Dual threat quarterbacks thriving in Week 7

COLUMBUS — Week 7 of the 2026 high school football season is in the books.Football players from all over Ohio put up some amazing performances in the seventh week of the season. Here, the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association compiles the best of the best with the OPSMA High School Football Notebook.Let's take a look.-The trend for dual-threat quarterbacks who can both run and pass is alive and doing well in Ohio high school football. Liberty-Benton's Connor Barbara threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 124 yards and another score in the Eagles' 41-20 win over Bowling Green. Ada's Blake Zoladz completed 15-of-19 passes for 184 yards and three TDs and had 26 carries for 239 yards and three additional scores in the Bulldogs wild 64-53 win over Elmwood. North Baltimore's Luke Long threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns and had 165 yards and three TDs rushing, but it came in a 56-52 loss to Waynesfield-Goshen, a loss that ended the Tiger 16-game regular season winning streak.-In its win over North Baltimore, Waynesfield-Goshen quarterback Corbin Barnes completed 23-of-38 passes for 576 yards and seven touchdowns. Branson Jordan had 10 receptions for 361 yards and five TDs.-The boys prep basketball season does not start until Nov. 30 but you wouldn't have known it the way some teams were fast-breaking their way up and down the gridiron on Friday. Ada outlasted Elmwood 64-53 for the most basketball-like score of the night. Others came close, with Waynesfield-Goshen handing North Baltimore its first loss by a score of 56-52, Bellevue putting up a 56-21 margin on Huron, and Tiffin Columbian scoring 63 points in a 63-7 victory over Norwalk.-Keaten Welch of Van Wert made nine catches for 204 yards and three touchdowns in a 43-42 loss to St. Marys.-Celina quarterback Jett Warner passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in 45-21 win over Elida to keep the Bulldogs' unbeaten season alive.-Kenton quarterback Xavier Gammon completed 24 of 36 passes for 302 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, adding 110 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries in a 34-6 win over Defiance.-Perry running back Wyatt Taviano carried the ball 25 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-14 win over Hardin Northern.-Legendary Kettering Alter head coach Ed Domsitz became the third coach in Ohio history to reach 400 career wins when his Knights defeated Dayton Carroll 50-7.-Highland's Kane Stover had a hand in every point scored for his team as he ran 30 times for 187 yards, five touchdowns and one 2-point conversion, plus a 2-point conversion pass. On defense and special teams he was just as active, making 10 tackles with two for loss and punting three times for an average of 34.7 yards per punt in a double overtime 34-33 win over River Valley.-Fairmont blanked Northmont 27-0 as Damien Patten caught 2 touchdown passes from Reagan Heffner. The craziest stat? Northmont never touched the ball on offense the entire second half. They fumbled both kickoffs and never touched the ball again, losing on possession 35:12 to 12:48.-Mechanicsburg quarterback Matthew Davis threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns, and had 148 yards and four TDs rushing in a 49-15 win over Fairbanks.-Waverly senior quarterback Gunnar Myers had 127 yards nd two rushing touchdowns and threw for 320 yards and three scores when the Tigers defeated Minford 48-24.-Quarterback Key'Sean Torbert threw four TD passes and ran for another score as Princeton stayed undefeated with a 47-0 victory over Mason.-Dyllan Fink of St. Marys Memorial ran 28 times for 207 yards and three touchdowns and hit Tre Moore with a 20-yard TD pass as time expired in a 43-42 win over Van Wert.-Liberty Center continued its myriad of winning streaks with a 62-0 blanking of Evergreen. The win for the 7-0 No. 1 Tigers is their 22nd straight overall, 52nd straight regular season win, 38th straight home win and 37th straight NWOAL victory.-Stryker's Brantley Shock threw a 60-yard touchdown pass, rushed for a 7-yard TD and caught a 26-yard touchdown pass as the Panthers set a single-game program scoring record (2018-present) with a 64-16 Northern 8 win over Kennedy Catholic.-Ridgedale's Billy Wren made 10 tackles with two interceptions and a fumble recovery, plus caught five passes for 54 yards in a 20-14 overtime loss to Upper Scioto Valley.-Elgin's Russell Norton Jr. made five tackles, four tackles for loss, recovered two fumbles and had an 18-yard touchdown catch in a 35-10 win over Cory-Rawson.-Valley View quarterback Brody Gibbs was 14-of-18 passing for 188 yards and six touchdowns in a 42-7 blitz of Middletown Madison. Garrett Brewer caught seven of those throws for 125 yards and four TDs.-Greenon Teagan Henry completed 26-of-41 passes for 437 yards and six touchdowns as they dominated Cedarville 62-30.-Ansonia running back Austin Tobe carried 14 times for 307 yards and six touchdowns and led the team in tackles in a 66-14 dismantling of Bradford.-Brody Runkle ran for 302 yards and four touchdowns and Kenton Ridge beat Tecumseh 35-7 for its sixth straight victory.-Grady Lantz had 419 yards total offense (287 passing, 132 rushing) as Urbana (5-2) handed Johnathan Alder (6-1) its first loss, 28-27.-Roman Garr threw for 352 yards and five touchdowns as Colerain rallied, then shut down Sycamore 41-23.-A 26-yard run by Juice Glover-Brown gave Moeller the edge it needed to beat Elder 35-28 and improve to 3-0 in the Greater Catholic League. Elder quarterback Kaden Estep threw for 398 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.-Lebanon kicker Logan Lane made a school-record 53-yard field goal in a 39-29 win over Milford.-Edgewood's Brody O'Banion rushed for 210 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-21 win over Ross.-Lakota East's Nile Knutson was 37-for-50 for 481 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-31 loss to Fairfield.-Nelsonville-York senior quarterback Cameron Sullivan completed 14-of-20 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns, setting the Buckeyes' school record for passing touchdowns in a career with 42.-Trimble's Kevin Bycofski caught one touchdown pass and had three interceptions on defense in the Tomcats' 32-15 Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division victory over visiting Belpre.-Symmes Valley quarterback Bronx Carpenter completed 24-of-40 passes for 407 yards and four TDs in a 35-7 win over Pike Eastern. Through seven games, Carpenter has completed 132-of-182 passes for 2,372 yards and 35 touchdowns.-Sophomore quarterback Wyatt Wolfe completed 18-of-22 passes for 435 yards and three TDs in Ironton's 37-0 win over Bloomington (Ind.) South.-Manchester's Phil Partin rushed for a school single-game record 371 yards and scored three touchdowns in a 27-21 win over Fairless.-When Withrow defeated LaSalle 33-18 on Friday, it marked the first time since September 22, 2000, when Withrow beat Elder 21-16, that a Cincinnati Public School had defeated a Greater Catholic League school.-Gates Mills Gilmour Academy senior Nate Lennon plowed his way to 417 yards rushing with six TDs on 24 carries to lead the Lancers in a 59-42 victory vs. Cleveland Central Catholic.-Canton McKinley's Darius Hill became the Bulldogs' all-time receptions leader in their 35-7 win vs. Hoover. Hill now has 112 receptions, passing 2025 graduate Keith Quincy.-Clinton-Massie had three backs gain over 100 yards – freshmen JJ Bowling (156) and Creo Haines (148) and junior Brady Gray (129) – and generated 533 rushing yards in a 31-28 win over Clinton County rival Wilmington.-In one of the most anticipated games of the Week 7, it was Northwestern commit Nolan "Big Game" Buirley of Big Walnut rushed for 288 yards and 3 TD's to carry the Eagles to victory over previous unbeaten Worthington Kilbourne (35-28) and keep Big Walnut amongst the remaining Unbeatens at (7-0).