In the second week of league play, there are a couple of key games in the SBAAC this week.
Tops on this list is Goshen at Wilmington in an American Division contest. The unbeaten Warriors get an injured Hurricane squad at Alumni Field. WHS will be celebrating its Homecoming.
In the National Division, first place is on the line when Bethel-Tate hosts Clermont Northeastern. Both teams, along with East Clinton, are 1-0 in the National Division.
“CNE is 4-2 right now and has a lot of confidence in their team,” Bethel-Tate head coach Jeff Essig said. “They are well-coached and are really proud of their offensive line. They are the complete opposite of us when it comes to offense. CNE will try to run the ball behind their big offensive line and then throw a pass to see if they can catch our secondary being undisciplined. On defense they are going to try to pressure our QB and try to force him to rush or make bad decisions.”
Other games include Western Brown at Clinton-Massie, East Clinton at Fayetteville-Perry, Blanchester at Williamsburg and New Richmond at Batavia.
All games are scheduled to kick-off at 7 p.m. Friday night.
Previews on the Wilmington, Clinton-Massie, Blanchester and East Clinton games can be found elsewhere in this edition of the News Journal.
The Tigers and Astros could be on target for a Week 8 showdown with first-place on the line. Both teams, however, must navigate tough league games this week before it’ll be a matchup of 2-0 teams in Lees Creek.
While transfer quarterback Seth Becker gets a lot of credit as signal-caller for the unbeaten Tigers, Essig said it’s the defensive line that has been key to the Bethel-Tate success.
“They have shown game after game how dominant they can be,” Essig said. “They have gotten many stops for us through the season so far and will be tested again with CNE’s offensive line. Bradley Lewis, Gabe Kilgore, Jerret Walters and Mike Whittington have been solid for us. Lewis is third in the city in sacks with 10. I am very happy with their play so far this season.”
Cole Joslin will be the focus of that Bethel-Tate defense. The Rockets top offensive threat had 187 yards and three scores on the ground in last week’s win over Fayetteville-Perry. For the year, Joslin has an SBAAC-leading 831 yards rushing and 13 scores.
Last week against Blanchester, the Tigers led 14-0, trailed 15-14 and won 22-15.
“We turned the ball over too much and when we forced turnovers we did not capitalize,” Essig said. “Against good teams, turning over the ball and not taking advantage of forced turnovers will cost us a game. However we were able to overcome the mistakes and win the game this time.”
