Fort Frye players run onto the field prior to a game against Wheeling Central earlier this season in Beverly. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

BEVERLY — Last season the Caldwell Redskins stunned the Fort Frye Cadets with a 34-27 victory at the Noble County Fairgrounds.

The Redskins would love nothing more than to duplicate that performance Friday night when they travel to Beverly to take on the red-hot Cadets.

Caldwell (3-2) comes into the game on a two-game winning streak after scoring wins at their brand new stadium over Monroe Central (41-0) and Edison (27-10).

The Chance Rucker-coached ‘Skins have yet to pick up a win on the road this season as they fell to Waterford (21-6) and Tuslaw (43-20).

Izik Cool is the quarterback for the Redskins while running back Gavin Leake, receiver Grady Mazgay and linebacker Jonah Moracco are among the other key contributors.

The Cadets got an unexpected week off last week as their scheduled opponent North Adams was unable to play due to too many players being unavailable due to injury.

The Cadets probably weren’t looking forward to a break as they have been on quite a roll since losing to Barnesville (35-7) in their season opener.

Since the week one loss the Cadets have scored key wins over West Muskingum (36-7), Wheeling Catholic Central (40-0) and Waterford (28-0).

The Fort Frye defense has been incredible as they haven’t been scored on in 10 consecutive quarters.

Offensively the Cadets are led by quarterback Grady Hesson and running backs Tyce Bearsley, Gavin Rauch and Kainan Bradford.

WATERFORD (3-2) at EASTERN (3-1)

REEDSVILLE — It has been a tough couple of weeks for the Waterford Wildcats.

After losses the past two weeks to first Fort Frye (28-0) and then Nelsonville-York (29-28) the Eric McCutcheon-coached Wildcats will look to get back on track Friday night when they travel to Eastern to take on the Eagles in a crucial Tri-Valley Conference tilt.

Last week against Nelsonville-York the Wildcats came up short as Ryker Hutchins’ 51-yard field goal attempt as time expired was long enough but went wide left.

The Buckeyes took the lead in the closing minute on a touchdown and a fake extra-point that they carried into the end zone for the two-point conversion that gave them the one-point win.

Waterford quarterback Hayden Jones rushed for 171 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries while he completed 7-of-14 pass attempts for 100 more.

Weston Fairchild caught a pair of passes for 70 yards while Trevin Zimmer carried the ball 10 times for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Eastern has wins over Meigs (23-19), Wirt County (47-13) and Federal Hocking (50-16) with their only loss of the season coming to South Gallia 22-21 in overtime.

The Eagles got an unexpected bye week last week when Sciotoville East was forced to cancel its game.

Key players for Eastern include running backs Ethan Edwards and Parker Durst and receiver Colton Lloyd.

Last season in Waterford the Wildcats downed Eastern 22-19.

ATHENS (5-0) at WARREN (1-4)

VINCENT — It’s hard to imagine the last few weeks going any worse for the Warren Warriors as they suffered back-to-back 35-0 losses to Independence and Union Local.

The Warriors will look to stop the bleeding and get back on track Friday night when they host the undefeated Athens Bulldogs.

After falling to Circleville (16-15) and Morgan (28-13) in their first two games Warren scored their first and only win of the year in week number three with a 27-21 win over Logan in overtime.

Since that win the Warriors have not scored a single point in eight quarters of football.

Key players for the Jason Gandee-coached Warren squad include quarterback Tanner Pepper, running back Eric Carr and receivers Jayce Hilverding and Jude Daly.

Athens has been on fire since the opening kickoff as they are averaging just under 49 points while allowing just 21 total points in their five wins.

Only the Marietta Tigers have scored upon the Bulldog defense as they have shutout their opponents in four of their five wins including last week’s 52-0 trouncing of Vinton County.

Key players for Athens include quarterback Briar Thomas, running back Anthony Sutton and receiver Weston Wheatley.

Last season in Athens the Bulldogs handed the Warriors a 27-14 defeat.

MARIETTA (0-5) at CIRCLEVILLE (4-1)

CIRCLEVILLE — Marietta will try for the sixth time to pick up that hard to come by first win for new head coach Mike Kupfner Friday night when they travel to Circleville to take on another team of Tigers.

The MHS Tigers are in an absolute slump offensively as they haven’t scored in each of the past two weeks against Claymont (12-0) and Whitehall-Yearling (21-0).

The Marietta defense allowed just 160 total yards and forced three turnovers last week in the loss to the Rams but the Tigers could not get anything going at all on the other side of the ball.

Kupfner started Trenton McVey at quarterback and also gave Lucas Miller and Owen Warden opportunities behind center in last week’s game.

The MHS Tigers got 48 yards on seven carries from Logan Boyd to lead them in rushing while Kobe Alexander (10-34) and Will Tornes (15-38) also got their share of carries.

Circleville went 4-0 out of the gate with wins over Warren (16-15), Washington (35-27), Westfall (42-35) and Logan Elm (35-8) before finally dropping their first game of the season last Friday to Amanda-Clearcreek (31-14).

Key players for Circleville include running backs Ray Ezell and Kole Nungester.

Last season at Don Drumm Stadium the Tigers edged Circleville 21-17.

CATHOLIC CENTRAL (3-2) at BELPRE (2-3)

BELPRE — The Belpre Golden Eagles will try to square their record at 3-3 Friday night when they welcome the Steubenville Catholic Central Crusaders to Ralph Holder Stadium.

