Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — When you want to win a race, you ride your best horse.
Cartae Ligon is Chillicothe’s Secretariat.
After breaking the program’s single-game rushing record in last week’s win over Western Brown, Ligon followed it up with a 31-carry, 295-yard night alongside four touchdowns on Friday.
It carried his Cavaliers to a 46-22 win over Portsmouth West and brought his rushing total, in just the past two weeks, to 62 carries for 715 yards and nine scores.
“Our kids voted him as a team captain, as a sophomore,” Chillicothe coach TJ Carper said. “That speaks volumes to the person that he is. When we work out, he’s the hardest lifter. He wants to go and be the best at anything and everything he does. I really appreciate that. He’s just so mature in his ability to communicate with you. He’s just a different kid.”
The victory marks the Cavaliers’ second straight after two consecutive losses to start the season. Carper, in his first year as the program’s head coach, has seemed to instill hope and confidence in his players.
You can see it in the way Chillicothe plays and, of course, the results are starting to speak for themselves.
“Getting a kid to see his future self is the hardest thing to do as a coach,” Carper said. “You just have to put it into perspective for them, treat them with respect, love them up and correct them when they’re wrong, and do it consistently. What I’ve seen from these kids is that they want to win. They want it bad. There’s a will there. So it’s tapping into what makes them go.”
It didn’t take long for the Cavaliers (2-2) to grace the scoreboard.
Quarterback Tay Harris, who was efficient all night long, found Trace McAllister for a five-yard touchdown pass with 8:56 to go in the first quarter, putting Chillicothe up 6-0.
The Senators (1-3), however, had an answer.
Brody Hall threw a touchdown of his own, a six-yard strike, to Braden Adkins at the 3:59 mark to give West its first, and only, lead of the night at 7-6.
Those quick scores continued to be a theme.
Chillicothe took a 12-7 advantage with 2:05 left in the first, just a minute and fifty-four seconds after the Senators’ score, with a 27-yard touchdown toss from Harris to Cain — a ball that Cain perfectly adjusted to, contorting his body to beat his defender.
“You look at some of the things that Portsmouth West did, and they gave us some trouble,” Carper said. “They played a bear front and it gave our linemen some issues. We wanted to run the ball and weren’t able to do that much in the first half. But Cartae stepped up in a big way, and Karter Williams and Jeremy Cain stepped up when we couldn’t run the ball. I just give credit to our offensive coaches. After we got things corrected, and went back in and made some adjustments, the kids felt confident.”
PHOTOS: Images from Chillicothe’s win over Portsmouth West
Ligon scored his first touchdown of the night at the 5:59 mark in the second, a seven-yard run that gave the Cavaliers an 18-7 lead — an advantage that stayed intact at halftime.
The third quarter featured each team’s defenses, as the two continued to force the other’s offense off the field. But that changed in a big way throughout the last 12 minutes.
West put the finishing touches on a scoring drive that ended with a 16-yard pass from Hall to Adkins, cutting Chillicothe’s lead to three at 18-15 after a two-point conversion.
That’s when the Cavaliers consistently turned to Ligon for an answer and he delivered at every turn.
On the ensuing drive, Ligon’s number was called on every play until Harris snuck into the end zone from a yard out to put Chillicothe ahead 24-15 with 7:10 left.
The Cavaliers’ defense made a stop and gave the ball back to Ligon and company. With 4:42 left, he tallied his second score of the night, from four yards out, for a 32-15 count.
And he was far from finished.
He broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown rush at the 3:38 mark, just before Hall found Adkins for a third score, producing a 38-22 tally with 1:35 to go.
But seconds later, Ligon provided the knockout punch.
He found a hole, juked past two defenders and ran 79 yards down his own sideline to put a capper on a 295-yard night and a 46-22 victory.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“Our offensive line is starting to separate itself on how it’s beginning to play,” Carper said. “I credit them for being a family. They’re going to play together. It’s great. Our offensive line coach does a really good job of creating a family unit. They have their own brotherhood. So they’re coming into their own and just playing as well as any unit I’ve ever coached.”
While West attempts to get back in the win column in Week 5 at Waverly, the Cavaliers will welcome Wilmington to Herrnstein Field.
If Chillicothe can fight for a win, it would put the program over .500 for the first time since 2022.
“Penalties. They’re a huge thorn in our side,” Carper said. “If we can clean that up, the sky is the limit. But we can’t have facemask, offside, or pass interference penalties. We have to clean that up. We have to play with the right technique and great effort. I’m a firm believer in that. And then, just some mental mistakes, we’ve got to clean those up, too. We have to know our adjustments, know our roles and just stick to our guns.”
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