He started playing for the Big Boys when he was learning the game in pony league, and this season he will play his final high school season at Gardner Park, suiting up at running back for the Washington Blue Lions.

(Continued from last week.)
    Toren Bensonhaver was on a tear. On Jan. 3, he scorched the nets for 36 points, as the Tigers beat Pickerington, 84-71. This game put Bensonhaver in the overall lead in individual scoring with a 22.8 ppg. scoring average. John Denen still held the lead in the SCOL scoring race. The same night saw Miami Trace down the McClain Tigers, 58-41, with tough defense and great scoring balance. 

Mason Hunick not only loves to play the game of football, but he looks like a player who was made to play as he steps onto the gridiron with winning demeanor, tattoos, and a mindset of doing whatever is necessary to win the games and to play at a top level.

Each time No. 13 for the McClain Tigers sets foot onto a football field, everyone who witnesses the game or practice should know one thing about senior Zach Matracia: Football is his life.

He is a jack of all trades, including being a master at one. Paint Valley senior Garett Tyree plays wide receiver, linebacker, kicker and punter. He is a two-time Scioto Valley Conference Punter of the Year, but his path to being a top-notch athlete began in the fifth grade.

In his second year at the helm of the Madison-Plains Golden Eagles head coach Barry Blackstone wants his team to gain one thing this upcoming 2010 football season: consistency.

Returning eight players on offense and seven on         defense,       the Washington Blue Lions are set to be one of the biggest threats to knock the Clinton-Massie Falcons from the top of the South Central Ohio League.

After a strong start in 2009, where the McClain Tigers jumped out to three straight wins, things didn't go as planned for the remainder of the season. The Tigers are younger from a year ago, but sixth year head coach Randy Closson sees an upside to his 2010 squad.

Entering his second season as head coach of the Hillsboro Indians, Brian Spicer wants to continue with the momentum gained off of last season's eight-win year, but to do that, the team must replace some core players that led HHS to its first winning season since 2005.

Everyone knows the Clinton-Massie Falcons are the team to beat in the South Central Ohio League this season. Being four-time defending champions (a tri-title in 2007), along with eight straight playoff appearance and reaching the Division IV Regional Finals, will put heavy expectations on a football team.

Getting back atop the South Central Ohio League is the goal each season for the Miami Trace Panthers, and this year is no different. With at least 20 seniors on this year's squad, this could be the year for the Panthers to add their 21st league title to their school trophy case.

"Deserve Victory."

Those two words describe the mindset of the 2010 London Red Raiders football program. Players and coaches ask one another after each practice or weight lifting
session if they deserve victory.

After not reaching the expectation set for themselves last season, the Paint Valley Bearcats have made some changes on both sides of the ball in hopes of improving for a run at the Scioto Valley Conference championship in 2010.

 With any football season, predictions will come and go. Some will be wrong. Some will be right, but mostly, it is just for fun. (Humor me, please.)

   In the past week or so, I've traveled to all seven South Central Ohio League schools, spent countless hours interviewing coaches and players about the upcoming season, watched practices, scrimmages and created (along with help from the staff of the HCP) an SCOL preview football tab.

The McClain Tigers continue to add to their early season victory total, winning two more events in their second week of play. The defending South Central Ohio League champions defeated Miami Trace and Madison-Plains to stand at 14-0 overall this season.