Springfield looks to secure winning record

Springfield heads into tonight’s Week 9 game against visiting Coventry seeking a win that will guarantee a winning season and keep alive chances of qualifying for the state playoffs.

The Spartans are looking to rebound from a 19-12 loss to host Kent Roosevelt in Week 8. The Spartans are 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Portage Trail Conference County Division.

Springfield coach Kevin Vaughn said “John Hofer played well on defense for his first game back off of injury and Dillon Matthews also continued to produce on the offensive side of the ball.”

Matthews rushed for 124 yards on 16 carries.

Vaughn praised senior Chris Evans and junior Chase Cole for their efforts defensively.

“Evans played great against the run, and Cole put pressure on (Roosevelt quarterback Evan) Shimensky all night.”

Vaughn said Springfield sustained “some crucial injuries from last week” that will affect not only this week, but the rest of the season.

“We lost junior middle linebacker Randy Baker for the rest of the season to a knee injury,” Vaughn said. “We also lost sophomore linebacker Andrew Hofer for this week due to a head injury. We are thin at the linebacker position and now we have to resort to more two-way players.”

Vaughn said the Spartans must be more efficient offensively on third down.

Coventry is 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the PTC County, yet Vaughn still respects the Comets and does not want his team to overlook them.

“Coventry is a neighboring school district,” Vaughn said. “We know that there team is hungry for a win and will give great effort this week to achieve that goal. This is the kind of game that you can throw all the records out the window. We must stop the run on defense and play well on first and third downs on offense to beat Coventry.”