2019 Football Preview: Frontier Athletic Conference
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The second season of the Frontier Athletic Conference was one of wild moments and exciting drama as the championship came down to the final week of the regular season, where both the Hillsboro Indians and the Jackson Ironmen shared the conference championship.
Both teams finished with one loss on the five-game FAC schedule as the Indians and Ironmen each finished 4-1 in the standings, with both teams qualifying for the high school football playoffs. In FAC action, the lone loss for the Indians was to the Chillicothe Cavaliers (on the final play of the game), while Jackson’s loss was also on the final play of regulation to the Indians.
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Going into Week 10, the Indians needed to defeat the McClain Tigers to clinch a share of the conference title, and they did so with a 68-7 win. Jackson had to gain a win over Chillicothe, which occurred by a 20-7 score, and the win over their rival Cavaliers allowed Jackson to not only share the FAC title with Hillsboro, but it knocked the Cavaliers out of the playoffs.
In the conference standings, following the Indians and Ironmen were the aforementioned Cavaliers and the Washington Blue Lions, as they were each 3-2 in FAC action, followed by the McClain Tigers at 1-4 and the Miami Trace Panthers at 0-5.
Chillicothe’s J’Quan Harris, Hillsboro’s Deon Burns and Jackson’s Brice Parks were the FAC Players of the Year in football. Harris — now graduated — finished the season with 1,400 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns, as he was also a selection to the All-District first-team and was named All-Ohio on the special mention list in Division II.
Burns — who graduated — was a special mention All-Ohio selection in Division III as he totaled 149 rushes for 922 yards with 18 touchdowns in the regular season. Burns finished with 6.2 yards per carry and in four games during 2018 had 100-plus yards rushing. Burns scored at least one touchdown in nine of 10 regular-season games played for the Indians.
Parks, who will be a senior this season, was first-team All-Ohio on defense as a defensive back at 5-10, 180 pounds. Parks also played offense for the Ironmen as he was a first-team All-District selection.
The FAC was also the home of the 2018 Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association Division III State Coach of the Year as Hillsboro’s Jack O’Rourke led the Indians to not only nine wins, but their first conference title of any sort since 2005, and their first trip to the playoffs since ’05 as well when they were members of the Southern Buckeye Athletic & Academic Conference.
When O’Rourke took over as the head coach of the Indians, they were coming off a season where they had just three wins. Three short years later, the Indians not only won the co-FAC championship, but they have won 20 games in the past three seasons, and the past two seasons have had winning records, winning 16 out of their past 21 games.
Jackson has lost just two conference games and won eight in their two seasons in the FAC. Those records have led them to either a first- or second-place finish in the FAC in the two years of the conference’s existence.
Also when it comes to Jackson, they have made the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, and their last non-winning season was back in 2012 when they were 5-5. In fact, for Jackson, they’ve had a season of .500 or above since ’03 as their last sub-.500 record was 17 years ago in ’02 when they finished 4-6. In the past 19 seasons (since ’00), Jackson has had 16 seasons of at least six wins and 10 playoff appearances.
In the two seasons of the FAC, Jackson and Chillicothe are both 8-2 combined in conference games, while Hillsboro is next at 7-3 and Washington is 5-5 in the FAC. Both McClain and Miami Trace are 1-9 in conference games since it began in 2017.
Now as the ’19 season is set to kickoff, here is what stands out for each club, followed by detailed previews of each team in the conference.
HILLSBORO: The Indians had one of their very best seasons in history in ’18. In fact, it was just their third winning season since ’09, a season where they finished 8-2. The other winning season was in ’17 when HHS had a 7-3 overall record. The Indians this season will have Justin Scott making his first start as the varsity quarterback, and behind him will be running back Mark Gallimore, who shared time in the backfield last season with two All-District players. The part of the lineup that could stand out the most in ’19 for Hillsboro is their defensive line, as head coach Jack O’Rourke is very high on the unit.
