By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — There are five games left in the high school football season and we already have another conference-altering game this week. Here are the previews for the upcoming games this week for the Darke County teams.

Ansonia (5-0, 3-0) at Twin Valley South (2-3, 2-2)

The Tigers are now alone at the top of the WOAC standings being the last remaining undefeated team in the conference. They avenged last year’s lost to Tri-Village with a 30-22 home win last week. Senior running back Keegen Weiss continues to be the center of the offense. He leads the WOAC with 859 rushing yards on 113 carries. On Ansonia’s roster, the next closest in carries is senior Garrett Stammen with 30 carries. They did show they are willing to throw when needed last week as senior quarterback Nick Burns was 4 for 5 with 63 passing yards.

They will face a tough team that has a similar philosophy in Twin Valley South. The Panthers do lean on their running game with seniors Cais Kingsley and Brayden Koeller handling a majority of the work. But, Twin Valley South has had back to back games with 100+ passing yards with two different quarterbacks. On defense, Twin Valley South has given up 132.8 rushing yards a game. Most notably, they gave up 194 rushing yards against Tri-Village during their week three matchup.

Arcanum (2-3, 1-3) vs National Trail (2-3, 2-1)

Arcanum had their best passing game of the season against Tri-County North last week. Freshman Bishop Cartwright had 197 yards passing and two touchdowns. The team rushed for 181 yards as well. The defense did allow 297 rushing yards to the Panthers. The rushing defense for the Trojans have given up 242.6 yards a game on the ground.

They go up against National Trail, who rushed for 489 yards in the game. Senior Chase Ruebush had 241 rushing yards and senior Jamison Watts had 163 rushing yards. The Blazers did not complete a pass in their 61-21 win over Dixie. They average 242.8 yards a game on the ground. National Trail has given up 26.2 points a game so far this season.

Bradford (4-1) at Dixie (2-3, 1-3)

The Railroaders will get their first shot at playing one of their league mates with the trip to Dixie. The Railroaders have won three straight games and have scored over 40 points in each of those games. They average 44 points in their last three and have given up an average of 19 points in their last three. Against Sciotoville East last week, junior quarterback Owen Canan had four rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdowns to account for all but one of Bradford’s touchdowns.

Dixie is currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak after a 61-21 loss to National Trail. In the loss, they were still able to rush for 227 yards as a team. Junior Justin Melton had 135 yards rushing in the game. While Bradford had a balanced attack in last week’s win, they do use the run game to open the passing game. Dixie just allowed 489 yards rushing to National Trail.

Greenville (0-5, 0-4) at Sidney (3-2, 3-1)

The Green Wave continue to feature different leading rushers so far this season. Senior quarterback Evan Manix led the team in yards with 60 against Piqua last week in their 35-7 loss. However, sophomore Gabe Rammel led the team in carries with 19 and had 44 yards. Rammel has led the team in carries the last three games.

Sidney has won their last two games in dominating fashion. They beat Fairborn 56-6 on Sep. 8 and defeated West Carrollton last week 42-0. The passing attack, led by senior Tucker Herron, leads their offense. Junior Julius Spradling may not be in this game after he sustained an injury in last week’s game against West Carrollton. In one half of football, Spradling ran for 108 yards and had two rushing touchdowns. He threw for a touchdown and had a kick return touchdown.

Mississinawa Valley (0-5, 0-4) at Preble Shawnee (3-2, 2-1)

While the Blackhawks did lost against Twin Valley South, 35-7, last week, they did get back senior Dylan Wehrkamp. With the two quarterback system, they threw for 117 yards and rushed for 91 yards. The team did commit three turnovers in the game. They did hold the Panthers to 152 yards rushing on defense.

Preble Shawnee is on a three-game winning streak and won 31-22 over Thurgood Marshall. Sophomore quarterback Brody Morton had 129 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Arrows defense forced four turnovers and have forced 14 turnovers so far this season. Preble Shawnee only averages 78 rushing yards a game.

Tri-Village (4-1, 3-1) vs Tri-County North (3-2, 2-1)

The Patriots will look to get back on track against another team that likes to run the ball. Tri-Village allowed 266 rushing yards to Ansonia in their 30-22 loss last week. The Tigers averaged 4.1 yards a carry with a team total 65 rush attempts. Tri-Village aired it out against Ansonia as senior Braden Keating had 218 yards passing on 15 for 26 passing. The team had 14 rush attempts for 31 yards. The Patriots normally have a more balanced approach on offense.

Tri-County North allowed 378 total yards of offense to Arcanum last week. Senior Colten Vanwinkle, the second leading rusher in the WOAC, had 182 yards rushing. The Panthers have 224 rushing attempts this season compared to 39 total passing attempts.

Versailles (5-0, 3-0) at Marion Local (5-0, 3-0)

When playing in the MAC, it’s always possible to have to face another state champion. The Tigers will travel to the defending Division VI State Champions in Marion Local for a battle of the top teams in their respective divisions. In the weekly AP poll, Versailles was voted one in Division VI and Marion Local was voted one in Division VII. Marion Local hasn’t lost a game since 2020. It was to New Bremen in the Division VII State Championship game. They’ve been 38-0 since that loss and won state titles in Divsion VI and Division VII.

The Flyers have averaged 46.4 points a game and allowed 9.4 points a game with one shutout. Versailles has averaged 35.4 points a game and allowed 2.8 points a game with three shutouts so far this season. This is one of the few games that will have a hand in deciding who will be the MAC champion. Coldwater is the only other MAC school currently undefeated.

These two teams last played in the Division VI regional semifinals. Marion Local won 35-3. This game is poised to be a lot closer than the last matchup.

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