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Best Bets: Cincinnati – Week 10

The final week of the regular season is here, and among the most intriguing matchups is a battle of the two unbeatens in Cincinnati, Reading and Indian Hill.

Elder and La Salle also play for a share of the GCL South title, and Mount Healthy has to beat Northwest to win the SWOC regular season championship outright.

Here is a look at the Best Bets in Cincinnati for Week 10:

Edgewood (7-2) at Harrison (6-3), 7 p.m. – Both teams are tied for second in the SWOC with 4-1 league records. Mount Healthy leads the conference at 5-0 but is at Northwest (6-3, 3-2), so the winner could share first place if the Owls falter. Edgewood got clobbered by Mount Healthy, 50-14 last week, snapped a five-game winning streak during which the Cougars had averaged 43.8 points. Drew Reckart has thrown for 1,308 yards, 12 touchdowns and just four inteceptions, with top target Eddie Driskell catching 22 passes for 505 yards and seven TDs. Three Edgewood rushers have gained at least 490 yards (Devon Garrett, Dakota Schramm, Thomas Lindsay). Alex Anderson recently eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark (1,059 on 173 carries and 13 scores) to pace the Wildcats. Mitchell Hogue has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,413 yards and has thrown just one pick vs. 15 TDs. Gerald Smith has 40 catches for 643 yards and seven touchdowns. Harrison topped Northwest by three last week.

Elder (6-3) at La Salle (8-1), 7 p.m. – St. Xavier finished its GCL South slate 2-1, and Elder and La Salle both look to share the conference title with a win, as each is 1-1 in the league. The Panthers beat the Bombers by seven but dropped a seven-point decision to Moeller and fell, 14-0 to Winton Woods before a one-point win over DePaul Jesuit (N.J.) last week in overtime. La Salle hammered Winton Woods by 29 last week, and its lone loss came against St. Xavier three weeks ago. Panthers QB Peyton Ramsey is six passing yards away from 2,000 for the season, and receiver Nick Hall has 62 catches for 886 yards and 15 scores, all conference bests. La Salle’s Jeremy Larkin leads the GCL South in rushing yards with 1,049, and the Lancers are allowing a conference-low 104 passing yards per game.

Mount Healthy (6-3) at Northwest (6-3), 7 p.m. – Mount Healthy is looking for its fourth straight SWOC title and leads the field by a game at 5-0 in league play. QB David Montgomery ran for 373 yards and six touchdowns vs. Edgewood last week and has 2,057 ground yards for the season. Northwest is 3-2 in the league and is led by Brandon Shelton’s 1,357 passing yards and the ground game of Devonte Faulkner, who has rushed for 917 yards and 11 TDs. The Knights are 3-2 in the SWOC.

Indian Hill's Reed Aichholz.

Indian Hill’s Reed Aichholz.

Reading (9-0) at Indian Hill (9-0), 7 p.m. – These are the only two teams in Cincinnati without a loss, and fortunately for area football fans, they meet in the final week of the regular season with the CHL title on the line. Indian Hill has been all about Reed Aichholz, who is four passing yards shy of 2,000 and leads the team with 780 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. The Braves have three key receiving weapons – Dawson Aichholz (33 catches, 654 yards, six TDs), Nick Heidel (30-582-5) and Colin Shaw (34-451-3). Reading has relied on the rushing of Neriah Brooks, who has 777 ground yards on just 70 carries, and Baden Pinson (678 yards on 114 rushes). Both teams have allowed just 121 points, or 13.4 per game.

Western Brown (6-3) at Goshen (7-2), 7 p.m. – Both teams are 2-1 in the SBAAC National, a game behind Williamsburg. After allowing 112 points in losses to Harrison and New Richmond, Western Brown won at Amelia – albeit by just seven points – and topped Norwood, 28-6. Broncos quarterback Chaiten Tomlin has thrown for 2,058 yards and 28 touchdowns. Western Brown’s Eean Hornung and Wyatt Fischer are having sensational years, with 1,000 and 980 receiving yards, respectively. Goshen has won five of six, including a 14-0 shutout of Amelia last week, with its only defeat in that period coming to New Richmond (36-7). QB Isaac Hart has rushed for 1,120 yards to pace the Lions.

St. Xavier (5-4) at Lou. St. Xavier (6-3), 7:30 p.m. – The home team has won this matchup each of the past five seasons. Despite leading the GCL South with a 2-1 record, the Bombers have lost two straight and three of four, falling to Warren Central (Ind.) by seven and St. Ignatius by 14 most recently. Cincinnati’s St. Xavier has been almost perfectly balanced on offense, with 1,395 passing yards and 1,484 rushing. The Bombers’ Sean Clifford has thrown for 1,353 yards, completing 59 percent of his passes, and another Sean – Sean Prophit – leads the team in rushing yards with 624. The Tigers lost to Male by three two weeks ago but blasted Louisville Butler on Oct. 23. This isn’t a particularly strong team by its standards, so there is a good chance the home winning streak in this series ends on Friday.

Canada Prep Academy (0-5) at Moeller (4-5), 7 p.m. – Canada Prep (from St. Catherines, Ontario, a few miles from Niagara Falls), is the premier football development high school in Canada and plays a number of the premier U.S. high schools. Despite its record, it has played a brutal schedule, all on the road, and it should be fired up for this game, as one of its players has a heart ailment that has likely ended his career. Moeller’s Thomas MacVittie has thrown for 1,590 yards, 17 touchdowns and just one pick, and Jake Hausmann and Kyle Butz both have over 500 receiving yards. After two dramatic high-scoring wins – 49-42 at Elder and 55-52 at Cleveland St. Ignatius – the Crusaders lost at Lakewood St. Edward, 49-17 last week.

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