Former Paint Valley Bearcats Football Coach Pete Hollon will be honored during the Friday, October 22nd final regular season game at Paint Valley.
Hollon led the Bearcats as head coach for 24 seasons, compiling a (152-102-1) record. His Bearcats teams won 6 SVC championships, he was SVC “Coach of the Year” 5 times, was also the Southeast District “Coach of the Year” 4 times and in 2000- he was named the Ohio Associated Press State “Coach of the Year.”
His teams qualified for the state playoffs 8 times over that 24 year career.
The two SVC football powerhouse teams of the 1980’s and early 2000’s will continue to relive some of those memories in their annual alumni game Saturday, October 9th.
Kickoff at Paint Valley will be at 7pm. Alumni from the 1980’s through 2020 are eligible to play.
Full concessions open pre-sale tickets are $10, with $5 per pre-sale ticket donated back to the football programs. Paint Valley has tickets available in the athletic director’s office and the players will sell them at the varsity game Friday night October 8th.
Westfall fans can contact Justin Barnes or any of his players for tickets. The game, which has played the last few years, has turned into a huge fundraiser for both schools football programs and home team boosters.
Levi Gullion rushed for six touchdowns and passed for another. Click the photo to watch the Litter Media Game of the Week Post Game Show.
The Piketon Redstreaks dominated most of the ballgame in their battle for sole possession of the SVC Football lead, beating Paint Valley 43-20.
The (3-0/6-0) Redstreaks built a 24-0 halftime lead, thanks to critical Bearcat turnovers, Levi Gullion’s unstoppable offensive performance, and Piketon’s solid defensive effort.
Gullion ran for six touchdowns in the game, taking advantage of gaping holes the Redstreaks offensive line opened up for him all game long. Gullion also threw for a TD. He was named the McDonald’s Player of the Game.
Paint Valley committed 6 turnovers in the game.
Litter Media/Mike Smith
Piketon drove deep into Paint Valley territory twice in the first quarter, stalling on one drive and fumbling on another possession. After a scoreless first quarter, it didn’t take long for Piketon’s offense to get untracked in the second quarter.
After long pass from Levi Gullion to John Burton inside the PV 10, Gullion scored on an 8 yard run to get Piketon on the scoreboard. The two point try failed, leaving Piketon with a 6-0 lead at 10:06 left in the first half.
Kydan Potts got an interception to set up the Redstreaks next score, which saw Gullion run 37 yards on the next play for the touchdown. The two point conversion try failed and Piketon held a 12-0 lead with 9:35 left first half.
Piketon upped the score to 18-0 when the Redstreaks’ John Burton knocked the ball out of Beau Blankenship’s hands as he was going for a possible score at the three yard line. The Streaks then marched 97 yards and capped the drive off with a Levi Gullion 6 yard scoring run at 1:42 left in the first half. The PAT try for two failed.
The Redstreaks would tack on one more score before the first half ended. Gullion connected with John Burton to the 6 yard line, followed by a Levi Gullion scoring on a QB keeper at :22 left in half. The PAT run by Gullion fails leaving Piketon with a 24-0 lead over Paint Valley at halftime.
Paint Valley had the ball first in the third quarter, but Piketon’s Levi Stanley picked off Cavan Cooper, which later led to Gullion firing a TD bomb of over 60 yards to John Burton at 8:39 in the third quarter. The PAT kick was good, giving Piketon a 31-0 lead.
Paint Valley got their first score of the game with a 32 yard TD run by Cavan Cooper. The PAT for two was good on a Cooper run, cutting Piketon’s lead to 31-8 at 2:46 in third quarter.
Cavan Cooper cuts the deficit to 31-14, running 19 yards for a TD at 11:52 left in the fourth quarter. The PAT run was called back for holding. Then PV’s second try on the PAT was stopped short on pass play.
Less than 10 second later, Piketon’s Levi Gullion ran 51 yards for a TD at 11:42 remaining in the game. The PAT 2 point try fails as Piketon extends their lead to 37-14 over PV.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bearcats fumble and Piketon recovers.
Levi Gullion then ran 30 yards for his 6th TD of the game. Piketon 43-14 over Paint Valley with 10:11 remaining in the game.
Paint Valley gets their final tally of the game, driving 74 yards for a score. QB Cavan Cooper connects with Cordell Grubb for a 26 yard TD pass. The PAT 2 point try fails. Piketon led 43-20 with 6:04 left in game which ended the scoring for the game.
The Piketon Redstreaks take over sole possession of the SVC lead, improving to (3-0/6-0). Bearcats slip to (2-1/3-3).
