High school football: Week 3

Ontario at ColumbianRecords: Ontario 2-0; Columbian 2-0Last year: Didn't playOutlook: Putting a weird Week 1 behind it, Columbian came out and took care of business last Friday on the road at Mansfield Senior as Masen Seitz tore up the Tygers on the ground with four touchdowns. This week a good Ontario program comes to Frost-Kalnow Stadium in a matchup TC coach Ryan Ottney is excited for because he will get a better understanding of where his team is. It's early, but TC is currently sitting second in its region, while Ontario is right behind in fourth."When I think of Ontario it's a team that is definitely well-coached and that coach has been there for quite some time," Ottney said. "They've gotten to the playoffs a lot here recently and even a regional final a few years back, so obviously they have things going in the right direction. "The first thing I see on tape is that they play really hard, and they've got some good things going for them with special teams, returning a kickoff return for a touchdown the first two weeks, so we have to make sure we have things correct in all phases this week."Ottney said the QB is a Mansfield Senior transfer and is playing really well for the Warriors. With a good receiver, Ontario is dangerous and one the Tornadoes will have to pay attention to."They can sling it, but they can also put their hands in the dirt and run the ball too, so it's going to be a great opportunity for us to see both kinds of offenses. Honestly, they remind me of us in what we like to do. I'm just really excited about this one." Seneca East at Calvert Records: SE 2-0; Calvert 0-2Last year: Didn't playOutlook: Seneca East and Calvert enter their matchup with two different feelings. SE is full of confidence after a 2-0 start, and Calvert is searching for its first win, but did improve drastically after Week 1.They haven't played each other in quite some time, but Calvert is not a team to take lightly, Phillips said. "I told the kids that it's good to be 2-0, but you need to be hungry and work towards going 3-0, but we know it's going to be tough," he said. "We're reignited an old rivalry over at Heidelberg, a great place to play, so we're excited for the opportunity. Calvert is a great challenge to open up league play with."The Senecas defense and team as a whole played well enough to win last week, but just came up short. This week, they will have to play even better as an explosive SE offense comes to the Berg. "We have to make sure we stay in our coverages and we come up and tackle their running backs because they have two big horses at running back and they run hard," Calvert coach Mike Lento said. "We have to make sure we stay in our rush lanes because their quarterback does a great job. He can run, but he doesn't always look to run, he elongates things and finds receivers down field. Coach Phillips has them playing good football right now, but when we look across the roster I think we match up decently well, but we just have to limit their explosive plays."With it being the N10 opener and a somewhat new opponent for SE, there shouldn't be any looking past the Senecas as the Tigers have a monstrous game at Hopewell-Loudon coming in Week 4. Carey at LucasRecords: Carey 0-2; Lucas 1-1Last year: Didn't playOutlook: Carey coach Jonathon Mershman said his team found some answers during the game last Friday against Galion, but one question remained even after the game: How do we punch it into the end zone?Carey had opportunities and a real chance to take down the Tigers last week, but just couldn't score when the game was on the line. It was a tough loss, but one that has been put behind them, he said with N10 play beginning this week."We've had some good conversations and the team is focused on the right things to put things together and with a clean slate now with the N10 starting, we know it's time to find some answers," Mershman said. "We are just trying to be consistent and put it all together, which we haven't done yet this season, but we need to ride those positive waves as much as we can."Lucas is coming off a 28-7 loss to Hillsdale last week, which isn't a bad loss considering how good Hillsdale's program usually is.But Mershman said Lucas is a run-heavy team and physical up front. That's exactly the kind of game Carey wants."They are definitely a running team and they have a nice back with a nice size line, which can move people around, so we have to match their physicality this week," he said. "It's going to be exciting to watch and if you're a fan of physical, running offenses, this game is for you."This will be a good test for us to find out some more about ourselves. We just have to finish drives." Hopewell-Loudon at Colonel CrawfordRecords: Hopewell-Loudon 2-0, Colonel Crawford 1-1.Last year: Did not play.Outlook: Week 1 of the expanded Northern 10 Athletic Conference opens with a small-school clash of two successful programs, both seeking their seventh consecutive playoff appearance.Each fared well last year, with Colonel Crawford, last year's N10 co-champ, reaching the Division VI state semifinals while Hopewell-Loudon earned its third Division VI state runner-up finish in program history."It's exciting. It's our first conference game in the new conference. It's two teams that played in the final four last year, and in the same division (then)," H-L coach Brian Colatruglio said. "They have a great coaching staff. They do a tremendous job, and they're very similar to us."They have some size and are pretty physical up front, they have some really good athletes at quarterback, running back and receiver. Just a really good matchup," he said. "It's the first conference