High school football: Week 8

Columbian at BellevueRecords: Columbian 2-5; Bellevue 2-5Last year: Columbian, 43-12.Outlook: Even though both teams are 2-5 heading into Friday's game – it still matters. It matters in playoff positioning for both and it's a rivalry … enough said. "We saw some improvement and growth last week and did some good things last week, but we have to put it together for four quarters," TC coach Judd Lutz said. "For three straight games we've had good halves. We've done things that good winning football teams do and we've also done things that bad football teams do and we have to get out of our own way."This week, I'm a big believer in talking about the history and why it's a rivalry. Our kids enjoy that, so I think it's important to share that and our research team did some digging and I believe the record is 47-45-1 in our favor against (Bellevue) and I think during a period in the NOL where one of us either won it or shared it with each other or with someone else like 24 out of 30 years. With both teams competing for championships is why this has been such a good rivalry for a long time."It's a typical Bellevue team this season under hall of fame coach Ed Nasonti, but the one struggling part has been the offense. The Redmen have been in just about every game this season, holding teams to just a few scores, but can't score enough to stay in games.Ike Brown has thrown for 590 yards with two touchdowns and eight interceptions at QB, while he also leads the offense in rushing with 143 attempts for 560 yards and six scores. Cooper Moyer is the leading receiver with 21 grabs for 213 yards, but no TDs. "They're counting on a lot of young guys too, they have a handful of sophomore playing big roles," Lutz said. "The quarterback has some experience from last year as a freshman, he's an outstanding athlete and there's a reason he has the ball in his hands a lot. He hasn't been able to find a consistent passing game, but he's shown glimpses."They've played pretty well on defense and have put themselves in position to be in some close games, but just haven't been able to find the points or momentum to come away with some wins, which we're familiar with for sure." Woodmore at CalvertRecords: Woodmore 5-2, 1-2 SBC River; Calvert 4-3, 1-2 SBC RiverLast year: Calvert, 49-0.Outlook: It's been an up-and-down season thus far for Calvert. One constant has been the defense, which held Margaretta to just 10 points last week, but the Senecas didn't have the offense to match it. But with three games left the Senecas are in good position for the playoffs and even hosting a first round game and it starts this week with Woodmore for Homecoming."We just have to gain some momentum and hang onto it. We put ourselves behind the sticks so often last week after we would do something good. We only ran 21 offensive plays last week, you aren't going to win like that," Calvert coach Mike Lento said. "We aren't going to change much, but we need to still clean some things up and we need to click as we get near the postseason."Woodmore, who is improved this season, has the top running back in the league – Landon Rich. Rich has 160 carries for 1,127 yards and 13 touchdowns as all three of those stats lead the SBC River. He averages 187.8 yards per game on the ground.The Wildcats are very much a run-heavy team as quarterback Calvin Lipstraw is 34 of 62 passing for 454 yards with two touchdowns and one pick this season. Their top receiver only has 10 catches for 145 yards."You're gonna see a power set from them and their running back is tough and really finds the holes well," Lento said. "They are a tough hard-nosed team and we have to match that physicality. We have to be physical for all four quarters. This is a different Woodmore team than in year's past." Carey at Colonel CrawfordRecords: Carey 3-4, 3-1 N10; Colonel Crawford 6-1, 3-1 N10Last year: Carey, 27-7.Outlook: Remarkably, everything is still in front of Carey even after a 1-4 start to the season. The Blue Devils, who have played a really tough schedule to this point, have a chance to win the N10 again this season. But of course, it's not going to be easy and it begins this week with a trip to Colonel Crawford. The game will feature the two best running teams and running backs in the league this season. For the Eagles, Conner McMichael is the leading rusher in the league with 937 yards on 81 carries and 14 touchdowns. Carey's Eli Steen has 138 carries for 897 yards and 12 TDs. So, one would expect quite a bit of rushing Friday."Both of us like to run the ball and we like to stop the run," Carey coach Jonathon Mershman said. "There's no secret to that. It's going to be one of those kinds of games. It's going to be exciting with a lot of good hitting. It'll be a fun game to be in and to watch surely."If Carey would win, the Blue Devils travel to Mohawk in Week 9 for a huge showdown. Upper Sandusky at MohawkRecords: Upper Sandusky 3-4, 2-2 Northern 10 Athletic Conference; Mohawk 6-1, 4-0 Northern 10 Athletic Conference.Last year: Upper Sandusky won 39-34.Outlook: Mohawk has stormed through its schedule after a one-point loss in the opener to Calvert, tearing through