Piketon is looking for a Homecoming opponent for next week, since their SVC game with Southeastern is cancelled due to the Panthers team being in quarantine. Paint Valley hosts Huntington.
In other area games:
… Zane Trace 49, Westfall 12 … Unioto 28, Adena 18 … Miami Trace 35, Chillicothe 28 OT … Jackson 42, Hillsboro 0 … Washington CH 27, McClain 21 … Amanda 49, Circleville 13 … Teays Valley 33, Hamilton Township 0 … Fairfield Union 35, Logan Elm 14 …Bloom Carroll 45, Liberty Union 3 … Waverly 47, Portsmouth West 28 … Northwest 26, Portsmouth Notre Dame 20 … Lucasville Valley 31, Oak Hill 6 … Wheelersburg 24, Minford 20 … Sciotoville 30, Eastern Pike 6 … Vinton County 46, Alexander 0 … Nelsonville York 13, Meigs 6 … Wellston 46, River Valley 6 … Portsmouth 42, Coal Grove 20 …
Watch the Litter Media Game of the Week Postgame Show with Dan Ramey and Mike Smith. CLICK HERE:
The (2-1) Washington CH Blue Lions scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat the Paint Valley Bearcats 32-29. The Bearcats led 29-12 with 10:08 left in the game, when WCH started their come-back.
WCH scored on their opening drive as Troy Thompson connected with AJ Dallmayer on a 22 yard TD pass at 6:23 of the first quarter. The PAT was blocked and the Blue Lions were up 6-0.
That was the only score of the opening quarter, but Paint Valley struck quickly in the second period when Dax Estep found Dillon McDonald down the left sideline for a TD at the 10:51 mark. The PAT kick by Cole Miller made it 7-6 Bearcats.
WCH was driving when Troy Thompson hit Calum Brown on a big pass play deep in PV territory. But, on the next play, Paint Valley’s Cole Miller intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned it 38 yards.
Later in that drive, Trent Mettler took a Dax Estep pass for a TD, followed by 2-point conversion for a 15-6 Bearcats lead with :44 remaining in first half. PV then held WCH inside the 20 on their last possession of the half and led 15-6.
Litter Media/Mike Smith
The third quarter saw Paint Valley’s Cavan Cooper grab a pick-six for a score at the 8:38 mark for a 22-6 lead, following the PAT kick.
The Blue Lions’ Rishuan Burns scooped up a Paint Valley fumble and took it the house at 7:11 of the third quarter. The PAT failed and PV’s lead was cut to 22-12.
The third quarter ended at 22-12 and PV with the ball.
The Bearcats’ Cordell Grubb appeared to seal the deal with a 14 yard TD run, followed by a PAT kick for a 29-12 lead with 10:08 left in the game.
That’s when Washington CH would start their 20-0 run for a come-back win.
Driving down the field, Rocky Jones scored on a 5 yard run with 8:33 left. The PAT was missed and Paint Valley’s lead was cut to 29-18.
Washington’s defense held PV and got the ball back on a punt. Two pass completions later, the Blue Lions connected on a 40 yard TD pass from Raleigh Haithcock to Isaiah Haithcock with 3:17 left. The 2-point conversion failed and Paint Valley was down to 29-24.
Again, the WCH defense would stop Paint Valley and get the ball back with about 2:00 to play.
The Lions drove down the field and took the 30-29 lead when Raleigh Haithcock fired a 5 yard TD pass to AJ Dallmayer for the score with 33 seconds remaining. The two point conversion succeeded when Haithcock connected with Tanner Lemaster in the back corner of the end zone for a 32-29 lead.
Paint Valley was pinned deep in their own territory on the ensuing kick-off and WCH three plays later recovered a PV fumble to seal the win.
Raleigh Haithcock was our Litter Media McDonald’s Player of the Game.
Washington CH improves to (2-1) and faces Minford while Paint Valley drops to (1-2). PV opens SVC play next week against Westfall.
