Miami Trace High School is celebrating Homecoming this weekend and Friday night, the Panthers welcomed the Cavaliers from Chillicothe High School to Panther Stadium for Week 2 of play in the South Central Ohio League.
The Cavaliers won the game, 45-14.
Chillicothe, now 3-2 overall, 2-0 in the SCOL, will host Hillsboro next week.
Miami Trace, 0-5 overall, 0-2 in the SCOL, will be on the road at Greenfield to take on the McClain Tigers.
The Cavaliers got on the board first with a 32-yard run by Nate Rosenbauer with 2:04 to play in the opening quarter.
Early in the second quarter, after a touchdown by Chillicothe was called back by a call against the Cavaliers’ sideline, the Cavs went right back to the same play and converted a 40-yard touchdown pass reception by Quintin Davidson at the 10:55 mark.
The Cavs attempted an on-sides kick, but, it was recovered by Miami Trace.
Blake Pittser soon attempted a 39-yard field goal, but, it fell just short with 6:22 to play in the half.
Chillicothe next scored on a 10-yard run by Nathan Bush at the 4:40 mark of the second quarter.
On the Panthers’ next possession, Chillicothe had an interception and return to near midfield.
Rosenbauer broke loose again and scored on a 55-yard run. The PAT kick made it 28-0 with 1:56 to play in the half.
The highlight of the next possession by the Panthers was a pass from Austin Lovett to Keondric Bryant that went for 25 yards.
The Panthers turned the ball over on downs and Chillicothe was able to get a 32-yard field goal by Johannsen to make it 31-0 at the half.
When a game has a point differential of 30 or more, there is a running clock in Ohio high school football, which was the case in the second half Friday night.
Chillicothe got the ball first and on the first play from scrimmage to start the second half, Rosenbauer scored on a 65-yard run to make it 38-0.
A mistake by Chillicothe helped set up the Panthers’ first score.
The Cavs had to punt and the ball hit a Chillicothe player and was recovered by Miami Trace’s Will Phillips at the Chillicothe 27-yard line.
That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Larry Jackson at the 4:01 mark. Pittser’s kick made it 38-7.
Skaggs of Chillicothe responded with a 24-yard touchdown run and with the extra-point kick, it was 45-7, Cavaliers at the end of the third quarter.
The final score of the game was a 2-yard run by Jackson with 7:18 to play. Pittser’s kick made what would be the final, 45-14.
“They are really well-coached,” Miami Trace head coach Steve Bartlett said of his counterpart, Ron Hinton. “We’ve just got to get better. If we don’t get better, things aren’t going to turn out the way we want them to.”
The Panthers hope that all starts next week when they visit Greenfield to take on the McClain Tigers.
Clinton-Massie improved to 2-0 in the SCOL, 4-1 overall with a 70-7 win over McClain (0-2, 0-5) Friday night.
