The Fort Frye Cadets will look for their fourth consecutive victory Friday night when they travel up I-77 for a Pioneer Valley Conference showdown with the Caldwell Redskins (1-6) at the Noble County Fairgrounds.
The Cadets (5-2) share the top spot in the PVC with Monroe Central and Buckeye Trail but would win a tie breaker as they have wins over both the Seminoles and the Warriors in the 2012 season.
Last week, head coach Eric Huck and his Cadets traveled to Lore City and fought off a fourth-quarter rally by Buckeye Trail to win 24-21.
Article Photos
KATIE PARKS Special to The Times
Monroe Central quarterback Korey Lafferre (11) tries to elude Magnolia linebacker Kage Rohde (27) during non-conference action at Woodsfield on Sept. 28.
Spencer Lang scored on a 13-yard touchdown run and also returned a kickoff 75 yards for another score while brother Chandler added a four-yard touchdown run and also kicked a 26-yard field goal in the win over the Warriors.
Chandler Lang leads the area in scoring with 80 points scored on the season for the Fort, while Max Alsbach has rushed for 635 yards and five touchdowns.
The Redskins will need to key on Spencer Lang as the older of the two Lang brothers has accounted for 434 yards rushing and 289 yards receiving on the year for nine touchdowns.
Caldwell hopes to rebound from a heartbreaking 34-29 defeat last week to the Frontier Cougars in New Matamoras.
The Skins yielded the game-winning touchdown run to Frontier's Jared Howell with just 50 seconds to go in a game that they led by a touchdown heading to the final period.
The Redskins, led by head coach Josh Perkins, are using a power running game on offense featuring Andrew Minosky, Caleb Van Meter and freshman Bricker Lori, who rushed for 124 yards on 12 carries against the Cougars.
Redskin freshman quarterback Tanner Clark fired his first prep touchdown in the opening quarter on a 15-yard strike to Jared Leasure.
Last year in Beverly, the Redskins ran all over the Cadets as they scored a 48-0 victory.
VALLEY WETZEL (1-6) vs. FRONTIER (3-4)
The Frontier Cougars will attempt to even their season record at 4-4 when they host the Valley Wetzel Lumberjacks Friday night at Cougar Field.
The Cougars will hope to carry the momentum they gained in last week's thrilling, last minute, 34-29 PVC win over the Caldwell Redskins into Friday night's contest.
Junior running back Jared Howell scored the game winning touchdown with 50 seconds to play and Eddie Salazar came up with a game winning interception moments later to secure the Cougar's third win of the season.
Howell and senior running back Taylor Merckle are fast becoming one of the area's best running back tandems as Howell gained 68 yards on 16 carries for a pair of touchdowns against Caldwell and Merckle added 123 total yards and a score of his own.
Salazar adds an outside threat to the Cougar offense as witnessed by his 62-yard touchdown sprint against Caldwell on a misdirection play.
Valley Wetzel will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak including last week's 42-20 loss to Bellaire St. Johns.
Valley's lone win of the season came in Week 3 when the Lumberjacks defeated Hundred by a score of 49-6.
The Lumberjacks have been outscored by a combined score of 236-82 in their six losses.
The Cougars will need to key on Valley running backs' Collin Bates and Spencer Mason as well as tight end Troy Hubbard.
Last year, the Cougar's dropped a 50-26 decision to Valley Wetzel in Pine Grove.
SOUTHERN (2-5) at WATERFORD (2-5)
Waterford head coach Tom Tucker would love nothing more than to see his Wildcats run the table and finish the season with a .500 record.
In order to do so, the 'Cats will first need to defeat Southern Friday night when they host the Tornadoes in a Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division battle at Waterford High School.
Last week, the Wildcats snapped a five-game losing streak with a come-from-behind 41-18 victory over Franklin Furnace Green.
Waterford erupted for 35 fourth-quarter points against Green to turn a six-point deficit into a 23-point victory.
Senior Hunter Munjas had a huge fourth quarter for the green and white as he scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and also returned an interception 15 yards for another score.
