Marion Local got beat up front and saw an opposing quarterback have a surprisingly efficient night.
The four-time defending state champion Flyers won anyway because that’s what they do.
Their 20-19 comeback win over Versailles ran their streak to 70, including three close ones over the Tigers in that span according to MLHS coach Tim Goodwin.
“The kids never quit, and they never will,” said Goodwin. “And that’s just how we do things. And things didn’t look good, that’s for sure. We get beat up on a nine-minute drive to start the third quarter when we’re down by a score. They’re beatin’ us up on the line of scrimmage and you’re limited as a coach over what you can do when you get beat physically. Coaches can’t help when that happens.
“A gap is a gap, and you’re either going to own that gap or you’re not. And we got moved out of gaps a bunch.”
Goodwin conceded there’s not much a coach can do when his team is losing the line of scrimmage, but he credited sophomore quarterback Brennan Hess with taking on a bigger load to fuel the comeback against a game Tigers team led by quarterback Ethan Wilker.
The difference turned out to be a missed PAT kick followed by a failed two-point conversion, though a controversial call also benefited the Flyers when officials ruled a contested catch was complete on Marion Local’s game-winning drive.
Press Pros publisher Sonny Fulks wrote about that and more in his Monday morning column, which you can find here.
Another state champion is setting its sites on a repeat in Central Ohio, where Columbus Watterson crushed DeSales 42-7 Friday night.
That meant stopping Michigan-bound running back Jonathan Brown and harassing DeSales quarterback RJ Day, who is the son of Ohio State coach Ryan Day, from start to finish.
Watterson has its own Ohio State connections, of course, with All-State quarterback Drew Bellisari being the son of All-Big Ten Buckeye linebacker Greg Bellisari and his top target, Carter Bellisari the son of former OSU QB Greg Bellisari.
Carter caught six passes for 63 yards while Drew was 14 for 22 for 168 yards Friday night.
Here’s the recap: Watterson Overwhelms DeSales
Apparently it was legacy week in Central Ohio because we had another of those stories at Upper Arlington, where the Golden Bears beat Hilliard Bradley on the strength of three total touchdowns by Luke Backes.
His uncle, Jeff, was Ohio’s Mr. Football at UA in 2000 before going on to play at Northwestern and become an orthopedic surgeon.
Here’s the recap of the Golden Bears improving to 6-0, something Olentangy Orange also did with a 42-7 win over Hilliard Davidson.
The Pioneers have a player with a familiar name — Lucas Fickel — but only in how it sounds.
He has no connection Wisconsin head coach who was a standout player at Ohio State (Luke Fickell), but he will make one for himself if he keeps averaging 15.3 yards per carry as he did against the Wildcats.
Of course, Olentangy Orange also still has star quarterback Levi Davis, an Ohio University commit who set the tone for the game with a 51-yard touchdown run early and finished with 249 total yards.
I went to Troy on Friday night to see the Trojans take on Stebbins, a dangerous team with an explosive offense that could have derailed Troy’s quest to get back to the top of the Miami Valley League Miami Division standings.
The Indians offense couldn’t do much, though, and Troy improved to 5-1 while staying perfect in league play.
Their one loss is to Middletown, the only team ahead of them in the Division I, Region 2 playoff points heading into the weekend, but the Trojans moved up to No. 1 this week after the Middies lost to Lakota West.
Aidan Kirkpatrick and Aiden Gorman provided the points for Troy against Stebbins, and Gorman said they are intent on right the wrongs of last season (6-5) by getting revenge on all three MVL teams that beat them.
They took down Xenia in Week 2, and next up is Butler this week.
Then, of course, there is Tippecanoe in Week 9.
Read my recap of Troy-Stebbins here: All Phases Contribute As Troy Wins 5th Straight
Speaking of Tipp, the Red Devils had no trouble with Sidney on Thursday night, setting up another potential Game of the Year in the MVL this week when they head south to Greene County, where Xenia will be waiting to dish out some of its own vengeance.
I was there when the Red Devils handed the Buccs their only regular season loss last season, and Fulks noted some Xenia players made the trip north to see them in person last week, taking advantage of the Thursday night game.
Xenia has won four in a row since the loss to Troy and beat Piqua 42-21 with a balanced offensive attack on Friday night.
Stud senior running back Deaunte White ran for his usual 134 yards while sophomore quarterback Gage Stephan threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns, and Eastern Michigan-bound Shawn Fishwick caught 10 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown.
Don’t overlook the Xenia defense, though. They have a fierce front seven, and the secondary provided three interceptions against Piqua.
Meanwhile, the Indians have shown much improvement since the first couple of weeks of the season, as Allan Brads noted in his recap of the Xenia-Piqua game.
Other games of note:
Lehman Catholic QB Turner Lachey posted his second 500-yard passing game. He completed 25 of 35 passes for 510 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-14 win over Milton-Union. His top target was Evan O’Leary, who caught 10 passes for 214 yards, his third 200-yard receiving game of the season. That overshadowed teammate CJ Olding catching nine passes for 165 yards, his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season but only his third-most receiving yards this year.
Graham topped Benjamin Logan 26-21 with Danny Hoke running for 101 yards and Jakob Hoke adding another 87. The Falcons (5-1) got back in the win column after being handed their first loss by London in Week 5. This week they play host to 4-2 Northwestern, one of the other two teams (along with Indian Lake) to have a winning record at this point in the CBC Mad River.
The winners in the big OHC games mentioned in this space last week were West Jefferson and Greeneview. The Roughriders rallied in the fourth quarter to tie Northeastern then scored the only points in overtime to win 42-36 and remain undefeated. The Rams trailed for most of the game but got a 55-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to overcome their Greene County rivals (story via the Xenia Gazette). That was just the first week of conference play, but those two appear to be in the driver’s seat now in their respective divisions.
Tri-Village crushed Mississinawa Valley 70-7, handing the Blackhawks their first Western Ohio Athletic Conference loss. Trey Sagester threw four touchdown passes for TVHS while Griffin Richards and Aaron Bruner both had more than 100 yards receiving. Preble Shawnee also won easily, topping Bradford 53-0, to remain on pace for a showdown with the Patriots in Week 9.
Springfield beat Springboro 14-7 to remain undefeated in the GWOC. They are joined in the 3-0 conference record club by Wayne, who will host the Wildcats this week.
Games to watch Week 7
Troy at Butler
Tippecanoe at Xenia
Lehman Catholic at Miami East
Northwestern at Graham
Mississinawa Valley at Preble Shawnee
Springfield at Wayne
Marion Local at Fort Recovery