Unioto Hosts Paint Valley in Litter Media Game of the Week Friday

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.

To see the video of the 2019 game, WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/2Mh9j1Luc-I

To see the video of the 2018 game, WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/TSRoNHWGMeg