Spartans focusing on one game at a time, starting Friday vs. Fairview
· Yahoo Sports
During every week of the football season, Rocco Dobran aims to keep the Conneaut Spartans focused on the task at hand.
Dobran’s task this week, however, presents the veteran coach with a couple more challenges than the normal game week prep.
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For one, it is Homecoming Week at the school, filled with its many festivities.
And, of course, there’s a game in which Conneaut will welcome Fairview High School for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday in a Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division matchup.
“It is always an exciting week, homecoming, but we don’t want our players to be too distracted,” Dobran said. “But at the same time, I also want our players to enjoy the memories.”
The coach knows that a win in front of the homecoming crowd will not only be memorable for his team.
But it is also important as Conneaut is off to its best start (5-1 overall, 2-1) since the 2019 season, and making a push to reach the Division V, Region 17 playoffs.
“Our school has only been in the playoffs I believe three times in school history,” Dobran said.
Conneaut sits seventh in the latest Ohio High School Athletic Association computer ratings, which was releaed Tuesday.
The top 12 in each region qualify for postseason play after the regular season is complete.
“We just need to take it one day at a time instead of looking ahead,” Dobran said.
Looking ahead is something that concerns Dobran as his team prepares to take on Fairview for the first time in school history.
Fairview, located on the west side of Cleveland and not the school in Pennsylvania that the Spartans used to be in the same conference (PIAA District 10 from 2016 to 2022), enters Friday’s game winless on the season.
Dobran does not want his Spartans to approach the game with overconfidence, as he sees Fairview being quite capable of knotting its first win of the season any given week.
“We can’t have a letdown,” Dobran said. “When you watch [Fairview] on film, they don’t look like their record. Their quarterback [sophomore Tyler Hayes] is fast and their running back [senior LaMarcus Clark] is really good.
Clark is a returning all-Ohio player, having rushed for 1,130 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.
“In each game, they have made big plays, and they have the capability to score on every play,” Dobran said. “Every game they have lost has been a close game.”
Over the last four games, the Warriors have lost by two touchdowns or less in each. That included a 26-15 defeat last Friday to Berkshire.
The Badgers are a common opponent for both teams this season. Conneaut won 21-12 over the Berkshire in Week 4.
Conneaut’s only loss this season was to perennial state power Kirtland 48-0 two weeks ago.
Dobran said that the Spartans have grown from that loss, and it has paid dividends in practice and in a 40-28 win at Crestwood last Friday.
“We got back to the fundamentals of blocking up front, and we started having some more fun at practice as we implemented some more competitive drills,” Dobran said. “The kids have been really liking that. It showed up this week in our run blocking as we basically went back to emphasizing the basics.”
Conneaut putting up 491 yards offensively in the win at Crestwood.
In particular, senior quarterback Wyant Dobran had a big night — completing 12 of his 20 passes for 304 yards and tying a school-record with 5 touchdown passes.
The 12 passes were completed to eight different receivers,
His five touchdown passes were spread out to four different teammates — senior Brady Vera (42 and 35 yards), senior Davonte Harris (81 yards), freshman Zac Lewis (19 yards), and junior Luis Cedeno (5 yards).
Dobran has seen growth from Wyant Dobran, who is getting more comfortable in his first year as a varsity QB.
“I think his decision making is getting better, and he’s taking what’s there instead of forcing the ball,” Dobran said of Wyant. “He is a smart player and he knows the offense. He does a nice job of seeing running lanes and taking it when it’s open. He has always done that well. But, his pre-snap reads and him following through with the reads and spreading the ball around — he has gained a lot of confidence in that.”
With depth this season, Dobran said the statistics among his players are more spread out than in past years.
“It has always been one or two guys,” Dobran said. “We have more-skilled guys this year, and the players have bought into a team-first mentality.”
Dobran hopes his team stays true to that philosophy, with objectives still in the balance.
“We still have a lot of our goals on the table, and the kids still have a lot to play for,” Dobran said.