PREBLE COUNTY — Eaton, National Trail and Preble Shawnee continued their winning ways on the gridiron last week as all three posted impressive wins to keep their league title and playoff hopes alive after six weeks.
Eagles blank Mohawks, 35-0
MIDDLETOWN – Eaton’s defense not only shutout host Madison, but also scored two touchdowns of its own as the Eagles cruised to a 35-0 win over on Friday, Sept. 23.
Eaton took advantage of aggressive play calling by the Mohawks early. After forcing a turnover on downs, Eaton took advantage of a short field as Cordis Berard scored the game’s first touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
Eaton added two second quarter scores to take a 21-0 lead at the break.
Senior Garrett Cole scored on a fumble recovering to push the Eaton lead to 14-0.
On their next possession, Eaton took advantage of good field position again as Brock Ebright connected with Leslie Orr for a touchdown pass and a 21-0 lead after Drew Michals point after.
The Eagles opened the second half with a 9-play, 70-yard drive capped off by a Danny Caldwell touchdown run.
Eaton’s final score of the game came on Brandon Couch 20-yard interception return in the fourth quarter.
Eaton (4-2, 2-1 SWBL) will return home this Friday (Sept. 30) to host Brookville (5-1, 2-1) in a key Southwestern Buckeye League West game.
Trail maintains WOAC lead with romp of Arcanum
NEW PARIS – National Trail scored 21 second quarter points, including a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2.2 seconds in the first half, en route to a 30-6 win over visiting Arcanum on Friday, Sept. 23.
The Blazers rushed for 271 yards on 47 attempts to control the clock and the game.
Drew Dewitt got the scoring started with a 1-yard TD run with 4:40 left in the second quarter as the Blazers marched 70-yards in 13 plays.
Trail added a 55-yard scoring run by Chase Ruebush with 2:34 left for a 14-0 lead.
Jamison Watts then made one of the biggest plays of the game as he intercepted a pass and returned it 40-yards for a touchdown with 2.2 seconds left in the half.
Trail began the second half with a 13-play drive that lasted over seven and half minutes but ended with a blocked field goal attempt.
However, Arcanum was unable to move the ball and, on its punt attempt the snap sailed over the punter and out of the end zone for a safety to give the Blazers a 23-0 lead with 11:13 left in the game.
Trail rounded out their scoring with a 1-yard TD run by Burgan Hoffman with 7:02 left for a 30-0 lead.
The Trojan finally got on the board with 2:06 left in the game on a 5-yard TD run. The drive was the only time Arcanum’s offense drove into Trail territory.
Trail (5-1, 4-0 WOAC) is the only remaining unbeaten team in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference and will host Ansonia (5-1, 3-1 WOAC) in a key conference game on Friday, Sept. 23.
Arrows fly by Mississinawa Valley
UNION CITY – Preble Shawnee remained in the hunt for its second straight conference championship with a 49-6 win at Mississinawa Valley on Friday.
The Arrows (4-1, 3-1 WOAC) have now won two straight since falling to National Trail in Week 3.
Shawnee led 35-0 at the half behind two Grady Hutchinson and two Sayge Stephenson touchdowns.
Hutchinson scored on a 9-yard TD run to begin the scoring and added a 1-yard TD run in the second quarter to put his team up 28-0.
Stephenson caught a 9-yard TD pass from quarterback Brody Morton in the first quarter and a 24-yard TD pass in the second.
Brayden Doran added the other first half touchdown on a 20-yard run.
The Arrows added another score in the third quarter on a 3-yard run by Morton and Nolan Earles capped off the Shawnee scoring with a 3-yard run in the fourth.
Shawnee returns home to host Tri-County North on Thursday, Sept. 29 for its Homecoming game.
South stumbles at Ansonia
ANSONIA – Twin Valley South fell to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in the WOAC with a 57-14 loss at Ansonia on Friday, Sept. 23.
South trailed 38-0 at the half. Cole Bishop and Brayden Koeller each scored second half touchdowns for the Panthers.
South will travel to winless Dixie on Friday.
North drops Homecoming contest
LEWISBURG – Host Tri-County North fell behind 35-6 by halftime and couldn’t recover suffering a 42-12 setback to visiting Tri-Village.
Lathen Wehr got the scoring started on a 1-yard run for TV in the first quarter. Justine Finkbine caught a 14-yard pass from Braden Keating to give the visitors a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
In the second quarter, North’s Logan Flory scored on a 52-yard run to make the score 14-6. But the Patriots added 3 more touchdowns to end the first half up 35-6. They scored on a Finkbine 63-yard punt return, a Reed Wehr 1-yard run and 63-yard pass from Keating.
Tanner Printz hauled in a 52-yard pass from Keating in the 4th quarter to extend the Patriots lead to 42-6.
Flory added one more score on a 5-yard run to make the final 42-12.
North falls to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the WOAC. The Panthers are scheduled to travel to Preble Shawnee on Thursday, Sept. 29.
(Information used in this story courtesy woacsports.com)
