Four things to know about Mogadore football's OHSAA regional final vs. Kirtland

Here are four things to know about the Mogadore High School football team's OHSAA Divison VI, Region 21 championship game against Kirtland at 7 p.m., Saturday:

1. Kirtland leans on fearsome ground game

The Wildcats have seen some tricky rushing attacks throughout the postseason.

Like the one led by Canton Central Catholic dual-threat quarterback Jack Talkington. And the tricky option game that Cuyahoga Heights ran last week.

Kirtland, however, is a whole different challenge, as demonstrated last week when it exploded in the third quarter to pull away from Dalton. Up 12-0 at the half, the Hornets scored 21 points in the third quarter, outgaining the Tigers 180-1. Most of that yardage came from RB Rocco Allen, who turned nine third-quarter carries into 159 yards. (He had 25 totes for 256 yards overall.) Fellow Kirtland back Tommy Gogolin almost hit the century mark as well. All of which points to the brilliance of the Hornets' offensive line.

"Their offensive line is clearly the best we've seen this year," Mogadore coach Matt Adorni said. "They just fly off the football. Their five guys come off the football really hard, their tight ends block, they're just kind of the complete package on offense."

Moreover, Hornets quarterback Jake LaVerde follows a similar model as Wildcats quarterback Zeke Cameron in that he rarely turns it over.

"Typical Kirtland, they're not going to beat themselves," Adorni said. "They're going to force you to have to play tough football at every facet of the game to have a chance with them."

2. Kirtland also boasts a dominant defense

The Hornets' defense has been no less impressive this season.

Indeed, Kirtland has allowed double-digit points twice all year: Week 5 against Division III Geneva and Week 7 against Perry, which also is still playing.

Last week was yet another signature performance from the Hornets.

Dalton entered the game with a pair of 1,000-yard runners in Greyson Siders and Sammy Tomlinson. Kirtland limited the duo to a combined 51 rushing yards.

"Their defense just really doesn't make any mistakes," Adorni said. "I mean their interior six guys in their 3-3 Stack, they are as solid as any group of six guys that you're going to see. Just they play their positions so well, and they tackle so efficiently, their whole team."

3. Mogadore ready for the moment

If the Wildcats' ground game gets stuffed a few times early by the Hornets, they won't panic.

That's one thing Adorni knows about his team.

That's the reason he always puts together such a grueling schedule.

The beauty of playing Lucas and Liberty-Benton in non-league play, along with Warren JFK in a Portage Trail Conference showdown and Canton Central Catholic in a second-round postseason battle, is Mogadore has been tested.

The Wildcats have been bottled up at the line of scrimmage.

They've given up big plays and fallen behind.

"It's not going to be this shock to our system if they come out and stuff a couple runs early on," Adorni said. "Overall, we're just going to have to play really clean, really tough, really clean football to have a chance against them."

That's not to say Kirtland isn't the best team Mogadore has seen all season.

The Hornets certainly are.

But the Wildcats won't be afraid of the moment.

"Our kids aren't going to fear the moment," Adorni said. "If we get beat, it's going to be that they out-execute us, out-play us, like they are capable of doing, but I don't think we have any fear or doubts on our staff as far as that our kids are going to show up Saturday night."

4. Mogadore knows Kirtland well

Adorni noted that Kirtland is the kind of team that can sneak up on an opponent. After all, the Hornets aren't the flashiest team, and they may not put a bunch of 80-yard deep balls down the sidelines on film.

"They kind of lull you if you just watch their film," Adorni said. "It doesn't look like they're doing a whole lot fancy or anything, but it's so deceiving."

Per Adorni, what makes Kirtland, the Division V state runner-up last season after winning back-to-back-to-back state titles in 2018, 2019 and 2020, so dangerous isn't necessarily something film captures.

It's a physicality and a toughness.

It's a fundamental brilliance and a refusal to bend.

"Kirtland, they're Kirtland, I mean that's what's kind of the most intimidating thing about them," Adorni said. "They're going to do what they do and they do it really well. There's not a whole lot complicated to them, but that's to me sometimes a sign of a good team there. You turn on their films, they're not trying to change offenses every week. They're very confident in who they are and what they do."

The Wildcats, of course, will not be fooled by the film.

Adorni and his staff know very well how good Kirtland is.

After all, the Hornets edged the Wildcats in the 2017 and 2018 postseasons.

"We've got to just kind of let it fly," Adorni said. "I feel like in some ways we are playing with house money. We could have very easily lost to Central Catholic round two and been two weeks deep into winter, but here we are, and we're going to give it everything we got."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Mogadore football vs Kirtland OHSAA regional final: 4 things to know