Tag: Rock Hill

Parker, Trojans push past Rock Hill

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Portsmouth8816840Win
Rock Hill866828Loss

Parker, Trojans push past Rock Hill

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo’s by Kent Sanborn

PEDRO — Speed kills.

So do turnovers at the most inopportune times.

For two-and-a-half quarters on Friday night, the undermanned Rock Hill Redmen matched the heavily-favored and visiting Portsmouth Trojans score for score.

But, like many other teams before them, the Redmen simply couldn’t catch Portsmouth senior Talyn Parker – before they were undone by two lost fumbles which led directly to 14 second-half Portsmouth points.

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#
1
Name
Talyn Parker
Position
2020
Height
5-11
Weight
195
Current Team
Portsmouth
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
In the end, Parker – the reigning Division V Southeast District Offensive Player of the Year – poured on 266 rushing yards and all five Trojan touchdowns, and Portsmouth posted a 40-28 Ohio Valley Conference victory.

The matchup marked the OVC opener for both clubs, as Portsmouth stayed undefeated at 4-0, while the Redmen remain winless at 0-4.

[event_scoreboard id=”1716″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

In fact, for the Trojans, it is the first time that the tradition-rich program has started a season with four triumphs since 2002.

That is important, per Portsmouth second-year head coach Bruce Kalb.

Head Coach Bruce Kalb

Current Team
Portsmouth
Past Teams
Waverly
“I’m very happy for this group of seniors and very proud of the work they have done so far for this 4-0 start. They deserve all the credit as the leaders on this team,” he said. “To do something that hasn’t been done in 17 years is special. We have a lot of football ahead of us of course and a lot of things we need to clean up and work on, but these seniors have led the way and deserve this start to the season that we’ve had.”

While it’s been an excellent beginning to 2019 for the Trojans, it’s been the exact opposite for the Redmen.

Rock Hill has suffered several injuries – some season-ending – over the course of the first four games, including starting senior running backs Zak Adkins and T.J. McGinnis.

Add to that MASH unit on Friday was fellow senior starting back Logan Hankins, who didn’t play in the second half due to suffering concussion-like symptoms.

But the Redmen gave an excellent effort against the talented Trojans, as their two tight end T-formation full-house offense moved the ball – often times at will.

However, Rock Hill fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half, as the Trojans recovered and scored four plays later to go up 24-14.

[event_scoreboard id=”1717″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

Then, late in the third quarter, the Redmen fumbled following an eight-play four-minute and 15-second drive – in which they moved from midfield to just inside the red zone.

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Following five plays of 10 yards or more, and only two minutes later, Parker posted his fifth and final touchdown – a 25-yard run to double the lead at 40-20 with 10-and-a-half minutes remaining.

“The final score doesn’t reflect how hard our kids played and how well we played at times,” said Rock Hill head coach Mark Lutz. “I thought we handled the line of scrimmage most of the game, which is what we tried to do. That’s the best our offensive line has blocked all year. We had kids out injured and we lost Logan Hankins early, then we’re playing (Talyn) Parker who is just lightning in a bottle. If you don’t tackle him, more than likely he is going to break one. He had two long runs tonight. Then we had two unfortunate turnovers at the wrong times, one of which set up a short field for them and the other we were driving the ball. We controlled the line of scrimmage, and there weren’t too many negative plays that we had. A loss is a loss, but our kids played hard and that’s all I can ask of them.”

The Redmen, which did not attempt a single pass, ran the football 55 times for a massive 302 yards and picked up 24 first downs.

“It’s such a difficult offense to face,” said Kalb. “You really have to be disciplined. Rock Hill has big powerful offensive linemen and their backs run very hard. Here they are picking up four, five, six yards on you every time, but I thought we hung in there and we made some good adjustments in the second half.”

Logan Hankins had 46 first-half yards and a touchdown on seven carries, but sophomore Owen Hankins and junior Hayden Harper carried 20 times apiece, as Hankins amounted 142 yards while Harper hit for 102 and two short touchdown runs (four and two yards).

#
3
Name
Owen Hankins
Position
2022
Current Team
Rock Hill
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020, 2021

Parker picked up his 266 yards on 16 carries, as the Trojans rushed 27 times for 331 yards as a team.

Drew Roe, Portsmouth’s sophomore quarterback, completed 11-of-17 passes for 137 yards – with Eric Purdy catching eight of Roe’s passes for 107 yards.

Roe rushed four times for 32 yards, as the Trojans did not punt, did not commit a turnover, and racked up 22 first downs.

The Trojans also converted all five of their extra-point tries – which were all two-point conversions.

“Those (two-point conversions) are plays we’ve been working a lot on in practice. We’ve had some issues in the kicking game, and we knew there are going to be times when we need to go for two. You want to trust and have confidence in going for two points,” said Kalb. “We did a nice job of executing all of those attempts. And in a 12-point final score, 10 points makes a huge difference.”

Meanwhile, Rock Hill went 2-of-4 on two-point attempts, including a pass failure on its second touchdown with 4:16 remaining in the second quarter.

Harper capped an impressive 13-play, 66-yard, seven-minute and three-second scoring march with a four-yard plunge to make it 16-14, as the Redmen actually appeared to convert the subsequent two-point run attempt.

But a chop block penalty was called on the Redmen, negating the conversion and forcing Rock Hill to retry the PAT at the 17-yard-line.

