Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association High School Football Notebook: Week 6
COLUMBUS – The 2023 Ohio high school football season now enters Week 7.
Once again the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association has compiled the top performances from around the state for this week’s high school football notebook following Week 6.
* The Ontario Warriors are 6-0 for the first time since the 2001 season after beating Galion 59-35. Bodpegn Miller went 15-for-21 for 329 yards passing with two touchdowns while running for 95 yards and two more scores. Chase Studer ran for 115 yards on 21 carries and Quin Frankhouse caught four passes for 191 yards and a TD as the Warrior offense was prolific.
* The Crestview Cougars ended a three-game losing streak in a big way with a 41-7 win over South Central as Ayden Reymer ran for 305 yards on 24 carries and four touchdowns to get the Cougars back on the winning track.
* Mansfield Senior’s Symirr Phillips had seven tackles with 3.5 going for a loss and 2.5 sacks in the Tygers’ 37-10 win over Lexington putting them all alone in first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. The Tygers piled up five sacks and nine tackles for loss while picking off two passes for their best defensive effort of the season.
* The Lucas Cubs pushed their winning streak to four games with a 31-28 win over Monroeville. Aidan Culler caught a 60-yard touchdown pass and booted a very important 30-yard field goal in the victory. Logan Toms ran for 108 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns.
* Shelby sophomore Brayden DeVito threw for 201 yards on 16-of-21 passing and added 91 yards rushing as he score two on the ground and two through the air giving him 26 total touchdowns in six weeks as the Whippets beat Highland 48-14 to remain tied for first in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
* It was a wild one at Northmont on Thursday night. The game between Miamisburg and Northmont had 10 lead changes and featured over 800 yards in offense. The last lead change came with :11 remaining when Miamisburg senior quarterback Preston Barr hit Keith Henry on an eight yard scoring strike for a 36-33 win. Barr finished 14 of 21 for 280 yards and four scores. Northmont quarterback Cahke’ Cortner finished 21 of 33 for 263 yards, three scores and an interception (the lone turnover of the game that led to a Miamisburg score). Miamisburg improves to 4-2 and 1-2 in the GWOC while Northmont falls to 3-3 and 0-3.
* McClain senior quarterback Drake Stapleton was 9-of-18 for 219 yards passing with one touchdown, plus he had six rushes for 33 yards and a touchdown in McClain’s 29-20 loss to Miami Trace in week 6. McClain wide receiver Max Eikenberry caught four passes for 110 yards and one touchdown.
* Hillsboro senior running back Austin Barrett rushed for 178 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown run in overtime in Hillsboro’s 23-17 win against Chillicothe in week 6, giving Barrett six consecutive 100-plus yard rushing games to start the 2023 season. Barrett also had two sacks on defense at linebacker. HHS senior defensive lineman Ayden Clemons finished with two sacks. Hillsboro sophomore running back Jeven Hochstuhl finished with 87 yards rushing with one rushing touchdown, and on special teams the sophomore blocked the game-winning field goal attempt in overtime.
* Hamilton junior defensive lineman Trey Verdon recorded three quarterback sacks of Fairfield’s Talon Fisher including one in overtime to help Big Blue secure a 31-28 victory on Friday night. It was only the second win for Hamilton in the last nine meetings between the two Butler County and Greater Miami Conference rivals.
* Badin’s Carson Cheek took the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in leading the state’s second-ranked team in Division III to a 28-3 win over Greater Catholic League Coed rival Fenwick on Friday.
* Franklin senior Josh Carter had his fourth 100-plus yard receiving game this season by catching 8 passes for 11 yards and a touchdown as the Wildcats knocked off Southwestern Buckeye League foe Monroe 28-14 on Friday. Carter has 26 receptions, 627 yards and 6 touchdowns which leads the league through six games this season. He is averaging 24.1 yards per catch and 125.4 yards per game.
*Nelsonville-York’s Makhi Williams completed 7-of-11 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 124 yards with three touchdowns on only four carries in the Buckeyes’ 47-14 Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division victory over Meigs. Gavin Richards led the defensive charge with 15 tackles, while adding eight carries and 61 yards and two receptions and 37 yards. He also had one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown.
* The Trimble Tomcats, of 30-year head coach Phil Faires, rushed for 497 yards in their 59-19 Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division victory over Racine Southern. Operating out of the ‘wishbone’ attack, Xavier Cunningham had 220 yards on 15 carries —with five touchdowns and four two-point conversions. Brandon Burnette added 102 yards on only four carries.
* Athens will have bragging rights over Logan for at least the next few years. Athens rallied for a 30-21 win at Logan Chieftain Stadium on Friday night in the 99th all-time meeting between the two schools. Logan is joining the Ohio Capital Conference starting next season, which did not leave an opening for the two schools to continue their long-running series in 2024. Athens scored 24 points in the fourth quarter, including 18 in the final three minutes for the comeback. Athens took a 24-21 lead on Braeden Young’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Leo Martin, then clinched the win with Luke Kaiser’s 60-yard interception return in the closing seconds. The first meeting between Logan and Athens came in 1907. Logan leads the all-time series 54-40-5.
