COLUMBUS – And just like that, the 2024 high school football regular season is 20-percent in the books.
But Week 2 was quite impressive.
Let’s take a look at some of the top performances from all around the state with this week’s Ohio Prep Sports Media High School Football Notebook.
* Fisher Catholic senior Hyde O’Rielley had a night. In a 49-0 win over Tuscarawas Central Catholic, O’Rielley returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown, caught a 28-yard touchdown pass and returned an interception 32 yards for a another score. Defensively, he had 11 tackles, including four tackles for loss. The Irish are at Notre Dame on Friday night.
*Coal Grove senior Kaden Murphy rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries, and Kaden Turner tacked on 104 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts, in the Hornets’ 30-16 victory over visiting Valley on Friday night.
*Chesapeake senior Drew Plantz rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, and caught a 14-yard touchdown reception, in the Panthers’ 42-0 shutout at Minford on Friday night.
* Portsmouth senior and first-year starting quarterback J.T. Williams completed 13-of-21 passes for 166 yards and two first-half touchdowns, and rushed for 91 yards on 13 carries and one second-half score, in the Trojans’ 41-7 runaway win against archrival Portsmouth West. The Trojans scored the game’s final 35 points over the final 25 minutes and 52 seconds. This was the first victory for the Portsmouth High senior class against the Senators. The schools are a mere five miles apart in Portsmouth and West Portsmouth.
* Coldwater’s 31-15 win at Clinton-Massie allowed coach Chip Otten his 169th career win at his alma mater, passing another Hall of Fame Cavaliers coach in John Reed (whom Otten was an assistant coach and took over for after Reed’s death in 2010) for most wins at Coldwater.
* Maria Stein Marion Local won its 50th consecutive game with a 49-0 win at Franklin. The streak is the nation’s longest active winning streak.
* Western Brown QB Brady Sutton threw for 338 yards and five touchdowns in a 56-22 win at Washington Court House.
* Sidney and Stebbins managed to put more points on the scoreboard at Edmundson Stadium in Riverside on Friday than degrees on the nearest thermometer. The Yellow Jackets (1-1) won a Miami Valley League slugfest 67-55. They twice had a lead over 30 points in the second half, but Stebbins scored the last three touchdowns to narrow the final gap. The teams combined scored 18 TDs and had nearly 1,000 yards of offense; Sidney had 562 and the Indians had 421. Sidney senior quarterback Ethan New completed 6-of-14 passes for 299 yards and four TDs and ran for 110 yards and three TDs. Stebbins junior running back Andre McConnell ran for five TDs.
-Hillsboro senior fullback Dom Smart finished the Indians’ 32-7 win over the Goshen Warriors with eight carries for 104 yards and one touchdown. HHS teammate — junior running back Jeven Hochstuhl — finished with seven carries for 69 yards, one catch for 15 yards, and on defense he collected a forced fumble and recovery, plus he had an interception for a touchdown.
The Ohio Prep Sports Media Association is an organization of 233 high school sports media members from all over the state. This list is compiled by those members.
