High School Football Notebook: Week 6 FAC Preview
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
After five tough weeks of non-conference play, the schedule gets even more exciting with all of the games being played against conference rivals, where the third annual Frontier Athletic Conference championship will be decided in the final five weeks of the regular season.
The best part after the first five weeks of the high school football season is all six FAC teams have winning records, with one team still undefeated in the Jackson Ironmen, who were (and still are) the favorites to win the conference this season. The co-champions from a year ago are Jackson and Hillsboro, and both have winning records this year.
This week, the schedule for the Week 6 regular-season games looks like this:
• Miami Trace (3-2) at Hillsboro (3-2)
The Hillsboro Indians are coming off a tough loss last Friday night against the Clermont Northeastern Rockets. That was their first loss to that program since the two teams began their yearly series in 2014, snapping a five-year winning streak by the Indians in the process, as they lost by a 40-14 score.
Speaking of the Indians and winning streaks against a team, Hillsboro had a string of recent success against the Miami Trace Panthers — who is their Week 6 opponent — winning the past four games against their conference rival.
In those four games, the Indians have won by scores of 35-30 (2015), 54-27 (2016), 76-48 (2017) and 47-13 (2018).
The Panthers are playing better football than they were a season ago, having more wins this season than they had all of last season. The Panthers have defeated Circleville (42-20), Logan Elm (49-24) and Western Brown (35-21).
The one common opponent between Hillsboro and Miami Trace is Western Brown, whom the Indians defeated 16-14 in the season opener.
Players to watch for the Panthers in this game on offense are quarterback Dalton Mayer, running backs Austin Carpenter and Jayden Lebeau and wide receiver Joshua Gilmore, among others.
As for the Indians, they are still working to get their offense scoring points on a more consistent basis, plus they are improving on varying aspects of their offense, but they can’t allow 40 points this week to their opponent, either.
This game could be the “Game of the Week” in the FAC for Week 6 as both teams are even in the overall standings, plus they are working to build onto what they’ve accomplished this season.
• Chillicothe (1-4) at Washington (3-2)
The Washington Blue Lions and the Chillicothe Cavaliers are both coming off losses in Week 5, so both teams are working to get back to the winning side of the scoreboard this Friday. The Cavaliers are in the midst of rebuilding their team, but their schedule hasn’t been the easiest, either.
For the Blue Lions, they are coming off a 31-15 loss after allowing two 14-point quarters to the Wilmington Hurricane last Friday. In that game, Washington’s Ethan Rogers-Wright was 17-of-42 for 184 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Another standout was Jameson McCane at 18 carries for 71 yards. Eli Lynch was the leading receiver with nine receptions for 120 yards, averaging 13.3 yards per reception.
CHS didn’t have their best game on offense last Thursday as they were held to 141 total yards totaling 42 plays. Christian Benson was the leader for the Cavaliers with a passing game of 8-of-15 for 71 yards, plus he led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 51 yards and one touchdown.
This game will be interesting to see for the quarterback play for both teams as they seem to be the focal point of their offenses this season, and this is an excellent way for both teams to open FAC play.
• McClain (2-3) at Jackson (5-0)
This is a very tough test for the McClain Tigers as the Jackson Ironmen are coming off a big win over Wheelersburg last Friday, plus they are undefeated at the halfway point of the season.
Thus far this season, the Tigers have scored 121 points and are coming off a 42-20 win over Eastern Beaver. In both wins this season, MHS has scored no less than 42 points, as their Week 3 win was against Zane Trace at 51-50.
McClain is battling some injuries with Sam Faulconer playing quarterback last Friday night, as Braden Wright and Garrison Banks were injured for the Week 5 game.
Last Friday, the Ironmen won 35-15 over Wheelersburg, and in the win Jacob Winters led the way in the rushing game with 12 rushes for 130 yards and one touchdown. Jayden Spires had 73 yards on 14 carries.
