Ottawa-Glandorf’s Jayden Stechschulte, left, congratulates Titan head coach Ken Schriner on Friday night after Schriner’s 200th career win.
Jessica Trinko | The Lima News
OTTAWA — There’s only one win that matters to Ottawa-Glandorf football coach Ken Schriner: The next one.
Schriner was in no mood to reminisce or celebrate Friday night after picking up his 200th career coaching victory by beating Elida, 28-7, even as the student section sprinted toward the 40-yard line to celebrate the accomplishment at Titan Stadium.
“I mean, we’ve got two wins under our belt. That’s the only thing that’s important,” Schriner said. “I’ll look back there someday and see it, but you know, it’s about the guys. It’s about the players. I learned a long time ago: Coaches lose games, and kids win the games.”
The fact is the kids win games when Schriner coaches them. Ottawa-Glandorf averages 7.1 wins per season over his 29-year tenure. The Titans have only had six losing seasons in his time, although quarterback and edge rusher Peyton Kuhlman acknowledged 1-9 and 2-8 campaigns the last two years slowed Schriner from hitting the milestone sooner.
“It’s a special moment,” Kuhlman said. “I mean, we should have got it how many years ago? We didn’t play very well then. Hopefully this year we keep riding that high and keep getting some wins under our belt and give him some more.”
Given the culture of success at Ottawa-Glandorf, it’s easy to forget it wasn’t always that way. Before Schriner arrived in 1996, the football team went the previous 12 years without a winning season.
Modern fans are more likely to remember better times, including a 22-16 record in the state tournament and 16 playoff appearances, including eight years in a row from 2005 to 2012. Their best showing was a state semifinal appearance against Kirkland in 2021.
The Titans also won the Western Buckeye League outright in 2012, 2007 and 2005 and earned a share of the title in 2020, 2016 and 2002.
Schriner, a former offensive lineman and graduate of Tiffin Calvert and Bowling Green State University, is the career wins leader at O-G. He became the 56th Ohio coach to ever reach the 200-win plateau, according to statistics from the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
He was the Division III co-coach of the year in the state in 1996 after guiding the Titans to their first winning season since 1983. He was also an all-Northwest District coach of the year in 1996, 2005, 2007, 2012 and 2019, as well as being The Lima News’ Dream Team Coach of the Year in 2012 when the team completed a 10-0 regular season.
Schriner is also the most-tenured coach in the Western Buckeye League. He earned a WBL Coach of the Year honor in 2016, and the other coaches look up to him.
“Coach Schriner is awesome. He does great things over there,” Elida coach Kyle Harmon said. “They’re so fundamentally sound and well-coached every time you play Ottawa-Glandorf. They’re going to do things right, and they’re going to be physical. Congrats to him.”
The Titans are now 2-2, 2-1 in the WBL this season. They’ve shown Schriner’s old-school offensive tactic of running the ball up the middle and just off the edge of the tackle is just as effective today as ever, with six rushers combining for 224 yards against Elida. The defense stifled the Bulldogs, allowing just 50 second-half yards while getting five sacks.
Kuhlman said with Schriner, what you see is what you get. The players knew about the coaching milestone, but Schriner never brought it up.
“He ain’t a very emotional guy,” the senior signal-caller quipped. “He’s pretty straightforward.”
He’s straightforward in thinking about that next win.
Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.