JACKSON: The Andy Hall-led Ironmen are the favorites to win the FAC championship this season because they have so many players back from last year’s playoff team. JHS has a three-year quarterback in Jared Icenhower returning, plus they have first-team All-Ohio defensive back selection Brice Parks returning for his senior season. The Ironmen have the ability to improve on their 7-4 record from last season, but they do have a strong non-conference schedule that includes Wellston, Athens, Logan, Western Brown and Wheelersburg.
CHILLICOTHE: Having a new head coach in Doug Pryor for the 2019 season will be very interesting to see for Chillicothe as they not only have the new head coach, but they are replacing many starters from last season. That was a team that had 15 seniors and a 7-3 overall record, their sixth consecutive winning season. Chillicothe finished 3-2 in the FAC last season, losing to Washington and Jackson by 20-7 scores. CHS traditionally is a strong team, with their last record below .500 coming in 2012 when they finished 4-6 overall.
WASHINGTON: The Blue Lions are a very interesting team this season. They lost a lot of scoring and stat makers from their roster last season, including two players who made starts at quarterback, their top rusher, their top receiver and even players who were strong on defense. Even with all of the changes to their roster, some have said the Blue Lions are a “sleeper” in the FAC and are a contender in the conference. Washington has had a record of .500 or better in each of their first three seasons with head coach Chuck Williamson. Washington is 19-11 under Williamson since ’16, and their next goal is to make the playoffs for the first time since ’10.
MCCLAIN: Entering their second season with head coach Jake Orr-Zody, the McClain Tigers are still reworking their roster and building their football program at all levels. Patience is the key for the Tigers to have success, and in ’19 they continue down that road to gain wins. Last season, the Tigers earned two wins, which brought the victory bell back to life for the football team, snapping a 22-game losing streak in the process. Progress was made last season, and the Tigers do have some skilled athletes who could become playmakers on the field if they are able to play close to mistake-free football.
MIAMI TRACE: At Miami Trace, the program is working to get back to the “Miami Trace way,” which is winning football games and making appearances in the playoffs. The past couple seasons have been tough on the proud Panther program as they have been in the midst of a rebuild with not only gaining a new school and renovated football field, but with their football program, too. This will be the third season at the helm of Miami Trace for Jerry Williams, and he, the coaching staff and his players have put in a lot of work to take the next step forward for the success they eventually want to have.
Both teams finished with one loss on the five-game FAC schedule as the Indians and Ironmen each finished 4-1 in the standings, with both teams qualifying for the high school football playoffs. In FAC action, the lone loss for the Indians was to the Chillicothe Cavaliers (on the final play of the game), while Jackson’s loss was also on the final play of regulation to the Indians.
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Going into Week 10, the Indians needed to defeat the McClain Tigers to clinch a share of the conference title, and they did so with a 68-7 win. Jackson had to gain a win over Chillicothe, which occurred by a 20-7 score, and the win over their rival Cavaliers allowed Jackson to not only share the FAC title with Hillsboro, but it knocked the Cavaliers out of the playoffs.
In the conference standings, following the Indians and Ironmen were the aforementioned Cavaliers and the Washington Blue Lions, as they were each 3-2 in FAC action, followed by the McClain Tigers at 1-4 and the Miami Trace Panthers at 0-5.
Chillicothe’s J’Quan Harris, Hillsboro’s Deon Burns and Jackson’s Brice Parks were the FAC Players of the Year in football. Harris — now graduated — finished the season with 1,400 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns, as he was also a selection to the All-District first-team and was named All-Ohio on the special mention list in Division II.
Burns — who graduated — was a special mention All-Ohio selection in Division III as he totaled 149 rushes for 922 yards with 18 touchdowns in the regular season. Burns finished with 6.2 yards per carry and in four games during 2018 had 100-plus yards rushing. Burns scored at least one touchdown in nine of 10 regular-season games played for the Indians.
Parks, who will be a senior this season, was first-team All-Ohio on defense as a defensive back at 5-10, 180 pounds. Parks also played offense for the Ironmen as he was a first-team All-District selection.
The FAC was also the home of the 2018 Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association Division III State Coach of the Year as Hillsboro’s Jack O’Rourke led the Indians to not only nine wins, but their first conference title of any sort since 2005, and their first trip to the playoffs since ’05 as well when they were members of the Southern Buckeye Athletic & Academic Conference.
