Blanchard River Buzz

Freaky Friday

By Mark Heiman
Don’t look now but we are roughly one-third of the way through the high school football regular season.
And what a wacky week, the third Friday of the prep season was. As scores came pouring in Friday night, I was amazed at some of them.
I was also amazed at how poorly my picking must have been. Many in the newsroom were hollering that they should bring back the chickens.
After the happenings Friday, McComb and Liberty-Benton seem to be the teams to beat in the Blanchard Valley Conference. But Arcadia is looming out there at 3-0, the first time the Redskins have won their first three games since 1990.
With that in mind, next week’s big BVC game is Arcadia at Hardin Northern, while Liberty-Benton and McComb tangle on Sept. 21.
It’ll be very interesting to me how things will shake out, especially because at the beginning of the year I felt that parity would be the buzz word in the BVC.
It was another tough one for Findlay High Friday. The Trojans suffered a big loss at Upper Arlington. They’ll need to turn things around this week and make some improvements before big, bad Cincinnati Moeller comes calling next Saturday night.
The Trojans just have to remember one thing. These are non-league games and things really start counting once they get into the GBC slate.

Week III Scores and Stories

CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR OUR SCOREBOARD PAGE WITH SCORING SUMMARIES FROM TONIGHT!

SCORES
Upper Arlington 42, Findlay 7
Elmwood 33, North Baltimore 0
McComb 32, Hardin Northern 14
Liberty-Benton 34, Arlington 3
Cory-Rawson 21, Leipsic 8
Ada 33, Columbus Grove 23
Hopewell-Loudon 54, Gibsonburg 6
Carey 50, New London 13

McCOMB 32
HARDIN NORTHERN 14
McCOMB — McComb delivered a quick blow by scoring quickly on its first three possessions of the contest as the Panthers cruised to a 32-14 Blanchard Valley Conference win over Hardin Northern at Doc Miller Field Friday night.
With the victory, McComb improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the BVC. Hardin Northern slipped to 2-1 and 1-1.
McComb’s quick scores had Hardin Northern on its heels the rest of the game as the Panthers (3-0 overall, 2-0 BVC) racked up a stunning 32-7 lead by halftime.
Bryatt Smith got the Panthers’ party started by blocking Kyle Albert’s punt on Hardin Northern’s first possession. Just four plays later Matt Dishong found the endzone on a 7-yard run giving McComb a 6-0 lead with 10:02 left in the first quarter.
After Hardin Northern went 3-and-out on its second possession, McComb marched 56 yards in 5 plays. Shane Swisher capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kevan Westenbarger pushing McComb’s lead to 12-0 with 6:34 left in the first frame.
The Polar Bears turned the ball over on downs and McComb struck paydirt on it’s third possession after a 5-play, 45-yard drive capped by Cody Rader’s 1-yard TD plunge.
Hardin Northern finally got on the board with 18 seconds left in the first frame on a 1-yard run by Chad Motter.
McComb’s Cody Rader hauled in a 32-yard scoring strike from Westenbarger in the second quarter and Dishong added another 1-yard TD run later in the quarter to make it 32-7 at the break.
Neither team could get much going in the second half.
Hardin Northern was able to put together a 13-play, 79-yard scoring drive on its first possession of the second half.
Motter capped the march with a 28-yard scoring sprint.
Westenbarger guided a balanced McComb offensive effort as he was 10-of-18 passing for 180 yards. Rader hauled in 4 passes for 68 yards and Swisher had 4 for 52.
The Panthers also rolled up 155 yards on the ground with Dishong leading the way with 67 yards on 9 carries.
Hardin Northern had 158 yards rushing and 30 passing.
Motter led the way with 62 yards on 10 carries. Troy Summa chipped in 57 yards on 14 carries. HN standout running back Nathan Bame was limited to just 39 yards on 14 carries by McComb’s defense.

