The Frontier Cougars will look to make it two wins in a row and three wins in their last four games Friday night when they host the Beallsville Blue Devils in their homecoming game Friday night in New Matamoras.
The Cougars traveled to Bridgeport last Friday and came home with a convincing 25-6 victory.
"That was a good win for us," said Frontier head coach Todd Bradford. "I thought our kids stepped up and played hard and you can't expect more than that."
Article Photos
PAUL KRAJNYAK Special to The Times
Frontier’s Taylor Merckle (24) looks to run to daylight against host Bridgeport in a prep football game last Friday night. Frontier won 25-6.
Frontier got an outstanding performance from its offensive line against Bridgeport as it won the battle in the trenches and gained nearly 300 yards on the ground.
Jared Howell had somewhat of a breakout game for the Cougars, rushing for 171 yards on 18 carries while Taylor Merckle continued his strong season with 87 yards on 16 rushes.
Both Merckle and Howell scored a pair of touchdowns.
"I was proud of our line, any time you run for that many yards they are doing a great job," said Bradford.
The Blue Devils will be looking for their first win of the season after dropping a tough 42-40 decision to Cameron last week in a game where they held a 21-point half time lead.
"Beallsville has a lot of good athletes and an excellent quarterback," said Bradford of his non-conference opponent. "Their record is deceiving."
While Frontier had a big game on the ground last week, Beallsville did its damage through the air as quarterback Teryn Jarrett passed for 370 yards and four touchdowns.
Three of those touchdown passes went to Gage Steele, who tallied 11 receptions and 245 yards in the game, while Mikey Palmer hauled in six receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown in addition to returning an interception for another score.
Frontier quarterback Jordan Jefferson left last week's game with an injury but Bradford looks for the senior to be ready to go against the Devils.
"We're getting healthier," said the Cougar head coach, "We're on the mend, we're definitely not 100 percent yet, but we are getting better."
MONROE CENTRAL (3-1) AT FORT FRYE (2-2)
The Fort Frye Cadets will host the Monroe Central Seminoles Friday night in a key Pioneer Valley Conference battle in Beverly.
Monroe Central comes into the game on a two-game winning streak after downing Caldwell 15-8 last week in Woodsfield to remain undefeated in PVC play.
Quarterback Korey Lafferre leads the Seminole offense with 467 yards rushing on the season and eight touchdowns.
Levi Brown has been a nice complement to Lafferre for Monroe Central as the sophomore tailback has racked up 331 yards on 58 carries.
Fort Frye will look to rebound from last week's 49-6 loss to Madonna.
The Lang brothers, who had been on fire recently for the Cadets, were cooled down by the tough Madonna defense.
Quarterback Chandler Lang completed just 8-of-24 passes for 67 yards and a touchdown while being intercepted four times last week against the Blue Dons, while brother Spencer was held to a season-low 40 yards rushing on just 12 carries.
Chandler has rushed for seven touchdowns on the season and passed for six more, while Spencer has three rushing touchdowns and three receiving touchdowns in the season's first three games.
The Cadets come into the game 0-1 in PVC play as they dropped their season opener to River (38-13), before scoring impressive victories over Belpre (45-20) and Waterford (63-13).
Last year in Woodsfield the Seminoles rolled to a 32-0 victory over the Cadets.
WAHAMA (4-0) AT WATERFORD (1-3)
The Waterford Wildcats will look to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the undefeated Wahama White Falcons Friday night in a Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division contest.
Waterford opened the season with a 34-14 win over Miller before dropping games to the likes of Federal Hocking (16-14), Fort Frye (63-13) and Eastern (39-6).
The Wildcats struggled to get much offense going against the Eagles last week as Derek Brown's 50 yards rushing on 14 carries led the way.
Hunter Munjas added 33 yards on 11 carries while Austin Shriver caught a pair of passes from Joe Pugh for 20 yards to lead the receiving corps.
The Cats racked up just 113 yards of total offense against Eastern.
The Waterford defense figures to have its hands full as Wahama got 100-yard rushing performances by no less than three players in last week's 47-20 victory over the Belpre Golden Eagles.
Kane Roush led the attack with 149 yards on just five carries for a pair of touchdowns while also returning a kick off return 80-yards for another score.
Trenton Gibbs also eclipsed the century mark with 111 yards rushing, while Zach Wamsley gained 117 yards and three touchdowns.
Last year, Wahama downed the Wildcats 61-8 in Mason.
FEDERAL HOCKING (3-1) AT BELPRE (1-3)
The Belpre Golden Eagles have upset on their minds Friday night when they host a very tough Federal Hocking Lancers squad.
The last time the Eagles played at home they scored a dominating 48-13 victory over Southern, a team that Federal Hocking defeated last week by a 14-7 score.
The young Belpre offense has came to life of late as the Eagles are being paced by sophomore running back Manny Tullius and freshman quarterback Tavian Miller.
Despite falling to Wahama 47-20 last week in Mason, Tullius scored his third consecutive 100 yard game by rushing for 105 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.
Miller completed 11-of-29 passes against the Falcons for 217 yards and a touchdown.
Federal Hocking features one of the best defenses in the area as the Lancers have surrendered just 49 points through the seasons first four games.
