Richland County Football Power Poll: Ontario at No. 1 in poll and MOAC
MANSFIELD — Just three more weeks remain in the Richland County Football Power Poll and it is still a very tight race.
Though Week 7 was tough for Richland County football teams, they went a combined 3-6, the top teams in the power poll are still having very strong seasons. Let's check out how this week shook out.
Scores and More: Week 7 Scoreboard: Six Richland County football teams take tough losses
1. Ontario (7-0, 4-0)
The Warriors are still riding high with a perfect 7-0 start thanks to a dominating 45-14 win over Pleasant on Friday night where Bodpegn Miller accounted for four touchdowns, two rushing and two passing, to continue to make his case for a Mansfield News Journal Offensive Player of the Year honor. The Warriors currently sit at No. 6 in the Division III Region 10 computer rankings and can likely clinch a playoff spot this week at Harding with those Division II points on the line. It has been an historic season for Ontario, which now finds itself all alone in first place in the MOAC standings thanks to a Shelby loss last week. With their destiny in their own hands, expect the Warriors to turn up the heat over the next three weeks.
2. Mansfield Senior (5-2, 4-0)
An ugly win is still a win and the Mansfield Senior Tygers couldn't care less as long as a W is added to the schedule. The Tygers beat Ashland 14-6 in a grinder of a game to remain in complete control of their Ohio Cardinal Conference title hopes. Tyger stat guru John Davis had some gems on Friday night. Mansfield Senior had 19 first downs in the win with 13 on the ground, five through the air and one by penalty for the most since having 23 in a 37-10 win over Madison in Week 10 of last season. Their 328 yards of total offense is the second most this season trailing only the 357 they posted against New Philadelphia and it would have been more had the Tygers not lost 14 yards running the victory formation out of the shotgun. The Tygers ran for 239 yards in the win over Ashland, the most since running for 284 against Wooster last season. Mansfield Senior hits the road to Wooster on Friday night looking to take another step toward a league championship.
3. Shelby (5-2, 3-1)
The Whippets' MOAC title hopes took a major hit on Friday night with a surprising 28-24 loss to River Valley as the Vikings scored with under a minute left to pull off the upset. They are now one game back of Ontario in the conference standings. Still, offensively, the Whippets put up some big numbers running for 206 yards on 35 attempts led by Brayden DeVito with 102 and Skyler Winters with 85. DeVito also threw for 247 yards and a TD but the Whippets were flagged 13 times for 109 yards to put them behind the sticks all night. The Whippets still control their own destiny in the MOAC needing to win out including a Week 9 game against Ontario to claim at least a share of the championship. They are still all alone in second place and host Clear Fork for homecoming in Week 8.
4. Lucas (4-3)
The Cubs lost a heartbreaker to Lima Central Catholic 34-27 as they too allowed a late score to give up a lead. The Cubs saw a four-game winning streak snapped despite a strong performance from Zack Diehl who collected two touchdowns while Dan Hockensmith and Graysen Jackson added one score apiece. The Cubs are still in good playoff positioning but will likely need to win out to host a first-round game. They have Plymouth at Bob Wine Field this week before closing up the season with Fort Loramie and Arlington.
5. Crestview (3-4, 2-1)
The Cougars are slowly climbing up the power poll rankings to No. 5 this week thanks to a dominating 56-7 win over Plymouth on Friday night to improve to 2-1 in the Firelands Conference. Ayden Reymer is one a two-week stretch that is nearly unheard of. After going for 300-plus yards in a win over South Central, he collected 190 on just nine carries with touchdowns of 22, 24, 21 and 77 yards. The sophomore is blossoming and it has the Cougars excited for the future. But they have some key business to attend to on Friday night when they host St. Paul. The Cougars still have Firelands Conference championship aspirations and can keep pace with a win. They just need to win out and hope someone knocks off Monroeville in the process.
6. Lexington (3-4, 2-2)
The Minutemen hung with West Holmes for a half before the Knights pulled away for a 62-28 win handing Lexington its second straight loss to the Top 2 teams in the OCC. Sophomore quarterback Joe Caudill accounted for all four Lexington touchdowns as he ran for two and threw two more, one to Seven Allen for 22 yards and the other to Brayden Fogle for 11 yards. So there are still some bright things to look at with Lex. Caudill threw for 156 yards and two scores and ran for 64 more. But, the defense allowed nearly 500 yards of total offense. Lex hopes to regroup in Week 8 at home against New Philadelphia, a team that struggled with Madison last week.
7. Plymouth (2-5, 0-4)
The Big Red saw their losing streak extend to four games with a 56-7 loss to Crestview on Friday night. Plymouth was short-handed coming in with three starters out due to injury and just 26 on the entire roster. Freshman QB Lincoln Distl did connect with Layne Bushey for a 76-yard touchdown pass so the Big Red are starting to see what the future might look like at the position. They head to Lucas in Week 8 for their final nonconference game before finishing up with Monroeville and South Central.
Weapons: Spreading the wealth: Ontario's receiving corps has Warriors a tough defensive task
8. Clear Fork (1-6, 0-4)
The Colts took a sixth straight loss in Week 7 falling to Marion Harding 35-7 to remain winless in the MOAC. Freshman Marcus Hoeflich did earn the start at quarterback this week as he ran for a 58-yard touchdown, the lone score for the Colts. It doesn't get any easier this week with a trip to a very angry Shelby.
9. Madison (0-7, 0-4)
The Rams seemed to be on their way to their first victory of the season leading New Philadelphia 7-6 at halftime, but the Rams could only score three the rest of the way falling 21-10 to remain winless on the season. Cameron Kuhn did throw a nice touchdown pass to Grayson Sasis, but the Quakers didn't allow another big play all night. Madison heads to Mount Vernon on Friday for a chance to pick up win No. 1.
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Last Week's Rankings
Ontario
Mansfield Senior
Shelby
Lucas
Lexington
Crestview
Plymouth
Clear Fork
Madison
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County Football Power Poll: Ontario Warriors are No. 1
