Week 5 preview: Waterford looks to bounce back from Fort Frye loss against unbeaten Nelsonville-York
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NELSONVILLE -- It seems like every single week the Waterford Wildcats are playing a top notch opponent.
That will be the case once again as the Wildcats will look to rebound after last week's shutout loss to Fort Frye when they visit the undefeated Nelsonville-York Buckeyes.
The Eric McCutcheon-coached Cats came into the game last week against the arch-rival Cadets undefeated with wins over Vinton County (50-12), Caldwell (21-6) and Shenandoah (49-0).
Fort Frye returned the opening kickoff of the game for a touchdown and the Wildcats were simply never able to recover as they lost 28-0.
Waterford is led by quarterback Hayden Jones, running back Trevin Zimmer and lineman Dylan McCutcheon and Colby Roberts.
The Buckeyes have cruised early on with wins by an average of 36 points over the likes of Trimble (34-8), Logan (46-7), Coal Grove (34-6) and River Valley (51-0).
No one carried the ball more than five times last week for N-Y and they still managed to pile up 326 total yards of offense.
Quarterback Cam Sullivan completed all but one of his 10 pass attempts for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Other key players to watch for the Buckeyes include receiver Alec Thompson and running backs Austin Gautier and Walker Stone.
Last season at home the Wildcats downed Nelsonville-York 12-6.
WHITEHALL-YEARLING (2-2) at MARIETTA (0-4)
The Marietta Tigers will try once again Friday night to notch that elusive first win of the 2025 season when they welcome the Whitehall-Yearling Rams to Don Drumm Stadium.
Marietta comes into the game after a disappointing 12-0 loss last week to Claymont after falling in the first three weeks to Morgan (31-16), John Marshall (23-21) and Athens (33-21).
The Tigers were able to move the ball into Claymont territory several times but were unable to score.
First-year Tiger head coach Mike Kupfner has been waiting for his team to put it all together in the same game and perhaps they will be able to do that after downing the Rams 33-20 last year on the road.
The Tigers are led by running back/linebacker Kobe Alexander, quarterback Trenton McVey, defensive back Lucas Miller and interior lineman Teddy Bauer.
Whitehall-Yearling comes into the game with a 2-2 mark owning victories over East (14-6) and Pleasant (36-7) while suffering losses to Hamilton Township (36-7) in their opener and Northland (26-7) last week.
Key players to watch for the Rams include quarterback Malachi Jackson, running back Jayson Stafford and receiver Christian Miller.
WARREN (1-3) at UNION LOCAL (2-2)
BELMONT -- Warren will look to bounce back after a tough 35-0 loss at home last week to Independence when they travel to Union Local on Friday night.
After suffering losses in their first two games to Circleville (16-15) and Morgan (28-13) the Warriors scored a thrilling overtime win over Logan (27-21) in week number three.
The Jason Gandee-led Warriors came up empty last week against Independence.
Due to injury Tanner Pepper has taken over at quarterback for the Warriors and he rushed for 36 yards on 16 carries last week while completing 7-of-15 pass attempts for 67 more.
Senior Eric Carr has been strong all year long for Warren as he has gained 465 yards on 79 carries through the season's first four games.
The Jets come into the game even up after being defeated by Wheeling Central Catholic (25-19) and Indian Creek (23-15) while picking up wins over John F. Kennedy (42-12) and Harrison Central (28-3).
Key players for Union Local include quarterback Colby Carpenter, running back Brody Perzanowski and receiver Karson Grigatis.
The two did not play one another in 2024.
GREEN (0-3) at BELPRE (1-3)
BELPRE -- On paper the Belpre Golden Eagles have a pretty good opportunity to pick up win number two on the season Friday night when they host the winless Green Bobcats at Ralph Holden Stadium.
The Eagles own a week two win over Federal Hocking (34-6) the same Lancer squad that downed Green (58-26) in their season opener.
The Eagles came up short against Fisher Catholic (47-12), Alexander (49-6) and Oak Glen (43-0).
Quarterback Malik Currie has completed 15-of-26 pass attempts on the season for 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns while running back Carson Woodford has rushed the ball 31 times for 169 yards.
Malaki Ensor has become Currie's number one receiver after catching 13 balls for 159 yards and both touchdowns.
Green has also lost to Manchester (46-12) and Southern (53-0) to begin their season.
Key players to watch for Green figure to be Kaleb Mutters, Luke Kimbler and Mason Neal.
The two teams did not meet in 2024.
WILLIAMSTOWN (0-2) at ROANE COUNTY (2-0)
SPENCER, W.Va. -- It's been a very long time since the Williamstown Yellowjackets opened a season with an 0-2 mark.
The 'Jackets face quite a test Friday night as they look to get in the win column and avoid a third straight loss when they pay a visit to the undefeated and state runner-up Roane County Raiders.