In other area games: Washington CH 32, Paint Valley 29 … Chillicothe 32, Walnut Ridge 0 … Miami Trace 40, Logan Elm 0 … Sciotoville East 42, Southeastern 24 … East Clinton 33, Hillsboro 14 … Zane Trace 28, Vinton County 21 … Piketon 62, Lucasville Valley 36 … Portsmouth West 41, Adena 12 … Waverly 47, Unioto 10 … Huntington 28, Northwest 20 … Jackson 24, Tri-Valley 3 … Heath 45, Circleville 0 … Teays Valley 23, Ashland 21 … Saint Charles 14, Amanda Clearcreek 9 … Bloom Carroll 23, Jonathan Alder 3 … Fairfield Union 26, Lakewood 12 … Wheelersburg 35, Russell, Ky. 16 … Rock Hill 23, Oak Hill 0 … Portsmouth 56, Deer Park 21 … Minford 27, Wellston 18 … Marietta 36, Athens 28 OT … Point Pleasant 26, Gallia Academy 22 … Alexander 55, Belpre 14 … Liberty Union 14, Nelsonville York 6 … Ironton 20, Fairland 14 … Lancaster 34, Olentangy 15 …
The Blue Lions of Washington Court House from the FAC, travel to Paint Valley to face the Bearcats of the SVC in our Litter Media Game of the Week in high school football Friday night.
WCH Coach Chuck Williamson says they got away with some mistakes in Week 1, still getting a victory, but those mistakes caught up with them in a Week 2 loss to a tough Western Brown team, which now make the Blue Lions (1-1).
Paint Valley Coach Cory Dye and two of their assistant coaches are former coaches from WCH, which makes that aspect of this match-up an interesting one.
Coach Chuck Williamson says he’s concerned about the Bearcats athleticism, saying “they have size and the ability to fly around to the ball.”
But, he says the Blue Lions are pretty athletic as well. He says they are an “up-tempo spread team offensively”, adding that they have some “very talented skill guys”, which includes 6’5- 230 pound Tanner Lemaster, who has received D-1 college offers from Michigan State, Indiana, and Tennessee.
The Blue Lions have great strength in their front 11 on both sides of the ball, running a two-platoon system with very few players ever playing both offense and defense.
From Bearcats Coach Cory Dye, he gave the same props to Washington CH, knowing they will be tough to defend. Paint Valley also enters the game at (1-1), winning in Week 1, but suffered a tough loss to state powerhouse West Jefferson in Week 2.
Due to an injury in Week 1, Paint Valley had Cavan Cooper playing running back last week in their loss to West Jefferson and Coach Dye says they expect him to remain in the running back spot against Washington CH, with Dax Estep at quarterback.
Be watching Litter Media GOTW Live Postgame Show late Friday night on Litter Media Facebook.
A two-run first inning for the Lucasville Valley Indians turned out to be all the offense they would need in their 2-0 win over Paint Valley, Friday, in the Division 4 Regional Baseball Semis at Lancaster’s Beaver Field.
Bearcats starter Brock Blanton yielded only five hits in the game, but Valley’s scoring first inning also saw them pick up three of their five hits for the game. Blanton had four strikeouts against Indians batters.
George Arnett got the win for Valley, giving up six hits in 7 innings of work, fanning five PV batters.
Lucasville Valley Pitcher George Arnett
Valley’s first inning offense came on a lead-off double from Andrew Andronis, who later scored on a one-out single by Brecken Williams for a 1-0 lead. The final run of the game came one batter later, when George Arnett’s RBI double scored Willams.
Paint Valley stranded six runners in the game, with their biggest scoring threat being in the top of the fifth inning when Devlen Spradlin and Cadyn Norman started the inning with singles. Both were left on base when Arnett struck out the next PV batter then induced the next two to fly out to end the inning.
The Bearcats did get a two-out single in the 7th from Norman, but was left stranded when the next batter was retired.
(19-11) Lucasville Valley has 2 runs/5 hits/no errors/ stranding 3 runners.
(18-12) Paint Valley had 0 runs/6 hits/0 errors/stranding 6 runners.
Beau Blankenship of Paint Valley at the Plate
Watch our postgame interview with Paint Valley Coach Shayne Combs. Click the arrow below.
Lucasville Valley returns to Beaver Field Saturday at 3pm to play the Berlin Hiland/East Knox winner for the Division 4 Regional Championship.
Coach Combs talks about the Bearcats 9-8 District title win
The (15-12) Paint Valley Bearcats showed how their tough SVC regular season can payoff in post-season play, beating higher seeded (17-6-1) Eastern Meigs 9-8 for the Division 4 District Baseball Championship at V.A. Memorial Stadium, Monday night.
The Bearcats fell behind 5-0, but rallied with 6 unanswered runs for a 6-5 lead. The Eagles tied it 6-6 in the sixth inning, before Paint Valley surged ahead with 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 9-6 advantage.
Eastern Meigs in their final at-bat, made a comeback effort with two runs to make it 9-8, but a diving catch by Blaine Parker on a low line drive to right ended the game to hand PV the title.
