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Football Scouting Report: Marion Harding renews trophy game with Ashland

Rob McCurdy, Marion Star
·8 min read

Calling it a rivalry game is a stretch, but once upon a time Marion Harding and Ashland were in the Ohio Heartland Conference together in the late 1980s and through the 1990s.

And going back to 1953 for a pair of seasons, the two cities on the Erie Railroad line competed for the 300-pound Erie Bell that used to ride on one of the locomotives. The bell has since been refurbished, and when the Harding-Ashland series was revived last season, so was the trophy game.

The Arrows won for just the second time in 17 contests between the two football teams, dominating Harding 49-7, Ashland scored 42 unanswered points in the blowout although AHS only led 11-7 in the third period.

Nathan Bernhard got his first start at quarterback as a freshman for the Arrows last season in the Harding game. He is now a Power Five recruit with an offer from Penn State and Louisville with many more to come.

Marion Harding's football captains meet at midfield with their counterparts from Mount Vernon before the start of last week's game at Mount Vernon. The Presidents will be on the road again this week, traveling to Ashland for the Erie Bell trophy game.
Marion Harding's football captains meet at midfield with their counterparts from Mount Vernon before the start of last week's game at Mount Vernon. The Presidents will be on the road again this week, traveling to Ashland for the Erie Bell trophy game.

Last week Ashland survived a second-half comeback where River Valley forced overtime, but a Cayden Spotts touchdown run capped a 26-20 home victory for the Arrows. Spotts finished with 92 yards on 22 carries, while Bernhard was 29 of 41 passing for 271 yards, and Michael Franz caught 10 passes for 161 yards, including a 52-yard TD.

As for Harding, it lost some of its mojo in the second half after leading much of the first two quarters of its opener. Mount Vernon ran away with a 45-20 victory as the Presidents turned the ball over six times.

"It’s the little things. We preach them all the time," Harding first-year head coach Chuck Williamson said afterward.

Harding senior QB Alex Stokes threw for two touchdowns and completed 23 of 38 passes for 293 yards as sophomore Josiah Gooden paced the team with eight catches for 59 yards and a 47-yard touchdown run. Keonte Scott had six receptions for 128 yards, including a 26-yard TD, and Raymond Scott-Harbolt added 63 yards on five receptions.

"It’s attention to detail. We go through on Thursday our pregame where we do every little thing with a script of everything that can happen in a game," Williamson said. "We go through that. (Against Mount Vernon), I don’t know if it was the bright lights or what, but we are young, and I think they thought they were just going to show up and Mount Vernon was going to lay down. And it didn’t happen."

More: From last year, Marion Harding, Ashland renew battle for the Erie Bell on Friday night

Madison at River Valley

  • Scouting River Valley: Ashland held leads of 10-0 and 20-7 in the first half, but the Vikings were able to forge overtime when new quarterback Chase Ebert finished with a pair of touchdown drives in the second half ... A blocked PAT prevented the Vikings from taking the lead with about nine minutes left in the game ... Ebert was 23 of 32 passing for 212 yards, and Keyan Shidone ended with nine receptions for 108 yards ... Treyton Mercer, a transfer from Columbus, scored a touchdown on a first-half run.

  • Scouting Madison: The Rams suffered a one-sided 41-14 loss to Mid Ohio Athletic Conference power Shelby, a conference rival of RV, in the season opener ... Madison's Grayson Sasis caught five balls for 120 yards and Cameron Kuhn was 10 of 15 passing for 153 yards, but no one ran for more than 45 yards ... Madison has a new coach in Brent Benancon, who comes over from Smithville ... The Rams were 1-9 last year, averaging just 12.8 points per game. The Vikings beat Madison on the road last year 44-28.

Pleasant's Owen Lowry takes the snap against North Union in last week's football opener at home which the Spartans won 21-15.
Pleasant's Owen Lowry takes the snap against North Union in last week's football opener at home which the Spartans won 21-15.

Pleasant at Wynford

  • Scouting Pleasant: The Spartans opened with a 21-15 victory, their first Week 1 win since beating Harding in the COVID-19 affected 2020 season ...Owen Lowry threw for more than 100 yards and ran for 150 more for Pleasant ... Also for Pleasant, Drew Neiderhouser and Skyler Wolf posted 87 and 75 yards rushing, respectfully ... Aiden Smith caught a TD bomb from Lowry ... For new boss C.J. Westler, it was his first win as a head coach ... Pleasant and Wynford were former members of the now defunct North Central Conference from the early 1960s until the late 1980s.