When O’Rourke took over as the head coach of the Indians, they were coming off a season where they had just three wins. Three short years later, the Indians not only won the co-FAC championship, but they have won 20 games in the past three seasons, and the past two seasons have had winning records, winning 16 out of their past 21 games.
Jackson has lost just two conference games and won eight in their two seasons in the FAC. Those records have led them to either a first- or second-place finish in the FAC in the two years of the conference’s existence.
Also when it comes to Jackson, they have made the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, and their last non-winning season was back in 2012 when they were 5-5. In fact, for Jackson, they’ve had a season of .500 or above since ’03 as their last sub-.500 record was 17 years ago in ’02 when they finished 4-6. In the past 19 seasons (since ’00), Jackson has had 16 seasons of at least six wins and 10 playoff appearances.
In the two seasons of the FAC, Jackson and Chillicothe are both 8-2 combined in conference games, while Hillsboro is next at 7-3 and Washington is 5-5 in the FAC. Both McClain and Miami Trace are 1-9 in conference games since it began in 2017.
Now as the ’19 season is set to kickoff, here is what stands out for each club, followed by detailed previews of each team in the conference.
HILLSBORO: The Indians had one of their very best seasons in history in ’18. In fact, it was just their third winning season since ’09, a season where they finished 8-2. The other winning season was in ’17 when HHS had a 7-3 overall record. The Indians this season will have Justin Scott making his first start as the varsity quarterback, and behind him will be running back Mark Gallimore, who shared time in the backfield last season with two All-District players. The part of the lineup that could stand out the most in ’19 for Hillsboro is their defensive line, as head coach Jack O’Rourke is very high on the unit.
JACKSON: The Andy Hall-led Ironmen are the favorites to win the FAC championship this season because they have so many players back from last year’s playoff team. JHS has a three-year quarterback in Jared Icenhower returning, plus they have first-team All-Ohio defensive back selection Brice Parks returning for his senior season. The Ironmen have the ability to improve on their 7-4 record from last season, but they do have a strong non-conference schedule that includes Wellston, Athens, Logan, Western Brown and Wheelersburg.
CHILLICOTHE: Having a new head coach in Doug Pryor for the 2019 season will be very interesting to see for Chillicothe as they not only have the new head coach, but they are replacing many starters from last season. That was a team that had 15 seniors and a 7-3 overall record, their sixth consecutive winning season. Chillicothe finished 3-2 in the FAC last season, losing to Washington and Jackson by 20-7 scores. CHS traditionally is a strong team, with their last record below .500 coming in 2012 when they finished 4-6 overall.
WASHINGTON: The Blue Lions are a very interesting team this season. They lost a lot of scoring and stat makers from their roster last season, including two players who made starts at quarterback, their top rusher, their top receiver and even players who were strong on defense. Even with all of the changes to their roster, some have said the Blue Lions are a “sleeper” in the FAC and are a contender in the conference. Washington has had a record of .500 or better in each of their first three seasons with head coach Chuck Williamson. Washington is 19-11 under Williamson since ’16, and their next goal is to make the playoffs for the first time since ’10.
MCCLAIN: Entering their second season with head coach Jake Orr-Zody, the McClain Tigers are still reworking their roster and building their football program at all levels. Patience is the key for the Tigers to have success, and in ’19 they continue down that road to gain wins. Last season, the Tigers earned two wins, which brought the victory bell back to life for the football team, snapping a 22-game losing streak in the process. Progress was made last season, and the Tigers do have some skilled athletes who could become playmakers on the field if they are able to play close to mistake-free football.
MIAMI TRACE: At Miami Trace, the program is working to get back to the “Miami Trace way,” which is winning football games and making appearances in the playoffs. The past couple seasons have been tough on the proud Panther program as they have been in the midst of a rebuild with not only gaining a new school and renovated football field, but with their football program, too. This will be the third season at the helm of Miami Trace for Jerry Williams, and he, the coaching staff and his players have put in a lot of work to take the next step forward for the success they eventually want to have.