By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Week one of high school football is in the books. Teams will either look to build on their week one win, or will try to shake off their week one loss. Here is a look ahead of the week two schedule around the county.

August 30: Ansonia (0-1) vs Bradford (0-1) 7 p.m.

Ansonia is coming off a 41-32 loss at Riverside. After scoring six in the first quarter, Riverside scored 34 points in the second quarter. After that, Ansonia outscored the Pirates 20-7 in the second half. Head coach Adam Hall said he was happy with how his team fought in the second half after coming out sluggish in the first half.

“I’m proud of the way we fought,” he said. Hall told his team, “If we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, it can get ugly out here. When we do it the way we’re supposed to do it, it can be pretty good, too. We saw both sides of the coin here tonight and I think we know which side of the coin we want to lean to.”

The Ansonia passing defense gave up 256 passing yards and let up four passing touchdowns. On the bright side, the Ansonia offense is still churning out the rushing yards as they had 358 as a team. Senior Zane Henderson led with 190 rushing yards and had 2 touchdowns on 27 carries. Sophomore Lander Shives had 22 carries with two touchdowns and 84 yards. It seems like the Tigers will lean on those two to get the rushing attack going.

A full game recap of the Ansonia game can be found on our website, Dailyadvocate.com.

Bradford lost in their home opener, 37-6, to Springfield Catholic Central. The Irish led 24-0 at halftime as the Railroaders put up a better fight in the second half. Senior Owen Canan led the offense as he threw for 158 yards and a touchdown. He also led in rushing with 24 yards and had 11 carries. Four different receivers had 2+ catches in the game.

Ansonia will have to bring the momentum they gained in that second half into this one to grab their first win of the season. The Railroaders have the athletes on offense to challenge the Ansonia defense. For Bradford, the defense will be physically tested against the Ansonia rushing attack.

August 30: Arcanum (0-1) at Twin Valley South (0-1) 7 p.m.

Both teams are coming into this matchup after allowing 50+ points in the season opener. Arcanum lost 54-27 at Covington to start the season. Covington had 404 yards of total offense with 250 coming through the air. A positive for Arcanum was their passing attempt kept pace with Covington. Sophomore Bishop Cartwright had 225 passing yards and a touchdown. Arcanum also rushed for 129 yards as a team. Sophomore MJ Macy led with 15 carries and 67 yards with two touchdowns. The defense did improve as the game went on only allowing 13 points in the second half.

Twin Valley South lost 52-7 to Carlisle as their lone score came in the first quarter on a pick six. The offense only had 98 yards of total offense. The Panthers had 24 rush attempts in the game. Arcanum will have to contain the run to stop the Panthers offense. With a balanced offense, the Trojans can earn their first win of the season.

August 30: Greenville (0-1) at Troy (0-1) 7 p.m.

Greenville lost 23-7 on the road at Eaton week one. After letting up 10 points in the first quarter, Greenville held the Eagles scoreless for the next two quarters. Head coach Sean Ford said he was proud of the team’s efforts as they competed all game long. While down, the Green Wave didn’t give up.

“I mentioned this all week. Football is an up and down game. Sometimes, the other team has a great plan and they take it to you. It’s all about how you respond,” Ford said. “I thought the boys responded extremely well. There’s a mentality switching. We got to find a way to put all four quarters together.”

The defense had multiple fourth down stops and contained the rushing attack from Eaton senior Cordis Berard. But in the fourth quarter, the Eagles found their groove running the ball and finished with 259 rushing yards as a team. Berard had 107 yards himself with two touchdowns. Through three quarters, junior Gabe Rammel had 39 rushing yards and junior Lukas Thorp had 98 receiving yards. Both looked like they were getting into a rhythm before both were knocked out of the game in back to back plays in the third quarter. The offense did move the ball well after that, but couldn’t get back on the scoreboard.

A full game recap of the Eaton game can be found on our website, Dailyadvocate.com.

Troy started their season with a 28-18 loss to Middletown at home. Troy was outgained 348-259 in the game, even with Troy forcing three turnovers. The Trojans leaned on their run game as they had 48 rushing attempts with 230 rushing yards as a team. The Green Wave defense will have to be committed to stop the run once again to stay in this one.

August 30: Mississinawa Valley (0-1) vs Dixie (0-1) 7 p.m.

The Blackhawks lost 36-12 at Waynesfield-Goshen. The game was tied 6-6 at halftime before the home team scored 24 points in the third quarter. Freshman Caleb Spradling threw for both touchdowns, one to freshman Cooper Nieport and one to junior Kyle Wehrkamp. Spradling finished with 169 passing yards. The team as a whole had 43 rushing yards on 17 attempts.

Dixie lost 33-3 at Lima Perry to start the season, a team the Blackhawks scrimmaged this year. The Greyhounds had 109 yards of total offense. Freshman quarterback Cole Swafford led the offense with 46 passing yards and 35 rushing yards. Dixie tried to establish the run with 31 rush attempts. The Dixie defense did hold Lima Perry scoreless in the second half. Mississinawa Valley needs to get off to another hot start and keep their momentum.

August 30: Tri-Village (1-0) vs Preble Shawnee (1-0) 7 p.m.

Both teams are coming off 50+ point wins to start their season. Also, both of these teams are the only WOAC teams to win their week one matchup. Tri-Village won 56-0 at Troy Christian as they scored 43 points in the first half. The team rushed for 334 total yards and seven scores on 28 carries. Sophomore Hayden Hunt led the pack with 13 carries, 166 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Lathen Wehr had 79 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Maven Robinson and freshman Colt Camacho both had a rushing touchdown. In his first start, junior Trey Sagester had 274 yards passing with two touchdowns. Senior Mason Weathington led the receivers with seven receptions and 97 yards with a touchdown. Senior Lane Bierly also had a receiving touchdown. The team had 10.5 sacks in the game with Hunt leading the way with 4.

Preble Shawnee won 52-0 over Middletown Madison as they scored 39 points in the first half. Junior Brody Morton had 239 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The team also rushed for 270 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Lane Lovely led with 10 carries, 111 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Isaac Blankenship had 28 yards and two touchdowns while also having four receptions for 58 yards. Senior Reece Smith had 104 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Both defenses will have their hands full. Both teams will trot out athletic and talented skill players on both sides of the ball. Even with this being a week two matchup, this game could have a major affect on who wins the league title. For the last three seasons, both teams have finished in the top three in the standings. Based on the first week, both of these teams look like the one to beat this year.

August 30: Versailles (1-0) vs Fort Loramie (0-1) 7 p.m.

The Tigers opened the season with a 33-0 win over Milton-Union. Head coach Ryan Jones said it was a great accomplishment for the defense to get the shutout after getting a fourth down stop at the one-yard line to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard. It was a unit that got after it all night.

“I thought they played inspired ball all night. They got after it all. We got some pressure on their quarterback. Really happy with how the defense played tonight,” Jones said.

Senior Ben Subler scored three touchdowns for the Tigers, two on the ground and one receiving touchdown. Junior Ethan Wilker got his first career start at quarterback for the varsity team and threw for a pair of touchdowns. Jones said he was happy with how Wilker handled himself and showed great poise.

Fort Loramie lost 49-21 at home to Minster. The Wildcats did most of their damage on the ground with five rushing touchdowns. Minster also scored on multiple big plays against the Redskins defense. Fort Loramie quarterback Gabe Hart threw for three touchdowns in the game.

Versailles will look to keep the run game going so it can open up the deep pass. The Tigers defensive line showed they could get pressure on the quarterback against Milton-Union and will need to do it again in this game.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].