In their come from behind effort, Brock Blanton drew a bases loaded walk to give the Bearcats their first lead of the game at 6-5, then after the Eagles tied the score at 6-6, it was Connor Free’s RBI hit that gave them the lead at 7-6, and what turned out to be the much-needed insurance runs coming around on a two-run single by Beau Blankenship making it 9-6.
That proved to be critical, after Eastern Meigs scored twice in the top of the 7th and had the tying run in scoring position when Parker’s diving catch ended the game.
Dax Estep got the win, working 4 innings, yielding 3 hits, and fanning 5.
At the plate, Paint Valley was led by Conor Free and Beau Blankenship- each with two hits, with Free driving in 4 runs.
The official line score for the Bearcats was 9 runs, 9 hits and committed 3 errors, while Eastern Meigs had 8 runs, 7 hits and had 4 costly errors.
Paint Valley now advances to the Division 4 Regional Semis at Lancaster’s Beaver Field vs Lucasville Valley on June 3rd at 2pm.
(18-11) Lucasville Valley advanced out of the Chillicothe #2 District with a 7-1 win over (14-13) Huntington, earlier in the day Monday.
The Indian’s George Arnett picked up the win on the mound, yielding only 6 Huntsmen hits to go along with assistance from Huntington, who struggled in the field with 6 errors in the game.
Valley score a run in the first, then the flood gates opened in the third inning when they added 6 more tallies for a 7-0 advantage.
Huntington’s lone run came in the fourth inning.
The Huntsmen see their season end with a (14-13) record.
Elsewhere in district baseball action:
(Division 3)
Minford beat Adena 11-1 in 5 innings and Meigs beat River Valley 7-2. Meigs will face Minford Wednesday in the district finals at V.A. Memorial Stadium at 3pm.
Wheelersburg topped Portsmouth 5-2, while Eastern Brown rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Piketon 6-2. Wheelersburg will play Eastern Brown in the 6pm district final, Wednesday at VA.
(Division 2)
The Unioto Shermans avenged a 9-3 loss at Miami Trace more than a week ago, this time in the district semis, 6-1. The victory places the Shermans up against Hillsboro in the Division 2 District Final Tuesday at 5pm at V.A. Memorial Stadium, with the winner headed to The Sweet 16.
A selection committee tasked with finding a new boys varsity basketball coach at Paint Valley High School has made their recommendation to the board of education, according to a member of the selection committee.
Former Adena High School and Ohio University-Chillicothe Coach Jason Smith has been recommended by the five-person committee, which included Paint Valley HS Principal Joe Holbert, Athletic Director Lew Ewry, Board of Education Member Dave Shoemaker and community members Casey McFadden and Randy Chrisman.
If hired by the Paint Valley Board of Education, Smith would replace Bob Williams, who is being non-renewed as the Bearcats coach. Williams led the Bearcats program over the last few seasons.
In five seasons as the Warriors coach, Smith from a one-win team his first year, to 12 and 16 wins in his final two seasons. That included trips to the district tournament his final season.
Paint Valley’s Tramel Byrd (15) rushed for 167 yards in the Bearcats’ 55-29 win at Unioto. photo by Dan Ramey/Litter Media
Tramel Byrd and Cavin Cooper combined for three 3rd quarter touchdowns to power Paint Valley to a 55-29 win at Unioto Friday.
Byrd had 13 lugs for 167 yards to lead the Bearcat attack, which rushed for 365 yards.
The Shermans took the opening drive and scored on a Lucas Hanes field goal to take the early 3-0 lead on homecoming night. Paint Valley answered when Cooper found Beau Blankenship on a TD pass to close out the 1st quarter with a 7-3 margin.
Cordell Grubb rumbled 58 yards for a score and followed with a TD catch from Cooper to put the Bearcats ahead 21-3.
Unioto closed the gap to 21-9 just before halftime on Isaac Little’s pass to Byrd Green with 8.9 seconds left in the half. But Paint Valley came out of the intermission hitting on all cylinders.
Byrd capped a drive to start the second half with the first of his two TDs in the 3rd, a 20-yard run to give the Bearcats a 27-9 lead less than a minute into the quarter.
Unioto answered with a 42yard strike from Little to Maddox Fox to give the Shermans some life. However, the Bearcats had other plans. Cooper picked off a pass for and returned it for a touchdown and Byrd slipped away on a 67-yard run to the Shermans’ five-yard line and then punched it in on the next play to boost the Paint Valley lead to 41-15.
