Week 3 Football Preview: Hillsboro, McClain both on the road
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The third week of the high school football season has arrived, and with the Frontier Athletic Conference, that means this is the third of five weeks of non-conference play. Three teams from the conference enter this week with undefeated marks, and four of the six teams have at least one victory.
The standings of the FAC have the Washington Blue Lions, Jackson Ironmen and Chillicothe Cavaliers all at the top with 2-0 records, followed by the Hillsboro Indians at 1-1 and then the McClain Tigers and Miami Trace Panthers are 0-2.
As for the teams from Highland County, first let’s start with both teams being on the road, as the Hillsboro Indians are at East Clinton and the McClain Tigers are at Zane Trace.
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Here is a preview of those two games:
• Hillsboro Indians (1-1) at East Clinton Astros (0-2)
The former league foes are now once again non-conference opponents, though being around 20 miles away from one another, it makes sense for them to stay on each other’s schedules. Both teams enter this game coming off losses with the Indians losing to Goshen, 39-15 and the Astros falling to Batavia, 27-7.
These two teams usually have competitive games on the field when they face each other, with the Indians winning last season by 14 points by a 28-14 score, and in 2015 the score being 18-7, also in favor of HHS. EC last defeated the Indians in 2014 by a 3-0 score in overtime.
A player to watch for the Astros is senior Brendan Jenkins, as the quarterback has thrown for 161 yards and one touchdown in the first two games combined and has rushed the football 25 times.
At receiver for the Astros, senior Wyatt Floyd has nine receptions this season for 70 yards (8.0 yards per catch), and sophomore Patrick Dotson has four receptions for 61 yards (15.3 ypc) and one touchdown. As a team, the Astros average 9.5 ypc and 80.5 receiving yards per game.
As a team, EC is averaging 111 yards of offense per game.
Defensively, sophomore Tristan Burkitt leads the team with 14 tackles, and Dotson has two tackles for a loss along with two sacks.
Now for the Indians, in Week 1 they controlled the pace of the game and their defense got into the backfield of Western Brown to disrupt their opponents’ game plan, and it worked for a win. Last Friday against Goshen, they didn’t control the line of scrimmage, plus Goshen took advantage of their miscues, resulting in a loss for the Indians.
HHS finished last Friday’s loss with 242 yards of offense, and in Week 1, the Tribe had nearly 500 yards of offense, with over 400 in rushing.
The Indians have scored 70 points combined in two games this season, led in touchdowns by quarterback Mason Swayne with three, followed by Mason Lewis with two. Having one touchdown each are Josh Keets, Deon Burns, Britton Haines, Devon Gallimore and Mark Gallimore.
Hillsboro kicks off at East Clinton at 7 p.m. this Friday night.
• McClain Tigers (0-2) at Zane Trace Pioneers (1-1)
McClain enters this week having losses to two other Scioto Valley Conference teams in Adena and Unioto to start the season, while Zane Trace (of the SVC) has a season-opening win at Logan Elm by a 33-0 score and a loss last week to Waverly by a 44-31 score.
Zane Trace is all about their rushing attack, averaging 237.5 yards per game on the ground this season. They are passing for 71 yards per game, with senior quarterback Ty Shanton also second in rushing on the team with 184 yards on 29 carries (6.3 ypg) and three touchdowns.
Etheridge Games — a junior — leads Zane Trace with 208 yards on 39 carries (104 yards per game), also with three touchdowns. Senior Will Palmer enters the game with two rushing touchdowns on nine carries, and as a team, ZT has nine rushing scores.
Senior Jordan Waller leads the Pioneers in receiving with nine receptions for 110 yards, including one reception going for 46 yards. As a team, the Pioneers average 10.1 yards per reception.
Eli Karst leads the Pioneers with 17 tackles (one for a loss), and senior Harley McNichols follows with 14 tackles (two for a loss). Sophomore Camden Farley also has double-digit tackles thus far this season with 12. In all as a team, ZT has seven tackles for a loss and three sacks.
Looking at the Tigers, they totaled just over 70 yards total in their season opener but had better numbers on the stat sheet in Week 2 at Unioto, where individually senior Darius White rushed for 93 yards on 25 carries and Patrick Fout had 73 yards and one touchdown on five carries.
Turnovers and tackling have hurt the Tigers this year, but they’ve played with a lot of effort and continue to work on gaining their first win of the season.