teams on what seems like a revenge tour after going just 2-8 last year.Week 8 brings Upper Sandusky, which claimed a 39-34 shootout last year, to town. And while the Rams have yet to string together two wins in a row, Mohawk coach Eric Daniel said he and his Warriors know this week's foe is more dangerous than the record shows."They've gotten better every week and they're a very dangerous team. I showed the kids the film and I don't even think we need to say anything. They're not overlooking them because they know how capable [the Rams] are," Daniel said."They're not far away from being 5-2. You can look at 3-4 and it can fool you, but I just showed the kids the tape and they can see what kind of team they are," he said. "They're very capable of beating anybody."Upper Sandusky coach Russell Hall said he sees that and more when looking at the Warriors.Mohawk's offense leads the N10 in points per game (42) and passing touchdowns (21), and is second in passing yards per game (195.9) and total offensive yards per game (366.6).Meanwhile, the defense ranks first in points allowed per game (9.7), passing yards allowed per game (77.7) and rushing touchdowns allowed (2); tied for first in touchdown passes allowed (4); and sets second in rushing yards allowed per game (80.9) and total yards allowed per game (158.6).Mohawk's Kahne Hayman and Kaleb Bish have also each returned a punt for a touchdown, with Bish adding kickoff return for a score."It doesn't matter if it's offense, defense or special teams, they don't beat themselves. Their level of execution is extremely high," Hall said. "Whether it's a route, whether it's a block, whether it's a read, a fill, a coverage or a block assignment on a special team, they just seem to have that roster that just has that total buy in to 'that's my job and I'm going to make sure I get that job done.'"With their high level of execution, if you don't do your job, then they're going to turn around and get a big play out of it," he said. " They've made big plays and scored in all three phases of the game this year, that's why it's just important to focus on what we need to do on our assignment as well. We need to match the execution level, match the physicality and energy that the Mohawk Warriors seem to play with this year."Dual-threat Ben Bogner keys Mohawk's offense, throwing for 1,321 yards and 20 touchdowns against just one interception while running for 611 yards and five more scores.Hayman tops the receivers with 35 catches for 656 yards and nine touchdowns, and adds 106 yards and three more TDs on just nine carries.Kaden Bish (284 yards, 6 TDs) helps flesh out the run game, while Kaleb Bish (21-335, 5 TDs), Drew Woodland (7-165, 2 TDs), Andon Clouse (7-70, 2 TDs) and Owen Patrizi (6-77, 3 TDs) round out the receiving corps.Topping the list of players trying to stop that this week is Upper Sandusky linebacker Ethan Lewis, who leads the N10 with 104 tackles — 23 more than anyone else — to go with six tackles for loss."When the defensive line does their job and the linebackers do their job, you're going to get in on a lot of tackles. But a lot of that comes from his own preparation. He puts in an extreme amount of time himself watching (film)," Hall said. "It's nothing for him to watch seven, eight hours worth of film … . He studies the game like a coach. He's a competitor."Linebackers Nathan Lewis (52 tackles, 5 TFL), Braxton Rimmer (51 tackles) and Brodie Cox (44 tackles, 4 TFL) and defensive linemen Owen Mouser (25 tackles), L.J. Johnson (19 tackles) and Kail Vince (10 tackles) add plenty of support, but Daniel said it's obvious who the Rams want to funnel the ball carrier to."The problem is, they put him right in the middle so we can't run away from him," Daniel said. "He's a heck of a player. He's a great player. He's hard to block. You can get your hands on him and he punches and sheds and gets right in gaps again."He's an unbelievable player, and he's got some good players around him," he said. "Their defensive line is very impressive. They play with their hands and they're very aggressive."Though none of the Warriors can match the sheer number of individual tackles by Ethan Lewis, they do pose challenges.And it starts with the linebackers.Patrizi leads the way with 69 tackles and 11 tackles, Garrett Rinehart brings 32 stops and 10 tackles for loss and Kaden Bish has 25 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and three sacks.Inside linebacker Braxton Frisch (20 tackles, 7 ½ TFL) and defensive linemen Logan Hemminger (20 tackles, 5 ½ TFL) and Eli Chevalier (12 tackles, 4 ½ TFL) have combined for another 17 ½ tackles for loss.Justin Heilman, who's thrown for 1,024 yards and nine touchdowns, guides the offense going up against Mohawk.Kaleb Francis tops the receivers with 37 catches for 390 yards and seven TDs. Max Martinez (20-313), Josh Heilman (14-129, 1 TD) and Cox (8-112) also figure in as receivers.Ethan Lewis leads the ground game with 540 yards and five scores, with Kaden Vogel (101 yards) helping out."As far as matchups, they've got fast kids, we've got fast kids. They've got a really good quarterback that's a dual-threat guy. Well, we've got a pretty