The second attempt failed, but Lutz labeled the fumbling of the second-half kickoff as “the death to us.”

The Redmen received the kick, but it bounced right off the return man –and into the arms of Portsmouth’s Reade Pendleton who recovered right at the 26.

Four plays and a minute and 49 seconds later, Parker cut up for an 11-yard TD run, as Roe completed the two-point conversion pass to Michael Duncan for a 24-14 Trojan advantage.

The Redmen returned to their ground assault, driving 65 yards and nine plays in four-and-a-half minutes, as Harper had his 2-yard run to trim the deficit to 24-20.

The two-point run attempt failed, and Parker burned Rock Hill with his second scoring run of at least 59 yards – a 69-yard scamper at the 4:38 mark of the third quarter.

On the game’s opening play, Parker broke about a half-dozen tackles on a 59-yard dash to the end zone – just 23 seconds into the contest.

“What more can you say about Talyn?” said Kalb. “But the thing is, he just keeps getting better.”

Tyler McCoy made it 32-20 with his two-point conversion run, as the Redmen then moved the ball exactly 34 yards to the Portsmouth 17 before fumbling.

The Trojans recovered, and Roe completed passes to Purdy for 13 and 14 yards, sandwiched around 10 and 18-yard gains by Parker – prior to his 25-yard scoring sprint.

Roe’s two-point pass to Bryce Wallace officially doubled the advantage, which was Portsmouth’s largest of the night.

The Redmen made it 40-28 with a 14-play, 64-yard, seven-minute and 17-second scoring march that picked up five first downs – and was capped off by a Hunter Massie 1-yard QB sneak.

Harper ran in the two-point conversion, as Logan Hankins had Rock Hill’s opening touchdown and two-point run – a 9-yarder to cap an eight-play, 68-yard drive at the 7:25 mark of the opening quarter.

That tied the score at 8-8, as Portsmouth never trailed, going ahead 16-8 just 40 seconds into the second quarter after a five-play, 56-yard drive that spanned a minute and 22 seconds.

Roe ran for 15 yards to move the Trojans into Rock Hill territory, as another Roe completion to Purdy for 40 yards set up Portsmouth 1st-and-goal at the 2.

The Trojans succeeded with Roe throws to Purdy in the flat, and letting Purdy pick up yards after the catch.

#
2
Name
Drew Roe
Position
2022
Height
235
Weight
5-06
Current Team
Portsmouth
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020, 2021
“Of course, once Talyn gets going, we want Drew to throw enough and complete enough passes to keep the defense honest,” said Kalb. “We have a lot of playmakers on this team besides Talyn, and it’s important we get them involved and keep them involved if we are going to be successful.”

Parker finished the drive on the next play, and ran in the two-point conversion run.

The Redmen return to OVC action next Friday when they travel to Fairland, while Portsmouth returns to the road – and returns to OVC play – at defending champion Gallia Academy.

The Blue Devils defeated Chesapeake 55-27, thus setting up a matchup of undefeateds at historic Memorial Field in Gallipolis.

Fairland vs Rock Hill

00 days 00 hrs 00 mins 00 secs

Gallia Academy vs Portsmouth

00 days 00 hrs 00 mins 00 secs

 

*     *     *

Portsmouth 40, Rock Hill 28  

Portsmouth 8 8 16 8 – 40

Rock Hill 8 6 6 8 – 28

P — Talyn Parker, 59-yard run (Talyn Parker run), 11:37, 1st (8-0 P)

RH —  Logan Hankins, 9-yard run (Logan Hankins run), 7:25, 1st (8-8 tie)

P — Talyn Parker, 2-yard run (Talyn Parker run), 11:20, 2nd (16-8 P)

RH — Hayden Harper, 4-yard run (pass failed), 4:16, 2nd (16-14 P)

P— Talyn Parker, 11-yard run (Michael Duncan pass from Drew Roe), 10:04, 3rd (24-14 P)

RH — Hayden Harper, 2-yard run (run failed), 5:29, 3rd (24-20 P)

P — Talyn Parker, 69-yard run (Tyler McCoy run), 4:38, 3rd (32-20 P)

P — Talyn Parker, 25-yard run (Bryce Wallace pass from Drew Roe), 10:24, 4th (40-20 P)

RH  — Hunter Massie, 1-yard run (Hayden Harper run), 3:03, 4th (40-28 P)

Team statistics

P RH

First downs 22 24

Plays from scrimmage 44 55

Rushes-yards 27-331 55-302

Passing yards 137 0

Total yards 468 302

Cmp-Att-Int. 11-17-0 0-0-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 5-56 4-30

Punts-average 0-0 1-29

Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Portsmouth: Talyn Parker 16-266 5TD, Drew Roe 4-32, Donavon Carr 2-14, Beau Hammond 1-12, Tyler McCoy 3-8, Team 1-(-1); Rock Hill: Owen Hankins 20-142, Hayden Harper 20-102 2TD, Logan Hankins 7-46 TD, Skylar Kidd 5-19, Hunter Massie 3-(-7) TD

PASSING — Portsmouth: Drew Roe 11-17-0-137; Rock Hill: none

RECEIVING — Portsmouth: Eric Purdy 8-107, Bryce Wallace 2-16, Michael Duncan 1-14; Rock Hill: none

Portsmouth

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
1Talyn Parker00000162665000
2Bryce Wallace000000002160
4Donavon Carr000002140000
5Drew Roe1116013703200000
9Eric Purdy0000000081070
14Michael Duncan000000001140
19Beau Hammond000001120000
35Tyler McCoy00000380000
 Total111601370253205111370
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Rock Hill

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
3Logan Hankins000007461000
12Hunter Massie000003-71000
25Owen Hankins00000201420000
29Hayden Harper00000201022000
32Skyler Kidd000005190000
 Total00000553024000
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season
September 20, 2019 7:00 pm OVC 2019

Venue

Portsmouth

Big plays, speed spark Falcons’ win over Redmen

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Minford14871443Win
Rock Hill0012012Loss

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo’s by Kent Sanborn http://www.southernohiosportsphotos.com/

 

MINFORD – Ty Wiget’s two lengthy touchdown dashes, which book-ended Saturday evening’s season opener, summed everything up.

