Tag: SOC1

It’s Vikings vs. Mohawks for winner-take-all SOC I

It’s Vikings vs. Mohawks for winner-take-all SOC I

Northwest vs Symmes Valley

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo’s by Robert Stevens https://thegoldstudio.smugmug.com/

McDERMOTT – Rusty Webb, whether or not his Symmes Valley Vikings win or lose on Friday night, will hopefully be correct about one thing.

“This is going to be good,” said Webb, the veteran Viking head coach.

 

What Webb was referring to is Friday night’s ground-and-pound affair for this year’s Southern Ohio Conference Division I championship – as 8-1 Symmes Valley visits 6-3 Northwest for a winner-take-all conference title tilt inside nicely-renovated Roy Rogers Field.

 

Kickoff at Northwest High School is set for 7 p.m., as the winner officially unseats Oak Hill as the new SOC I football champion.

 

Both run-oriented squads, with Symmes Valley’s wishbone and Northwest’s traditional two-tight end double-wing set, are a perfect 4-0 in the league – as both were part of the 2014 tri-championship along with Oak Hill.

 

The Vikings last won the SOC I outright in 2011, while Northwest has never – repeat never – ever captured an outright league championship.

 

Hence, history is possibly in the making for first-year head coach Bill Crabtree – a Northwest alum – and his young Mohawks.

“It’s exciting. These kids have a chance to do something that’s never been done here. That’s a great feeling,” said the coach. “We owed it to our six seniors to give them a good season. It’s just been exciting for all of them. What better way to top it off than with an outright SOC I championship. I think these kids are ready to rise to the occasion. We’ve challenged them all season and they’ve risen up each time we’ve challenged them.”

 

The Vikings are equally as youthful – with only five seniors compared to Northwest’s six.

 

“We are a very young team with mostly sophomores, a few juniors and freshmen. A lot of these kids played last year and played in last year’s four-overtime game against Northwest (32-26 Northwest win). There is no substitute for experience, and that experience last year against many of these same Northwest kids this year is very valuable” said Webb. “We couldn’t ask anything more than having an opportunity, as young as we are, to be playing for an SOC I championship in week 10.”

 

And, not just an SOC I crown for the Vikings, but a Division VII, Region 27 playoff berth as well.

 

The top eight teams in each region qualify for the playoffs – with the top four squads earning first-round home bouts.

 

Symmes Valley, despite its 8-1 tally and only loss against Division V arch-rival Chesapeake, is only ninth in the official Ohio High School Athletic Association Region 27 computer ratings.

A win over the Mohawks should elevate the Vikings into the top-eight and thus a playoff spot, but nothing is for certain either entering – and immediately following – Friday night.

 

Actually, one thing is certain.

 

There will be a new SOC I champion.

 

The Division V Oaks, after a decade of dominance in winning the division outright seven times in 10 years, moved up to the larger-school SOC II.

 

That opened the door for the remainder of the half-dozen SOC I clubs, although Northwest is now the biggest fish in that pond – as it is also a Division V program.

 

But the Mohawks have struggled on the gridiron for the majority of their 60 seasons – having experienced just eight winning ones (1961, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1985, 1994, 2016 and 2019), while going just 71-245 all-time in conference play.

 

In fact, from 1959 thru last season, Northwest had won just 31-and-a-half-percent of its games (181-391-2).

 

Although, after going 2-60 in SOC II bouts from 2000 thru 2013 – with wins over Minford in 2005 and Waverly in 2010 being the two triumphs – the Mohawks have benefited from their move to the SOC I for football only.

 

In addition to the 2014 tri-championship, Northwest went 5-5 that year – before going 7-3 the next season, and securing the second-best single-season record in school history.

 

The Mohawks can tie that mark with a victory on Friday, and also improve their all-time SOC I record to 20-14.

 

So far, the Mohawks have outscored their SOC I opposition by a whopping school-record 188-68 count, including 69 points alone against Green – in which running back Brayden Campbell tied the OHSAA’s single-game record with nine rushing touchdowns.

 

However, it won’t be easy against the 30-man Vikings, as Northwest’s numbers are over 45.

 

Symmes Valley will line up in the wishbone, and run right at the Mohawks like it does everybody else.

