Friday marked the end of the most unconventional season in TVC-Ohio history. As quickly as it appeared, the regular season is over and the OHSAA playoffs are mere days away.
With the final game of the regular season in the books, The Post is here to break down what you may have missed this week in the TVC-Ohio.
Athens vs. Nelsonville-York
For the fourth time in the last five seasons, Nelsonville-York beat Athens in the battle for the Doc Kroner Trophy.
The Buckeyes dominated on both sides of the ball in the 36-6 win. Drew Carter played his best game of the season and threw for 230 yards on 10-of-19 passing with two touchdowns. Carter also ran one in.
The junior quarterback has been steadily improving this season as he plays in only his second season as quarterback.
Athens took a big blow when its quarterback, Joey Moore, was injured late in the second quarter. Before his injury, he was still having trouble against the Nelsonville-York defense with 3-of-8 passing for eight yards and an interception.
Sophomore Landon Wheatley stepped in for the senior and had some success, but only was able to put the ball in the endzone once. Wheatley will now have four practices to get ready for the playoffs at Western Brown.
Alexander
Despite a fourth-quarter push, the Spartans could not complete the comeback against Meigs, losing their final conference game of the season 12-6.
Alexander’s defense played perhaps its best game of the season, forcing five turnovers and holding the Marauders to only 12 points.
The defensive game plan for Alexander was to force Meigs to throw the football, as it was without its starting quarterback, Coulter Cleland, and pressure the backup, Wyatt Hoover, to make mistakes.
That’s exactly what happened, as the Spartans came away with three first-half interceptions and two second-half fumbles.
Offensively, however, the story stayed the same. Alexander continually showed an ability to march down the field and build a drive with promise, but it had trouble finishing those drives with points.
Once again, the Spartans would have their momentum derailed by unnecessary penalties or sloppy turnovers and it put them in a position where they would have to rely on big plays to score.
Alexander got one big offensive play when Logan Neal took a 38-yard run to the house, but the Spartans aren’t built to continually make big plays. When the game came down to the wire with Alexander threatening to score, another sloppy play, this time a bad snap, sent them too far backward and dealt the win for Meigs.
The Rest of the TVC-Ohio
Wellston defeats Vinton County
If there was a single constant in the TVC-Ohio this season, it was that Wellston dominated the conference. The Golden Rockets saw that through to the end of the regular season when they defeated the Vikings 33-12 at home.
Vinton County’s highlight of the game was a 60-yard fumble return touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Aside from an earlier touchdown in the first quarter, the Vikings’ offense was unable to keep up with Wellston.
After Friday, every game the Golden Rockets have played this season has been decided by double digits.
River Valley claims its first victory of the season against Bridgeport
When playing against conference opponents this season, the Raiders were consistently outmatched. River Valley was outscored by TVC-Ohio teams by 26 points or more this season.
Their final game of the regular season was a nonconference game against Bridgeport, where they finally claimed a 39-22 victory.
Conference Standings and Record Tracker
- Wellston
- Nelsonville-York
- Meigs
- Vinton County
- Athens
- Alexander
- River Valley
Wellston remains on top of the TVC-Ohio for this week and Nelsonville-York holds onto second place for the third week in a row. Athens dropped from third place to fifth, and Meigs regained its place at third. Vinton County, Alexander and River Valley did not move in the standings this week.
What’s Next Week?
Athens will make a two-hour trek to Mount Orab to face its first playoff opponent, Western Brown.
Alexander will continue play despite opting out of the playoffs when it takes on Belpre in Albany.
Nelsonville-York will get a bye before facing the winner of Symmes Valley and Southeastern at home.
Wellston will host South Point in the first round of the Division V playoffs.
Meigs will travel for its own playoff game against Oak Hill.
Vinton County ventures north to face Union Local in the Division IV playoffs.
River Valley has also opted out of the playoffs and will instead play a nonconference game against South Gallia.
All kickoff times are set for Friday at 7:00 p.m.
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