By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Teams are still working out the kinks as we enter week three of the season. Teams like Ansonia, Versailles, Arcanum and Mississinawa Valley are looking to build on their win last week. While teams like Greenville, Tri-Village and Bradford are going into the week ready to bounce back from a their conference loss. Here is a preview of this week’s action around the county.

September 5: Arcanum (1-1, 1-0) vs Mississinawa Valley (1-1, 1-0) 7 p.m.

Both teams are coming off a WOAC win and will meet underneath the Thursday Night Lights at Arcanum. The Trojans won 41-18 at Twin Valley South as they pulled away early. The Trojans rushed for 259 yards as freshman Hudson Knaus had 159 yards and three touchdowns. Mississinawa Valley won 20-6 at home over Dixie after scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. Freshman Caleb Spradling threw for a pair of touchdowns, one to senior Leland Kauffman and one to junior Bryce Watson.

The Arcanum defense will have to build on their strong performance over Twin Valley South in this game. Six different receivers caught a ball for Mississinawa Valley. Spradling and the Blackhawks offense is going to spread the ball around and use their different playmakers. For Mississinawa Valley, the defense also had a great performance. They forced two turnovers against Dixie. They also held Dixie to six yards rushing against a balanced Dixie team. Arcanum will also be a more balanced offense and try to keep the Blackhawks on their toes.

September 6: Ansonia (1-1, 1-0) at Dixie (0-2, 0-1)

The Tigers came out to a fast start against Bradford and won 60-12. The team had 508 total yards of offense with 489 rushing yards. Senior Zane Henderson had 17 carries with 157 yards and four touchdowns. As a team, they had eight rushing touchdowns.

Dixie scored one rushing touchdown in the teams 20-6 loss at Mississinawa Valley. They did allow 129 rushing yards to the Blackhawks. If the Tigers stick to their game on offense, they should come away with a win on the road. Defensively, the passing defense needs to continue their development and keep the Greyhound air attack at bay.

September 6: Bradford (0-2, 0-1) vs Tri-County North (0-2, 0-1)

The Railroaders will host the Panthers as both teams are searching for their first win of the season. Even in a 60-12 loss to Ansonia, there were a few bright spots for Bradford. Senior Owen Canan finished with 209 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing with 40 yards.

Tri-County North is coming off a 26-12 loss to National Trail. They played a dual-threat quarterback as they allowed quarterback Cooper Smith to rush for 41 yards and a touchdown. Smith did throw for 82 yards with six completions against the Panthers defense. Two quarterbacks for Tri-County North combined for three interceptions. Tri-County North also had 146 yards of total offense. If someone else on the offense steps up along with Canan doing his thing, the Railroaders will have a good shot at getting their first win of the season.

September 6: Greenville (0-2, 0-1) vs Tippecanoe (2-0, 1-0)

The Green Wave lost 49-0 on the road to Troy in the their MVL opener. They were without junior Gabe Rammel in the game. Junior Lukas Thorp led the team in rushing with 83 yards. Sophomore Titus Eberwein also got double digit carries and got 47 yards. The defense did give up 219 rushing yards. Troy did have four tackles for loss in the game.

Tippecanoe showed why there are one of the better teams in the MVL with a 41-0 win over Fairborn. The Red Devils outgained Fairborn 330-101 in the game. Sophomore Larkin Thomas was 18 for 26 passing with 228 passing yards and three touchdowns. They also rushed for 102 yards. If Greenville wants to pull off the win in their home opener, the defense needs to force some mistakes in the passing game and give the offense some short fields.

September 6: Tri-Village (1-1, 0-1) vs Twin Valley South (0-2, 0-1)

In what could end up being an important game for the league title, the Patriots lost 42-25 at home to Preble Shawnee. Head coach Matt Hopkins said the Arrows were the better team in that game and took the fight to them. But, he was proud of how his team fought back after being in a 14-0 hole. With the inexperience on the team, there’s going to be ups and downs throughout the season and even during the game.

“These are the growing pains. It is what it is. I just told these guys, we got two roads we can go down. We can go into the tank and that’s the easy way to do it. Or we can get back after it Monday,” Hopkins said.

The offense came to life once junior Trey Sagester started to make plays with his feet and got into a rhythm throwing. He ended the game 25 for 34 passing with 315 passing yards and three touchdowns but had an interception. The team only ended with 66 yards rushing on 2.6 yards a carry. Sophomore Griffin Richards led in receiving with eight catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Tri-Village had trouble against the quarterback run as they allowed junior quarterback Brody Morton to rush for 164 yards.

In their loss to Arcanum, Twin Valley South allowed 259 yards rushing and only 52 yards passing. If Sagester can continue to lead the offense, he should open things up for the running game. The Patriots can get back on track and it would start with a win over Twin Valley South.

A full game recap can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

September 6: Versailles (2-0) vs Delphos St. John’s (1-1)

The Tigers are coming off a 41-0 win over Fort Loramie for back to back shutouts by the defense. Versailles rushed for five touchdowns against the Redskins. They led 35-0 at halftime. The Tigers also forced five turnovers in the first half.

St.John’s lost 14-13 to Lima Central Catholic on the road. The Tigers shut out the Bluejays last season 41-0. Another strong defensive performance at home would surely help the Tigers win that first MAC game of the season.

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