Plymouth, Willard to break series tie

WILLARD — The Plymouth football team will make the seven-mile trip to Willard on Friday with more than just a 2-0 start on the line to the winner. The Big Red and Crimson Flashes also enter the series — which started in 2015 — with a 4-4 tie in the eight meetings. Neither team has won more than two games in a row in the series, with the Crimson Flashes in position to do so with a win on Friday at Terry King Stadium. The Big Red can improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2021 with a win. Plymouth cruised to a 31-0 win over Oberlin on Aug. 23 in its season opener. Eli Keefe ran for 107 yards and a TD and Owen Wright added 70 yards on 12 attempts with a score for the Big Red. In a 32-7 win over South Central, Willard quarterback Jake Rothhaar threw four TD passes of 19 and 2 to Paxton Flores, one to AJ Speller for 71 yards; and one to Harry Meisner that covered 20 years. Meisner added a 62-yard interception return for a fifth score. Willard is looking for its second straight 2-0 start to a season. The previous seven winners have also been convincing, with the exception of 2018 when Willard rallied for a 38-35 win. Plymouth has won by margins of 13, 17, 34 and 36 points, respectively. Willard has won by margins of 16, 3, 42 and 21. Monroeville (1-0) at Tiffin Calvert (1-0) A year ago, the Senecas and Eagles played one of the more thrilling games of 2023 at Marsh Field. Calvert won 35-34 in overtime after stopping Monroeville on a potential game-winning two-point conversion. Earlier, the Eagles had an apparent two-point run with just six seconds left. But a penalty wiped out the run, and Monroeville got an extra point from Landon Stein to force overtime. The Senecas scored in three plays, then denied the Eagles on the two-point attempt after after quarterback Evan Benfer had scored his fourth rushing TD of the game. This Friday, the Senecas again enter the game off a thrilling win Trailing 28-27, Mohawk got 50 yards to reach the Calvert 35, but ran out of time. Calvert took a 28-21 lead with 5:29 left, but the Warriors returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards — only for the extra point to be blocked in what proved to be the difference. Freshman quarterback Tucker Coleman was 8-of-9 for 137 yards with two TDs to pace the Senecas. Cal Warnement ran for 117 yards on 27 attempts with a TD. Meanwhile, Monroeville is coming off a dominating win at Lakota last week. The Eagles led 14-0 after one quarter and 38-0 at halftime of a 45-13 win over the Raiders. Benfer scored on TDs of 75 and 9 yards, then threw a 15-yard TD to Colt Clark. Landen Roeder added TD runs of 5 and 6 yards, while Clark also scored on a 6-yard run. Monroeville is seeking its first 2-0 start since the 2020 season, when it started 5-0. Margaretta (0-1) at Western Reserve (1-0) Another rematch of one of the more thrilling games of 2023 takes place on Friday at Bachelder Field in Collins. A year ago, the Roughriders won a 44-43 shootout by also scoring on a two-point run in overtime in Castalia. The Polar Bears are coming off a 26-0 loss at home against Vermilion. Margaretta did not reach the red zone in the second half of the loss to the Sailors. Last week, the 'Riders put up big numbers in a 34-23 win over Wellington. Quarterback Hayden Keith ran 10 times for 176 yards and 3 TDs and was 14-of-20 passing for 193 yards with the TD to Chase Hipp, who caught four passes for 65 yards. Landyn Wiegel added 106 yards on 19 attempts. Galion Northmor (1-0) at South Central (0-1) The Trojans have a tall task in their home opener against the visiting Golden Knights on Friday. Northmor is coming off a 48-14 win over Upper Sandusky last week. Northmore scored three times in the first quarter and led 41-0 at halftime in the win. Quarterback AJ Bower was 10-of-13 passing for 322 yards and 4 TDs. Bo Landon caught four passes for 160 yards. The Knights won last year's meeting in Galion, 60-0. New London (1-0) at Zanesville Rosecrans (1-0) The Wildcats returned to varsity 11-man football for the first time since 2020 and did so in a big way with a 37-20 win over visiting Milliersport on Aug. 23 at Recreation Park. Now, New London will make a two-hour trip that covers about 92 miles when it faces Bishop Rosecrans in Janesville. Located in Muskingum County, the Bishops are coming off a convincing win themselves. They won at Beallsville, 46-0, on Aug. 23. New London will have another long trip on Sept. 6 when it travels to Vanlue, follows by the Firelands Conference opener at rival South Central.