Lehman Catholic’s CJ Olding reaches for a pass as he is fouled by Benjamin Logan’s Carson Bergey during a nonconference game against Benjamin Logan on Sept. 7 at Sidney Memorial Stadium. Olding caught three TD passes in a win over Riverside on Friday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
DeGRAFF — Three CJ Olding touchdown receptions helped Lehman Catholic stay undefeated in Three Rivers Conference play on Friday. The 34-18 victory over Riverside was the latest strong performance for the squad’s offense, which ranks the best among TRC in passing yards.
The Cavaliers (6-1, 4-0 TRC) are scheduled to host Covington this Friday at Sidney Memorial Stadium in a TRC game. Covington is 3-4, 1-3 on the season after its 29-7 loss to Milton-Union and will take a three-week losing streak into Friday’s game.
The Cavaliers are tied for first place in the TRC with Northridge (4-3, 4-0) following its 48-7 win over Bethel on Friday. The Polar Bears lost their three nonconference games but have won every league contest.
The Cavaliers (6-1, 4-0) were down 12-7 at the end of the first half on Friday, with its lone score coming from Da’Ron Pride.
Dillion Schmiesing opened the second half with a touchdown reception that gave Lehman a 14-12 lead before Olding notched the final three Cavaliers’ scores. The Pirates pulled within 20-18 in the fourth quarter, but Olding’s last two TDs secured it.
Olding caught eight passes for 172 yards in Friday’s win while Turner Lachey completed 17-of-24 passes for 281 yards and four TDs. Pride ran for 102 yards and one TD on 13 carries.
Lachey ranks first in the TRC with 1,807 passing yards. He has thrown 21 TDs with three interceptions and has also run for 389 yards and five TDs.
Evan O’Leary ranks first in the TRC with 821 receiving yards. He has 49 receptions, eight of where are TDs.
Schmieising ranks second in the conference with 65.5 tackles (39 solo, 53 assisted).
The Pirates, which won the TRC last year with a perfect 7-0 league record, dropped to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play with Friday’s loss. Senior quarterback Gavin Orsborne ranks second among conference players with 1,285 passing yards while Damien Smith ranks second with 568 receiving yards.
Sidney hoping to bounce back against Butler
The Yellow Jackets were hoping to show progress in a matchup with another undefeated Miami Valley League team on Friday but couldn’t keep up with Tippecanoe in a 42-6 loss. The squad will try to bounce back this Friday at Vandalia-Butler.
Sidney, which had won its previous three games, failed to recover two kickoffs in the first half, which gave the Red Devils good field position and helped them take control.
Tippecanoe had 435 yards of offense while Sidney had 247. The struggles were similar to a 48-7 loss to undefeated Xenia in Week 3.
Friday’s matchup featured the two passing leaders in the MVL. Tippecanoe sophomore Larkin Thomas completed 14-of-24 passes for 249 yards and three TDs, while Sidney senior Ethan New completed 8-of-18 passes 71 yards. Both QBs had two interceptions; New entered the contest with one interception on the season, and Thomas entered with three.
New ranks third among MVL QBs in passing yards after Friday’s performance; Stebbins’ Devin McCormick has five more yards and now is second.
Sidney (4-3, 4-2 MVL Valley Division) will travel to Vandalia-Butler (5-2, 4-2 MVL Miami) this Friday. The Aviators lost 25-17 to Xenia in Week 5 and 25-7 to Tippecanoe in Week 6 after winning their first four games. They edged Fairborn 14-7 on Friday.
Butler had 235 yards of offense in the victory and held Fairborn to 50 yards.
Sidney beat the Skyhawks 37-27 in Week 4 and had 477 yards of offense.
Anna holds off Versailles
The Anna Rockets beat Versailles 13-7 in Versailles on Friday in Midwest Athletic Conference action.
All of the Rockets’ points came from Zach Osborn who had a touchdown reception in the first quarter, then recovered a Versailles fumble for a touchdown in the second quarter that gave Anna a 13-0 lead into the half.
Versailles managed to score a touchdown in the third to make it a one possession game, but the Rockets kept control and held on to win.
With the win, Anna (5-2, 3-2 MAC) is tied with Versailles for fourth place in the MAC. The Rockets are scheduled to host first place Marion Local this Friday at Booster Stadium.
Marion Local remains undefeated following its 62-0 victory over Fort Recovery.
Fort Loramie can’t keep up with Columbus Grove
Fort Loramie fell 50-20 on Friday in a Northwest Conference game against undefeated Columbus Grove.
Loramie (3-4, 2-2 NWC) fell behind 14-0 before Ray Hoying got it on the board with a touchdown in the second quarter. Columbus Grove added another touchdown in the first half to take a 21-7 lead into the half.
Fort Loramie added another touchdown on a Gabe Hart keeper, but gave up two more scores to take a 35-13 deficit into the fourth.
Loramie scored once more but was outpaced by Columbus Grove who scored two more touchdowns before the end of the game.
Fort Loramie takes on undefeated Bluffton this Friday at Redskin Stadium. The Pirates stayed undefeated by beating Crestview 42-0 on Saturday; they are on a collision course with Columbus Grove in Week 10 for the NWC title.
Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing and assistant editor Ryan Harless contributed to this report. Billing can be reached at [email protected], Harless can be reached at [email protected].
