Let’s take a quick look at the results of the first week of high school football around the area. In the MVL North or Miami division, only Troy claimed a victory with Tipp, Butler, Piqua, and Greenville all losing non-conference games. In South or Valley play, Xenia defeated Beavercreek while Sidney, West Carrollton, Fairborn, and Stebbins all fell to 0-1, making it a tough week for league teams in general!
Friday night marks the start of four straight division games for every team—in the Miami, Tipp travels to Fairborn, Butler visits Piqua, and Greenville hosts Troy. The young Wave look to rebound after being trounced by an Eaton Eagle squad that gashed the GHS defense for 442 total yards. Offensively the Green and White were led by senior quarterback Evan Manix who scrambled for 117 yards including a 62-yard jaunt for a TD in the second quarter and senior Trey Bryant who toted the pigskin for 89 yards. On the defensive side of the line, senior Jack Royer paced the team with 11 tackles.
Here’s a name to remember—Eaton sophomore kicker Jon Hewitt converted all six extra points and a 39-yard field goal. The 6’3” Hewitt traveled the country this summer attending kicking camps and has considerable interest from many D-I college programs. After watching his kickoffs travel deep into the end zone and his conversion kicks leave the confines of Harmon Field (several probably showed up on radar at Dayton International Airport!) I can confidently say that he’s the real deal!
Meanwhile in the WOAC, Ansonia, Arcanum, Tri-Village, and Bradford (welcome back to varsity football, ‘Roaders!) all won. This week’s schedule has Twin Valley South coming to Arcanum, Bradford hosting Cincinnati Country Day at their new stadium, Ansonia going to Covington, Mississinawa at Dixie, Tri County North making the journey on Route 40 west to National Trail, and the T-V Patriots visiting Preble Shawnee.
Up north, Versailles shut out a good Celina ball club by a 26-0 count, Marion Local took down a strong Wapakoneta team 29-26, St. Henry shocked St. Marys 17-0, and Coldwater bettered traditional power Kenton 29-12. As always, watch the MAC teams as they battle each other and advance to the playoffs.
Here’s an interesting fact I came across and today’s trivia question—can you name the best selling breakfast cereal in the U.S.?
I just watched the end of the BMW golf tournament in Chicago, the second of three outings that comprise the year end’s FedEx Cup. Viktor Hovland shot a tournament record 61 in the final round and along with 29 others qualified for the final leg of the journey, the Tour Championship in Atlanta with the year’s overall winner (not just the weekend’s leader) in line to claim the $18 million prize. The overall leader begins the tournament at -10, second place entrant at -8, third place at -7, etc. In the history of the Cup, the only winners have come from the top seven entering the final week.
Piqua High School graduate Tyler Haines takes over the head football coaching reins at D-II Catawba College in Salisbury, NC. After a two-year stint as the offensive coordinator at Shepherd University of West Virginia, which was preceded by a stint as the defensive coordinator at Baldwin-Wallace, Tyler looks to reverse the fortune of the Catawba Indians in the South Atlantic Conference. He was successful in his five years as head coach at Urbana University earlier, restoring a winning program for the Blue Knights only to see the school closed in 2020.
Haines is married to the former Logan Graher of Covington and has three daughters. His father-in-law is John Graher, former head football coach at Mississinawa Valley, National Trail, and Riverside. Tyler is one of the “good guys” of college coaching both on the field and off and we wish him much success at Catawba!!
Lots of attention is being given to the quarterback situations at Georgia, Alabama, and THE as those powers have to replace outstanding signal callers in Stetson Bennett (who led the Dawgs to consecutive NCAA titles), the first pick in the NFL draft Bryce Young of the Tide, and CJ Stroud of the Buckeyes. I wouldn’t be too worried if a fan of any of those three schools— trust me, they each have two or three outstanding athletes ready to take snaps!!
I’m sorry to disappoint all of you fans of Wheaties, Corn Flakes, and Raisin Bran (not to mention Cap’n Crunch, Trix, and Cocoa Krispies) but the number one cereal in the US, with $435 million in annual sales and representing one of every nine bowls consumed, is Cheerios! As they say, “breakfast with heart, bursting with positive energy, fueling people to do good”! Personally, I do like Honey Nut Cheerios! Have a great week, stay healthy and active!
