Mid-State League (MSL) Buckeye Preview
By: Charlie Ihlenfeld
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Bloom-Carroll:
The players know it, the coaches know it and the state of Ohio knows it. This is not the same Bulldog squad. However, that does not seem to worry Head Coach Jeremy McKinney, who is entering season three in Carroll.
“We heard that last year, and the year before, and the year before that,” McKinney says.” So, we plan to go out and play Bloom-Carroll football and let the chips fall where they may.”
The differences about the Bulldogs jump off the page. Seven starters from last year are now playing at the collegiate level. Three players highlight that group: Jaden Ball, Dylan Armentrout, and Brodyn Bishop. After compiling 325 pancake blocks at Bloom-Carroll, Ball now plays at Purdue. Armentrout set the school record for rushing yards in a season during his junior year with 2,178.
He is playing football at West Point. Bishop was the anchor of the Bulldog secondary, earning all-district, all-state and all-conference honors. He will continue his playing career at Kent State.
“It’s going to be by committee,” McKinney says. “I don’t know if a single person would have the numbers that Dylan or Brodyn would have, and Jaden is a very special football player. We don’t have anyone that is Jaden Ball.”
However, the Bulldogs are used to dealing with the loss of outstanding talent. After their state title run, Bloom-Carroll lost Andrew Marshall, a Gridiron Glory Player of the Year Finalist. Despite that loss, the Bulldogs once again reached the regional final. Canton remains the goal for Bloom-Carroll.
Senior Quarterback Ethan Thananavong says, “The first expectation is to win the MSL, and the next one is to win the state championship.”
Hamilton Township:
The Rangers’ Week 10 matchup with Logan Elm proved how much a single game can drastically change the course of a season.
Hamilton Township traveled to Logan Elm with a chance to clinch the MSL and claim a top spot in Region 11 after unseating Bloom-Carroll at home. The Braves crushed the Rangers’ hopes with a 28-0 rout.
Then their home playoff game transformed into a shootout against Miami Trace, one they could not win. The Panthers handed them a 55-34 defeat, and now, Hamilton Township has some major question marks.
Quarterback Josh Woods has graduated, and the Rangers will have to answer questions across the offense. The good news for Hamilton Township is a lot of the conference will have to answer those same questions. The bad news, their region remains competitive with teams like Jackson and Bishop Watterson sitting at the top. Luckily for the Rangers, they have been able to avoid bottoming out in recent seasons.
Hamilton Township has not had a losing season since 2017. Head Coach Tennyson Varney showed the ability to take the Rangers to the top, and this season can prove Hamilton Township can be a perennial contender in the MSL and Region 11.
Logan Elm:
It’s hard to imagine there is a more snakebitten team in the Ohio playoffs than the Logan Elm Braves. Historically, the Braves own a record of 4-12 in the playoffs and they haven’t won a non-COVID playoff game since 2009.
Recently, the OHSAA has not been kind to the Braves, giving them two difficult draws for their first-round playoff opponents. Despite having home playoff games in back-to-back seasons, Logan Elm has lost in heartbreaking fashion.
In 2022, the Braves lost to a potent Cambridge team that had won five of their last six games, and the following season, they were incredibly unfortunate to get the underdog story of Region 15, Indian Valley.
While Logan Elm was able to put up an excellent fight, Indian Valley defeated them 48-27. Indian Valley made it to the regional semifinals where Steubenville narrowly defeated them 42-35. As for their underdog status, Indian Valley was ranked fourth by Drew Pasteur in Region 15, but they were given the 14th seed.
The Braves had the best offense in school history last year, posting over 34 points per game. There is room for improvement for Logan Elm as their defense regressed last year, allowing five more points per game than in 2022. After starting 22-48 in his first seven seasons as a Head Coach at Logan Elm, these past two years have been a revelation for Terry Holbert.
Now, can the Braves clear that last hurdle?
Fairfield Union:
While the heavyweights of the conference garnered much of the attention last year, Head Coach Andy Clark and the Falcons proved they were a force to be reckoned with in the MSL.