* It was indeed a three-star offensive night for the Harvest Prep Warriors in their 32-16 non-league road win at Wheelersburg on Friday night. The sophomore quarterback Dezmond Porter rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns of 52 and 51 yards on 14 carries, and threw for a touchdown and completed a two-point conversion pass. Marchello Cox chipped in an even 100 rushing yards on only eight carries, as he had an 83-yard touchdown run. Chris Brown caught a pair of touchdown passes, part of four receptions for 45 yards. This was the first regular-season meeting between the Warriors and Pirates, as their only other meetings before Friday night were in the past two Division V Region 19 playoffs —a pair of close Warrior wins (20-17 in Region 19 final in 2021 and 25-21 in Region 19 semifinal in 2022). For the Pirates, in a losing effort for Friday night, senior Landon Hutchinson played the role of ‘wildcat’ quarterback —and rushed 32 times for 192 yards and Wheelersburg’s only two touchdowns.
* Portsmouth West junior running back Mason Parker rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries in the Senators’ 34-7 Southern Ohio Conference Division II home win over Minford.
* Portsmouth Notre Dame senior running back Jordan Davis rushed for 233 yards and five touchdowns on 27 carries in the Titans’ 40-6 Southern Ohio Conference Division I home win over South Gallia. He also ran in a two-point conversion try.
* Valley View senior quarterback Caden Henson broke the school record for career touchdown passes in the Spartans 49-0 win over Oakwood on Homecoming. Henson connected with Anthony Valenti on a 10-yard scoring strike for his 56th career touchdown pass. Henson broke the 23 year old record of Dustin Strayer.
* Franklin overcame 19 penalties to win their second in a row, 28-14 over Monroe on the road. Monroe was called for just two penalties. Quarterback Brock Childers was 15 of 21 for 204 yards and two scores. Hunter Pricket added 124 yards on 15 carries for the Wildcats
* Stebbins scored the game winner with :50 remaining for their first lead of the night in a 23-20 win over West Carrollton to increase West Carrollton’s losing streak to 27 in a row. West Carrollton took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a 88 yard fumble recovery by Jayden Bennett. The Pirates led 14-10 at the half and 20-10 heading into the fourth quarter. The Pirates’ last win came on Oct. 26, 2020 when they beat Xenia in overtime.
* Findlay’s Ryan Montgomery became the school’s career passing leader when he completed 21-of-31 passes for 367 yards and four touchdowns in the Trojans 53-0 win over (Holland) Springfield. Montgomery threw for 2,420 yards as a freshman, 1,787 as a sophomore and so far this year has 2,073 yards through six games. His 6,280 career yards are better than the 6,226 Kyle Johann compiled in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
* Columbus Grove’s Trenton Barraza carried 32 times for 258 yards and three TDs in the Bulldogs’ 47-28 win over Allen East.
* One week after Upper Sandusky’s Kaden Holman accounted for eight touchdowns (6 passing, 2 rushing) in a win over Bucyrus, the senior quarterback had 247 yards and four TDs passing and rushed for 220 yards and a score in the Rams’ 39-34 win over Mohawk.
* McComb’s Braxton Althauser caught a 46-yard touchdown pass, had a 5-yard TD run and returned a kickoff 73 yards for third score in the Panthers’ 61-16 win over (Mount Blanchard) Riverdale.
* The McConnelsville Morgan school district celebrated 100 years of high school football in Morgan County when they hosted Dresden Tri-Valley. The Malta-McConnelsville Big Reds' first full season of football was in 1923, finishing 4-3-1. Morgan came into existence after the consolidation of the Morgan County High Schools in the fall of 1966. Visiting Tri-Valley would score the last 21 points of the game to win a 56-28 shootout.
* Waterford quarterback Hayden Jones completed 17 of 29 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored a rushing touchdown in the Wildcats' 31-0 win at Frontier.
* Eastern Pike senior Teagan Werner was all over the field in the Eagles' 43-22 win at Sciotoville Friday night. Werner led the team in receiving yards, securing six passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. He also piled up 12 tackles on defense and had a pick-6 TD with a return of 70+ yards. Eastern improved to 6-0 for the first time in program history.
* Antwerp running back Reid Lichty was busy on Friday for the D-VII No. 7 Archers, rushing for 97 yards and two TDs on 12 carries, catching six passes for 67 yards and recording two interceptions in a 45-8 win over Sherwood Fairview.
* Napoleon senior Trey Rubinstein intercepted four passes from Fremont Ross, returning one for a touchdown on the game’s first possession, while adding five tackles and two receptions for 50 yards and a TD in the Wildcats’ first Northern Lakes League divisional game, a 41-21 victory.
* Liberty Center rolled up 399 yards rushing on just 35 attempts, led by Colton Kruse’s nine carries for 189 yards and four TDs, as the D-V No. 3 Tigers beat down Bryan, 63-7.
* Holgate QB Xavier McCord was dominant with his arm (8-of-12, 195 yards, four TDs) and legs (five carries, 115 yards, one TD) in a 64-14 Northern 8 victory over league newcomer Sebring McKinley.
* Kobe Foor racked up 215 yards and four rushing touchdowns while nabbing a 37-yard reception for Paulding in the Panthers’ 54-20 win over Edgerton to give Paulding a 4-2 record through six games for the first time since 1996.
* Patrick Henry running back Houston Miranda scored all four PH touchdowns as the D-VII No. 2 Patriots held off Wauseon for a 30-24 win to set up a battle of unbeatens with rival Liberty Center (No. 3 Division V) in week seven.
* Upper Sandusky’s Kaden Holman had another huge week in a 39-34 comeback win against Mohawk. He accounted for 466 yards, going 15-of-30 passing for 244 yards and four touchdowns and rushing 26 times for 222 yards.
* Kaiden Blair rushed for five touchdowns, racking up 149 yards on 12 carries, while Anthony Evans gained 153 yards and scored twice on 13 carries as Wynford totaled 592 yards of offense and beat rival Bucyrus for the 26th straight year 70-18.