Colerain football opens season with win at Showdown

Colerain routs Clayton Northmont; Moeller wins thriller over Wayne; Clark commits to Michigan State; Coyne breaks collarbone.

The Colerain (Cincinnati) football team couldn't wait to take the field at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium Saturday night. Since last season's final regular-season game – Oct. 30, 2009 – the Cardinals were chomping at the bit to return to a primetime spotlight after they missed the postseason.

Colerain returned in dramatic fashion with a 35-6 win over Northmont (Clayton) Saturday night in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown. Colerain, rated No. 20 nationally by the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, made a strong statement against what is expected to be one of the top teams in Dayton this season.

"The win is icing on the cake," Colerain coach Tom Bolden told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "It's just great to get the season started. Us just getting rolling, that's the greatest thing about it."

Colerain senior quarterback Tyler Williams made his first start after he moved from running back. He rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another while he rushed 18 times for 161 yards, according to the Enquirer.

The Cardinals, ranked No. 1 in the Enquirer area coaches' poll, faces a strong test Friday when they host Elder (Cincinnati) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Colerain is expected to return senior linebacker Jarrett Grace (Notre Dame commit), who sat out Saturday with a shoulder injury, according to the Community Press.

Elder, a Division I state semifinalist last season, defeated Winton Woods (Cincinnati) 38-21 on Friday.

"It's Colerain-Elder," Bolden told the Community Press. "What else can you say? It is what it is. It's everything great about high school football."

Elder defeated Colerain in Week 2 last season in a nationally-televised game at Elder. Colerain won eight consecutive games after that game but still missed the postseason.

"We were 8-2 last year and that's not a Colerain team," Williams told the Enquirer. "We have to play every game like it's the state championship game."

2. Moeller wins thriller: The Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) football team overcame a two-touchdown halftime deficit to rally and defeat Wayne (Huber Heights) 35-28 in the final game of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown Sunday night at St. Xavier High School. Senior running back Tucker Skove rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns, including one with five seconds left. Skove also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass on fourth down late in the third quarter. He had six receptions for 69 yards.

Archbishop Moeller's Tucker Skove.

File photo by Wayne Litmer

Wayne quarterback Braxton Miller, who is verbally committed to Ohio State, had 239 yards rushing and three touchdowns. His three touchdowns all came in the first half.

"We really pride ourselves on our conditioning and our weight program in the offseason," Skove said. "We believe in the second half there is always somewhere we can use our hustle and drive to overcome the other team so our defense came out at halftime and made some great adjustments and really played great discipline to kind of do the best they could to contain Miller because that's all you could do with a player that good.”

Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) defeated St. Xavier (Cincinnati) 21-6 in the first game on Sunday.

3. Clark commits to Spartans: Finneytown (Cincinnati) senior lineman Donavon Clark announced Wednesday that he has made a verbal commitment to play at Michigan State. Clark, who is 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, also had scholarship offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Kentucky, University of Southern California, North Carolina State, Louisville, West Virginia, Duke, Indiana and others. Clark made his announcement at Finneytown; he also considered Tennessee among his final choices.

"When he visited up there (about two months ago) it was home," Finneytown coach Darryn Chenault said. "He has family up in the area. He made a connection with the offensive line coach. …Something just hit him."

Clark is expected to an offensive tackle with the Spartans. Chenault said he is also capable of being a guard.

"Clark is one of the most powerful linemen in Ohio this year," said Mark Porter, director of ScoutingOhio.com. "(He) has the ability to blow defenders off the ball when playing offense and on defense he can be extremely disruptive with his penetration. I would expect him to play on the o-line in college and be a dominating guard. You just don't see too many prospects who can move their feet well at this size."

Clark is the second Cincinnati-area player to commit to Michigan State this summer. Mt. Healthy (Cincinnati) defensive lineman Joel Heath verbally committed to Michigan State on July 1.

