Staff file photo / Brian Yauger Warren JFK’s Caleb Hadley stiff arms a Newark Catholic defender during the Eagles’ state semifinal victory. Kennedy takes on New Bremen today in the Division VII state championship. A win would be JFK’s third state title in program history.

WARREN — When Warren John F. Kennedy played for a state championship two years ago, it was a different team with different players and different skill sets.

That year, the Eagles fell to New Bremen 31-0.

Now this year, a new moment is here as the Eagles look to redeem themselves today against the same team on the same stage in search of their first Division VII state championship since 2016.

“I don’t want to say this is full circle because I don’t want this to be the end of it,” JFK head coach Dom Prologo said. “I’m hoping that we continue to have these kinds of runs year after year.

“Our goal (in 2020) was to get to the championship, and we got there. I think we took the wrong stance at the start of the year and that was saying here at Kennedy, we’re expected to play for championships, whereas after that, we started saying we’re expected to win championships. I think this year our kids are excited that they earned the opportunity to go back and try to win one.”

Like 2020, Kennedy’s obstacle this year for the title is a stout one.

New Bremen plays in one of the toughest, deepest conferences in the state — the Midwest Conference, consisting of teams like Maria Stein Marion Local, Coldwater and Minster — all perennial powerhouses that have won state titles in recent years and compete at the highest level every year.

“Offensively, they’re very similar (to 2020),” Prologo said. “I expect to see a lot of the same plays, but defensively, they’ve changed a lot. They changed their scheme, but they still play the same aggressive style of defense that they did back then. But at the end of the day, you have two teams that have the same mentality. You’re going to try to see who’s the toughest, who’s more physical.”

Leading the Cardinals’ offense at quarterback is David Homan, who has proved to be a threat with both his arm and his legs.

Homan has completed 57.2 percent of his passes for 1,453 yards and 14 touchdowns, but where he’s most dangerous is on the ground. He’s run for 1,615 yards and 22 touchdowns on 237 carries.

“(The Cardinals’) quarterback back then was more of a thrower, but (Homan) is the best athlete they have,” Prologo said. “He loves to compete, and he’s a kid that wills his team to win.”

Completing the rushing tandem for New Bremen is a familiar face in senior running back Hunter Schaefer, who leads the Cardinals with 1,803 yards and 26 touchdowns.

“Their tailback, played him as a sophomore,” Prologo said. “He’s a kid that runs hard, and he’s a nice player, too.”

The familiarity that each team has with one another is an asset to both squads, and whichever team executes things on the field better likely will come out on top.

“They’ve seen us before, and they’ve seen the type of football that we play,” Prologo said. “I’m sure they’re confident with the fact that they were able to come and be more physical than us that day (in 2020). In their mind, that’s where they’re at. But as far as we’re concerned, we saw the style that they want to play and now that our kids have seen it, we can go play.”

Even though the Eagles only have six seniors, it’s a senior class that has won many games during their high school careers and now they have the opportunity to end their careers on the highest of highs — with a state championship.

“This is what we’ve been talking about the last two years, getting here,” said senior lineman Patrick Valent. “I saw it in 2020 — we focused on really getting there and taking that step to get to the state championship. Now we’re making it clear that we want to finish. What we’ve done up to this point doesn’t matter. It’s all about finishing (today), and it means the world to have a chance to do that.”

nmadhavan@tribtoday.com