The Lancers could very well be 4-0 as their only loss of the season came in week one to Alexander by a single point (22-21).
Since the week one loss, the Lancers have chalked up wins over Waterford (16-14) and Hannan (40-6) before last weeks win over Southern.
Key players for the Lancers include quarterback Kyle Jackson, running backs' Delbert Crum and Payton Steele, and receiver Romie Casey.
Last year, Federal Hocking edged the Eagles 6-0 in Stewart.
RIVER (2-2) AT CALDWELL (0-4)
The Caldwell Redskins will try once again to get that elusive first win of the 2012 season when they host the River Pilots at the Noble County Fairgrounds Friday night in a PVC contest.
Last week the Skins nearly pulled off a major upset as they lost a hard fought 15-8 decision to the Monroe Central Seminoles in Woodsfield.
Caldwell led the Seminoles 8-7 in the third quarter before a 73-yard pass from Korey Lafferre to Cameron Jorris spelled doom for the Skins.
Caleb Van Meter led Caldwell in rushing with 73 yards on 17 carries, including a 33-yard second quarter touchdown run that gave the Redskins the lead, while Andrew Minosky added 57 yards on 25 touches.
The Redskins are still struggling to find any kind of passing game as they totaled just three passing yards against Monroe Central.
River comes into the game on a two-game losing skid of its own after opening the season 2-0.
The Pilots came up with convincing wins against both Fort Frye (38-13) and Newcomerstown (35-7) before dropping decisions to Monroe Central (50-26) and Magnolia (35-21).
River is led on offense by quarterback Cody Caldwell, running back Nick Asturi, and wide out Kam Brown.
Last year, the Pilots out scored the Redskins 42-41 in a shootout in Hannibal.
BARNESVILLE (3-1) AT SHENANDOAH (0-4)
The red hot Barnesville Shamrocks will travel to Sarahsville Friday night to take on a team very hungry for their first win of the year in the Shenandoah Zeps.
The Shamrocks will be looking for their fourth consecutive win of the season after victories over Meadowbrook (36-32), Union Local (21-7) and Buckeye Trail (21-7) in the past three weeks.
The only blemish on Barnesville's season was a 30-0 season opening loss to John Glenn.
Last week in the win over Trail, Barnesville got an outstanding performance from running back Colton Pritchard who accounted for 91 rushing yards in addition to 93 receiving yards.
Quarterback Kyle Yaquinta completed seven-of-15 passes for 184 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Zeps are winless on the season with losses to Frontier (20-14), Martins Ferry (65-0), Meadowbrook (49-6) and Shadyside (49-13).
In last week's loss to Shadyside, the Zeps actually outgained the Tigers 240-201, but four turnovers spelled doom for first-year head coach Kaleb Lawrence's squad.
Eli Hurst led Shenandoah with 90 yards rushing on 14 carries and also passed for 88 more yards.
Danny Neuhart hauled in four of Hurst's passes for 61 yards.
Last year, the Tigers rolled to a 47-6 victory over the Zeps in Shadyside.
NEW LEXINGTON (2-2) AT MORGAN (1-3)
The Morgan Raiders host the New Lexington Panthers Friday night in a Muskingum Valley League contest in McConnelsville.
Both teams are coming off of Week 4 losses as the Raiders fell to Philo, 35-0 while the Panthers lost a 28-26 decision to Maysville.
In addition to Maysville, the Panthers were beaten by John Glenn (30-9), while New Lexington's two victories have come at the expense of Fairfield Union (28-20) and Philo (15-13).
Jerald Spohn paced the Panther offense with 87 yards rushing on just four carries last week while Tommy Russell contributed 61 yards on eight rushes.
The Raiders' lone victory of the season came in week two over Union Local (20-0) while Morgan's other two losses came against Marietta (41-35) and Sheridan (35-13).
Last week against Philo, Raider running back Justin Head was held to a season low 30 yards on 16 carries.
Despite the tough game against the Electrics, Head is still averaging 9.3 yards a carry on the season, rambling for 563 yards on 60 rushing attempts.
Last year in New Lexington, the Panthers defeated the Raiders 60-6.
PARKERSBURG CATHOLIC (2-2) AT WIRT COUNTY (3-1)
The Parkersburg Catholic Crusaders travel to Elizabeth Friday night to battle an explosive Wirt County Tiger team.
The Tigers come into the clash averaging almost 45 points a game on the season with impressive wins over St. Marys (35-22), Gilmer County (57-6) and Doddridge County (45-15).
Wirt very easily could be undefeated as its only loss of the season was a close, 42-35 defeat at the hands of Moorefield in the season opener.
Cody Ferguson gained 117 yards on the ground last week in the win against Doddridge County, while quarterback Josh Trembly connected on a 21-yard touchdown strike to JT Stephen.
The Crusaders put on quite an offensive performance of their own last week as they drubbed Calhoun County by a final score of 63-0.
Seven different Crusader's scored touchdowns last week as the Catholic offense rolled up 444 rushing yards against Calhoun County.
Charles Schriner led the way for Parkersburg Catholic with 174 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns while Mitch Davis added 104 yards on 11 touches.
In last year's match up, Wirt County defeated the Crusaders 21-0 in Parkersburg.
