Week 2 high school football preview: McClain and Hillsboro look for first wins of season 24

Prospectus summary

Week 1 is now behind us, with Week 2 taking place on Friday night in the final week of August, with both the Hillsboro Indians and McClain Tigers looking to earn their first win of the 2024 season.

Last Friday (August 23) the McClain Tigers lost at Adena by a score of 24-8, while the Hillsboro Indians suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Western Broncos by 42-39, giving up the go-ahead score and the win with 0.02 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Now it’s time to analyze their Week 2 games, where the Indians will play on the road against the Goshen Warriors, while the Tigers will be at McClain Field, hosting the Northwest Mohawks.

As of Thursday night, the Indians are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start in Goshen, while the Tigers and Mohawks are now scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.

Here’s a look at the Highland County schools’ two games.

McClain Tigers (0-1) vs. Northwest Mohawks (0-1) (8 p.m.)

The Mohawks travel from McDermott to Greenfield for a non-conference game after suffering a 26-0 loss to Piketon in Week 1.

Last Friday night, NWHS trailed Piketon 6-0 at halftime but allowed 20 points in the second half. The Mohawks allowed 168 yards through the air on six completions.

Also last week, the Mohawks saw their quarterback get sacked twice, lost three fumbles and allowed two passing touchdowns. NWHS also gave up 96 rushing yards to Piketon and two rushing touchdowns.

Last season, McClain won on the road at Northwest by a score of 14-13.

As for MHS last Friday, Owen Sykes led MHS with 14 carries for 47 yards, and Zane Adams was the leader in receptions with eight receptions for 65 yards.

MHS played two quarterbacks in Week 1: Cohen Six completed 10 of 12 passes for 83 yards with two interceptions, while Hudson Lovett completed 3 of 7 passes for 29 yards.

Six scored McClain’s only touchdown, on a four-yard run in the fourth quarter. He also had a two-point conversion run.

This should be a very close match, like last season, as both teams are building new rosters compared to last season.

Each team is looking for their first win of the season before the match, which most of the time makes the competition very competitive.

Hillsboro Indians (0-1) at Goshen Warriors (0-1) (7:00 p.m.)

This is another game where both teams are looking for their first win of the ’24 season, though each team had a slightly different experience in Week 1.

Goshen is coming off a tough 35-0 loss in Week 1 against Monroe, as GHS was limited to just seven first downs the entire game and 108 total yards of offense.

Goshen’s leading passer in Week 1 was Caden Slusher, who completed 6 of 12 passes for 44 yards.

GHS’ leading rusher was Camden Telinda, who finished with 12 carries for 39 yards. Zachary Keitz led the Warriors in receptions with two for 21 yards.

GHS trailed 21-0 at halftime last Friday (Aug. 23), then allowed a touchdown in both the third and fourth quarters.

Last season, the Indians defeated Goshen at Richards Memorial Field in Hillsboro by a score of 56-19.

As for HHS, even with their three-point loss in the final seconds of Week 1, they put together a very solid effort with two interceptions on defense (Jaiden Captain and Shawn Hottinger), plus HHS on offense had a 94-yard touchdown reception by Jeven Hochstuhl and an 80-yard touchdown run by Dom Smart.

In the game, Smart finished with 10 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown. Hochstuhl totaled six carries for 87 yards and two rushing touchdowns, plus one reception for 94 yards.

This is a winnable game for the Indians on Friday night in Week 2.

The rest of the FAC calendar consists of:

— Chillicothe Cavaliers (0-1) vs. London Red Raiders (1-0) (8:00 p.m.)

— Washington Blue Lions (0-1) vs. Western Brown Broncos (1-0) (7:30 p.m.)

— Jackson Ironmen (1-0) vs. Ironton Tigers (1-0) (8 p.m.)

— Miami Trace Panthers (0-1) at Wilmington Hurricane (1-0) (7 p.m.)