The Caldwell Redskins will look to rebound from a season opening 34-7 loss to Newcomerstown as they host Buckeye Trail tonight in a rare Thursday night contest at the Noble County Fairgrounds.
The game is being played tonight in conjunction with the Noble County Fair which is underway in Caldwell.
The Redskins (0-1), whose only points last week came on a 76-yard kickoff return by Justin Hardesty, will be looking to get their offense on track against a Warrior squad (0-1) that allowed 60 points in their week one loss to Ridgewood.
Article Photos
JEFF BAUGHAN Special to The Times
Belpre’s Manny Tullius takes a handoff from Tavian Miller during the Golden Eagles’ season opening setback to Paint Valley last Friday night. Belpre plays at Fort Frye this Friday night.
Hardesty paced the 'Skin offense as well last week with 77 yards rushing on 11 carries, while also being in on 12 tackles on the defensive side of the ball.
Last year in Lore City, Caldwell came away with a dominating 49-6 victory.
Belpre (0-1) at Fort Frye (0-1)
The Belpre Golden Eagles travel to Beverly Friday night to take on the Fort Frye Cadets as both teams look to claim their first victory of the 2012 season.
Belpre is coming off a 54-14 loss at the hands of Paint Valley, a game in which Belpre accumulated just nine total yards of offense.
Freshman Eagle quarterback Tavian Martin hit running back Manny Tulius on a screen pass late in the fourth quarter for the first Belpre touchdown of 2012 and Robby Postlewaite followed that up with a 20-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Fort Frye struggled in its season opener as well, allowing 31 unanswered points en route to a 38-13 loss at the hands of the River Pilots in a PVC contest.
Quarterback Chandler Lang paced the Cadets in week one with 74 yards rushing, including a 55-yard touchdown run and also found Max Alsbach in the end zone for a three-yard touchdown pass.
Both teams will be look to do a much better job on defense of stopping the run as Belpre allowed Paint Valley 272 rushing yards, while the Cadets surrendered 245 to River.
Last year in Belpre, the Cadets came up with a 28-13 victory.
Frontier (1-0) at Steubenville Catholic Central (0-1)
The Frontier Cougars will look to build on the momentum they gained in their opening week, 20-14 victory over Shenandoah when they travel to Steubenville to take on Catholic Central Friday night.
Austin Kimble's 15- yard interception return in the third quarter broke a 14-14 tie and the Cougars' defense allowed Shenandoah just 63 total yards for their first victory since the 2010 season.
The Cougar offense was paced by senior running back Taylor Merckle with 58 yards rushing on 13 carries and freshman Quinton Humphery who gained 50 yards on 12 carries.
Both backs scored first half touchdowns for the Cougars.
Catholic Central is coming off of a disappointing 44-42 loss to Bellaire, a game in which the Crusaders led 42-19 at one time before surrendering 25 unanswered points.
If the Cougars are to make it two wins in a row, they will need to find a way to stop Crusader quarterback Brenton Colabella, who has passed for over 3,000 yards in his high school career.
On offense Frontier will need to limit its turnovers as it turned the ball over five times against Shenandoah.
Waterford (1-0) at Federal Hocking (0-1)
The Waterford Wildcats will travel to Stewart Friday night to take on Federal Hocking searching for their second victory of the season after a dominating 34-14 victory over Miller.
Waterford head coach Tom Tucker, in his second stint as Wildcat head coach, saw his offense rush for 350 yards in the week one victory.
A pair of Wildcat running backs ran for 100 yards in week one as senior Hunter Munjas accumulated 130 yards and two touchdowns and sophomore Derek Brown ran for 112 more.
Quarterback Brian Moore had a pair of rushing touchdowns as well while Austin Shriver returned an interception 62 yards for a score.
The Lancers came up just short in week one as they dropped a tough 22-21 decision to conference rival Alexander.
Delbert Crum paced Federal Hocking on both offense and defense as the Lancer junior came up with 18 tackles on defense as well as scoring once on a touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Jackson and once more on a fumble recovery for a score.
Jackson also hooked up on a 75-yard touchdown pass to Payton Seel.
Last year the Wildcats defeated Federal Hocking 20-9 in Waterford.
Morgan (0-1) at Union Local (0-1)
The Morgan Raiders will look to put a disappointing season opening loss to Marietta behind them when they travel to Belmont to battle Union Local in a non- conference match up.
