By Wade Linville –
Week six on the gridiron saw the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets defeat Miami Valley Christian Academy to secure the top spot in Ohio Valley Athletic League standings, while the Southern Buckeye Warriors claimed their second win of the season over North Adams, and the Western Brown Broncos suffered a loss to the now 5-1 New Richmond Lions.
Fayetteville-Perry head football coach Kevin Finch knew coming into the 2016 season that defeating Miami Valley Christian Academy would be one of his Rockets’ toughest challenges in their quest to repeat as Ohio Valley Athletic League champions, and on Sept. 30 at Fayetteville the Rockets moved one huge step closer to bringing home their second consecutive league crown by defeating MVCA 24-13.
With the week six win, the Rockets rose to an overall record of 4-2 and a 2-0 record in OVAL play, climbing to the top in league standings.
“Its always interesting how things will go during fair week but the players responded against a very good MVCA team,” said Finch. “The defensive and offensive lines played very well on both sides of the ball. At one point in the second quarter we got a big defensive stand on a 4th and goal from the two-yard line and turned right around and punched inn a 20-play drive that ate up most of the seven minutes remaining in the half. Chase Jester added three more touchdowns on the season. We now have to refocus for Manchester week.”
The Rockets are on their home field for the third straight week to host the Manchester Greyhounds (1-5) in their third OVAL contest of the season on Oct. 7.
After trailing MVCA 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, it was a touchdown by Jester followed by a successful two-point conversion to give the Rockets an 8-7 lead that would hold out until halftime.
The Rockets relied on their fierce running game to outscore MVCA 16-6 in the second half of play to secure an 11-point victory.
Of the Rockets’ 249 yards of total offense, 241 were rushing yards that resulted from outstanding blocking from Tay Call, Andy Smith, Garhett Thompson, Nate Parks, Ryan Shaw, and others.
The Rockets were also impressive on the defensive end to limit the skilled MVCA team to only one touchdown with much credit going out to defensive linemen that included Smith, Thompson, Skylar Minton, and Call.
MVCA dropped to a 4-2 overall record and 0-1 record in OVAL play with the week six loss at Fayetteville.
Jester would take 25 carries to total 156 rushing yards and three touchdowns, averaging 6.2 yards a carry against the MVCA defense. In six games this season, Jester has totaled 1096 rushing yards with an average of 7.1 yards per carry and 18 touchdowns, while teammate Austin Brockman has rushed for a total of 347 yards with an average of five yards per carry on the season.
The week six win moved the Rockets to sixth place in Division VI, Region 24 standings, putting them in position for the Fayetteville-Perry football program’s first ever berth in the postseason playoffs ahead of No. 7 ranked Miami East and No. 8 ranked Williamsburg.
On Sept. 30, the Southern Buckeye Warriors claimed their second victory of the season by topping the visiting North Adams Green Devils 35-2 at Koehler Field.
It was another excellent team effort by the Warriors that led them to their second victory of the season over the Green Devils with outstanding performances by the offensive and defensive linemen, along with some impressive offensive performances by players such as freshman quarterback Keegan Collins and senior wide receiver Quentin Hiser.
Hiser would pull down three touchdown receptions in the Sept. 30 win, all TD passes delivered by Collins.
Linebacker Kade Houston had another impressive night on the defensive end, putting pressure on the Devil offense throughout the night.
“What I’m seeing is a lot of improvement each week out of the offensive line and defensive line. If the line is not doing its job, nothing else is going to work,” said SB Warriors’ head coach Chris Tomlin. “Offensively, we really push them hard in practice. Our run-blocking was really working on Friday night, and our running game really opened up our passing game. Quentin Hiser played ‘lights out’ on offense, and I would have to say Kade Houston is once again the defensive player of the game in my eyes.”
The SB Warriors rose to a 2-3 overall record on the season with the Sept. 30 win, and they plan to take on Landmark Christian in their next outing which will take place on Oct. 14.
In the meantime, the Warriors will continue to put in hard work on the practice field with the goal of continuous improvement.
“This is a young team, but we’re progressing and that’s what is important,” said Tomlin.
Struggles continued for the Western Brown Broncos on Sept. 30, as they suffered their fifth consecutive loss while battling their way through a grueling regular season schedule.
The Broncos were outscored 36-0 in the first half of play, held scoreless by the sturdy Lion defense while on offense the Lions cruised behind the outstanding play and leadership of quarterback Josh Anderson to score 14 points in the first quarter and tack on 22 more in the second quarter.
Anderson led Lion rushers with 103 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown off 11 carries. He also completed 14-of-18 pass attempts throughout the night for a total of 234 passing yards and one touchdown, throwing for just one interception.
The Broncos totaled four turnovers which played a significant role in the week six loss.
The Broncos were able to return in the second half to score their first touchdown in the third quarter and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lions 20-7 in the second half of play.
The Broncos dropped to a 1-5 overall record and an 0-1 league record with Friday’s loss to the New Richmond.
The Broncos are back on their home field Oct. 7, hosting the 2-4 Amelia Barons in a Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference American Division contest.
