Versailles will have a chance to knock off Marion Local and end their long winning streak at home.
Photo by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
Dailyadvocate.com
DARKE COUNTY — It’s now week six of the high school football season and we have another impactful conference matchup coming up. Versailles will be hosting powerhouse Marion Local this week. It’s a game that will impact the MAC standings as both teams are undefeated in conference play and both are contenders for a league title. Here is a preview of each matchup in the county.
September 26: Bradford (0-5, 0-4) vs Dixie (0-5, 0-4) 7 p.m.
Both teams are searching for their first win as the Railroaders welcome in the Greyhounds for Thursday night football. Bradford lost 70-12 at Preble Shawnee last week. Senior Griffin Trevino had a pair of touchdowns, a 78 yard touchdown run and a 96 kickoff return touchdown. The team rushed for 113 yards. The Arrows did their damage on the ground with 308 rushing yards as a team.
Dixie is coming off a 35-14 loss to National Trail. Dixie scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Greyhounds allowed 282 yards rushing to the Blazers. Both teams will be looking to control the ground game. Getting the tough yards on the ground and stopping the runs will be keys of the game for both teams. Both quarterbacks, Bradford senior Owen Canan and Dixie freshman Cole Swafford, can make plays with their legs as well.
September 27: Ansonia (4-1, 4-0) vs Twin Valley South (1-4, 1-3) 7 p.m.
The Tigers are coming off a huge 34-28 win over the Patriots last week. Senior quarterback Layne Bowman rushed for 61 yards but had three rushing touchdowns to lead the team. Ansonia finished with 367 rushing yards. They held Tri-Village to 85 yards on the ground. Head coach Adam Hall said they come into every game feeling like they can run the ball on their opponent.
“We feel like when we do what we’re supposed to do, we can run on anyone. That’s what we’re built on. We thought that coming into tonight. We had turnovers tonight, that’s the thing that kills us. It killed us all year,” Hall said. “But, the thing that was different tonight was after a turnover we got the ball back twice.”
Twin Valley South just won their first game of the season against Mississinawa Valley, 42-26. The Panthers jumped out to a 35-0 lead and held on for the win. They rushed for 370 yards as seniors Carson Hurst and Conner Mowell both had over 170 yards rushing. They held Mississinawa Valley to 69 yards rushing. The winner of the ground game will be the winner of this matchup. Both teams know what they are and will lean on their rushing attack.
A full game recap of Ansonia vs Tri-Village can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.
September 27: Arcanum (3-2, 3-1) at National Trail (3-2, 3-1) 7 p.m.
It’s a battle between two of the middle teams in the WOAC. Both teams one loss have come against the top two teams in the conference. Arcanum won 37-0 against Tri-County North last week. The passing attack got going as sophomore Bishop Cartwright had 187 yards passing and three touchdowns. The team also rushed for 137 yards. the defense also had two interceptions and didn’t allow a completion. The Panthers only had 88 rushing yards.
National Trail had 406 yards of total offense in their win over Dixie. Senior Zack Creager had 217 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The team rushed for 282 yards. The team also had 7.5 tackles for loss and five pass deflections. Arcanum has experience going up against a stout rushing attack as they allowed 304 yards to Ansonia. But, the Tigers averaged 4.4 yards a carry. For the most part, the defense did their job that game. It will have to show up again to help give the Trojans a chance to come away with a road victory.
September 27: Greenville (0-5, 0-4) vs Sidney (3-2, 3-1) 7 p.m.
Greenville lost 49-0 in a tough road game at Piqua last week. Sophomore Isaac Kerg got the start for Greenville and threw for 72 yards. Sophomore Gabe Rammel had 60 yards on the ground. Piqua had a balanced attack as they scored three touchdowns through the air and three touchdowns on the ground.
Sidney won 58-14 over West Carrollton at home last week. Senior quarterback Ethan New was 10 for 12 with 201 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for three touchdowns. A MVL First-Teamer last season senior Julius Spradling had 91 receiving yards and a touchdown. He also had two carries for 18 yards. The defense will have their hands full this week. In their wins, Sidney has scored 67, 37 and 58. The Green Wave will have to get the Sidney offense out of rhythm to come away with a win this week.
September 27: Mississinawa Valley (1-4, 1-3) vs Preble Shawnee (5-0, 4-0) 7 p.m.
The Blackhawks didn’t go down without a fight as they scored 26 points in the fourth quarter in their 42-26 loss at Twin Valley South. Head coach Steven Trobridge said they have to find consistency on offense. He was happy with how the team responded, but wants to see that kind of play throughout the game.
“We got to be consistent. It is up and down, rocky start. I’m glad we picked it up. It’s just one of those what if. What if that last six minutes, the way we played offensively, was from the start all the way through,” Trobridge said.
Freshman Caleb Spradling finished with 240 passing yards, a season high for him, and had four passing touchdowns. Three of them went to junior Kyle Wehrkamp who had 111 yards receiving on five receptions.
Preble Shawnee exploded for 536 yards of total offense in their win over Bradford. Senior Lane Lovely and freshman Ethan Mauller each had over 100 yards rushing. Senior Isaac Blankenship had 156 yards receiving on four receptions and three touchdowns. The Blackhawks will have to turn this into an ugly game to come away with the win against the undefeated Arrows. Anything can happen if the Blackhawks can get out to a fast start and get the Arrows playing on their heels.
A full game recap of Mississinawa Valley vs Twin Valley South can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.
September 27: Tri-Village (3-2, 2-2) at Tri-County North (2-3, 2-2) 7 p.m.
The Patriots lost a close one to Ansonia last week. After they took a lead to start the third quarter, Ansonia regained the lead and never gave it up. Head coach Matt Hopkins said the effort was there from the team, just the inexperience to win at that level isn’t there just yet.
“Sometimes, your effort is not good enough. Ours wasn’t tonight. Ansonia is a really good football team. They’re physical, physical, physical. They beat us up really good. They deserve all the cheers right now because they played really hard,” Hopkins said. “Our guys did, but we haven’t learned to compete at that level for four quarters yet.”
One positive was junior Trey Sagester continuing to stay poised while down and making plays. He had three passing touchdowns and threw for 259 yards. Sophomore Griffin Richards had 10 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Hayden Hunt had three total touchdowns.
After winning back to back games, the Panthers were shutout at Arcanum. They were held to 88 total yards and didn’t complete a pass in only three pass attempts. Arcanum had 324 yards of total offense. Hopkins said they are now fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. They will have to step up against the run again this week and get the offense off to a faster start to come away with the win.
September 27: Versailles (5-0, 3-0) vs Marion Local (5-0, 3-0) 7 p.m.
Versailles got their fifth straight win of the season as they took care of Parkway, 37-12, on the road last week. Marion Local handled New Bremen, 48-7, last week. That was the Flyers 53rd straight win. The Tigers will have a chance to break that streak before Marion Local can break the record. Versailles played them close last season on the road in a 14-13 loss. The Tigers defense will need to continue to step up big and keep the Flyers offense off the field. Marion Local averages over 180 yards both on the ground and through the air. They also average 51 points a game and have won by an average of 48 points so far this season. Through four weeks, Marion Local Victor Hoelscher leads the MAC in receiving with 417 yards and eight touchdowns. Versailles has limited opponents to about seven points a game. If the defense can give the offense some good field position, they will have a good shot at ending the winning streak.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].