The Paul Burdette-coached Raiders have won 12 consecutive regular season games including wins in their first two games over Greenbrier East (67-16) and Clay County (49-14).
Key players for the Raiders include quarterback Jacob Greathouse, and backs Garrett Brabham, Koltyn Starcher, Brodey Proctor and Javon Letourneau.
The young 'Jackets lost their opener to James Monroe (26-15) before falling to Wheeling Central Catholic (47-13) last week.
Jackson Kerr carried the ball 13 times for 56 yards to lead a balanced Yellowjacket rushing attack last week while Jackson Fulton picked up 50 yards on eight carries.
Quarterback Breck Allen rushed for 53 yards on 14 carries while completing 11-of-21 pass attempts for 142 yards.
The two teams have not played one another for 10 years while the Jackets have won all four games between them which were played between 2012 and 2015.
FRONTIER (1-3) at VALLEY (0-2)
PINE GROVE, W.Va. -- The Frontier Cougars will look to snap their three-game losing skid Friday night when they travel to Valley to take on the winless Lumberjacks.
The Cougars got off to a great start to the season with a week one win over Bridgeport (36-13) but have come up empty in the win column the past three weeks against Miller (20-14), Clay-Battelle (42-20) and Shadyside (13-6).
Valley was also defeated by Clay-Battelle (48-6) as well as Tygarts Valley (54-13).
Cougar quarterback Avery Powell continues to improve behind center as he completed 11-of-18 pass attempts last week against the Tigers for 202 yards.
Austyn Kephart caught five of those passes for 102 yards including an 81- yard touchdown pass while Caleb Kirkpatrick carried the ball 14 times for 35 yards.
Key players for Valley include quarterback Koleton Kinkade and receivers Wyatt Rogers and Gage Wichterman.
Last season Valley downed the Cougars 47-26 in New Matamoras.
EDISON (3-1) at CALDWELL (2-2)
CALDWELL -- It has kind of been an up and down beginning to the 2025 season for head coach Chance Rucker and his Caldwell Redskins.
Friday night they host the Edison Wildcats looking to give themselves a winning record at the half way point in the season.
Caldwell is winless on the road as they have suffered defeats to Waterford (21-6) and Tuslaw (43-20) but are perfect at home in their new stadium with shutout wins over Buckeye Trail (38-0) and Monroe Central (41-0).
The Redskins defense has not allowed a single point in eight quarters of football in their new home.
In last week's win over the Seminoles running back Gavin Leake led the way by rushing for 99 yards on 17 carries while quarterback Izic Cook completed 10-of-17 pass attempts for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Edison comes into the game on a pretty good roll of their own after picking up convincing wins the past two weeks over Southern (41-8) and Martins Ferry (48-20).
Among the key contributors for the Wildcats are quarterback J.D. Henderson, running back Brett Harper and receivers Matt Evans and Skyler Willoughby.
Last season at home Edison downed Caldwell 34-15.
BARNESVILLE (4-0) at MONROE CENTRAL (1-3)
WOODSFIELD -- It has not been a great start to the season for the Monroe Central Seminoles who will face their biggest test of the season Friday night when the undefeated Barnesville Shamrocks come to town.
Barnesville reeled off an incredible 40th consecutive regular season win last week when they rolled Buckeye Local 56-0.
The Shamrocks have out-pointed their opponents 182-28 in the first four weeks with other wins coming against Fort Frye (35-7), Meadowbrook (51-21) and Bellaire (40-0).
Key players for the Shamrocks include quarterback Cole Francis, running back Trey Tolliver and receiver Phoenix Graham.
The Seminoles lone win came in week number three with a 21-14 win over River.
Monroe Central has lost to Liberty Union (21-20), Bellaire (44-27) and Caldwell (41-0).
In last season's meeting between the two Barnesville picked up a 44-14 win.
MORGAN (2-2) at CROOKSVILLE (4-0)
CROOKSVILLE -- It's been two up and two down so far for the Seth Brown-coached Morgan Raiders.
Morgan will look to right the ship and finish the first half of the season with a winning record but will have to down the undefeated Crooksville Ceramics to do so.
The Raiders started things off well with wins over Marietta (31-16) and Warren (28-13) but have struggled since they began league play with losses to New Lexington (33-14) and Tri Valley (41-7).
Crooksville's wins have come against a pair of winless teams in Buckeye Trail (30-6) and River View (48-0) as well as Meadowbrook team (39-33) with just one win.
The Ceramics also downed 2-2 Newcomerstown in their season opener 21-12.
Morgan is led by quarterback Haiden Pauley, defensive back Casen Foley and running back Tanner Bankes.
Last year in McConnelville, Crooksville downed the Raiders 31-12.