Freshman quarterback set to lead HHS in 1983
By
Bob Patton-
In August and early September of 1983, the SCOL member schools were preparing for another football season.
Before the first games were played, it was announced that Teays Valley would be leaving the South Central Ohio League at the end of the 1983-84 school year. They planned to join the Mid-State League, composed of Bloom-Carroll, Fairfield Union, Logan Elm and Berne Union. Teays Valley had long complained about the travel distance to places like Hillsboro and Greenfield. Hillsboro officials had calculated, though, that the distance from Hillsboro to Ashville was roughly the same as the distance from Ashville to Hillsboro.
Essentially, Teays Valley had not been very competitive against SCOL competition. In their six years in the SCOL, the Vikings had won only two league championships, both in wrestling. They had never been competitive against Miami Trace, Washington or Circleville and only rarely against Hillsboro, McClain or Wilmington in the so-called major sports.
So, the SCOL wished TV well and bid them adieu. The league would adjust to whatever happened after the current school year. But the old and established SCOL was getting a little shaky, as it was also reported that Madison-Plains had been contacted about switching to the Central Buckeye League, which they did, later in the season.
All of that was a year in the future, though. Right now, the important thing was to try to win a league title this season.
There were a couple of new football coaches in the SCOL this season. Jim “Tate” Taylor had stepped down, at Hillsboro, and long-time assistant coach Jim Horne had been elevated to the head coaching position. Horne enjoyed a rather harmonious relationship with the athletes, as did his predecessor. But he would be faced with a challenge, as this year’s team would be led by a freshman quarterback, Chris Walker.
Walker was a good athlete and he was intelligent. But would he be mature enough to run the offense against tough varsity competition? Tailback Bruce Ames would be the Indians’ breakaway threat, while fullback Hugh Ballein had great potential but had yet to really turn it on. Senior Tim Kiefer could also play fullback. Kiefer was described by Coach Horne as a “blue-chipper – a kid who works really hard.”
Also, the Indians would have big Dave Fenner, a starter last season and an All-SCOL performer. The Indians had potential, but were a question mark in the rugged SCOL.
Washington, Teays Valley and Miami Trace all looked strong going into the 1983 season. Washington was 6-4 the previous season, in a rebuilding year, and they had a lot of lettermen returning, including quarterback Jeff Shaw. Last year, as a junior, Shaw had led the SCOL in most passing stats. The Lions had lost the league’s best pass receiver, Tim Redman, but they had several other excellent receivers, such as Daryl Saunders, Richard Spears, Mike Wilson and Todd Thomas. The Lions would be in the thick of the race. There was little doubt about that.
Teays Valley had as much talent coming back as anyone in the league. They would have depth at every position. Perhaps this, their final year in the league, would be the year the Vikings became a dominant force. A new Viking head coach, Jeff Helser, would be at the helm this year.
Of course, one could never count Miami Trace out, since they had won nine championships in the last ten years. They had lost some very good athletes due to graduation, but they seemed to have a great new crop nearly every year.
But, what about Circleville? Coach Larry Cook would be back for his 12th year at the helm. All-SCOL rushing king Tony Cooper had graduated, and the Tigers had a much smaller roster this season, meaning that they would have less depth. But Circleville was always a threat in the SCOL and could never be taken lightly.
At Wilmington, fourth-year coach Bob White was back, and was returning almost his entire offensive front line, along with premier quarterback Greg Nared. But Nared’s two favorite targets were both gone, along with both of his backfield running mates. That could pose a problem for White. Time would tell.
Larry Fouch, at McClain, had a bigger roster than usual but had already suffered a couple of key injuries and had a few players elect not to play this year. The league coaches did not see McClain as a threat to be in the middle of the league race.
Madison-Plains had lost their offensive and defensive lines and most of their linebacking corps. Coach Will Pratt, in his second season at MP, would be hard pressed to come up with a winning combination.
The first three weeks of the season saw all the SCOL teams playing various non-league opponents. These games didn’t mean too much, but they were opportunities for the teams to rehearse their offensive and defensive schemes and try to work out the various kinks in their game(s). It was impossible to predict how teams would do in the SCOL race because there was such a wide gap in the relative strength of their non-league opponents. Washington lost to West Jefferson, 14-7. Circleville lost to Elyria Catholic, 14-0, and Wilmington beat Xenia, 14-13. West Jeff, Elyria Catholic and Xenia were all formidable opponents.
McClain tied Adena, 0-0, Madison-Plains lost to East Clinton, 8-0, and Teays Valley lost to Logan Elm, 13-0. How good were Logan Elm, EC and Adena? That was the question.