Hardin Northern 7 0 0 7 — 14
McComb 19 13 0 0 — 32
First Quarter
McC — Dishong 7 run (kick failed)
McC — Swisher 20 pass from Westenbarger (pass failed)
McC — Rader 1 run (Schroeder kick)
HN — Motter 1 run (Albert kick)
Second Quarter
McC — Rader 33 pass from Westenbarger (kick failed)
McC — Gibson 1 run (Cramer kick)
Third Quarter
HN — Motter 28 run (Albert kick)

CORY-RAWSON 21
LEIPSIC 8
RAWSON — Cory-Rawson racked up a 21-0 lead and the defense held Leipsic’s offense in check on its way to a 21-8 Blanchard Valley Conference win over the Vikings Friday night.
With the win, Cory-Rawson improved to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the BVC while Leipsic slipped to 0-3, 0-2.
Cory-Rawson capitalized on interceptions for their first two scores.
Jeff Radabaugh opened the scoring for the Hornets at the 2:54 mark of the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown plunge after an interception by Ethan Welch. Logan Niese recovered a fumble int he second frame to set up Mitch Cramer’s 8-yard scoring run in with 3:54 remaining until halftime.
John Anderson, the game’s leading rusher with 105 yards on 13 carries, added a 21-yard touchdown run with 11:13 left in the fourth quarter to push the Hornets’ lead to 21-0.
Jacob Schroeder scored for Leipsic with just 18 seconds left on a 6-yard run.
The Hornets racked up 246 yards rushing and just 66 passing on the night. They limited the Vikings to just 155 yards on the ground and another 58 through the air.
Cramer backed Anderson with 54 yards on 9 carries. Schroeder registered 83 yards rushing on 8 carries to lead Leipsic.

Leipsic 0 0 0 8 — 8
Cory-Rawson 7 7 0 7 — 21
First Quarter
C-R — Radabaugh 1 run (Welch kick)
Second Quarter
C-R — Cramer 8 run (Welch kick)
Fourth Quarter
C-R — Anderson 21 run (Welch kick)
LEIP — J. Schroeder 6 run (J. Schroeder kick)

ELMWOOD 33
NORTH BALTIMORE 0
BLOOMDALE — Elmwood has delivered back-to-back shutouts since giving up 21 points in its week one loss to Hopewell-Loudon.
On Friday night, the Royals (2-1) downed their backyard rival North Baltimore 33-0 with a mixture of solid defense and a balanced offense.
Thomas Curtis threw touchdown passes of 13, 15 and 20 yards to Trey Farabee, Ben Hammer and Nathaniel Fitch, respectively. Curtis completed 14-of-21 passes for 181 yards.
CJ Allums had another solid night for the Royals, rushing for 106 yards on 9 carries with TDs of 8 and 32 yards.
North Baltimore’s Randy Marine pounded out 79 rushing yards on 11 carries but the Tigers  (0-3) were plagued by 4 interceptions.

North Baltimore 0 0 0 0 — 0
Elmwood 12 7 14 0 — 33
First Quarter
Elm — Allums 8 run (kick failed)
Elm — Farabee 13 pass from Curtis (run failed)
Second Quarter
Elm — Hammer 15 pass from Curtis (Fitch kick)
Third Quarter
Elm — Allums 32 run (Rothenbuhler kick)
Elm — Fitch 20 pass from Curtis (Rothenbuhler kick)

UPPER ARLINGTON 42, FINDLAY 7
Findlay 0 0 0 7 — 7
Upper Arlington 0 21 14 7 — 42
Second Quarter
UA — Farwick 9 run (Sauter kick)
UA — Berry 4 run (Sauter kick)
UA — Farwick 2 run (Sauter kick)
Third Quarter
UA — Layer 2 9 run (Sylvester kick)
UA — Farwick 4 run (Sauter kick)
Fourth Quarter
FIN — Davidson 19 run (Schaible kick)
UA — Wildermuth 5 run (Sauter kick)

No updates until late...

We'll post updates of game stories after they happen tonight as we write them...Check back in around 10:30 p.m. we should have something by then.

Rain, rain stay away!

Week III Football Notes

By Jamie Baker

Here are our notes for Week 3 of the prep football season. We use these notes as a guide for the staff when we're writing up the games in the office. We'll be updating the games tonight here as we get them written. Everyone please pray for clear skies and no thunderstorms.

Arlington RED DEVILS at Liberty-Benton EAGLES
DATELINE: None
CONFERENCE: Blanchard Valley Conference
RECORDS: Arlington 2-0, 1-0 BVC; Liberty-Benton 2-0, 1-0
NOTES: Liberty-Benton’s defense has allowed just 3 points this season … L-B quarterback Aaron Craft is 29-37 passing for 279 and 4 touchdowns He also has rushed for 173 yards on 25 carries with a pair of touchdowns… Arlington QB Jacob Drerup is 14-24 passing for 198 yards with 2 interceptions and a touchdown … L-B’s Joel Waldman has 13 catches for 126 yards and a TD … Travis Rettig leads the Red Devil ground game with 149 yards on 38 carries with 3 touchdowns … Last week’s 19-13 win over Pandora-Gilboa was the first overtime victory in Arlington history (the overtime rule began during the 1985 season …

