Ohio
These central Ohio high school football players had best second-round OHSAA playoff games
As the number of central Ohio high school football teams remaining in the playoffs dwindles each week, the definition of top performances expands.
Yardage, touchdowns, tackles and sacks take even more of a back seat to a simpler statistic – the final score.
Here is a look at which central Ohio players had the best games in the regional quarterfinal round of the playoffs.
This list was gathered from games covered by the USA Today Network and statistics submitted by area teams. Teams are encouraged to submit stats as soon as possible after games to sports@dispatch.com, dpurpura@dispatch.com and fdirenna@dispatch.com.
Blake Bogenrife, West Jefferson
Stats: The senior receiver caught three passes for 78 yards against No. 6 Toronto in Division VI, Region 23, none bigger than his 40-yard touchdown reception from Austin Buescher with 2:36 left as the third-seeded Roughriders (10-1) won 21-20. West Jefferson converted three third downs on the winning drive.
Next game: Nov. 14 vs. Beverly Fort Frye
Levi Davis, Olentangy Orange
Stats: The Pioneers’ senior quarterback helped break open a close Division I, Region 3 contest, scoring twice in the last 13 minutes and finishing with 342 all-purpose yards (255 rushing, 87 passing) as top-seeded Orange (11-0) went on to a 43-14 win over No. 8 Olentangy Berlin.
Next game: Nov. 14 vs. Olentangy Liberty
RJ Day, DeSales
Stats: The junior quarterback threw for a single-game program-record 482 yards and three touchdowns, including the winning score to Jordan Karhoff from 11 yards with 5 seconds left, to power the No. 2 seed Stallions (9-2) to a 33-29 win over No. 7 Ashland in Division II, Region 7.
Next game: Nov. 14 vs. Massillon Washington
Miles Marshall, Centerburg
Stats: The junior running back amassed 193 yards and all four touchdowns (17, 2, 38 and 4 yards) for the top-seeded Trojans on 26 carries in a 28-14 win over No. 8 West Lafayette Ridgewood in Region 23.
Next game: Nov. 14 vs. North Robinson Colonel Crawford
Edward Oakley, Upper Arlington
Stats: The junior kicker connected on field goals of 29 and 32 yards in the final minutes, the latter in the closing seconds, to turn a three-point deficit for the sixth-seeded Golden Bears (10-2) into a 30-27 win at No. 3 Pickerington North in Region 3. Oakley also kicked a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Next game: Nov. 14 at Pickerington Central
Watch OHSAA football playoffs on NFHS Network
Ben Rucker, Olentangy Liberty
Stats: The junior defensive lineman returned a fumble 43 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, highlighting a defensive effort that saw the fifth-seeded Patriots (8-4) hold No. 4 Olentangy (8-3) to just 22 yards rushing in a 17-0 win in Region 3.
Next game: Nov. 14 at Olentangy Orange
Eli Stumpf, Big Walnut
Stats: The junior quarterback ran for a 16-yard touchdown and passed for scores of 44 and 8 yards to Brody Hatfield in the first half of a Region 7 game against Walnut Ridge, leading the Golden Eagles (10-1) to a 43-0 win. Stumpf completed 10 of 15 passes for 141 yards.
Next game: Nov. 14 vs. Canal Winchester
Nick Vanhoose, North Union
Stats: The senior running back had 121 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, scoring from 12 and 2 yards in the second quarter as the eighth-seeded Wildcats (8-4) blew out No. 1 Williamsburg 47-14 in Division V, Region 20. Griffin Osborne also ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns on six carries.
Next game: Nov. 14 at Carlisle
Cyren Wallace, Danville
Stats: The sophomore running back had eight carries for 118 yards and three touchdowns and returned a second-half interception for another score as the 11th-seeded Blue Devils (7-5) routed No. 3 Fisher Catholic 59-8 in Division VII, Region 27.
Next game: Nov. 14 at Waterford
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
Have a question for Just Askin’? Email us.
The Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, except maybe Google.
Do you have a question you want answered? Send it to us at justaskin@enquirer.com, ideally with Just Askin’ in the subject line.
It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
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