News

 

COLUMBUS — Week 1 of the 2025 high school football postseason is in the books.

Football players from all over Ohio put up some amazing performances in the 11th week of the season. Here, the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association compiles the best of the best with the OPSMA High School Football Notebook.

 

Let’s take a look.

 

-Mohawk is back in the playoffs for the third time in Coach Eric Daniel’s six years of coaching, with this season being the second consecutive year. The Warriors (9-2) took down Montpelier 41-6 on Friday at Warrior Field in Sycamore. The first notable touchdown for the game came in the first quarter when the Warriors faced a second and 24 situation and Andon Clouse threw to Levi Tiell for a 20 yard pass. On the next play, Clouse connected with Tiell again, this time for a 51 yard touchdown pass. The two plays produced 71 total yards. The second noteworthy touchdown came at the start of the third quarter, when Kaden Bish ran for 49 yards. In total for the game, Bish had 12 rushes for 182 yards and three touchdowns.

 

-Seneca East won their game against Woodmore 15-13. While the Tigers (8-3) only threw for five yards the entire game, NIcholas Parks got the most ground coverage for SE. He carried the ball 28 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

 

-The Zane Trace Pioneers pitched a 48-0 shutout of the Lucasville Valley Indians on Friday night in a Division V Region 19 opening-round game, and scored touchdowns via four different ways, including a pair of interception returns for scores. The Pioneers also scored with three touchdown passes, a touchdown run and a blocked field goal return for a touchdown. Two different Zane Trace quarterbacks completed touchdown passes. Zane Trace also won its first playoff game since 2015, when it was the regional runner-up. The Pioneers play at Columbus Academy on Friday night in a Region 19 quarterfinal.

 

-The Portsmouth Trojans took advantage of archrival Ironton's misfortune, vaulted all the way to the fifth seed in the Division V Region 19 playoffs, and captured a home-game opening-round win over Amanda-Clearcreek on Friday night. The Trojans, which defeated the Aces 35-16 in last season's opening-round game for the first-ever Portsmouth home playoff game in Trojan Coliseum, repeated the 19-point feat Friday night- winning this season by a count of 32-13. Portsmouth, which lost at Ironton on the field 55-13 in the regular-season finale, was awarded a forfeit win over the 2024 Division V state champion Fighting Tigers - because Ironton played that game using ineligible players. With that forfeit win, coupled with Ironton being removed from the state playoffs by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, Portsmouth went from the 13th seed in Region 19 and out of the playoffs to the fifth seed - and subsequently a home game. The Aces also benefitted from Ironton's removal, landing the 12th and final playoff spot in Region 19. PHS senior quarterback Marquez Locklear completed 12-of-16 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers, while junior running back Fernando Poxes scored the other two TDs, including an 87-yard run for the final score. Poxes carried 17 times for 116 yards, as the Trojans won an opening-round playoff game for the fifth consecutive season. They also won in spite of 15 penalties for 151 yards, including seven personal fouls. Portsmouth plays at fourth-seeded Barnesville in the Region 19 quarterfinals on Friday night. 

 

-Portsmouth West junior running back Anthony Bishop broke off for a whopping 297 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries, part of 413 rushing yards on 57 Senator attempts, as West won at Cincinnati Summit Country Day 30-6 in the Division VI Region 24 opening round. West, which plays at top-seeded Tri-Village in the Region 24 quarterfinals on Friday night, won an opening-round playoff game for the third time in four years. 

 

-Caden Proy from Geneva took charge of his team following injuries to Bryce Peet and Ricky Dipetta, leading them to victory against Alliance in the first round of the OHSAA playoffs. He accumulated 295 rushing yards on 17 carries, scoring four touchdowns in a 46-12 win.

 

-Julius Gore contributed significantly to Malvern's first-round playoff victory against St. John School (Ashtabula) with a score of 34-0, accumulating 221 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. The Hornets collectively achieved 305 yards of rushing offense on 35 carries, with teammate Roy Simmons adding 50 yards on six carries along with one touchdown. 

 

-Fairview set up a rematch of its 36-32 thriller of a loss against Paulding in the regular season by defeating county and conference rival Tinora for the second time this season in a D-VI Region 22 first-round rout, 42-6. QB William Zeedyk completed 20-of-33 passes for 329 yards and five TDs and rushed for 106 yards on 13 carries. Logan Olinger caught eight passes for 125 yards and added a rushing TD, bringing his total to 25 TDs this season.

 

-Preble Shawnee defeated Arcanum 54-26 in first round DV Region 20 football playoff game.  Senior QB Brody Morton had 6 TDs and senior WR Caleb Blankenship had 5.  Morton threw 4 completions for 178 all to Blankenship for scores.  Morton rushed 107 yards including a 55-yard TD and had 49-yard interception return for a score.  Blankenship also had an interception for a TD.