#
25
Name
Ty Wiget
Position
2020
Height
5-09
Weight
175
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019

The injury-riddled Rock Hill Redmen simply weren’t going to catch the Minford Falcons.

Minford made big plays from the opening kickoff to the closing whistle, as the Falcons soared past the larger Redmen 43-12 at Minford High School.

The matchup marked the seventh meeting between the two squads since 2012, with Minford winning all except the Redmen’s runaway win three years ago.

The Falcons’ 43 points are the most scored by either team over that same seven-year span.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but was postponed a day due to inclement weather – with rainwater significantly saturating the playing surface.

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Indeed, the field was dried out on Saturday, and neither it nor the Redmen could slow down the speedy Falcons.

Wiget ran the opening kickoff back 81 yards for a touchdown, then closed the scoring by sprinting 68 yards up the middle with five minutes remaining.

The final four minutes and 55 seconds was played under the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s running-clock rule, as several reserves ran the football for Rock Hill on its final possession.

By then, though, the Falcons had long since sealed an important opening-week win.

“Every team wants to get week one, because it springs you forward for week two and often times for the rest of the season,” said Minford coach Jesse Ruby. “We have a lot of speed with our skilled guys, who are very talented and can make people miss and score on any play.”

Wiget rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries – the other TD being a two-yard plunge to cap a two-play, 26-second possession with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Of course, though, his return of the season-opening kickoff caught everybody’s attention.

Wiget ran up and scooped up the ball at the 19, his momentum initially taking him into a line of Rock Hill defenders and Minford blockers.

But he broke free from would-be tacklers, got to the outside on the right side, and outraced the remaining Redmen for the final 50 yards.

“It was kicked kind of short, one of those where he (Wiget) had to come up and pick it up off the ground. At first, I thought he was stopped at around the 35-yard-line. But he squeezed through, made a kid miss, and he just has real good speed and outran everybody,” said Ruby. “He sees the field very well, and took full advantage of an opportunity.”

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Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis, the left-hander and new quarterback this season, led the Falcons with 163 passing yards and two touchdowns on 10-of-17 attempts.

He added 22 yards on four carries, part of 148 rushing yards on 23 totes as a team.

His four-yard touchdown run with a minute remaining in the opening quarter closed a six-play, 42-yard drive, making it 14-0 with Caleb Yuhas’ second of five successful extra-point kicks.

Vogelsong-Lewis found his receivers open in space, and those wideouts did their part by picking yards after the catch.

#
2
Name
Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis
Height
5-10
Weight
175
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019, 2020

“Elijah is such a natural thrower, and he is so smart about where to put the football. He reads his keys very well,” said Ruby of his signal-caller. “He trusts his receivers, they trust him and they have really good chemistry together.”

Rock Hill coach Mark Lutz said the Falcons’ speed and playmaking ability bothered his club all game.

Combine that with the Redmen moving players around defensively due to their injuries adding up.

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Rock Hill was already without senior running back Zak Adkins, and fellow senior running back T.J. McGinnis missed the entire second half after re-injuring his ankle in the first.

Brayden Malone missed as well with an injured knee – as he was set to start in the secondary – and Logan Hankins suffered a dislocated finger, forcing him to miss some snaps on Saturday.

“Minford is a good team with a lot of speed. We had a few opportunities to do a few things, but just didn’t. They have guys that can make plays in open field, and their quarterback does a nice job throwing the ball around,” said Lutz. “We had issues out in space, then when you start moving people around, you are down to your second, third or fourth defensive backs that aren’t used to that many reps. If we didn’t have bad luck, we wouldn’t have any luck at all at this moment. We have some kids banged up, but you can’t take anything away from Minford.”

Early in the fourth quarter, and with the Falcons leading 29-12, Vogelsong-Lewis put the contest out of reach with a wide-receiver screen to Matthew Risner right at the Redmen 37, as Risner ran well behind his downfield blockers all the way to the end zone.

The Yuhas extra point made it 36-12 with only 10:51 remaining, as run-oriented Rock Hill – with forced second-half shifts in its offensive backfield and a limited passing attack – couldn’t rally after that.

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Risner caught four passes for 72 yards, as Drew Skaggs made three receptions for 37, including a 14-yard touchdown to make it 22-0 with 37 seconds left before halftime.

A low snap on the point-after try turned a Yuhas kick attempt into an improvised Vogelsong-Lewis run, which he converted for the two-point conversion.

That capped a four-play, 80-yard drive, as Vogelsong-Lewis completed passes to Skaggs for 14 and to Wiget for 26 on the opening two plays to move Minford into the red zone.

