High School Football: Week 1 Pregame Notebook
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
One game in the area is already in the books with the Paint Valley Bearcats of the Scioto Valley Conference dominating Fisher Catholic, 36-6 in their season opener on a rare Thursday night game on a neutral field. It is now time to officially celebrate the return of Friday Night Football!
You know this is an exciting day when I use an exclamation point, because to be quite honest I'm not a big fan of expressing a lot of excitement, unless I'm celebrating a Dallas Cowboys victory. So some years I'm not celebrating much at all.
What makes Week 1 exciting is the games are for real. Earlier this week, I was talking with Hillsboro tennis coach LaRue Turner before a South Central Ohio League tennis match.
We were talking about how the return of fall sports means there will be some sort of football happening on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday in the near future … sometimes on Tuesday if the Mid-American Conference is playing on ESPN or ESPN2.
With all of that meaningless rambling aside, the high school football season is back, and for the SCOL and the SVC, it means a grueling 10 weeks of football awaits the eight teams in each respective conference.
[[In-content Ad]]Though they don't meet until Week 4 in league play, their non-league schedules aren't a walk in the park, either.
As Hillsboro head coach Matt Hodge and other coaches told me before the start of the season, playing in the SCOL there is never a week off, and they, my friends, are correct. (The same can be said for the SVC as well).
The SCOL is one of the toughest football leagues in the area with two-time Division IV state champion Clinton-Massie leading the way as they've won no less than a share of the league championship since '07, which was the lone time they shared the league crown. Can they add to their accolades this season? We'll have to wait and see … as the saying goes, "This is why they play the games."
Speaking of leading the way, here is the Week 1 schedule for the SCOL, with all eight teams playing Friday night in non-league games:
• Hillsboro vs. Western Brown
• McClain vs. Adena
• Clinton-Massie vs. Blanchester
• Chillicothe at Johnstown-Monroe
• East Clinton vs. Batavia
• Washington vs. Northridge
• Miami Trace at Circleville
• Wilmington at Little Miami
That is a good slate of games for the opening week of high school football. Maybe the game of the night for the SCOL will be Miami Trace vs. Circleville. These two longtime rivals keep their season-opening matchup going, giving fans of high school football fans a taste of the old SCOL. I really like how they've kept this tradition going all these years.
Kind of off-topic for a quick moment, but did you realize this is the start of the 13th season since the SCOL reformed in 2003?
OK, back to 2015, because there is also the Hillsboro vs. Western Brown game I'm interested in, being that is the game I'm going to be at.
Being at the HHS opener will be a little strange for me, as most years I'm usually at the McClain-Adena season opener, but with all the changes I've had this summer, the change in games I'm covering in Week 1 is just another one added to the list. It should be a fun, new season-opening atmosphere to be a part of.
Speaking of schedules and Week 1 matchups, here is what the Scioto Valley Conference slate of games looks like for the opening week:
• Paint Valley 36, Fisher Catholic 6 (Thursday)
• Zane Trace at Logan Elm
• Unioto at Vinton County
• Southeastern vs. Northwest
• Huntington vs. Symmes Valley
• Piketon at Waverly
• Westfall at Teays Valley
• Adena at McClain
Again, there are some games on this schedule that catch my attention, one being Zane Trace at Logan Elm, as I saw the Braves of LE scrimmage McClain last Friday. I believe the Braves have a good football team from what I saw that night, and that game could be a tough battle.
I'm also very interested in seeing how the Piketon at Waverly game turns out.
Any way we look at it, this should be a very fun evening of high school football. I like the non-league schedule of games because it gives us a chance to see teams we won't see, and sometimes keep track of, all season long.
What game or games are you watching this weekend?
Enjoy the weekend, and come back to The Highland County Press' online sports page Saturday morning for a postgame Week 1 notebook to read about both the SCOL and the SVC, and how things turned out for the two leagues.
You know this is an exciting day when I use an exclamation point, because to be quite honest I'm not a big fan of expressing a lot of excitement, unless I'm celebrating a Dallas Cowboys victory. So some years I'm not celebrating much at all.
What makes Week 1 exciting is the games are for real. Earlier this week, I was talking with Hillsboro tennis coach LaRue Turner before a South Central Ohio League tennis match.
We were talking about how the return of fall sports means there will be some sort of football happening on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday in the near future … sometimes on Tuesday if the Mid-American Conference is playing on ESPN or ESPN2.
With all of that meaningless rambling aside, the high school football season is back, and for the SCOL and the SVC, it means a grueling 10 weeks of football awaits the eight teams in each respective conference.
[[In-content Ad]]Though they don't meet until Week 4 in league play, their non-league schedules aren't a walk in the park, either.
As Hillsboro head coach Matt Hodge and other coaches told me before the start of the season, playing in the SCOL there is never a week off, and they, my friends, are correct. (The same can be said for the SVC as well).
The SCOL is one of the toughest football leagues in the area with two-time Division IV state champion Clinton-Massie leading the way as they've won no less than a share of the league championship since '07, which was the lone time they shared the league crown. Can they add to their accolades this season? We'll have to wait and see … as the saying goes, "This is why they play the games."
Speaking of leading the way, here is the Week 1 schedule for the SCOL, with all eight teams playing Friday night in non-league games:
• Hillsboro vs. Western Brown
• McClain vs. Adena
• Clinton-Massie vs. Blanchester
• Chillicothe at Johnstown-Monroe
• East Clinton vs. Batavia
• Washington vs. Northridge
• Miami Trace at Circleville
• Wilmington at Little Miami
That is a good slate of games for the opening week of high school football. Maybe the game of the night for the SCOL will be Miami Trace vs. Circleville. These two longtime rivals keep their season-opening matchup going, giving fans of high school football fans a taste of the old SCOL. I really like how they've kept this tradition going all these years.
Kind of off-topic for a quick moment, but did you realize this is the start of the 13th season since the SCOL reformed in 2003?
OK, back to 2015, because there is also the Hillsboro vs. Western Brown game I'm interested in, being that is the game I'm going to be at.
Being at the HHS opener will be a little strange for me, as most years I'm usually at the McClain-Adena season opener, but with all the changes I've had this summer, the change in games I'm covering in Week 1 is just another one added to the list. It should be a fun, new season-opening atmosphere to be a part of.
Speaking of schedules and Week 1 matchups, here is what the Scioto Valley Conference slate of games looks like for the opening week:
• Paint Valley 36, Fisher Catholic 6 (Thursday)
• Zane Trace at Logan Elm
• Unioto at Vinton County
• Southeastern vs. Northwest
• Huntington vs. Symmes Valley
• Piketon at Waverly
• Westfall at Teays Valley
• Adena at McClain
Again, there are some games on this schedule that catch my attention, one being Zane Trace at Logan Elm, as I saw the Braves of LE scrimmage McClain last Friday. I believe the Braves have a good football team from what I saw that night, and that game could be a tough battle.
I'm also very interested in seeing how the Piketon at Waverly game turns out.
Any way we look at it, this should be a very fun evening of high school football. I like the non-league schedule of games because it gives us a chance to see teams we won't see, and sometimes keep track of, all season long.
What game or games are you watching this weekend?
Enjoy the weekend, and come back to The Highland County Press' online sports page Saturday morning for a postgame Week 1 notebook to read about both the SCOL and the SVC, and how things turned out for the two leagues.