Hardin Northern POLAR BEARS at McComb PANTHERS
DATELINE: McComb
CONFERENCE: Blanchard Valley Conference
RECORDS: Hardin Northern 2-0, 1-0 BVC; McComb 2-0, 1-0
NOTES: Could be one of the top BVC match ups of the season Friday night at Doc Miller Field … Hardin Northern speedster Nathan Bame leads the conference in rushing with 334 yards n 52 carries and scoring with 5 touchdowns … Troy Summa has 135 yards rushing on 24 carries for the Polar Bears … McComb’s Cody Rader is averaging 12.2 yards per carry with 146 yards on 12 carries … The Panthers also have plenty of firepower on special teams as Rader and Jesse Cramer have both returned kickoff for touchdowns … McComb quarterback Kevan Westenbarger is 26-47 passing for 409 yards with 3 Tds and an interception his favorite targets are Solomon George with 9 catches for 135 yards and Tracy Schroeder 4 for 130 yards, a 32.3 yard per catch average … HN has put the ball up just twice this season so far … HN kicker Kyle Albert has connected on 13 of 13 PAT tries this season and is the BVC‘s top punter with a 46.0 average … Defensively HN’s T.J. Ratliff, Tyler Wilson and Brandon Bowsher each have 2 interceptions … The Polar Bears have 8 interceptions as a team this season.

Leipsic VIKINGS at Cory-Rawson HORNETS
DATELINE: Rawson
CONFERENCE: Blanchard Valley Conference
RECORDS: Leipsic 0-2, 0-1; Cory-Rawson 0-2, 0-1
NOTES: Leipsic’s Nate Schroeder is third in the BVC in passing hitting 33-67 for 382 yards with 3 TDS and 3 INTS …Leipsic’s Mike Benton has 14 catches for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns good for second in the conference, he also leads the Vikings with 75 yards rushing … Welch has 2 catches for 62 yards to lead Cory-Rawson which doesn’t have a rusher among the top 15 In the BVC …

Van Buren BLACK KNIGHTS at Arcadia REDSKINS
DATELINE: Arcadia
CONFERENCE: Blanchard Valley Conference
RECORDS: Van Buren 1-1, 0-1; Arcadia 2-0, 1-0
NOTES: Van Buren’s Josh Gilliland has returned a punt for a touchdown this season … Arcadia quarterback Landon Fleegle is 23-46 passing for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns … VB’s quarterbacks Adam Greer and Gilliland are a combined 19-39 passing for 225 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception … VB junior Kevin Ragless is second on the conference with 200 yards rushing on 35 carries while Josh Turney has 3 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Black Knights and Logan Grant has 9 catches for 56 yards … Jake Aurand leads the Redskins rushing effort with 143 yards and 4 Tds. Teammate Seth Kirian has added 112 yards rushing on 27 carries … Mason True has a pair of interceptions to lead Arcadia defensively …

Vanlue WILDCATS at Pandora-Gilboa ROCKETS
DATELINE: Pandora
CONFERENCE: Blanchard Valley Conference
RECORDS: Vanlue 0-2, 0-1, Pandora-Gilboa 0-2, 0-1
NOTES: Pandora-Gilboa has dropped back to back overtime games to Columbus Grove and Arlington … The Rockets defense has recorded 3 interceptions this season by 3 different players … Vanlue allowed 4 touchdowns in each of the first two quarters in last week’s 56-0 loss to Hardin Northern … The Wildcats have 3 players with 10 or more receptions. Josh Kloepfer leads the BVC with 24 catches for 355 yards while Austin Cook  has 10 catches for 79 yards and John Arnold has hauled in 10 passes for 75 yards … Pandora-Gilboa has a pair of top notch receivers in Michael Howell (8-184, 3 TD) and Thomas Hochstettler (4-114, 1 TD) … Vanlue senior Nick Lee leads the BVC in passing hitting 37-90 for 592 yards with 3 Tds but he has also thrown 8 interceptions. Lee also leads Vanlue with 78 yards rushing … P-G’s Sam Maag is 19-43 passing for 379 with 6 Tds and 2 INTS …

Columbus Grove BULLDOGS at Ada BULLDOGS
DATELINE: Ada
RECORD: Columbus Grove 1-1, 0-1 NWC; Ada 1-1, 1-0
CONFERENCE: Northwest Conference
NOTES: CG senior Heath Nickles has rushed for 403 yards this season after running for 234 yards on 34 carries last week against Allen East … Ada quarterback Zac Dysert has already thrown for 704 yards. The Miami of Ohio committed quarterback also has rushed for 123 yards … Game will be at War Memorial Stadium in Ada …Ada coach Mike Fell won 75 games at Columbus Grove when he coached there from 1990-99 … Ada used a balanced offense that threw for 413 yards and ran for 212 more to produce a 38-18 win last week over Spencerville.