Fairfield Union had not achieved a winning season since 2017, but in his first season, Clark and the Falcons did just that. After starting 2-4, Fairfield Union rattled off four consecutive victories and barely missed the postseason.
Historically, the playoffs have remained elusive for the Falcons. Fairfield Union has made seven appearances, yet they have claimed only a single victory in the postseason in 2001. Coach Clark and the Falcons have laid the foundation for that team to take shape.
Fairfield Union boasted one of the best defenses in the MSL last year, holding opponents under 20 points per game last season. While the Falcons struggled to contain the top three teams of the conference, their dominance over the final four weeks of the season cannot be overstated. Those opponents were held to under 12 points per game.
To prove they are ready to take that next step, the Falcons will need to take down the best. Against teams at or over .500, Fairfield Union finished 0-4. The Falcons know the mission this year.
Amanda-Clearcreek:
Last season, the Aces were looking to get back on their feet. A year removed from an 0-10 season, they made strides last year by winning two of their first three games. While the back half of their conference schedule proved to be a tough task, they will be looking to go even further under second-year Head Coach Chet Saum.
Amanda-Clearcreek is no stranger to the playoffs, whether in recent history under former Head Coach Steve Daulton, or the monumental heights they reached with back-to-back state titles in 1999 and 2000.
2022 was the worst defense in school history, surrendering an average of over 42 points per game. Last season, coach Saum greatly improved the school’s defense as the Aces cut their points allowed by 16. Their offense also went from averaging 10 points per game to 18 in year one. Amanda-Clearcreek will be seeking to continue the upward climb.
Circleville:
Head Coach Steve Evans has accomplished what very few can claim in the long history of Circleville football: a playoff appearance.
Excluding coach Keith Downing, no other coach has qualified for a playoff game in a non-Covid season. Downing still owns the only playoff win in school history, and this iteration of the Tigers took a step in the wrong direction last season.
After their playoff berth and 5-5 season in 2022, Circleville regressed to 1-9, reversing their progress from their previous season. The Tigers have been playing football since 1898, but they have only a single playoff win in that time.
Circleville will also be seeking their first winning season since 2015. It has been a challenge for the Tigers to break both of these streaks because of the difficulty of their region and their conference.
The recent success of Bloom-Carroll statewide, alongside the emergence of Logan Elm, Hamilton Township and Fairfield Union has made their conference schedule a gauntlet.
Region 11 has also produced state runner-ups in back-to-back seasons: Bloom-Carroll and Bishop Watterson. That is before considering five teams that finished the season with 10 or more wins.
Evans and the Tigers will need to improve on both sides of the ball as their points allowed per game ballooned to 34, and their points per game fell from 20 to 11. Coach Evans has proven he can pilot this team to success, and Circleville is capable of improving from last season.
Liberty Union:
The Lions have been stuck in a rut for the past few seasons, and nothing captures their struggles better than those at home. Liberty Union has not won a home game since August 26th, 2022.
Despite the recent grind for the Lions, Head Coach Dan Shirey has led Liberty Union to three playoff games in his tenure and won a road playoff game. Shirey has been one of the most successful offensive minds in the history of Liberty Union. In nine games in 2020, the Lions averaged 36 points per game, the second highest in school history.
One factor that is working against coach Shirey and Liberty Union is the high difficulty of their schedule. The Lions, being a Division V team, faced one of the most difficult schedules in the division. In addition to the grueling conference schedule, Liberty Union faced excellent non-conference competition in Heath and Nelsonville-York.
On both of those fronts, the Lions are going to see some improvement. They will once again face Lakewood, a team they narrowly lost to last season, and the Buckeyes will have to replace departing talent on defense.
We have already documented the struggles for the rest of the conference. Liberty Union has an opportunity to get off to a hot start, facing two teams that finished with a losing record last year and Nelsonville-York.
If the Lions can steal some conference games, they can easily become a threat in the Division V playoffs.