Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association High School Football Notebook: Week 2
Week 2 is in the books and Ohio has proven yet again to be a football state. Let’s check out some of the top performances from all around the Buckeye State with this week’s Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association High School Football Notebook.
* Ashland Crestview’s Liam Kuhn threw for 205 yards and three touchdowns as the Cougars beat East Knox 20-14 giving him his first win as a varsity quarterback. Kuhn’s two older brothers were QBs at Crestview before he took the helm this year.
*Ontario’s Bodpegn Miller threw for 154 yards on just 10 completions with a touchdown and also ran for one more during the Warriors’ 35-0 win over Centerburg. Through two games this year, Miller has already thrown for 351 yards and is competing 60% of his passes.
*Mansfield Senior’s Nate Dismuke made his first start at quarterback since the 8th grade and didn’t disappoint. He completed 6-of-11 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the Tygers’ 24-14 win over defending Division III state champ Canfield.
*Shelby’s Issaiah Ramsey piled up 202 receiving yards and three touchdowns to lead the Whippets to a 50-19 win over Lexington. The Whippets now have 91 points through the team’s first two games and Ramsey is a key reason why.
* Buckeye Central scored a school record for points in a 67-0 home shutout over Fremont St. Joseph. Running backs Isaac Hiler (14-103), Dom Dean (7-74) and freshman Elijah Cline (12-68) led the way on the ground and Heath Jensen caught 5 balls for 94 yards. Derex Dean passed for 216 yards on 11-of-14 attempts. Phillips scored 3 TDs and Jensen a pair as BC moved to 2-0. The Bucks had 482 yards of total offense and limited SJCC to -2 yards overall.
* Wynford’s Anthony Evans rushed 16 times for 172 yards and two touchdowns in the Royals’ gutsy 22-20 win over Pleasant, he accounted for 61% of the team’s offense.
* Colonel Crawford’s Micah Thomas carried the ball 10 times for 122 yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ 57-13 win over Cardinal Stritch.
* Nelsonville-York’s Gavin Richards made 12 tackles, two tackles for loss and two pass breakups, forced a fumble and had one interception on defense, and rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries on offense, in the Buckeyes’ 21-9 victory over Newark Catholic on Friday night.
* The Coal Grove Hornets allowed Lucasville Valley to return the opening kickoff for a touchdown on Saturday, then answered with the game’s final 52 points in a matter of 33 minutes —en route to a 52-6 victory. Kaden Murphy rushed 14 times for 168 yards and three touchdowns, and caught a 69-yard touchdown pass — plus had a two-point conversion run. Kaden Turner toted nine rushes for 69 yards and two touchdowns, and Gavin Gipson had four two-point conversion runs before his 4-yard touchdown run 30 seconds into the fourth quarter closed the scoring.
* Waverly senior running back Jase Hurd amassed 296 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries in the Tigers’ 42-28 victory over Zane Trace on Friday night. Hurd had a nine-and-a-half yards per carry average, and only had one carry of negative yardage —as he had 298 yards of positive rushing yardage.
* Ironton’s all-purpose standout Shaun Terry was named the Fighting Tigers’ Most Valuable Player in the team’s 35-14 victory over Jackson on Saturday night —in the nightcap of three games of the second annual Ironton Gridiron Classic. Terry first caught a 77-yard first-quarter touchdown pass, then rushed for two fourth quarter touchdowns of 51 and 52 yards. His first two TDs were the only plays of the Ironton possession, while his final score was the second play of a series. Terry also returned three punts for 41 yards and one kickoff for 24 yards, and defensively made five tackles with one pass breakup.
* Portsmouth West’s Mason Parker rushed for 138 yards and three second-half touchdowns on 16 carries and made 18 tackles including one for loss with a fumble recovery on defense, in the Senators’ 31-14 victory over archrival Portsmouth on Friday night. Parker sprinted for scores of 44 and 45 yards as part of that TD hat trick, as the Senators scored the game’s final 24 points over the final 15 minutes and 28 seconds. West’s win was also the first time since 2017 in its series with Portsmouth that the home team has won. The road team had been victorious in all five meetings from 2018 thru 2022.
* Wheelersburg sophomore quarterback Braylon Rucker, making only his second career varsity start, completed 11-of-16 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown in the Pirates’ 20-17 victory over Cincinnati McNicholas on Friday night. He also completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to senior Devon Lattimore, who made six receptions for 103 yards —while fellow senior Creed Warren caught three passes for 104 yards.
* Collins Western Reserve junior running back Conner Dawson ran 25 times for 338 yards and three touchdowns, then added the game-winning 2-point conversion run in overtime of a 44-43 win at Castalia Margaretta. Dawson's totals broke the old single-game program record of 334 yards, set by Blake Buckhannon in 2011.