Patrick Henry PATRIOTS at Montpelier LOCOMOTIVES
DATELINE: Montpelier
RECORD: Patrick Henry 2-0, 1-0 NWOAL; Montpelier 1-1, 0-1
CONFERENCE: Northwest Ohio Athletic League
NOTES: The Patriots are coming off a 62-0 shellacking of Swanton last week and are averaging 50.5 points per game … Drew Kuesel scored 3 touchdowns to power the Patriots past Swanton … Quarterback Tim Busch was also an efficient, hitting 9 of 11 passes for 93 yards as Patrick Henry rolled up 416 yards rushing and 100 passing last week.

Ottawa-Glandorf TITANS at Kenton WILDCATS
DATELINE: Kenton
RECORD: Ottawa-Glandorf 1-1, 1-0 WBL; Kenton 1-1, 1-0
CONFERENCE: Western Buckeye League
NOTES: O-G’s Alex Hermiller carried the ball 24 times for 118 yards and had scoring runs of 8 and 5 yards in last week;s 21-14 WBL opening win over Defiance … O-G’s John Kreinbrink scored the winning TD on a 2-yard run with 6:40 to go in the third … The Titans defense limited Defiance to just 162 yards of total offense last week …

Findlay TROJANS at Upper Arlington GOLDEN BEARS
DATELINE: Upper Arlington
RECORD: Findlay 0-2, Upper Arlington 2-0
CONFERENCE: Non-conference
NOTES: Dave will be taking care of this game

New London WILDCATS at Carey BLUE DEVILS
DATELINE: Carey
RECORD: New London 1-1, Carey 1-1
CONFERENCE: Non-conference
NOTES: Carey rushed for more than 300 yards for the second straight week with quarterback Ben Hall leading the way with 100 yards on 10 carries and 2 rushing touchdowns. He also passed for a score … The Blue Devils did a great job defensively against Cardinal Stritch allowing minus 20 yards rushing and just 40 passing … It will be the first ever meeting between New London and Carey Friday night at Wentling Field.

North Baltimore TIGERS at Elmwood ROYALS
DATELINE: Bloomdale
RECORD: North Baltimore 0-2, Elmwood 1-1
CONFERENCE: Non-conference
NOTES: Elmwood bounced back from a Week 1 loss to Hopewell-Loudon by blanking Port Clinton 34-0 last week … North Baltimore is still searching for its first win under coach Chip Hollenback after a 24-7 loss to Danbury last week …

5 Things to watch this weekend -- 9-7 edition

By Jamie Baker
It will be a pigskin porkout this weekend with the NFL regular season getting underway Sunday. Here are five things I’ll be keeping my eye on this weekend.

Hardin Northern at McComb football
I know its early but this might just be the game of the year in the BVC this season.
It will be McComb’s catch and run passing philosophy and big play offense led by QB Kevan Westbarger against a stingy Hardin Northern defense that held Ada phenom QB Zac Dysert relatively in check. Oh and the Bears already have 8 interceptions on the season. Plus I shouldn’t forget HN speedster Nathan Bame who is running toward a spot in the record book as HN’s all-time leading rusher. Get there early…this will be a dandy.

Arlington at Liberty-Benton football
Trust me when I tell you there’s no game Arlington would rather win this season than to knock off Liberty-Benton on the Eagles’ home field. If the Red Devils want to contend for the BVC title and earn the school’s first playoff appearance they have to win this one. They’ll be fired up. The Eagles got a quality win in Week 1 over Mohawk and had an easy time with Cory-Rawson last week. Something tells me this might be a defensive struggle.

FHS at Upper Arlington football
OK the Trojans are 0-2 but the sky isn’t falling just yet. There’s a lot of football yet to be played. Sometimes things aren’t measured in wins and losses they are measured in improvement and progress and that’s what the Trojans need to show against 2-0 Upper Arlington Friday night. Improvement on defense, offense and special teams is what FHS needs most right now and for the next three weeks until the start of GBC play. FHS lets see whatcha got?