That score marked a major swing, as it immediately answered a massive march by the Redmen which failed to produce any points.

Rock Hill held the ball for 10 minutes and 40 seconds in the first half, running 17 plays – mainly McGinnis carries from the traditional two-tight full-house formation – and 70 yards to the Minford 3-yard-line.

Unfortunately for the Redmen, McGinnis was hit and fumbled at the 1, as Risner recovered for the Falcons for a touchback.

“That was huge right there,” said Lutz. “If we score right there, it’s 14-7 and we get the second-half kickoff and see what happens. Instead, we don’t get anything and give up another score, and on the two-point conversion, guys in space don’t make another tackle.”

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“That was a huge momentum swing for us,” said Ruby. “They we wearing on us with a long drive, and we have a lot of kids playing both ways. But we got the turnover, and our kids rebounded. We started picking up steam again and responded by taking it 80 yards in four plays and scored.”

Ruby explained the difficulty of defending the Redmen’s T-formation offense, which the third-year mentor Lutz brought with him to Rock Hill from his days as an Ironton assistant.

“It’s very tough, because you just don’t see that offense a lot at all. We often times see different offensive styles and sets every week, but usually not like that, especially in week one,” he said.  “It was a challenge for us all week. It’s hard to simulate that in practice. But our kids came out and stood in there and did a very good job of trying to contain them.”

 The Redmen rushed for 260 yards on 54 carries, as Hankins – who made the lone Rock Hill reception on five passes for 13 yards – had 94 yards on 17 tries.

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Brayden Friend, the starting quarterback who was moved to running back in the second half, finished with 66 yards on 10 carries, as McGinnis gained 53 first-half yards on a dozen carries before exiting due to injury.

Friend finished a 61-yard drive with a 36-yard jaunt on the opening possession of the third quarter, as Hankins had a two-yard TD run to end a 48-yard drive with 23 seconds left in the period.

Both drives were five plays, but the Falcons answered the initial Rock Hill score with Wiget’s short scoring run, set up by Risner returning a Redmen punt 33 yards to the 7.

“I challenged our kids that this was going to be a game where we face adversity. How are we going to respond when Rock Hill puts something together and we have something negative happen? Every time Rock Hill scored, we answered,” said Ruby. “The kids rose to that challenge and did a good job.”

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“Every time we had an answer, Minford had an answer right back,” said Lutz. “I kept hoping for us to have something happen in the second half that would get us jump-started, but it didn’t. Then we turned into a MASH unit in the second half. I had to explain to the kids what MASH was.”

The Redmen must get healthy in a hurry now too, as Rock Hill hosts another spread-the-field formation team in Meigs on Friday night.

“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, and I’m not going to feel sorry for ourselves,” said Lutz. “We’re not going to make excuses. We just have to get better and that begins with me.”

The Falcons will travel to Chesapeake next week, as the Panthers – an injury-plagued team last year – opened their season with a 35-13 victory over Oak Hill.

Chesapeake is coached by former Rock Hill head coach Todd Knipp.

“Next week will be a totally different challenge for us altogether. It is going to be a much different offensive scheme, so we have to get lined up correctly and be able to read our keys,” said Ruby. “They are going to do some things to cause us some issues, but we have to prepare this week and respond and adjust accordingly.”

*     *     *

Minford 43, Rock Hill 12

Rock Hill 0 0 12 0 – 12

Minford 14 8 7 14 – 43

M — Ty Wiget, 81-yard kickoff return (Caleb Yuhas kick), 11:44, 1st (7-0 M)

M — Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis, 4-yard run (Caleb Yuhas kick), 1:00, 1st (14-0 M)

M — Drew Skaggs, 14-yard pass from Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis (Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis run), :37, 2nd (22-0 M)

RH — Brayden Friend, 36-yard run (pass failed), 9:36, 3rd (22-6 M)

M — Ty Wiget, 2-yard run (Caleb Yuhas kick), 2:00, 3rd (29-6 M)

RH — Logan Hankins, 2-yard run (run failed), :23, 3rd (29-12 M)

M — Matthew Risner, 37-yard pass from Elijah-Vogelsong Lewis (Caleb Yuhas kick), 10:51, 4th (36-12 M)

M — Ty Wiget, 68-yard run (Caleb Yuhas kick), 4:55, 4th (43-12 M)

Team statistics

RH M

First downs 17 18

Plays from scrimmage 59 40

Rushes-yards 54-260 23-148

Passing yards 13 163

Total yards 273 311

Cmp-Att-Int. 1-5-0 10-17-0

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 9-85 6-40

Punts-average 3-27.7 1-34

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Rock Hill: Logan Hankins 17-94 TD, Brayden Friend 10-66 TD, T.J. McGinnis 12-53, Hayden Harper 6-25, Skyler Kidd 3-17, Chase Delong 4-8, Kordell French 1-3, Trenton Williams 1-(-6); Minford: Ty Wiget 14-121 2TD, Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 4-22 TD, Matthew Risner 2-8, Andy Crank 2-2, Team 1-(-5)

PASSING — Rock Hill: Brayden Friend 1-5-0-13; Minford: Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 10-17-0-163 2TD

RECEIVING — Rock Hill: Logan Hankins 1-13; Minford: Matthew Risner 4-72, Drew Skaggs 3-47 TD, Ty Wiget 2-36, Bryson Ashley 1-8

