Ulm leads St. John's back to state semifinal

DELPHOS - Delphos St. John's Wes Ulm took off on the run.

Then, it happened.

His knee buckled after a hit and he instantly knew it was bad.

The season-ending knee injury in Week 6 last year was a huge bump along the way. The Blue Jays went on to finish the year 2-8, their first losing season since 1995.

But the junior quarterback doesn't want to completely forget last season, either.

"Last year was a learning experience," Ulm said. "It taught me a lot and I feel a lot more experienced. I've seen so many defenses and different things that I feel comfortable in a lot of situations. I think it really helped me a lot last year.

"It wasn't very fun. I got beat up pretty good, but I didn't want to let those guys down. I learned a lot."

Ulm and the Blue Jays have had an amazing turnaround year. Delphos St. John's (11-2) will meet Sidney Lehman Catholic (11-1) in the Division VI football state semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wapakoneta's Harmon Field.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Ulm actually grew up playing on the offensive line. He pokes fun at that idea now.

"I played guard back in the midget days. I was a little pudge ball," he said with a laugh.

Ulm first played quarterback on the freshman team, but was mostly a running quarterback.

Last year as a sophomore he quarterbacked the varsity, which was heavily composed of young players, including freshmen.

Then, came the injury in Week 6 at Fort Recovery. He suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee.

"I got tackled against Fort Recovery," Ulm said. "I was running and he came down on my knee. It was torn to begin the season, I tore it during lifting in the summer, then I re-tore it worse and that's when I had to call it quits. I was done. ... It was frustrating (after the injury) because I couldn't do anything."

Ulm went to Cincinnati and had the surgery performed by noted Reds surgeon, Dr. Timothy Kremchek.

During the offseason, Ulm said the team was totally dedicated to working out.

"Going 2-8 last year, we knew we had to work hard," Ulm said. "We knew we had to push ourselves to the limit because we knew we had to get better."

Using his right arm and his legs this year, Ulm has been the catalyst in running the option attack. He's second on the team in rushing with 728 yards (5.4 average) with eight TDs.

"I just try to make people miss," Ulm said. "I don't really think, I just run. You just feel it. You feel where you should go and you feel how you should move. It just happens."

In the air, he's thrown for 1,033 yards with 14 TDs. He has six interceptions.

In the 38-28 regional championship victory over Ada, Ulm completed 6-of-9 for 121 yards and two TDs. He also ran for 86 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.

"He played one heck of a game all night," St. John's coach Todd Schulte said after the Ada game. "He was with it. He had it tonight, everything. A big game like this, those are the guys you expect to step up and make some big plays and he did it all night."

Ada coach Mike Fell added, "I really think their quarterback was the key. We couldn't tackle him."

The Blue Jays won state titles in 1997, '98, '99 and 2005. But coming off last year's 2-8 season, few expected this year's team to be one win away from competing for title No. 5.

"Just to be a part of (the tradition), it's great," Ulm said. "You expect to win. That's the biggest thing. If you don't win, it's a heartbreaker.

"Maybe we were (under the radar) to the public, but to us we knew where we were at. Everybody's been saying, ‘One more year, one more year,' but we wanted this year. We're ready to go."