Michigan rebound?
OK so this isn’t prep and it’s not even local but daggum it, I’m interested as hell in what Michigan is going to do against Oregon this weekend. That loss to Appalachian State was SHOCKING! Shocking on a good way though. Will they come out eyes full of fire or will they fold up like a cheap tent. It will be fun to watch.

Browns vs. Ben and the Steelers
Who could ask for a better opening to the NFL season than to see the Browns play Big Ben and the Steelers. I’ll be there Sunday and the Findlay Browns Backers Club will be there too. I already feel like the Browns and the media have been trying to lower my expectations (as a Browns fan I don’t know how much lower they can go). They better go at least 8-8 or Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel can hit the bricks as far as I am concerned. Hopefully the Browns defense will sack Findlay’s hometown hero a few times en route to a win over our hated rivals.

NEWSWORTHY:
BVC Volleyball: Arlington sweeps Van Buren
Findlay athletes face adversity off the field
Findlay boys soccer team improves to 5-0
Whitmer a tough foe for Fostoria
Defending national champs visit Ashland University
Ashland-Shelby meet for 95th time
Bucyrus area prep football previews Week 3
Bucyrus-Galion set to continue grid series
Mansfield area volleyball preview capsules
Turnovers hamper Marion Harding offense
Hinton looking forward to Marion Harding’s first home game

Findlay Freedom hockey is gone

By Jamie Baker
The Findlay Freedom is no more.
After one season, the team isn’t going to be a part of the North Eastern Hockey League this year. According to a release on the team’s website the franchise couldn’t come to terms with a financially viable lease agreement with the city to use The Cube.
Here’s a link to the team’s Website with their press release on the matter.
OK, I have to admit I was surprised they lasted the entire season. Well I guess they lasted the entire season, the NEHL playoffs were ultimately canceled for a myriad of reasons and the Freedom finished in second place. In the release they hint at joining another league or moving the franchise out of Findlay entirely.
I know there are a few hockey fans in Findlay that will be sad to see them leave. On the couple of occasions I went to check them out there were a couple of hundred fans there. I’m not sure Findlay is big enough to support something like that…especially hockey, baseball and indoor football maybe…but hockey?
There is one drawback to the Cube. I think a hockey team might be able to survive in Findlay if The Cube had a liquor license and served cold ones when the team was playing. Shut off the taps the rest of the time The Cube is open but when the local semi-pro hockey team plays let the beer flow freely. It would be another revenue stream for the city and may get more butts in the seats.
But that’s just my take.

A Carnival of Cross Country

By Jamie Baker
I gotta be honest. I’m not sure any area boys cross country teams are heading to Columbus this season. I’m not sure why, but area boys cross country has taken a bit of a dive the past couple of years.
Maybe it’s soccer, maybe its just one of those cyclical things that happen to small schools. They’ll go through a down period for a couple of years and then cycle back toward the top.
I do think soccer has hurt some area programs. It’s a sport I believe draws a lot of the same kind of athletes. Soccer probably has cost schools like Continental and Fort Jennings their cross country programs which were disbanded a few short years ago.
Anyway if I had to guess I’d say Hopewell-Loudon and Findlay probably have the best chance to qualify for state. The Trojans are on a definite upswing and have three outstanding runners at the top of their lineup in Shoayb Bascal, Kyle Hermiller and Stephen Mackell. This group of runners haven’t been in this position before so it will be interesting to see how they respond this weekend at the Tiffin Carnival.
Hopewell-Loudon has a couple of top-shelf runners in Eric Hohman and Nate Frisch, but I’m not sure that will be enough to carry them to Columbus. Of course, I see Liberty-Benton sophomore Seth Butler advancing to state as an individual and possibly doing some damage at Scioto Downs this season.
On the girls side, of course there’s Liberty-Benton. The Eagles don’t have that No.1 runner who will be first or second in every race like 2007 graduate Kesha Brooks was for them last year. But Anna Farmer, Brynn Chaskel and Brooke Larsen are all back and that will be more than enough to get the Eagles back to Columbus for a record 17th straight year.
Two teams on the fringe of the area — Lakota and Old Fort — should both be very good too.
If you haven’t seen the Tiffin Carnival it would be worth the visit this Saturday to Hedges Boyer Park. There will be 6,130 runners competing in this year’s meet and it’s the second largest cross country meet in the country so I’ve been told.
Here’s a link to the participant count for this year’s meet. And a file with the race schedule below
Good luck to all the area runners that will be competing there Saturday.