game. It'd probably be cooler if it was a little bit later in the year, but we're going to find out right away where we stand and how we're going to stack up for the rest of the season."Roen Thew keys Colonel Crawford's offense, throwing for 327 yards and five touchdowns while running for 202 yards and two more scores.Parker Weithman has been his top target so far with 10 receptions for 157 yards and three TDs."The quarterback is a really good athlete. He runs around and he scrambles some, and then they have a really good receiver, probably one of the best receivers that we're going to face this year. They move him all around," Colatruglio said. "That's where it starts. We have to be able to identify where he's at, understand what he can do from those spots and make sure that we him accounted for on defense."Avery Powers (192 yards, 1 TD) also helps out in the run game, while Tyler Lash (4-75, 1 TD) and Carson Rader (5-51, 1 TD) lend a hand as receivers.Hopewell-Loudon has its own weapons.Brody Brickman has been a dual threat so far for the Chieftains, rushing for 143 yards and two scores while catching 15 passes for 187 yards and three more TDs.Kellen Frankart adds 117 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, while Jacoby Ellis has thrown for 384 yards and four scores. Chase Rogier has caught eight passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.Success and victory will come down to who best controls the line of scrimmage, Colatruglio said."If we can control the line of scrimmage, slow their run game down, make them one-dimensional, that's what we're always trying to do. And then the same thing (on offense), if we're having some success running the football, we're going to be pretty tough to beat," he said."We're going to find out really early," he said. "If we have an advantage, we're hoping it's going to be on the line of scrimmage and we can control the game up front." Woodmore at FostoriaRecords: Woodmore 2-0, Fostoria 0-2.Last year: Woodmore, 44-0.Outlook: Woodmore heads to Fostoria on a roll this week while the host Redmen enter winless.But Fostoria coach Derek Angelone thinks his Redmen can halt both streaks."And now we think this [Fostoria] is the best team they've faced so far, coming into this week and playing at Memorial Stadium. They haven't had a caliber of team quite like us yet," Angelone said. "We feel confident going into this week about what we are aiming to do. We've got a lot of athletes, we want to allow them to go make plays."Stopping the Wildcats from doing the same is the challenge.Both of Woodmore's wins have come in dominating fashion (beating New London 61-7 in Week 1 and Toledo Christian 49-6 in Week 2)."You watch a team and you can tell their level of play," Angelone said. "They play with confidence, they play with great effort at all times."A key to that is speed off the line, something Angelone said caught him and the Redmen by surprise last year."We know how they get off the ball. We know they're not the biggest guys on their line, but the way that they use their feet when they drive off the ball is what allows them to do the things that they can do," he said. "We're not going to be shocked by that at all any more, we're going to make sure that we're ready and prepared for that." Lakota at ArcadiaRecords: Lakota 1-1, Arcadia 1-1.Last year: Lakota, 39-6.Outlook: Lakota picked up a dominating win in a long road trip last week and the Raiders look to duplicate that with a much shorter trip this Friday.And while Arcadia has a roster of just a little more than 20, Lakota coach Ryan Lozier said the Redskins will offer challenges."What sticks out to me on film about them is the improvement every year they've had under coach (Derek) Kidwell. I think they've got a nice quarterback that is very athletic, uses his legs; a great kid that we're going to have to find a way to stop," he said.Tripp Brubaker missed all of last year with an injury, but the junior quarterback has already accounted for 643 yards and nine touchdowns of total offense (387 yards, 5 TDs passing; 256 yards, 4 TDs rushing) in just two games.Kale Price (8-133, 2 TDs), Nick Moes (5-79, 2 TDs) and Liam Brockschmidt (5-56, 1 TD) have served as his top receivers, Aiden Allshouse (103 yards, 1 TD) helping out in the run game.The Raiders will counter with their own offensive weapons.Jaxon Sommers has been a dual threat so far for Lakota, rushing for 209 yards and a touchdown while catching five passes for 98 yards and two more TDs.A.J. Gosche leads the ground game with 212 yards and four touchdowns, with Graham Harmon (94 yards, 2 TDs) helping out. Nick Elchert has thrown for 110 yards and two TDs."Every team is going to get better and get more experience as the year goes on, so football only increases from there," Lozier said. "We've just got to continue to focus on what we're going to do and how we're going to give ourselves the best chance Friday night with whatever game it is." Buckeye Central at MohawkRecords: Buckeye Central 1-1, Mohawk 1-1.Last year: Mohawk, 48-0.Outlook: Buckeye Central narrowly missed out on a 2-0 start to the season last week, but faces a stiff challenge in its bid to open Northern 10 Athletic Conference play with a win when it travels Friday to Mohawk, a team the Bucks haven't defeated since 2014."They've got an all-world quarterback. He's a really good player," Buckeye Central coach Jordan Phillips said of Mohawk's Andon Clouse. "He runs well, he throws well. He just looks like your classic high school quarterback. He's tall. Again, just a great athlete.Clouse has already thrown for 429 yards and seven touchdowns in just two games, and has added 100 yards and another score on the ground.Levi