Moeller Football Playoff Review- Andrew Rudol
The Moeller football team this year had high expectations after making to the state finals after finishing with an impressive 14-2 record and having a great playoff run outscoring their opponents 237-106 in 6 games last year. Unfortunately, the Crusaders had fallen to the Olentangy Liberty 28-14 and ended their season. All the seniors had left and left only a handful of returners from last season. Their season, I would say, hasn’t been quite impactful as last year while finishing with a 7-3 record, but the season still had some great moments from the team this year.
Some seniors that have been an impact on the team include Matt Ponatoski, Tyler Joslyen, Dante Ware, Connor Cuozzo, Christian Harris, Sam Hamilton, Cooper McCutchan, Carson Khayo, and Charlie Nelson. Last year, Matt had one of the most impressive seasons from a high school QB we’ve ever seen. Matt had 4217 passing yards and 57 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions, while this year had 1914 passing yards with 24 touchdowns and only 1 interception which is still impressive. Connor Cuozzo, who still had an impactful season last year had 36 tackles with 4 tackles for loss and only 1 sack, while this year he lead the team in solo tackles with 35, 10 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks so a decent jump from last year.
Overall, the season this year didn’t have as much as an impact as the team last year did, but that still doesn’t mean they can’t go on a great playoff run and win some games in November and maybe even go back to the state finals. Some of the highlights this year include beating teams like X for the 7th time in a row and beating St. Ignatius 42-10. The offense has been the key component of the team with 35 points per game and holding opponents to 21 points per game. If the team is able to run the ball well and get the ball to their receivers like they have been able to do the last two years, they can have another shot at the state title.
I have already mentioned key games of the season for Moeller, but I would like to talk about their most important win of the season. I think the most obvious game to talk about is the big matchup between Moeller and X. This year I would say in my opinion was the most exciting game and environment I’ve been in too out of all the four years I’ve spent at Moeller. The game ended with a score of 30-13, after Moeller had a slow first half on offense and defense and keeping the game close, but they came out after halftime and just throttled them with the running game mostly and rushed for 191 yards on the ground, and the running defense held them to only 69 rushing yards. This game captured Moeller’s 7th win in a row against the bombers and they undefeated against the bombers since 2022 and for the class of 2026.
A state championship win has been in Moeller’s sights since 2013 after a devastating loss in the finals last year. This year, Moeller needs to lock in and just use the running game as their key factor and use Matt to lead them back to the finals. I believe Moeller’s ceiling would be making it to the semi finals because they would have to face a challenging team in the semis or the finals like Elder or St. Edwards. Overall, I believe Moeller can easily make the finals, they need to just stay focused and the team needs to figure out what their strengths are and fix their weaknesses.