Huskies And Ferry Meet For Extra-Special Hall Of Fame Game
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CADIZ - Harrison Central (1-3) will celebrate Hall of Fame Night on Friday when Martins Ferry visits in high school football action. However, it will also be a homecoming of sorts.
The last time Purple Riders' head coach Justin Kropka coached a game on Wagner Field, he was the head coach of the Huskies, and defeated River View, 34-14, in week nine of the 2017 season.
"Colby was my original ballboy. He grew up on that field and probably threw his first-ever pass there," Kropka said of his son who is now the senior quarterback at Martins Ferry. "It's probably more special to him, but those guys out there (at Harrison Central) adopted me as one of their own. They treated me like family. We took over a rough situation but everybody rowed the boat and did their job. I can't say enough about the people out there from the top down ... everyone.
"That was a group effort from jump street. It will be an emotional night for me and my family."
Colby agreed with his father/coach.
"It's going to be special. I haven't been there in a long time, but it's going to be a lot of fun. That's where I grew up," he said. "Coach (Anthony) Hayes will have his team ready."
Coach Kropka led the Huskies for 12 seasons, going 70-70 and making the playoffs three times.
Martins Ferry (4-0) rolls into Harrison County riding a dominating start as it has outscored its opponents, who have a combined record of 5-10, by a whopping 189-40 margin, which includes a 34-0 shellacking of host Edison last week.
Martins Ferry leads the all-time series 12-3 but the neighboring rivals haven't met since 2020. The Purple Riders have claimed the last four outings, including 36-34 in that last meeting in Cadiz.
"It's nice to have these local teams back on the schedule. The Buckeye 8 restarting kind of dictated a lot of that," Coach Kropka said.
"I think we're taking care of the ball and doing the little things, like blocking and tackling, well," the coach said of the fast start. "We're pretty solid and we stress the fundamentals. When you're doing things well, the wins and losses take care of themselves.
"Having the skilled athletes that we do always makes me look smarter," he added. "We think we have four or five guys that we think can take it the distance at any time. My only problem is, we don't have enough balls to go around. I'd like to get them all 20-25 touches a game. When our opponent takes something away, we've got an answer for that.
"Whether it's Elijah Roby on the outside, Walkquem Cox in the backfield, Jakori Cox in the slot and Javon Johnson has given us some things," Coach Kropka continued.
Walkquem Cox has been the big home run hitter with 596 yards and 11 touchdowns on 52 carries. He's averaging 11.4 yards a carry and has caught four passes for 82 more stripes. Johnson has 119 yards and two touchdowns, while Roby has caught 13 passes for 240 yards and a pair of scores. Jakori Cox has seven receptions for 149 yards and three TDs.
Colby Kropka has passed for 602 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions on 30 of 42 accuracy.
"He's had a good year. He's probably the most efficient quarterback I've ever had. He gets us in the right places. I've probably given him more freedom than any other quarterback I've coached. He was raised in the system. At this point in his career, it's like having another coach."
Defensively, the Purple Riders are led by senior R.J. Welshans and sophomore Clayton Snyder. Welshans, an inside linebacker, has logged 33 tackles, seven for minus yardage, and a trio of quarterback sacks, while Snyder, a defensive end, has 19 tackles, nine for lost yardage, four quarterback sacks, forced three fumbles and recovered one.
"We really expected a lot out of those two and (Malaki) Giles is being double-, triple-teamed on every play, so that allows our linebackers to make tackles. (Jacob) Ball is having a great year, too and Roby is our quarterback back there at safety. He, like Colby, gets everyone in the right places."
Giles has charted 12 tackles - seven for negative yardage - and a pair of sacks. Ball has made 22 tackles. Roby has 15 tackles and defended against five passes.
"I think you can see the potential that Harrison Central has," Coach Kropka noted. "They had the ball at the Union Local 1 and jumped off the sides. They returned a kick for a touchdown, but had a block in the back. It's the little things like that that I bet our driving Coach Hayes crazy. They are better than their record. They haven't played any bad teams."
Indeed the Huskies haven't. The combined record of the first six opponents this season is an eye-popping 20-2, with the two losses being East Palestine. Claymont, Strasburg, Union Local, Martins Ferry and Barnesville are all 4-0.
"Our schedule has been brutal. Five of our first six opponents are undefeated," Harrison Central head coach Anthony Hayes said. "We only have three seniors, so it's a learning process. I think at one point last week, we had seven 14-year-olds on the field at one time. We, as coaches, just need to stay patient."
Harrison Central has been outscored 159-61, including a 48-7 tour at the hands of Union Local last week. They did, however, tally 47 in their win against East Palestine.
"We're trying to get the kids to focus on the small details and not the big picture," Hayes added. "If we make a bad play, we can't dwell on it and let another one occur. We have to be ready for the next play."
One bright spot for the Huskies last week was the running of freshman tailback Nelson Lan. He ran for 41 yards, scoring on a 33-yard sprint. Quarterback Kingston Smith completed six of 19 passes for 105 yards, with Lance Smith hauling in three for 90.
"Nelson is one of our promising freshmen," Hayes noted. "The more and more he gets reps, the better he's going to be."
Kickoff is set for 7 o'clock.