Tiell has been his top receiver so far, with 11 catches for 181 yards and four TDs, but Jagger Ekleberry (4-135, 2 TDs), Trenton Corfman (5-59) and Rhett Leeth (3-35, 1 TD) have also helped out in aerial attack.Aden Patrizi (103 yards, 2 TDs) has added some depth to the run game for the Warriors, who enter averaging 38 points per game."It's your typical Mohawk team," Phillips said. "They're tough, they're gritty, they do things right, they play fast. It's a good football team."Mohawk coach Eric Daniel says pretty much the same thing about the Bucks, who have switched from the passing attack over the past few years to a ground assault now averaging 182 yards per game."They've got some really nice offensive linemen and their two running backs run the ball very hard. They want to run the ball, that's kind of their identity. They use the run to set up their play action and stuff," Daniel said."Everything starts and stops with getting them behind the sticks, winning first down and we want to slow down the run," he said. "That's our goal, and their goal's to run the ball so it's kind of a clash of goals and identities."Madden Alt, Chance Hawley and Collin Perry have each run for a pair of touchdowns for the Bucks, with Alt (150) and Hawley (132) combining for 282 rushing yards so far.Owen Hatten has only thrown for 70 yards so far, but he does have one score through the air to Conner Presler. Bellevue at ShelbyRecord: Bellevue 2-0; Shelby 2-0Last Year: Shelby, 49-6Outlook: Bellevue is coming off its second win of the season as it took down Wauseon 42-21.That doesn't mean the win was how coach Alex Shepherd envisioned it."It was a slow start," Shepherd said. "We finished well though."The Redmen were able to turn their fortunes around in the first half on two Ike Brown throws. The first one came to Justin Bucher for 29 yards, while the second was a 38 yarder to Caden Cramer. Bellevue took the lead on a one-yard run from Brown.This week, the Redmen will travel down to Shelby in non-conference action."Shelby is a really good team," Shepherd said.Gavin Baker has 14 rushes for 138 yards and has gotten three touchdowns and averages 9.9 yards per game.Next is Michael Shepherd, who has completed 27 of 35 passes for 431 yards and five touchdowns. He has rushed 14 times for 94 yards, three touchdowns.Finally, there is Brody Bowman, who currently has nine receptions for 137 yards, two touchdowns.Come Friday, it will be down to the battle of the seniors. Shelby has a lot of senior returners as well as experience and ability."We will have to rely on our seniors to win." Shepherd said. Clyde at AshlandRecord: Clyde 1-1; Ashland 2-0Last Year: Ashland, 35-21Outlook: Clyde's game last week was more of what Fliers fans were accustomed to. Clyde took down Toledo Start 33-6 for its home opener and improving to 1-1 on the season."The kids responded last week," Fliers coach Eric Leuthold said. "We saw a lot of growth, we turned the ball over less, had more energy, and saw our defense deliver once again."This week, Clyde will travel about two hours away to Ashland.To beat a team like the Arrows, Leuthold knew that pounding fundamentals and improving upon the little things is what it will take to defeat a team like Ashland's."Coach Scott Valentine does a very nice job coaching," Leuthold said. "They have a spread offense, and a running offense. They have a nice balance of both, which is what makes them tough to stop."The Fliers are up for the challenge, and Leuthold is interested in seeing how his team stacks up."What we have to do is prepare the best we can to be successful," Leuthold said. "That's all we can do." Wynford at Upper SanduskyRecord: Upper Sandusky 1-1; Wynford 1-1Last Year: Upper Sandusky, 44-20Outlook: Slow starts and errors put Upper Sandusky behind the eight ball last Friday with Mt. Gilead.The Rams were down by three scores, 19-0 with 57 seconds left to go before hitting a field goal in the first half, making it 19-3. Somehow, USHS pulled within two points before falling to Mt. Gilead 27-25."It stung," Rams coach Russell Hall said. "To get beaten by them twice, and by three points over two games, it shows why they are tough. We were just out-executed in the first half."This week, they will have to step up their execution and match up if they want to beat out Wynford in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener on Friday. Since being members of the N10, USHS has only beaten Wynford four times: 2013 (26-0), 2022 (17-14), 2024 (37-20), and 2025 (44-20). There has only ever been one time that the two teams haven't played each other in the last 14 years, and that was in 2014, when USHS was part of the MOAC."They are a big-play team," Hall said. "They have talented players and it's going to be a struggle against them. When they are able to make the big plays, they can beat teams like Cardington-Lincoln or lose to teams like East Knox."For the Royals, Braylon Wells is one of four players that will be the most challenging for the Rams. Wells, the quarterback has 38 rushes for 256 yards, averaging 128 yards per game, and is the second leading tackler for the Royals with 12.The second challenger will be Deegan Lutz, one of the running backs, who is known for physicality. He has 25 rushes currently for 135 yards for an average of 67 yards per game, three receptions for 26 yards, 11 tackles and three of those are for sacks.The other two are offensive linemen Victor Arellano and Jamison Crall.USHS will need to be prepared and be able to execute if they want to win against the Royals."We know we have to put the ball in space," Hall said. "Limit their big plays, have plenty of preparation, and then execute what we know how to do."