When you lace up the cleats in the hot summer days on the gridiron, you have one goal in mind. Raising a State Championship Trophy at the end of the season. Three OVAC teams are one step closer to making that goal a reality. You look at the three remaining teams and the adversity they have faced all season long.
Last season the Weir High School Red Riders saw their season come to an end in Round 1 of the WVSSAC Class AA playoffs. Weir came into this season with a chip on their shoulder. The Red Riders finished the 2023 regular season slate with a 9-1 record. Their only setback came at the hands of Union Local in Week 5, but then dominated the rest of their schedule. Weir headed into the playoffs as the five seed and it was no easy road to the semi-finals. They took on the twelfth seeded Frankfurt team that they knocked off in week four. In a back and forth battle, Weir prevailed 23-21. This set up a second round matchup with fourth seeded Scott on a chilly Saturday afternoon. The Red Riders had to battle from behind multiple times and used up almost every second of the game clock to come away with a 35-33 victory, their second two point victory in as many games. With less than one minute to go in the game, Weir High quarterback Malachi Stromile saw classmate Corey Lyons get open and hit him with a touchdown pass to give the Red Riders the victory. Now, the 11-1 Red Riders will have the task of trying to upset the number one team in West Virginia Class A, North Marion. The Huskies also have an 11-1 record with their only setback coming to West Virginia Class AA semi-finalist, Fairmont Senior. The Huskies advance to the State semifinals with a 35-17 win over Herbert Hoover. Kickoff is set for Saturday, November 25 at North Marion High School as the Red Riders and Huskies will battle it out for a State Final birth!
Our second state semifinalist hail from the tiny but tough town of Caldwell, Ohio. The Redskins advance to the state semifinals for the first time in school history. With their win over Reedsville Eastern, Caldwell also took home their first Regional Championship in school history. The title by no means came easy for Coach Chance Rucker’s squad. The Redskins however, did take control of the first quarter. Junior Ethan Crock found the back of the endzone with 8:03 to go in the first quarter as Caldwell took an early 7-0 lead. Eastern would respond though with :55 seconds to go in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7 at the end of the first. The Eagles took their first lead of the contest at 9:19 of the second quarter, but missed the ever important extra point. The Eagles regained control of the football and drove down the field, but the Redskins defense forced Eastern into a field goal attempt that was missed. Eastern took at 13-7 lead into the half. The Eagles took control of the third quarter and extended their lead to 19-7 with 4:32 to go in the third. Caldwell responded about two minutes later as running back Dylan Wheeler took the Cale Bender handoff all the way into the endzone from about 10 yards out to cut the deficit to 19-14! This was setup by a punt that was mishandled by Eastern and recovered by Caldwell. After a back and forth final quarter, the Redskins defense stood strong late in the game and gave the ball back to their offense. That’s where senior quarterback Cale Bender found Hunter Petry behind the defense and hit him with a 26 yard touchdown strike to give Caldwell a 20-19 lead with :44 seconds to go! The Redskins defense stood strong and forced an incomplete pass on fourth down and were able to go into victory formation and advance to Friday Night’s State Semifinals with 12-1 Bulldogs of Dalton High School. Dalton advanced to the State Semifinals after a 31-8 win over then undefeated, Danville. The Bulldogs loan loss of the season came at the hands of Division VI Semifinalist, Kirtland 14-7 in the first game of the season. This will be the second all time matchup between the Redskins and Bulldogs. The two schools met back in 1991 with Dalton winning 18-6. Kickoff is set for 7pm from John D Sulsberger Memorial Stadium in Zanesville with a birth in the State Title game at stake.
In our final state semifinal, we have the Region 15 Champions, Steubenville taking on the Region 16 Champion, Kettering Archbishop Alter. Steubenville advances to the semifinals after a 14-7 thrilling victory over Thornville Sheridan. This is the Big Red’s second straight state semifinal appearance and back to back Regional Championships for Coach Reno Saccoccia! The offense came up huge late in the game with less than six minutes to go. Running back Savier Faulks took it to the house from about 55 yards out to give Steubenville a 14-7 lead. The defense stood strong and kept Sheridan out of the endzone and the Big Red punched their ticket to the State Semifinals! Big Red also made a huge stop on fourth down earlier in the game. This will be the fifth all time meeting between these two schools. Steubenville holds a 3-1 advantage, however Alter won their last meeting in 2008 by a 21-6 count in the 2008 State Championship game. The two squads also met for the State Championship in 2006, but this time it was the Big Red coming away with the State Title after a 34-33 win! We are set up for another huge chapter of this rivalry. Archbishop Alter won their region as the four seed. Kickoff is set for Friday at 7pm from Westerville Central High School between Steubenville and Kettering Archbishop Alter.
Photo Courtesy of Newbrough
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