“It just feels different how many people are here, that everyone’s all locked in, watching us play,” senior linebacker and captain Sam Mitchell said. “It just feels different.”
Senior quarterback and captain Luke Seibert: “The energy and vibes are just a lot better.”
Such is the case when a team is 6-2 and on a five-game winning streak after suffering through four straight losing seasons. With victories over West Carrollton (1-7) on Friday and Stebbins (4-4) in next week’s finale, the Aviators would at least share the Miami Valley League Miami Division title with Troy, Tippecanoe or both.
How have the Aviators, under first-year head coach Zach Gueth, gotten here after a 3-7 season that wasn’t good enough to make the 16-team playoff field in Division III, Region 12? The captains say it begins with accountability.
“We’re making sure that we keep our level, our standard every single day of practice, no matter what, no matter who we’re playing,” Mitchell said. “We’re just not accepting playing like we have the past couple of years. Coach Gueth has held us to that, and we’re all holding each other accountable very well.”
Gueth has coached in the program for nine years and says the foundation and accountability for this season was laid under previous head coaches. And he is glad to give the seniors credit for raising the standard and accountability that Mitchell affirmed.
“This class does a lot to set the tone and the rest of the team falls in line,” Gueth said. “More of that credit of accountability should go to the leaders of this team than necessarily the coaches on staff.”
When the captains — Mitchell, Seibert, Austin Flohre, Dohnovan Collins, Sean Wentling — considered each class they realized this could be a good season. Seniors, juniors and several sophomores are contributing. It’s a group that came close at Troy (16-7 loss) and beat Tipp (24-19) for the first time as a group.
“We just realized we could do something special,” Seibert said. “These junior and senior classes, and a lot of the younger sophomores that are pretty good, we just realized we have something here because these three classes combined are the real deal.”
The Aviators have the win over Tipp as a milestone. But they want more. They have clinched a playoff spot, are third in the Division III, Region 12 ratings and have put themselves in position to host a first-round playoff game. The last time the Aviators won a playoff game was 2002 when Gueth was a junior linebacker playing for Steve Pelfrey. That team went 9-1, beat Carroll 29-18, then lost to eventual Division II state champion Chaminade Julienne 26-25.
The last time the Avaitors hosted a playoff game was 2018 in John Puckett’s first season. The Aviators lost to Badin 33-22.
“For a handful of years, these opportunities haven’t presented themselves because we haven’t played well enough to put ourselves in them,” Gueth said. “So the stress and pressure that goes with this, should be welcomed. Because you’ve earned this opportunity. It’s not been given to them.”
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