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Best Bets: Week 1 

Colerain QB Zae Jennings (photo by James Bates/TriStateFootball.com)

The slate is clean, all teams are undefeated and in first place, and anything can happen as high school football kicks off this Friday night for the 2022 season. In typical non-conference fashion, Week 1 offers up intriguing matchups that could shape the playoff race early on, and give fans a good sense of the contenders and the pretenders. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest matchups of the first week of the 2022 season.

#5 ST. XAVIER AT #1 LAKOTA WEST
The St. Xavier Bombers and the Lakota West Firebirds split their matchups last year with the Bombers taking the Week 1 matchup and the Firebirds narrowly taking the faceoff in the playoffs. The two teams will meet again in the opening week of the season with hopes of starting strong ahead of conference play in Week 2 for Lakota West.

When it comes to the makeup of the two teams, it’s a tale of two… teams? Tom Bolden returns much of the roster that went 11-2 last season, including a narrow 12-2 win over the Bombers in the playoffs. On offense, Mitch Bolden is back under center as a four-year starter, leading the Firebirds at quarterback as the undeniable captain. On defense, Lakota West has six defensive backs with college offers, including safety Malik Hartford, an Ohio State commit.

On the other sideline, St. Xavier is losing nearly all of its skill position players. Only two players return who have scored an offensive touchdown. This game against Lakota West will be a good tune-up leading up two a Week 2 nationally-televised game against Loyola Academy out of Illinois on ESPN. How St. Xavier performs this season will depend on how fast the young players can get up to speed and play up to the competition. The grueling schedule will either plague the Bombers or be a blessing come playoff time.

Lakota West only gave up more than 17 points once in 2021. That was in the 31-14 loss to the St. Xavier Bombers in Week 1. With Lakota West returning more players, the experience on offense should allow the Firebirds to get off to a better start to the season than last year as the younger, more inexperienced Bombers look to find their footing in a tough non-conference and GCL South Conference.

#8 LA SALLE AT #10 COLERAIN
La Salle and Colerain are separated by a mere four miles, but this neighborhood rivalry has developed into one of most closely-watched ones in recent years. Colerain is coming off its first losing season in 30 years, which began in Week 1 last season with a loss to the Lancers. It was the first win over the Cardinals for the Lancers since 2017, when they won 7-3.

Despite the Lancers win, Colerain will come out hungry for better outcomes in the 2022 season, starting with a revenge rematch on Cheviot Rd. The Cardinals return a veteran cast of characters, starting with junior quarterback Zae Jennings, who is a monster with his feet. He broke the school’s single game rushing record last season, which is quite a feat considering Colerain featured star rusher MJ Flowers in 2021. The Cardinals are also expecting the defense to take another leap with star defensive lineman Jamier Carpenter returning from injury and defensive back Corey Myrick hoping to build off his 50-tackle season in 2021.

The Lancers, on the other hand, are very young and inexperienced on both sides of the ball. La Salle is hoping for a breakout season from senior quarterback Mason Mattingly, who only had 226 yards passing and 232 yards rushing in four games last season. Also returning is defensive back Koy Beasley, who should have his hands full trying to stop the high-powered Colerain offense.

On paper, the script should flip and Colerain could make this a little more interesting than last year. But in such an intense rivalry game and questions surrounding both sidelines, this game could still go either way. Expect a physical battle fought in the trenches with both sides relying on the run game to carry them through to victory.

LAWRENCEBURG AT #15 EAST CENTRAL
Across the border into Indiana, two teams with high playoff and title aspirations will face off in a rematch of a 2021 battle that saw the Trojans blow out the Tigers 34-6. Lawrenceburg, however, would go on to rattle off 11 straight wins before losing in the playoffs to Gibson Southern, while East Central notched tough losses to Moeller and Roncalli in the regular season before being knocked out of the playoffs by Evansville Memorial.

Despite graduating the entire secondary on defense on 80 percent of the offensive line, East Central is still returning much of the firepower that made them a force in 2021. Led by quarterback Cole Burton and star receiver Eli Aston, the Trojans should make it look easy to find the end zone, only if the new-look offensive line stays intact and plays with good chemistry.

While East Central should have another stout defense, don’t count out the Lawrenceburg offense. Many of the younger players who will contribute significantly this season saw a lot of action in some blowout games last season, including an incredible 91-12 win over Rushville. In total, Lawrenceburg scored over 40 points seven times last year. Don’t expect a sharp deviation from that kind of production in 2022.

#20 EDGEWOOD AT #21 MILFORD
Let’s make it 4-for-4 on Week 1 rematches from 2021 to 2022. This game last season was not that close as Milford rolled over Edgewood 41-14. However, it was Edgewood who was making the bigger noise in their conference, winning its first outright conference title since 2017. Milford, meanwhile, slid into fourth place in an incredibly tough Eastern Cincinnati Conference and finished 7-5 on the season.

Both teams are returning a substantial amount of veteran leadership from last season, which could make for an intriguing matchup. The Cougars are returning their top running back and top three receivers, while Milford brings back perhaps one of the best athletes in the area in Tofa Luani and Nick Skally, not to mention their starting quarterback and leading rusher. This game could come down to which version of Edgewood we saw in 2021. The Cougars were at one point the hottest team in the area, winning nine straight before narrowly losing in the playoffs to Piqua.

The Cougars possess the talent to pull off the revenge victory. For the Eagles, this matchup against one of the tougher teams in Division II will prepare the Eagles well for the gauntlet that is the ECC. Luckily, the schedule is favorable for a hot start for Milford, with three home games to start the season.

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GAME OF THE WEEK
Make sure to check out the COMPLETE PREVIEW for this week’s featured game on the Blitz 5 Tour,  #4 Princeton at #16 Anderson.

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Here are some other games for teams ranked inside the Blitz 5 Top 25:

OHIO
No. 2 Moeller at Massillon Washington
Trotwood-Madison at No. 3 Winton Woods
Wayne at No. 6 Fairfield
Centerville at No. 7 Lakota East
No. 18 Sycamore at No. 11 Kings
No. 12 Mason at Gahanna Lincoln
No. 14 Hamilton at West Clermont
No. 22 Taft at Roger Bacon
Hillsboro at No. 23 Western Brown
Harrison at No. 24 Wyoming

INTERSTATE
No. 9 Elder at No. 17 Covington Catholic

KENTUCKY
No. 13 Ryle at Lexington Catholic
No. 25 Beechwood at Fairdale

 

 

 

 

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