Week 4 High School Football Preview: Indians and Tigers looking to rebound following losses

The third week of the 2023 high school football season wasn’t kind to Highland County, as both the Hillsboro Indians and McClain Tigers suffered non-conference losses on the road, with the Indians falling to 1-2 overall and the Tigers dropping to 2-1 this season.

HHS lost on the road to Portsmouth West by a 49-34 score, while the Tigers fell to Paint Valley, 29-15.

Now let’s look ahead to the Week 4 matchups.

Hillsboro Indians (1-2) at Williamsburg Wildcats (3-0)

This Week 4 matchup will be the homecoming game for the Wildcats, as they host the Indians. Going into this game, the Wildcats are coming off a hard-fought victory against Mariemont in Week 3, as their battle saw them win 34-28 to stay undefeated after three games.

Williamsburg has also defeated Batavia in Week 1 by a 46-12 score and New Richmond by a 54-39 score in Week 2.

Williamsburg quarterback JJ Miller is a player to watch for the Wildcats, as last season he passed for 2,377 yards with 33 touchdown passes, plus he had 400 yards rushing, according to the Clermont Sun.

This season in three games, Miller has 674 yards passing with nine touchdown passes, plus he’s rushed for 299 yards and has four rushing scores.

As for Hillsboro, they’ve lost twice in three games, with their losses being in Week 1 against Western Brown (38-27) and this past Friday in Week 3 by the aforementioned 49-34 score to Portsmouth West. In Week 2, the Indians defeated Goshen, 56-19.

Thus far in ‘23, Hillsboro has scored 117 points and allowed 106, while Williamsburg has scored 134 points and allowed 79 points.

This past Friday against PWHS, Austin Barrett rushed for 146 yards, giving home three straight games of 100-plus rushing yards to start the season, as he’s collected 494 yards in ‘23 through three games.

Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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McClain Tigers (2-1) vs. East Clinton Astros (2-1)

The East Clinton Astros enter this Week 4 game coming off a convincing 62-12 win over the Fayetteville Rockets at home, while McClain suffered their first loss of the ’23 season last Friday to Paint Valley in the “Battle of 41.”

ECHS in ’23 thus far has defeated Huntington in Week 1 by a 12-0 score and lost to Cedarville in Week 2 at 35-0.

Last Friday, the Astros were led by Glenn Peacock with 15 rushes for 232 yards and five touchdown rushes.

As for McClain, last Friday they had a defensive touchdown by Cade Sponcil and a 12-yard touchdown turn by quarterback Drake Stapleton. Also in that loss, MHS running back and linebacker Kaden Penwell was injured, and it is unknown if he’ll play in Week 3.

Another player on whom the Tigers depend is running back Andrew Potts, who in the first two games of the ’23 season was a big part of the success in their two wins. In three games, Potts has five rushing touchdowns and two games of 100-plus yards rushing.

Kickoff for MHS vs. the Astros is 7 p.m. at McClain Field.