The Raiders held what appeared to be a comfortable 35-20 lead with under 12 minutes to play before the Tigers rallied for 21 unanswered points for the come-from-behind 41-35 win.
Morgan quarterback Kyle Earich accounted for four first half touchdowns before exiting the game with a leg injury in the second half, while his replacement Hayden Metheney collaborated on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Clinton Campbell.
Union Local will be looking to snap a losing streak that now stands at 20 after dropping a 12-0 opening week decision to the Meadowbrook Colts in Byesville.
Sophomore quarterback Gavin Porter completed 12-of-30 passes for 94 yards to pace the Union Local offense.
Last season Morgan defeated Union Local 20-9 in McConnelsville.
Shenandoah (0-1) at Martins Ferry
(1-0)
New Shenandoah head football coach Kaleb Lawrence and his Zeps will have their work cut out for them Friday night as they travel to Martins Ferry to take on the Purple Riders in a non-conference tilt.
Martins Ferry cruised to a dominating 46-21 victory over Heath in week one, gaining 410 yards worth of total offense while limiting Heath to just 110.
Martins Ferry features dual quarterbacks in Tyler Strama and Eric Flowers, both of whom had outstanding opening weeks against Heath.
Strama completed 8-of-14 passes for 143 yards and a pair of scores, while Flowers hit on 9-of-11 passes for 143 more yards and another touchdown strike.
Receiver Cody Schau pulled down 11 passes for 164 yards and three scores for the Riders.
Lawrence's debut for Shenandoah was spoiled at the hands of Frontier as the Cougars pulled off a 20-14 victory in Sarahsville.
A bright spot for the Zeps in week one was a defense that forced five Frontier turnovers.
Quarterback Eli Hurst completed 5-of-16 passes for 98 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown pass to Danny Neuhart.
Last year Martins Ferry rolled to a 56-14 win over the Zeps in Sarahsville.
Monroe Central
(1-0) at Shadyside
(1-0)
The Monroe Central Seminoles will travel to Shadyside Friday night in a battle of teams that earned playoff spots a season ago.
Both team are once again off to fast starts in 2012 as the Tigers rolled over Strausburg 35-0 in week one, while the Seminoles edged Waterloo 14-7.
Legendary Seminole head coach Jay Circosta, who graduated high school from Shadyside, got a fine performance from senior Korey Lafferre on both sides of the ball.
The Monroe Central senior quarterback scored on a 56-yard touchdown run and also led the Seminole defense with 12.5 tackles.
Levi Brown led MC in rushing with 112 yards on just 16 carries, while Jake Schuerman returned an interception 27-yards for a touchdown for the Seminoles first touchdown.
Shadyside was paced in week one by running back Chris Littell who gained 106 yards on seven carries, while quarterback Chase Kinemond completed 6-of-12 passes for 89 yards.
Last season in Woodsfield, the 'Noles handed the Tigers a 42-14 defeat.
Wirt County (0-1) at St. Marys (1-0)
The St. Marys Blue Devils will look to make it two in a row on the season when they host the Wirt County Tigers in a LKC match up Friday night.
The Devils are coming off of a 24-15 victory over Ritchie County one week ago, a game in which St. Marys gained 329 yards on the ground.
After winning four of their last five games a season ago, the Blue Devils got 100-yard rushing performances from both Noah Spitzer and David Gray to capture their season opener.
Spitzer gained 133 yards on 17 carries, while Gray carried the ball 18 times for 103 yards.
Wirt County kicked off its season with a heart breaking 42-35 loss at the hands of Moorefield.
Despite the loss, the Tigers showed off a very effective passing game as quarterback Josh Trembly completed 14-of-22 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns.
Last year Wirt County defeated the Devils 28-7 in Elizabeth.
Pocahontas
County (0-1)
at Parkersburg Catholic (0-1)
A pair of teams looking to bounce back from opening week shutout losses will do battle when Pocahontas County travels to Stadium Field to take on the Parkersburg Catholic Crusaders Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders were blanked by Buffalo, 45-0 in week one, managing just 93 yards of total offense against the Bisons, while the Warriors were defeated 29-0 by Tucker County.
Payton Sturm completed 3-of-5 passes for 60 yards for Catholic, while Mitch Davis led the Crusaders in rushing with 82 yards in 17 carries.
Both Pocahontas and Catholic made the playoffs a season ago and a week two win would go along way for either one for a return visit in 2012.
Last season the Warriors downed the Crusaders 27-18 in Dunmore.