good running back and we can throw. Their defense is pretty darn good, too. We've got some skill guys as well. It just comes down to execution," Hall said."Hopefully it's a great battle," he said. "Last year it was a really good battle and came down to the end and that's what we're hoping for again." Fostoria at LakeRecords: Fostoria 1-6, 0-4 Northern Buckeye Conference; Lake 3-4, 1-3 Northern Buckeye Conference.Last year: Fostoria won 34-32.Outlook: Fostoria has emerged from a four-week gauntlet of games against four of the conference's top five teams — two remain unbeaten — still seeking its first NBC victory. And while he won't say the rest of the schedule is easy, FHS coach Derek Angelone said the remaining games offer opportunities for the Redmen."We know that we have some work to do these last three weeks, to send the seniors off the right way, to build the program in a way that we want to for future years," he said. "These are games that we feel like we should be able to go out and compete and play in and do things that we need to in order to prove that, hey, we're here to compete for the end of this year, for next year, and for the foreseeable future."We definitely don't have an easy stretch here, by any stretch of the imagination. It's not something where we go into this and say, oh, well these are games we should win or are going to," Angelone said "They're games that we feel like we should compete in every day of the week."That stretch starts Friday at Lake, a team that already has one more win this year than last and is looking to avenge last year's setback to the Redmen.Angelone sees some similarities between the teams when it comes to goals to be accomplished, but also challenges to be faced on the field."What coach (Lane) Bishop has done over there at Lake, he's taken that team and he's trying to rebuild that program in the fashion that we are, trying to prove to them that, hey, you do things right off the field, you do things right on the field," he said. "What he's doing with that program is great."They've showed they can throw it all over the yard a little bit. That's the one thing we haven't let teams do to us in extreme amounts this year. Now, we've been beat on deep passes, we've been beat on timely passes this year from time to time, but being beat through the air is not something that's consistently happened to us," Angelone said. "Hopefully that plays into a little bit of our strength — we can keep their run game subdued and make them put the ball in the air, which is what we're comfortable with."We're comfortable with the ball being in the air, with the athletes that we have playing on the back end, and we allow them to go and make plays," he said. Seneca East at Buckeye CentralRecords: Seneca East 4-3, 3-1 N10; Buckeye Central 2-5, 1-3 N10Last year: Seneca East, 42-14.Outlook: The Battle for the Paddle is on this week as Seneca East takes on Buckeye Central. "Our team is tough as nails in all environments… Kind of like iron sharpens iron … We've had some heat and are using that to continue to get better this week and we have to at this point." said Tigers coach Ed Phillips. Seneca East is coming off of a tough loss last week to Colonel Crawford. The Eagles won by one point, but the Tigers viewed that as heat only. "We need to continue to improve every day and win the battles up front on both sides of the ball," said Phillips. For Buckeye Central, it hasn't had much luck this season, and a win would give the Bucks a break they desperately need. "We've had a really tough stretch through the middle of the schedule," said BC coach Jordan Phillips. "We haven't played up to the level that we want to or expect to. But, we still have a lot to play for. We are still in the playoff hunt and feel like the tough stretch that we have been through will prepare us to play better football here over the next few weeks. Overall, it's a matter of playing at a high level down after down." In order to do that though, the Bucks will need to stop the Tigers offense and be able to defeat the Tigers ability to be more physical upfront. Offensively, Seneca East has the leader in the N10 with Nicholas Parks, who is 108 out of 179 for 1,700 yards passing, nine interceptions, and 19 touchdowns. Taylor Young has 47 grabs for 795 yards and records 113 yards per game for receiving, who is also at the top of the N10. Young also has 10 touchdowns as a result. Offensively, for Buckeye Central, Jack Phillips is currently 86 out of 144 passing for 791 yards passing, along with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. "Seneca East is a really good football team." said Jordan Phillips. "We will have to play really well. I think it is imperative for us to limit explosive plays and make them earn every point by driving the length of the field. Offensively, we have done a nice job of getting the first down on every series. We need to execute better as we move the ball to avoid getting behind the sticks and into really limited sections of the call sheet." The Tigers are looking forward to the game for a different reason. "The game has always been the battle for the paddle and anytime you have a trophy game, it adds