Rock Hill vs Meigs

00 days 00 hrs 00 mins 00 secs

Chesapeake vs Minford

00 days 00 hrs 00 mins 00 secs

Minford

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
2Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis1017016325401000
7Matthew Risner000002904721
11Drew Skaggs000000003471
20Andy Crank00000220000
25Ty Wiget000001312522360
30Bryson Ashley00000000180
 Total101701632221763101632
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
2Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis00000
7Matthew Risner00000
11Drew Skaggs00000
20Andy Crank00000
25Ty Wiget00000
30Bryson Ashley00000
 Total00000

Rock Hill

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
3Logan Hankins00000179411130
14Brayden Friend15013010661000
29Hayden Harper000006250000
32Skyler Kidd000003170000
36T.J. McGinnis0000012530000
4Kordell French00000130000
10Trenton Williams000001-60000
33Chase Delong00000480000
 Total1501305426021130
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
3Logan Hankins00000
14Brayden Friend00000
29Hayden Harper00000
32Skyler Kidd00000
36T.J. McGinnis00000
4Kordell French00000
10Trenton Williams00000
33Chase Delong00000
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season Headline
August 30, 2019 7:00 pm SEO 2019 Big plays, speed spark Falcons' win over Redmen

Venue

Minford

Hornets rout Raiders in Lucas’ CG debut

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Coal Grove14612020Win
River Valley70007Loss

By PAUL BOGGS

Photos by Tim Gearheart

Video by Josh Wheeler

 

COAL GROVE – Indeed, it was a highly-successful homecoming for Coal Grove’s Jay Lucas.

Making his head coaching debut at his alma mater, Lucas’ host Hornets held the visiting River Valley Raiders without an offensive touchdown, amassed over 400 yards of offense themselves, and scored the game’s final 25 points en route to a 32-7 season-opening victory on Friday night inside LeMaster Stadium in Coal Grove.

The meeting against the Raiders, a former member of the Ohio Valley Conference with Coal Grove, was the Hornets’ 15th all-time – as Coal Grove now owns a decisive 13-2 series advantage.

The two teams had played consecutive from 2002 thru 2013, with the Raiders only winning in back-to-back years of 2002 and 2003.

Last season, the Hornets shut out an extremely young River Valley squad, 47-0.

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Before Friday’s game, Lucas’ father – longtime and legendary Coal Grove coach Dave Lucas – was honored with a sign renaming the street which runs in front of the high school as Dave Lucas Lane.

Jay was his longtime assistant, but now the roles are reversed with Dave assisting his son.

The father-and-son tandem spent the past two seasons at Wellston after originally coaching the Golden Rockets from 2000 thru 2002, with Jay getting hired there in 2017 for his first career head coaching job.

But, the younger Lucas was glad to once again occupy the Lemaster Stadium sidelines, with the elder Lucas calling his shots from the press box.

Jay, Dave and Jay’s son and assistant coach Jordan Lucas were recognized beforehand as three generations of the Lucas’ coaching at Coal Grove.

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Jay said he was relieved once the game started, and praised his Hornets for how hard they played and how well they performed.

Head Coach Jay Lucas

Current Team
Coal Grove
Past Teams
Chillicothe, Portsmouth, Wellston
“I thought our kids played really hard. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t an emotional time for me, because it was the first one (game),” he said. “Coal Grove has always been home. I’ve been around here all my life. We had to make some adjustments when we did and I thought they executed well on both sides of the ball, and I was really proud of them. They (Raiders) are vastly improved from last year, but I was pleased with how we kept our focus for the entire game, especially throughout the delay.”

The Hornets scored the final 25 points in the final 37 minutes and 34 seconds, and withstood a 55-minute weather delay in the second quarter by dominating both sides of the ball following it.

Coal Grove gained 405 total yards, including 284 rushing on 52 carries.

The Lucas’ — long known for their ground-oriented trap-heavy ball-control and clock-consuming running philosophy — also aired it out on Friday for 16 attempts with nine completions.

#
30
Name
Austin Stapleton
Position
2021
Height
5-10
Weight
225
Current Team
Coal Grove
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020
Austin Stapleton struck for 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 19 carries, and Austin Stormes – on 10 totes and 53 yards with five receptions for 74 yards – scored on an 8-yard run with a minute-and-a-half left in the first quarter to give the Hornets the lead for good.

#
10
Name
Austin Stormes
Position
2020
Height
5-11
Weight
175
Current Team
Coal Grove
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
“Those two backs, we feel good about those guys. They can really do some damage from the backfield spot,” said Lucas.

Cory Borders, making his first start at quarterback for the graduated Nate Harmon, completed 8-of-14 passes for 117 yards.

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His 6-yard completion to Jarren Hicks with five minutes remaining in the third quarter capped the scoring at 32-7.

Coal Grove outgained the Raiders by almost 300 yards (405-117), and stymied the injury-riddled Raiders to 33 rushing yards on 20 attempts.

The Hornets held a hefty 25-5 advantage in first downs, and forced the Raiders into four punts with three turnovers.

The second of two lost first-quarter fumbles, with 6:42 to play, produced the Hornets’ first touchdown.

River Valley quarterback Jordan Burns completed a swing pass in the end zone, but Justin Hicks hit Jared Reese and jarred the ball loose, as Logan Sizemore recovered.

Lucas spoke to the physicality of which the Hornets hit the Raiders.

“We feel like we have a good group on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “The play that Justin made there set the tone and gave us momentum. We have some good skilled players, but Coal Grove has always been pretty physical. We were going to challenge them up front and see where they ended up.”