The league season finally opened Sept. 23. McClain played Hillsboro on the Hillsboro field. Miami Trace entertained Wilmington, Circleville took the very short ride to Teays Valley, and Madison-Plains opened the season at Washington C.H.
Hillsboro waxed McClain, 27-0, when freshman quarterback Chris Walker connected on his first six passes, and Bruce Ames totaled 137 yards on 24 carries and crossed the goal line with the ball twice. But both TDs were called back on penalties against the Indians. Hillsboro was flagged for several very costly and unnecessary penalties, but otherwise played very well.
Washington trampled Madison-Plains, 66-0, Circleville walloped Teays Valley, 27-0, while Wilmington and Miami Trace had a great, hard-hitting game which was won by the Hurricane, 6-3.
On Sept. 30, Miami Trace visited Greenfield, where the determined McClain Tigers put up a good battle, but the Panthers came out on top, 34-14. The Tigers played well in spots but fumbled five times. Meanwhile, at Teays Valley, the Hillsboro Indians were drubbed, 33-0, thanks in part to six Indian turnovers. Madison-Plains was crushed at Wilmington by a score of 62-0, and WCH had a surprisingly easy time at Circleville, thumping the red-and-black, 32-7. In this game, Lion quarterback Jeff Shaw hit on 11-of-19 pass attempts for 112 yards, while the WCH defense held Circleville to only 78 total yards and intercepted five Tiger passes. The blue-and-white seemed to get tougher each time out.
On Oct. 7, Miami Trace and Washington would tangle at Miami Trace, Circleville would visit the Indians at Hillsboro, and the McClain Tigers would journey to Madison-Plains while Wilmington would entertain Teays Valley.
Washington ran all over Miami Trace, as Lion senior fullback Fred Jones rang up 175 yards and two touchdowns. Junior tailback Mike Wilson added 121 running yards and two more touchdowns, while smooth WCH quarterback Jeff Shaw accounted for another 89 rushing yards and two more touchdowns. Miami Trace was no match for the fired-up Blue Lions in this contest, a 44-14 Lion win.
In other SCOL action on the 7th, Circleville tripped Hillsboro, 15-0, Wilmington shut out Teays Valley, 28-0, and McClain got their first league win of the season by pounding Madison-Plains, 38-6. In three league games, Plains had been outscored, 166-6.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
Before the first games were played, it was announced that Teays Valley would be leaving the South Central Ohio League at the end of the 1983-84 school year. They planned to join the Mid-State League, composed of Bloom-Carroll, Fairfield Union, Logan Elm and Berne Union. Teays Valley had long complained about the travel distance to places like Hillsboro and Greenfield. Hillsboro officials had calculated, though, that the distance from Hillsboro to Ashville was roughly the same as the distance from Ashville to Hillsboro.
Essentially, Teays Valley had not been very competitive against SCOL competition. In their six years in the SCOL, the Vikings had won only two league championships, both in wrestling. They had never been competitive against Miami Trace, Washington or Circleville and only rarely against Hillsboro, McClain or Wilmington in the so-called major sports.
So, the SCOL wished TV well and bid them adieu. The league would adjust to whatever happened after the current school year. But the old and established SCOL was getting a little shaky, as it was also reported that Madison-Plains had been contacted about switching to the Central Buckeye League, which they did, later in the season.
All of that was a year in the future, though. Right now, the important thing was to try to win a league title this season.
There were a couple of new football coaches in the SCOL this season. Jim “Tate” Taylor had stepped down, at Hillsboro, and long-time assistant coach Jim Horne had been elevated to the head coaching position. Horne enjoyed a rather harmonious relationship with the athletes, as did his predecessor. But he would be faced with a challenge, as this year’s team would be led by a freshman quarterback, Chris Walker.
Walker was a good athlete and he was intelligent. But would he be mature enough to run the offense against tough varsity competition? Tailback Bruce Ames would be the Indians’ breakaway threat, while fullback Hugh Ballein had great potential but had yet to really turn it on. Senior Tim Kiefer could also play fullback. Kiefer was described by Coach Horne as a “blue-chipper – a kid who works really hard.”
Also, the Indians would have big Dave Fenner, a starter last season and an All-SCOL performer. The Indians had potential, but were a question mark in the rugged SCOL.
Washington, Teays Valley and Miami Trace all looked strong going into the 1983 season. Washington was 6-4 the previous season, in a rebuilding year, and they had a lot of lettermen returning, including quarterback Jeff Shaw. Last year, as a junior, Shaw had led the SCOL in most passing stats. The Lions had lost the league’s best pass receiver, Tim Redman, but they had several other excellent receivers, such as Daryl Saunders, Richard Spears, Mike Wilson and Todd Thomas. The Lions would be in the thick of the race. There was little doubt about that.
