The football season has reached a pivotal point in the Upper Ohio Valley, especially on the Ohio side of the river.
Weeks 5 and 6, traditionally the midpoint of the regular season where teams and their fans have a pretty good idea of where things stand and what postseason aspirations, if any, can be bandied about.
But for six OVAC teams based in the Buckeye State, the time has come to truly find out how good each is.
Three games—two this week and one potentially next week if records hold—will pit two unbeatens against one another. In short, it’s time to answer the question “how good are we?”
Friday night, the undefeated and Division V, Region 19 No. 6 ranked Barnesville Shamrocks hit the road for a major test as they travel Southeast to Hannibal to face fellow unbeaten and Region 27’s No. 2 ranked River Pilots.
Head coach Blake Allen’s Shamrocks are coming off an impressive 38-0 blanking of Shadyside. True, the Tigers are struggling a bit of late, but beat Shadyside at Shadyside in impressive fashion doesn’t happen often for any team.
“The kids were excited, and we’ve been getting real close to getting a shutout every game, and to finally finish that off, we were excited,” Allen said. “We’d been harping on them about putting four quarters together and keep improving and they finally did that.”
The moment to celebrate, however, was short lived. The ’Rocks now face what is always a diverse offense under head coach Mike Flannery, led by an experienced QB in Kable Isaly.
The junior of is off to a red-hot start to the season. In the Pilots’ 49-6 win against rival Magnolia last week, Isaly started the game 10 of 10 for 120 yards and four touchdowns.
Barnesville defense has been staunch all season, but Allen knows the challenge that his team faces come Friday.
“We know this is definitely a huge test for us,” Allen said. “This is a very good football team, a sound team, and offensively they are all over the place. They get to the ball defensively and have a lot of experience.
“This is a great challenge to go out and prove how good we really are.”
Allen, whose team boasts its own experienced and talented quarterback in C.J. Hannahs, was quite complimentary of Isaly.
“He is one of the best quarterbacks in the valley,” Allen said. He’s poised in the pocket, makes good decisions, and can make all the throws.
“He can run when he needs to and Coach Flannery will throw a million different looks at you, make you defend side to side.”
The Shamrocks offense is similar. While the team lost some key weapons like Spencer Bliss from the 2021 team, having Hannahs at QB to bring along some of the younger talent has proved fruitful.
Hannahs has taken on more of the workload in terms of running while still building repour with his arsenal in the passing game.
“We lost a lot of our ball carriers and we’ve leaned on him to run the ball and he’s stepped up,” Allen said. “We’ve got some unselfish kids too on our line and with our (fullback) in Salvador Almarez, who are willing to block and do the dirty week which doesn’t get mentioned.”
Just a sophomore, Almarez has proved quite the backfield mate for Hannahs, utilizing his 250-plus frame to blow open holes and occasionally pick up the tough yardage when needed.
Might Barnesville stick more to the run behind its offensive line, working clock and keeping River’s potent offense off the field? The Pilots come in averaging nearly 45 points per game.
Game of the Night Part Deux
Belmont County plays host to one of the other marquee matchups of the evening and a fellow “meetin’ of the unbeatens.”
It was mentioned earlier that this begins “prove it” time for a number of teams. One of those five, the Union Local Jets, actually got that ball rolling last week when they took on previously unbeaten Harrison Central.
After the Jets rolled up nearly 500 yards of offense in a 45-14 win, the Huskies were no longer unbeaten.
UL (4-0) is presently No. 3 in Division V, Region 19. It’s led by senior running back Jaksan Price, who keeps churning up yardage in large bunches.
Price nearly eclipsed 300 yards vs. Harrison when he ran for 241 yards. But the Jets are not just a running team—far from it. Quarterback Carter Blake, while also a quite capable runner, can also sling it. He threw for 193 yards against the Huskies.
UL is averaging 47 points a game. Head coach Bernie Thompson was naturally excited following the big win but did lament his team giving up a couple big plays in the passing game.
The Jets’ secondary will need to be on its game this week as coming to town is perhaps one of the unlikeliest unbeatens at this point, the Shenandoah Zeps.
The Zeps (4-0) are the No. 5 team in Division VI, Region 23 and are a perfect 3-0 since former head coach John Jones stepped down after a big opening-week win against Newcomerstown. Former Cambridge boss and previously SHS’ offensive coordinator Josh Lowery stepped into the HC role and the team has flourished since.
That wasn’t the only question mark this season in Sarahsville, however, as the Zeps entered the campaign green under center.
If any doubts were held about freshman QB Braxton Barnett before the season, those were quickly answered in Week 1. Barnett threw for 322 yards and five touchdowns against the Newcomerstown Trojans and hasn’t slowed down since, also throwing for 224 yards and four scores against Shadyside and 196 and two vs. Buckeye Trail.
Can those numbers continue against a Jets’ defense that has been smothering through four weeks?
Down the Road
A third such matchup is looming in Week 6, provided two teams take care of business this week.
Toronto is unbeaten at 4-0 and faces winless Oak Glen this week. The Golden Bears are coming off a tough 49-0 loss to North Marion last week and are 0-3 after earlier losses to rival Weir and Robert C. Byrd.
Likewise, the Edison Wildcats have started 4-0. Also, like UL, Edison last week answered a few questions when it went on the road to beat Matthews, 48-10, at Vienna. The Mustangs were previously unbeaten but proved no much for EHS.
Now, the Wildcats must face Catholic Central, which is coming off its first victory of 2022, a 18-15 triumph against Bishop Rosecrans. The Crusaders’ losses are to Mathews and unbeaten Caldwell (4-0), and Wellsville.
Both games are winnable, but both the ’Cats and Red Knights cannot get caught looking past to the next week’s potential big matchup.
