Football Preview | League play kicks off with five teams at home

It's almost a dream scenario for the county with Northern 10, Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and Northwest Central Conference play set to begin this week and five of our six teams get to open at home — with an intra-county clash the only thing prohibiting the sixth from doing the same.

The area went 3-3 last week and will look to improve on that this week and start conference play strong.

Let's tackle the Week 4 slate of games.

Colonel Crawford (3-0) at Bucyrus (1-2)

7 p.m. at Redmen Field

What better way to open N10 play than with a clash of county foes? This one is made doubly special because it's the first time Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner is returning to face his previous team, Bucyrus, since taking over the Eagles program, although he saw plenty of Bucyrus over the years on Ryan Teglovic's staff.

Colonel Crawford has been the team to beat in the county for the last two seasons, and this year is shaping up to be the same as the Eagles have outscored opponents 133-32 while picking up two wins on the road and one at home. They're averaging a league-best 362 yards of offense and 44.3 points, as well as an absurd 9.0 yards per play. Tanner Dyer, Matt Clinard and Micah Thomas (10 rushing touchdowns) have established the run game each week so far and that helps dynamic athlete Trevor Vogt (five receptions, 182 yards, three touchdowns) make plays out wide. But Vogt can do it all with two kick return touchdowns and a rushing score under his belt already.

Simultaneously the defense is allowing just 10.7 points and 171 yards per game, led by Parker Ketterman and Gabe Thew (59 tackles, 12 for loss, four sacks combined) up front. All of which could mean a long night for Bucyrus.

The hosts come in having lost back-to-back road games to Danville and Northmor by a 69-7 margin. Bucyrus is averaging 272 yards of offense — 196.3 of that through the air — and 18.3 points, but those numbers are mostly skewed thanks to a big performance in Week 1. Danville controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the night in Week 2 and Northmor wore the team down in Week 3, two things the Eagles can do very well.

For Bucyrus to keep this one close, Malachi Bayless is going to have to air it out and try to beat Colonel Crawford with the passing game. He has a number of options from which to choose in Randy Banks, Joe Rager, Kam Lewis and Mason Gebhardt and Blayne Barto (46 of his 50 completions are to this group). As long as Bayless has time to make plays, they'll certainly happen.

Mohawk (0-3) at Buckeye Central (3-0)

7 p.m. at Buckeye Field

This is unfamiliar territory for both programs in recent years. Buckeye Central is a perfect 3-0 through nonleague play while Mohawk is winless entering the conference schedule. The Warriors have struggled offensively with just 31 points this season and 647 yards through three games, while the defense has been porous as well allowing 6.8 yards per carry to opposing rushers and 9.7 yards per attempt through the air.

The Bucks offense isn't afraid to mix it up depending on what the defense gives them. Manny Mullins' 382 rushing yards and four touchdowns are second best in the league while Tyler Sanderson's 10 receptions, 197 yards and three touchdowns rank fourth based on yards per game (65.7). Derex Dean's 66.7% completion rate and nine touchdowns are best in the league, and his 470 yards passing ranks third.

It's a game Buckeye Central will undoubtedly see as winnable and a 4-0 start would be something special for a program that hasn't had a winning season since finishing as state runner-up in 2011.

Harding (0-3) at Galion (1-2)

7 p.m. at Unckrich Stadium

This should be a battle of athleticism in Heise Park. Harding is full of talented skill guys and Galion has no shortage itself. The Prexies come in winless having suffered two 28-21 losses and a blowout 49-7 loss to a down Ashland team.

Galion picked up its first win of the season, 28-7 over Upper Sandusky, last weekend behind a strong performance by Gabe Ivy. It was exactly the result the Tigers needed having endured back-to-back big losses to two of the top teams in the state in McComb and Carey, and with the unexpected death of senior Kooper McCabe.

Their eyes can now shift to league play where a MOAC title becomes the next goal. Starting off with a win over Harding would be one step in the right direction.

Carey (3-0) at Wynford (0-3)

7 p.m. at Royals Stadium

This is not a place Wynford has been in quite a long time — 45 years to be exact. Winless through the first three games isn't how this season was supposed to go, but it was always going to be a season of growth under new coach Cyle Skidmore. Even though the results aren't showing, there has been growth, and that was apparent against Lucas in Week 3 as the Royals moved the ball and were a couple drops away from making it come down to the final few possessions — and the players never quit even with the game out of reach.

And defending state champion in Division VI Carey has started out about as strongly as you can through the first three weeks, throttling D-VII state runner-up Hopewell-Loudon (now in D-VI) in the opener, shutting down Galion in Week 2 and cruising past D-II Toledo Waite in Week 3. The Blue Devils are averaging 295.3 yards rushing and — even more impressive — have allowed just 12 rushing yards all season. Yes, just 12 yards through three weeks.

This is a game in which Wynford is going to have to limit mistakes and, similar to Bucyrus above, air it out to slow down play and try to beat Carey deep. Ashton Warren showed multiple times against the Cubs he can sling a nice spiral, so he just needs his receivers to get open and make plays.

Ridgemont (1-2) at Crestline (0-3)

7 p.m. at Hutson Stadium

Rounding out the week is winless Crestline at home against one-win Ridgemont. The Bulldogs return home having suffered a 49-0 loss to Cardington in Week 3 while the Golden Gophers were throttled by Buckeye Central at home.

This is a game Crestline will have circled as one of the winnable ones in the NWCC alongside Ridgedale, and as long as the Bulldogs can tap into the magic of Week 2 — a 14-0 loss to North Baltimore — this one could be the result they desperately need. The Bucks aired it out against Ridgemont last week and followed up with pounding the rock, so that's a good place for the Bulldogs to start.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Week 4 Football Preview | League play begins