a little excitement and spice to the game," said Ed Phillips. "Our players take a lot of pride in retaining the paddle so that makes the game mean a little more in the Attica, Republic, Reedtown and Seneca Huron parts of our district." Margaretta at LakotaRecords: Margaretta 2-5, 2-1 Sandusky Bay Conference River Division; Lakota 2-5, 1-3 Sandusky Bay Conference River Division.Last year: Margaretta won 20-3.Outlook: On paper, they have the same overall record. But Lakota coach Ryan Lozier said a now-healthy Margaretta squad is far better than what that record indicates."They're 2-5 but they're not a 2-5 football team. They've been battling injury but they're healthy now," Lozier said. "We know going into it we have our work cut out for us. I reminded our guys you can't look at the record, no matter who you're playing, especially not these guys because they could very well have a couple more wins to their resume and be a playoff football team."Injuries hobbled the Polar Bears earlier this year, but they have rebounded with a stout defense to go 2-1 over the last three SBC games, sandwiching wins of 26-7 over Woodmore (4-2) and 10-0 over Calvert (4-3) around a 16-7 loss to Hopewell-Loudon (7-0).During that stretch, Margaretta has allowed an average of just 91 yards passing and 108 rushing per game.One key for success has been Judah Keller, who has returned to the lineup after missing a few games and now has 159 yards and a touchdown on the ground while tallying 53 tackles."I told our guys tonight if Judah was healthy the entire football season, he would very well have an argument to be player of the year in our league. He's that good," Lozier said. "He changes their football team tremendously on both sides of the ball. They have weapons around him, but when you turn on the film, you know where No. 1 is."Other weapons include dual-threat quarterback Tyson Bailey (184 yards, 3 TDs passing; 310 yards, 3 TDs rushing), with Jake Bouy (299 yards, 1 TD) helping out throwing the ball while Trip Liberios (262, 3 TDs) has added depth to the run game.Kale Bailey (21-309, 1 TD) and Carter Luzader (15-151, 2 TDs) have served as the primary receivers.Brett Miller leads Margaretta with 66 tackles and Ethan Thayer adds 43 stops and two interceptions. Landon Weyer (39), Cohen Gahler (37), Mason Kromer (36), Zack Bouy (35) and Tyson Bailey (30) each add at least 30 tackles.While that defense has proven problematic for opponents over the past few weeks, Lozier still feels his Raiders can find success if they maintain discipline."I still like our outside threats. We've just got to find ways to get them the football," he said."We've got to start cleaning up some of the mistakes we're making repeatedly," Lozier said. "If we do that, I know we're 2-5, but I feel we can be better than what we are and I know our guys can be, so I'm challenging them this week to play really clean football." Clyde at SanduskyRecords: Clyde 5-2, 1-1 Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division; Sandusky 4-3, 2-0.Last year: Sandusky, 32-22.Outlook: After playing competitively in a 28-7 loss to then Division IV, No. 1 Perkins two weeks ago, Clyde got back on the right track last week when it took care of business against Tiffin Columbian, 33-14."I liked the focus and edge we played with versus Tiffin," Clyde coach Ryan Carter said. "Our kids played very aggressively. We still made some mistakes that cost us in the first half, but I will take the aggression."Jonathan Lantz completed 10-of-11 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown against the Tornadoes while Brennan Wilson was 7-of-10 for 46 yards. Adam Young and Mason Flewelling each ran in a score for the Fliers while Brayden Olson hauled in six passes for 88 yards."Offensively, we have continued to make strides doing the little things and continuing drives," Carter said. "We are not as sound as I would like to be offensively, but we continue to improve each week."Clyde's defense has been hit and miss this season. The Fliers have two shutouts, but have also allowed 21 or more points four times."Our defense has played well and we are getting better at playing fast and being assignment sound," Carter said. "Our focus on defense has been doing your job and your job only and getting all 11 to just do their job on a play in, play out basis."Sandusky enters on a four-game winning streak, but that came after the Blue Streaks started 0-3. One of the biggest reasons has been the play of Jason Henlon, who missed those first three games of the season.Last week, he was 11-of-17 for 326 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-0 win over Norwalk."We need to limit big plays," Carter said. "They have explosive athletes that make explosive plays and you have to try to run all 11 to the ball each play, and play to the whistle because they extend plays so well."Henlon is 46-of-65 for 745 yards and seven touchdowns. Maky'Veon Lately leads Sandusky with 73 rushes for 407 yards and five TD."Going to Sandusky will be a challenge for us," Carter said. "They have won four in a row after getting healthy and we will have our hands full. We are looking forward to the road challenge."