 

“Symmes Valley is big and strong like they always are,” said Crabtree. “We’ve told the kids all week to expect them to come out and try and hit us in the mouth. As far as the numbers game goes, we’re both actually truly playing with about 15 or 16 kids.  We have a lot of kids that are practice players for us, but when it comes down to it on a Friday night, we’re playing with very comparable size across the board and skill sets. It’s going to come down to who wants it more come Friday night.”

 

Northwest will counter with its overly-tight and foot-to-foot line splits – in which all 11 players are essentially within 10 yards of one another.

 

Campbell is already over the 1,200-yard rushing mark for the Mohawks, while fellow running back Nathan Rivers is around 800.

 

“Northwest wants to run first. They have very good size up front and are very physical with a couple of speedy backs,” said Webb. “We need to be physical with them at the point of attack, be able to get off blocks and make good tackles.”

 

In short, certainly expect an old-school smash-mouth football game – in which turnovers are going to be killers, combined with penalties putting either or both teams behind the chains.

 

And, with this much rushing expected, don’t anticipate the contest lasting much longer than a couple of hours.

 

“Rusty (Webb) doesn’t change much. He’s done the same thing for probably 20 years. Unless he throws a bunch of wrinkles at us at once, we think we know what to expect. They run the ball, and it’s been successful for them. Same goes for us,” said Crabtree. “We’ve figured out what works best for us, and we stick with that. We’re looking for a big night. It’s exciting just to go in and see who’s better at what we do.”

 

Indeed, hopefully, it’s going to be good like Webb said – as the better team becomes the reigning, defending and undisputed SOC I champion.

[event_scoreboard id=”1697″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

RankPlayerPositionATTRUYDSTD
1Josh Ferguson2021108111111
2Ethan Patterson2022715507
3Jack Leith2020904816
4Luke Leith2021141484
5Nick Strow2022351350
6Derek Crum202125751
7Caleb Mullins20215580
8Levi Niece202216550
9Wyatt Owens202310270
10Levi Ross20231050

[event_scoreboard id=”1694″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

RankPlayerPositionATTRUYDSTD
1Brayden Campbell2022115141123
2Nathan Rivers202111796414
3Wyatt Brackman2023633121
4Billy Crabtree2020261821
5Zane Galley20224750
6Dakota Secrest202311731
7Kory Butler202312730
8Evan Lintz202216651
9Jacob Schuman20226230
10Darius Williams20223130

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mohawks run, and pass, way past Titans

Results

TeamTOutcome
Notre Dame12Loss
Northwest41Win

Mohawks run, and pass, way past Titans

By PAUL BOGGS

Photo by Laci Timmons

 

PORTSMOUTH — Believe it or not, what you saw from the Northwest Mohawks on Saturday night was indeed a bonafide passing attack.

That’s because the heavy run-oriented Mohawks – which almost always operate from their distinct double-wing and tight foot-to-foot line splits formation – went to the air early and often against the Notre Dame Titans, and succeeded.

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Austin Newman attempted 11 passes, and threw two touchdowns while completing two others of at least 26 yards, as the visiting Mohawks handled the Titans 41-12 inside historic Spartan Stadium in Portsmouth.

With the victory, on Notre Dame’s Homecoming night, the Mohawks snapped a two-game losing streak – and evened their record to 3-3.

The youthful yet undermanned Titans, donning their white throwback uniforms which celebrated the 1967 and 1970 state championship squads, remain winless at 0-6.

The contest marked the Southern Ohio Conference Division I opener, as Northwest – with overwhelmingly winning the numbers game now in the SOC I – was going against the 25-man Titans.

Speaking of retro, while Northwest did succeed, and even surprise, some with their opening up of the passing playbook, they still ran the football with precision – amassing 283 yards on 42 carries.

In fact, a half-dozen Mohawks had at least three carries, as – with the score at 41-6 and the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s running-clock rule in effect for six-and-a-half minutes – several players had the opportunity to touch the football at least once.

Northwest even showed some traditional running formations, but its base is the two tight-end appearance with everybody within a few feet of one another along the line of scrimmage.

But the first point addressed with first-year Northwest coach Bill Crabtree was the Mohawks’ passing game.