Munjas finished the game with an impressive 218 rushing yards on 22 carries for three touchdowns, while quarterback Devon Patterson completed 3-of-4 passes for 73 yards for Waterford.
Southern broke a losing streak of their own last week as the Tornadoes thumped Miller 49-6 to snap a four- game skid.
Key players for Southern include running back Tyler Barton, quarterback Tristen Wolfe and wide out Trenton Deem.
Southern's first win of the year came in week two when they scored a 24-14 win over South Gallia.
Both teams come into the game with identical 2-3 conference records.
Last season in Racine, the Wildcats came out on top of a 32-19 decision over the Tornadoes.
BARNESVILLE (4-3) at MONROE CENTRAL (4-3)
The Shamrocks of Barnesville will travel to Woodsfield Friday night to renew their annual rivalry in a non-conference contest with the Monroe Central Seminoles.
Both teams come into the game with identical 4-3 records and a victory could prove crucial to the postseason hopes of both teams.
The Seminoles come into the game fresh off of a 48-0 rout of the Shenandoah Zeps, while Barnesville dropped their second consecutive game, a 63-14 loss to Catholic Central.
The Noles scored in all four quarters against the struggling Zeps with quarterback Korey Lafferre leading the way with 86 rushing yards and 90 passing yards.
The senior signal caller has now accounted for 10 touchdowns on the season for the Seminoles, racking up over 550 passing yards and over 600 rushing yards on the season.
Barnesville was sitting pretty with a 4-1 record just two weeks ago before being upset by the Caldwell Redskins 25-7 two weeks ago prior to the loss to Catholic Central.
The Shamrocks got their lone scores from Colton Pritchard on a 14-yard touchdown run and a 5-yard pass from Kyle Yaquinta to Brandon Burkhart against Central.
Last year in Barnesville, the Seminoles doubled up the Shamrocks 20-10.
BELPRE (2-5) at TRIMBLE (6-1)
The Belpre Golden Eagles head to Glouster looking to make it back-to-back wins as they take on the Trimble Tomcats in TVC Hocking Division action Friday night.
The Eagles chalked up their second win of the 2012 season last week with a 21-6 victory over winless South Gallia.
Belpre was once again paced by sophomore running back Manny Tullius, who ran for 80 yards and a touchdown against South Gallia, while freshman quarterback Tavian Miller totaled 44 yards rushing with a touchdown of his own.
Tullius is quietly putting together a very solid season for third year head coach Greg Adams and the Eagles, rushing for 611 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Golden Eagles also own a victory over Southern (48-13) on the season but a third win will be a tough test against a very solid Trimble squad.
The Tomcats' lone loss of the season came at the hands of the division leading Wahama White Falcons (25-12) back in the season's second week.
Though a conference title will be a tough task for the Tomcats, they would at least like to break a tie with Federal Hocking for second place in the TVC.
Key players for Trimble include quarterback Konner Standley, wide receiver Wyatt Deak, and running backs Austin Downs and Brice Smother.
Last year in Belpre, the Tomcats had no trouble at all with the Eagles as they rolled to a 54-0 victory.
FEDERAL HOCKING (5-2) at MILLER (1-6)
The Federal Hocking Lancers will look to rebound from last week's tough 24-6 loss to the Wahama Wildcats when they travel to Corning Friday night to battle the Miller Falcons in a TVC Hocking Division tussle.
The Lancers missed an opportunity to pull even with Wahama in the conference but still figure to have an outstanding shot at reaching the postseason.
Federal Hocking comes into the game yielding just over 11 points a game with wins on the season over Waterford (16-14), Hannan (40-6), Southern (14-7), Belpre (14-7) and South Gallia (56-0).
Key Lancer performers include quarterback Kyle Jackson, running backs' Delbert Crum and Payton Seal, and receivers' Romie Casey, Ivan Santiago, and Alex Nichols.
Miller has struggled for most of the 2012 season, notching only a week four 26-16 victory over winless South Gallia.
The Falcons have lost their last three games to Trimble (66-0), Fairfield Christian (56-14) and Southern (49-60).