For the Ironmen this season, their rushing game has been on point, with Spires leading the way with 517 yards and six touchdowns in 2019.
The best part after the first five weeks of the high school football season is all six FAC teams have winning records, with one team still undefeated in the Jackson Ironmen, who were (and still are) the favorites to win the conference this season. The co-champions from a year ago are Jackson and Hillsboro, and both have winning records this year.
This week, the schedule for the Week 6 regular-season games looks like this:
• Miami Trace (3-2) at Hillsboro (3-2)
The Hillsboro Indians are coming off a tough loss last Friday night against the Clermont Northeastern Rockets. That was their first loss to that program since the two teams began their yearly series in 2014, snapping a five-year winning streak by the Indians in the process, as they lost by a 40-14 score.
Speaking of the Indians and winning streaks against a team, Hillsboro had a string of recent success against the Miami Trace Panthers — who is their Week 6 opponent — winning the past four games against their conference rival.
In those four games, the Indians have won by scores of 35-30 (2015), 54-27 (2016), 76-48 (2017) and 47-13 (2018).
The Panthers are playing better football than they were a season ago, having more wins this season than they had all of last season. The Panthers have defeated Circleville (42-20), Logan Elm (49-24) and Western Brown (35-21).
The one common opponent between Hillsboro and Miami Trace is Western Brown, whom the Indians defeated 16-14 in the season opener.
Players to watch for the Panthers in this game on offense are quarterback Dalton Mayer, running backs Austin Carpenter and Jayden Lebeau and wide receiver Joshua Gilmore, among others.
As for the Indians, they are still working to get their offense scoring points on a more consistent basis, plus they are improving on varying aspects of their offense, but they can’t allow 40 points this week to their opponent, either.
This game could be the “Game of the Week” in the FAC for Week 6 as both teams are even in the overall standings, plus they are working to build onto what they’ve accomplished this season.
• Chillicothe (1-4) at Washington (3-2)
The Washington Blue Lions and the Chillicothe Cavaliers are both coming off losses in Week 5, so both teams are working to get back to the winning side of the scoreboard this Friday. The Cavaliers are in the midst of rebuilding their team, but their schedule hasn’t been the easiest, either.
For the Blue Lions, they are coming off a 31-15 loss after allowing two 14-point quarters to the Wilmington Hurricane last Friday. In that game, Washington’s Ethan Rogers-Wright was 17-of-42 for 184 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Another standout was Jameson McCane at 18 carries for 71 yards. Eli Lynch was the leading receiver with nine receptions for 120 yards, averaging 13.3 yards per reception.
CHS didn’t have their best game on offense last Thursday as they were held to 141 total yards totaling 42 plays. Christian Benson was the leader for the Cavaliers with a passing game of 8-of-15 for 71 yards, plus he led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 51 yards and one touchdown.
This game will be interesting to see for the quarterback play for both teams as they seem to be the focal point of their offenses this season, and this is an excellent way for both teams to open FAC play.
• McClain (2-3) at Jackson (5-0)
This is a very tough test for the McClain Tigers as the Jackson Ironmen are coming off a big win over Wheelersburg last Friday, plus they are undefeated at the halfway point of the season.
Thus far this season, the Tigers have scored 121 points and are coming off a 42-20 win over Eastern Beaver. In both wins this season, MHS has scored no less than 42 points, as their Week 3 win was against Zane Trace at 51-50.
McClain is battling some injuries with Sam Faulconer playing quarterback last Friday night, as Braden Wright and Garrison Banks were injured for the Week 5 game.
Last Friday, the Ironmen won 35-15 over Wheelersburg, and in the win Jacob Winters led the way in the rushing game with 12 rushes for 130 yards and one touchdown. Jayden Spires had 73 yards on 14 carries.
For the Ironmen this season, their rushing game has been on point, with Spires leading the way with 517 yards and six touchdowns in 2019.