The Oak Hill Lady Oaks celebrated a major milestone this season as senior setter Olivia McKenzie recorded her 1,000th career assist. The milestone comes not from one single performance, but from years of consistent play and hard work for the Lady Oaks. McKenzie has been a major part of the Oak Hill offense throughout her high school career, playing setter and helping put her teammates in position to score. This shows just how important she has been to the team, with McKenzie regularly recording large numbers of assists in matches this season. She has recorded games with over 30 assists, including 45 assists against Minford and 38 against Northwest. The stats show what kind of impact McKenzie has had on the court; she is not only responsible for setting up Oak Hill’s offense, but also contributes defensively as a defensive specialist. Another weight on McKenzie is that she has reached this milestone during her senior season, making the achievement even more meaningful as her high school career begins to come to an end. The Lady Oaks have relied on McKenzie’s experience and consistency throughout the season. McKenzie reaching 1,000 career assists is a milestone that shows the importance of hard work, consistency, and teamwork throughout her Oak Hill career.

The Lady Oaks volleyball team is now 7-2 through their last nine games. However, the Lady Oaks did suffer a crucial blow during this span; the Lady Oaks lost 3-1 to the Western Indians in an important conference play game. This loss was very unexpected with the Lady Oaks being the favorites going into this game. However, this by no means puts the Lady Oaks out of the SOC II race with the Lady Oaks being a part of a three way tie for first place in the SOC II. The Lady Oaks will most likely have to win their remaining conference play games in order to secure the division. The Lady Oaks have the second best overall record in the SOC being 10-5 with the Eastern Eagles being 11-4. This does not tell the whole story as the Lady Oaks have a much stronger strength of schedules with the Lady Oaks currently only having one loss to a team in their division. Individually the Lady Oaks are dominating the stats category in the SOC with leaders in multiple stat categories such as senior Olivia Mckenzie with 422 assists, for comparison the second place player is currently at 178 assists. Overall, the Lady Oaks will continue to be a threat in the SOC as well as the quickly approaching state playoffs. 

Going into this year's season, the Waverly Tigers had a lot to prove after their unsuccessful season they had last year. In the first couple weeks for the Tigers, it looked like they would have some struggles winning some games. In their week 3 matchup against Unioto, the Tigers came ready and upset their opponent 31-27 in a hard fought out victory. Although Waverly’s record may be 4-4, this team can compete and win games. They have shown growth and success as the season has moved forward. Just recently they competed in a SOC conference game with the Wheelersburg Pirates, which is a very tough team. The Tigers fought the Pirates hard up until the end. The Tigers may have fallen 20-27, but they battled hard and didn’t let the Pirates have an easy win. The Tigers are looking to have a bounce back win as they go on to play the 0-8 Northwest Mohawks this week. With their high powered air raid offense, the Tigers should have no trouble scoring on the Mohawks defense and securing a win. Waverly may not be in the running for the SOC championship title, but this team has shown great success and growth from last year’s season. Picture Source 

The Symmes Valley Vikings have taken charge and dominated every team they have played this season. The Vikings play in the SOC 1 and hope to win the conference as they are ranked second under the Eastern Beaver Eagles. The Vikings and Eagles play this Friday, and this game will show who the better and more dominant team is in the conference. Going into the game, Symmes Valley is undefeated, and Eastern Beaver has two loses. The Vikings may be favored with their record, but this Friday's game will be a good test to see how hard they play and how physical they are. The Viking’s offense is on fire as each game they have scored 48+ and dominated the run and pass game. On the defensive side of the ball, the most points they have given up is only 14 points. Looking into the postseason the Vikings hope to make it in the playoffs, make a run, and lead their school to a championship. With this offense and defense, the Vikings have a good chance to make a run if they stay consistent and stay motivated. This Symmes Valley team will make a stand and be a top contender in Ssouthern Ohio. Picture Source 

