Week 8 High School Football Preview: Indians on a road trip; Tigers to host senior night

Week 8 of the 2024 high school football season is here, and the Frontier Athletic Conference standings are taking shape in what could be a two-team battle as there are two teams that are 2-0 in conference play.

Entering the eighth week of the season and the third week of FAC play, the Jackson Ironmen and Miami Trace Panthers are 2-0 in the conference, as they will meet on Friday night in Jackson.

Results from Week 7 (Oct. 4) were:

- Hillsboro 21, Chillicothe 14
- Jackson 42, Washington 0
- Miami Trace 44, McClain 10.

The current FAC standings are (entering Week 8):

Miami Trace    2-0, 6-1
Jackson     2-0, 5-2
Hillsboro    1-1, 3-4
Washington     1-1, 1-6
McClain     0-2, 1-6
Chillicothe    0-2, 0-7.

Here is this week’s FAC schedule with previews for each of the three games:

Hillsboro Indians (1-1, 3-4) at Washington Blue Lions (1-1, 1-6)

This Week 8 game has the Hillsboro Indians coming off a Week 7 win against the Chillicothe Cavaliers at 21-14, as the defense of the Indians was outstanding. Washington lost last Friday against Jackson (42-0) and have had their share of struggles this season. Washington’s lone win came back in Week 6 against Chillicothe, winning by a 28-26 score.

This season, the Blue Lions have scored 85 points and allowed 311, and in two FAC games Washington has scored 28 points and allowed 68. Hillsboro overall in seven games has scored 246 points and allowed 182, while in the two FAC games the Indians have scored 48 points and allowed 58.

Washington quarterback Gavin Coffman has 752 yards passing and five touchdown passes this season. Aden Osborne leads Washington in receiving with 539 yards receiving with 24 receptions and four touchdowns.

For Hillsboro, Jeven Hochstuhl has 30 carries for 335 yards and seven rushing touchdowns, while Ryan Burns’ totals are 21 carries for 236 yards and four touchdowns. HHS quarterback Mason Dumpert has rushed for 248 yards on 36 carries and has four rushing touchdowns. In the air, Dumpert has passed for 395 yards on 19 completions with three passing touchdowns.

This game is Washington’s homecoming, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at Gardner Park.

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Chillicothe Cavaliers (0-2, 0-7) at McClain Tigers (0-2, 1-6)

Going into this game, both teams are coming off losses, as McClain lost to Miami Trace and the Cavaliers lost to Hillsboro. This week, both teams have had similar seasons, and it has the potential to be a closely played game.

MHS enters this game scoring 87 points and allowing 212. The Cavaliers have lost all seven games played this season, as they’ve scored 83 points and have allowed 223 points.

The two teams have similar offensive and defensive numbers in terms of points scored and points allowed, so with this being the final game of the season at McClain Field (MHS has two road games to end the ’24 season), this could be a competitive game to watch as MHS celebrates their senior class.

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Miami Trace Panthers (2-0, 6-1) at Jackson Ironmen (2-0, 5-2)

This could be the game that ultimately decides who the FAC football champion will be for the 2024 season. The two conference-undefeated teams are set to face each other Friday night, and both are playing solid football this season.

Jackson is the three-time defending FAC champion, and in ’24 they’ve scored 97 points in FAC play and haven’t allowed a point after two games. Miami Trace has scored 88 points in their two FAC games and allowed 37 points. Overall in ’24, the Panthers have scored 263 points and have allowed 160, while the Ironmen have scored 251 points and allowed 124 points.

This should be the game of the week in the FAC, and being played at Alumni Stadium in Jackson, the atmosphere should be big for both teams.

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