In the previous five meetings between Clinton-Massie and Western Brown, the Falcons have always been the hunted and the Broncos the hunter.
And while the adage that to be the champ, you have to beat the champ still holds, it sure seems like reigning SBAAC American Division and Ohio Div. IV state champion Clinton-Massie is clearly the hunted.
The Falcons at 2-4 travel to Mount Orab to meet the 5-1 Broncos. The game will be televised by Spectrum One, CM coach Dan McSurley said.
“Should be a great atmosphere Friday night,” said McSurley. “Hopefully our earlier non-conference scheduled has prepared us for this tall task.”
Tall as in Drew Novak tall. Novak, the 6-6 all-everything quarterback for Western Brown, has 18 passing and 8 rushing touchdowns this season.
He’s helped Western Brown score 89 points on pretty good Massie defenses the past two seasons, albeit in losing efforts — 42-35 last year and 86-54 in 2020.
The Falcons have won five straight over the Broncos since re-joining the SBAAC but the difference has been shrinking the past few years.
“Western Brown handled a pretty tough New Richmond team last week,” McSurley said. “They have perhaps the premiere QBs in the state and last year’s national leader in passing.”
Clinton-Massie is coming off a 42-0 win over Goshen.
“Nice to get a win (last week) and go into this week with no more injuries,” the CM coach said. “Goshen was a scrappy bunch, however we were able to execute pretty well in all three phases of the game.”
Despite a 2-4 start, Massie still has all its goals in front of it, including the top goal.
“Let’s just call it the way it is,” McSurley said. “This week’s game goes a long way in achieving our primary goal and that’s winning our 16th consecutive league championship.”
