ECC Notes

Everything seems to be coming up in pairs for the Eastern Cincinnati Conference. There will be two new head coaches – Evan Dreyer at Anderson and Matt Lainhart takes over the Walnut Hills program. There are only two returning quarterbacks that started all 10 games last season and only two running backs that ran for more than a 1,000 yards in 2015.

Deuces are wild for the ECC this coming fall. Very few things are certain but Turpin and Kings are known commodities and should be up there in the race for the title. Graduation left experience from Glen Este, Loveland and Withrow with very little experience at key positions. Walnut Hills and Anderson are starting from scratch. This has the potential to be a very crazy season on the east side of I-71.

Glen Este RB/DB Elijah Johnson (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

Here is a closer look at some of the ECC’s top returnees and its teams this season.

The Trojans Swan Song: This will be the last season of football at Glen Este as they will merge with Amelia to form West Clermont High School next fall. The Trojans have compiled a 23-19 record with playoff appearances in each of the last two seasons as a member of the ECC.
Four years of paydirt: Glen Este RB/DB Elijah Johnson has three career rus

Four years of paydirt: Glen Este RB/DB Elijah Johnson has three career rushing touchdowns, one as a freshman, one as a sophomore and one as a junior. Johnson along with Kings QB Tyler Knecht and Loveland RB Luke Waddell will get the chance to score touchdowns in all four years they played varsity come this August.

Air Dreyer: Quarterbacks at Anderson should be jumping for joy getting to play for new Head Coach Evan Dreyer. Over the past four seasons signal-callers under Dreyer have averaged 3,364 yards and 33 touchdowns passing.

Blaha’s backfield audition: In last year’s regular season finale Anderson sophomore Kyle Blaha carried the ball 12 times for 121 yards including a 57-yard touchdown scamper as the Redskins fell to Kings. Those were the first 12 carries of Blaha’s career.

Takeaway Tigers: In three season under Head Coach Fred Cranford (35 games) the Loveland defense has created 63 turnovers of which 14 have been returned four touchdowns. The Tigers have intercepted 39 passes for 983 yards (that is not a misprint) and 11 touchdowns during Cranford’s reign. They have also recovered 24 fumbles with three scoop and scores.

Beck & Batsch: Loveland defensive backs Cameron Beck and Ryan Batsch had nights to remember in 2015. As a sophomore Batsch came up with all three of his interceptions versus Oak Hills in Week 3 of the season.

Loveland DB Cameron Beck (photo by Mike Noyes/TriStateFootball.com)

In Week 9 the Tigers ended Turpin’s quest for perfection handing the Spartans their only regular season loss. Beck played a huge part in that victory with four interceptions. He would intercept one more pass in the finale against Milford ending his junior year with five picks. Even more impressive is that Beck has turned two of those into “pick sixes,” all in his last five quarters of play heading into 2016.

Knights unleash fury: In the last 20 regular season games Kings has recorded 58 total sacks. That consistent pressure has seen the Knights defense force 50 turnovers in that span.

Wise beyond his years: Going into his junior season Kings receiver Justin Wise is on pace to become the ECC’s all-time leading receiver. He has 81 career receptions for 1,007 yards. Wise has been clutch in the postseason. As a freshman and a sophomore he snared 29 passes for 374 yards with four of his seven career touchdowns coming in five playoff games.

Withrow shows improvement: It was a rough induction into the ECC for Withrow in 2014. The Tigers finished 0-7 in conference play and were outscored by a 20.1 margin. Last fall Withrow finished 3-4 and trimmed that margin of defeat to 7.3 points.

Menace’s for Milford: The first four seasons of ECC play has seen Milford struggle with league foes Turpin, Kings and Glen Este. The Eagles are a combined 0-12 versus the trio and have been outscored by a margin of 25.5 points in those tilts. They averaged just 2.9 points in the first half of those defeats. In six of those games Milford failed to score a point in the first half and five time they were scoreless through three quarters.

Giving Slone more bones: Milford is 5-0 when Dawson Slone runs for 70 yards or more in a game. As a junior last season Slone racked up 536 of his 788 yards rushing (134.0 per game) in the Eagles four victories with six of his seven touchdowns. He averaged just 42.3 yards in the team’s six losses.

Turpin RB Luke Bohenek (photo by Mike Noyes/ TriStateFootball.com)

Defense is Spartans calling card: Look for the Turpin defense to shine once again. The Spartans finished 10-2 last fall and allowed just 15.5 points per contest. The held opponents to 17 points or less in all 10 of their wins. Returning from that squad will be 2015 ECC defensive player of the year, Lang Evans and a slew of other starters that include LB Jack Tyszkiewicz, LB Colin Thompson, OLB Sam Myers, DL Christian Gador, DL Matthew Sodd, DB Nathan Hooper and DB Griffin Durso.

Bohenek hauls a big load: To say that Luke Bohenek was a workhorse for Turpin last season would be an understatement. As a junior he had 303 touches which was compromised of 259 carries for 1,620 yards and 44 receptions for 407 more yards in 12 games. In one four game stretch during ECC play he averaged 32 carries with totals of 205, 169, 136, and 173 yards on the ground. He also had 15 receptions for another 133 yards and scored 11 of his 23 total touchdowns during that span.

Woe-nut Hills: Walnut Hills has lost 12 consecutive ECC games. Their last win was a forfeit victory over Withrow. That game was a three touchdown victory for Withrow when it was played on August 25th, 2014. Excluding that contest the Eagles have been outscored in league games by a margin of 27.8 points while scoring just 6.6 points during their skid.

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