LUCKEY – Eastwood’s opponents have to pick their poison — try to stop Zach Conkle or try to stop his
younger brother, Isaiah Conkle.
Each Conkle has almost 1,200 yards rushing this season and the duo have combined for 47 touchdowns.
In Saturday’s Division IV first-round playoff game, in which Eastwood posted a 31-0 victory,
Ottawa-Glandorf’s defense seemed to work on taking away the outside runs of Isaiah Conkle. PHOTO
GALLERY
So
with help from Eastwood’s offensive line, big brother Zach did the damage, rushing for 308 yards and
three scores on 18 carries.
Isaiah Conkle chipped in with 102 yards and a score on 18 carries as the Eagles blanked the Titans.
The Eagles, 11-0 and ranked fourth in the state, faceColumbus Bishop Hartley (10-0) which is the
defending state champion and ranked second in the state. The game is this Saturday at 7 p.m. in
Ashland’s Community Stadium. O-G finished 8-3.
“Coach (Jerry Rutherford) saw they were loading one side and that opened things up for the counter and
the belly,” Zach Conkle said.
The starting offensive line is Brandon Shaffer and Abel Steagall at the tackles, Adam Wolf and Kris
Hayward at the guards, Zac Shaffer at center and tight end Austin Gottfried. They worked hard and once
the Conkles got to the second and third level, there was plenty of running room.
“I love all those guys. They make big lanes,” Zach Conkle said about the line. “They work their butt off.
They don’t stop until the whistle.”
Eastwood’s offense rolled up 501 total yards, with 461 coming on the ground.
“Our backfield is pretty good. It’s been like that all year. Any time either Conkle can break through the
line and turn a 5-yard gain into a 60-yard gain,” Rutherford said.
“The line blocked really well. That’s what we’ve done all year, Rutherford added. “I do think we keep
getting better. We don’t change much each week … Our guys believe in what we’re doing.”
For O-G, the Titans could not counter Eastwood’s speed.
“That’s the challenge, how do you handle things inside,” said O-G head coach Ken Schriner. “Give them
credit they out-played us in every facet of the game.
“It’s a credit to what they’re doing. They’re not fancy, but they execute very well.”
Eastwood’s defense also turned in a big effort, holding O-G to 273 total yards. The Titans’ Tristen
Parker came into the game, averaging 132 yards on the ground. He was held to 51 yards on 15 carries.
“Our defensive line did a heck of a job for us,’ Zach Conkle said. “We took the run away from them and
made them pass … Our secondary did a really good job.”
The Eagles’ defensive front of Bobby Brooks and Lincoln Peters at end with Steagall and Wolf inside along
with linebackers Hayward and Zach Conkle made it tough on the Titans.
Hayward recovered a fumble and Skylar Dierker had an interception for Eastwood.
“I was really pleased with the defense,” Rutherford said. “They (O-G) can just do so much. We thought
they were going to have to run right at us, but we didn’t know if they could do that consistently the
whole night.”
In the first half, the Eagles ripped off 359 yards in total offense and scored four times.
Zach Conkle scored on a 65-yard run just 1:05 in the game. Eastwood added three scores in the second
quarter. Zach Conkle scored on runs of 77 and 40 yards to make it 21-0. in the first half he had 239
yards on 13 carries.
Down three scores, Ottawa-Glandorf drove to a first down at the 9-yard line, but the Eagles defense held.
On the fourth down play Hayward led a swarm of Eagle tacklers against quarterback Caleb Siefker, forcing
a fumble. Hayward recovered with 3:16 left in the first half.
The Eagles then used 10 plays and 3:01 to move 96 yards for their fourth touchdown. Isaiah Conkle got the
score on a 24-yard run and Eastwood was up 28-0 at the half.
“That was probably it when we stopped them down on fourth down right before the half, and then drove it
down and scored. That was probably the difference,” Rutherford said.
O-G attempted to get back into the game on the first possession of the second half, but was stopped on a
fourth-and-6 play from the 25-yard line. Zach Conkle and Peters combined for the tackle on Siefker.
The Titans’ next possession ended inside the 10-yard line on Dierker’s interception.
The only score of the second half was a 37-yard field goal by Derek Snowden with 3:43 left in the game.

Rutherford and his team are looking forward to playing another week.
“Every day, we practice with the same intensity and we don’t want this to end,” Rutherford said. “Our
seniors are a close group of guys and we’re always there for each other.”
EASTWOOD 31, OTTAWA-GLANDORF 0
OTTAWA-GLANDORF
PATRICK HENRY
0 0 0 0 —0
EASTWOOD 7 21 0 3 —31
E — Z. Conkle, 65 run (Snowden kick)
E — Z. Conkle, 77 run (Snowden kick)
E — Z. Conkle, 40 run (Snowden kick)
E — I. Conkle, 24 run (Snowden kick)
E — Snowden, 37 field goal
TEAM STATISTICS
Category OG E
First downs 16 20
By rushing 6 18
By passing 7 2
By penalty 3 0
Total net yards 273 501
Rushing 137 461
Passing 136 40
Attempts 22 4
Completions 12 2
Interceptions 1 0
Punts/average 4/37.3 2/36.0
Penalties/yards 2/15 4/45
Fumbles/lost 1/1 0/0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (OG) Parker, 14-51; Kuhlman, 1-8; Rieman, 5-20; Siefker, 12-58; (E) Z. Conkle, 18-308; I.
Conkle, 18-102; Keyes, 8-48; Schmeltz, 1-3.
PASSING: (OG) Siefker, 13-2-1—119; Parker 1-1-0—17; (E) Schmeltz 2-4-0—40.
RECEIVING: (OG) Parker, 4-48; Leopold, 5-36; Laubenthal, 1-17; Rieman, 2-19; Buckland, 1-8; Stechschulte,
1-8; (E) K. Dierker, 2-40.