The Cincinnati Bengals faced the Miami Dolphins last Sunday on Oct. 11. The Bengals going into the game were 2-2 after a disappointing two game stretch of losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Dolphins had also been struggling and were heading into the game 0-4. The game was dominated by the Bengals offense. The main stars being Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow would have 190 throwing yards and an amazing four touchdown passes. Chase would go for 77 receiving yards and have an incredible one hand catch for his only touchdown of the game. By the end of the third quarter the game looked over for the Dolphins with a score of 28-10 going in the Bengals direction. However, the Dolphins were not done fighting and would go on to score 14 points in the fourth quarter with a three yard touchdown pass from Malik Willis to Kevin Coleman Jr. and a one yard rushing touchdown from Willis as well. This would not be enough though to surpass the Bengals’ already massive lead and another field goal from Evan McPherson. In the end, the Bengals would win 31-24, but it was an impressive fight from the Dolphins to try and salvage their so far demoralizing season. Information Source: Picture Source:

From Zero to Hero

By Joshua Saylor

The Cleveland Browns were projected to finish 31st out of 32 teams in the NFL prior to the start of this season. The Browns were expected to be one of the bottom teams in the league following their trend of recent years. The Browns made a large trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022 also giving him a large contract. Until the start of this season, Watson had been, for a lack of better words, terrible for the Browns, with him either being hurt or underperforming. His performance displeased Browns fans so greatly that when Watson suffered a season ending injury last year, some fans cheered. All throughout the Browns training camp, everyone wondered who would be named the starting quarterback for this season, and to everyone's surprise, it was announced that Watson would start the first game of the season. The first game of the season went awful for the Browns, losing by multiple touchdowns and looking completely lifeless. It was in week two when something changed; the Browns looked more polished and pulled out a win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The week after, the Browns beat a contending team in the Carolina Panthers, and then the next week, the Browns pulled off a late win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns have since lost a game to the New York Jets making them 3-2. While this Browns team may not win the Super Bowl, it is a heroic tale of how someone can go from being so far behind to shocking the world. Picture Credits

The undefeated number one ranked Texas Longhorns were brought down by the Oklahoma Sooners in their matchup last Saturday. The Longhorns felt they would be able to cruise through the rest of the season as they already dethroned the number one ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. This, however, became a fatal sin for the Longhorns as it was evident that they greatly underestimated the Sooners. The Longhorns came out and played an acceptable first half going into halftime with a 17-7 lead over the Sooners. However, this lead made the Texas team complacent as they looked lethargic and sloppy coming out of halftime, giving up 14 unanswered points to the Sooners to give the Sooners a 24-17 lead. During this run, the Sooners scored a 42 yard pick six completely shifting the momentum of this heated rivalry. The crowd got behind the Sooners, and from that moment, it was evident that the Sooners would hold the upper hand for the rest of the game. The Sooners capped this game off with a 47 yard field goal to dethrone the number one ranked team and bring home a victory in one of college football's most bitter rivalries. 

The Missouri Tigers pulled off a shocking win against the Florida Gators last Saturday in a 45-17 stunner. The shock stems not from the team's rankings or rosters, but from the performance itself. The Gators came into the game ranked No. 8 after a huge win against Ole Miss, while the Tigers were able to completely control the game from start to finish. The score of the game, however, tells a much different story than what many expected before kickoff; Florida came into the game with plenty of momentum while Missouri was able to turn the matchup into a blowout. The Tigers offense consistently found ways to move the ball and put points on the board, while their defense kept the Gators from finding any rhythm. This is where the discrepancy in expectations begins to make more sense. Florida was unable to build off their previous week's success as Missouri continued to pressure them on both sides of the ball. Another weight on the Gators was their inability to respond once Missouri gained momentum; the Tigers continued to add points while Florida struggled to keep up. The Gators lost this game due to an inability to execute in crucial moments and a lack of consistent football. Picture Credits