Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

Wheelersburg at Fairland

Will the real Fairland Dragons please stand up.

The Dragons rolled to a 34-14 win over Portsmouth West in their opener and pounded Meigs 30-12 to start the season, but they suffered a letdown last week and were upset 12-9 at Tolsia, W.Va.

The Pirates lost to Ironton in their opener 32-27 then beat Coal Grove 28-22 and Portsmouth 43-13 to set up a key computer point game.

The Pirates spread offense centers around quarterback Eddie Miller. In last week’s win over Portsmouth, Miller was 10 of 11 passing for 194 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 45 yards.

Aaron Cowgill led the Pirates ground game with 74 yards on nine carries. Dylan Miller caught three passes for 79 yards and two scores. Tyler Claxon had four catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

 

Rock Hill at Portsmouth West

The Rock Hill Redmen and Portsmouth West Senators are both searching for that elusive first win.

West (0-3) lost 24-7 at Chillicothe last week despite sophomore quarterback Steven Irwin hitt 10 of 25 attempts for 140 yards in his first start.

Austin Bricker — who shifted from quarterback to running back — had four receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown. Justin Crace led West with 59 yards rushing in the loss.

The Senators’ defense is led by Zach Frye and Tristan White who each had eight tackles against Chillicothe. Frye also had an interception.

West lost 34-14 in their opener at Fairland and then fell 21-18 to rival Portsmouth.

Chesapeake at Lucasville Valley

The schedule never seems to get any easier for the Chesapeake Panthers.

Friday’s game against Valley will mark the third unbeaten team the Panthers will play — Oak Hill is 3-0 and Wayne, W.Va., 2-0 — while last week Chesapeake upset previously unbeaten Symmes Valley 29-22.

The Indians (3-0) are averaging 350 yards on the ground and 36.7 points per game. They have just 25.5 yards per game passing.

Valley picked up 103 yards rushing against Coal Grove in last week’s 34-18 win, 368 in a 40-13 win against Rock Hill and 399 yards as they outlasted Portsmouth 36-24.

Lucasville Valley’s ground game is led by Nate Arnett with nearly 400 yards in three games. He also had a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown against Coal Grove that broke the game open.

Arnett is joined in the backfield by Brandon Jordan, Matt Rollins and quarterback Will Howard.

The top receivers for the Indians are Ethan Holbrook and Hayden Dunn.

 

Manchester at Symmes Valley

The Manchester Greyhounds are 0-3 after losing 40-0 to Green in their opener, then falling 56-6 to Huntington Ross and 32-6 to Cincinnati Oyler last Saturday.

The young Greyhounds are led by fullback Brandon Saunders, Noah Gaffin, Daniel Hernandez and quarterback Jordan Freeman. The top receiver is Tyler Brummett.

The Vikings (2-1) must avoid an emotional letdown after their heartbreaking 29-22 loss to rival Chesapeake last week.

Besides a letdown, the Vikings need to have D.J. Miller back in the backfield after leaving in the first quarter last week with an injury.

South Point at Vinton County

Both teams enter the game 0-3 with the Pointers losing 48-21 last week to Wellston while the Vinton County Vikings fell to Bloom-Carroll 33-0 to extend their losing streak to nine over the past two seasons.

The Vikings also lost 38-15 to Chillicothe Unioto 38-15 in their opener and fell 26-12 to Piketon in week two.

Head coach Justy Burleson is in his third season. The Vikings posted records of 2-8 and 1-9 the past two years.

Both teams have sophomore quarterbacks at the helm. The Pointers go with Gage Townson and the Vikings are led by Andy Long. Only 18 varsity players return on the 45-man roster.

Vinton County has had six losing season in the past seven years. They were 5-5 in 2006. The Vikings were 8-3 in 2004 when they qualified for the Division III playoffs.

 

Dayton Jefferson at Green

The Jefferson Broncos are 0-3 coming into the game, losing 27-0 to Johnstown Northridge, 38-18 to Ponitz Career Tech and 56-26 to unbeaten St. Clairsville last Saturday.

The Broncos are part of the Metro Buckeye League that includes Fort Loramie, Dayton Christian, Troy Christian and Sidney Lehman Catholic.

Wide receiver Robert Potter was first team all-conference last season. On the second team were Lamont Ragland and Harley Schmidt.