September 3, 2025
Ohio Prep Sports Media Association High School Football Notebook – Week 2
COLUMBUS — Week 2 of the 2025 high school football season is in the books.
Football players from all over Ohio put up some amazing performances on opening night 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.
-Ontario’s Guy Trader had a 68-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a 52-yard punt return for a score and a 25-yard touchdown catch in a 37-6 win over Norwalk. Kooper Kilgore had a four-yard TD run while going for 37 yards on 11 carries while Cardae Brown added a 31-yard TD catch and Trey Remy tossed two scores while going 18-for-24 for 176 yards passing. Trader finished with three catches for 37 yards and added three tackles with a tackle for loss on defense. Ryan Gatwood also had four tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery.
-Shelby’s Brayden DeVito was 9-for-10 for 157 yards and two touchdowns through the air while running for 164 yards on 11 carries with two scores in a 37-13 win over Lexington. Brady Bowman caught four passes for 83 yards and a score while Carter Kessler added three catches for 64 yards and a touchdown and also recorded a sack on defense. Gavin Baker added four carries for 56 yards and a touchdown in the win. Kyler Williams had six tackles and a sack while Michael Shepherd had four tackles and two sacks to lead a great defensive effort.
-Madison’s Kaleb Gordon finished the night with 18 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-7 win over River Valley. Zaydien Longboat had 55 yards rushing on four carries and Colton Adkins added 55 yards on 11 carries. He also returned an interception for a touchdown on defense while Namarious Elliott also had a big interception in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice giving head coach Kobi Johnson his first career coaching victory.
-Clear Fork’s Marcus Hoeflich ended the game going 7-for-9 with 162 yards and three touchdown passes in a 39-0 win over Zanesville. Brayden Hayes led the team with 72 rushing yards on 12 carries while Porter Schmidt added 54 yards on six carries, Devyn Owsalt had 27 yards on one carry with a score and Alex Schlosser had 15 yards on three carries and a TD. Oswalt caught one pass for 64 yards and a score, Nash Evans had one catch for 38 yards and a TD and Jacob Brokaw had a catch for 26 yards and a TD. Davis Hoeflich caught two passes for 19 yards and Schmidt added a 15-yard catch to the stat book.
-After missing Week 1 due to a minor neck injury, Vermilion running back Evan Kuhns debuted with 417 rushing yards, with five touchdowns in a 42-12 rivalry win against Firelands in the Stillman Cup. He surpassed the 400-mark with 3:18 left in the third quarter and was 22 yards away from breaking the Lorain County single game rushing record. It was set by Lorain Catholic's Zach Warner in 1998 with 438 against Marion Catholic.
-Oberlin's 31-game losing streak was Ohio's longest active losing streak, according to Fantastic 50. After three winless seasons, the Phoenix won its first game with a 13-12 win against Brooklyn.
-Crestline returned three kicks for touchdowns in Thursday’s 48-6 win over Vanlue. Kordaie Robinson returned the opening kickoff 65 yards for one TD, and Weston Clark returned punts 50 and 75 yards for two more scores.
-Liberty-Benton’s Zach Elchert rushed for 159 yards and four touchdowns and intercepted a pass on defense in the Eagles’ 41-3 win over Columbus Grove. The loss ended a 25-game home field winning streak by Columbus Grove that extended back to a Nov. 6, 2021 Division VI second round playoff loss to Liberty Center.
-Bluffton quarterback Tayte Giesige threw for 292 yards and six touchdowns and ran for 69 yards and another score in the Pirates’ 48-14 win over Pandora-Gilboa.
-With McComb’s 41-7 win over Toledo Christian on Saturday, Kris Alge became the 39th Ohio prep football coach to achieve 250 career wins. Alge, who guided the Panthers to a Division VII state championship in 2018, is No. 15 on the list of coaches who have compiled 250 at one school.
-Max Miller was 18-of-29 for 252 yards and three touchdowns in Springboro’s 38-0 shutout win over Edgewood. It was his first multi-passing touchdown game of the season and equaled his career high from 2024 when he threw three TDs in a 38-7 win over Edgewood. Miller also ran for 43 yards and a score in this year’s shutout win.
