NORTH ROBINSON (Crawford County Now) — If you know Ohio high school football, you likely know about Kirtland.

Those were the sentiments of Colonel Crawford quarterback Brayden Holt after the Eagles historic 35-7 Region 23 final win over West Jefferson in a driving rain.

“They’re a great team. Their history is nuts,” the senior said.

“But you’ve got to go into each game with confidence. We know they’re going to be good. It’s not going to be easy, by whatever means.”

Eye-popping numbers

Holt is correct as Kirtland’s numbers historically are nearly unequaled.

The 13-0 Hornets are simply elite — and they have been for some time.

Their resume lists nine straight regional championships, 14 final four appearances in 15 seasons, 13 state championship berths in 14 years and seven state titles.

Head coach “Tiger” LaVerde is 257-21 and the team is 113-4 since 2018.

The Eagles have put up some impressive numbers of their own on this playoff run.

Holt was ultra-efficient in the win over the Rough Riders, hitting on 12-of-16 pass attempts for 140 yards. Showing a balanced attack, Connor McMichael rushed 27 times for 214 yards.

“Our offense moves well, with some of the best backs in the area with McMichael and (Roen) Thew and (Avery) Powers,” he said.

“In my opinion, you’ve got the best receiver in the area with (Parker) Weithman and all these other receivers as weapons. It’s pick your poison. If you can stop the run, we’ll pass. If you extend the pass, we will follow our blocks and hand it off.

“We’ve got so many different options,” Holt said.

Holt has passed for 1,513 yards and 16 touchdowns, with one interception.

Players are ready

“It’s a surreal moment going to the final four. I’ve been playing all four years of my high school career, and it’s always been a dream to go far in the playoffs. To go this far is pretty special,” McMichael said.

“It’s crazy because Kirtland is such a storied program. They’re going to play their hearts out and we’re going to play our hearts out too.”

Weithman made a sensational 33-yard catch from Holt to set up McMichael’s third touchdown. He caught 8 passes for 94 yards.

“We’ve been through it all, man. We knew we had to come out here swinging,” the talented junior receiver said. “We had great week, and we didn’t want to give up the deep ball at all. We’re ready to move on.”

McMichael has rumbled for 1,792 rushing yards and 28 scores. He’s got 336 receiving yads and a pair of TDs.

Weithman, meanwhile, has 1,311 receiving yards, 20.5 yards per catch and 12 touchdowns.

Their teammates are pumped up knowing a state Final Four appearance is the school’s first.

“This is my first year playing football and my goal at the start was just to help the team any way I could. I wanted to progress one game at a time, and I feel like I’m doing that so far,” Jacob Cochran said.

Cochran has contributed 174 receiving yards (19.3 average) on offense and recorded 37 tackles with 25 solo. He’s gotten 1.5 sacks plus one pick and one forced fumble.

“I’d do anything for this team. I am only 155 pounds, but I love to hit people. I don’t know why I didn’t play football earlier. I should have,” he added.

“It’s one game at a time. I’m excited to play Kirtland.”

Line play on both sides of the ball has been stellar.

“It’s in practice during the week and attention to detail every single day. We just want to get one percent better every day,” Luke Christman said.

The Eagles’ defense has shown relentless pressure in its four playoff wins, allowing just 35 points total.

“It’s from our coaching. It’s really good and we just come in with the mentality that we’re going to win,” he said.

Christman has made 46 total tackles with 21 solo, 9 sacks and 10.5 TFL.

‘What’s best for the team’

Colonel Crawford head coach Jake Bruner agrees and credits his assistant coaches.

“The defensive staff of coach (Chris) Solis, Brevin Balliet, Brett DeGray, Sean McGuire. Those guys do a great job.”

Playing roles also has been critical for their success, perhaps no one more than senior Dom Dean.

“We have tremendous players and a tremendous back. Twenty-one is the best; so, they moved me down just to help him get openings and run lanes.”

The senior has played running back, tight end, linebacker and anywhere else the team has had a need.

“Doing what’s best for the team and that means on defense moving around, getting different looks and go make plays,” Dean said.

Dean has made 56 tackles, 24 of them solo hits, with 4 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss.

“We try to be as tough as we can be, super-physical. We know being physical helps win games.

“Kirtland is really good, all-around fundamentally amazing. We’re going to come in Monday and start to prepare. Coaches will do a great game plan. We’ll show up and be ready to play,” Dean said.

Dean blasted the West Jefferson quarterback as he was throwing a pass in the second quarter and sophomore linebacker Gabe Stratton got the interception.

Hornets leaders

Making plays like that will be necessary against a team that averages 301 yards rushing and almost 40 points per game.

John Silvestro runs for 143 yards per game (1,859 total) with 29 total touchdowns. Ty Bledsoe has added 1,180 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns.

The Hornets dispatched Garaway 21-7, which was its closest game of the season.

Quarterback Jake LaVerde ran for 127 rushing yards on 22 carries. The senior also surpassed 3,000 career rushing yards during the win, adding that to his 3,000-plus career passing yards.

“The 96-yard drive is exactly what we do and how we play Kirtland football,” LaVerde said. “We dominated up front and the O-line did an amazing job,” he told ChagrinValleyConference.com.

The son of the head coach didn’t want to place any focus on personal milestones.

“It is cool to hit that, but ultimately that’s not what I think about or care about,” he said. “We work every day to be at Canton and fight to get the Ws.”

Last season the Hornets ended Northmor’s historic playoff run with a 41-7 state semifinal win. They fell to Coldwater in the state title game.

Coach LaVerde has scouted Colonel Crawford.

“A really good team. They’ve got the size. They are huge,” he told the (Willoughby) News-Herald. “It’ll be a great game.”

The success achieved at Kirtland isn’t taken for granted.

“This never gets old,” he added. “We have a different group of kids every year, and they battle.”

There are plenty of Kirtland milestones over the years and Bruner knows what lies ahead.

“We’re going to have a week of practice to get ready for them,” he said.

“My wife (Sarah) asked me what I want for Christmas. I said I want to practice on Thanksgiving. Now we’re gonna practice Thanksgiving morning. I can’t wait.”

Bruner is 45-9 overall at Colonel Crawford. He is in his 11th season as a head coach, including his stint at Bucyrus.

Division VI Final Four

Semifinals: Friday, 7 p.m.

Colonel Crawford (13-1) vs. Kirtland (13-0) at Parma Byers Field at Robert Boulton Stadium.

Hopewell-Loudon (12-1) vs. Coldwater (10-4) at Wapakoneta Mercy Health Wapak VFW Field.

State Championship: Saturday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. OHSAA football home: https://ohsaa.org/sports/football