Senior quarterback Mason Reckner threw for 202 yards and four touchdowns while senior Tayven Crump had 93 yards receiving and two scores for the Aviators, who outgained Greenville 305-158 and outscored the Green Wave 41-7.
Earlier in the season, coach Zach Gueth’s team beat Northmont 49-20, downed Piqua 17-7 and topped Troy 21-13.
“We have had three guys step into new positions up front, and they’ve been performing at a high level,” Gueth said. “Out wide, we’ve had some skill positions that had a lot of experience coming back, so they’ve continued to perform well and at a high level offensively. Defensively, we had a lot of holes to fill, so there’s a lot of key guys stepping into some new spots there and playing at a high level right now.”
The Trojans and Aviators shared the MVL Miami title with Tippecanoe last season, and the Red Devils are also 4-0 to start 2024.
Butler is scheduled to go to Tipp City next week, but first the 4-0 Buccaneers come to town with eye-popping numbers on both sides of the ball.
The Buccaneers lead all MVL teams in points for (189, or 47.3 per game)) and against (20/5.0), and coach Maurice Harden’s team has allowed the fewest yards rushing (248/62.0), passing (251/62.8)) and overall in the league’s first month.
The Buccs are also No. 1 in total yards (429.5 per game) on offense and rushing (274.8 per game).
“They’re going to make you play in space, and then they’re physical up front,” Gueth said. “So it’s a two-headed monster as far as what you’ve got to prepare for.”
Butler relies on a balanced offense averaging 136.3 yards per game on the ground and 114.8 through the air.
The Avs are tied for fourth in the league in scoring at 32 points per game while checking in third in points allowed at 11.8.
Xenia has three straight lopsided wins after a decisive victory at Beavercreek (26-7) in Week 1.
The Buccaneers outscored West Carrollton, Sidney and Stebbins by a combined score of 163-13 the past three weeks.
Driving the Xenia attack so far this season is Deaunte White, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior who already has 721 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.
He went for a record-breaking 388 yards and seven touchdowns in a Week 3 win at Sidney.
“I think he brings a physical element to our football team and kind of exemplifies the type of football we want to play,” Harden said. “We want to be physical at the point of attack, and we want to be able to establish ourselves on the line of scrimmage.”
If White is bottled up, Harden has a potential ace up his sleeve in senior quarterback Gavin McManus. He has not needed to air it out much so far this season, but the four-year starter has completed 46 of 63 passes for 569 yards and six touchdowns without an interception, and he has two potential Division I college targets to throw to in junior Shawn Fishwick and senior Trimonde Henry.
“When you’ve got a guy back there who’s done that for four years for you, it makes things a heck of a lot easier for you as a coach,” Harden said. “He has a great understanding of what we do and how we do it, so that kind of helps things out, right? Having a senior back there versus a sophomore, you kind of allow him to just facilitate things and allow things to move the way they’re supposed to without any issues.”
The 6-foot, 165-pound Henry is also a key member of Harden’s defense with a pair of interceptions and 12 tackles, plus he took a punt back for a touchdown against West Carrollton.
Butler prevailed at Doug Adams Stadium last season 28-21, but Xenia has won the other four meetings since the MVL reformed in 2019.
“I think Butler is a very sound, good football team, so kudos to Zach and those guys who work really hard to try to help them be a successful program,” Harden said. “They like to run the football. They want to be physical, and then on defense, they’re very sound. So I think we’ll have our hands full on Friday.”
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