LORE CITY - In what was a key Pioneer Valley Conference match up, the Fort Frye Cadets came out victorious over Buckeye Trail to move into a first place tie.
The game was a defensive struggle in the first half. Fort Frye (5-2, 3-1) opened the scoring with 2:14 left in the second quarter on a 28 yard field goal by Chandler Lang.
Four minutes into the second half, Spencer Lang made it a two score game with a 13 yard rushing touchdown. Chandler added the PAT to make it 10-0.
Article Photos
KAREN HENTHORN Special to The Times
Warren quarterback Dylan Leffingwell tries to elude a Chillicothe defender during Southeastern Ohio Athletic League football action Friday night. The Warriors lost 38-7.
Buckeye Trail (4-3, 3-1) answered with a 26 yard touchdown pass from Morgan Dougherty to C.J. Beaver to cut the lead to 10-6. Spencer got the points right back with a 79 yard kick return for a touchdown.
Chandler made it 24-6 with a four yard scoring run by Chandler. A Dougherty six yard touchdown pass to Tyler Starr and a two yard rushing touchdown by Lane Starr cut it to 24-21, but the Cadet defense preserved the lead. While Buckeye Trail out-gained Fort Frye 303-236, the Warriors lost the turnover battle 3-1. The Cadets got three interceptions from Spencer, Max Alsbach and Justin Massey.
Chandler was the leading ground gainer in the game with 100 yards on 21 carries. Dougherty completed 8-21 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns to go along with the three picks.
Fort Frye is back on the road against 1-6 Caldwell next week, looking to get its fourth consecutive conference victory.
Chillicothe 38, Warren 7
CHILLICOTHE - Warren fell to 2-5 overall after dropping a 38-7 decision at Chillicothe in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League football game Friday night.
The Andy Schob-coached Warriors are winless in the SEOAL with a 0-2 mark.
Warren's only touchdown came in the second quarter when quarterback Dylan Leffingwell hit tight end David Ryan with an 11-yard scoring strike. Chas Miller kicked the extra point.
With that score, the Warriors reduced the deficit to 14-7.
Leffingwell finished the game with 117 passing yards on 11 of 27 throws. The senior signal caller also had one toss intercepted.
Defensively, Blake Staley was credited with 23 tackles.
Warren had 161 total yards.
Since beating Meigs, Warren has suffered two straight setbacks.
The Warriors are scheduled to entertain Gallia Academy in another SEOAL game next Friday night.
St. Marys 72, Calhoun County 0
ST. MARYS -St. Marys scored 42 first quarter points here Friday night en route to a 72-0 Little Kanawha Conference win over visiting Calhoun County.
The Blue Devils (6-1) scored all their points in the first half before coach Jodi Mote cleared the bench for the final two quarters, which ended up scoreless.
Noah Spitzer scored on run of 6, 20 and 10 yards and Derek Barnhart added a pair of scores on runs of 29 and 7 yards.
Others scoring for St. Marys included Jeremy Pratt, Jared Dils and Jacob Cox on runs, Brett Fetty on a fumble return and Colby Brode on an interception return.
Spitzer rushed for 63 yards on six carries while Andrew Cosper had 45 yards and completed four of six passes for 96 yards, with Johnny Riggs snagging three catches for 74 yards.
St. Marys travels to Gilmer County next Friday while Calhoun County (2-5) hosts Buffalo.
Belpre 21, South Gallia 6
CROWN CITY-Manny Toiez rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries to lead visiting Belpre to its second victory of the season, 21-6 over host South Gallia.
Tavian Miller chipped in with 44 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and completed 3-of-7 passes for 25 yards. Nate Teeters picked off a pass and returned it 50 yards for a score and Cody Martin picked off a pass to end the game.
Belpre, now 2-5 on the season, returns to action next Friday night at Trimble, which defeated Eastern, 39-0.
Monroe Central 48, Shenandoah 0
SARAHSVILLE - The Seminoles of Monroe Central paid no attention to Shenandoah's homecoming as it shutout the home standing Zeps 48-0 Friday night.
The Seminoles started early and often on their way to a convincing defeat of the winless Shenandoah squad.
The Zeps were forced to punt on their first drive of the night. Lining up in what looked to be an attempt on 4/15, Zeps quarterback Danny Neuhart faked the throw and attempted to catch the Seminoles sleeping by delaying the punt. The Monroe Central defense didn't bite and broke through for the block and to take possession on the Shenandoah 15 yard line. Two plays later, Levi Brown waltzed in from 3 yards out for the first points of the evening. Guiler polished off his first PAT of the night on his way to a perfect 5-5 conversions.
On the next Zeps drive, Seminoles defensive back Derk Stephens intercepted a Neuhart pass. Levi Brown received the next two totes, and go down with an injury on the latter. He left the game for precautionary reasons, with an injury to his lower left leg.
"We came out and ran the ball, we lost Levi early and didn't want to take any chances" Monroe Central head coach Jay Circosta commented.
Four plays later Chase Carothers reached for his first score as he took a hand off in from 6-yards out. The PAT left the Monroe Central lead at 14-0 with 6:17 in the first quarter.
Three minutes later, and with possession again, the Noles quarterback Korey Laffere connected on back-to-back completions to Carothers. The next play Laffere punched it in from 6 yards out.
The Zeps offense did pick up some steam at the end of the first period heading into the second as they manufactured 14-play drive.
Consecutive incompletions halted that progress before the Seminoles took back over on downs. They only got a chance to run two plays as Zeps Jesse Wikander hopped on a Monroe Central fumble.
"We moved the ball, and then all of a sudden, shot ourselves in the foot." exclaimed Zeps head coach Kaleb Lawrence. "We're there, just a step away; we just have to take it in certain situations."
Laffere reached pay dirt once more in the half as he scattered in from a yard out after a 28-yard preceding rush of his own. The score at the midway point sat at 28-0.
During the second half, Carothers reached for his second touchdown of the night less than 3 minutes into the second half.
Mike Muklewicz contributed the Monroe Central-Shenadoah portion of the roundup.
