Greater Cincinnati high school football: biggest storylines from Week 6

Week 6 of high school football in Greater Cincinnati is in the books. With each passing week, the playoffs draw ever nearer.

There were several marquee matchups over the weekend that determined league and district standings on both sides of the Ohio River.

Here are the biggest headlines from the weekend's gridiron action.

Highlands survives against Cooper

A track meet broke out in the fourth quarter of the Bluebirds' Week 6 game at Cooper as the teams combined for 35 points in the final 12 minutes.

'It's a great win': Highlands survives shootout to beat Cooper on the road

Highlands has won a few high-scoring games under Bob Sphire, notably against Simon Kenton in 2021, Ryle in 2022, and Campbell County in Week 3 this season. Sphire made it known after the game that he does not want his team to get into a shootout every week, nor is that the only way the Bluebirds win games. In Week 4, Highlands beat Ryle 52-20 before making a two-hour trip to shut out Raceland 40-0.

Even before Cooper quarterback Cam O' Hara threw for 553 yards and six touchdowns, Sphire knew his team would have to score a lot of points to beat the Jaguars. He predicted the same would be true in Week 7 against a Dixie Heights team that is a few plays away from being 4-1.

Perhaps the biggest victory for Highlands is that they won a tough district game on the road against perhaps their biggest competitor in the district.

Logan Verax breaks Ryle passing record

With a 99-yard performance against Christian Academy-Louisville, Ryle senior quarterback Logan Verax is now the Raiders' all-time leader in passing yards. According to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's website, he now has 5,511 yards since his career began in 2020.

The previous record was held by Tanner Morgan, who threw for 5,421 yards in just two seasons at Ryle. Morgan went on to play at Minnesota from 2017-2022.

Verax has led the Raiders to a 2-3 record so far, but those losses have come against some of the top teams in Kentucky in Covington Catholic, Highlands and Christian Academy. The Raiders face another tough test on Sept. 29 against Class 6A perennial power St. Xavier.

New districts? No problem.

One week after taking the field in Fort Mitchell, Beechwood and Covington Catholic dove into district play against an entirely new slate of opponents.

The Tigers held serve in their third straight home game, beating Gallatin County 56-0. Even though the defense only forced one turnover, the offense was able to rest in the later stages of the game. Quarterback Clay Hayden threw for 208 yards, five different players scored a rushing touchdown, and no Tigers caught more than 60 yards worth of passes.

Beechwood's remaining district opponents have a combined record of 13-10, so it wouldn't be inconceivable to see the Tigers run the table.

Covington Catholic officially entered Class 4A district play with a 61-0 win over an 0-6 Holmes team. Cash Harney had his second interception of the season, five different Colonels ran for a touchdown, and four different receivers caught a pass in the end zone.

Cov Cath's next three opponents (Grant County, Harrison County and Mason County) have a combined record of 9-7. With as good as the Colonels have looked through the first six weeks of the season, it's not an unreasonable expectation for them to win their district and go undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 2019.

CCD Nighthawks are fierce during 6-0 start

Cincinnati Country Day has been one of the most dominant teams this season. The Nighthawks improved to 6-0 with a 58-0 win over Miami Valley Christian Academy.

CCD has now outscored its six foes by a total of 236-12. The Nighthawks have gone 23-5 the last three seasons and 10-0 in Miami Valley Conference play, and they hope to make a run in the Division VI playoffs.

Parker Corbin threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one. Elijah Guttman threw for three TDs, two to Bryce Snell.

St. Bernard-Elmwood Place is the second-best team in the Miami Valley Conference-Gray Division with a 5-1 record. They will play CCD in the final week of the regular season.

Indian Hill regaining winning form for shot at CHL title

Just a mile or so from CCD, most of it driving past Camargo Country Club, the Indian Hill Braves are back in winning form after a down year in 2022.

The Braves were 3-7 last year, and head coach John Rodenberg was hoping for a bounceback in the preseason, noting the Braves returned 21 of 22 starters from last season.