Cooper added touchdown runs of 30 and 40 yards the 4th quarter to put the game out of reach.
The Shermans Newton Hoops hit Fox on a 30-yard TD pass and Cameron Lohnes had a TD run to close out the scoring for the night. 55-29 the final.
Paint Valley improves to 3-1 and Unioto slips to 2-2. The Bearcats will host Zane Trace next Friday. Zane Trace earned a 36-22 win over Southeastern who will head to Unioto next week.
Unioto’s Maddox Fox races toward the end zone just before halftime to cut Paint Valley’s lead to 21-9. Photo by Dan Ramey/Litter Media
Hear what Coaches Corey Dye and Matt Hoops had to say after the game
The Litter Media Game of the Week is a Scioto Valley Conference affair as Paint Valley (2-1) heads to Unioto (2-1) Friday night.
The 2020 season is the first time in more than a quarter century Pete Hollon’s been absent from the sidelines in Paint Valley Black-and-Yellow.
Corey Dye is the new man with the whistle for the Bearcats. He says it’s been a pretty smooth transition and the Bainbridge community has been welcoming.
“You always worry about that transition whenever you start a new job” Dye told Litter Media. “You wonder of the kids are gonna accept you right off the bat, but it’s just been really great and I’m blessed to be here.”
Dye has learned a lot about his kids the last three weeks. The summer workouts presented their own brand of uniqueness due to the pandemic restrictions. And once live game action began, the cream began to rises to the top.
“I knew after doing workouts with them, the short time we did get to do workouts, and then we were cut short, of course, for obviously because of COVID… I knew that I had a group of kids that were really tough and resilient” said Dye. “They’ve been able to prove that to me the last three weeks. We played a really good opponent the first week (Adena) and they never gave up.”
Dye says that’s a credit to his predecessor, the assistant coaches who have been part of the PVF tradition before his arrival and the seniors class. “It’s not easy having a new coach, especially going into your last year. The group of kids that I have, have just done a tremendous job of leading this team and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Hollon and the graduating class, went 19-4 their last two seasons, including an SVC Gold Ball in 2018 and a 1-2 record in back-to-back playoff appearances.
“The graduating class that just left here, is probably gonna go down as one of the best classes to come through here in a long time. They were able to put up some unbelievable numbers, stat-wise and won quite a few games in their tenure here.”
Dye says the classes which moved up through the PV chain as juniors and sophomores got valuable experience thanks to the Class of 2020. “They’re basically carrying on the torch and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
Quarterback Cavan Cooper experienced baptism by fire as a freshman when Bryce Newland’s season ended abruptly due to a broken leg.
“The way Cavan was able to step in there last year and the job that he did is really admirable, it’s remarkable because it’s really hard for a freshman to play against a team of seniors, juniors, even sophomores… and he was able to do that at a high level.”
Unioto has had two thrilling last-moment finishes this season, the opening week at Piketon (44-38) and last Friday at Zane Trace (23-18).
While first year varsity head coach Matt Hoops is happy with the wins, he’d like to see them decided a bit sooner than later. “We knew coming into the season we were going to be really inexperienced in a lot of different spots, but we have a lot of good athletes, we have a lot of kids who are competitive. They’ve put us in position two of our first three games.”
Hoops has been at the helm of the Shermans’ Boys Basketball program for several years and all the while has been a coach in the football program. When Jeff Metzler stepped down after last season, Hoops jumped at the opportunity to fill the vacancy. It was a chance to do something he’d always wanted to do.
Hoops is familiar with the football kids from coaching them at lower levels in the program over the years. And so far, it’s been like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes.
“I know a lot of these guys” said Hops. “Almost everyone on our roster I’ve coached before in some aspect. I’m pretty familiar with a lot of the guys coming in, so that’s helped the transition be as smooth as it could’ve been.”
His quarterback, Isaac Little also drives the ship for his basketball team. Their positive working relationship in the gym has transferred over to the gridiron also.
“They asked him to play quarterback last year, something he had never done before” said Hoops. “Obviously the reason they did that was because of just what makes him who he is… a supreme competitor, a really good athlete, a very smart individual, academically on the field and the court. Isaac’s the type of kid you want with the ball in his hands. He’s gonna make plays for ya, and he’s gonna get you out of some bad plays because of his IQ.”
The Bearcats dealt Unioto a 41-7 loss at UHS in 2019. Our Litter Media cameras will return for the rematch Friday. Watch for score updates during the game on the Litter Media Facebook Page, photos and Litter Media Extras over the weekend and a highlight video of the game early next week.
