ANNA — Anna had a slow start against St. Henry in Week 4 and finished hot, then followed by starting hot against Marion Local and finishing slow.
The Rockets (3-2, 2-1 Midwest Athletic Conference) will look to bounce back from last week’s 44-20 loss to Marion Local and put together a complete game when they open the second half of the season at home against Versailles (2-3, 1-2) on Friday.
Versailles’ offense had struggled for most of the first four weeks of the season but moved the ball with ease against Delphos St. John’s last week.
Ryan Martin rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Jake Poling ran for 112 yards and a pair of scores. Martin also completed 9-of-17 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers average 267 yards and 20 points per game while Anna averages 309 yards and 33 points per game. Versailles allows an average of 271 yards and 22 points per game and the Rockets allow an average of 330 yards and 29.4 points.
Anna juniors Riley Huelskamp and Bart Bixler continue to rank among the MAC’s rushing leaders. Huelskamp is second in the league with 524 rushing yards on 103 carries, while Bixler is seventh with 354 rushing yards on 72 carries. Huelskamp has scored 11 touchdowns while Bixler has scored four. Bixler has also completed 35-of-66 passes for 457 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions.
Fort Loramie at Twin Valley South
The Redskins trailed early in a Cross County Conference game last Friday but scored 30 unanswered points to beat Ansonia 37-10. The win puts Fort Loramie in the driver’s seat for the CCC title, as none of their remaining five opponents finished above .500 last year.
Fort Loramie (4-1, 3-0 CCC) will start the second half of its season at Twin Valley South, which is coming off a 25-18 win over Mississinawa Valley.
The Panthers (3-2, 2-1) started the season 1-2 after lopsided losses to Preble Shawnee and Tri-County North in Weeks 2 and 3 but bounced back with an overtime win over National Trail and last week’s win over the Blackhawks.
Fort Loramie, which is ranked sixth in the current state Associated Press poll, averages 394.2 yards and 30 points per game.
Sophomore quarterback Collin Moore has completed 76-of-122 passes for 929 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception. Max Hoying has gained 266 rushing yards on 49 carries and has scored two touchdowns, while Moore has rushed for 213 yards on 49 carries and has scored five touchdowns.
Carter Mescher has gained 194 rushing yards on 15 carries and has scored three touchdowns and caught 23 passes for 388 yards and four touchdowns. Ben Barhorst, Mark Seger and Mason Kemper have between 159 and 199 receiving yards.
Hardin Northern at Lehman Catholic
The Cavaliers will look for a better defensive performance in a Northwest Central Conference game against Hardin Northern this Friday after allowing 44 points in a 19-point win over Marion Elgin last week.
The Polar Bears (2-3, 1-2 NWCC) are coming off a 34-33 win over Riverside. They average 335.6 yards and 25.4 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Owen Wetherill has completed 62-of-110 passes for 647 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions and has run for 592 yards and seven TDs on 73 carries.
Lehman (3-2, 3-0) averages 338.4 yards and 35.4 points per game. Senior quarterback Elliott Gilardi has completed 70-of-113 passes for 850 yards and nine touchdowns with four interceptions and has rushed for 379 yards on 77 carries with five touchdowns.
Drew Barhorst and Tyler Sollmann have gained over 100 rushing yards, and Bradly Haynes leads the team with 309 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 18 catches.
Minster at Delphos St. John’s
The Wildcats will be looking for an improved defensive performance after giving up a lot of yards and points for the second consecutive week.
Minster (4-1, 3-1 MAC) surrendered 348 yards in a 62-35 win over Parkway last Friday. Though the Wildcats rank among the MAC’s best offensively with an average of 378 yards and 36.6 points per game, they rank among the worst defensively by allowing an average of 371.4 yards and 25.6 points per game.
Friday’s game will be as good of a chance as any for an improved defensive performance. The Blue Jays (1-4, 0-3) rank last in the MAC in average yards (140) and points (14.8) per game. Their defense isn’t much better, as they’ve given up an average of 352 yards and 29.8 points per game.
Minster junior running back Alex Schmitmeyer and quarterback Jacob Niemeyer are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in rushing yards in the MAC. Schmitmeyer has rushed for 377 yards and 11 touchdowns while Niemeyer has rushed for 360 yards and four TDs. Niemeyer has completed 57-of-84 passes for 914 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception.
New Bremen at Coldwater
New Bremen struggled to follow up its big win over Fort Recovery last Friday against St. Henry. The Redskins racked up 324 yards of offense in a 36-0 win.
The Cardinals (3-2, 1-2) will have a big challenge this week in Coldwater (5-0, 3-0), though instead of worrying about a vaunted rushing attack, they’ll have to worry about a vaunted passing attack.
Coldwater averages a MAC-best 396 yards per game, 264 of which come through the air. Jake Hemmelgarn ranks first in the MAC in 1,321 passing yards and has thrown for a league-best 18 touchdowns against four interceptions. Cole Frilling has caught 25 passes for 341 yards and seven touchdowns, while Ben Wenning has caught 20 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns.
The Cavaliers aren’t all passing, though. Mitch Niekamp has rushed for 255 yards and six touchdowns on 46 carries.
Coldwater has allowed an average of 297 yards and 22.6 points per game, while New Bremen has surrendered an average of 255.8 yards and 22.6 points per game.
New Bremen senior quarterback Nolan Bornhorst has completed 41-of-75 passes for 626 yards and seven touchdowns.
Waynesfield-Goshen at Riverside
The Pirates will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss to Hardin Northern against Waynesfield-Goshen on Friday.
Riverside (2-3, 2-1 NWCC) averages 309 yards per game and has scored an average of 34 points per game the last three weeks after not scoring a point in its first two games.
Senior quarterback Joel Cotterman has thrown for 177 yards and one touchdown and gained 399 rushing yards. Senior Luke Roby has rushed for 302 yards on 55 carries and scored four touchdowns, while junior Brandon Sacks has rushed for 331 yards and four touchdowns on 63 carries. Junior Darrick Cotterman has gained 270 yards on 25 carries and has scored three touchdowns.