Teays Valley had as much talent coming back as anyone in the league. They would have depth at every position. Perhaps this, their final year in the league, would be the year the Vikings became a dominant force. A new Viking head coach, Jeff Helser, would be at the helm this year.
Of course, one could never count Miami Trace out, since they had won nine championships in the last ten years. They had lost some very good athletes due to graduation, but they seemed to have a great new crop nearly every year.
But, what about Circleville? Coach Larry Cook would be back for his 12th year at the helm. All-SCOL rushing king Tony Cooper had graduated, and the Tigers had a much smaller roster this season, meaning that they would have less depth. But Circleville was always a threat in the SCOL and could never be taken lightly.
At Wilmington, fourth-year coach Bob White was back, and was returning almost his entire offensive front line, along with premier quarterback Greg Nared. But Nared’s two favorite targets were both gone, along with both of his backfield running mates. That could pose a problem for White. Time would tell.
Larry Fouch, at McClain, had a bigger roster than usual but had already suffered a couple of key injuries and had a few players elect not to play this year. The league coaches did not see McClain as a threat to be in the middle of the league race.
Madison-Plains had lost their offensive and defensive lines and most of their linebacking corps. Coach Will Pratt, in his second season at MP, would be hard pressed to come up with a winning combination.
The first three weeks of the season saw all the SCOL teams playing various non-league opponents. These games didn’t mean too much, but they were opportunities for the teams to rehearse their offensive and defensive schemes and try to work out the various kinks in their game(s). It was impossible to predict how teams would do in the SCOL race because there was such a wide gap in the relative strength of their non-league opponents. Washington lost to West Jefferson, 14-7. Circleville lost to Elyria Catholic, 14-0, and Wilmington beat Xenia, 14-13. West Jeff, Elyria Catholic and Xenia were all formidable opponents.
McClain tied Adena, 0-0, Madison-Plains lost to East Clinton, 8-0, and Teays Valley lost to Logan Elm, 13-0. How good were Logan Elm, EC and Adena? That was the question.
The league season finally opened Sept. 23. McClain played Hillsboro on the Hillsboro field. Miami Trace entertained Wilmington, Circleville took the very short ride to Teays Valley, and Madison-Plains opened the season at Washington C.H.
Hillsboro waxed McClain, 27-0, when freshman quarterback Chris Walker connected on his first six passes, and Bruce Ames totaled 137 yards on 24 carries and crossed the goal line with the ball twice. But both TDs were called back on penalties against the Indians. Hillsboro was flagged for several very costly and unnecessary penalties, but otherwise played very well.
Washington trampled Madison-Plains, 66-0, Circleville walloped Teays Valley, 27-0, while Wilmington and Miami Trace had a great, hard-hitting game which was won by the Hurricane, 6-3.
On Sept. 30, Miami Trace visited Greenfield, where the determined McClain Tigers put up a good battle, but the Panthers came out on top, 34-14. The Tigers played well in spots but fumbled five times. Meanwhile, at Teays Valley, the Hillsboro Indians were drubbed, 33-0, thanks in part to six Indian turnovers. Madison-Plains was crushed at Wilmington by a score of 62-0, and WCH had a surprisingly easy time at Circleville, thumping the red-and-black, 32-7. In this game, Lion quarterback Jeff Shaw hit on 11-of-19 pass attempts for 112 yards, while the WCH defense held Circleville to only 78 total yards and intercepted five Tiger passes. The blue-and-white seemed to get tougher each time out.
On Oct. 7, Miami Trace and Washington would tangle at Miami Trace, Circleville would visit the Indians at Hillsboro, and the McClain Tigers would journey to Madison-Plains while Wilmington would entertain Teays Valley.
Washington ran all over Miami Trace, as Lion senior fullback Fred Jones rang up 175 yards and two touchdowns. Junior tailback Mike Wilson added 121 running yards and two more touchdowns, while smooth WCH quarterback Jeff Shaw accounted for another 89 rushing yards and two more touchdowns. Miami Trace was no match for the fired-up Blue Lions in this contest, a 44-14 Lion win.
In other SCOL action on the 7th, Circleville tripped Hillsboro, 15-0, Wilmington shut out Teays Valley, 28-0, and McClain got their first league win of the season by pounding Madison-Plains, 38-6. In three league games, Plains had been outscored, 166-6.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]