High School Football Preview Week 8: McClain plays Washington, Hillsboro faces Jackson in home games

The following is a look at the two games featuring Highland County teams for Week 8.

McClain Tigers (1-1, 5-2) vs. Washington Blue Lions (0-2, 3-4)

This week, the McClain Tigers look to add to their winning ways by hosting the Washington Blue Lions in a Frontier Athletic Conference rivalry game.

The Blue Lions are coming off a 36-6 loss at Hillsboro last Friday night in Week 7 and have lost three consecutive games, with the other two losses in that stretch coming against Monroe (48-21) and a FAC loss to Jackson by a 49-21 score.

Coming into the game at 3-4 overall, the Blue Lions have scored 191 points this season and have allowed 239 points.

This season, Gavin Coffman has passed for 1,225 yards with 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for the Blue Lions, averaging 204.2 yards per game passing in six games played.

Also for Washington, according to MaxPreps.com stats, Rocky Jones leads the Blue Lions in rushing with 390 yards and four touchdowns.

McClain is having one of their very best seasons in quite some time, as second-year head coach Keith Penwell and his coaching staff are getting things turned around with the Tigers’ football program.

The Tigers have five wins in seven games this season, scoring 159 points, while allowing 142 points. They are coming off a 20-17 win at Chillicothe in Week 7.

With the win over CHS, the Tigers snapped a five-year losing streak in the FAC, as it was their second win in conference play since joining the FAC.

The game also saw Kaden Penwell back on offense for McClain, as he scored a touchdown for the Tigers against Chillicothe.

The Tigers’ offense and defense as a whole have played with improvement from a season ago, and that improvement is showing in the standings this season.

This season, MHS has two two-game winning streaks, coming in Weeks 1-2 and 4-5, as they are currently ranked No. 16 of the football computer rankings in Division IV, Region 16.

The Blue Lions are ranked No. 14 in the Division IV, Region 16 football computer rankings.

Last year, the Blue Lions defeated MHS, 39-0.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at McClain Field.

——————

Hillsboro Indians (2-0, 4-3) vs. Jackson Ironmen (2-0, 6-1)

The Hillsboro Indians and Jackson Ironmen are the last two teams in the Frontier Athletic Conference who are undefeated in conference play, as both teams enter the game with 2-0 FAC records.

Jackson is the defending champion of the FAC, and at 6-1 overall they’ve played a strong schedule with wins over Logan (22-0), Wheelersburg (28-20), Western Brown (56-48), Hamilton Ross (44-14), Washington (49-21) and Miami Trace (42-13).

The lone loss by Jackson was in Week 2 on the road at Ironton by a 35-14 score.

This season, the Ironmen have scored 255 points and have allowed 151 points, and they are currently on a five-game winning streak. They are also 3-1 on the road.

As for the Indians, they’ve won three straight games, defeating East Clinton (32-12), Chillicothe (23-17, OT) and Washington (36-6).

With three games left this season, the duo of Austin Barrett and Jeven Hochstuhl has been huge for the Indians on offense and defense, as they’ve combined for most of the Indians’ points this season.

Speaking of the HHS defense, Hochstuhl had two interceptions last Friday, while Logan Elliott had one and Nic Burns not only had an interception, he also scored a touchdown with his interception last Friday vs. Washington.

HHS has continued to show improvement this season with their pass rush, and on offense their front line blocking has allowed Barrett to rush for at least 1,300 yards thus far this season.

The Indians enter the game No. 14 in the Division III, Region 12 football computer rankings.

Jackson is ranked No. 4 in the Division III, Region 11 football computer rankings.

Last year, JHS defeated the Indians, 63-7.

Kickoff at Richards Memorial Field is scheduled for 7 p.m.