TWO TOUCHDOWN NIGHT … Delta’s Marcus Nagel bursts up the middle on a 24-yard touchdown run in the second half.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL NAGEL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
NWOAL FOOTBALL … Wauseon quarterback Kahle Albright runs the football in the second half.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
DELTA (September 26, 2025) – After Delta received the opening kickoff against Wauseon, the Panthers ran the ball…and ran it again,…and again,…and again some more.
In fact, the Panthers ran the ball successfully so much that Wauseon had just one true possession in the first half.
On the swing side, Delta scored on a long possession drive the first three times they had the ball, on their way to a 17-0 win.
“That was crazy, wasn’t it?” Panther coach Mike Vicars said of the Panthers’ first-half ball control. “I mean, our first drive was 16 plays, and they had a long drive themselves, but they made a mistake, and we stopped them, and we didn’t score, but we kicked a field goal to put us up two scores with really no time left to do anything.” “It’s tough to lose when you limit a team to one possession with any time.”
That aforementioned opening drive for Delta lasted a whopping 16 plays to go 74 yards for a score and took over nine minutes off the clock.
Emric Friess hit Gunner Taylor twice for 11 yards during the march, but the rest of the real estate was covered by ground.
Marcus Nagel carried nine times for 50 yards, including the last six to pay dirt to give Delta a 7-0 lead with just 2:49 left in the first.
Wauseon’s first drive also was a time-consuming affair. Kahle Albright hit Thad Reckner for 25 yards for the big play on the jaunt downfield and ran twice for first downs to get the ball to the Panther 8.
However, a holding penalty and a false start backed up the Indians into a fourth-and-14, where Albright’s pass to Allen Bock was complete well short of the sticks to give the ball back to the Panthers.
Again, Delta went on a long drive. Friess’s screen pass to Vinnie Martinez for 31 yards was the large chunk play that got Delta to near midfield.
Taylor’s 11-yard run and Nagel’s pair of totes to the Wauseon 14 set up Alex York’s 25-yard field goal, coming 47 seconds before halftime.
Albright only had enough time to run for a first down as the Indians ran just 17 plays in the first half.
The Indians’ opening possession of the third was short-lived, also.
Grant Cansky pounced on a Wauseon fumble at the Delta 49 to set the Panthers up in primo position. Eight plays worked the ball to the 24, where Nagel burst through the middle to the end zone with 5:41 left in the third for the game’s final tally.
Wauseon crossed midfield two other times without extended success. Wyatt Flickinger put the heat on Albright, causing a misfire on a fourth-down pass from the Panther 40, then later in the contest, Hayden Boulton picked an Albright pass at the Delta 45 to kill another possible threat.
Meanwhile, the rest of the night belonged to the Panther running attack. Nagel ended the evening with 153 yards on 28 carries to lead the Delta offense. The Panthers ran for 222 yards on the night.
“This team has been built all year on the offensive line,” Vicars said. “And you have to include those two tight ends. I think of the seven guys, and there are five seniors up there, which is what you want.
“You want mature guys up there and our backs to a really nice job of blocking as well. We are just willing to take 10 feet, four yards, I mean, we are just willing to take those things and be patient.”
“We talk about all the time being comfortable, and I think our offensive line is a signature of that as well.”
Albright was 11-19 for 82 yards in the air to pace Wauseon offensively.
UP NEXT: October 3 – Delta (4-2, 2-1 NWOAL) at Patrick Henry (5-1, 2-1 NWOAL); Archbold (5-1, 3-0 NWOAL) at Wauseon (0-6, 0-3 NWOAL)
DHS 7 3 7 0 – 17
WHS 0 0 0 0 – 0
D – Nagel 22-yd run (A. York)
D – A. York 25-yd FG
D – Nagel 24-yd run (A. York)