* Tri-Village senior running back Reed Wehr 367 total yards rushing for 302 yards on 15 carries and had TD runs of 62, 60, 52, and 42 yards and had two receptions for 65 yards including a 47-yarder in the Patriots 48-14 win over Preble Shawnee. Wehr is a 4-year starter and is the school’s all-time leading rusher coming into this season with 4,066 yards. Tri-Village is a DVI football team and plays in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference.
* Bryan senior quarterback Jase Kepler rushed for 162 yards and four touchdowns and senior running back Sam Herold had 193 rushing yards as the Golden Bears beat host Maumee 42-35. The Bears rushed for 436 yards and five TDs. Kepler also passed for 96 yards and one TD on 9-of-11 passing.
* Ohio State committee Tavien St. Clair passed for 346 yards and three touchdowns, but Coldwater held on to defeat St. Clair’s Bellefontaine squad 28-25. The Coldwater win extended their home non-conference (including playoffs) winning streak to 21 straight games. The last non-conference home loss for Coldwater was to Kenton in 2013.
* Michael Farrell, junior quarterback at Bay High School (Bay Village, Cuyahoga County) specializes in two of a kind. In Bay's opening win he threw two touchdown passes and two interceptions. This past Friday he threw two touchdown passes and lost two fumbles in a win over Field. It would seem that a pair of two-point conversions and two-point safeties are in his future.
* Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph put a damper on Youngstown Cardinal Mooney's celebration of its 1973 Class AAA state championship team. With Mooney's Ted Bell, the 1973 Ohio Back of the Year, in attendance, the Vikings rushed for 486 yards and had 688 total yards in a 47-21 victory. Senior Amani Powell of VASJ rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries, and turned a screen pass into a 60-yard score. Junior Lamar "Bo" Jackson had 156 yards rushing on 14 carries and scored once on the ground and once on a 74-yard pass play.
* All three winning teams in the Ironton Gridiron Classic scored 35 points Saturday. The host Fighting Tigers defeated Jackson 35-14, Hyattsville (Maryland) DeMatha Catholic beat Springfield 35-7, and Martinsburg (West Virginia) topped Clarkson North (Canada) 35-7.
* Findlay’s Ja’vonte Hill, whose leaping one-handed grab for a touchdown in a Week 1 game against Toledo Central Catholic was No. 2 on ESPN’s plays of the day, caught six passes for 141 yards and two TDs in Friday’s 43-0 win over Lima Senior.
* Riverdale quarterback Heath Dunbar completed 15 of 21 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a TD as well in the Falcons 40-27 win over Ada.
* Leipsic’s Estevan Carillo carried the ball just three times, but ran for 135 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Vikings 48-0 win over Van Buren.
* Vanlue, still playing 11-man football despite being one of the smallest schools in the state, ended a 25-game losing streak with a 56-28 win over Williamsport. It was the Wildcats first win since a 48-0 victory over Cory-Rawson on Sept. 52, 2020.
* Patrick Henry coach Bill Inselmann achieved a career milestone on Friday, earning his 250th career win when the Patriots beat Wayne Trace 34-12. Inselmann quarterbacked Patrick Henry to the playoffs in 1977. He has taken the program to the playoffs 20 more times as head coach, capped by a Division V state championship in 2005.
* Defiance snapped a 14-year losing streak to Wapakoneta, holding off the Redskins 16-13 for the first win since 2009. Brogan Castillo rushed for 163 yards to become the 10th Bulldog to hit 2,000 career rushing yards as Defiance moved to 2-0 for the first time since 2018.
* In the eight-man football scene, Holgate quarterback Xavier McCord did it all in a 54-20 win over Sandusky St. Mary’s Central Catholic. McCord passed for 202 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for 122 yards and two more scores and returned an interception for a touchdown.
* Stryker quarterback Jacob Cadwell and receiver Jacob Myers were connected well in a 42-0 win over North Adams-Jerome (Mich.). Myers caught 14 passes for 131 yards and four touchdowns while Cadwell finished 20-of-31 with 254 yards and five TD passes.
* Antwerp senior quarterback Carson Altimus has as many incompletions as touchdown passes (nine) through two games as the Archer field general completed 18-of-25 passes for 293 yards and five scores and added a rushing TD in Antwerp’s 54-24 win at Edon.
* McConnelsville Morgan won the first game played at the new Raider Stadium with a 33-22 victory over Vincent Warren. Raider quarterback Logan Niceswanger was 11 of 17 for 182 yards passing and three TDs. He also rushed for 96 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Niceswanger's primary target, Kole Searl, hauled in seven passes for 107 yards and a score.