The Eagles have already eclipsed their win total from a season ago after blanking Green Friday night 56-0 for the second win.

The Kevin Welsh-coached Eagles also have a week two win over Federal Hocking (34-6) while their three losses have come to Fisher Catholic (47-12, Alexander (49-6) and Oak Glen (43-0).

In last week’s win over Green, quarterback Malik Currie rushed for 85 yards on 10 carries while completing 3-of-4 pass attempts for 62 yards.

All three passes went to receiver Malakai Ensor including a 42-yard touchdown while Alex Parker rushed for 70 yards on just 6 carries.

Catholic Central had a mini two-game winning streak snapped last week by Wheeling Central Catholic (48-0).

The Crusaders three wins on the season have come against Wellsville (26-15), Bishop Rosecrans (22-13) and Bridgeport (22-13) while they also fell to Strasburg (20-12) in week number two.

The player to watch for the Crusaders is dual-threat quarterback Matthew Sprochi, who has rushed for 544 yards and thrown for 199.

The two did not play one another last year.

CHAPMANVILLE (3-0) at WILLIAMSTOWN (1-2)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Fresh off of a key win last week over Roane County, the Williamstown Yellowjackets will host the Chapmanville Tigers Friday evening.

After losses to James Monroe (26-25) and Wheeling Central Catholic (47-13) in their first two weeks the ‘Jackets came up with a huge 45-21 win over the Raiders.

Williamstown rushed for nearly 400 yards last week against Roane County led by Jackson Kerr with 274 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries.

Quarterback Breck Allen also eclipsed the century mark with an even 100 yards on 12 carries while completing 7-of-12 pass attempts for 96 yards.

Carson Haines caught four of those passes for 95 yards.

The Tigers are perfect through three games with wins over Scott (41-0), Nicholas County (24-12) and Midland trail (49-7).

Chapmanville’s offense is led by quarterback Dakota Dalton, who had 455 passing yards in three games, running back Preston Kovach (417 yards, 4 TDs) and receiver Trey Ward (257 yards, 4 TDs).

The two did not play one another in 2024.

SHADYSIDE (2-3) at SHENANDOAH (2-3)

SARAHSVILLE — Don’t look now but after a dismal start to the 2025 season the Shenandoah Zeps are on a roll.

The Zeps play host to Shadyside Friday night looking to make the Tigers their third consecutive victim after convincing wins over Buckeye Trail (28-8) and Trimble (36-6) the past two weeks.

In last week’s win over Trimble, quarterback Brody Brown tossed four touchdown passes, two of them to Hunter House.

Caden Vanfossen led the Zeps with 79 yards rushing on six carries while his twin brother Cole rushed twice for 31 yards and a touchdown.

The Zeps season began with three straight losses to Edison (35-14), Bridgeport (22-20) and Waterford (49-0).

Shadyside comes into the game on the heels of a 45-7 loss last Friday to Notre Dame.

The Tigers have wins over Southern (36-22) and Frontier (13-6) while their other two losses are against East Palestine (40-7) and Buckeye Local (20-14).

Key players for Shadyside include running back Ace Nelson, quarterback Jayden Johnson and receivers Trenton Marling and Bryce Sloan.

Last season the Zeps downed the Tigers in a close one 21-19.

MONROE CENTRAL (1-4) at MAGNOLIA (0-3)

NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. — A pair of teams in need of a win in the worst way will do battle Friday night when the Seminoles of Monroe Central pay a visit to the Magnolia Blue Eagles.

Magnolia has come up empty in its first three games of the season suffering losses to Wirt County (47-12), River (42-0) and Bridgeport (42-18).

Key players for the Blue Eagles are quarterback Kingston Christen (390 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs) and receiver Finn Loy (193 yards, 1 TD)

The Seminoles lone win of the season came in week number three over River (21-14) but they have dropped lopsided decisions the past two weeks to Caldwell (41-0) and unbeaten Barnesville (48-7)

Monroe Central is led by quarterback Cooper Howell, Owen Howard and Gabriel Eing.

In the contest between the two last season, Monroe Central pounded the Eagles 46-0 in Woodsfield.

WEST MUSKINGUM (2-3) at MORGAN (3-2)

MCCONNELVILLE — After dropping their previous two games, the Morgan Raiders came up with a huge 21-18 win last Friday over Crooksville.

The win put the Raiders a game over the .500 mark at the mid-way point of the season with an MVL opponent in West Muskingum up next on the agenda.

The Raiders opened the season with statement wins over Marietta (31-16) and Warren (28-13) before opening league play with losses to New Lexington (33-14) and Tri Valley (41-6).

Last week against the Ceramics, Tanner Bankes ran for three touchdowns to give the Raiders a 21-0 lead only to have Crooksville come back with 18 unanswered points forcing Morgan to hang on for the W.

Bankes rushed for 121 yards on 27 carries to provide almost all of the Morgan offense.

Quarterback Haiden Pauley struggled as he completed just one-of eight pass attempts.

After opening their season with a 42-0 shellacking of Lakewood, the Tornadoes dropped three in a row to Fort Frye (36-7), John Glenn (28-7) and New Lexington (33-7).

West Muskingum got back on track last week with a convincing 62-0 win over River View.

Last season in Zanesville, West Muskingum blanked the Raiders 42-0.