Another week of playoff football down and yet another week of high stakes games sit before us this coming weekend. Teams will be fighting for a state semifinal berth and will be just a couple small steps away from that elusive state championship. All these matchups are marquee games that have a ton riding on them and every player will be leaving it all out on the field in hopes of playing at least one more week. The anticipation and excitement will be through the roof this week.
In division I, region 2 the top seeded Middletown Middies will take on Huber Heights Wayne up in Trotwood. Division II, Region 8 has the top seed in Anderson battling Trotwood Madison in West Chester. Indian Hill and Valley View battle as the top two seeds in Division IV, region 16 and over in Indiana, the Class A, semistate pits South Putnam and Milan. Teams will make some history this week. Here are the Best Bets for week 14.
Division I, Region 2
No. 6 Huber Heights Wayne vs No.1 Middletown
Wayne pulled the upset of second seeded Troy last week and they will be looking to pull another this week. The Warriors were led by Ohio State commit and start wide receiver Jamie Brown who was electric per his usual. Brown opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run and later added a 82-yard punt return for a touchdown to produce Wayne’s two touchdowns on the night. He finished with six receptions for 62 yards receving on the evening. Quarterback Kyle Graham passed for 144 yards and the Warriors got a great game from running back Isaiah Thompson who rushed for 90 yards. Kory Minor led the team with 11 tackles.
Middletown used a tough defense to slip past Springfield. The Middies allowed just 161 yards of total offense and pitched a shutout. CJ Bryant and Chris Hyde both had seven tackles and JD Singletary added 3.5 sacks. Julius Reed threw two touchdown passes on the night. One each to JoJo Ward and Zymir Reed. Demetrian James led the Warriors with 57 yards rushing.
The Middie Magic is real. Bet on Middletown to advance.
Division II, Region 8
No. 3 Trotwood Madison vs No.1 Anderson
The Rams shutdown Harrison last week to the tune of 49-0. Their defense was obviously up to the task and made it difficult for Harrison to simply move the ball down the field all night. Offensively there was an explosion of big plays. Terry Harrell scored two touchdowns rushing. A 40-yard burst and a 5-yard scamper. Tristan Bozeman hauled in two touchdown passes of 45 and 23 yards from quarterback Dallas Shehee and Armani Rogers scored on a 29-yard pass from Shehee and he returned the opening second half kickoff 75 yards for a score. The Rams accumulated 295 yards of total offense and thrived on the big play.
Anderson got a late test from La Salle last week as they were outscored 14-0 in the second half after jumping out to a 35-14 lead at the break. Owen Scalf passed for 281 yards and a touchdown pass when he connected with Tysin Weaver for a score. Scalf also rushed for 74 yards and a score on the ground. Weaver was hard to stop all night as he caught 8 passes for 140 yards to go along with the score. Ke’Maury Tye led the team with 10 tackles and Brady Kuhn added eight.
Anderson has continued to find ways to win. Bet on the Raptors to keep it up
Division IV, Region 16
No. 2 Germantown Valley View vs No. 1 Indian Hill
Valley View took out CHCA has they took away the potent passing game and held a high octane offense to 15 points. They held CHCA to only 122 yards passing on the night. Anthony Valenti scored two touchdowns in the win.
Indian Hill got a big win against Taft a week ago. Evan Riggs rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown and Declan Daniel also found the end zone with a rushing score. The defense was the start of the show as they held Taft to just 19 points as they came in averaging close to 50 ppg on the season. Riggs and Topher Wachtel both led the team with five tackles.
Indian Hill appears to be on a mission. Bet on the Braves to march on.
Indiana: Class 1A, semistate
South Putnam (11-2) at Milan (7-4)
Ty Benton leads South Putnam with oover 2,300 rushing yards on the season. He has 212 carries as the teams workhorse. Ensor and Jefferson both have over 500 yards receiving and quarterback Drew Cline has thrown 22 touchdowns on the season. South Putnam is on a six game winning streak.
Milan upset Providence a week ago with a tough defense and potent rushing attack. Milan churned out 286 yards and three scores on the ground. Senior quarterback Wyatt Marsh led way with 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns rushing. Freshman Beckett Langferman chipped in with another 75 yards and a touchdown. He now has 1,054 yards rushing on the year.
Providence came into the contest averaging 40.7 points per game and had scored at least 28 in every outing this season. The Milan defense shut the Pioneers out in the second half and snared three interceptions, two by Micha Norman.
During the Indians current five-game winning streak they are allowing just 7.0 points per contest. They haven’t given up more than 14 points in any of those affairs.
Bet on Milan to keep it rolling.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Make sure to check out the COMPLETE PREVIEW for this week’s featured game, No. 3 St. Xavier vs No. 1 Elder
