Mike Hartsock: 5 things to know about Week 7 HS Football

Six weeks down and four to go, here are some things to keep an eye on heading into the seventh Friday night of the season …

1. Franklin at Bellbrook was set to be a huge match-up this week, until the Golden Eagles defense took some un-scheduled time off. Bellbrook gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter in a Week 5 loss at Eaton, and then followed that by allowing Valley View to score 22 points in the first quarter last Friday in Germantown. Now Franklin, the highest scoring team in the SWBL, comes to Miami Valley Stadium this week.

2. Watch out for Carlisle. The Indians have reeled off four wins in a row after back to back losses to start the season. Mike Brown's team is at Middletown Madison this week. The Indians have a strong 1-2 punch with senior Ridge Reed and sophomore speedster D.J. Chambers in the backfield.

3. Congrats to Oakwood and Fairborn for picking up their first wins of the season. Oakwood goes after two in a row at home against Eaton this week. That might be doable, but after that it's Valley View, Franklin, and Bellbrook to close things out. Fairborn would be on a two-game win streak if not for Tipp's game winning FG with 10 seconds left in Week 5. The Skyhawks will have a much tougher time at home against Trotwood this week and at Springboro in week eight.

4. The best game of the week could be Thursday night's Cross County Conference showdown between Miami East (5-1) and Covington (6-0). I saw the Buccs last Friday at Tri-County North throw three touchdown passes in the first half. You can probably find a season or two in the last decade when Covington didn't throw that many TD passes in the entire season. Miami East lost their season opener at Milton-Union and nobody has come close to them since.

5. Our Touchdown 7 Game of the Week: Miamisburg (5-1) at Springboro (4-2). The Burg's only loss is to Wayne, while Boro slid by Beavercreek last Thursday when time ran out on the Beavers at the two-yard line. Plenty of playoff points on the line in this one.

Catch all the scores and highlights Friday night at 11:13 p.m. live on WHIO-TV.

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