4. Coyne breaks collarbone: Badin (Hamilton) senior quarterback Patrick Coyne expects to return Week 7 when the Rams play host to Purcell Marian (Cincinnati) on Oct. 8.

Coyne, who verbally committed to Cincinnati in March, suffered a broken collarbone on the first drive of the second quarter Thursday night in Badin's 29-8 win over host Woodward (Cincinnati).

Coyne, one of the state's top quarterbacks in the 2011 class, will have surgery Monday. Coyne said UC has never wavered in honoring his college commitment. Coyne said he spoke with some of the UC coaches Friday, including Bearcats head coach Butch Jones, who offered significant support and wished the quarterback the best during his recovery.

5. Martin commits to Tennessee: Turpin (Cincinnati) senior right-handed pitcher Eric Marin recently made a verbal commitment to play baseball at the University of Tennessee. Martin also had offers from Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati, Xavier, Rice and others, according to the Enquirer. Martin was one of the state's top pitchers last season. He was 5-1 with an 0.80 ERA with 53 strikeouts. He was the Fort Ancient Valley Conference Cardinal division player of the year.

THIS WEEK
Elder at Colerain, 7:30 p.m. Friday: A rematch of last season’s nationally-televised game at The Pit, Colerain is eager for another opportunity at the west side power. Elder defeated reigning Division II state champion Winton Woods 38-21 Friday. Elder senior Ben Coffaro had three touchdowns, including a school-record 98-yard kickoff on Friday, according to the Enquirer.

Wayne vs. McKinley (Canton), 3:30 p.m. Sunday: One of the most anticipated games of the season, this game will be played at Ohio Stadium as part the Kirk Herbstreit event. Wayne features senior quarterback Braxton Miller, who is verbally committed to Ohio State. Senior running back Anthone Taylor is another player to watch for the Warriors. It is the second consecutive week Wayne will have a nationally-televised game. McKinley features star defensive end Steve Miller, who is verbally committed to Ohio State.

Hamilton at Moeller, 7 p.m. Saturday: Moeller plays the visiting Big Blue on a short week. Hamilton won its season opener against Springfield 14-6 last week. It was the debut of Hamilton coach Bob Jacoby, who previously coached in the Columbus area. Senior running back Devin Jarrett rushed 29 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns for Hamilton last week.

RECRUITING NEWS
Winton Woods senior linebacker Antonio Poole has narrowed his list to six college programs, including Cincinnati, Purdue, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Michigan State and Louisville . …Mason senior running back David Fulcher Jr. is getting interest from Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Bowling Green and Ohio University. He was offered by Ohio midway through the 2009 season. The University of Cincinnati is expected to evaluate film of his first three games of this season. Fulcher is the son of former Bengals safety David Fulcher, who played in the NFL from the late 1980s to the early 90s. …Roger Bacon (Cincinnati, Ohio)Roger Bacon senior 6-foot-8 center Jared BryantJared Bryant will take official visits to James Madison the weekend of Sept. 24 and Bowling Green the weekend of Oct. 1. Bryant, who is considered on of the state’s top basketball players in the 2011 class, has also received recent interest from Virginia Tech.

RANDOM THOUGHTS
Former Bengals safety David Fulcher still has a copy of Tecmo Super Bowl at his house. Fulcher was a dominant player for the Bengals on the 8-bit Nintendo game in 1991. Mason senior running back David Fulcher Jr., and his friends are more into Xbox, but they are aware of Senior's presence in the classic game. …The Bearcat High School Bowling Classic inaugural event will be Jan. 14, 2011 at 7 p.m. at S&S Western Bowl on the West Side of Cincinnati. It will give the bowlers an opportunity to perform in front of college coaches the day before the Bearcat Classic college tournament, which drew more than 80 men's and women's teams last year. …The McAuley (Cincinnati) cross country team is ranked No. 14 in the state. …The St. Xavier football team played at home Sunday for the first time since the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown started 13 years ago.