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Where several Raiders ended up, unfortunately, was out of the game and on the sidelines.

River Valley, under second-year head coach Jason Peck and coming off a 1-9 season, was already a key man down with senior fullback and linebacker Colton Gilmore likely out for the year with an injury.

The Silver and Black turned even more black and blue with three other injuries in the contest – senior lineman Cole Thaxton, senior running back and strong safety Cole Young, and sophomore lineman Landon Dodrill.

The Raiders’ only score occurred just 15 seconds after Coal Grove struck first – when Young returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards untouched up the middle.

But the Hornets hit back with a 55-yard, 10-play scoring drive that spanned five minutes and 53 seconds.

Coal Grove mixed runs with Stapleton and Stormes, as Stormes scored from eight yards away with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

J.C. Damron made his second of two successful extra point kicks to make it 14-7, giving the Hornets the lead for good.

After an exchange of punts, the Raiders returned a punt 31 yards to the Coal Grove 17, but River Valley turned the ball over on downs inside the red zone.

The weather delay hit at the 4:17 mark with a torrential downpour, and when the contest resumed, the Hornets were ready while the Raiders were not.

Coal Grove drove 87 yards in only five plays on the first possession following the break, as Stapleton scored from 13 yards away with 2:52 left in the first half.

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Stormes scampered for a dozen yards, a River Valley face-mask penalty pushed the ball to midfield, and Borders broke free for a 38-yard gainer on the previous three plays.

Lucas said it was important for the Hornets to make necessary adjustments.

“They had 11 guys inside the box, so we decided we had to adjust. Fortunately, we have some kids that can make some plays. We got the ball to them at the right time,” he said.

From there, the Raiders ran just 14 more plays from scrimmage, as the Hornets started the third quarter with a 9-play, 75-yard march which consumed the opening four minutes.

Stapleton scored from a yard away making it 26-7.

After a River Valley three-and-out, Coal Grove ended the scoring with another five-play drive, highlighted by Borders’ 32-yard pass to Justin Hicks – before his touchdown toss to Jarren Hicks.

#
3
Name
Cory Borders
Position
2020
Height
5-10
Weight
170
Current Team
Coal Grove
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019

The Raiders then went three-and-out two more times, sandwiched around a 17-play Coal Grove drive which featured nothing but running plays involving the backups.

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The Hornets held the ball from the 10-minute mark until just 17 seconds remained.

Borders threw an interception on his final play of the night, but aided in rushing with exactly 50 yards on only five carries.

His counterpart Burns completed 5-of-15 passes for 84 yards, as Joe Abrams ended the Raiders’ last-best scoring opportunity – intercepting Burns at the goal-line with a minute-and-a-half left before halftime.

River Valley hosts Gallia Academy on Saturday night in that series finale, while the Hornets return home – and return to non-league action – next Friday night against Valley.

For this Friday night, though, it was a highly-successful homecoming for Lucas.

“We’re glad to be back and this team is finding its way,” he said. “I’ve been here a long time, and the expectation is to win. I know that, and I expect our kids to go out and play well. It was great to get the win, our kids really responded well, and I thought our kids got better as the game went on.”

*     *     *

Coal Grove 32, River Valley 7

River Valley 7 0 0 0 – 7

Coal Grove 14 6 12 0 – 32

CG — Logan Sizemore, fumble recovery in end zone (J.C. Damron kick), 6:42, 1st (7-0 CG)

RV — Cole Young, 85-yard kickoff return (Trae Russell kick), 6:27, 1st (7-7 tie)

CG — Austin Stormes, 8-yard run (J.C. Damron kick), 1:34, 1st (14-7 CG)

CG — Austin Stapleton, 13-yard run (pass failed), 2:52, 2nd (20-7 CG)

CG — Austin Stapleton, 1-yard run (kick failed), 8:00, 3rd (26-7 CG)

CG — Jarren Hicks, 6-yard pass from Cory Borders (kick blocked), 4:58, 3rd (32-7 CG)

Team statistics

RV CG

First downs 5 25

Rushes-yards 20-33 52-284

Passing yards 84 121

Total yards 117 405

Cmp-Att-Int. 5-15-1 9-16-1

Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-0

Penalties-yards 9-85 6-40

Punts-average 4-38.25 2-33

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —River Valley: Jordan Burns 7-3, Will Hash 5-1, Ryan Jones 3-10, Cole Young 1-8, Michael Conkle 1-8, Jared Reese 1-3, Team 2-0; Coal Grove: Austin Stapleton 19-115 2TD, Austin Stormes 10-53 TD, Cory Borders 5-50, Clay Ferguson 4-26, Trey Hunt 4-15, Chase Hall 4-5, Malachai Wheeler 3-10, Justin Hicks 2-9, Braylen Stuntebeck 1-1

PASSING — River Valley: Jordan Burns 5-15-1-84; Coal Grove: Cory Borders 8-14-1-117 TD, Clay Ferguson 1-1-0-4, Braylen Stuntebeck 0-1-0-0

RECEIVING — River Valley: Brandon Call 2-49, Cole Young 1-29, Will Hash 1-10, Jared Reese 1-(-4); Coal Grove: Austin Stormes 5-74, Justin Hicks 1-32, Malachai Wheeler 2-9, Jarren Hicks 1-6

