High School Football: Northmont, Piqua rise to top

Here are some takeaways from the fourth week of competition and the release of the playoff regions by the OHSAA:

1. Northmont keeps finding ways to win.

The Thunderbolts not only are 4-0 but showed championship DNA with fourth quarter rallies to beat formidable foes Springboro in Week 1 and Springfield last week.

That has them in the driver’s seat in the Greater Western Ohio Conference race with two games left and no other unbeatens remaining in the league.

Quarterback Cade Rice leads the GWOC with 1,026 passing yards while teammate Markus Allen leads in receiving yards with 386.

They face 2-1 Miamisburg this week before hosting Wayne (3-1) in Week 6.

2. Don’t write off Springfield.

We already knew the Wildcats know how to win after they advanced to the state semifinals last season. This year the question was how much quarterback Te’Sean Smoot would develop after a solid sophomore season, and who would be his top targets.

So far coach Maurice Douglass has to like what he has seen in both cases. The junior signal-caller trails only Rice in passing yards in the GWOC (953) and Wildcats Anthony Brown and Ben Van Noord are third (276 yards) and fourth (273) respectively in receiving yards.

This week the Wildcats host Springboro in what figures to be an elimination game in the conference race.

3. Piqua still looks like the team to beat in the Miami Valley League — unless it is Tippecanoe or Fairborn.

Coach Bill Nees' Indians started the season with a 26-10 takedown of defending Miami division rival Troy and blew out Butler 43-18. They have not allowed a point in the last two games, beating Greenville 49-0 in Week 3 before handing Stebbins its first loss 27-0 last week in a cross-divisional game.

Piqua leads the MVL in points and points allowed with sophomore quarterback Brady Ouhl leading an offense that has seen Jasiah Medley and Ca’Ron Coleman combine for 531 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.

Matt Burgbacher’s Tippecanoe team also has a pair of primary runners in Griffin Caldwell (192 yards rushing) and Troy Taylor (231) while junior linebacker Cayd Everhart leads the MVL with 50 tackles.

They’ll face off this week in Tipp City.

Fairborn is also still undefeated, though the Firebirds powerful offense led by quarterback Patrick Parrish and running back/linebacker Hunter Warner has been grounded the past two weeks by contact tracing as a result of playing West Carrollton in Week 2 when the Pirates had a player who later tested positive for COVID-19.

FHS is scheduled to return to the field Friday night against Stebbins, which still hasn’t lost in Valley division play.

4. Alter hitting its stride?

The Knights made short work of Carroll on Friday night, scoring on their first three plays from scrimmage en route to a 48-0 blowout.

Coach Ed Domsitz told his team afterward they looked better than last season against the Patriots, an understatement considering Carroll upset the Knights 17-10 in Week 8.

Domsitz’s team has won two in a row after losing its first two this season. Senior tailback Branden McDonald ran for four touchdowns as the Knights piled up 446 yards rushing against the Patriots, who couldn’t get much going through the air (58 yards) or on the ground (68 yards).

Alter travels south to Cincinnati this week to take on undefeated McNicholas then closes the regular season against rival Chaminade Julienne.

5. Meanwhile, there was other news this weekend as the OHSAA released the revised playoff regions for this season.

In Division I, Dayton-area teams find themselves again sharing Region 2 with squads from both northwest Ohio and some of the Columbus suburbs. That includes current Associated Press poll leader Dublin Coffman but not second-ranked Pickerington Central.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati-area big schools will be fighting it out amongst themselves in Region 4, home Lakota West (No. 3 in the AP) and Princeton (No. 6).

The story is different in the other divisions as regions feature a greater mix of teams from Dayton, Cincinnati and beyond.