Derrick Webb

Derrick is SOSA's chief content coordinator and has worked for the Chillicothe Gazette, the Portsmouth Daily Times and Eleven Warriors. He's a 13-time award-winning journalist, a self-proclaimed baseball purist, a suffering Bengals fan and has never met a stranger.

Sideline to Sideline: Digging into Week 2 HSFB action

August 28, 2022
, 10:57 pm
, Features

Our Derrick Webb takes a deep dive into his notebook after Week 2.

Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

Ironton’s Ty Perkins helped his Tigers beat Jackson by a 29-26 final on Friday.
CREDIT: *Derrick Webb/SOSA*

Two weeks in and it feels like we never left.

Covering the fall season is like riding a bike. Once you remember how to do it, you find a groove.

McClain was where my crew decided to go in Week 2 — my dad and uncle tag along on Friday nights. We witnessed a dandy between the Tigers and Northwest in a game that gave us a roller coaster ride with 71 combined points, plenty of offensive fireworks and a heavy dose of drama.

But there’s plenty of other area excitement to highlight. Here’s this week’s edition of Sideline to Sideline.

Kickoff

1. It may be officially time to jump on Waverly’s bandwagon. The fact that the Tigers lost a ton, and that’s an understatement, of talent to graduation last fall is no secret. So, coach Chris Crabtree’s group would probably suffer growing pains out of the gate, right? Yeah, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Behind sensational running back Jase Hurd, a mountain-moving offensive line, and an opportunistic defense, the Tigers are 2-0 with wins over Miami Trace and Johnstown-Monroe. The team’s offense, led by quarterback Mason Kelly, has scored 95 points in two contests, while the defense, led by Wyatt Crabtree, has forced five turnovers. It’s safe to say that, barring unforeseen circumstances, this team is for real.

2. For the first time since 2018, Unioto is 2-0. The Shermans have beaten Vinton County by a 21-6 final before pummeling Amanda-Clearcreek by a 49-14 tally. Matt Griffin has been effective on the ground, taking 14 carries for 176 yards and three touchdowns while Casey Dray has added 19 rushes for 111 yards and a score. Meanwhile, quarterback Newton Hoops is 23-for-37 passing with 331 yards and three touchdowns and his top two targets, Blake Hoops and Maddox Fox, have a combined 15 catches for 238 yards and two scores. The point? This offense is bursting at the seams with talent. The same could be said about the team’s ball-hawking defense, which has forced seven turnovers. This week will be a test against the aforementioned Waverly Tigers. The Shermans have a real shot to make a run if they stay on course.

3. The FAC, from top to bottom, may be the area’s most competitive conference this season. Through two weeks, the conference’s six teams have a combined record of 7-3. Those three losses have come to programs with a combined record of 7-1 — Ironton, Waverly, Western Brown and Goshen. The league is loaded with talent — Jackson’s Jacob Winters and Cade Wolford, Chillicothe’s Tayvion Galloway and Maxwell Lee, Washington’s Tanner Lemaster and AJ Dallmayer and McClain’s Andrew Potts, to name a few — and we could realistically see five of the FAC’s six teams clinch playoff berths. We’ll find out much more in Week 3 as tough matchups loom — McClain hosts undefeated Zane Trace, Chillicothe hosts Westerville North, Jackson goes to Tri-Valley, Miami Trace travels to Logan Elm and Washington entertains Paint Valley. But as of now, it’s hard to argue any other conference, as a whole, that compares to the level the FAC is at.

Washington’s AJ Dallmayer will lead his Blue Lions into battle against Paint Valley in Week 3. WCH won last year’s contest, 32-29.
CREDIT: *Derrick Webb/SOSA*

Offensive Juggernauts

If you haven’t heard, Waverly’s Jase Hurd is really — like, really — good. So good, in fact, I’m mentioning him twice in this column. In the team’s Week 2 win over Johnstown-Monroe, Hurd carried the football 31 times for 286 yards, 9.2 per rush, and scored five touchdowns. Through his first two games this season, Hurd has amassed 496 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

Ironton’s Ty Perkins is in a class by himself. The Tigers’ top wideout put on a clinic against Jackson, corralling seven passes for 164 yards and two scores. He was the difference in a one-score ballgame.

Adena picked up its first win of the year on Friday, beating Fairfield Christian by a 39-13 final. The driving force behind that victory was sophomore Nathan Dreitzler, who ended the evening with 266 yards on the ground alongside four touchdowns.

Video of the Week

Jackson and Ironton provided an instant classic on Friday. What else is new? Here, my colleague Brock Netter captured the final play … an interception via Ironton’s Braden Schreck to seal a Tiger victory.

FOOTBALL FINAL: @FootballIronton 29, @ironmenfb 26.

Braden Schreck with this INT seals it. @CarpenterTayden (I): 18-28, 254, 2 TD@TyPerkinss (I): 7 catches, 164 yards, 2 TD @jacobmwinters (J): 12-17, 205 yards, 4 TD #SOSA pic.twitter.com/yGDsTZcCzd
— Brock A. Netter (@SirBrockNetter) August 27, 2022

Thrice as Nice

McClain’s Andrew Potts is an absolute monster. It’s really that simple. The junior fullback runs downhill with power and isn’t scared to punish would-be tacklers. He led McClain to a 36-35 win over Northwest with 30 carries for 175 yards and three touchdowns.

Blayton Reid was a one-man wrecking crew in a 35-0 win over Westfall. Logan Elm’s feature back carried the rock 29 times for 225 yards and a trio of touchdowns. On the legs of Reid, the Braves go into Week 3 at 1-1 with an impressive bounceback win.

Zane Trace has yet to be beat and senior running back Daniel Barnhart is a huge reason why. Barnhart rushed for 122 yards and found the end zone three times in the Pioneers’ 40-7 rout of Madison Plains.

In the Trenches

A fast start helped Circleville stave off Southeastern, 48-22, in the Tigers’ second win in as many tries. Circlevile’s offensive line helped its backs rush for 248 yards on 31 carries — an average of eight yards per tote. All in all, the Tigers racked up 355 total yards of offense.

If you’re wanting to beat Coal Grove, you had better prepare to stop the run … and Chase Hall. The Hornets beat Valley by a 50-34 final this past week and Hall was a central reason why, rushing 31 times for 216 yards and five touchdowns — Hall’s second straight 200-yard performance. As a team, Coal Grove put up 470 yards and 376 of those came on the ground.

A win is a win

Chillicothe had to scratch and claw its way to a win over London on Friday by a 27-24 final. The Cavaliers posted just 81 rushing yards on 28 carries, an average of 2.9 per, and were out-gained by the opposing offense for the second straight week — a margin of 342-303. But, who cares? As a legendary coach once said, an ugly win is better than any pretty loss.

Wilmington posted 294 total yards of offense, compared to Miami Trace’s mark of 188. But the Panthers took a 28-22 win back to Washington Court House, the team’s first win this fall. Quarterback Trey Robinette was 8-of-18 passing for 91 yards and three touchdowns while wideout Garrett Guess caught six passes for 56 yards and three scores.

Shot of the Week

If you can’t tell, McClain was excited after its one-point win over Northwest … and for good reason. The Tigers trailed 35-21 in the fourth quarter before scoring 15 unanswered points for the victory. Here, receiver Max Eikenberry (11) shows his vertical while celebrating.