ONTARIO — It’s not how Ontario has started through the first two weeks, but how the Warriors have finished.
Ontario is 2-0 thanks largely to its play in the second half of each of its first two games. The Warriors have outscored opponents 53-14 after halftime.
“We’ve just got to be a full-game team and come out and start better,” Ontario quarterback Bodpegn Miller said after the Warriors overcame a 7-0 deficit in last week’s 35-21 win over Centerburg.
Ontario trailed Lexington 14-0 in the opening 10 minutes of the season opener, only to outscore the Minutemen 31-0 the rest of the way.
Ontario coach Aaron Eckert expected some growing pains after losing 22 seniors off last year’s Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship team.
““This is a gritty group of kids,” Eckert said after the opener. “We have a lot of new guys and new faces, but the grit is still there, which is what we want to make our identity.”
The Warriors will try to improve to 3-0 when they visit Madison on Friday. The Rams are searching for their first win, but showed signs of life in last week’s 31-14 loss to River Valley.
Ontario at Madison
Ontario quarterback Bodpegn Miller threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes in a 35-21 over Centerburg. Miller has completed 18-of-34 passes for 287 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 189 yards on 35 carries. Running back Mason Vantilburg leads the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with 266 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries. Noah Poole is averaging more than 20 yards per reception. Landon Sowards and Rayvon Skelton are tied for the MOAC lead with four sacks apiece. Sowards ranks second in the MOAC with 27 tackles.
The Rams led River Valley 14-0 at the half last week, but had no answer for All-Ohio quarterback Chase Evert in the second half of a 31-14 loss. Madison running back Kaleb Gordon rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in the first half before suffering an injury in the third quarter. Quarterback Cam Kuhn hooked up with Khris Adkins-Tolbert on a 55 yard touchdown pass.
Lexington at Clear Fork
The Minutemen pitched a second-half shutout in last week’s 21-10 loss to Shelby, but the offense continues to be a work in progress. Lex has scored just 24 combined points in losses to Shelby and Ontario. Quarterback Joe Caudill completed 10-of-19 passes for 148 yards last week, including a 20-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Seven Allen. Allen caught five passes for 66 yards.
The Colts are averaging just 98 yards through the first two games. Mason Sansom scored a pair of touchdowns in last week’s 31-14 loss at Granville. Quarterback Marcus Hoeflich has completed 18-of-33 passes for 113 yards. Jay Jackson leads the receiving corps with 10 catches for 68 yards, while Davis Hoeflich has five grabs for 37 yards. Devyn Oswalt leads the defense with 24 tackles, while Marcus Hoeflich and Blake Schlosser have 17 tackles each.
Cleveland VASJ at Mansfield Senior
VASJ running back and Ohio State recruit Bo Jackson rushed for 178 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries in last week’s 38-7 win over Cardinal Mooney. The Viking led 38-0 at the half. Through two games, Jackson has run for 350 yards and seven touchdowns.
Mansfield Senior’s offensive woes continued again in last week’s 20-14 overtime loss at Canfield. The Tygers managed just 130 total yards and were limited to 10 rushing yards on 19 carries. Guy Trader returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns, the first for 82 yards and the second for 90 yards. Nate Dismuke and Jordan Ferguson split time at quarterback. Dismuke, who returned from a Week 1 lower body injury, completed 5-of-9 passes for 42 yards and caught three passes for 21 yards. Dismuke, Trader and M.J. Bradley each had nine tackles, while Symirr Phillips and Carter Kessler made eight stops apiece. Phillips had two sacks and four tackles for loss.