  • Scouting Wynford: The Royals played on Thursday night against Galion and lost a tough one 28-20 ... Galion is an MOAC school with Pleasant ... Pleasant's lone victory last season with an 8-0 win over Wynford ... Ashton Warren threw for 138 yards and ran for 101, while Kaiden Blair added 87 rushing yards ... James Rindfuss is a big-play threat who made two catches for 114 yards and both going for TDs ... Bryce Locker and Evan Wright each produced double digits in tackles.

Triway at Highland

  • Scouting Highland: All-Ohio Dane Nauman only needed 15 carries to get 120 yards and a touchdown, but he made a 60-yard TD catch, too ... Kolton Stover was 13 of 20 passing for 217 yards and three touchdowns passes as Kadyn Reichenbach collected two TDs among his four receptions for 115 yards ... Ladon Hayes led the defense with 6.5 tackles and Sam Hernandez had an interception as the Scots pitched a shutout with 51 passing yards and 139 passing yards allowed.

  • Scouting Triway: The Titans faced one of the state's better Division IV teams and lost 41-7 to West Holmes in the opener ... Triway managed just 13 yards rushing on 19 carries, but saw two quarterbacks throw for 107 yards ... Triway, which is a Division V school like the Scots, beat Highland 26-14 last season.

More: Pleasant kicks off Westler Era with victory over North Union

Columbus Academy at Cardington

  • Scouting Cardington: The Pirates were blanked by Elgin 30-0 in Week 1 ... Cardington QB Journey Williamson was 11 of 16 passing for 129 yards ... Wyatt Denney was the team's top rusher with 44 yards on 13 tries ... Zane Everly led the Pirates with 7.5 tackles, and Warren Garrison had an interception. Academy is new to Cardington's schedule in 2023.

  • Scouting Columbus Academy: The Vikings started the season with a convincing 35-12 win over Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy ... It will play in the new Central Buckeye League with Bexley, Buckeye Valley, Ready and Whitehall this season ... They have an experienced quarterback and are coming off a season where they won a playoff game.

Upper Sandusky at Mount Gilead

  • Scouting Mount Gilead: The Indians shut down the Triad offense in the opener, winning 15-8 and did just enough on offense to get the victory ... Mount Gilead countered the Cardinals with 269 total yards ... It had 178 coming on the ground ... Cole Fricke paced MG with 91 yards on 5 of 10 passing and with 56 yards rushing on 17 carries ... Mason Barnum added with 50 rushing yards on 12 attempts.

  • Scouting Upper Sandusky: Kaden Hoffman threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns but was picked off twice with each going for scores in a 42-21 loss to Nothmor ... Hoffman was 20 of 39 passing and ran it 19 times for 90 yards ... Gavin Frey caught all three TDs and ended with nine receptions for 114 yards ... Ethan Lewis led the Rams with 12 tackles ... Upper beat MG 28-6 in 2022.

South Central at Northmor

  • Scouting Northmor: The Knights got 255 passing yards from All-Ohioan A.J. Bower who went 11-for-19 in the air ... Cowin Becker hauled in three passes for 109 yards, and Jax Wenger made four catches for 82 ... Carson Campbell was the team's leading rusher with 51 yards ... Hunter Fulk intercepted two passes and returned both for long touchdowns.

  • Scouting South Central: The Trojans were beaten by Willard 35-6 to start the season ... South Central gave up more than 250 yards and five touchdowns to the Crimson Flashes ... SC quarterback Aaron Hauler was 5-for-18 for 61 yards, plus he ran for 58 yards and the team's only score ... Gunner Ray led the team with 67 rushing yards ... South Central lost to Northmor 28-20 last year.

North Union's Owen Hoffer goes in motion before Carter Skaggs takes the snap during a season-opening football game at Pleasant last week.
North Union's Owen Hoffer goes in motion before Carter Skaggs takes the snap during a season-opening football game at Pleasant last week.

Triad at North Union

  • Scouting North Union: Tyler Krebehenne scored both North Union touchdowns in the loss at Pleasant, including a 77-yard interception return for a TD ... Carter Skaggs was 9 of 12 passing for 105 yards, but the All-Ohio special teamer punted one 59 yards ... Landon Converse led the team with 55 rushing yards and nine tackles ... The Wildcats allowed 400 yards of offense against Pleasant

  • Scouting Triad: Triad was shutout by North Union 35-0 last year ... In a 15-8 home loss to Mount Gilead, Triad mustered only 127 yards of offense ... The Cardinals of Champaign County are a Division VI school and competes in the Ohio Heritage Conference ... Reid Todhunter recorded 21 tackles for Triad.

rmccurdy@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: HS Football Scouting Report Week 2 Matchups