UNION CITY – The Arcanum Trojans wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard Friday night, scoring early and often in a 42-7 victory over the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks in Western Ohio Athletic Conference (WOAC) play.
“We’re playing two quarterbacks right now,” said Arcanum head coach Matt Macy. “Bishop Cartwright, our junior, is doing a great job, and we have a package for our freshman quarterback, Weston Schmit, who ran the ball pretty well today. He’s a freshman, but he plays like he’s older.”
Macy credited his team’s versatility as a key strength down the stretch. “We’re lucky we have two quarterbacks and they both run different systems,” he added. “When Bishop goes to receiver, he’s a heck of a receiver, so it makes us pretty well-rounded.”
The Blackhawks kicked off to open the game, and Remington Hatfield returned the ball deep into Mississinawa territory to the 17-yard line. On the very first play from scrimmage, MJ Macy dashed into the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown. Joey Marshall booted the extra point through the uprights off a Ross Wagner hold to give Arcanum a quick 7-0 lead just 18 seconds into the game.
Defense and penalties on both sides slowed the pace through the rest of the first quarter, which ended with Arcanum holding its one-touchdown advantage.
“They are much improved – kudos to them,” Coach Macy said of Mississinawa. “They have a nice system. We struggled with it a little bit and had some penalties, but so did they. It happened both ways, but we’re pretty physical, and I think we got to them with our physicality.”
The Trojans found the end zone again at 9:35 in the second quarter when MJ Macy powered in from seven yards out. The Marshall-Wagner combo struck again on the PAT to extend the lead to 14-0.
Moments later, Bishop Cartwright intercepted a Blackhawk pass, setting up a touchdown connection from freshman QB Weston Schmit to 6’4” sophomore Talon Stone. Cartwright added the two-point conversion run to make it 22-0 Arcanum with 9:44 remaining in the half.
Mississinawa Valley answered late in the second quarter with a Caleb Spradling-to-Kyle Wehrkamp 16-yard touchdown pass at the 2:34 mark. Ian Tojosemito drilled the PAT off a Bryce Watson hold to cut the deficit to 22-7.
Arcanum quickly responded, however, as Macy broke loose again for a 13-yard touchdown run. Another successful kick made it 29-7 Trojans at the half.
“At first we struggled a little bit,” Macy said. “We kind of bend but don’t break, and finally our physicality wore them down. We didn’t give them anywhere to throw and were able to shut down the run.”
Cartwright opened the third quarter by picking off his second interception of the game on Mississinawa’s first play from scrimmage. He then capped the ensuing drive with a 2-yard quarterback keeper, stretching the lead to 35-7.
Just minutes later, the Trojans capitalized on another Blackhawk turnover when Mississinawa fumbled at 9:17. Cartwright again called his own number on a keeper, and Marshall’s PAT made it 42-7, triggering a running clock for the remainder of the game.
Neither team scored again as the Trojans’ defense controlled the pace and sealed the dominant road victory.
With just two weeks left in the regular season, the Trojans remain focused on their WOAC title hopes and upcoming playoff push.
“We’re getting ready to go into it – the real season starts next week,” Macy said. “If we want to accomplish what we set out to do – winning the league and going to the playoffs – we’d better be ready to go the next two weeks.”
Arcanum (record) closes out regular-season play at home against Ansonia before traveling to Tri-Village to finish out the schedule.