-Evan Weinberg had three sacks in Springboro’s 38-0 win over Edgewood giving him four on the season. He had just 1.5 all of last season. The Panthers totaled 7.5 against the Cougars with 1.5 by Carter Napier and one each by Max Weimer, Matt Giuffre and Isaiah Doerman.
-Fenwick totaled 401 yards of offense in its 21-7 win over Monroe with 385 of those yards coming on the ground. Jackson Kauffman and Hudson Kreke combined for 239 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Kauffman had a huge second half rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown and finished the game with 139 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Kreke carried the ball six times for 100 yards and a score.
-Dayton Christian scored 13 points in the fourth quarter for the come-from-behind 28-25 win over Bethel-Tate on Friday. Junior quarterback Cameron Hartman completed 16-of-36 pass attempts for 257 yards and two touchdowns in the win. His favorite target was senior Caden Shepherd, who caught none of those passes for 125 yards.
-Lakota West quarterback Jackson Smith was nearly perfect, completing 12-of-14 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns in Lakota West’s 35-13 win over Mason. Tyson Davis was on the receiving end of seven of those passes for 152 yards and two ion the touchdowns.
-Middletown’s Jordan Vann had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown in helping the Middies to a 19-2 win over Fairfield. It’s the third straight season Middletown has started the year 2-0.
-Andre Bailey ran for 233 yards and two touchdowns as Hamilton trounced Sycamore 37-7. Bailey, a senior, only had 170 yards total rushing last season.
-Lakota East’s Carson Shroyer returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead over Oak Hills. The Thunderhawks went onto win the game 14-7 to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2017.
-Badin had a pair of rushers go over 100 yards in a 66-21 win over Dixie Heights (Ky.). Lem Grayson had 14 carries for 158 yards and four touchdowns for the Rams, while teammate Chase Even ran 13 times for 110 yards and one touchdown. Badin is 2-0 to start the season.
-Van Wert's Xavier Kelly carried 20 times for 137 yards and had two receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown in a 19-14 win over Elida on Friday.
-Bluffton's Tayte Giesige completed 12 of 16 passes for 308 yards and six touchdowns and added 72 yards and a touchdown on four carries as the Pirates defeated Pandora-Gilboa 47-14 on Friday.
-Marion Local's Ben Meier tallied 104 yards rushing and three touchdowns on just seven carries as the Flyers won their 66th consecutive game, 63-0 over Convoy Crestview. Marion Local has not allowed a regular season touchdown since Week No. 5 of the 2024 season.
-Grove City running back Blaike Jackson rushed for 250 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries, including a 3-yard TD run with 32 seconds left for the game-winning score in a 45-41 win over Westland.
-Westland quarterback Jayrece Dixon completed 29 of 48 passes for 504 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-41 loss to Grove City.
-Dublin Scioto quarterback Jack McKee completed 22 of 32 passes for 224 yards with four touchdowns and one interception and rushed for 110 yards on nine carries in a 41-40 win over Lancaster.
-New Carlisle Tecumseh outscored Dayton Carroll 14-8 in the second half, snapping a 19-game losing streak with a 30-16 win at Spoerl-Bartlett Field. Tecumseh’s last victory came at Carroll in Week 2 of the 2023 season.
-Urbana junior QB Grady Lantz scored on a 6-yard run with 1:01 left in the game to beat Champaign County rival Mechanicsburg 47-43. Lantz threw for 414 yards and four TDs and rushed for 100 yards and three TDs as the Hillclimbers beat the Indians for the first time since 1998.
-Springfield Northeastern senior Cody Houseman rushed for 236 yards and a touchdown as the Jets beat Riverside 36-8 to improve to 2-0. It was the second straight week Houseman eclipsed 200 yards rushing. He ran for 218 yards in their Week 1 victory over Urbana.
-Lakota West junior Jackson Smith finished 12-of-14 for 284 yards with four touchdown passes as the Firebirds beat Mason 35-14.
-Hamilton senior Andre Bailey rushed for 233 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns as the BIg Blue beat Sycamore 37-7 in their Greater Miami Conference opener.
-Fairborn senior Zyaire Cavitt ran in all four touchdowns for Fairborn, finishing with 156 rushing yards on 21 carries, as the Skyhawks beat Sidney 37-7. It was Fairborn's first victory over Sidney since the creation of the Miami Valley League in 2019.
