After a prolonged heat wave the nights and early mornings are starting to feel like autumn has arrived even though the official beginning of fall isn’t until the 22nd. The shadows are lengthening, the air’s a little crisper, the crops are about ready to be harvested, and “Friday Night Lights” have returned to West Central Ohio. Most of us will agree that fall is a favorite time of the year!
Two weeks of high school football are in the books and some early themes are beginning to emerge already. Preble Shawnee took a major step towards a possible WOAC championship with a 42-25 win over Tri-Village in New Madison this past Friday. One of the Arrows main rivals for league honors, the Ansonia Tigers, claimed their first win of the season with a convincing rout of Bradford as they seek consecutive WOAC titles. Arcanum and National Trail recorded their first victories, while Mississinawa Valley’s Blackhawks snapped a 19-game losing streak with a win over Dixie. Three key games to anticipate are Shawnee traveling to Arcanum in week eight and to Ansonia in week nine, while the Trojans and Tigers square off in Ansonia in week four, the 13th of this month. One other game of huge importance will be on Thursday the 19th, when T-V hosts Ansonia.
The MAC is going to be as competitive as usual with battle royals looming on the calendar. A major encounter occurs on the 27th when Versailles hosts Marion Local. The Tigers are unscored on through the first two weeks of the season while the Flyers are as dynamic as ever, boasting of two blowout wins including a 49-0 shellacking of Franklin last week. With Coldwater and Minster also with strong teams, look for fireworks every week up north!
In the MVL, Butler, Tipp, Troy, and Xenia appear to be the class of the league, although Sidney may have something to say about that. Greenville, Piqua, and West Carrollton all look for their first wins of the year as we enter week three, while Stebbins and Fairborn are both 1-1. Two huge games are on the docket this weekend as Troy travels to Butler in a Miami division match while Xenia’s Buccaneers venture up I-75 to tangle with the Yellow Jackets of Sidney to establish Valley division leadership.
In the SWBL Eaton, by virtue of a 42-6 thumping of Richmond, and Oakwood are off to 2-0 starts while in the TRC Covington and Miami East remain undefeated.
The Treaty City Invitational Cross Country meet was held Saturday morning in case you were wondering where all of the cannon fire was coming from and echoing around town. The Versailles boys claimed the championship trophy, with Greenville placing second among 24 teams in the run held in the City Park. Ansonia sophomore Bennett Lehman ran a 15:53.7 to claim individual laurels in the field of 167 runners, while Versailles took 5 of the first 16 spots, being paced by Tony Moorman’s third place 16:28.8 and Jackson Spitzer’s fifth place 16:34.0.
In the girls competition, Fort Loramie was victorious in the 17-team field with Versailles finishing second. Ariel Heitkamp of the Lady Redskins placed fourth with a time of 20:37.4, while Ava Rismiller led her Versailles teammates with a ninth-place time of 20:57.4 in a field of 144 runners. Greenville’s Lady Wave finished tenth, being led by freshman Meredith Hunt’s eighteenth place with a time of 21:51.7.
Quick hitters—
What do Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Lyon Richardson, and Evan Kravetz have in common? Answer to follow!
How about Scottie Scheffler winning the Fed EX Cup trophy in Atlanta over the weekend? His seventh win this season on the PGA tour was the most since Tiger Woods in 2007, netting him a cool $25 million first prize!
How good are the Georgia Bulldogs again this year after destroying Clemson over the weekend? THE got off to a slow start in walloping Akron, the first of what should be three easy non-conference wins for the Scarlet and Gray. Oregon, one of the tougher matchups for Ryan Day’s crew later this year, looked anything but good in sneaking by the Vandals of Idaho while USC scored in the last seconds to beat LSU 27-20. Is it just me, or does LSU Coach Brian Kelly always look like he has a bad case of indigestion? Meanwhile, most of the rest of the Top 25 all had easy wins to start the fall campaign.
Thursday night, it’s the Ravens at the Chiefs to kick off the NFL season, while other opening matchups on Sunday included the Bengals hosting the Patriots, the Cowboys traveling to Cleveland, and the Colts entertaining the Texans.
A peek at the Major League Baseball standings shows the Yankees and Orioles in a literal tie for AL East honors; the Guardians with a 3.5 game lead over the Twins and Royals in the AL Central; and the Astros with a commanding lead in the West over the Mariners. In the NL, the Phillies seem to have things under control, leading the Braves by seven games in the East; the Brewers are running away with the Central; and the Dodgers are trying to hold off the Padres and Diamondbacks in the West.
The four young men mentioned above have all appeared for the Reds this year. David Bell has written the names of 29 position players and 30 pitchers on his lineup card as Cincinnati has once again struggled with injuries, inconsistent pitching and batting, and just plain terrible base running and fundamentals. Where’s Waldo?!? Have a great week!