Key Falcon players include quarterback Garrett Sinft, and running backs Colton Pargeon and Kalib McKinnis.
Last year in Stewart, it took overtime for the Lancers to pull out a 20-14 win over Miller.
MORGAN (1-6) at WEST MUSKINGUM (0-7)
The Morgan Raiders will once again look for elusive win number two of the 2012 season when they travel to Zanesville Friday night to battle the winless West Muskingum Tornadoes in a non conference contest.
The Raiders came up with a 21-6, week two win over Union Local, but have went on to lose their next five games.
Running back Justin Head continues to pace the Raider offense with 820 rushing yards on the season and four touchdowns.
Quarterback Kyle Earich has rushed for 247 yards on the season and scored four touchdowns of his own for the Raiders.
As rough as the 2012 season has been on head coach Nate Smith and his Raiders, it has been even worse for West Muskingum.
The Tornadoes have dropped all seven of their games by a combined score of 390-54.
Last year in McConnelsville, West Muskingum defeated the Raiders 33-14.
SHENANDOAH (0-7) at RIVER (4-3)
The Shenandoah Zeps travel to Hannibal Friday night as they attempt for the eighth time to come up with their first win of the 2012 season in a PVC match up with the River Pilots.
This season has proved to be a real struggle for first-year head coach Kaleb Lawrence and his Zeps as Shenandoah has averaged just over 14 points a game on offense, while allowing their opponents an average of just under 50.
Last week, Shenandoah was shut out by Monroe Central 48-0 in a game where the Zeps accounted for just 22 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Danny Neuhart completed six-of-18 passes for 39 yards to pace the Zeps' offense.
River has won two of their last three games including last week's dominating 41-7 win over Bridgeport.
Last year in Sarahsville, River rolled to a 33-6 victory over the Zeps.
ST. MARYS (5-1) at GILMER COUNTY (2-5)
The St. Marys Blue Devils head to Glenville to take on the Gilmer County Titans in a Little Kanawa Conference tilt Friday night.
St. Marys had no trouble whatsoever with Calhoun County last week as the Devils scored 72 first-half point en route to a 72-0 demolition of the Red Devils.
The Blue Devils have now won four straight and appear to be in great shape for a post season run.
Noah Spritzer paced a very balanced Blue Devil attack against Calhoun County, scoring three first quarter touchdowns, while Derek Barnhardt scored a pair as St. Marys scored a whopping 42 points in the opening period.
Spitzer has now totaled over 500 rushing yards on the season to go along with seven touchdowns, while quarterback Andrew Cosper has completed 19-of-36 pass attempts on the season for 358 yards and three scores.
Gilmer County owns victories in the 2012 season against Paden City (50-8) and Tygarts Valley (26-0).
Last week, the Titans dropped a 58-18 game to Doddridge County for their fifth loss of the season.
Key players for Gilmer include quarterback Austin Cunningham, receiver Nathan Allison and running backs Adam Beall and Austin Ratcliff.
Last year in St. Marys, the Blue Devils defeated Gilmer County 53-12.
VALLEY FAYETTE (6-0) at PARKERSBURG CATHOLIC (3-4) (Saturday 1 p.m.)
The Parkersburg Catholic Crusaders face one of their toughest battles of the year when they host the undefeated Valley Fayette Greyhounds Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders snapped a mini two-game losing streak last week with a 21-13 win over South Harrison.
Catholic used a balancing rushing attack to defeat South Harrison as Mitch Davis (12-58), Payton Sturm (12-65) and Charles Schriner (11-44) all averaged at least four yards per carry.
Sturm was a perfect seven-for-seven passing for 134 yards in the game, while Schriner hauled in three of those passes for 67 yards.
Valley Fayette comes into the game ranked No.4 in the state polls and allowing just under 12 points per game.
Offensively, the Greyhounds are paced by tailback Cody Winter, who rushed for 182 yards last week in a 30-12 win over Pendleton while also catching a 46-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Raeshawn Breckenridge.
Last year the Crusaders came up with a 27-22 road victory over Valley Fayette.
