Rested Eagles host Malvern in 2nd round

The great unknown came and went. For the first time, the OHSAA state football playoffs awarded a first-round bye to the top four teams in each region. The risk versus reward was a hot topic all summer and throughout the season about not playing for a week. After seven straight wins led to the program's first outright Firelands Conference title in 23 years, Monroeville (8-2) went through the experience last week. Now, the No. 4 Eagles host No. 5 Malvern (7-4) in a second-round Division VII Region 25 game at 7 p.m. Friday at Marsh Field. "In general, we kept it as normal as possible," said Monroeville coach Tylor Nester of the idle week. "We had three goals: to continue being in good shape, get healthy, and work on some technique. The kids responded really well. "The practices were intense but short, and we had fun with it throughout the week," he added. "But I really liked our focus last week, and obviously that was always the biggest concern of wanting the bye against playing." Located in Carroll County about 15 miles southeast of Canton, the Hornets have been no strangers to the state playoffs in recent years. This is Malvern's seventh straight playoff appearance and 17th overall. The Hornets have won at least one playoff game in five of the previous seven years, including last week's 34-0 win over Ashtabula St. John. "They are a good team overall with plenty of playoff experience," Nester said. "They have quite a few kids back from last year, and so they have that experience in tough situations." Malvern is led by the backfield of quarterback Jaxon Jones and running back Aaron Gore (6-foot-2, 205). A junior, Jones is 113-of-207 for 1,173 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. A senior, Gore has totaled 1,405 yards and 18 touchdowns on 192 attempts. An All-Ohio honorable mention player in 2024, Gore is the feature back and then some for the Hornets. The rest of the team has 427 yards and four touchdowns among eight players. Jones will also throw the majority of the time to Roy Simmons, as the senior has over half the team's catches with 61 for 540 yards and six touchdowns. Josh Untch has 21 catches for 300 yards and four touchdowns and Aiden Sprague adds 20 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Averaging 24 points per game, the Hornets will also go for two the majority of the time, as they have just 12 extra point attempts in 11 games. "Gore is a big kid and a tough runner," Nester said. "So we need to play team defense and rally to the football against him, which we've been doing all year." On defense, Malvern is allowing 18 points and is led by senior Owen Ball with 96 tackles (8 for loss) and Brodie Powers with 81 tackles (13 TFL). The Hornets are also paced by Luke Thomas (56 tackles, four sacks) and Darnell Jackson with 53 tackles (15 TFL) and two sacks. "Defensively they are real similar to us, but they vary in some coverages, so they get in an odd front with a 3-4, and they will play some two-high safeties," Nester said. "But they also do a nice job of getting off blocks and to the football. "And they like to blitz a lot, so that pickup and communication on the offensive line will be critical. The battle is always going to be in the trenches, and whoever can control the line of scrimmage will come out on top." For Monroeville, junior quarterback Colt Clark is 66-of-118 passing for 1,085 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also leads the ground game with 952 yards and 13 touchdowns on 115 attempts (8.3 yards per carry). Clark is complemented in the backfield by senior Connor Bores with 103 carries for 830 yards and 12 touchdowns. Junior fullback Cooper Cleary adds 414 yards and seven touchdowns on 49 attempts, while Clark's top target includes Chase Horn with 18 catches for 369 yards and five touchdowns. Kicker Isaac Krueger is 37-of-43 on extra point attempts. The Eagles averaged 349 yards and 34 points per game during the regular season. Defensively, Monroeville is allowing 215 yards and 16 points per game. Clark also paces the defense with 81 tackles and a sack, while Thomas Platte has 62 tackles, two sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery. Also for the Eagles, Maverick Myers has 48 tackles and nine sacks, while Krueger has 56 tackles and four sacks. Alec Schafer adds 37 tackles and four sacks, while Reid Wasserman has 62 tackles with an interception and a fumble recovery. The winner of Friday's game takes on the winner of No. 9 Warren JFK (6-5) and No. 1 McDonald (10-0) in the third round on Nov. 15. The Eagles would host JFK but make the two-hour trip to McDonald.