-Tippecanoe senior Xavier Melton rushed for 272 yards and four TDs on 22 carries as the Red Devils beat Piqua 40-7 in a Miami Valley League game.
-Oakwood senior Zach Lutz threw for 256 yards and five TDs - including three to junior Michael Woeste - as the Lumberjacks beat Tipp City Bethel 43-12.
-Youngstown Chaney wide receiver Allen Hill had 4 catches for 98 yards, 2 TDs and 5 tackles in win over Struthers 27-12.
-Uniontown Lake defensive end Gavin Salzwimmer had 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks in a 48-20 win over Boardman.
-Preble Shawnee Sr. QB Brody Morton accounted for all 5 TDs for his Arrows’ football team. They ended Ansonia’s 22 game Western Ohio Athletic Conference win streak. Morton was 9-for-13 throwing for 128 yards and a TD, then rushed for 214 yards on 19 carries, 4 TDs including an 80-yarder in 34-8 win.
-Fairview’s Logan Olinger had his hands all over the Apaches’ 36-32 win over Delta, catching 10 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns, rushing for a pair of one-yard TDs and recording an interception on defense.
-Nate Ryan of Stryker hit the century-mark with 18 rushes for 120 yards while catching a team-high four passes for 69 yards and a touchdown, returning a punt 45 yards to paydirt and tallying six tackles on defense in a 36-28 win at North Adams-Jerome (Mich.) in eight-man football action.
-Holgate sophomore running back Weiand Stalnaker rushed 11 times for 149 yards and two scores while catching three passes for 35 yards in a 40-14 home win over Camden-Frontier (Mich.).
-For the second straight week, Defiance’s winning hopes hinged on a two-point conversion. After stopping Napoleon’s go-ahead conversion attempt with 54 seconds left in week one, the Bulldogs kept Ottawa-Glandorf from a go-ahead two-pointer and moved to 2-0 with a 21-20 road win. That marks the first time since at least 1972 that Defiance has recorded consecutive one-point victories.
-After rushing for four touchdowns in week one’s win over Edon, Maddox Baker had a four-score day through the air for Edgerton with 248 yards and four scores on 15-of-20 passing while also rushing for 76 yards on seven totes in a 42-0 win at Hilltop Saturday.
-Liberty Center’s Garrison Kruse needed just nine carries to rack up 164 yards and find the endzone three times on the ground - including a 62-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage - in the Tigers’ 48-14 win over Eastwood. Kruse also had a 23-yard touchdown reception as well.
-Nelsonville-York defeated U.S. Route 33 rival Logan 46-7 on Friday night, as Austin Gautier rushed for 234 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, Dakota Cunningham carried 12 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns, and Caeleb Layton made 10 tackles including two for loss three quarterback sacks.
-Athens' Anthony Sutton rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries, and Weston Wheatley made two interceptions, in the Bulldogs' 48-0 shoutout of visiting Paint Valley on Friday night. The Bulldogs also opened their season with a 41-0 shutout of Logan.
-Trimble's Luke Orsborne rushed for 145 yards on 16 carries in the Tomcats' 36-0 shutout of Berne Union on Friday night.
-Symmes Valley and host Meigs combined for 875 total yards, 14 touchdowns and 46 first downs in Symmes Valley's 56-42 victory on Friday night.
-The defending Division V state champion Ironton Fighting Tigers defeated Liberty Christian Academy of Virginia 42-3 on Saturday night, as part of the annual Ironton Gridiron Classic. Ironton snapped Liberty Christian's 29-game win streak, as the Bulldogs are the two-time defending Class 3A champion in Virginia. Ironton extended its winning streak at historic Tanks Memorial Stadium to 18, as the last loss at "The Tank" came on Sept. 10, 2021 against Cincinnati Moeller. Last season, Ironton's only loss was 28-27 against Clarkson North of Ontario, Canada, but that "home" game got moved to nearby Franklin Furnace Green, due to storm damage at Tanks Memorial Stadium.
-The Lucasville Valley Indians shut out visiting Fayetteville 47-0 on Friday night, giving Valley its first 2-0 start since 2015. Valley shut out Paint Valley 33-0 in its season opener, and hosts 2-0 Piketon this week.
