Sports
Chillicothe Begins With Tough Matchup Against Teays Valley
By: Taylor Jedrzejek
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Entering the 2018 season, there’s only one question surrounding the Chillicothe football program: How can you replace Branden Maughmer? The former Gridiron Glory Player of the Year finished last season with over 2,700 yards of offense and 35 touchdowns, but that doesn’t concern head coach Ron Hinton.
“You can’t replace a player like Branden,” Hinton said. “Guys like that don’t come along very often, but we know Adrian Beverly will step in to the quarterback role and play well.”
Beverly, a senior, started all 11 games last year at cornerback, but made the full transition to quarterback for this season. Helping to ease that transition are the seven returning starters on the offense, including four of the five offensive lineman, from last year’s conference title team.
“Adrian has had great presence and work ethic all summer,” Hinton said. “He has good feet in the pocket and good vision down the field. His passing ability is ahead of Branden’s as well.”
The new quarterback will be immediately put to the test by a Teays Valley team that always seems to test the Cavaliers. In last season’s opener, Chillicothe found themselves in an early 14-0 hole on the road only to storm back to a 31-27 win.
Hinton expects more of the same this year.
“They’ll bring a well-coached, hard-working team on Friday. They’ll be bigger than us, so we can’t let them push us around,” Hinton said. “Our games against them always come down to special teams and turnovers, so we just have to execute.”
Chillicothe’s seniors have the chance to do something this year that has never been done in school history: make the state playoffs all four years.
They also know that there will be a target on their back in the FAC, but that will only serve as motivation for the Cavs
“We’re on the mountaintop right now,” Hinton said. “And I really like the view.”