Football Preview | Quest for league titles begins in Week 4

Conference play is finally here.

Half of the county will believe it has a legitimate shot at coming away with some hardware by the time Week 10 wraps up while the other trio will look to play the role of spoiler.

Let's break down Week 4 of football in Crawford County.

Clear Fork (1-2) at Galion (3-0)

One of the best annual matchups, the Colts and Tigers meet yet again to open Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play. Clear Fork hasn't started the season quite as it would've hoped to with just one win against Division VII Lucas, in double overtime. Back-to-back losses to Granville (15-0) and Lexington (28-27) mark the first time the Colts have started 1-2 since 2011 — they did go 0-4 during the 2020 abridged COVID season, but it's hard to consider that year a blemish.

Clear Fork's 44 points and 226.3 yards per game are the fewest among MOAC teams entering Week 4. The Colts aren't a pass heavy team with quarterback Mason Sansom ranking at the bottom of the league in completions (15), yards (131) and touchdowns (one), but also at the bottom for interceptions with just one. And Galion's Braxton Prosser is just a spot ahead of Sansom with 16 completions, 187 yards and three touchdowns, but has also thrown three interceptions.

Both teams like to pound the rock evidenced by having the two backs with the highest number of attempts, Galion's Gabe Ivy has rushed 66 times for 536 yards and five scores while Clear Fork's Luke Schlosser has 60 carries for 234 yards and three touchdowns.

This one has all the makings of another classic between these rivals. Both came in expecting to compete for a league title this fall and whoever comes away with a win in Week 4 will be sitting pretty.

Bucyrus (0-3) at Colonel Crawford (3-0)

Winless vs. undefeated, what a way to start Northern 10 play. Bucyrus has struggled the first three weeks losing big to Riverdale and Danville before battling Cardington-Lincoln up to the very end but coming up eight points short. Colonel Crawford, on the other hand, faced a stiff test in its opener at River then cruised past Cardinal Stritch and East Knox by a 106-28 margin.

The teams could not be more polar opposites when it comes to stats. Colonel Crawford's 1,008 yards rushing (336 per game) and 42.3 points per game are second-most in the N10 while Bucyrus' 109 rushing yards (36.3 per game) and 14 points per game are second fewest. And defensively, the Eagles are holding opponents to 251.7 yards and 16 points per game, Bucyrus allows 450 yards and 52 points to opposing teams.

Bucyrus is breaking in a new quarterback in Brayden Campbell, and he'll have one heck of a challenge this weekend against the Colonel Crawford defense. And the defense will have its work cut out trying to slow Micah Thomas and Trevor Vogt who have the most points of anyone in the league with 42 and 30, respectively.

Bragging rights! Crawford County Football Power Poll: Galion, Colonel Crawford battling for area supremacy

Wynford (1-2) at Carey (1-2)

I don't think anyone had Wynford and Carey meeting in Week 4 with both teams sitting at 1-2 on their preseason bingo cards. The Royals were coming off a tough season and nobody was sure what to expect out of them early on, while the Blue Devils lost a ton but have been able to successfully reload each year. They both played hellacious nonleague schedules, too, including one shared opponent in Galion who beat Wynford 28-20 in Week 1 then Carey 21-14 in Week 2. Wynford's lone win was 22-20 over Division V Pleasant while Carey beat Division VII Lima Central Catholic 28-14.

These are two teams with talented quarterbacks capable of slinging the ball all over the field, but strongly prefer to establish their run games first and let that do most of the work. Running backs Anthony Evans (336 yards, two touchdowns), Kaiden Blair (164 yards, two touchdowns) and quarterback Ashton Warren (120 yards, one touchdown) make up Wynford's dynamic backfield while the trio of Eli Steen (253 yards, three touchdowns), Austin Niederkohr (110 yards, three touchdowns) and QB Alex Putnam (104 yards, one touchdown) complete Carey's three-headed monster.

They're almost identical stat-wise on offense and defense, which should make for an absolute thriller at Memorial Football Field. Nonleague records don't matter at this point, Wynford and Carey are 0-0 in the N10 and both will be eager for that first league win to spark momentum in to hopefully a championship.

Buckeye Central (2-1) at Mohawk (0-3)

Another thing unexpected through the first three weeks was a winless Mohawk. A traditionally great program, the Warriors haven't been able to get into their groove early on. Granted, the first two losses were to a pair of undefeateds in Calvert (14-12) and Hopewell-Loudon (32-7), then last week they dropped a tough one to Margaretta (17-12). The Bucks suffered their first loss of the season to Ada last weekend 41-25 which was somewhat of a wake-up call for the team after coasting the first two weeks.

Ben Bogner is the one to watch for Mohawk as the dual-threat quarterback ranks third in passing (566 yards, three touchdowns) and seventh in rushing (243 yards, one touchdown) but has been susceptible to turnovers having thrown five interceptions and fumbled the ball twice.

Buckeye Central will need to slow him if it has any hopes of picking up a win at Warriors Stadium on Friday. And if they are able to make things difficult for Bogner, the Bucks have a dynamic offense that can move the ball with ease and score in bunches.

Ridgedale (2-1) at Crestline (0-3)

Not long ago the Rockets were playing 8-man football looking to rebuild the program. Now, they're back to where they were and come into Week 4 with two wins already. A 20-6 win over Hilltop was followed by a 32-0 drubbing by Elgin, but Ridgedale bounced back with a 32-16 win over Ridgemont. Not quite as lucky, Crestline has dropped all three of its games, and the Bulldogs scored their first touchdown last weekend.

Despite being shutout by Elgin, who is undefeated, the Rockets have shown they can score the ball against similar opposition and will look to do more of the same on Friday. Crestline will lean on the fact the boys actually scored a touchdown against Lima Perry. While it doesn't sound like much, the Bulldogs will take any wins they can get.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Football Preview: Week 4 signals the start of conference play