Week 3: Tigers, Warriors, Cadets hit the road
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WHEELING -- The Fort Frye Cadets will look to make it three-in-a-row to begin the 2026 season when they travel to Wheeling to take on the defending state champion Wheeling Central Catholic Maroon Knights Friday night.
Fort Frye hopes for a repeat of last year’s match-up at the Fort when they rolled to a 40-0 win over the Knights.
Wheeling Central got their season off to a good start last week with a 50-8 thumping of Perry Traditional Academy.
Last season's loss to Fort Frye was just one of two losses suffered by the Maroon Knights en route to their state title.
Key players for WCC include quarterback Nico Kusic, running back Dusin Sanner and receiver Levi Rine.
The Eric Huck-coached Cadets opened the season with a 19-14 win over Ridgewood and followed that up last week with a 42-20 win over West Muskingum.
After struggling to move the ball on the ground in their opener the Cadets got back on track last week against the Tornadoes as they rushed for 219 yards.
Quarterback Grady Hesson led the way with 74 yards on 10 carries while Tytan Waller carried the ball 15 times for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Gavin Rauch had a huge game for the Cadets as he rushed for 60 yards on 13 touches while catching a pair of touchdown passes from Hesson.
MARIETTA (0-2) at ATHENS (1-1)
ATHENS -- If a couple of plays would have gone their way the Marietta Tigers could very well find themselves 2-0 heading into their road game Friday night at Athens.
Instead the Tigers find themselves 0-2 and needing a win in the worst way when they renew their annual rivalry with the Bulldogs.
The Mike Kupfner-coached orange and black fell to Morgan 35-32 in their season opener before falling to John Marshall 37-28 last week in a game they allowed a 12-point second half lead slip away from them.
Marietta led 28-16 in the third quarter before allowing John Marshall to score the final 21 points of the game.
Braydon Frye accounted for all of the Tigers points on offense with touchdown runs of 6, 43 and 71 yards.
Ryker Gibeaut scored a defensive touchdown for the Tigers when he recovered a fumble in the end zone.
Athens opened the season with a convincing 49-21 win over Logan before falling to Unioto 33-14 last week.
Key players to watch for the Bulldogs include quarterback Briar Thomas, running back Luke Pero and receiver Tyriq Cunningham.
Last year at Don Drumm Stadium, the Bulldogs downed Marietta 33-21.
SHENANDOAH (2-0) at WATERFORD (2-0)
WATERFORD - It's hard to imagine any team showing as much improvement as the Mac McLean-coached Shenandoah Zeps have shown in one calendar year.
After falling to the Waterford Wildcats 49-0 in week number three last season, the Zeps found themselves staring at an 0-3 record.
Since that loss the Zeps have gone 8-2 and they will look to make a statement Friday night when they travel to Waterford once more.
This season the Zeps have had no trouble at all with Bishop Rosecrans (46-0) or Bridgeport (49-18) in their first two games of the season.
Key players to keep an eye on for Shenandoah include quarterback Brody Brown and running backs Davyn Kunkle and Robert Snodgrass.
The Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start of their own after last week’s thrilling 15-8 win over the Caldwell Redskins.
Waterford got a one-yard touchdown run from Hayden Jones with just 16 seconds remaining on the clock for the game-winning touchdown.
Jones rushed for a game-high 142 yards on 26 carries while quarterback Avery Pottmeyer completed 11-of-17 pass attempts for 112 yards and a touchdown to Jones.
The Eric McCutcheon coached Wildcats put on a defensive clinic as they limited Caldwell to just 74 yards and four first downs in the game.
BELPRE (1-1) at FRONTIER (2-0)
NEW MATAMORAS - After a pair of dominating victories on the road to begin the season, the Frontier Cougars will welcome the Belpre Golden Eagles to Cougar Field Friday night looking to remain perfect in 2026.
The Damon Metheney-coached Cougars downed Bridgeport 50-14 in week number one and followed that up with a 45-14 win last week over Magnolia.
Quarterback Luke Mendenhall rushed the ball 17 times for 106 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the way for the Cougars while Austyn Kephart tallied 87 rushing yards on just six touches while catching three passes from Mendenhall for 61 yards.
Kephart scored both rushing and receiving touchdowns for Frontier while Caden Barrows also had a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Belpre handed first-year head coach Brian Hutchinson his first varsity win last week with a dominating 49-0 win over Sciotoville East.
Alex Parker gained 116 yards on just five carries including touchdown runs of 51 and 55 yards.
The Eagles also got touchdowns in the game from Slade Atkinson, Jayden Gibbs, Maverick McCartney and Chance Bailey.
The two teams did not play one another in 2025.
WARREN (1-1) at LOGAN (0-2)
LOGAN - The Warren Warriors showed a ton of resilience last week as they overcame a very tough week to down the Morgan Raiders 28-21 to pick up their first win of the season.
Dealing with illnesses and injuries that reduced their practice times to barely none, the Warriors still found a way as a 38-yard pass from Braylen Murray to Jude Daly with just over eight minutes to play proved to be the game winner.
Friday night the Warriors will look to continue that momentum when they travel to Logan to take on the Chieftains.
Murray rushed for 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries while Conner Moore added 93 more rushing yards on 19 totes.
Chandler Lewis also hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Murray.
Logan has struggled mightily out of the gate with losses to Athens (49-21) and Nelsonville-York (48-26).
Last year it took overtime to decide it between the two with Warren coming up with a 27-21 win.
TUSLAW (1-1) at CALDWELL (1-1)
CALDWELL The Caldwell Redskins will look to bounce back after a tough 15-8 loss last week to the Waterford Wildcats when they play host to the Tuslaw Mustangs Friday night.
The Redskins allowed Waterford to score the game winning touchdown with just under 16 seconds to play in the game in a defensive classic.
The Chance Rucker-coached Redskins struggled to move the football as they had just one sustainable drive the entire game against the Wildcat defense.
A 21-yard touchdown pass from freshman Blayz Abbot to sophomore KK Moore proved to be the only score of the game for Caldwell.
The Redskins opened their season with a 28-0 win over Buckeye Trail.
Tuslaw comes into the game with an identical 1-1 record.
The Mustangs have been in a couple of close ones early on with a 14-13 win last week over Chippewa and a 21-14 loss to Smithville I their opener.
Last season Tuslaw downed the Redskins 43-20 at home.
SOUTH GALLIA (2-0) at EASTERN (1-1)
REEDSVILLE - After winning a pair of close ones the first two weeks of the season, the South Gallia Rebels travel to Eastern in a Tri Valley Conference showdown.
The Rebels edged Southern 32-30 in their season opener before doubling up River Valley 12-6 last Friday night.
The Eagles fell to Meigs 21-13 in their season opener before handing the Miller Falcons a 34-8 loss last week.
Last season South Gallia slipped past the Eagles 22-21.