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Video

CG v River Valley part 2

CG v River Valley after delay : Hornets win 32-7

Posted by Coal Grove Live on Friday, August 30, 2019

Coal Grove

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
2Malachai Wheeler000003100290
3Cory Borders814111615500000
4Justin Hicks000002901320
5Jarren Hicks000000001600
9Braylen Stuntebeck01000110000
10Austin Stormes00000105315740
14Clay Ferguson110404260000
21Chase Hall00000450000
22Trey Hunt000004150000
30Austin Stapleton 00000191152000
 Total91611201522843241150
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
2Malachai Wheeler00000
3Cory Borders00000
4Justin Hicks00000
5Jarren Hicks00000
9Braylen Stuntebeck00000
10Austin Stormes00000
14Clay Ferguson00000
21Chase Hall00000
22Trey Hunt00000
30Austin Stapleton 00000
 Total00000

River Valley

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
Ryan Jones000003100000
Will Hash000005101100
Jordan Burns5150840730000
Cole Young000001801290
Michael Conkle00000180000
Jared Reese001003001-40
Brandon Call000000002490
 Total5151840203005840
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
Ryan Jones00000
Will Hash00000
Jordan Burns00000
Cole Young012000
Michael Conkle00000
Jared Reese00000
Brandon Call00000
 Total012000

Details

Date Time League Season
August 30, 2019 7:00 pm SEO 2019

Venue

Coal Grove

Run-oriented Redmen ready to take next step

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo’s by Kent Sanborn, Robert Stevens

 

PEDRO – Simply put, these Redmen are bigger, stronger and even faster.

And, after all, that’s the direction Rock Hill wanted to go when it hired Mark Lutz as its head football coach three years ago.

The belief around Redmen country is that this is indeed a breakthrough season, as Rock Hill has several key letterwinners returning – following 4-6 and 3-7 seasons in Lutz’s first two falls.

“We have nine seniors and 10 juniors, and for many of them, this is their third or fourth year of varsity football. This is a senior group that all the kids look to for leadership,” said Lutz. “We believe these kids can be the team that takes Rock Hill back to the playoffs. We’re excited about what we can do this year, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work and preparation and staying healthy.”

Last season, as Lutz recalled, Rock Hill’s run-oriented T-formation offense from his old Ironton days did do its job for the most part – and pounded on its opponents.

It’s just that the Redmen, often times, stopped themselves with penalties or turnovers.

“Getting into the red zone and finishing drives is crucial. We were able to move the ball on teams and control the clock. We stopped ourselves. We had a penalty here and a penalty there or a turnover,” said Lutz. “There was more than one game that we could have won or should have won, but those types of mistakes did us in.”

Now if only Rock Hill can avoid such mistakes this season, expect the Redmen to finally turn the corner with bigger and stronger linemen combined with an experienced backfield.

Lutz explained that his Redmen are “balanced”, and that “ball control and the offensive line” are the squad’s biggest strengths.

“Our entire full-house backfield is coming back as seniors and our linemen are stronger, bigger and more experienced,” he said. “Ball control, running the ball, running the clock and our line are going to be strengths for us. This is a balanced team this year, but I do think some of the things we’re going to be able to do offensively are going to be a plus.”

In the two-tight full-house formation, senior Tristan Delong

#
72
Name
Tristan Delong
Position
2020
Height
5-10
Weight
315
Current Team
Rock Hill
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
  (5-10, 311) anchors the front seven at strong side guard, as he was a first-team all-Southeast District Division V lineman last season.

The other guard and center spot will be filled by fellow senior Ethan McClaskey (6-0, 217) and junior Jacob Schwab (6-2, 239).

The tackles are a pair of hefty seniors – Tucker Carpenter at six-foot four inches tall and 279 pounds and T.J. French at five-foot 10-inches tall and 324.

Delong can play tackle as well, but the Redmen must develop some depth up front, despite their experience and bulk.

The tight ends include sophomore Owen Hankins (6-2, 190) on one side with juniors Andrew Clark and James Knipp and sophomore Brayden Malone on the other.

The Redmen return all three of their starting running backs – all three being seniors and who have plenty of experience carrying the ball.

Last season, Logan Hankins (919 yards on 141 carries), T.J. McGinnis (809 yards on 144 carries) and Zak Adkins (775 yards on 147 carries) all toted the rock at least 141 times for 775 yards.

#
3
Name
Logan Hankins
Position
2020
Height
5-11
Weight
195
Current Team
Rock Hill
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
#
36
Name
T.J. McGinnis
Position
2020
Height
6-02
Weight
255
Current Team
Rock Hill
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019
#
24
Name
Zac Adkins
Position
2020
Height
5-10
Weight
190
Current Team
Rock Hill
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019

Hankins, in fact, earned first-team all-Southeast District, while the converted lineman McGinnis (6-2, 254) – an Honorable Mention all-district pick – played the final six games with a pair of broken ankles.

Lutz said simply that this is the heart of the Redmen’s attack.

“These guys are going to be carrying the ball. “T.J.’s (McGinnis) first two years were up on the line and last year we moved him to fullback. He’s the hardest worker we’ve got overall. In four years, he’s never missed a summer workout which is pretty impressive,” said the coach.

The quarterback is junior Brayden Friend, who is a two-year starter which earned all-district Honorable Mention for his defensive play.

Friend threw the ball seldom and ran more, but Lutz wants to roll him out more – and utilize his athleticism.

