DANVILLE — The season was only five weeks old, but Jacob Hackman and his Danville teammates found themselves at a crossroads.
The Blue Devils were a game over .500 at the season’s midway point after a 41-6 loss at Northmor — the program’s most lopsided setback since the pandemic-altered 2020 season.
While two losses in a three-week span and a 3-2 record don’t exactly amount to a look-in-the-mirror sort of crisis for a typical high school football team, there’s nothing typical about Danville.
No program in Knox County has enjoyed more success, especially in the past two years.
Danville reached the Region 25 championship game in 2022 and again in 2023. Region 25 encompasses northeast Ohio and the team that has beaten Danville in the regional final has gone on to play for the small-school state title each of the past two seasons.
“That was kind of a tough stretch for us,” Hackman said of Danville’s uneven start after throwing a career-high four touchdown passes in last week’s 54-0 opening-round win over Bridgeport in the Region 27 playoffs.
“We had to decide how our season was going to play out.”
Danville followed up the loss to Northmor with 22-0 win over Loudonville in the mud at Tough Street Stadium in Weeks 6.
It was the first of what is an active six-game winning streak that included victories over playoff qualifiers Centerburg and Fredericktown and rival East Knox in the annual Devil-Dog Game.
“Ever since that Northmor loss, we’ve done a complete 180,” coach Matthew Blum said. “It goes back to our kids.
“They had a decision to make after that game. They could have folded or went back to work on Monday and they went back to work. We’re seeing the by-product of that now.”
Danville earned the No. 1 seed in Region 27, which stretches from the central part of the state southeast to the Ohio River.
The road to a regional title and the state semifinals is considerably more navigable through Region 27 than it was through the meat-grinder that is Region 25.
The Blue Devils (9-2) are the overwhelming favorite to win the regional championship.
Danville’s second-half surge has been the result of a resurgent defense. The Blue Devils gave up 19.2 points a game through the first five weeks. Since then, Danville has allowed 28 points in six games and authored three shutouts.
Danville ranked second in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference in rushing defense, allowing just 84.2 ground yards a game. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils have 18 interceptions — twice as many as any other team in the conference.
“I don’t know if it’s a school record, but those guys are getting the job done,” Blum said. “Our defensive backs coach, Zack Melton, has done a fantastic job with our secondary.”
The offense has done its part, too. Running back Aidan Burke scored three touchdowns last week, two on the ground and one through the air. Levi Furay, Aidan Mickley and Caleb Lucas all caught TD passes.
A senior, Hackman completed 8-of-13 passes for 132 yards. Half of his competitions went for touchdowns.
“We just felt like we had some advantages in our matchups between our receivers and their cornerbacks,” Hackman said. “We have overcome some obstacles and we’ve continued to get better.”
The Blue Devils will host No. 8 seed Portsmouth Notre Dame on Friday. The Titans (6-5) roughed up ninth-seeded Shadyside 34-12 last week.
None of it would have been possible were it not for that soul-searching moment in late-September.
“Our guys could have pretty easily packed it in after the Northmor game and gone 5-5. Instead they made to the decision to buck up and go 8-2,” Blum said after the win over Bridgeport. “It speaks to the level of leadership shown by the seniors and the willingness of the younger kids to buy in. I couldn’t be more proud of them.
“We’ll enjoy this win, but the job’s not done. Our goals are a lot bigger than this.”