Last season, the Pioneers won the matchup 42-7. The Tigers last defeated Zane Trace in 2013 by a 28-20 score. In their meetings from 2014-16, ZT is averaging 44.3 points per game, while the Tigers are averaging 11.6 ppg as ZT has outscored MHS, 133-35 in their past three meetings.
McClain at Zane Trace is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
• Rest of the FAC Schedule
- Chillicothe Cavaliers (2-0) vs. Marion Franklin Red Devils (2-0): The Cavs have won both games to start the season with wins over Teays Valley (31-27) and Licking Heights (28-7). This week against Marion Franklin, the Red Devils are also 2-0 with wins at Central Crossing (36-25) and vs. Beechcroft (26-8). Marion Franklin enters this game averaging 185.5 yards receiving per game (seven receiving TDs) and 131.5 yards rushing per game.
- Jackson Ironmen (2-0) at Gallia Academy Blue Devils (1-1): Once again, the Ironmen of Jackson have begun a season at 2-0 with wins over Wellston (35-0) and Fairfield Union (31-7). JHS has outscored their opponents, 66-7 this season. Looking at Gallia Academy, they are coming off a 49-7 win at River Valley, and in Week 1 they lost at Meigs, 14-8. This is the home opener for the Blue Devils, and these two teams didn’t face each other last season.
- Miami Trace Panthers (0-2) vs. Logan Elm Braves (0-2): One of these two teams will leave the field Friday night with their first win of the season. The Panthers have been outscored 76-33 by their opponents this season, with losses at Circleville (41-14) and vs. Carlisle (35-19). The program last won a game Week 7 of the 2016 season vs. East Clinton. As for Logan Elm, their last win was also Week 7 of the ’16 season vs. Circleville in overtime. As for this season, they have scored just 14 points with losses vs. Zane Trace (33-0) and at Westfall (21-14).
- Washington Blue Lions (2-0) vs. London Red Raiders (2-0) (homecoming): This is a throwback game of sorts with these two programs having been in various leagues with each other in the past. Now in 2017, the Blue Lions and Red Raiders each have won their first two games of the season, and one of them will be 3-0 at the conclusion of this contest. Washington has outscored their opponents, 75-38 through the first two weeks, defeating Blanchester (42-26) and Circleville on the road, 33-12. LHS has wins at Urbana (49-19) and vs. Madison-Plains (36-0) for a point differential of 85-19 for their first two games of the season. Last year, the Blue Lions won this match-up, 35-22.
The standings of the FAC have the Washington Blue Lions, Jackson Ironmen and Chillicothe Cavaliers all at the top with 2-0 records, followed by the Hillsboro Indians at 1-1 and then the McClain Tigers and Miami Trace Panthers are 0-2.
As for the teams from Highland County, first let’s start with both teams being on the road, as the Hillsboro Indians are at East Clinton and the McClain Tigers are at Zane Trace.
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Here is a preview of those two games:
• Hillsboro Indians (1-1) at East Clinton Astros (0-2)
The former league foes are now once again non-conference opponents, though being around 20 miles away from one another, it makes sense for them to stay on each other’s schedules. Both teams enter this game coming off losses with the Indians losing to Goshen, 39-15 and the Astros falling to Batavia, 27-7.
These two teams usually have competitive games on the field when they face each other, with the Indians winning last season by 14 points by a 28-14 score, and in 2015 the score being 18-7, also in favor of HHS. EC last defeated the Indians in 2014 by a 3-0 score in overtime.
A player to watch for the Astros is senior Brendan Jenkins, as the quarterback has thrown for 161 yards and one touchdown in the first two games combined and has rushed the football 25 times.
At receiver for the Astros, senior Wyatt Floyd has nine receptions this season for 70 yards (8.0 yards per catch), and sophomore Patrick Dotson has four receptions for 61 yards (15.3 ypc) and one touchdown. As a team, the Astros average 9.5 ypc and 80.5 receiving yards per game.
As a team, EC is averaging 111 yards of offense per game.
Defensively, sophomore Tristan Burkitt leads the team with 14 tackles, and Dotson has two tackles for a loss along with two sacks.
Now for the Indians, in Week 1 they controlled the pace of the game and their defense got into the backfield of Western Brown to disrupt their opponents’ game plan, and it worked for a win. Last Friday against Goshen, they didn’t control the line of scrimmage, plus Goshen took advantage of their miscues, resulting in a loss for the Indians.
HHS finished last Friday’s loss with 242 yards of offense, and in Week 1, the Tribe had nearly 500 yards of offense, with over 400 in rushing.
