Moeller thumps Trace in non-league battle
By
Bob Patton-
(Continued from last week.)
On Sept. 27, 1985 in SCOL competition, Circleville traveled to Hillsboro, where they shut out the Indians, 7-0. Hillsboro won the statistical battle, outgaining the Tigers, 199-152. But the Indians turned the ball over five times.
Washington made the short trip down Route 41 to Greenfield, where they shut out MHS, 21-0.
On Oct. 4, Wilmington won their first game of the season when they took the measure of the Hillsboro Indians, 23-6. Hillsboro, who began the season 3-1, had now lost their first two SCOL games. Miami Trace played McClain at Greenfield and blasted the Tigers, 57-0. At Circleville, the Blue Lions put on a strong second-half performance and shut out the Tigers, 21-0.
So, six games into the 1985 season, the league standings were:
Miami Trace – 2-0, 5-1
Washington – 2-0, 2-4
Wilmington – 1-1, 1-5
Circleville – 1-1, 1-5
Hillsboro – 0-2, 3-3
McClain – 0-2, 0-6
The six-member league remained a problem. League officials were still trying desperately to find other area schools who might be receptive to the idea of becoming a member of the South Central League. In this year, it would be nearly the middle of October before the member schools played their third league games. There would only be a total of five league football games each season. This does not make for a good league.
Certain schools were beginning to look around for other leagues.
Would the rats desert the ship?
October 11 saw Wilmington take their show on the road at Washington C.H. The Blue Lions didn’t have a dazzling offense, but their defense gave the Hurricane problems all night. The blue-and-white intercepted five passes and ran two of them back for touchdowns, giving them enough offense to defeat Wilmington, 13-7, in an important league game.
Hillsboro entertained the tough Miami Trace Panthers. Trace senior star Shawn Johns carried the ball 11 times for a total of 72 yards and had two 90-yard kickoff returns, enabling the Panthers to take a 47-20 win over the red-and-white, sending the Indians to an 0-3 SCOL record. Elsewhere, McClain’s Tigers traveled to Circleville to challenge Circleville’s Tigers. The purple-and-gold battled hard but came up on the short side of a 22-0 score. McClain had yet to score a point in SCOL competition and had been outscored 206 to 29 in their seven games so far this season.
The next Friday night was Homecoming in Greenfield. Attractive McClain High School senior Tracy Sutherland was crowned prior to the start of the Wilmington vs. McClain game.
Her court included Queen’s Attendants Karla Hicks and Janie Shrout, Senior Attendant Kelly Howard, Junior Attendant Sheryl Brewer, Sophomore Attendant Gretchen Speakman and Freshman Attendant Brooke Rannells. On this night, the Tigers did generate some offense, but the visiting Hurricane parlayed three early McClain miscues into touchdowns and downed the Tigers, 42-20.
Danny Acton, of McClain, chalked up three touchdowns on runs of 82, 52 and 58 yards, which was a welcome sight for Tiger fans. In Washington C.H., the Blue Lions and visiting Hillsboro battled to a low-scoring first half, with Indian Todd Cole hitting a 25-yard field goal toward the end of the second quarter to give the Indians a 3-0 halftime edge. But the Blue Lions put together several big plays in the final quarter and scored three touchdowns to keep Hillsboro winless in the SCOL. The final score was WCH 20, Hillsboro 3.
Finally, Circleville journeyed to Miami Trace. The Tigers put up an excellent battle against the talented Panthers, but they still came out on the wrong end of a 34-21 score. So, with only two games remaining (only one SCOL game), Miami Trace and WCH were both 4-0 in the league, Wilmington and Circleville were both 2-2, while Hillsboro and McClain were both 0-4.
The big Washington at Miami Trace game, which would take place Friday, Oct. 25, would determine the winner of the SCOL football championship and the gold football. The same night would see McClain play at Hillsboro, where one or the other would get out of the league cellar.
Hillsboro rallied for 24 points in the third quarter to lift the Indians to a 37-0 shutout of the Tigers. Ernest Smith racked up 171 rushing yards for the Indians, and Chris Walker fired a couple of touchdown passes to set the pace for Hillsboro.
On the Wilmington field, the defenses ruled, as the Hurricane edged the visiting Circleville Tigers 8-0.
The big battle at Miami Trace turned out to be a rather one-sided 33-6 Panther victory over their Fayette County rivals. Panther Curt Schlichter scored four touchdowns and MT racked up 406 yards of total offense compared to only 178 yards for Washington.
The final week in the regular season would feature non-league games, with the only really notable game being the big match-up between Miami Trace and Cincinnati Moeller. This game would be played at Galbreath Field, near Kings Island.
Miami Trace showed up. They played well. But Moeller was just too big and too strong. They beat the Panthers, 48-17. Statistically, the game was closer. Moeller had 19 first downs compared to MT’s 16. The Crusaders had 385 total yards of offense compared to MT’s 247. It wasn’t a complete blowout. But the Panthers had a difficult time crossing the Moeller goal line. Elsewhere in the SCOL area, Washington beat Rock Hill, 22-4, Western Brown downed Hillsboro, 12-7, Wheelersburg defeated Circleville, 19-7, Madison-Plains shut out McClain, 14-0 and Cincinnati Aiken thumped Wilmington, 51-6. Another SCOL football season was history.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
On Sept. 27, 1985 in SCOL competition, Circleville traveled to Hillsboro, where they shut out the Indians, 7-0. Hillsboro won the statistical battle, outgaining the Tigers, 199-152. But the Indians turned the ball over five times.
