Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

It is now week five of high school football and this is an important week for some teams.

The top of the WOAC will start distinguish themselves as Tri-Village hosts Ansonia. The Tigers sit on top of the conference with a 4-0 record with a point differential of +155. The Patriots are one of the three teams that are 3-1. It seems like if the Patriots want to keep their WOAC title hopes alive, they need to beat Ansonia.

It’s also an important week for Versailles. They are coming off a loss to New Bremen. The last time the Tigers lost a game was on Sept. 3, 2021 against Marion Local. It will be interesting to see how this group responds this week.

With those games and more being played this week, here is what to look out for in each game.

Ansonia (4-0) vs Tri-Village (3-1): Physicality

Both teams are coming off a successful week of running the ball. Ansonia rushed for 338 yards as a team against Arcanum. Exzaviar Moody led the team with 195 rushing yards on 13 attempts and two rushing touchdowns. Tri-Village rushed for 268 yards against Mississinawa Valley. Reed Wehr led the team with 74 rushing yards on nine attempts and two rushing touchdowns.

Both running backs will be a huge factor for each teams’ running game. But, the game will be won by the most physical team.

Tri-Village head coach Matt Hopkins said that he needs his team to be physical if they want to beat Ansonia. So far, Ansonia has been dominate with their rushing attack. Ansonia has been the more physical team in every game they have played.

For the Tigers, they need to keep that level of physicality up to win this game. For the Patriots, they will need to show they can be as physical as Ansonia to stop the run and get their running game going.

Tri-County North (1-3) vs Arcanum (1-3): Running game

The Trojans are coming off a loss to Ansonia. This is a week where they can gain some confidence back with a game against Tri-County North. Ansonia is a tough team to beat, Arcanum shouldn’t be disappointed with their play against them.

For Arcanum, another strong showing from their running game could help further establish their offense. In their win against Mississinawa Valley, they rushed for a team total of 289 yards. Arcanum has found success on the ground with quarterback Garrett Garno and Jacob Rayburn. A good rushing game will help build the Trojans’ offense for the future.

Xenia (4-0) vs Greenville (0-4): Rushing game

Greenville suffered another one-point loss to Fairborn last week. It won’t be an easier game as they host undefeated Xenia, who is coming off a big 28-0 win over a previously undefeated Piqua team. Xenia is coming in averaging 318.3 rushing yards per game. Greenville is second with 259.3 rushing yards per game.

For the Green Wave to pull off the upset, they need to have at least some control in the running game. It’s going to be a quick game if they let Xenia run all over them. If they can get stops and have Brock Short do his thing, they can win the game. Another part of it will be to have other offensive play-makers, like quarterback Evan Manix, make plays. They won’t be able to shine unless they can get their running game going with time on the clock.

Mississinawa Valley (1-3) at Twin Valley South (1-3): Play a complete team game

It was a rough go for Mississinawa Valley the last two weeks. They suffered losses to Arcanum and Tri-Village. For the Tri-Village game, they were out three starters. That included quarterback Chastan Daniels, who was suspended for the game after getting ejected from the Arcanum game for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Head coach Steven Trobridge expects to get at least two of his starters back, or could get all of them back for the game against Twin Valley South. He said that his team needs to move on from the Tri-Village game and focus on their opponent ahead.

With at least some of the starters returning, the Blackhawks should have a good showing against Twin Valley South. A great showing from their defense against a team that averages 16.5 points per game will help build some confidence in the team. Also, Twin Valley South has allowed 27.3 points per game to their opponent. If the defense and offense can put together a great game, the Blackhawks can get their season back on track.

Versailles (3-1) at Parkway (2-2): Offensive bounce back

The Tigers are coming off a close loss to New Bremen, 14-7. They had 260 yards of total offense and averaged 4.5 yards per play.

New Bremen is a tough team and Versailles stayed in the game with their defense. Now, they can focus on how to get the offense up and running again. This game against Parkway will help show how the offense can respond to an off week.

We’ve seen the offense attack defenses in different ways. As long as the offense can put up some points on the board, they can win any game. A big offensive showing against Parkway will hype up an already intriguing match up against Marion Local next week.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]