“We changed things up and threw the ball a little more tonight. We need to have success with that, and the passing game will open up the running game for us,” he said.

It definitely did on the Mohawks’ opening drive, which was the game’s initial possession.

With Northwest facing a 3rd-down-and-17 situation from its own 21-yard line, Newman threw a high downfield pass to Nathan Rivers, who out-jumped his Titan defender to make the nice catch for 27 yards.

Two plays later, Newman completed a 26-yard pass to Timmy Emmons to the Notre Dame 8, as Brayden Campbell capped off the seven-play, 72-yard drive that spanned just three minutes and 36 seconds.

#
11
Name
Brayden Campbell
Position
2022
Height
5-11
Weight
165
Current Team
Northwest
Leagues
SEO, SOC1
Seasons
2019, 2020, 2021
Campbell, who rushed for 101 yards on only nine carries – ran in from eight yards on the next play – as Dakota Secrest kicked the first of his five extra points.

The Mohawks then forced the Titans into their first of three first-half three-and-outs – and this time drove 70 yards in 10 plays in four minutes and 18 seconds.

All but one of those plays were runs, as Newman called his own number from two yards out at the two-minute mark.

With Secrest’s second extra-point kick, the Mohawks had 14 points – all they ended up needing for the win.

On Northwest’s next series, it needed just two plays and 55 seconds to score again – and go up 20-0.

Newman connected with Campbell for a deep skinny post pattern, hitting him in stride and ahead of the Notre Dame defender for a 59-yard touchdown strike.

#
14
Name
Austin Newman
Position
2022
Current Team
Northwest
Leagues
SEO, SOC1
Seasons
2019, 2020, 2021
As Newman completed six passes for 136 yards with two TD, and Rivers rushed for 64 yards on a dozen attempts including two touchdowns on short third-quarter runs (one and seven yards), Crabtree praised the play of his young offensive line.

The Mohawks had a size and obvious depth advantage on the Titans, but they still have to execute and improve upon every snap.

Northwest never punted on Saturday night, never committed a turnover, and doubled up the Titans in first downs 24-12.

The Mohawks made it 27-6 by scoring on their fourth consecutive series to start the game, as Campbell picked up 25 yards to the Titan 30 – for Northwest’s largest running gain of the night.

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They needed just seven plays and two-and-a-half minutes to score again, as Billy Crabtree capped the march with a 13-yard touchdown reception in the front corner of the end zone.

Secrest kicked his third extra point at the 2:17 mark of the second quarter for the three-touchdown (27-6) advantage.

“Our offensive line is doing as well as we can ask for up there,” said Coach Crabtree. “They are big and strong up front, and Austin is getting more comfortable throwing the ball. It’s coming together for sure.”

Not to be overlooked was Northwest’s defense, which limited the Titans to 163 yards.

Notre Dame needed to stay close early in order to have an upset opportunity late, but the Mohawks held its run-oriented offense to only 54 yards on 22 carries in the first half.

“Our defensive line is really coming along and we’re rotating a lot of guys in there, sometimes six or seven. We want to keep everybody as fresh as we can,” said Crabtree. “We definitely have a numbers advantage on a lot of these SOC I schools, but it’s a blessing and is paying off for us. We need to take advantage of our numbers.”

Notre Dame did score twice – the first following an impressive 13-play, 63-yard drive that consumed six minutes off the second-quarter clock.

The Titans picked up five first downs, and quarterback Jake McGuire snuck in from a yard out on 4th-and-goal at the 4:51 mark.

The Titans twice turned the ball over on downs in the third period, but didn’t give up and stopped the running clock with 5:23 remaining.

It was another six-minute scoring drive, covering 65 yards in 10 plays and ending with Logan Emnett scoring from four yards away.

Emnett amounted 78 yards on 15 carries to pace the Titans, as McGuire carried 11 times while completing two of his six passes.

Beau Hobbs – who had 46 yards on 12 rushes – had one reception for 17 yards, while Caleb Nichols made a good diving catch going out of bounds for 15 on the Titans’ second scoring series.

