This wasn’t a typical start to the McDonald High football season.

The Blue Devils lost two of its first three games and coach Dan Williams wasn’t sure which way things would go from there.

“It was gut-check time, that’s for sure,” said Williams who has guided the Blue Devils for the last eight seasons. “These seniors are mentally tough and they were around a lot of winning the last three years so I knew they had a lot of pride.”

And talent.

It just took a little time to mesh and ...

As usual, the finish has been just like the past four years — an Inter Tri-County Tier 2 League Championship and a trip to the postseason.

Only this year, McDonald is playing beyond week 11.

The Blue Devils lost the last four Division VI, Region 21 playoff games before defeating league rival Western Reserve last Friday to advance to a regional semifinal game against Dalton.

Q. After the 1-2 start this year, how were you able to get things turned around?

A. These [24] seniors are committed to winning and they proved that the last eight weeks of this season. We’ve had two undefeated seasons and so these seniors weren’t used to losing around here. Each kid had to look around at each other and look in the mirror as individuals and they made a pact amongst each other that they were going to get this thing turned around and here we are eight weeks later with an 8-0 record and practicing for a Week 12 game.

Q. You didn’t really have any stars among this group like you have had in the past with tailbacks Nick Cupan, Alex Sampson and quarterback Matt Krumpak. Was your staff’s coaching job different heading into this season?

A. It took time to get kids in the right positions. We have 24 seniors but a lot of them didn’t have Friday night game experience. We had 19 seniors last year so a lot of these kids were backups last year and our senior quarterback (Matthias Tayala) wasn’t even on the team last year. Once we got kids in the right positions, and it cost us two games, these kids made us coaches look good. It’s been a pleasure to watch them get experience and watch them grow throughout the season. To do a great coaching job you have to have great kids and we certainly have that here at McDonald. Coaching-wise, we tried to coach ’em up, tutor them and motivate them as they got off to a slow start and that was our main job was.

Q. How much of a role did pride and tradition play in your team’s turnaround?

A. This community here and this school prides itself in its tradition. We have an 80-plus year tradition of successful football here, winning over 500 football games and this team was no different than any other here. They came out and worked hard and did what was necessary to get us to this point this weekend. They could have quit after that start but that’s not what these kids are all about.

Q. How important is it to you personally to lead your team into the playoffs again for the fifth straight season and maintain this great winning tradition?

A. I’ve been here. I grew up here. I’ve lived here my whole life and was a part of two playoffs teams as a player my junior and senior years under Andy Golubic and so this means a lot to me. It was important for me to keep our success going but not for me but more for the kids. It’s all about the kids. They deserve the accolades. But another keen thing is that most of my staff is all McDonald guys too and we all played here on this football field so its definitely a great thing to be a part of all this.

Q. What impresses you most about this year’s team?

A. Their will to win. They’ve gone undefeated the past two years and they are playing now in Week 12. Many of these kids are a part of a basketball team that has won 40 straight basketball games. It’s just something about this group of seniors. They aren’t the biggest or fastest athletes around but they refuse to lose. I remember losing our first game of the season to Springfield Local and that was the first defeat in a regular season game for many of these kids and it was like they lost the state championship. I think those early losses are still driving our success.

Q. What’s the excitement like now that your team is playing in Week 12 for the first time since the 1989 state runner-up McDonald team?

A. The kids are really excited and confident and its been just great for our program. These seniors are special like I said. They’ve only lost four regular season games in four years. They have won four straight league titles, been in the playoffs four straight years and now they are in their first regional semifinal game. The community and school is very proud how they have helped grow the great tradition we have here in sports at McDonald.

Interview conducted by Chuck Housteau.