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View photos and video from the game at MyDaytonDailyNews.com
Springboro High School senior Liam Foley liked the look of long flowing hair underneath a football helmet. But with that signature mane came a price.
“It takes like five hours to dry and it’s really annoying,” he admitted.
Foley hasn’t had a haircut in about five months and won’t anytime soon. That’s because he’s on a donation quest in honor of stricken teammate and close friend Mac Reese, who recently was diagnosed with leukemia.
The entire Springboro school district – and football opponents – have joined in the awareness effort of Mac’s struggle. Foley said he’ll likely donate his shaved locks to Locksoflove.org, a non-profit that provides hairpieces to those younger than 21 who are afflicted with long-term hair loss due to medical treatment, like Mac.
“I’ll probably let it go until the end of the season,” said Foley, a talented running back and linebacker for Springboro, which outlasted Beavercreek 31-28 on Thursday. “I was going to cut it off like two weeks ago, but then this happened to Mac and I decided not to.”
Foley, who leads the Panthers in rushing (448 yards, six touchdowns), said it’s the longest he’s ever let his hair grow. He said his girlfriend likes the look. “My parents even like it,” he said. “I’m surprised that they do.”
Foley and teammates visit Mac on Saturdays at Dayton Children’s Hospital, where he’s undergoing continued radiation treatments. One of the side effects is hair loss.
“We were best friends all through peewee (football) and everything,” Foley said. “He’s optimistic, which is good.”
A capacity crowd should pack CareFlight Field on Friday when Springboro (4-2) hosts Miamisburg (5-1) in a Greater Western Ohio Conference National West Division opener.
• Wayne (Division I), Franklin and St. Marys Memorial (D-III), Indian Lake and Alter (D-IV), Coldwater (D-V), Mechanicsburg (D-VI) and Covington (D-VII) all remain unbeaten entering Week 7. All are 6-0 with the exception of Wayne (5-0-1).
Wayne detonated rival Centerville 45-8 on Friday. Its offense in high gear, four of the Warriors’ scoring drives took 2:37 or less.
“We’re trying to get better,” Wayne coach Jay Minton said afterward. “We have yet to put four quarters of good football together — we kind of sputtered in the middle a bit — but we will. Hopefully, we do it at the right time this year.”
That’s as close as Minton will likely hint to Wayne’s ultimate goal, a D-I state championship. Wayne has fallen to Lakewood St. Edward in each of the last two state title games . The Warriors host Beavercreek this week.
Wayne sophomore quarterback Rashad McKee has been intercepted just twice in 93 passes. He’s completed 65 passes (69.9 percent) for 1,023 yards and 11 touchdowns. That doesn’t include stats from the season-opening 21-all tie with visiting Archbishop Wood (Pa.).
Wayne’s computer points and official Ohio High School Athletic Association rankings include that tie. However, the GWOC website — gwocsports.com — does not reflect that tie in Wayne’s record, but does record it under the Warriors’ results. GWOC commissioner Eric Spahr said the software program doesn’t allow ties to be shown for football standings and the vendor will not alter the program.
• The Cross County Conference will be in the Week 7 spotlight on Thursday when Miami East (5-1) visits Covington (6-0). Miami East has won five straight games since falling 20-14 at Milton-Union (5-1) in the season opener. Covington defeated St. Henry (4-2) in its season opener and owns mostly blowout wins since, except for a 27-26 win at Troy Christian (5-1) in Week 5.
Both Miami East and Covington have other CCC games remaining, but this should decide the conference title. The game will be shown live on ABC 22/FOX 45 channel 45.2.
• Springboro’s 31-28 Week 6 defeat of Beavercreek will be replayed on Time Warner Cable channels 1311 (HD), 311 and 99 at 9:30 a.m. Monday, 12 a.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Wednesday.
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