Triway football combines power and precision to claim PAC title and playoff momentum

Third-year Triway football coach Cody Kelly thoroughly enjoys watching his skilled players move the ball through the air on offense.

Senior quarterback Luke Starr led the Titans (9-1, 5-1) to the outright Principals Athletic Conference title and a first-round Division V playoff bye with an area-best 2,202 yards passing and 26 touchdown passes.

Triway is the only team in the area to have three receivers with 35 or more receptions: junior Bruin Flinner (58-812 yards, 8 TDs), senior Olley Krupp (40-553-6) and junior Brandt Clippinger (35-446-7).

Senior running back/linebacker Grayson Smith (120-549 rushing, 9 TDs) and Starr (113-615-10) do more than just keep defenses honest with their legs. They can create major problems for the opposition.

What Kelly loves even more about the aforementioned players — and many of his other Titans — is they like to play “physical” football. The 2025 Titans’ skilled players enjoy delivering a hard-hitting run, bone-jarring block or tackle just as much as connecting for a long touchdown pass.

“The message since we’ve been here as a coaching staff has been this: ‘We're very good at throwing the ball, but in order to advance deep in the playoffs, it's always teams who can run the ball and play physical,’” Kelly said. “We've been preaching that, and they've bought into that culture of just wanting to hit.”

Triway actually gained more yards on the ground (197) than passing (142) in a 27-21 victory at Orrville in week 10, which, coupled with Manchester’s 21-7 win over Northwest, gave the Titans the outright PAC title.

Starr scored on TD runs of 40, 7 and 7 against the Riders, who were limited to 35 net yards rushing.

“Look at how we've won the last few weeks; it’s been running the ball and stopping the run,” Kelly said. “In years past that hasn't been us. If the passing game wasn't there, we didn't win that game.”

The Titans earned the No. 2 seed in Region 18 and will host the No. 10 Fredericktown (8-2) vs. No. 7 Fairview Park (8-2) winner at Jack Miller Field on Nov. 7.

Triway’s skilled players can turn in highlight reel catches on one play, then turn around on defense and deliver big hits. Flinner and Smith rank second and third, respectively, on the team in tackles while Clippinger (team-high four interceptions) and Krupp are outstanding cornerbacks.

In fact, Kelly has even had to tone down the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Flinner and 6-1, 200-pound Smith a few times in practice.

“They're extremely physical, which is what you like in your leaders,” Kelly said. “Bruin has great numbers as a receiver and is in the back end as a safety. He just loves to hit, and I’ve had to say, ‘Don’t hurt our own guys!’

“It’s the same with Grayson, who’s been a leader on the defense for two years. I've never met a kid with a better football IQ. Bruin’s also a very smart player.”

Starr, who passed for 3,110 yards and 25 TDs as a junior, is a left-hander who wears No. 15 just like his dad, Adam, did for Triway in the late 1990s. Stan “Coke” Starr, Luke’s grandpa and Adam’s dad, played quarterback and wore No. 15 for the Class of 1973.

“I’d play linebacker if the coaches would let me,” Luke Starr said, feeling a little left out of the talk about defense.

Starr is too valuable at quarterback, though, to risk an injury on defense.

“I could talk all day about what Luke does for us on the field, with his arm and his legs, but what he does off the field is probably more impressive,” said Kelly, a 2009 Triway graduate who’s also the defensive coordinator. “He's just a born leader. The guys gravitate toward him. He’s poised, does the right things and comes from a great family.”

Starr called it a blessing to play with such a well-rounded team. The Titans have never won more than one playoff game in a season, and the ultimate goal is to change that.

“We're not scared to say, ‘The main goal is state,’” said Starr, who helped Triway beat Johnstown Monroe 41-20 in the 2024 playoffs before falling to Milan Edison 42-21. The Titans wound up 8-4. “If you're not striving for that, then what's your purpose?”

Smith’s dad, Barry Smith, is the Titans’ offensive coordinator. The father-son duo is having the time of their lives this fall.

“I'm like an outcast when it comes to my extended family because I just sit with my dad and talk football the entire time,” Grayson Smith said. “None of my cousins really played football. My dad and I talk football at night at the dinner table. There's not a time where we don't talk about it.”

There are few times when Smith isn’t on the field. He only played defense last year but admitted also adding the role of primary running back can be exhausting.

“It’s fun also playing offense, but it can be so tiring,” Smith said.

Brandt Clippinger, who’s one minute older than his twin brother/safety Jaxon Clippinger, said it’s awesome being a “two-way” player and also getting to team up with Jaxon.

“We have a lot of depth, and we’re really good in our starting lineup,” Brandt Clippinger said.

Ollie Krupp has bounced back from an early-season injury to also start both ways.

“We have four wide receivers that are out there making plays,” Krupp said. “It's been really cool. Honestly, I don't know how other teams game plan for us. We get the ball all over the place.”

Center Joey Yacapraro, guards Landen Harvey and Harley Gasser, and tackles Roman Gilbert and Brayden Coolbaugh have given Starr time to throw or opened holes for the running game.

“I just love how close this team is,” Kelly said. “Whether a bunch of them are going out for a team meal or hanging out together, it's just a really tight-knit family. The parents and the community are behind them. It all makes coaching easy.”