September 12, 2023
Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association High School Football Notebook: Week 4
Great performances from all around Ohio continue taking place every weekend! Here is this week’s Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association High School Football Notebook following the fourth week of the regular season.
* Mansfield Senior’s Amarr Davis caught the 141st pass of his career breaking the all-time record in Tyger history topping Michigan State’s Angelo Grose for the most catches in history. In Week 1, Davis broke the all-time receiving yards record and currently sits at 2,190.
* Ontario’s Bodpegn Miller accounted for six touchdowns in the Warriors’ 56-21 win over River Valley. He completed 16-of-19 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns while running for 89 yards and two more scores as the Warriors jumped out to a 35-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Warriors are 4-0 for the first time since 2011.
* The sophomore Lexington trio of Markale Martin, Joe Caudill and Seven Allen accounted for all of the Minutemen’s touchdowns in a 31-17 win over Mount Vernon. Martin had 181 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Caudill ran for 128 and a score as Allen collected a 95-yard kickoff return. The Minutemen are on a two-game winning streak.
* Lucas’ Logan Toms ran for 210 yards and four touchdowns as the Cubs beat Warrensville Heights 49-14 by not attempting a single pass. It was the second consecutive game the Cubs won without throwing a single pass as they are on a two-game winning streak.
* Shelby’s Brayden DeVito ran for 194 yards including a 99-yard touchdown, tied for the longest running touchdown in OHSAA history, while also throwing for 194 yards. He had five total touchdowns, three passing and two rushing, in a 45-14 victory.
* Galion's Braxton Prosser was 6-of-11 passing for 188 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing six times for 31 yards in the Tigers' big win over Clear Fork.
* Colonel Crawford's three-headed rushing attack of Trevor Vogt, Micah Thomas and Conner McMichael combined for six touchdowns — two each — in the Eagles' win over Bucyrus.
* Mohawk quarterback Ben Bogner ran for 137 yards and passed for 174 on 17-of-21 attempts as the Warriors defeated Buckeye Central 56-15.
* Liberty-Benton’s Mason Modd completed 17-of-23 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns and added 53 yards and two TDs on the ground in the Eagles’ 50-14 win over Port Clinton.
* McComb’s Braxton Althauser rushed for 228 yards on just nine carries and scored on 40-, 36-, 52- and 64-yard bursts as the Panthers improved to 4-0 with s 63-7 win over Van Buren.
* Kenyon Franklin, senior running back at Gallia Academy, had 173 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns in Friday's 47-21 home win over conference foe Chesapeake. Franklin had 69 yards rushing and two touchdowns on five carries plus five catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns to help the Blue Devils improve to 4-0 overall, 1-0 Ohio Valley Conference.
* Layne Miller and Devin Graham each scored a pair of touchdowns in Mogadore’s 28-0 victory against Newark Catholic, sending the Green Wave to the first 0-4 start in their storied history. The Wildcats pulled to within 6-5 in the series, which includes eight meetings in state tournament.
* Logen Fisher caught a touchdown pass, kicked the go-ahead field goal and made the game-sealing interception during Utica’s 17-16 victory at Pataskala Licking Heights. Utica is off to its first 3-1 start since 2002 and picked up its first road win since 2018.
* Sean Patrick of Chagrin Falls Kenston hardly ever came off the field in a 49-27 win against Villa Angela-St. Joseph. He scored five TDs, starting with a 76-yard kickoff return on a squib kick that was intended to avoid him at the beginning of the games. Patrick scored four more times, rushing for 204 yards on 24 carries.
* Marco Cirigliano of Columbia Station Columbia scored two second-half TDs and rushed for 210 yards on 34 carries in a 21-7 win at Oberlin Firelands.
* Former Ohio State lineman Chase Farris won his first game as a head coach, and Elyria Catholic senior quarterback Hector Garcia threw for 332 yards with three TDs in a 42-17 win against Parma Heights Holy Name.
* Medina Buckeye coach Greg Dennison won his 199th game, becoming Medina County’s all-time leader in victories, while Troy McCann rushed for 221 yards and four TDs on 26 carries to lead the Bucks at North Olmsted, 48-28.
* Lakewood St. Edward sophomore running back Brandon White scored three times, including two rushing TDs and 134 yards on 16 carries in the Eagles’ 34-33 comeback win Saturday at Cincinnati Elder. White also had 38 yards and a score on three receptions.
* Williamsburg quarterback JJ Miller threw for eight touchdown passes, as Williamsburg defeated Hillsboro 57-27 in Week 4. Miller also had four 2-point conversion passes, as he was a part of 56 of the 57 points scored by the Wildcats in their win at Ken Osborne Field at Abrams Stadium. Miller's eight touchdown passes broke the school record previously held by the late Bill Brewer.
* Hillsboro sophomore Jeven Hochstuhl had eight carries for 147 yards with three touchdowns in Hillsboro’s loss to Williamsburg. Hillsboro senior Austin Barrett scored one rushing touchdown and had over 130 yards rushing (including 75 yards in the first quarter), for his fourth straight game of over 100 yards rushing to start the season.
* McClain senior Andrew Potts finished with 29 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers’ 22-6 win over East Clinton in Week 4.
* Antwerp QB Carson Altimus and receiver Cam Fuller had a solid connection going in the Archers’ 39-6 win at Hicksville. Fuller caught five passes for 155 yards and three TDs from Altimus, who finished 15-of-21 for 255 yards, five TDs and no interceptions.
