CINCINNATI – Upsets. Wild finishes. And some dominance sprinkled in.
It must be another week of Cincinnati-area high school football.
Week 8 brought some surprises in the Greater Miami Conference, Greater Catholic League South division and elsewhere.
VIDEO: Don't miss Friday night's big plays
But that goes along with a theme of unpredictability in Division I, Region 4.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from Friday night, the latest playoff projections and a first look at Week 9:
1. Colerain wins 17th consecutive GMC title: Colerain extended its Greater Miami Conference regular-season winning streak to 57 games with a 28-0 win over Fairfield Friday night. Colerain (8-0) has a 58-game GMC winning streak overall (including playoffs). The Cardinals clinched at least a share of the GMC title for the 17th consecutive season. The Colerain defense was led by several players Friday, including senior defensive lineman Kawantay Stanley (two sacks), senior linebacker Kyle Bolden (interception) and sophomore linebacker Luke Bolden (sack and forced fumble).
Colerain, ranked No. 6 nationally by the MaxPreps computer rankings, No. 1 in the Midwest and No. 1 in the Associated Press Division I state poll, plays at Lakota West (2-6) Oct. 21. “We’re on a mission,” Colerain coach Tom Bolden said. “We want to win this whole thing. We are going to give it our best shot.”
2. Colerain’s quarterback situation: Tom Bolden said Friday night that sophomore quarterback Deante Smith-Moore and senior Gunnar Leyendecker will continue to get quarterback reps. Leyendecker has been hampered by injuries this season but led the Cardinals to victories over Warren Central, St. Xavier and La Salle to start the season. Smith-Moore has filled in well since Week 4 against Princeton mid-September.
Bolden expects both players will continue to see the field -- and possibly at the same time as the regular season concludes in two weeks. Both played Friday night. “The greatest thing about it is Gunnar and Deante are the greatest about (the quarterback situation),” Bolden said. “They both do some things really well. It’s hard to prepare for two great quarterbacks like that.”
3. Winton Woods earns significant win:Winton Woods defeated host Elder 26-14 Friday night, marking the first time since 1988 that an area public school team won at The Pit. “That’s pretty special,” Winton Woods coach Andre Parker said. “We’ve been through a lot this year.”
The Winton Woods defense held Elder to 110 yards of total offense, including 41 yards rushing. “Overall, it was a team victory,” Parker said. It marked the second straight year the Warriors (3-5) defeated Elder (5-3). Myian Williams had 15 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown for the Warriors. Lorenzo Gist had 88 yards rushing and a touchdown and had a team-high seven tackles. Daniel Wallace and Jerron Cage (Ohio State commit) also had five tackles each. It was the first public school win for an opponent at Elder since 2011 when Miami (Fla.) Central High School defated the Panthers. The most recent area public school opponent before Winton Woods was Princeton, which defeated Elder 28-27 Sept. 23, 1988.
4. Wyoming pitches another shutout: Wyoming shut out an opponent for the fourth consecutive week with a 62-0 win against Finneytown Friday night. Senior quarterback Andrew Marty (Northwestern commit) was 11 of 14 passing for 246 yards and five touchdowns for the Cowboys (8-0), who are projected to be the No. 1 seed in Division IV, Region 16.
5. CHCA clinches share of MVC title: Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy clinched at least a share of the Miami Valley Conference Scarlet division title for a fourth consecutive season with a 44-22 win over North College Hill. The Eagles, projected to be the No. 1 seed in Division V, Region 20, have improved to 62-7 in the MVC overall.
CHCA coach Mark Mueller likes the versatility of his group and wants to clean up the four turnovers the Eagles had in the first half Friday night. Junior quarterback Danny Vanatsky continues to play well -- he’s completed over 65 percent of his passes -- and the Eagles have taken advantage of yards after the catch. He’s thrown for 1,552 yards and 21 touchdowns. Senior running back Kesean Gamble has improved his speed this season and has rushed for 1,226 yards and 19 touchdowns. Gamble is considering six scholarship offers at the moment.
6. Ra’Von Bonner sets school record: Sycamore senior running back Ra’Von Bonner, a Division I player of the year candidate, broke the school’s all-time career rushing yards record Friday night in a 49-14 win at Princeton. Bonner, an Illinois commit, rushed for 222 yards and four touchdowns Friday night. He has 3,871 career rushing yards, breaking a record held by Paul Jordan since 1972. “I’m so happy for Ra’Von,” Sycamore coach Scott Dattilo said. “A great representative of our football program.”
7. Playoff projections update: Longtime playoff projections analyst Steve Shuck said there will be some movement in the playoff positioning from Nos. 2-6 in Division I, Region 4. Upsets included Winton Woods over Elder, Lakota East over Mason and St. Xavier losing to Warren Central with no time remaining. Lebanon, the projected No. 2 seed entering Friday, lost to Miamisburg. Moeller, which lost to Cleveland St. Ignatius 38-7 at Otterbein, must win over visiting Lakewood St. Edward Oct. 22 in a game that will be played at Lockland. ...Princeton is still projected to be No. 8 in Region 8 despite a loss to Sycamore, according to Shuck.
8. Turpin wins district rivalry game: Turpin improved to 8-0 with a 38-21 win at Anderson Friday night in a battle of the Forest Hills District. Turpin senior running back Luke Bohenek continues to play well -- he rushed for a season-high 137 yards. Turpin moved up to No. 1 in the latest Division II, Region 8 standings, according to JoeEitel.com. The Spartans have clinched a playoff spot, Eitel said. Anderson (5-3) is at the No. 10 position. Friday night was the 31st meeting between the two schools. Anderson still leads the all-time series 17-14.
9. Extra points: Kings senior defensive lineman Dan Sichterman continues to play well this season. He had three sacks, two tackles for loss and an interception in 45-6 win over Walnut Hills. Sichterman has a conference-leading 12 sacks. Iowa State coach Matt Campbell is expected to watch Sichterman at practice Tuesday, Kings coach Andy Olds said. The Cyclones recently offered. …Oklahoma recently offered Fairfield junior defensive lineman Malik Vann, according to Fairfield coach Jason Krause. Vann has several other offers, and the Sooners are his 17th school to offer. …Indiana offered Moeller junior tight end Brendan Bates this week, according to Moeller coach John Rodenberg. …Colerain coach Tom Bolden has a higher winning percentage than Ohio State assistant coach Kerry Coombs at the moment. Coombs coached in 75 more games than Bolden has, but Bolden (104-16) has a .867 winning percentage compared to Coombs’ .826. Coombs had a 161-34 record before he took an assistant coaching position at UC in 2006.
