By John Bombatch
With their 42-6 win over Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, combined with the Greene County area’s former top-rated team’s first loss of the season, the Carroll Patriots are the area’s new number one team.
Carroll has a plus-62 points differential (total offensive points scored minus total defensive points given up) and a 3-1 record to claim the top spot this week.
We won’t know until Saturday whether the Pats can hang on to first place next week. Carroll plays Saturday at Cincinnati McNicholas.
The Beavercreek Beavers fell out of first with their shutout loss to Springboro last week. They have the same record as Carroll, but their season points differential is now at plus-27 points. They may have a tough road nonleague game on Friday against a strong Columbus Bishop Hartley bunch.
The Greeneview Rams are the area’s other team with a 3-1 record. They too have a tough battle ahead of them on Friday. Ohio Heritage Conference power West Liberty-Salem comes to Jamestown for what should be a good early season battle. The Rams have a plus-12 differential through four weeks of play.
The top area team with one win on its ledger through four weeks of high school football is the Fairborn Skyhawks, who fell to Sidney last week. Fairborn has a minus-12 differential and faces Piqua on the road, Friday.
The Bellbrook Golden Eagles lost to a very strong Brookville Blue Devils bunch last week to fall to 1-3 overall, with a minus-36 points differential. Bellbrook will hope to rebound at home Friday against Southwestern Buckeye League, Southwestern foe Eaton.
Fresh off their 38-21 home win over Vandalia Butler, the Xenia Buccaneers are no. 6 on our Greene County chart this week. Xenia’s current points differential is minus-87 due to those early season losses to the likes of Cincinnati Moeller, Kings Mills Kings and Beavercreek. The Bucs invade Troy this week in what could be yet another passing duel.
The Cedarville Indians have to be excited about getting through the first four weeks of their season. Finally they get to play teams with similar records to themselves. With the exception of a win over winless Cincinnati Christian, the Indians’ other three opponents currently have a combined 11-1 win-loss record. A trip over to South Charleston Southeastern (1-3) is on tap for Friday.
The Greenon Knights are another area program that probably feels pretty good about seeing the first four games of the season behind them. They haven’t faced a team with a losing record yet. That changes on Friday when the Knights head over to Springfield Shawnee (0-4).
Week 4 Area Poll
(Team, record, season points differential)
1. Carroll (3-1) +62
2. Beavercreek (3-1) +27
3. Greeneview (3-1) +12
4. Fairborn (1-3) -12
5. Bellbrook (1-3) -36
6. Xenia (1-3) -87
7. Cedarville (1-3) -97
8. Greenon (0-4) -179
THIS WEEK: Friday — Beavercreek (3-1) at Columbus Bishop Hartley (3-1); West Liberty-Salem (3-1) at Greeneview (3-1); Fairborn (1-3) at Piqua (2-2); Eaton (1-3) at Bellbrook (1-3); Xenia (1-3) at Troy (1-3); Cedarville (1-3) at South Charleston Southeastern (1-3); Greenon (0-4) at Springfield Shawnee (0-4). Saturday — Carroll (3-1) at Cincinnati McNicholas (1-3).