CINCINNATI — When you talk about powerhouse football programs, all you have to do is drive to Mercer County and you’ll find many — including two in the OHSAA Football State Championships this weekend: Coldwater and Marion Local.
While the two teams see each other as rivals, they’re only about a 15-minute drive from each other, and many of the players and coaches are friends and even family.
Whether it’s at Coldwater or down the road in Maria Stein at Marion Local high school, it’s easy to see how prideful these football programs are.
“There’s a lot of pride in the MAC," Tim Goodwin Marion Local's head coach said. "And we root for each other when they’re playing non-MAC schools.”
The history and dominance is there, but so are the friendships and bonds between the two programs.
“They know each other, all the kids, they know each other," Chip Otten, the head coach at Coldwater, said. "They played all growing up.”
That’s what it’s like growing up in rural Ohio: everybody knows everybody, even players from rival schools.
“It’s such a small area, everybody really knows everybody," Marion local senior linebacker Benton Seitz said. "That just goes from town to town. If I have friends in Coldwater and they have friends in Fort Recovery, I become friends with Fort Recovery people, it’s like a chain reaction. Everybody ends up knowing everybody.”
Outside of the one week when they are playing head-to-head, they're each others biggest fans.
“We want Coldwater to win," Goodwin said. "Just because they’re our neighbors, they’re our friends and some of these players are related to their players.”
And related players up against each other isn’t something new. In fact a pair of second cousins dress for opposite teams each Friday night: Coldwater senior Cody Depweg and Marion Local senior Benton Seitz. Every play against each other another memory.
“It’s kind of fun to share a moment with each other and family," Seitz said. "It definitely makes Christmas parties a little funnier.”
“It’s pretty interesting to say the least," Depweg said. "Going against him in the game, that was pretty fun to go against him. His older brother I went against him too when I was a sophomore and it’s just pretty fun to play against someone you know that closely.”
Regardless of friendships or familial bonds, this weekend these teams are hopeful to bring two state championships back to Mercer County.
“We always root for each other once we make it past the game that we always play," Depweg said.
“They’re our big rival," Seitz said. "But we do have a huge respect for them and we wish all the best for them and their successes.
Both teams take the field in Canton this weekend, with Marion Local hoping to win its fourth straight state championship on Friday morning at 10:30. And Coldwater goes for the program’s eighth state championship on Saturday morning at 10:30. All game action will be on Spectrum News 1.