VIENNA, Ohio (WKBN) – Bill Bohren will enter his 50th season as a high school football head coach this year. At 87 years old, Bohren will take over the football program at Mathews, and his goals are simple.
“Winning breeds winning and that’s what we need,” Bohren said. “We need Friday night wins.”
Those have been hard to come by at Mathews recently. The Mustangs lost seven games last year and finished the season with just 15 players. This year, they’ve doubled the number of kids playing football.
Bohren knows how to build a winning program, and he will do so in Vienna with the ground game.
“We’re going run the clock,” Bohren said. “I like to run the ball, and we’ll try and get balanced, but we’re going to run the football.”
“I think all of us have come together, and our teamwork is a lot better this year,” said Mathews senior running back Corey Lilley. “The little things, the details, we’ve worked on, a lot of that and keeping focus, and our attitude right.”
At 295 career wins, Bohren enters this season just five wins away from a milestone that only 15 coaches in Ohio history have reached. But he’s not chasing 300.
“I don’t think if you win 300, it’s no better than if you won 200. They say you got five more to go, I would like to win five games, but really I’d like to win five for these kids here that haven’t won five,” Bohren said. “I’ve had my wins as a player and as a coach. You know, who cares? That milestone is nothing.”