“Brayden is a three-year starter, This year, we’re hoping to get him on the edge more. Instead of having him drop back, we’re going to have Brayden sprint out a bit. He’s not the tallest kid, and sometimes that comes into play for him to be able to see. We’re telling him if there’s a lane open and he doesn’t see anything, take it and go,” said Lutz. “Brayden has put on some weight and gotten stronger. If you look at the times he ran the ball last year, he was probably one of our best running backs. But being a freshman and sophomore the past two seasons, we tried to protect him as much as we could because he’s also playing defense.”

The backup signal-caller is junior Hunter Massie.

Defensively, Delong and Carpenter are the tackles, with McGinnis and Hankins handling the end spots.

In odd-man fronts, Delong or Carpenter play nose guard – along with fellow senior Tristan Marshall (5-10, 268).

French at tackle and Schwab at either tackle or end add defensive depth.

McClaskey and junior Hayden Harper (5-11, 180) are the inside linebackers, with Hankins and Adkins and even Massie as the outside backers.

Friend returns at safety, and will be joined in the secondary by Massie, Malone, Knipp and Clark.

Lutz said that the Redmen defense, much like its offensive counterparts, did well at times – but it too made its share of self-inflicted mistakes.

“We would have some drives stopped, but couldn’t get off the field on third down. Teams would convert third down or even fourth-and-short. We’ve played good defense at times in the past two years. We’ve just had a few instances where guys have made a misstep or missed a tackle and we give up a big play, but our defense is going to be much improved,” he said. “We’re ahead of the game right now than where we were the past two seasons in terms of practice. IF we make a call to change a defense, everybody knows where they’re going. In the past, trying to get everybody lined up was a problem. Teams will try to spread us out, but we have to be able to adjust and make plays in space.”

Rock Hill has to figure out its special teams situation as well.

Jasson Aguilera graduated and Brady Floyd is exclusively playing soccer and running cross country, so sophomore Hunter Blagg basically inherits the placekicking and some punting duties.

Schwab starts the season as the punter.

Those extra points, of course, could play a large role in the Redmen’s outcomes – as they look to climb the ladder in the rugged Ohio Valley Conference.

“We could be in a lot of situations where we go for two on the extra point, so we have to be able to convert,” said Lutz. “Those extra points all add up. Our kicking position is still being worked out, and we hope it can become a strengh for us.”

Gallia Academy is the defending league champion, but Lutz – the former Ironton assistant – believes Ironton is indeed the preseason favorite.

“Ironton has a lot of good kids and some kids already committed to colleges or colleges looking at them. Portsmouth has the (Talyn) Parker kid. Gallia Academy won it last year and Coach (Alex) Penrod does a great job up there,” he said. “The league is really balanced and should be impressive this year, and we want to be right in that mix.”

Indeed, Lutz does believe this can be a breakthrough season for Rock Hill, as the Redmen are in fact bigger, stronger and even faster.

Now, they just need to be deeper and healthier.

Head Coach Mark Lutz

Current Team
Rock Hill
“We’ve already started to see some injuries that may force us to play some of these younger kids. I like our chances if we can keep everybody healthy, get some of the kids back healthy and develop some backups,” said Lutz. “That’s going to be the key for us.”

Rock Hill 2019 Roster & Stats

#PlayerPositionHeightWeightCMPATTINTPYDSTDATTRUYDSTDRECREYDSTDSacksTacklesINTFGMFGA
2Hunter Blagg2022--0000045000000000
3Logan Hankins20205-11195000001498406882000000
3Owen Hankins2022--0000087415119000000
4Kordell French2023--0000013000000000
5Brayden Adams2023--0000000000000000
6Deven Long2023--0000022000000000
7Brock Friend2023--0000049000000000
10Trenton Williams2023--000002-9000000000
11Brady Bramblett2021--0000000000000000
12Hunter Massie2021--38036012-3300000000
14Brayden Friend2021--8232860392034119000000
15Chanz Pancake2023--0000000000000000
21Brayden Malone2022--00000835000000000
24Zac Adkins20205-101900000000000000000
28Drake Smith2023--0000000000000000
29Hayden Harper2021--0000081320400000000
30Noah Burton2021--0000000000000000
32Skyler Kidd2023--000002179000000000
33Chase Delong2023--00000829000000000
36T.J. McGinnis20206-02255000001034847112000000
51Blake Waulk2023--0000000000000000
52Brice Schob2022--0000000000000000
53Mikey Pemberton2021--0000000000000000
54Garrin Yates2023--0000000000000000
55Landon Harper2023--0000000000000000
56Zane Albright2022--0000000000000000
57Ethan McClaskey2020--0000000000000000
58David Jenkins2023--0000000000000000
60Lane Smith2023--0000000000000000
65Adam Rhodes2020--0000000000000000
66Kaleb Bevins2022--0000000000000000
67Ethan Bevins2022--0000000000000000
68David Bailey2021--0000000000000000
70Tristan Marshall2020--0000000000000000
72Tristan Delong20205-103150000000000000000
73Anthony Ison2023--0000000000000000
74Tucker Carpenter2020--0000000000000000
75Jacob Schwab2021--0000000000000000
76Justin McKee2023--0000000000000000
77Jonathan Spurlock2023--0000000000000000
78T.J. French2020--0000000000000000
79Andrew Medinger2023--0000000000000000
83James Knipp2021--0000000000000000
85Joe Pierce2022--0000000000000000
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