-McDermott Northwest senior quarterback Jake Brown threw for 126 yards and three touchdowns on 6-of-11 passing, and rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown on six carries, in the Mohawks' 46-24 victory over visiting Greenfield McClain.
-Tiffin Calvert won against Monroeville 35-21. That snapped a two year streak where Monroeville had won. The first event happened within a minute of gameplay where Charlie Palm threw a 62 yard pass to AJ Shoemaker for a touchdown, making 6-0. In the second quarter, Cameron Lucius attempted and successfully completed a 46 yard field goal. Within that same quarter, Monroeville was forced to punt the ball, and Logan DeMoss caught it. DeMoss ran for a 77 yard punt return for a touchdown.
-Blanchester senior Ayden Basham had a 7 touchdown performance in a wild 56-49 win over Cincinnati Country Day Friday. Basham ran for 250 yards on 38 attempts. The 6 rushing touchdowns match what is believed to be the school held jointly with Tristan Greene from 2017. Greene had a 10-touchdown game (6 rushing, 4 passing) in a 73-18 win over Bethel-Tate. The Blanchester record for total touchdowns scored in a game is believed to be 7 held by Cory McClanahan who had four rushing, two receiving and one on a kickoff return in a 61-7 win over Clermont Northeastern in 2006.
-Clinton-Massie head coach Dan McSurley joined the elite 300 win club Friday night with a stunning win over the defending Div. VI state champions. Clinton-Massie won at Coldwater 14-7. The Falcons ran for 257 yards against the Cavaliers with Tristen Trampler leading the way with 125 yards on 23 rushes. Clinton-Massie held Coldwater to just 108 yards of total offense. McSurley is the 19th coach in Ohio football history to register 300 wins, according to the OHSAA website.
-Lucas Kunkel of Hamilton Ross ran 15 times for 109 yards and six touchdowns in a 57-8 victory over Dayton Thurgood Marshall.
-Oxford Talawanda's Oliver Bennett completed 8-of-13 passes for 118 yards and five touchdowns, all in the first half, in a 42-6 victory over Dayton Meadowdale.
-McConnelsville Morgan Junior Tanner Bankes rushed for 215 yards and scored three first-half touchdowns in the Raiders' 28-13 victory over Vincent Warren.
-Beverly Fort Frye had two 100-yard rushers in their 36-7 win at Zanesville West Muskingum. Gavin Rauch rushed for 165 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown. Tyce Beardsley had 141 yards on 19 carries and two scores.
-Waterford's Hayden Jones completed 13 of 29 passes for 182 yards with two touchdowns in a 21-6 victory over Caldwell. On defense, Jones had one of the five interceptions by the Wildcats.
-Hillsboro junior Collin Swackhamer led the Indians in their 41-25 win over the Goshen Warriors in Week 2 with 12 carries for 167 yards and two rushing touchdowns, as the second of his two touchdown runs went for 65 yards. On defense, Swackhamer was the co-leader in tackles with eight, including four solo tackles.
-Hillsboro junior Malachi Aber had a big game for the Indians in their Week 2 win over Goshen, ending Friday night with a co-lead in tackles with eight, including one tackle for loss, plus he had one sack.
-Freshman Dom Bell returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown, completed 12-of-20 passes for 195 yards and three TDs and punted three times for a 45.0 average in Sullivan Black River's 37-7 win over neighboring West Salem Northwestern.
-Sophomore Brysen Hall completed 12-of-15 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns as Wadsworth defeated New Albany 35-7. Calix Lemp (3 catches, 119 yards, 2 TDs) and Cooper Gray (3, 101, 1) each surpassed 100 receiving yards.
-Austin Sustersic made field goals of 20, 30 and 41 yards as Seville Cloverleaf upset defending Lorain County League champion Keystone 22-6.
-Fairborn's Zyaire Cavitt scored four touchdowns to single-handedly carry his side to a 28-0 win against Sidney. His defense held the Yellow Jackets to 61 yards of offense to get the Skyhawks to 2-0 for just the second time in 15 years.
-Will Mossing threw five touchdowns on just seven completions in a 40-0 Cedarville romp of East Clinton. Nathan Van Loo and Lincoln Pyles both caught 2 TDs, and Isaiah Christian caught and ran in scores.