Kickoff to high school football season openers

QBs run for five TDs as offense completes long drives.

Check out our preview of tonight’s prep games and other football developments around the region.

Cody Hocker doesn’t mind BEAVERCREEK — splitting quarterback duty with Jacob Maloney. He’s just grateful to get that chance.

“This means a lot to me,” said Hocker, who scored on three short runs in Beavercreek’s 37-20 season-opening high school football defeat of visiting Xenia in a Thursday night special. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of Beavercreek High School football and now it’s coming true and I get to do it on a varsity night.”

This was the 14th annual “Backyard Battle” between the rival communities and served as the debut of the ABC 22/Fox 45 Thursday night series that will run all 10 weeks of the regular season. Most all other area teams open their seasons today.

Hocker, a junior, scored on three 1-yard runs to finish off long Beavercreek drives that featured mostly a powerful running game. Maloney, also a junior, did his part by scoring on a

pair of 1-yard runs.

Xenia had its own weapon in junior wideout Mechi Harris. He returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score and made touchdown catches of 35 and 20 yards on passes from sophomore quarterback Christian Severt.

Those two scoring passes gave Xenia a short-lived lead even though the Buccaneers had not recorded a first down.

“He’s a big-time player and he’s going to be really good for us,” Xenia coach Bob DeLong of Harris.

The Greater Western Ohio Conference crossover game featured an abundance of goal-line stands, a safety, several fumble recoveries and onside kicks, and that was before halftime.

“We’ll take a win any way we can get it, but we’ve got so many things to improve on,” Beavers coach Nic Black said. “This game did have it all. There’s a lot of learning on that film. You take your biggest step from Week 1 to Week 2, hopefully, and we’ve got a big step to take.”

Beavercreek was 7-3 last year and flirted with making its first playoff appearance. This season it is realigned in D-I, Region 3.

Xenia drew within 30-20 midway through the third quarter. The Beavers answered with a nine-minute drive in the fourth quarter, capped by Hocker’s final TD plunge.

“We made a few plays on our own, but that 9-minute drive at the end was too much,” DeLong said. “Until then we went toe to toe with them.”

MARC PENDLETON / STAFF Beavercreek junior quarterback Cody Hocker scores one of his three 1-yard touchdowns Thursday night against Xenia. Hocker shared QB duties with Jacob Maloney, who scored twice.

MARC PENDLETON / STAFF Beavercreek’s Noah Corrigan runs for a short gain. The Beavers mainly stayed on the ground and scored on a series of long drives.

MARC PENDLETON / STAFF Beavercreek quarterback Jacob Maloney (front) is ridden down by Xenia’s Ken Klontz. Maloney had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.