With seven playoff appearances in his 14 seasons as head coach at McDonald, Dan Williams’ teams have continued the tradition of McDonald football.

The Blue Devils returned to the playoffs last year after an absence of two years and find themselves at 5-0 headed into a big showdown at Western Reserve this week.

Q. How has your team progressed through the first half of the season?

A. We had a lot of holes from last year. This team has progressed well as we are going on here. Our motto is one game at a time and get better each week. We have proved ourselves against a couple of strong opponents early in Cuyahoga Heights and Springfield and that’s put us in position of having a big game this week.

Q. Are you getting better each week?

A. I think we are steadily improving. We were a little inexperienced up front, especially on offense, and those kids have really come along. They are playing good football now and have made the difference in our success.

Q. What is the strength of your team?

A. I think experience. We have a lot of kids who have played a lot of years of football. Three or four of them are three- or four-year starters and we have a lot of two-year starters. We have veteran experience on both sides of the ball and it’s helped us be successful to this point.

Q. What has been a pleasant surprise on the team?

A. Our ability to be more diverse offensively, throwing the ball in addition to running it, has been big. We have been mostly run-oriented in the past but now we can throw the ball with Ben Carkido and that makes a big difference. He started the last five games last year as a sophomore and the playoff game. Him coming back with that experience as a junior, with more confidence, makes us more of a threat throwing the football.

Q. How does McDonald’s tradition of success help to maintain the program at such a high level?

A. The kids come up through our program and they all want to leave their mark. They want to do better than the team before. They want to be mentioned or noticed as one of the best and that drives a lot of the kids. This senior class is no different. They got a taste of the playoffs last year and they want to leave their mark at McDonald.

Q. How have recent results against Western Reserve motivated your kids?

A. Any time as senior you have lost to an opponent as a freshman, sophomore and junior, that is motivation itself. They want their last year to be the year they finally beat Western Reserve.

Q. What problems does Western Reserve present as an opponent?

A. They are a great football team. They’ve been league champs the last three years now and if you want to be a champion you’ve got to beat the champion. That’s what our kids are focused on. Their (Western Reserve’s) success has kept us out of league contention and our kids will have to be up for the challenge. Western Reserve has a lot of weapons on offense and they play great defensively. It’s going to be a night when we have to go out and play our best.

Doug Chapin