He is correct so far as the Braves are back on the winning track after beating Madeira 42-21 Friday. The Braves are 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Cincinnati Hills League. Wyoming is 6-0 and 3-0 in the league after beating Reading Friday. The two league leaders play Oct. 13, but Indian Hill will have to tangle with Reading (4-2, 2-1) first this Friday. Reading lost 21-14 to Wyoming last Friday.

Through five games, Indian Hill was rushing for nearly 200 yards per game. They average 33 points on offense and allow 19.

Elder pulls out thriller to start its GCL-South title hopes

Elder has been such a consistently successful program that it’s hard to believe the Panthers have not won the Greater Catholic League-South championship since 2015. Elder shared the title that year and has not won it outright since 2008.

Certainly, the Panthers play in one of the toughest leagues in Ohio, and they made a statement there with a 32-31 overtime win over St. Xavier Friday. Elder is 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the GCL-South. Elder will host Moeller this Friday for this year’s championship. An Elder win clinches no worse than a tie for the championship for the Panthers, while the 2-0 Crusaders would win it outright by beating Elder.

Anderson’s defense comes up big in win over Winton Woods

Anderson’s defense has been a question mark for years, as the Raptors have been known for scoring a lot of points, but sometimes giving up just as many as the team gets involved in Big-12 style shootouts.

The Raptors are changing that narrative this season after a 20-13 win over Winton Woods Friday.

Anderson advances to 5-1 (4-1 ECC) and Winton Woods took its first loss of the season to fall to 5-1 (4-1). The two teams are tied for second in the ECC behind undefeated Milford (6-0, 5-0).

Anderson held Winton Woods to its lowest point total of the season and only 172 total yards. Anderson shut down a Winton Woods rushing attack that had averaged 212 yards per game, limiting the Warriors’ top two rushers to 52 total yards.

Antwoine Higgins set up Anderson’s game-winning touchdown with an interception.

Anderson has allowed 18.7 points per game, but half of that total came against Milford in a 56-35 loss to the ECC leaders Sept. 8. The Raptors gave up 376 total yards to Milford, but committed five turnovers on offense to give the Eagles some easy points. Anderson didn’t turn the ball over against Winton Woods, and has allowed 15 points or fewer in its five wins.

Anderson’s best defenses in recent years came in 2019, when Anderson finished 7-3 and allowed 21 points per game; and 2017 when Anderson tied for the ECC title and allowed 20.1 points per contest.

Wild, Wild East in the Southern Buckeye

The Southern Buckeye Athletic & Academic Conference has had entertaining games every week with big offensive numbers.

Williamsburg improved to 6-0 with a 48-6 win over Fayetteville-Perry. Senior quarterback J.J. Miller threw for 347 yards and six touchdowns, ending the game with 60 career TD passes to break Bill Brewer’s school record.

New Richmond improved to 5-1 by beating Goshen 49-13. The Lions racked up 463 yards offense, with Brady Young throwing for 209 and Braylon Patchell rushing for 191.

The SBAAC had another shootout Friday, with Western Brown rallying to beat Batavia, 51-47. Bronco QB Brady Sutton threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns. Batavia QB Jess Roller threw for 318 yards and four TDs. The teams combined for 39 points in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Clinton-Massie stayed unbeaten with the running game and defense as the Falcons edged Wilmington 17-14. Logan Chesser rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lions, who had 363 yards offense to 331 for the Hurricane. Ean McGuinness’ field goal in the second quarter provided the winning points as neither team scored in the second half.

This week’s schedule has more potential for offensive fireworks, led by Western Brown traveling to New Richmond.

Withrow imposes its will to beat rival Taft in CMAC opener

Withrow made a massive statement as it defeated Taft 31-0 on Saturday in the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

The Tigers were dominant on defense, pitching their second shutout of the season. They have allowed only 37 points all season, no more than 14 in any game.

Chris Henry, Jr. had his best receiving game of the season. The sophomore Ohio State commit had six catches for 91 yards and two touchdown catches.

The win was even more important considering that some or all of the Tigers’ star players are likely to miss a game down the stretch because of suspensions handed out by the Ohio High School Athletic Association after an altercation with Trotwood-Madison players Sept. 15. Specifics of how many players were suspended and which games they will miss have not been released by Withrow or the OHSAA.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Greater Cincinnati high school football: Week 6 takeaways