With three weeks remaining in the high school football regular season, nine central Ohio teams remain undefeated and nine more are still seeking their first wins.
There are no showdowns between undefeated teams this week, unlike in Week 7 when Big Walnut defeated Worthington Kilbourne 35-28
, but history is still on the line for many programs – not to mention league championships and valuable computer points for the playoffs.Here are five things to watch in Week 8:
Jonathan Alder, London resume Madison County rivalry
The longtime rivals are set for another high-stakes matchup at Jonathan Alder, with the result impacting the Central Buckeye Conference-Kenton Trail race and the playoff standings in two regions.
The host Pioneers (6-1, 1-1) are looking to rebound from a 28-27 loss at Urbana last week,
while London (5-2, 2-0) will try to win for the third week in a row.
Jonathan Alder is second in Division III, Region 11 and London is sixth in Division IV, Region 16. The top four in each region earn a first-round bye.
“It’s a county rivalry and these kids have grown up playing against each other, sometimes with each other in various sports, so everybody knows each other,” Alder coach Brett Glass said. “For me and [London coach] Kyle [Cutler], we’ve known each other since we were little kids and we played together [at Alder]. It’s a full-circle moment here.”
London won 38-0 last season for its fifth consecutive victory in the series. The Pioneers’ last win came in 2020, 14-0 in a Region 11 semifinal, after also beating London 30-13 during the regular season that year.
For Alder, Drew Hughes has completed 96 of 134 passes for 1,595 yards and 20 touchdowns with three interceptions.
The Pioneers have played their past two games without key two-way player Trey Bentley (WR/DB/LB), who is out with a foot injury. He has 37 receptions for 669 yards and eight TDs.
“Hopefully, we get him back at some point, but right now he’s out,” Glass said. “We have to have other people step up.”
For London, Bryson Toronto has rushed for 785 yards and 16 TDs on 141 carries.
Groveport defense prepares for Pickerington Central
A Cruisers (5-2, 3-1 OCC-Buckeye) defense that has created more than 20 takeaways – led by five interceptions from senior cornerback Myles Treadwell and 11 picks in all – hopes that trend continues in a visit to Central (4-3, 4-0), which is riding a four-game winning streak but facing some adversity of its own.
After an 0-3 start in which it was outscored 90-3, Central has beaten four league opponents 163-53. But two quarterbacks have been injured, including sophomore Winnie Garnett IV for the season, and junior wide receiver Ayden Hammond was pressed into service last week during a 44-19 win over Newark.
Still, Groveport coach Mitch Westcamp said “they look like a typical Pick Central team,” led by a strong defense and sophomore running back Edmund McAllister III (81 carries, 599 yards, 8 TDs).
“Defensively, the back half of the secondary is really good,” Westcamp said. “They’re experienced. They have a solid linebacker [Dylan Burskey] in the middle. Their interior d-line is solid … and then offensively they are massive up front and have two of the best running backs around. …
“This one is pretty cut and dry. If we want any shot to win the league, we need this one.”
Hamilton Township’s transformation pays off
A senior-laden Rangers team has leaned heavily on its offensive line to lead the way for a potent running game that averages 321.7 yards per week, and Hamilton Township (5-2, 3-0 MSL-Buckeye) takes a three-game winning streak into a key league contest at Bloom-Carroll (4-3, 3-0).
Sophomore Suge Brown’s 996 yards and 13 TDs on 136 carries pace a three-back set that typically utilizes four backs, including quarterback Drew Kasprzak and backs Dez Branch and Lance Reynolds.
The line is led by guards Alijah Cain-Jackson and Tyson Varney and tackle Conner Harr, all of whom are seniors.
“We have a pretty experienced line and we’re learning on them to get things done,” coach Tennyson Varney said. “We have altered what we do to match that. They have taken it and run with it. Plus we are playing a lot of guys both ways, so we have had to switch things to keep everyone as fresh as we can.”
Bloom-Carroll has won 42 of its past 44 games in league play. Hamilton Township handed the Bulldogs one of those losses, 31-28 in Week 9 of 2023.
Harvest Prep looks to continue rebound
The Warriors have followed up an 0-5 start against one of the state’s most grueling schedules with consecutive 41-7 wins over St. Bernard Roger Bacon and Centennial, and now another juggernaut awaits in old playoff nemesis Ironton.
Ironton (6-1), whose only loss came to Big Walnut in overtime two weeks ago (47-40), won three of four Division V, Region 19 playoff meetings against Harvest Prep from 2020-24.
Ironton sits atop Region 19 this week. Harvest Prep is 19th in Division VI, Region 23, seven spots out of the final playoff berth.
“We start six or seven freshmen and what stands out the most to me is they are growing into sophomore-style players while they’re still gaining speed and intensity,” Warriors coach Milan Smith said. “We have played some teams that are top 100 in the country. [Quarterback] Collin Boff has put up some 360-, 370-yard games against teams that have won state championships, and to watch our guys respond, that’s a credit to them.
“We have had control of some of the games we’ve lost and let [teams] off the hook, but we have been highly, highly competitive. As much as you can in losses, we have built confidence.”
Reynoldsburg moving in right direction
Third-year coach JoJuan Armour is pleased with where his Raiders (4-3, 3-1 OCC-Buckeye) are heading entering a league game at Lancaster (2-5, 2-2).
“I don’t think we would have been able to accomplish the things we’ve accomplished on the field without having the success off the field [academically],” Armour said. “That was a part of our plan from the very beginning.
“The first two years we addressed grades and behavior and the third year, having that security, consistency and that standard set, we can now give our attention to football knowing that we’re going to have our kids for the whole year and knowing that our kids are going to execute, their effort is going to improve and their attention to detail is going to improve.”
Reynoldsburg is seeking its first winning season since 2019 (7-4). The Raiders are 13th in Division I, Region 13, one spot out of the playoffs.
Justin Heckman has completed 90 of 159 passes for 1,208 yards with eight TDs and seven interceptions, and Kavion Davis leads a balanced rushing attack with 357 yards and four TDs on 41 carries.
Whitehall graduate leading program turnaround
As a 2015 Whitehall graduate and former player in the program, second-year coach Cameron Barker takes pride in the Rams’ turnaround this season.
Whitehall (5-2, 2-0 Central Buckeye League) is eighth in a loaded Division II, Region 7.
The Rams, who went 4-6 in Barker’s first year, are seeking their first playoff berth and winning season since 2021.
“Arguably, we could be 7-0, but 5-2 is OK,” Barker said. “We’re playing good football and we have kids getting offers to play college football. We’re turning into a program again over here. The biggest part for me is getting the recognition that this city needs in a positive manner, especially getting kids to the next level. This feels good being one of those kids who went and played college ball.”
Barker played fullback and linebacker at Ashland.
Senior quarterback Malachi Jackson has run for 12 touchdowns and passed for seven to lead the offense for Whitehall, which has regular-season games remaining against Franklin Heights (0-7, 0-2) on Oct. 9, Buckeye Valley (5-2, 2-0) on Oct. 16 and Columbus Academy (5-2, 2-0) on Oct. 23.
“My kids have bought into their own goals, their own expectations,” Barker said. “They’ve built this. This is their decision on the goals that they want to obtain, so let’s go be players and let’s go be dudes and make plays and do what we set out to do.”
High school sports reporters Frank DiRenna and Dave Purpura can be reached at sports@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 6 things to watch in central Ohio high school football Week 8
