Thursday night football coming to Springfield

Thursday night football is coming to the Springfield area the next two weeks.

Shawnee (4-3) will travel to Kenton Ridge (4-3) on Thursday night for a Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division game that will have playoff implications for both teams.

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Shawnee will likely be ranked 10th in Division IV, Region 16, while Kenton Ridge will be 16th.

The game is being played one day early because it will be televised as part of ABC 22/FOX 45’s Thursday Nights Lights.

The Braves lost at Urbana 47-12 last week. They’ll likely need to win out to earn a berth.

“We’ve got to get some things fixed or we’re in trouble,” Shawnee coach Rick Meeks said after Friday’s game. “We’ll see what’s on film, bounce back and get back at it (next week).”

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The Braves will have to pack a week’s worth of preparation into three days, Meeks said.

“We’re scrunched up,” he said.

Shawnee won’t face a team with a losing record the rest of the way – the Braves host Jonathan Alder in Week 9 and travel to Bellefontaine in Week 10. Both teams are 5-2.

The same can be said for Kenton Ridge, who lost 36-28 at Jonathan Alder. The Cougars will face Northwestern (5-2) and Tecumseh (4-3) the rest of the way.

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In Week 9, Catholic Central travels to Greeneview for an Ohio Heritage Conference South Division matchup. The game will also be featured on ABC 22/FOX 45.

Big game: With two games remaining in the CBC Mad River Division, Northwestern (5-2, 2-0) can clinch at least a share of its first conference title since 1967 with a win over three-time defending conference champion Indian Lake (2-5, 2-0).

The Lakers lost five straight games to open the season, but opened the division slate with back-to-back wins over Benjamin Logan and Graham.

The Warriors host Kenton Ridge in Week 9 before finishing their CBC Mad River Division schedule at Graham in Week 10.

Friday’s game will feature two of the CBC’s best passers in Northwestern’s Chris Hart (1,783 passing yards) and Indian Lake’s Clay Jacobs (1,208 passing yards).

Milestones: Several players have reached yardage milestones through seven weeks.

Urbana junior Nic Dorsey rushed for 246 yards against Shawnee last week, increasing his season total to 1,184 yards. He’s averaging 159.0 yards per game and has had rushed for at least 134 yards in six straight games. It’s the second straight season he’s rushed 1,000 yards. Last year, he ran for 1,084 yards.

Triad senior Dylan Rice rushed for 146 yards in the Cardinals’ 42-19 loss to West Liberty-Salem last week. He’s rushed for 1,041 yards this season, including five games of 146 or more. He rushed for 237 yards in a Week 4 loss to Greenon.

Five area quarterbacks have already surpassed 1,000 yards this season – Northwestern’s Hart, West Liberty-Salem’s Trevor Woodruff (1,465 yards), Greenon’s Cade Rice (1,431 yards), Kenton Ridge’s Dylan Lemen (1,253 yards) and Graham’s Brady King (1,129 yards).

Springfield’s Raheim Moss is close with 986 passing yards. The Wildcats (6-1, 2-0 GWOC National East) travel to Beavercreek (1-6, 0-2) on Friday.

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