Area football preview: Fort Loramie, Lehman Catholic continue conference play

0

FORT LORAMIE — Fort Loramie coach Whit Parks would have liked a better start than the 3-2 record the team amassed in the first half of the season, but he’s been pleased with the team’s improvement. And if the Redskins keep improving through the second half, he believes they’ll be very good in Week 10 — and perhaps beyond.

The Redskins continue Cross County Conference play on Friday at home against Twin Valley South. The Panthers have won two consecutive games after an 0-3 start.

“They’ve been very competitive in all their games,” Parks said of Twin Valley South. “They’re big and thick. They’re bigger than us. They’ve got a real big front, and that’s caused some problems for us the last few weeks, playing people bigger than us. People have moved the ball on us a little bit, so we’ve got to solve those problems and get our run defense going a little bit.”

The defense and certain areas on special teams are focus points for the second half of the season according to Parks. Fort Loramie has allowed an average of 25 points per game the last three weeks after allowing 18 per game in the first two weeks.

“Our main concern right now is shoring up our defense,” Parks said. “We didn’t tackle very well last Friday night (against Ansonia). We need to do that better.”

After having problems on extra-point attempts against Miami East on Sept. 15, Parks said the team had success with two-point conversions last Friday against Ansonia.

“We went for two every time last week and converted pretty well,” Parks said. “I would say we’ll probably continue to do that and we’ll still continue to work on kicking also.

“… We’ve got to do better at our kicking game. We lost a couple of onside kicks, and we just can’t let that happen. We’ve got to work really hard on that, and we’ve made some personnel changes there to try and fix some things.”

Parks said he’s liked the intensity the team has practiced with and is pleased with the squad’s work ethic.

There’s been plenty to like on offense, too. Running backs Mike Hoying and Carter Mescher are among the top rushers in the CCC. Hoying has gained 579 yards on 105 carries with nine touchdowns, while Mescher has gained 420 yards with six scores. Most of Mescher’s rushing yards have come in the last two weeks.

“Mike’s probably more of a power, inside runner, and Carter’s probably more of an edge runner, but they both can do the other, too,” Parks said. “That does give us kind of a two-pronged attack, and that’s surely what we want to do, run it inside and outside and hit some play-action passes off of those runs.”

Fort Loramie is in good position for the playoffs at the season’s midpoint. The Redskins are sixth in Division VII, Region 28 and have a good lead over the teams ranked ninth and lower. The top eight teams in each region qualify for the postseason, and a winning record in the second half would likely keep Loramie in the top eight.

Lehman Catholic at Hardin Northern

The Cavaliers have rolled over their first two Northwest Central Conference opponents and will try to keep rolling against Hardin Northern on Friday.

Lehman (4-1, 2-0 NWCC) put up 117 points against Ridgemont and Marion Elgin and allowed only 16 in the two games. They could have another big win against the Polar Bears on Friday. Hardin Northern (1-4) has been outscored 95-20 in its first two conference games, including a 54-14 loss at Riverside last week.

Several Lehman players are among the NWCC’s statistical leaders at the season’s midpoint. Quarterback Elliott Gilardi is second in the league in passing yards (647) and third in rushing yards (469). Owen Smith leads the league in rushing yards (758), and Brandon Barhorst and Kameron Lee are in the top five in receiving yards. Barhorst has 271 receiving yards, and Lee has 255.

Gilardi leads the league with nine total touchdowns, while Smith is tied for third with seven. Michael Bunker leads the conference with eight sacks.

Minster at St. Henry

The last of Minster’s Midwest Athletic Conference title hopes are on the line on Friday at St. Henry. After consecutive losses to Marion Local and Fort Recovery, the Wildcats (3-2, 1-2 MAC) can’t afford to lose again, especially with Anna and the Flyers both undefeated heading into Friday’s action.

Minster will also try to prevent a skid similar to last season. The Wildcats lost consecutive games from Weeks 3 through 6, and the last of which was a 35-14 loss to the Redskins. They bounded back after the losing streak and won eight games before losing in the Division VII state championship game.

