High school football: Keystone-Columbia game a showdown between last two unbeaten teams in Lorain County

As far as big games go, this is a huge one. The only two unbeaten teams in Lorain County — Columbia and Keystone — meet Friday night in Week 8 at Columbia Station in a game that will almost assuredly decide the Lorain County League championship. The Raiders (7-0, 3-0) have ruled the LC8 roost as of late, winning three of the last four conference titles, but the Wildcats (6-0, 3-0) are stronger than ever and looking for redemption after losing 21-7 last year. "I feel like it's going to be a great atmosphere," Columbia coach Mike Rice said. "It's gonna be a fun game. It's gonna be a battle. It's gonna take our best shot and I feel good about where we're at." "It's exciting. This is a great opponent," Keystone coach Brian Fox said. "All the kids know those kids on the team. It's such a wonderful distaste for each community, one of those small-school football rivalries that makes it exciting to be around." Both teams employ elite running backs in Columbia's Xavier Hendon and Keystone's Wyatt McKee. Hendon has rushed for 1,538 yards (219 per game) and 21 touchdowns in seven games, while McKee is at 969 yards (161 average) with 14 touchdowns in six games. Both players are impactful on defense, leading the team in tackles at linebacker. "No matter what you're gonna have two teams that are sitting there like, 'How are we gonna stop this elite-level playmaker?'" Fox said. "Teams that have stopped Wyatt, there's been one game where he only averaged six yards a carry, so pedestrian. They sold out so much to stop the run that we ended up throwing for about 300 yards. "It's one of those things where they're a very good team defensively, we're a very good team defensively. How much resources do you dedicate to a guy? I think Xavier's averaging around 13-14 yards a carry and so is Wyatt — so how much do you trust your defense to stop them without going above and beyond. And how much do you change what you do to try and take away their dynamic playmaker?" "We're gonna have to be really mindful of where No. 1 (McKee) is and be on point with our assignments, because I'm sure they're going to try to confuse us and move around quite a bit," Rice said. Columbia has outscored opponents 325-103. The Raiders have scored at least 42 points in six of their games, their lowest output coming in their closest game — a 32-31 win over Manchester in Week 3. "They're a powerhouse right now, especially offensively," Fox said. "They have a dominant run scheme and they have some incredible size on the offensive line. They have a lot of dynamic playmakers and they have a quarterback (Logan Menge) who can sling it, a good operator of the offense. It's a very high-level team." "They're a hard-nosed football team. They run the ball a lot. They have great athletes in their program," McKee said. "They have a really good running back. We really just have to stop the run. They're not a very pass-heavy team." Meanwhile, Keystone has outscored opponents 241-91. The Wildcats have totaled at least 36 points in five their games. Their lowest output came in their closest game, too, a 12-10 victory over Cloverleaf in Week 2. It hasn't been all McKee in a balanced attack that has seen junior quarterback has thrown for over 1,400 yards and 16 TDs with a rating of 122.6. "Offensively, they're very explosive," Rice said. "Obviously, No. 1 McKee is explosive, just on his own. He could be stopped five times in a row, but the sixth play he's gonna score a touchdown from 80 yards out or wherever. And they move him around. They're gonna confuse you with trying to get in different formations, different personnel groupings and they're explosive in getting the ball to the perimeter and trying to get their athletes in space with the ball. Defensively, they're aggressive and they're downhill players." "I would describe them as a fast, physical team. They have some great players on their team and they like to play football," Hendon said. "We have to keep running the ball and scoring and catch them when they're lacking a little bit and take advantage of the little things and just stack them up." Each team knows what it's going to take to knock the other out of the tie atop the LCL. "We have to play tough defense. We have to understand that they're going nickel and dime you down the field," Fox said. "We need to make our big plays when we get the chance, put them behind the sticks and actually get ahead of them as far as their offensive operation goes. We have to win matchups on the outside. They have great defensive backs as well. They run a great cover scheme. They are very successful against any team trying to throw on them." "We've had a great week of practice. We're ready," McKee said. "The key is gonna be great defense and executing on your offense like we usually do." "For us it comes down to one the operation of our offense beyond being able to slow them down and winning certain downs. But also how efficient we hit our shots and complement our run game with it and get our screen game going," Rice said. "What we've been doing a really good job of is taking care of the football and that's gonna have to continue. We're gonna have to maintain our possessions and not give any possessions away. That's gonna be a huge one. And really limit the explosive plays they get and make them earn every yard, make them drive the field over and over and over again. "Another thing that I think we've been doing a really good job of that's going to need to continue in a game like this is the physicality, making sure we're bringing that physicality from snap No. 1 on through and playing to the whistle. Somebody can be equal to us, but nobody's going to be more physical than us." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenhemer@chroniclet.com. 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