounding Friday's game. "Those guys have done a good job and they have a darn-good team. They've got a bit of experience and their kids play very hard. They're a physical team with great size up front." Vermilion clinched its first winning season since going 6-4 in 2008 with a 36-27 win at Port Clinton last week. There's not much mystery about Vermilion's approach. The Sailors will run the ball and have four talented backs in quarterback Aaron Mathis and running backs Evan Kuhns, Cohen Mooney and Logan Peterson. "We don't like to deviate much from who we are," DiFucci said. "If we're the best version of ourselves I'm confident we'll be OK. We want to throw it just enough to get the defense to back up." DiFucci sounded amused when he mentioned that Mathis threw for 170 yards against the Redskins. "That's enough for half a season, if you ask me," he chuckled. Mathis and Kuhns are the top options to carry the ball. Mathis has 559 yards and 15 touchdowns while the physical Kuhns has 503 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Mooney has 365 yards and five TDs while the speedy Peterson has 293 yards and a score for the Sailors, who travel to unbeaten Edison next week. "We don't call a play for a kid. We call a play that will work Friday night," DiFucci said. "Having those horses back there, it doesn't matter who it is. They're not greedy; they're just enjoying the ride." Defensively, ends Beau Benish (5.5 sacks) and Collin Angney (4.5 sacks) have put a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Huron, which is ranked No. 10 in Division VI in this week's Associated Press poll, has held four of its seven opponents to seven points or fewer. The Tigers have won four straight games, including a 19-7 victory last week against Bellevue. Jackson McNulty leads the Tigers with 75 tackles. McNulty and Dominic Muratori each have four quarterback sacks. "Defensively, we've played pretty well the last couple of weeks," Hohler said. "Hopefully we can get a turnover or two. We've been pretty good at that." Junior quarterback Landon Hohler has 1,128 total yards and has accounted for 17 touchdowns. Tommie McDonald is Hohler's favorite target in the passing game with 34 receptions for 404 yards and five touchdowns. McDonald also has nearly 300 return yards and has found the end zone on a punt return. McDonald is not Huron's only weapon on special teams. Senior kicker Cameron Manner has made nine field goals and consistently boots the ball into the end zone on kickoffs. "We know what we have in Cameron, but our return game has also been strong," Hohler said. "We've been able to establish field position and limit other teams' field position and that's been big for us." Huron has the opportunity to put together a memorable closing run. The Tigers' last three regular-season opponents — Vermilion, Clyde and Edison — are a combined 18-3. "For us to be 6-1 is excellent," Hohler said. "A lot of the kids have grown up and we have great leadership."