Week two of high school football has come and gone with a plethora of upsets and disappointing losses.
As the season inches ever-closer toward its midpoint, each team in the TVC-Ohio has plenty to take away from this week.
Athens
The Bulldogs’ 12-game win streak against Vinton County was finally broken Friday after a 28-20 loss.
Although their offense made significant strides to improve from the slow start against Alexander in week one, Athens wasn’t able to keep pace with the Vikings for the majority of the game. Vinton County was the dominant team on the field for three-and-a-half quarters, save for several key plays by the Bulldogs.
Brayden Whiting and Peyton Gail were the bright spots in a dim night for the Bulldogs. Whiting gained 145 receiving yards Friday, including a 70-yard touchdown that gave Athens the boost they needed to stay in the fight. Gail eventually tied the game at 20 after a 57-yard run.
It wasn’t enough though. The Bulldogs attempted a last-minute rally to force overtime, but it died when quarterback Joey Moore was sacked by Boomer Herrold.
Athens now sits in the middle of the conference standings and has to prepare for a nonconference opponent Friday.
Alexander
The Spartans’ chance to find their first win of the season was ruined on Friday in a game that soured any expectations that were created from the season opener.
Alexander found themselves playing catch-up early on, as a muffed kickoff return led to a touchdown drive for the Blue Devils. As the game went along, the Spartans got stuck playing the field position game and struggled to get the ball off of their side of the field. Whenever it seemed like they finally started to build momentum, penalties would halt the Spartans’ drives in their tracks.
In the second half, Alexander attempted to spark the offense, putting freshman Jordan Schulz in at quarterback. Schulz is the third man to line up under center in three weeks for the Spartans. Despite not playing well in his first drive and getting pulled in the fourth quarter, Schulz came back in and led Alexander’s final offensive drive of the game, the only one that resulted in points.
This landed Alexander with a 42-6 loss to St. Mary’s. Alexander now stands 0-2 for the season so far.
There are two main questions for Alexander heading into their game against undefeated Wellston: Who will be the starting quarterback? And which version of the Spartans will be there, the ones that kept it close with Athens or the ones who struggled to get anything going against St. Mary’s?
Nelsonville-York
The Buckeyes have work to do after falling to 0-2 for the third straight season. They were in the game during the fourth quarter until quarterback Drew Carter threw back-to-back pick sixes.
Nelsonville-York looked much stronger defensively, and held Wellston to 12 offensive points in the 24-12 loss. They also stopped the Golden Rockets on each of their two point conversion and extra point attempts, which kept the game close for the offense.
Aside from the final quarter, Carter played much better than he did in week one. The Junior led multiple drives down the field, including one that was saved by a 16-yard pass completion for the run on fourth-and-15.
Nelsonville-York’s 0-2 record doesn’t fully reflect the talents of the team. The Buckeyes have shown flashes of dominance on both sides of the ball, but have yet to put them together at the same time for all four quarters.
The Rest of the TVC-Ohio
Meigs defeats River Valley 39-12
The Raiders’ struggles continue into week two as they fall to Meigs. River Valley put up more of a fight than last week, but two touchdowns with no extra points isn’t saying much.
Meigs quarterback Coulter Cleland went 16-for-24 Friday, with 442 combined yards and three touchdowns. Cleland now has a 64% completion rate and averages 18.4 yards per completion.
Wide receiver Wyatt Hoover also gained 171 receiving yards on six completions for the Marauders.
Conference Standings
- Wellston (2-0)
- Meigs (2-0)
- Vinton County (1-1)
- Athens (1-1)
- Alexander (0-2)
- Nelsonville-York (0-2)
- River Valley (0-2)
What’s Next Week?
Athens will remain at Joe Burrow Stadium to host Marietta for a non-conference game on Sept. 11.
Alexander will be on the road facing undefeated Wellston for their second conference game on Sept. 11.
Nelsonville-York faces another challenge when they head home to face undefeated Meigs on Friday.
Vinton County will attempt to capitalize on their success from last week as they travel to Bidwell to face River Valley on Friday.
All kickoff times are set for 7 p.m.
Sports
