High School Football Week 4 Postgame Notebook

What a wild night it was at Richards Memorial Field this past Friday night with the Hillsboro Indians’ offense totaling basically 600 yards of offense, the Warren Warriors having 457 yards on offense, and a combined 97 points all resulting in a 50-47 win by the visiting Warriors. 

It was a wild but exciting game to watch if you absolutely love offense, big plays and highly athletic players carrying the football. Plus there was a record-tying performance by Hillsboro senior Tre Captain, who unofficially rushed for 357 yards and he also tied the school record for touchdowns in a game with five against Warren. 

There were also the rushing performances from junior Jonathan Malone, who ended the game with 12 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown. Senior Malachi Aber totaled five carries for 107 yards with a 70-yard touchdown run. This duo also led the Indians on defense with Aber totaling 13 tackles with a half sack, while Malone totaled 10 tackles with a half sack. 

All in all, the Indians had three players with 100-plus yards rushing, which just doesn’t happen.

This game had everything in it, and it was an offensive performance that the Indians can use for weeks to come for some momentum, even with the team battling a number of injuries to starters and players who contribute to the overall success of the program, plus their schedule will not be any easier with each week to come. 

Some of the numbers for Warren included junior quarterback Braylen Murray going 13-of-20 for 275 yards with three touchdown passes, plus he also carried the football 17 times for 52 yards with three TD runs, and he also caught two passes for 48 yards. Warren freshman Brennen Bowen played quarterback at times in the game before being injured, where he was 4-of-5 for 59 yards passing with one TD pass. The defense of Warren had eight tackles for loss and freshman Bentley Ison had a sack. 

Though the Indians allowed 50 points, there were still positives on defense with the team having five tackles for loss, including sacks or half sacks by Aber, Malone and senior Roman Hardy, whose full sack was a big play when much needed by the Indians in the second half. Aber and Sam Burris each had six solo tackles for the Indians, and of Malone’s 10 tackles, five were solo. Rush Workman finished with seven total tackles (four solo) for Hillsboro, while Kel’el Captain had three solo tackles. 

Andrew Shelton also had six tackles (two solo) while Braylon Mayes finished with five tackles (one solo). Other HHS tackle totals included: Conner Yochum (three), Jayce Newton (one), Grant Shepard (one), Aaron Hatter (one) and Ryker Snyder (one). 

Maybe a wild stat so to speak from this game with the 97 total points scored, neither team scored a single point in the second quarter. 

Another fun fact for Hillsboro is of their 12 touchdowns this season (pass or receiving), nine of them have gone for no less than 30 yards. Those big plays have been exciting to watch, as Captain has had five of those scores that have gone for no less than 50-yard gains, with touchdown runs of 60 yards, 70 yards, 64 yards, 50 yards and 69 yards. Captain has also had TD runs of one and 15 yards, and additionally, he threw a 33-yard touchdown pass in Week 2. 

Plus a shoutout to the Hillsboro offensive line for blocking for the roughly 600 yards of offense this past Friday night — who included senior Jordan Lowe, senior Roman Hardy, junior Garrett Greiner, senior Andrew Shelton and senior Kaiden Robbins.

It would have been interesting to see where Hillsboro would be if they had their entire roster all playing at once, because for most of the season there have been injuries which have kept that from happening. 

This upcoming Friday night, the Indians will be at home for a second consecutive week at Richards Memorial Field when they host the Williamsburg Wildcats, who enter the game at 4-1 overall. 

The McClain Tigers take care of business in Week 4 at East Clinton 

For the first four games of the '26 season, the McClain Tigers have handled their business by gaining four wins in convincing fashion, as this past week most of their scoring was done in the first half as they defeated the host East Clinton Astros, 49-8. 

Here are some offensive stats for the Tigers that stood out in Week 4: 

McClain’s offense totaled 449 yards of total offense with 270 yards passing and 179 rushing.

Junior QB Hudson Lovett was 12-of-19 for 179 yards passing with four TDs. 

McClain’s rushing numbers included Lovett with five carries for 95 yards and two TD runs. There was also Kia Cornett with three carries for 61 yards. Bentley Marsh totaled six carries for 58 yards. Jodeci Rickman ended the game with three carries for 20 yards and a touchdown.

McClain’s receiving numbers included Leiland Bond finishing with five catches for 84 yards and three touchdowns. There was also Brady Binegar with two catches for 27 yards, while Holden Lyons totaled two catches for 25 yards and a TD. Hunter Peabody also had one catch for 20 yards. McClain’s Taitum Lyons finished with one catch for 15 yards.

There is also freshman Ross Roman, as the kicker finished 7-of-7 on his PATs. This season through four games, Roman is 24-of-25 in his extra-point kicks.

There isn’t much else to say about the Tigers and their game against East Clinton, as they now have one non-conference game remaining, as the upcoming game is probably their biggest game to date this season. McClain will be hosting the Circleville Tigers this Friday night in their homecoming game at McClain Field. Circleville is 3-1 entering Week 5 with wins over Washington (28-26), Westfall (49-15) and Amanda Clearcreek (21-0). Their lone loss was Week 1 against the Chillicothe Cavaliers by a 34-0 score. More on this game later in the week in the Week 5 Football Preview. 

More on Week 4 in the Frontier Athletic Conference 

Here are the Week 4 FAC football results: 
Warren 50, Hillsboro 47
McClain 49, East Clinton 8
Chillicothe 14, Hamilton Township 13
Western Brown 21, Jackson 56
Batavia 13, Miami Trace 42
Heath 58, Washington 28

• Three teams in the FAC scored at least 42 points this past Friday night, as the conference finished 4-2 in their six games. Chillicothe had a big win over a strong Hamilton Township team, as the Chillicothe Gazette described it as a "gritty win.” It is good to see FAC teams gain the big wins in non-conference action, because overall it makes the conference that much stronger. 

• Miami Trace had another strong victory with the Panthers winning by a 56-21 score over the Batavia Bulldogs. MTHS won this game with their defense forcing multiple turnovers, then obviously taking advantage of them with their final 42-point total. Julian Baker scored four touchdowns in the game, all in the first half. 

• The Ironmen of Jackson and Western Brown Broncos played even in the first quarter with each team scoring 14 points in the first quarter. Then the Ironmen outscored the Broncos 21-7 in the second quarter. The second half, Jackson’s defense pitched a shutout with the final two quarters seeing them outscore the Broncos, 21-0, including 14 points in the third quarter. Western Brown in the game had quarterback Brody Barber go 25-of-41 for 374 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. WBHS receiver Cole Barr had eight receptions for 150 yards with one touchdown. 

• The Washington Blue Lions lost against the visiting Heath Bulldogs 58-28, but some standout numbers included junior QB Sam Pfeifer going 13-of-28 for 181 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Blue Lions had a total of five players attempt a pass in the game, including Aidon Nelson going 1-of-1 for a 40-yard pass. The Blue Lions were also led in rushing by Pfeifer with 14 carries for 47 yards. Junior Jackson Everhart had four carries for 43 yards. Senior Aden Osborne led the Blue Lions seven receptions for 91 yards and two touchdown receptions. 

Check back on Thursday for a Week 5 football preview. 

Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.