Forsha on Football: Conference standings, standouts and even more football

After two weeks of the high school football season, half of the new Frontier Athletic Conference is undefeated, and overall, four of the six teams have at least one victory. 

Heading into the third week of games, the Chillicothe Cavaliers, Jackson Ironmen and Washington Blue Lions all have 2-0 records. Their wins all have looked different, but variety is a good thing when it comes to football. Take, for instance, the Ironmen. They have scored 66 points in two games this season but have allowed just seven in their victories against Wellston and Fairfield Union.

Now with a quick look at the Cavaliers, they’ve outscored their opponents (Teays Valley and Licking Heights) 59-34, while the Blue Lions have scored 75 points against Blanchester and Circleville and in those two wins have given up 38 points.

More will be figured out not just with these three teams, but the entire FAC in a few weeks when they can face each other. Until then, watching and reading about these teams is still pretty exciting to behold, and maybe all of the teams in the FAC can have some success this year.


• Former SCOL team has “New Story, Same Ending”

Congratulations are in order for the Clinton-Massie Falcons football team for their big win this past Friday vs. Coldwater by a 24-14 score. A win like this by the Falcons shows the state they are a still a team to be reckoned with and a program that continues to – as the late Al Davis, former Oakland Raiders owner, would say – “Just Win Baby.”

Since the Falcons dominated the former South Central Ohio League in football for over the past decade, I’ve been a fan of seeing their success as they represent this area of Ohio greatly statewide. They earned this win – and will earn many more throughout the rest of the season – but a win against a program like Coldwater is a milestone win, and again, congrats are in order.

Their new slogan says it all … “New Story, Same Ending.”

• FAC Schedule: Week 3
- Chillicothe (2-0) vs. Marion Franklin (2-0)
- Hillsboro (1-1) at East Clinton (0-2)
- Jackson (2-0) at Gallia Academy (1-1)
- McClain (0-2) at Zane Trace (1-1)
- Miami Trace (0-2) vs. Logan Elm (0-2)
- Washington (2-0) vs. London (2-0) (homecoming)


• SVC Schedule: Week 3
- Adena (1-1) at Wellston (1-1)
- Huntington (0-2) at Northwest (0-2)
- Paint Valley (1-1) vs. Delphos Jefferson (1-1) (played in Springfield)
- Piketon (0-2) at Lucasville Valley (0-2)
- Southeastern (2-0) at Eastern Beaver (1-1)
- Unioto (2-0) at Waverly (2-0)
- Westfall (1-1) vs. Circleville (1-1)
- Zane Trace (1-1) vs. McClain (0-2)


• Standouts, Stats and Super Fans

- One stat that is very noticeable in the FAC is that Chillicothe quarterback Branden Maughmer has 255 yards passing and 266 yards rushing combined for the first two games of the season. He’s also totaled eight touchdowns. For more stats on Ross County football teams, click HERE for the Chillicothe Gazette.

- Jackson allowing just seven points in the first two games combined is a very tough feat, especially with both Wellston and Fairfield Union (their first two opponents each being 1-1 on the season).

- In non-conference play in their inaugural season (after two weeks), the FAC is 7-5.

- How about the Southeastern Panthers of the Scioto Valley Conference after their first two games? They’ve outscored their opponents, 75-28 in their first two games by defeating Northwest 35-6 and Southeastern Local, 40-22. Dating back to last season, the Panthers have won their past four regular-season games. They are at Eastern Beaver this Friday.

- Speaking of Southeastern, they are only one of two teams left in the SVC who still have perfect records after two week. Unioto is the second team with a 2-0 mark, and they have outscored their opponents (Vinton County and McClain), 72-19. UHS has won by scores of 30-13 at VC and 42-6 vs. MHS.

- Looking at Unioto’s stats on MaxPreps.com, what jumps off the page is their defensive stats with six sacks and five interceptions through the first two weeks.

- Washington’s Jacob Rice was a standout player in Week 2 with 228 yards rushing against Circleville in the Blue Lions’ 33-12 win.

- For Hillsboro, they had a tough night in their loss to Goshen in Week 2, but in the first half they both were close in total yardage with HHS having 127 yards of offense and Goshen having 115 yards. The big difference in the first half was GHS scoring on defense and their running game making big plays.

- Miami Trace’s Brady Wallace scored all the Panther touchdowns in their loss to Carlisle.

- McClain scored their first touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter against Unioto on a run by Patrick Fout. He finished the game with 73 yards on five carries.

- Also a standout for the MHS Tigers is Darius White, who rushed for 93 yards on 25 carries in the loss at UHS.

- Fans who went out and braved the rain and cold of this past Friday night … give yourselves a hand, too! Those were not great conditions whatsoever to watch football in, and you stayed and supported your school.


• College and Pro Football Thoughts

- The regular season of the NFL is one day away, so that is always a holiday when you are around me. The game should be high-quality, too, with the New England Patriots hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on NBC. I’m excited, and you should be, too.

- The best moment of the college football season has already happened, and it was when USC long snapper Jake Olson (who is blind) got to snap the ball on an extra point attempt against Western Michigan. Click here to read his story.

- The new Associated Press college football poll has four Big Ten teams in the Top 10, and two of those are in the Top 4, starting with Ohio State at No. 2 and followed by Penn State (No. 4), Michigan (No. 8) and Wisconsin (No. 9). There are really no issues with how the poll looks this week, but eventually I’m pretty sure there will be some room for a few opinions.

- Leave it to the Cleveland Browns to still pay Brock Osweiler nearly $16 million after cutting him, only to see him go back to his original NFL team, who didn’t want to pay him the big contract and is paying him under a million dollars but has him on their roster. John Elway outlasted the Browns once again.

- The college football game of the week will be the rematch from last season when No. 2 Ohio State hosts No. 7 Oklahoma in Columbus. Last year, this was the game that essentially boosted the Buckeyes into the College Football Playoffs when the committee looked at their resumé. OSU won this game last year by a 45-24 in Norman, Okla. OSU will have to play a much better first half than they did last week against Indiana, and they most likely will. Both teams are coming off season-opening wins, with OSU defeating Indiana, 49-21 and Oklahoma winning over UTEP, 56-7.

Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. For more football, check out the FAC weekly football preview on Thursdays. Stephen can be contacted at sforsha@gmail.com.