×

High school football opens with rivalry games

VINCENT– Talk about kicking off the 2020 prep football season with a bang.

Arch rivals Marietta and Warren will open the season Friday night at Warren High School with each team looking to take a giant step forward.

The Matt Kimes-coached Warriors made great strides last season as they posted a 6-4 record, their first winning season in 10 years, and with the tandem of quarterback Kurt Taylor and wide receiver Evan Gandee returning for their senior seasons hopes are high for the Big Blue.

The 2019 season started well for the Tigers and seventh-year head coach Jason Schob as they won three of their first four games but the orange and black dropped five of their final six to finish with a 4-6 mark.

Marietta will have a new man behind center in 2020 as senior Reece Gerber takes over the signal calling duties after playing wide receiver last year.

The Tigers will also have a new set of running backs in the backfield with Gerber with the senior duo of Zach Bartlett and Braden Talbott expected to get the majority of the carries.

Seniors Tony Munos and Tyson Shaffer will be key targets for Gerber as will junior Donovan Wheeler.

While the Tigers will have a new look at a lot of the skill level positions, Warren will look to the dynamic duo of Taylor and Gandee to pick up where they left off last season when they combined for 10 touchdown passes.

Taylor piled up 2,682 yards passing and 17 touchdowns while Gandee totaled 1,039 yards on his 73 pass receptions.

Senior Brayden Gerber will likely be the featured back for the Warriors while seniors Joel Chevalier and Josh Welch along with junior Brayden Sallee will add support to Gandee in the receiving corps.

Last year at Don Drumm Stadium, the Tigers came out on top of a 52-34 shootout in the second week of the season.

WATERFORD AT FORT FRYE

BEVERLY — The Waterford Wildcat program has definitely been on the upswing of late as they have qualified for the playoffs the past four seasons.

Despite their recent success, Waterford has struggled against arch-rival and neighbor Fort Frye as they have not beat the Cadets since way back in 2007.

Both teams come into their season opener looking to improve upon a 2019 campaign that saw each of them fall in the second round of the playoffs.

The Fort once again put together a perfect regular season, their fourth in the past five seasons, before falling to Mogadore at home in heart breaking fashion.

The Cadets return more than enough talent to be considered a threat to advance deep into the playoffs, including first-team All-Ohio linebacker Dylan Hart and junior quarterback Ian Ellis, who passed for more than 1,000 yards last season in his first year as a starter.

Senior running back Brian Adkins will likely take on an expanded role in the Cadet offense after missing a lot of last season due to an injury.

The Eric Huck-coached Cadets pride themselves on defense as they limited their opponents to eight points or less in seven of their regular season games in 2019.

Waterford went 8-3 a season ago with all three of their losses coming to playoff teams.

The Wildcats will have a new quarterback in 2020 with junior Grant McCutcheon taking over the duties.

Fort Frye will need to slow down Waterford junior running back Holden Dailey who appears to be primed for a big season after rushing for nearly 700 yards and 13 touchdowns a season ago.

The Eric McCutcheon-led Wildcats will be looking to avenge the tough 49-0 loss they suffered to the Cadets last year at home.

SOUTHERN AT FRONTIER

NEW MATAMORAS — Veteran Cougar head coach Russ Morris would like nothing more than to see his team continue the progress they made in 2019.

A year after putting together a 7-3 campaign, Frontier will open the 2020 season at home Friday night against the Southern Tornadoes.

Frontier will once again turn to quarterback J.D. Schmidt after the junior had a breakthrough-campaign last year by passing for 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Senior running back Noah Barnhart will be asked to take on an expanded role in the Cougar offense after rushing for 740 yards and 14 touchdowns while junior Slade Amos will get his share of carries as well.

The Cougars have a wealth of experience up front including seniors Braden McLeish, Tanner Smith, Gage Bowersock and Andrew Shapley.

Southern comes into the 2020 campaign looking to improve upon the 5-5 record they posted in 2019.

The two teams did not play the past two years but did meet in 2017 with Southern rolling to a 41-0 win.

SHENANDOAH AT BELPRE

BELPRE — In what might be one of the more compelling games of week one, the Shenandoah Zeps travel to Belpre to take on the Golden Eagles.

Belpre will be looking to bounce back from a 4-6 campaign a season ago after dropping their final three games to ruin their playoff chances.

Senior Connor Baker will make the move to running back after starting the past two seasons at quarterback.

Walker Feick is poised to take over at quarterback for first-year Belpre head coach Lance Binegar with seniors Dylan Cox and Cody Daugherty expected to be his primary targets.

The 2019 campaign was a good one for Shenandoah head coach Jesse Wells and his Zeps as they advanced to the postseason for the second time in three seasons with an 8-3 mark.

Shenandoah will also have a new quarterback with seniors Tanner DeVolld and Dayton Hill in the mix.

The Eagles will need to contain Shenandoah senior running back Briar Portman, who easily eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in rushing last season on his way to winning first team All-Ohio honors.

The two teams did not play one another in 2019 and last met back in 2016 with the Zeps rolling to a 48-13 win.

EASTERN AT CALDWELL

CALDWELL — Caldwell returns all but one starter on offense and defense as they open their season at home against Eastern Friday night at the Noble County Fairgrounds.

2019 was not a great season at all for fifth-year CHS head coach Grant Gaydos as the Redskins won just twice against eight losses.

They will turn to sophomore quarterback Braxton Dudley to lead their offense along with senior running back Caden Moore and sophomore Marshall Sayre.

Eastern hopes to continue the strong finish they put together last year as they reeled off six straight wins to close out the regular season with an 8-2 record before falling to Newark Catholic in the opening round of the playoffs.

Senior Connor Ridenour returns at quarterback for Eastern with backfield support from seniors Blake Newland and Steve Fitzgerald who both earned All-Southeast District first-team honors last year.

The two non-conference schools met in week two last year in Reedsville with the Eagles pulling out a hard-fought 20-14 win.

MORGAN AT TRI-VALLEY

DRESEDEN — For the first time in a long time the Morgan Raiders will have a different opponent to open the 2020 football season.

After playing Marietta the past several seasons, the Chase Bowman-led Raiders will open their season on the road against Muskingum Valley League foe Tri-Valley.

Morgan will try to improve upon a 1-9 season last year which included a 44-13 loss to Tri-Valley in week number two.

The Raiders will look to either senior and incumbent quarterback Gabe Altier or junior and newcomer Levi Brown to man the QB position with senior Landen Pettet making the transition from lineman to featured running back.

The Scots put together a 7-3 record last season but failed to qualify for the postseason.

MONROE CENTRAL AT UNION LOCAL

BELMONT — Third-year Seminole head coach Josh Ischy is quite confident that his team will be strong at the skill level positions but may not know what they have up front until Monroe Central opens their 2020 season Friday night at Union Local.

With only one returning starter on the offensive line the Seminoles will need to get some solid play up front to have any chance of improving upon their 4-6 record from a season ago.

Junior Malachi Rose-Burton will likley get the nod behind center for the third straight season with versatile juniors Dillon Lincoln and Michael Bunning expected to assume big roles in the Seminole offense.

The Jets failed to win a game last year and would love nothing more than to avenge last year’s 21-0 season opening loss to the ‘Noles in Woodsfield.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.15/week.

Subscribe Today