The Indians have scored 70 points combined in two games this season, led in touchdowns by quarterback Mason Swayne with three, followed by Mason Lewis with two. Having one touchdown each are Josh Keets, Deon Burns, Britton Haines, Devon Gallimore and Mark Gallimore.
Hillsboro kicks off at East Clinton at 7 p.m. this Friday night.
• McClain Tigers (0-2) at Zane Trace Pioneers (1-1)
McClain enters this week having losses to two other Scioto Valley Conference teams in Adena and Unioto to start the season, while Zane Trace (of the SVC) has a season-opening win at Logan Elm by a 33-0 score and a loss last week to Waverly by a 44-31 score.
Zane Trace is all about their rushing attack, averaging 237.5 yards per game on the ground this season. They are passing for 71 yards per game, with senior quarterback Ty Shanton also second in rushing on the team with 184 yards on 29 carries (6.3 ypg) and three touchdowns.
Etheridge Games — a junior — leads Zane Trace with 208 yards on 39 carries (104 yards per game), also with three touchdowns. Senior Will Palmer enters the game with two rushing touchdowns on nine carries, and as a team, ZT has nine rushing scores.
Senior Jordan Waller leads the Pioneers in receiving with nine receptions for 110 yards, including one reception going for 46 yards. As a team, the Pioneers average 10.1 yards per reception.
Eli Karst leads the Pioneers with 17 tackles (one for a loss), and senior Harley McNichols follows with 14 tackles (two for a loss). Sophomore Camden Farley also has double-digit tackles thus far this season with 12. In all as a team, ZT has seven tackles for a loss and three sacks.
Looking at the Tigers, they totaled just over 70 yards total in their season opener but had better numbers on the stat sheet in Week 2 at Unioto, where individually senior Darius White rushed for 93 yards on 25 carries and Patrick Fout had 73 yards and one touchdown on five carries.
Turnovers and tackling have hurt the Tigers this year, but they’ve played with a lot of effort and continue to work on gaining their first win of the season.
Last season, the Pioneers won the matchup 42-7. The Tigers last defeated Zane Trace in 2013 by a 28-20 score. In their meetings from 2014-16, ZT is averaging 44.3 points per game, while the Tigers are averaging 11.6 ppg as ZT has outscored MHS, 133-35 in their past three meetings.
McClain at Zane Trace is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
• Rest of the FAC Schedule
- Chillicothe Cavaliers (2-0) vs. Marion Franklin Red Devils (2-0): The Cavs have won both games to start the season with wins over Teays Valley (31-27) and Licking Heights (28-7). This week against Marion Franklin, the Red Devils are also 2-0 with wins at Central Crossing (36-25) and vs. Beechcroft (26-8). Marion Franklin enters this game averaging 185.5 yards receiving per game (seven receiving TDs) and 131.5 yards rushing per game.
- Jackson Ironmen (2-0) at Gallia Academy Blue Devils (1-1): Once again, the Ironmen of Jackson have begun a season at 2-0 with wins over Wellston (35-0) and Fairfield Union (31-7). JHS has outscored their opponents, 66-7 this season. Looking at Gallia Academy, they are coming off a 49-7 win at River Valley, and in Week 1 they lost at Meigs, 14-8. This is the home opener for the Blue Devils, and these two teams didn’t face each other last season.
- Miami Trace Panthers (0-2) vs. Logan Elm Braves (0-2): One of these two teams will leave the field Friday night with their first win of the season. The Panthers have been outscored 76-33 by their opponents this season, with losses at Circleville (41-14) and vs. Carlisle (35-19). The program last won a game Week 7 of the 2016 season vs. East Clinton. As for Logan Elm, their last win was also Week 7 of the ’16 season vs. Circleville in overtime. As for this season, they have scored just 14 points with losses vs. Zane Trace (33-0) and at Westfall (21-14).
- Washington Blue Lions (2-0) vs. London Red Raiders (2-0) (homecoming): This is a throwback game of sorts with these two programs having been in various leagues with each other in the past. Now in 2017, the Blue Lions and Red Raiders each have won their first two games of the season, and one of them will be 3-0 at the conclusion of this contest. Washington has outscored their opponents, 75-38 through the first two weeks, defeating Blanchester (42-26) and Circleville on the road, 33-12. LHS has wins at Urbana (49-19) and vs. Madison-Plains (36-0) for a point differential of 85-19 for their first two games of the season. Last year, the Blue Lions won this match-up, 35-22.