Week four brings the beginning of Northwest Conference play and some rivalry matchups in other conferences. Also, teams are looking to get back on the winning track as the meat of the season begins where playoff hopes are realized or fade away.
Allen East (1-2) at Leipsic (3-0)
Two teams enter Northwest Conference play with unbeaten records, Leipsic and Bluffton, and the Vikings are hoping to continue that trend when they tackle the defending NWC champion Mustangs who are coming off a heartbreaking loss to Indian Lake, 28-27.
The Vikings, who will be leaving the NWC for the Blanchard Valley Conference after this season, edged Pandora-Gilboa last week, 21-14.
Leipsic’s ground game is averaging 211 yards a game and the passing attack is averaging 125.3 yards a contest. The Vikings’ top ground gainer is Estevan Carrillo with 211 yards and two touchdowns and Mason Rader is second with 135 yards.
The versatile Quin Schroeder has five catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns and has a punt return for a touchdown and leads the team with 7 touchdowns.
Allen East’s offense continues to show improvements from week to week and quarterback Jackson Thompson is 23 of 48 for 306 yards and three touchdowns with five interceptions.
St. Marys (0-3) at Wapakoneta (1-2)
This has been one of the best rivalries in northwest Ohio for the last 10 years but this season the two teams are vying for more than just bragging rights or the Western Buckeye League titles as both have gotten off to uncharacteristic slow starts.
Wapakoneta, after losing its first two games by a combined six points roared back with a 45-0 victory against Ottawa-Glandorf last week. In the win against the Titans, the Redskins rolled up 328 total yards and saw running back Jace Knous rush for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
St. Marys continues to struggle offensively as the Roughriders lost to unbeaten Defiance 30-15 in week three. The Roughriders, who had not lost to the Bulldogs since 2013, have been outscored this season 84-30.
In the loss to Defiance, St. Marys running back Colton Mabry rushed for 99 yards and a pair of TDs on 19 carries.
Wapakoneta won 29-22 in overtime last year and in 2021 edged the Roughriders, 10-7. Three of the last four meetings have gone to overtime.
Waynesfield-Goshen (3-0) at Hardin Northern (2-1)
Three teams remain unbeaten in the Northwest Central Conference play and two of those teams, Hardin Northern and Waynesfield-Goshen, square off this week in an early but important conference clash. Elgin is the other 2-0 NWCC team.
Waynesfield-Goshen has been dominating in its first three contests, outscoring opponents 140-6, and coming off a huge 35-6 victory against Upper Scioto Valley.
Tiger quarterback Drew Breitigam, who had a a breakout season last year, continues his impressive performance and against the Rams was 17 of 28 for 328 yards with four touchdowns as the balanced W-G offense had its way against USV.
Receiver Dalton Jordan had 7 catches for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Hardin Northern, after dropping its opener to Arlington 27-7, has picked up back-to-back wins by beating North Baltimore 49-21 and Cory-Rawson 47-26.
Under head coach Jerry Cooper, the Polar Bears’ running game has paved the way as they produced 408 yards against North Baltimore in week two and followed it up with 293 yards against Cory-Rawson last week.
Polar Bear tailback Carter Curtis leads the team with 307 yards and 4 touchdown carries and Nolan Hopson has collected 296 yards and 3 touchdown runs.
The Tigers have won the last three meetings. Prior to that, Hardin Northern had won the previous five contests.
Sylvania Northview (1-2) at Lima Senior (1-2)
Lima Senior has one final tune-up before the Spartans begin play in the Toledo City League for the first time.
The Spartans are coming off a 42-6 loss against a highly talented Withrow team and will be looking to reclaim the passing game that carried them to a win against Piqua in the opener.
Against Withrow, Lima Senior managed 170 total yards as Ja’niaus Hall was 23 of 42 for 195 yards. Jalen Jones rushed for Lima Senior’s touchdown and teammate Zaveon Garner had 7 catches for 100 yards.
Sylvania Northview collected its first win of the year with a 17-14 win against Napoleon.
In the win against Napoleon, Northview outgained Napoleon 259-183 and got touchdowns on an 82-yard kick-off return and a 65 yard interception.
Bishop Ready (3-0) vs. Lima Central Catholic (1-2)
The road for LCC doesn’t get easier. After dropping a 28-14 loss to Carey last week, the T-Birds face another big challenge Saturday at Spartan Stadium in unbeaten Bishop Ready.
Against Carey, Carson Parker had two touchdown passes but the defense was unable to fend off Carey.
Bishop Ready has opened the season in dominating fashion as they are averaging 52 points a contest and giving up an average of 14.3 points a game.
The Silver Knights downed Whetstone 47-0 in its last outing.