* Defiance’s Brez Zipfel had a career day in the Bulldogs’ 43-42 heartbreaker loss to Van Wert, completing 14-of-20 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns while rushing seven times for 61 yards and a score. Top target Anthony Wilder hauled in nine catches for 129 yards and three TDs while rushing three times for 41 yards and another TD.
* Cam Kahle of Liberty Center found the endzone non-offensively for the unbeaten Tigers, returning an interception for a score and a kick return for a TD in LC’s 42-14 rout of Archbold in a battle of NWOAL unbeatens.
* Paulding linebacker Jack Woods was busy on defense in the Panthers’ 20-17 home loss to Ayersville, racking up 14 tackles with two forced fumbles and most notably a pair of tackles for Ayersville safeties.
* Tinora running back Grady Gustwiller scored four of the Rams’ six touchdowns in a 42-14 victory at Fairview, rushing for 116 yards and three touchdowns while recording a pick-six defensively.
* Dylan Boecker was busy for Holgate in a 58-12 Northern 8 Conference win over Danbury, rushing three times for 52 yards and a touchdown, catching three passes for 101 yards and three TDs and recording five tackles, three for loss.
* South Gallia defeated Manchester 39-6 Friday to improve to 3-1, it’s best start since opening 6-1 in 2011.
* Chesapeake is 3-1, it’s best opening since going 3-0-1 in 2017.
* South Point beat Coal Grove 33-20 Friday to break a 16-game losing streak against the Hornets. The Pointers are 3-1 for the first time since 2013 and have won three consecutive games for the first time since October of 2013.
* The 34 points Ironton gave up in a 13-point loss to Ona (West Virginia) Cabell Midland is the most the Fighting Tigers have surrendered in a regular-season game since a 36-33 setback vs, Gallia Academy Oct. 19, 2018.
* West Muskingum running back Rashid Sesay had more than 180 total yards of offense and scored four times and defensive lineman Colin Thornton collected three sacks in a 34-13 win over New Lexington.
* Quarterback Max Lyall, of Tri-Valley, threw for 242 yards and accounted for 4 TDs in a 38-13 victory against Maysville.
* Reese Metzger, a John Glenn sophomore, had a 69-yard punt return for a score as the Muskies stayed unbeaten after a 30-7 victory against Coshocton.
* Sheridan quarterback Caden Sheridan continues to shine after totaling more than 200 yards of offense and accounting for three TDs as the Generals remained perfect with a 29-13 win over Morgan.
* Reedsville Eastern’s Tyler Hill rushed for 268 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries in the Eagles’ 42-26 victory at Portsmouth Notre Dame on Friday night. The junior Hill had touchdown runs of 42, 60, 58 and 10 yards, and added a two-point conversion run and a reception for 33 yards. Hill became the Eagles’ primary running back on Friday night as leading rushers Gavin Smith did not play and Rylee Barrett was injured late in the opening quarter. Eastern’s win over Notre Dame was a battle of two 3-0 teams and two top-four squads at the time in the Division VII Region 27 computer ratings.
* Wheelersburg senior placekicker Connor Estep amassed a perfect 7-of-7 on extra-point kicks during the Pirates’ 56-0 shutout of visiting McDermott Northwest on Friday night. Estep, in earning first-team all-Ohio Division V placekicking honors as a junior, made a perfect 59-of-59 on extra-point kicks — before beginning this season with two more makes against Ironton in the Pirates’ season opener. He then had an attempt blocked against Cincinnati McNicholas, snapping his streak of 63 consecutive made extra points.
* Portsmouth freshman quarterback Camron Williams rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, and completed 15-of-19 passes for 192 yards with two first-half touchdowns, in the Trojans’ 28-27 overtime triumph at Rock Hill on Friday night.
* Portsmouth West junior running back Mason Parker amassed 187 yards and three touchdowns on only seven carries in the Senators’ 49-10 victory at Wellston on Friday night. Parker’s three touchdown runs were from 52, 26 and 65 yards — as he also added a two-point conversion run.
* Eastern Pike senior running back Landyn Reinsmith piled up 293 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in the Eagles' 39-13 win over the visiting Fayetteville Rockets.
* Cedarville's Jackson Pyles threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns on offense and had a fumble recovery and interception on defense to lead a 28-14 comeback win against Mechanicsburg. Cedarville is 4-0 for the first time in a decade.
* Sidney's Julius Spradling had a 58-yard touchdown run, a 84-yard touchdown reception, a 79-yard punt return touchdown and a fumble recovery returned to the house in a blowout win against Fairborn.
* Trimonde Henry of Xenia caught two interceptions and had two other pass breakups for a dominant defense in a 10-0 win at Stebbins. He also had his first 100-yard receiving game on offense.
* Knixton Hill ran for 378 yards and three touchdowns for Cincinnati Northwest but his team lost to Dayton Carroll 35-28.
* Ross senior running back Riley Caldwell carried the ball 23 times for 194 yards and four touchdowns in the Rams 36-34 loss to Wilmington on Friday. It was his third straight game with 180 or more rushing yards and he now leads the Southwestern Buckeye League in rushing yards with 602 yards, rushing touchdowns with 10 and rushing yards per game with a 150.5 average.
* Franklin senior Josh Carter caught nine passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-28 loss to Chaminade Julienne on Friday. Through the first four games of the season, Carter leads the Southwestern Buckeye League in receiving with 18 receptions, 516 yards and five touchdowns.