Notre Dame’s second touchdown gave it 38 points for the season, although the small-school Division VII Titans have now allowed 247 – as their last three opponents are the OHSAA equivalent of at least Division VI.

Notre Dame travels to Green on Friday night, while the Mohawks – a consensus favorite for the SOC I title – host Sciotoville East (1-4) in their second game since the sparkling renovation of Roy Rogers Field.

Northwest successfully shook off the outcome of its first game there – a 21-14 overtime heartbreaking loss against archrival Valley.

The Mohawks have the primary goal of capturing the SOC I championship, and – with some fancy passing on display on Saturday night – took that first step.

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“We’ve talked all week about nothing else matters now except winning games and doing things right in the conference,” said Crabtree. “The kids overcame the heartbreak with Valley last week, came out tonight and responded well for the first conference victory. The kids are working, the kids are getting better, and they are gaining confidence. We’re focusing on one game at a time.”

*     *     *

Northwest 41, Notre Dame 12  

Northwest 14 13 14 0 – 41

Notre Dame 0 6 0 6– 12

NW — Brayden Campbell, 8-yard run (Dakota Secrest kick), 8:22, 1st (7-0 NW)

NW — Austin Newman, 2-yard run (Dakota Secrest kick), 2:04, 1st (14-0 NW)

NW — Brayden Campbell, 59-yard pass from Austin Newman (kick failed), 10:50, 2nd (20-0 NW)

ND — Jake McGuire, 1-yard run (kick failed), 4:51, 2nd (20-6 NW)

NW —   Billy Crabtree, 13-yard pass from Austin Newman (Dakota Secrest kick), 2:17, 2nd (27-6 NW)

NW — Nathan Rivers, 1-yard run (Dakota Secrest kick), 6:06, 3rd (34-6 NW)

NW — Nathan Rivers, 7-yard run (Dakota Secrest kick), 1:12, 3rd (41-6 NW)

ND — Logan Emnett, 4-yard run (pass failed), 5:23, 4th (41-12 NW)

Team statistics

NW ND

First Downs 24 12

Plays from scrimmage 53 47

Rushes-yards 42-283 41-131

Passing yards 136 32

Total yards 419 163

Cmp-Att-Int. 6-11-1 2-6-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 6-55 7-55

Punts-average 0-0 3-37.7

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHINGNorthwest: Nathan Rivers 12-64 2TD, Brayden Campbell 9-101 TD, Billy Crabtree 3-27, Kory Butler 3-25, Evan Lintz 3-23, Wyatt Brackman 3-8, Zane Gulley 2-15, Darius Williams 2-12, Dakota Secrest 1-3, Austin Newman 1-2 TD, Caleb Goodson 1-2, Chad Bowen 1-1, Team 1-0; Notre Dame: Logan Emnett 15-78 TD, Beau Hobbs 12-46, Jake McGuire 11-5 TD, Austin Vaughters 2-2, Tanner Richards 1-0

PASSINGNorthwest: Austin Newman 6-11-1-136 2TD; Notre Dame: Jake McGuire 2-6-0-32

RECEIVING Northwest: Brayden Campbell 1-59 TD, Nathan Rivers 1-27, Timmy Emmons 1-26, Billy Crabtree 1-13 TD, Levi Tackett 1-6, Wyatt Brackman 1-5; Notre Dame: Beau Hobbs 1-17, Caleb Nichols 1-15

Notre Dame

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
3Caleb Nichols000000001150
4Logan Emnett0000015781000
5Jake McGuire2603201151000
8Austin Vaughters00000220000
12Tanner Richards00000100000
15Beau Hobbs00000124601170
 Total2603204113122320
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Northwest

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
1Billy Crabtree0000032701141
2Dakota Secrest00000130000
3Darius Williams000002120000
8Chad Bowen00000110000
10Timmy Emmons000000001260
11Brayden Campbell 000001011811591
14Austin Newman61211372121000
15Kory Butler000003250000
18Caleb Goodson00000120000
24Nathan Rivers00000127521270
25Zane Galley000002150000
31Wyatt Brackman000003100150
33Levi Tackett00000000160
34Evan Lintz000003130000
 Total6121137242303461372
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season
October 5, 2019 7:00 pm SEO 2019

Venue

Notre Dame