Wizard: Tecumseh, Shawnee coaches best friends and friendly rivals

Tecumseh coach Kent Massie and Shawnee coach Rick Meeks are good friends, something that’s been well documented over the years in this newspaper as the rivalry between the Arrows and Braves has grown.

It’s a big game every year. Often the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division title is on the line. This year, both teams are 1-0 in the division. The winner of his game has won the division four times in the last six years.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bitter rivalry. Friendship comes first — at least when it comes to the head coaches.

When Massie said, “He ain’t my buddy this week,” he was kidding. It’s not like he’s worried about Meeks popping in his office tonight to sneak a peak at the game plan.

“He’ll probably come up before the game and steal one of the pops out of my fridge,” Massie joked. “I ought to spike with something.”

Meeks said Tuesday he talked to Massie on Sunday and would talk to him again before the game.

“Neither one of us will give away any secrets,” Meeks said. “He’s my best friend. We don’t avoid each other. We kind of have some fun with each other preparing for this week.”

The Braves are 6-0 and have outscored their opponents 328-69. They overcame a 14-0 halftime deficit to beat Kenton Ridge 28-14 last week.

Tecumseh has won two in a row after a 1-3 start that included losses to two 6-0 teams, Northwest and Urbana. It still has two 6-0 teams ahead on the schedule, Shawnee and Tippecanoe.

“Tecumseh’s played a much tougher schedule than we have to this point,” Meeks said. “Those three losses can be deceiving. We know we’re in for a dogfight.”

Pick: Shawnee 31, Tecumseh 24.

Triad (6-0) at Cedarville (5-1): The Cardinals lost one of their top weapons, running back and receiver Tre McIntyre, to a season-ending fracture of his fibula last Friday. They still have his brother Trent at the helm as quarterback. Triad has won seven straight against Cedarville. Pick: Triad 21, Cedarville 10.

Other games: Kenton Ridge 35, Bellefontaine 28; Northwestern 30, Indian Lake 28; Graham 20, Greenon 10; Urbana 50, Benjamin Logan 3; Northeastern 40, Southeastern 18; West Liberty-Salem 30, Mechanicsburg 24; Greeneview 42, Catholic Central 14; Fairmont 27, Springfield 17; Wittenberg 45, Denison 10; Urbana 35, Concord 31; Bengals 21, Bills 13; Browns 20, Lions 18.

Wizard winner: Four people correctly picked all the games last week: Ed Hennigan Sr., Preston Smith and Tony Taylor, all of Springfield; and Ben Locke. Smith won the Beat the Wizard T-shirt by taking the tiebreaker. He predicted 48 total points in the Shawnee-Kenton Ridge game, and there were 42 points scored.

The Wizard had his best week of the season, missing only one game: Bengals over Patriots.

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