St. Henry looks to pose a big challenge. The Redskins (4-1, 2-1) lost 13-10 to Coldwater last week but had beaten their first four opponents by a combined score of 155-15. St. Henry has allowed an average of 124 yards and 5.6 points per game, which is the least amount in both categories of any MAC team.

The Redskins average 281 yards and 33 points per game on offense. Quarterback Daylon Lange has thrown for 603 yards and eight touchdowns, while Ryan Luttmer has rushed for 416 yards on 57 carries with eight touchdowns. Tyler Schlarman leads the Redskins’ receivers with 16 receptions for 278 yards and five touchdowns.

Jared Huelsman leads Minster’s offense in rushing and passing. Huelsman, a senior quarterback, has thrown for 725 yards and four touchdowns and has rushed for 600 yards and six scores. Austin Brown is the team’s leading receiver. He’s caught 13 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns and also has intercepted three passes on defense.

The Wildcats average 323 yards and 24 points per game on offense and allow an average of 260 yards and 12 points per game on defense.

Versailles at Fort Recovery

Versailles came close to breaking its losing streak last Friday against Marion Local but dropped its fourth consecutive game. The schedule doesn’t let up for the Tigers (1-4, 0-3 MAC) this week, as they travel to Fort Recovery (3-2, 2-1). The Indians are fresh off a 28-27 overtime win over Minster.

Fort Recovery is second only to Anna in the conference in average yards per game (332). Outside of a 33-7 loss to Coldwater in Week 4, the Indians have averaged 29.5 points per game. Running back Will Homan leads all MAC players with 853 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He ran for 144 yards last Friday and scored a two-point conversion in overtime to earn Fort Recovery the victory.

Versailles has given up an average of 35 points and 317 yards per game in the last three weeks. They scored a late touchdown against Marion Local to pull within 21-18, but the Flyers scored a touchdown in the last minute to put the game away. Versailles’ Kurtis Rutschilling leads the MAC with 59 tackles, while Evan Hiestand has 43.

The Tigers are eighth in the MAC in average points per game (22) and last in average yards (263).

New Bremen at Delphos St. John’s

The Cardinals won their first MAC game in five years last week in a 34-20 defeat of Parkway. They’ll try to turn it into a winning streak against the Blue Jays.

St. John’s is 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the MAC. The Blue Jays’ losses were to Minster and Anna, and they beat Versailles in overtime in Week 4.

Nolan Bornhorst and Avery Powers directed New Bremen’s offense through the first half of the season. Bornhorst threw for 346 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 484 yards and three scores. Powers gained 464 rushing yards on 73 carries and scored nine touchdowns and also caught two touchdown passes.

The Cardinals average 287 yards and 26 points per game on offense while allowing 176 yards and 16 points per game on defense.

St. John’s averages 266 yards and 25 points per game on offense and allows an average of 270 yards and 19.8 points on defense. Quarterback Jared Wurst has thrown for 520 yards and seven touchdowns.

Riverside at Waynesfield-Goshen

Riverside (3-2) will try to blow out its third consecutive NWCC opponent on Friday at Waynesfield-Goshen. The Pirates beat Marion Elgin and Hardin Northern by a combined score of 107-34 and amassed 1,022 yards on offense.

Waynesfield-Goshen (1-4, 0-2 NWCC) was been outscored 76-0 in its first two NWCC games, which were losses to Upper Scioto Valley and Lima Perry.

Through the first half of the season, senior Gaven Anderson has been Riverside’s biggest threat on offense. Anderson is second in the NWCC in rushing yards (595) and third in total touchdowns (seven).

Lehman quarterback Elliott Gilardi runs in the third quarter of a nonconference game against Graham on Sept. 9 at Alexander Stadium in Piqua. Lehman plays at Hardin Northern on Friday.
http://www.sidneydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2017/09/web1_DSC_0259-Edit-4.jpgLehman quarterback Elliott Gilardi runs in the third quarter of a nonconference game against Graham on Sept. 9 at Alexander Stadium in Piqua. Lehman plays at Hardin Northern on Friday. Bryant Billing | Sidney Daily News
Lehman Catholic looks to keep rolling in NWCC, Minster has big MAC game

By Bryant Billing

[email protected]

Contact Bryant Billing at (937) 538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter.

No posts to display