After a string of down to the wire wins, Clinton-Massie has been involved in a pair of blowouts the last two weeks.
After stopping Goshen 50-0 in Week 7, the Falcons won over Western Brown 63-14 last week. Those results come after four straight one-possession victories.
This week, an improved Batavia team welcomes Clinton-Massie to Clermont County. Kickoff at BHS is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.
“Batavia is much-improved from a year ago,” Massie head coach Dan McSurley sid. “They have several players with breakaway speed.”
Quarterback Jess Roller has 20 touchdown passes — eight to Marcus Hughbanks and seven to Max Mehlman. Hughbanks has a 90-yard scoring play this season through the air while Carson Harris has a 57-yard scoring reception and Evan Hamilton has a 55-yard touchdown run.
The Falcons are equally impressive in the big-play department. Logan Chesser, Eli Muterspaw, Cooper Carmack, Jack Elkins and Peyton Warren all have runs longer than 46 yards with Chesser topping the list at 81 yards.
McSurley said his Clinton-Massie squad is dealing with health issues at this time, while hoping his squad can continue to improve each week while getting ready for the post-season.
“The message to the team is to continue to get better and be ready to peak at the right time,” McSurley said. “We’ll have a next guy up mentality and will rely on all three phases (offense, defense, special teams) go get it done.”
RECORDS: The Falcons are 8-0, 3-0 in the American Division. Batavia is 3-5 overall, 1-2 in league play.
SERIES: Clinton-Massie holds an 18-7 lead in the series that dates back to 1973 when the Falcons were 27-0 winners.
Massie won the first four meetings then Batavia won six straight. The last win by the Bulldogs in the series was a 20-0 victory in 1999.
PLAYOFFS: The Falcons have clinched a top four spot in Div. IV Region 16 regardless of the outcome of the final two regular season games. That is important as the highest seeded team hosts playoff games the first two rounds before all games move to neutral sites beginning with the regional semifinals. Batavia is 20th in Region 16 and with 1-7 Goshen on the schedule next week will likely have to beat the Falcons to make the post-season. With three wins and probably four by the time Week 10 comes and goes, missing the post-season isn’t that bad for a Bulldogs program that won five games the previous four seasons.
There are 708 schools in this week’s 11-player football computer ratings. The 72 largest schools are in Division I, while the remaining schools are divided equally in Divisions II through VII (approximately 106 schools in each division). The top 20 schools in each region are listed below by division and region with record and average points. The football page at OHSAA.org includes an explanation of how the ratings are calculated. The top 16 teams in each region in the final report will qualify for the playoffs.
FINALE: Clinton-Massie will close the regular season Oct. 20 at Frank Irelan Field against New Richmond.
Reach Mark Huber at 937-556-5765, via email [email protected] or at twitter.com @wnjsports
