By Cort Reynolds

The Ada High School football team travels to face non-league rival Waynesfield-Goshen in the Tiger home opener this Friday, August 29.

The local foes last met in the 2021-22 season-openers, when W-G beat a rebuilding Ada squad, 42-12 and 28-0.

Each team made the Div. VII playoffs last year, but both lost in the first round as W-G finished 7-4. The Tigers fell 40-38 in triple overtime to Upper Scioto Valley, while Ada beat the Rams 15-14 in the 2024 opener before USV reeled off nine victories to win the NWCC title.

Ada and W-G won their 2025 openers last week by nearly identical scores. The Bulldogs beat arch-rival USV decisively 28-6 at home, and W-G won 26-6 at Mississinawa Valley.

“Ada looks like a very good team,” said second-year Tiger head coach Chris Sommers. “They look very physical. They are balanced, they run well and throw the ball well. Toby Smith is a great coach, and they have a really fine team.”

Sommers and Smith previously crossed paths when both coached in the Northwest Conference earlier this decade, going 1-1 against each other. The veteran coaches faced off in 2021 and 2022 when Sommers was coaching Spencerville. 

The Bearcats beat visiting Ada soundly 56-20 in 2021, but the Bulldogs pulled off a 33-28 win at home over Spencerville the next year.

Ada head coach Toby Smith (16-26 at Ada, 173-93 overall) is in his fifth year as Bulldog mentor after rebuilding a struggling program which cancelled its season after three games in the 2020 Covid year. 

The Bulldog grid team, which qualified for the post-season 12 times in 13 years from 2005-17 and made several deep playoff runs, bottomed out in 2020 but has come a long way since then.

Ironically, Smith’s first game as Ada head coach was at Waynesfield in the 2021 season opener, which resulted in a 30-point Tiger win.

After two more sub-.500 seasons the Bulldogs turned the corner last fall with an 8-3 record, and they made their first playoff showing since 2017. Ada finished a strong third (6-2) in their first season as a Blanchard Valley Conference member in 2024 after 60 seasons in the Northwest Conference.

“Ada has gotten better every year since he has been there, which is a testament to coach Smith,” said coach Sommers.

The veteran coaches have mutual respect. Sommers has compiled a 78-43 record in his 12th season overall. He won multiple NWC titles at Spencerville and Delphos Jefferson

“Waynesfield is very disciplined and well-coached,” said Smith. “We are going to have to be very detail-oriented if we should expect to be successful Friday.” 

“We have to get some good drives and score,” said Sommers of the W-G keys. “Ada can make the big play, they have a lot of athletes. We have to extend drives, play good defense and tackle well. 

“They do a nice job of getting their skill guys out in space and forcing you to tackle them one-on-one. On defense, they fly to the ball and have a good scheme,” he added.

W-G freshman quarterback Corbin Barnes guided his team to a win in his varsity debut last week as the Tigers unveiled their new shotgun wing-T offense. 

Senior back Bradey Miller rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown. Senior Keygan Morse scored two touchdowns, including a 100-yard interception return.

In the Bulldog win over USV, Ada junior QB Blake Zoladz completed 12 of 14 passes for 161 yards and tossed two TDs to senior Gavin Oldfield. Zoladz ran for a 34-yard TD, and accounted for 210 yards in total offense. 

Ada junior back Colton Dysert also rushed for 80 yards in his starting debut in the offensive backfield.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Waynesfield.