Golden Bears out of hibernation
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NEW MANCHESTER -- The Oak Glen Golden Bears picked up win No. 1 on the road at Buckeye Local in Week 3, and now coach Ted Arneault wants to his team take another step forward Friday night when they return home and to West Virginia Class AA play against the Grafton Bearcats.
"We go week-by-week," Arneault said. "Obviously, getting the win is nice, but we have higher expectations for the season. We want to beat teams like Grafton.
"They are a team that is our size in our division in our state. We would like to get to the next level by competing with a team like them. It's is 100 percent an opportunity for us."
The Bearcats are 2-0, averaging 27 points per game.
"They've got an older team and a more veteran team," Arneault said. "They've got some nice kids at the skill positions. They've got a good-sized line and are pretty physical.
"They are more of a spread-run team. They like to spread the field and run it against you."
The Golden Bears are expected to have wide receivers Hunter and Gage Patterson back from injury.
"We're healthy this week," Arneault said. "Having them both back is going to help tremendously."
Toronto at Southern
SALINEVILE -- Toronto is sitting at 1-2, but it is not lost on coach Josh Franke that the win came on the road. He is hoping his team can take what it learned in its Week 2 blowout victory on the road over Bridgeport and carry that success over to Friday night's game at undefeated Southern Local.
"I'm hoping our kids realize that they are 0-2 at home and 1-0 on the road," Franke said. "Maybe they'll embrace that. Maybe we're a bunch of road warriors. That is how we're going to play it this week -- it's a good thing for us to be on the road."
He knows the Indians, who are ranked ninth in the Ohio AP Division VI poll, won't make it easy, though.
"They are very athletic and have a lot of athletes," Franke said. "They utilize them in a lot of different ways. They give you a lot of different looks. They do some misdirection stuff you've got to account for, and they are big up front."
Senior quarterback Nate Karaffa is still officially day-to-day with a preseason knee injury, but was close to playing in Week 3.
Morgantown at Brooke
WELLSBURG -- The Brooke Bruins are still searching for a first win of 2018, but coach Mac McLean likes the improvements he saw after his team's bye a few weeks ago.
"The amount of improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 with a bye week is positive and encouraging," McLean said. "I think we are heading in the right direction, and we continue to develop the way we are. We'll start chalking up some W's before too long."
The challenge against a 1-2 Morgantown team, though, is going to be, perhaps, the toughest yet.
"Not to take anything away from Park or University, but I think we're going to see the best team we will see all year this week," McLean said of the Mohigans. "I know that they have two losses, but I also know who they have lost to. People talk about tough we start the season, but look at what Morgantown has rolled into the first three weeks. It's pretty impressive."
Harrison Central
at Union Local
BELMONT -- The Harrison Central Huskies are still looking for win No. 1 after a tough 14-7 loss to rival Bellaire on Saturday.
Friday night, they face another rival in the 2-1 Union Local Jets.
"They've got a real good athlete at quarterback, and they like to spread the ball around," Huskies coach Anthony Hayes said. "We expect a good matchup with them. It's fun to get into Buckeye 8 play and play in these conference rivalries. Our kids are always up for the Union Local game."
Week 3 was the second close game in row for Harrison Central. As long as his teams keeps putting itself in such positions, Hayes is confident it will break through.
"I say it week after week -- if you have a chance at the end to compete for a victory, that is all you can ask for," Hayes said. "If you prepare and keep doing the right things, eventually good things are going to start happening. I think good things are going to start happening for us soon as long we continue to do the things that we are doing."