* Brian Cross won his first game as head coach of Ashville Teays Valley. The Vikings pulled away with a 21-point fourth quarter to defeat Logan 28-6. Cross, 71, who was inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2020, is in his 26th year as a head coach with previous stops at Canton McKinley, Grove City, Bishop Ready, Eastmoor Academy, Olentangy Orange and Pymatuning Valley. He has a 249-147 career record. The Vikings were aided by a scoop-and-score touchdown from Brody Mann and a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown by Weston Gray.
* Circleville Logan Elm's Landon Thompson rushed for 121 yards and scored four touchdowns in a 43-6 win over Williamsport Westfall. The Braves led just 14-6 at halftime but rattled off 29 straight points in the second half to pull away for their second victory of the season.
* Bethel-Tate's Nolan Darnell ran 14 times for 134 yards and had 16 tackles, including 2 for loss, in an 18-14 win over Bishop Brossart (Ky.)
* Logan Chesser of Clinton-Massie ran for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns, including an 81 yarder, in the Falcons’ 42-0 win over Trenton Edgewood.
* In a wild Southern Buckeye Athletic & Academic Conference shootout, Williamsburg defeated New Richmond 54-39. The teams combined for 957 yards on offense. JJ Miller of Williamsburg passed for 218 yards and 3 TDs while running for 134 yards and 2 more scores. Brady Young of New Richmond passed for 393 yards and 6 TD with Trey Sininger on the receiving end of 9 passes good for 203 yards and 4 TDs
* Batavia's Max Mehlman caught 17 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown in the Bulldogs 35-20 loss to Blanchester. If official, Mehlman's 17 catches would put him in the top 25 all-time in state history.
* Washington High School's Mason Coffman racked up 342 all-purpose yards in a 39-20 win over Western Brown. Coffman recorded four interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns of 53 and 98 yards. He added another touchdown on offense and defensively recorded seven tackles with four passes broken up.
* Tri-Valley’s Jayden Wallace scored four TDs and churned up 168 yards in a 42-7 win over Licking Heights.
* Piketon junior receiver Mason Thacker finished with five catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came on an 86-yard reception from sophomore quarterback Luke Gullion in Piketon's 34-0 win over Oak Hill. Piketon sophomore Gavin Blanton had pair of interceptions with 74 return yards, including a pick-6, in his team's 34-0 win over Oak Hill.
* Ian Ludewig broke Hudson’s single-game school rushing record with 345 yards and three TDs on 27 carries in a 45-8 win against North Canton Hoover. Josh Holden set the previous mark of 333 yards in 1998. Through two weeks this season, Ludewig already has eight TDs and 555 yards.
* Cam Boone of Lakewood St. Edward found himself matched up Sunday with Florida State recruit Elijah Moore during the Eagles’ showdown on ESPN with Our Lady of Good Counsel from Olney, Md. Boone kept Moore to one reception for 12 yards in St. Edward’s 28-7 win.
* One week after Glenville coach Ted Ginn Sr. pulled running back D’Shawntae Jones before he could rush for a promised 200 yards, Jones doubled his carries with 22 and finished with 205 yards in a 34-10 win at Olentangy Liberty. Jones scored three times. He now has seven on the season against a Division I Ohio opponent and defending Virginia Class 4A state champion.
* Cedarville's Tyler Cross had a receiving touchdown on offense, two interceptions on defense and kicked five extra points in a 35-0 win at East Clinton. The senior never played organized football prior to this season.
* Cooper Payton for Greeneview accumulated 21 total tackles, 3 for loss and had 2 sacks in a loss at Waynesville.
* Whitehouse Anthony Wayne junior quarterback Grant Kinnee was a true double threat in Friday's 48-19 win over Toledo St. John's Jesuit. Kinnee rushed 11 times for 171 yards, including touchdown runs of 3, 20, 60, and 1 yard, and was 11-of-17 passing for 157 yards and two TDs (39 and 28 yards).
* South Charleston Southeastern High School senior Jonah Asebrook had three interceptions as the Trojans beat Sidney Lehman Catholic 20-21 on Saturday night at Sidney Memorial Stadium, tying the previous school record set by Darrin Spitzer in 1984. Trojans Junior Hayden Davis rushed for three touchdowns and caught another as Southeastern improved to 2-0.
* Springfield Northwestern High School quarterback Ried Smith threw for four touchdown passes as the Warriors beat Springfield Greenon 34-0 on Friday night at Taylor Field in Springfield. The victory came three days after a Northwestern elementary school bus that carried 52 students and one driver overturned in a crash involving an oncoming vehicle, leaving one student dead and dozens of others injured. Northwestern first-year head coach Lance Lambert also earned the first coaching victory of his career.
* Junior quarterback Mason Heintschel of Oregon Clay was 22 of 32 passing for 273 yards and four touchdowns (8, 35, 17, and 24 yards) in a 42-35 win at Sylvania Northview. Heintschel also rushed 14 times for 123 yards, scoring on runs of 8 and 42 yards.