Tonight's game will be the fifth game of the season for Columbian. So far, the Tornadoes have passed each test.
In truth, there is some question of whether TC really has been tested yet. In each of its four wins, the Tornadoes have been comfortably ahead in the second half.
So will tonight's game at Toledo Start, the last one before the Tornadoes enter Northern Ohio League play against Bellevue, be different?
"(Start's) a dangerous team; they definitely have our attention," Columbian coach Brian Colatruglio said. "We need to continue... I'm proud of our guys for showing up each week. We haven't had that game where, even like last year against Mansfield where we kind of let them come back in and were challenged in the second half. We've really done a great job of putting teams away."
Toledo Start comes into tonight's game with a 1-3 record. The Spartans lost their first three games by a combined score of 135-20, but rebounded in week 4 with a 28-7 win over Sandusky.
Last week marked a breakout performance for Start quarterback Arthur Phillips, who ran for 124 yards and a touchdown.
"(Start) switched quarterbacks, I think, after week 2 or 3," Colatruglio said. "They put in Phillips, who is 6-3, 205 pounds, and is pretty fast. He's much more a threat in the run game than he is in the pass game, but it fits him well."
On offense, Colatruglio said the Tornadoes need to assert themselves up front.
"Our advantage needs to be on the line of scrimmage," Colatruglio said. "(The Spartans) play a lot of different fronts, they move around a lot. We've got to be able to establish our run game."
That has been a TC staple, with Jack Jacoby, Ryan Lynch and Donovan Walker coming up with big games on the ground.
But there's something different this week for the Tornadoes. For the first time all season, they will be playing on a natural surface.
"A little nerve-wracking, it's the first time we're going to play on grass, which is different," Colatruglio said. "We're spoiled. We play on turf every single week and we get to practice on it all summer. It's a little bit different. Throw on top that it's supposed to rain, it could be something we haven't had to deal with yet."
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
