High School Football Weekly Preview: Week 1 brings a renewed hope and excitement

A new slate of games is almost here for the start of the 2023 high school football season, and that includes the area schools from the Frontier Athletic Conference and the teams from the Scioto Valley Conference.

For the coverage area of The Highland County Press, that means it is time for the return of the Hillsboro Indians, McClain Tigers and the Paint Valley Bearcats to the gridiron, as all three teams are hosting games this Friday night with scheduled kickoff times of 7 p.m.

Welcome back, football fans … now, let’s take a look at the Week 1 openers for the aforementioned three teams.

Week 1 Preview: Hillsboro Indians (0-0) vs. Western Brown Broncos (0-0)

This annual matchup to start the season sees the Indians hosting a team they’ve struggled against the past three seasons, with the Broncos winning the past three meetings by a combined 179-27 score, including last season when Western Brown defeated Hillsboro 55-0 at WBHS.

Those losses are in the past, and now it is time to look to the future. This Friday night, the Indians will be adding to what they accomplished last season with head coach Nathan Horne entering his second season at the helm of the Indians.

In their final preseason scrimmage this past Thursday, the Indians’ first two offensive possessions were what they most likely want to happen this season. Against the Benjamin Logan Raiders, the Indians had an 80-yard touchdown run from Jeven Hochstuhl on the first play of the game, and on their second possession, it was Austin Barrett scoring a touchdown after a trio of runs allowed him to reach the end zone.

The Broncos — who are coached by Nick Osborne — have won seven of the past 10 meetings against Hillsboro, and in those 10 games WBHS is averaging 43.1 points per game and are allowing just 16.2 points per game against the Indians.

A noticeable change for WBHS is they won’t have Drew Novak at quarterback this season, as he graduated and is now playing at Ashland University. Novak was selected as the Division III state Offensive Player of the Year for the ’22 season, passing for 4,203 yards with 35 touchdowns last year, including four touchdown passes and one rushing score against Hillsboro in the ’22 season opener.

According to a report by The Ripley Bee, the ’22 Broncos team had a total of nine players who signed to play at the collegiate level this fall.

According to Tristatefootball.com, the Broncos will be young on both the offensive and defensive lines, as they mentioned the team also has senior Isaiah Smith (wide receiver) returning to the team, as he was a Div. III All-Ohio honorable mention selection last season after catching 85 passes for 1,807 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Hillsboro last defeated Western Brown in 2019, which was the finale of a three-year winning streak for Hillsboro as they defeated the Broncos in ’17, ’18 and ’19.

For the Indians — who qualified for the Division IV state playoffs in ’22 — Week 1 is interesting to say the least because the potential is there to play a solid game of football, especially with their rushing attack of Barrett, Hochstuhl and Dom Smart, as the trio combined for 1,928 rushing yards. Plus, the Indians have four offensive linemen returning who have at least a year of varsity playing experience, those being Ayden Clemons, Gary Reno, Jahari Pitts and Ian Lawson.

For a 2023 team preview of the Hillsboro Indians, click here.

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Week 1 Preview: McClain Tigers (0-0) vs. Adena Warriors (0-0)

The McClain Tigers and Adena Warriors begin their 2023 season with their annual battle on the gridiron, and what’s exciting for the Tigers is how they have two core players returning to the backfield who had a big impact on the team a season ago.

Those two players are All-Ohio standouts, senior Andrew Potts and senior Kaden Penwell, both of whom were big parts of the Tigers’ offense and defense last season.

Though the Tigers were 4-6 last season, their play in their non-conference schedule a year ago saw them earn all four of their wins, including defeating the Adena Warriors in the season opener of ’22.

The Tigers have won their past two meetings against the Warriors, winning in ‘21 by a 39-20 score at McClain Field, and last season the Tigers defeated the Warriors 28-14 on the road. In the past 10 years (the two teams didn’t play each other in 2020), McClain has won four times, with the other wins coming in 2016 and 2013.

This year, the Tigers are coming off a season where Potts led the team in rushing as a junior with 1,412 yards, and he also scored 14 touchdowns on 187 carries, averaging 7.5 yards per carry, and set the McClain single-game rushing record with 360 yards with four touchdowns in not even four complete quarters.

The Warriors have a new head coach, that being Doug Miller, who has coached at various levels of football, according to the Chillicothe Gazette, as Miller was the 2018 Mid-State League (Cardinal) Coach of the Year.

In their ’22 meeting, the Tigers had 94 yards rushing on 22 carries from Potts, 105 yards rushing on 15 carries from Penwell, and quarterback Drake Stapleton (now a senior) was 4-of-9 for 89 yards passing.

Last season, the Warriors were 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the SVC. McClain is coming off a 4-6 season with an 0-5 record in the FAC.

The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at McClain Field.

Read the McClain Tigers’ 2023 season preview at: https://highlandcountypress.com/2023-mcclain-tigers-football-preview.

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Week 1 Preview: Paint Valley hosts Blanchester to start season

After winning a playoff game last season, and making some changes on their roster from due to graduation and offseason injuries, the Paint Valley Bearcats are back and ready to surpass where they finished a season ago, even with some of the changes that were made.

One part of the Bearcats’ offense and defense that should stand out is their offensive and defensive lines, as the talented group returns a good amount of experience, including senior Peyton Bell, who was a member of the offensive line last season, In ’22, Paint Valley’s offense totaled 4,800 yards rushing.

Other linemen (offense and defense) to keep an eye on in Week 1 and this season are Hunter Freeman and Gavin Kingery, as they return to the team from last season.

Paint Valley has a talented roster entering the ‘23 season, but a big change is at quarterback as Cavan Cooper (a four-year starter) graduated, and the Division VI All-Ohio selection will need to be replaced. A player to watch at the position in Week 1 is Preston Fauber, who moved in to PVHS from Hillsboro, and there are also Owen Donahue and Drez Bolin at the position, too.

Also back for the Bearcats is wide receiver Carson Free, who had over 1,000 yards receiving as the Bearcats’ leading receiver a year ago, so keep an eye on him in Week 1.

Blanchester has a new head coach for the ‘23 season (Justin Schmitz), and some returning players for the Wildcats are Bryce Sipple and Sebastian Smith.

The Bearcats were 7-5 last season and 5-2 in the SVC, while the Wildcats finished 8-4 overall and they also won a playoff game.

For the Paint Valley football preview, go to: https://highlandcountypress.com/2023-paint-valley-bearcats-football-pre….