Washington made the short trip down Route 41 to Greenfield, where they shut out MHS, 21-0.
On Oct. 4, Wilmington won their first game of the season when they took the measure of the Hillsboro Indians, 23-6. Hillsboro, who began the season 3-1, had now lost their first two SCOL games. Miami Trace played McClain at Greenfield and blasted the Tigers, 57-0. At Circleville, the Blue Lions put on a strong second-half performance and shut out the Tigers, 21-0.
So, six games into the 1985 season, the league standings were:
Miami Trace – 2-0, 5-1
Washington – 2-0, 2-4
Wilmington – 1-1, 1-5
Circleville – 1-1, 1-5
Hillsboro – 0-2, 3-3
McClain – 0-2, 0-6
The six-member league remained a problem. League officials were still trying desperately to find other area schools who might be receptive to the idea of becoming a member of the South Central League. In this year, it would be nearly the middle of October before the member schools played their third league games. There would only be a total of five league football games each season. This does not make for a good league.
Certain schools were beginning to look around for other leagues.
Would the rats desert the ship?
October 11 saw Wilmington take their show on the road at Washington C.H. The Blue Lions didn’t have a dazzling offense, but their defense gave the Hurricane problems all night. The blue-and-white intercepted five passes and ran two of them back for touchdowns, giving them enough offense to defeat Wilmington, 13-7, in an important league game.
Hillsboro entertained the tough Miami Trace Panthers. Trace senior star Shawn Johns carried the ball 11 times for a total of 72 yards and had two 90-yard kickoff returns, enabling the Panthers to take a 47-20 win over the red-and-white, sending the Indians to an 0-3 SCOL record. Elsewhere, McClain’s Tigers traveled to Circleville to challenge Circleville’s Tigers. The purple-and-gold battled hard but came up on the short side of a 22-0 score. McClain had yet to score a point in SCOL competition and had been outscored 206 to 29 in their seven games so far this season.
The next Friday night was Homecoming in Greenfield. Attractive McClain High School senior Tracy Sutherland was crowned prior to the start of the Wilmington vs. McClain game.
Her court included Queen’s Attendants Karla Hicks and Janie Shrout, Senior Attendant Kelly Howard, Junior Attendant Sheryl Brewer, Sophomore Attendant Gretchen Speakman and Freshman Attendant Brooke Rannells. On this night, the Tigers did generate some offense, but the visiting Hurricane parlayed three early McClain miscues into touchdowns and downed the Tigers, 42-20.
Danny Acton, of McClain, chalked up three touchdowns on runs of 82, 52 and 58 yards, which was a welcome sight for Tiger fans. In Washington C.H., the Blue Lions and visiting Hillsboro battled to a low-scoring first half, with Indian Todd Cole hitting a 25-yard field goal toward the end of the second quarter to give the Indians a 3-0 halftime edge. But the Blue Lions put together several big plays in the final quarter and scored three touchdowns to keep Hillsboro winless in the SCOL. The final score was WCH 20, Hillsboro 3.
Finally, Circleville journeyed to Miami Trace. The Tigers put up an excellent battle against the talented Panthers, but they still came out on the wrong end of a 34-21 score. So, with only two games remaining (only one SCOL game), Miami Trace and WCH were both 4-0 in the league, Wilmington and Circleville were both 2-2, while Hillsboro and McClain were both 0-4.
The big Washington at Miami Trace game, which would take place Friday, Oct. 25, would determine the winner of the SCOL football championship and the gold football. The same night would see McClain play at Hillsboro, where one or the other would get out of the league cellar.
Hillsboro rallied for 24 points in the third quarter to lift the Indians to a 37-0 shutout of the Tigers. Ernest Smith racked up 171 rushing yards for the Indians, and Chris Walker fired a couple of touchdown passes to set the pace for Hillsboro.
On the Wilmington field, the defenses ruled, as the Hurricane edged the visiting Circleville Tigers 8-0.
The big battle at Miami Trace turned out to be a rather one-sided 33-6 Panther victory over their Fayette County rivals. Panther Curt Schlichter scored four touchdowns and MT racked up 406 yards of total offense compared to only 178 yards for Washington.
The final week in the regular season would feature non-league games, with the only really notable game being the big match-up between Miami Trace and Cincinnati Moeller. This game would be played at Galbreath Field, near Kings Island.
Miami Trace showed up. They played well. But Moeller was just too big and too strong. They beat the Panthers, 48-17. Statistically, the game was closer. Moeller had 19 first downs compared to MT’s 16. The Crusaders had 385 total yards of offense compared to MT’s 247. It wasn’t a complete blowout. But the Panthers had a difficult time crossing the Moeller goal line. Elsewhere in the SCOL area, Washington beat Rock Hill, 22-4, Western Brown downed Hillsboro, 12-7, Wheelersburg defeated Circleville, 19-7, Madison-Plains shut out McClain, 14-0 and Cincinnati Aiken thumped Wilmington, 51-6. Another SCOL football season was history.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]