UNION CITY — Tri-Village wasted little time taking control Friday night, scoring two plays into the game and continuing its unbeaten season with a 61–0 Western Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Mississinawa Valley.
The Patriots won the opening coin toss, received the kickoff and began the game with a strong return. Two plays later, they were in the end zone with only 30 seconds gone from the clock.
That opening possession established the direction the game would take.
Tri-Village scored on three of its first four possessions and held a 20–0 advantage with 4:27 remaining in the opening quarter. The Patriots continued pulling away throughout the first half and carried a 54–0 lead into halftime.
“We got control of this game really quick,” Tri-Village coach Matt Hopkins said. “These are still game reps. These are still quality reps, and no matter who we’re playing, whether it’s Bethel or Ansonia or later on Arcanum, everything is about how we’re doing it, how we’re executing and making sure we’re doing it at a high level.”
The second half was played with a running clock. Tri-Village worked time off the clock and added one final touchdown and extra point to make it 61–0.
Hopkins said the emphasis remained on the Patriots playing to their own standard, regardless of the opponent or score.
“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is,” Hopkins said. “It’s us against us all the time.”
The Patriots entered the night undefeated after earning a physical 29–22 victory over Ansonia one week earlier. Hopkins said his team has divided its season into quarters and approached Friday as the beginning of a new portion of the schedule.
“This is the third quarter of the season, and the postseason is the fourth quarter,” Hopkins said. “We were 0–0. Now we’re 1–0. That’s the most important thing. We’ve got to forget the first half and let’s rock and roll.”
For Mississinawa Valley, the final score made for an especially difficult homecoming night. The Blackhawks were heavily outnumbered on the sideline, undersized on the field and playing without several of their top players.
Still, they never quit.
Mississinawa Valley’s players continued taking the field, trying to make plays and attempting to bring down Tri-Village ball carriers no matter what the scoreboard showed. It is easy to play with energy when everything is going well. Continuing to compete through a winless season and an especially difficult night requires a different kind of resolve.
Mississinawa Valley coach Lane Manning said his players must learn from the adversity they are experiencing and continue supporting one another.
“When adversity strikes, and it does for everybody, what are you going to do in those moments?” Manning said. “You continue to come together as a team, and you continue to fight together through this. You grow, you learn and you push each other.”
Manning acknowledged that his team wanted a different result on homecoming night, but credited his players for continuing to work through a difficult season.
“Tonight’s another rough one for us, but little by little these guys are starting to understand what they’re capable of when they come together and work as a team,” Manning said. “That’s the lesson to be learned.”
Something else stood out after the game.
Players, cheerleaders and students from both schools gathered together, talked and posed for pictures. The friendships between the two student bodies were easy to see. These were young people who knew one another and enjoyed being together, even after spending the evening supporting opposing teams.
That might be expected between neighboring districts. Some WOAC schools, such as Arcanum and Franklin Monroe, are only a few miles apart. Tri-Village and Mississinawa Valley are separated by considerably more distance, yet those same connections were clearly present Friday night.
It was another example of something that has become apparent throughout the WOAC. The competition matters, and the athletes and students care deeply about representing their schools. But when the game ends, friendships cross school boundaries and the respect remains.
That connection throughout the conference is something special—and it was one of the most memorable parts of Friday night.
