The South Central Ohio League game of the week will take place at Frank Irelan Field Friday night as league unbeatens Clinton-Massie and Washington hook up.
“Washington is a very different team than the (Blue Lion) teams from the past several years,” CM coach Dan McSurley said. “They have the ability to score with their passing game, so defending the big play will be at a premium.”
Both the Falcons and Blue Lions are 2-0 in the league. Massie is 4-1 overall while Washington remains unbeaten at 5-0.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Clinton-Massie is coming off a 56-0 win over McClain. CMHS outgained the Tigers 463 to 120 in yardage and held a 25 to 4 advantage in first downs. All of Clinton-Massie’s yards came on 56 rushing attempts.
Devon O’Bryon ran for 105 yards and three scores on just eight attempts. Daulton Wolfe scored twice and gained 73 yards. Brad Hunt, who returned to the lineup from injury, had 84 yards and a TD on nine rushes.
Jaycob Wolf had 74 yards and a touchdown while Christian Poynter gained 60 yards and ran for a score.
The Tigers, who had success running the ball the previous week against Wilmington, managed just 52 rushing yards on 24 attempts against Massie.
Caleb Carter was in on seven tackles to lead the Falcons last week. Jaycob Wolf had 2.5 tackles for loss and was in on five tackles total. Cole O’Bryon, Tyler Beam and Devon O’Bryon were in on four tackles each.
While pleased with the outcome last Friday, McSurley was just as happy with his program’s wins at the lower levels. He said his Clinton-Massie freshmen defeated McClain reserve squad and the Massie JVs lost “a competitive game” to Columbus DeSales, whose varsity is ranked No. 1 in the state Div. III poll.
McSurley said Weston Trampler will return to the lineup this week for the Falcons.
With half the regular season still ahead, there is still plenty to play for each and every week.
As things stand now, Clinton-Massie is No. 5 in the Div. IV Region 16 playoff rankings. Only four teams in the region are unbeaten and the Falcons are tied with 5-0 Kettering Alter. In seventh place is Washington, so a potential post-season rematch wouldn’t be out of the question.
“I believe our team would welcome an opportunity to make it back (to the playoffs), however we are currently focused on each weekly opponent and getting better as a unit,” said McSurley.