Download carnival_schedule.pdf

NOL Football Stats

By Jamie Baker
We gave you the BVC earlier tonight. Here are Week 2 stats for the Northern Ohio League..how 'bout those 2-0 Fostoria Redmen. They have a big test against Whitmer coming up this weekend.

Download nol_leaders.pdf

Download nol_team_data.pdf

Download nol_team_rank.pdf

BVC Football Stats

By Jamie Baker
You know sometimes change comes at a snail's pace here in Hancock County. It's as conservative as it comes here and sometimes progress is thwarted.
Well we're making progress.
Here are the complete Blanchard Valley Conference football stats this week thanks to an email from BVC statistician Harolyn Legg. Hopefully we'll be able to post these babies every week.
Here also is a file from Kevin Wannemacher with NW Ohio game results and schedules in an excel file.
The Courier and the Blanchard River Buzz, we're giving you news you can use!

Download bvc_statsi.xls

Download bvcstats2.xls

Download nw_ohio_football_schedule.xls

Findlay High observations

By Dave Hanneman

Here are some general observations after watching Findlay's 28-3 loss to Toledo St. Francis last Friday.

1. It will get worse before it gets better. Findlay is already 0-2 with non-league games left against Upper Arlington (2-0), Cincinnati Moeller (1-1) and Worthington Kilbourne (2-0). The Trojans could well be 0-5 when league play starts. But you know what? I think they can still contend for a GBC title.

2. Speaking of that schedule, some people wonder why Findlay plays such a rugged array of opponents when they could schedule a bunch of patsies and start every year looking like world beaters. It wouldn't be a true indication of a team's potential, though, and FHS Coach Mark Ritzler knows it. "People ask us why we want to play all those teams. Well, we want to play therm because they are class programs,": Ritzler said last week. "What Toledo St. John's did (collecting contributions to help Findlay residents after the massive flooding two weeks ago) was a class thing. Nobody asked them to do that. They just did it. Yeah, they've had our number the last few years. We got them three or four years ina row before that. But you want to keep playing them because they are a measuring stick for your program and your kids."

3. Slow, slower, slowest. This is obviously not a Findlay team blessed with great speed. I think that will hurt the Trojans most this season. Three of St. Francis' four touchdowns Friday were cases where a back got either a seam inside and bounced it outside or just got to the corner and took off. And once they got just a little room, they were gone.

4. Predictablility. I kinda like the options a two-quarterback system gives a team.  But face it, when a defense looks up and sees Jimmy Davidson and Matt Alexander in the backfield, there's a 90 percent chance it will be a run. And if they look up and see Eric Gilbert in the backfield, there's a 90 percent it will be a pass. Davidson did throw a couple of passes (2), and Gilbert ran the ball a few times (3). But I think defenses are going to start teeing off when they see certain alignments.

5. Penalties. Findlay had a nice 12-yard gain on its third play from scrimmage. Oops, bring it back, There was a hold. Findlay's defense forces a fumble and Matt Alexander recovers to stuff St. Francis' first possession. But on the Knights' second possession there's a face-mask call on the first play, an encroachment call gives St. Francis a first down on a fourth-and-1 play, and a personal foul moves the ball to the 9. Next play -- TD. Findlay had six penalties for 68 yards just in the first quarter, and this is a not a team that can afford those kind of mistakes.

6. Depth. A couple of key injuries (lineman Justin Rice, backup running back/linebacker Mike Alexander) aren't helping an FHS team that isn't real deep to start with. That may have played into some the decisions late in the game, like going for a field goal down 21-3 instead of going for it on fourth-and-long. I don't know. But I do know no one wants to win more than Mark Ritzler. It's obvious from the way he talks about this team and this program. Right now Findlay is going against a lot of very good teams, teams who can send three, four, maybe five Divisxion I players onto the field. And face it, Findlay isn't turning out Ben Roethlisbergers and Kyle Johanns and Brian Almonds and Chris Schneiders and Zack Krauses and Ryan Sottoways every year.

7. A final observation. I doubt Findlay will put many W's in the book the first half of this season, not against this schedule. What they will hopefully do is find a bunch of small victories in each game -- whether it's blocking or tackling or executing a certain move or whatever. Findlay has an advantage over a lot of schools in that the Trojans basically play two seasons -- non-league and GBC. The non-league one hasn't started out very well. But the other one still holds a lot of promise.