Nov 8, 2025
Staff photo / Brian Yauger Chalker senior Ethan Bosch (3) runs for a gain while evading a Sebring tackler during their game Oct. 10 in Sebring.
SOUTHINGTON — Since joining the Northern 8 last season, Chalker has gotten very acquainted with St. Mary Central Catholic. The teams have already met three times in two seasons, and today will mark the fourth meeting.
This time, however, things are a little different.
Saturday’s meeting at 6 p.m. is for all the marbles when the Wildcats take on St. Mary for the 8-man football state championship at Leetonia.
Chalker went one step further than last year’s group, who fell to St. Mary, 41-6, in the state semifinals.
“It feels good (to make it to the state finals), but the job’s not done yet,” Wildcats coach Justin Kren said. “It felt good Saturday night, to punch our ticket to get here, but the job’s still not done. I think that a lot of the guys, a weight was lifted off their shoulders Saturday night to get over the hump and prove everybody wrong. We were picked to go 3-6 and 5-5 at the beginning of the season, but they know the job’s not done yet.”
Chalker has been on the losing end of all three meetings thus far. The most recent matchup was much closer, a 28-24 defeat. The loss was marred by a series of self-inflicted wounds, including six interceptions.
Those mistakes have haunted the Wildcats ever since.
“We have gotten better against them this year, but we’ve got to show them now,” Kren said. “We have to do our job. We have to execute. We have to play four quarters of ball and do our job.”
That job includes doing the same things that helped Chalker match a program-high in wins (9-1) set by the 1980 team. The Wildcats’ offense has been nothing short of electric, scoring 50 points or more in eight games this season.
The Chalker defense has been equally prolific, holding teams to under 20 points seven times.
Their opponent, St. Mary, is similar. Kren described them as a “mirror image” of his team.
“They’re big boys, a big team, they’ve got big guys up front,” Kren said. “Their running back is one of the best in the league. They don’t go down easy. You got to hit these guys. You got to wrap them up and tackle them. They’re not going to go down with arm tackles or shoestring tackles. They’re going to block into the whistle, they’re going to play into the whistle. They’re almost a mirror image of us. A smash mouth ball club that likes to hit.”
With the teams matching up so similarly, execution is everything.
“It’s just the little things. Do the little things right,” Kren said. “Watch the ball. Do our job, do our assignment. Know our assignment pre-snap, call out blitzes as we see them. Knowing the coverage when we’re getting ready to throw, and knowing what we’re doing before we break. That is one of the biggest keys. I told these guys if we do little things right, the big things will happen. We’ve been preaching that to them all season. A four-point loss is hard to take, but against a good ball club like that, it’s a learning experience.”
That loss earlier in the season still haunts the Wildcats, and made them hungry for the rematch.
“We’re ready to go,” Chalker quarterback Tanner Kelson said.
When asked what the difference-maker will be this time around, Kren kept it simple.
“Defense,” Kren said. “We have to fly around, eight hats to the ball, everybody. We have to. That’s going to be the key to success.”
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