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Coldwater rushed for over 300-yards and fights for 4th and 1 first down against Tri-Village.  The Cavaliers won the regional semifinal game 48-29. 

Story and Photos by Dale Barger

NEW MADISON – The Tri-Village football team spotted Coldwater 19 points, that slow start, along with a couple missed scoring opportunities and a powerful run game by the Cavaliers would end their season 48-29 in their OHSAA DVI regional semifinal game.

The Patriots received the ball to start the game and was forced to punt on a three and out.

Coldwater wasted little time striking first in the game on a 64-yard pass from Karsyn Homan to Cadin Obringer jumping on top 7-0 at 9:09 in the opening frame.

Tri-Village’s second possession took them into Cavalier territory but couldn’t pick-up a first down on a 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 with Coldwater taking over on downs.

 Coldwater’s Karsyn Homan scored on an 8-yard run, they missed the extra point but led 13-0.

Patriots punted on their third possession and Coldwater would score again on Homan keeper 10-yards up the middle and the Cavs went up 19-0 at 9:09 of the second quarter.

“Tonight, we dug ourselves a hole to start the game and by the time we figure out we can play with these guys it's almost a little too late,” Tri-Village coach Matt Hopkins would say after the game.

In the middle of the pile is Trey Sagester who caps off a 98-yard drive with a hard one yard TD to get the PATS on the board before the half trailing 19-7.

The Patriots would figure it out just before the end of the first half with senior quarterback Trey Sagester going to work in the two-minute drill.  He would cap a 98-yard drive on a one-yard sneak, and an Owen Ridout extra point gave the Patriots a boost trailing 19-7 with 23 seconds left in the first half.

Coldwater crossed midfield just short of the range of their field goal kicker who was booming them from 50-yards in pre-game and threw a pass to the endzone with Carson Bedinghaus intercepting the ball to end the first half.

It was no secret going into this one that the Patriots would need to play nearly perfect, but the slow start dug them a hole and now they would have to get a stop on the Cavaliers who got the ball to start the second half then put up a score to make it a ballgame.

Coldwater though had their own plans to score and take away the spirit of Tri-Village.

They indeed did score a 21-yard Derek Dues TD that took six plays going 63 yards. Homan to Obringer pass for a two-point conversion pushed the margin to 27-7.

But they weren’t able to take the Patriots spirit with Noah Finkbine returning the ensuing kick-off out to the 50-yard line and four plays later Staley Colston plunged in from one-yard to close the gap  27-13 at 7:31 of the third quarter.

Staley Colston gets the one yard TD run behind Hunter Johnson, Levi Farmer and Jake Buckley blocking.

Coldwater though would score on their next two possessions on grind it out in your face running with Tri-Village unable to get off the field and found themselves down 41-13.

The Cavs sores came on a five-yard Homan run and then a 96-yard drive after holding the Patriots out of the endzone on fourth down and one at the 4-yard line.

“We knew what we had to do but our defense couldn't stop them, that's MAC football, right?  They’re going to line up double tights, line up in the eye, and run it down your throat and they just physically wore us down up front,” Hopkins described.

Tri-Village having been able to score all year needed one and got another nice kick-off return then took just 34 seconds to score on a 10-yard Sagester pass to Teddy Millers for the TD and a two-point conversion pass from Sagester to Richards to close the gap to 41-21.

Teddy Miller had a 21 yard catch and score diving into the endzone.

But the ground game of Coldwater continued to wear down the PATS and Derek Dues rumbled 44-yards to push their lead to 48-21 in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots offense went 67-yards in 8 plays in just 1:27 with Sagester throwing a 20-yard pass to Richards for the TD and a two-point conversion pass to Teddy Miller in what would end up being the final score for the game 48-29.  

Griffin Richards would get the last score in the game as he gets through the Coldwater defense for a 20-yard TD from Sagester.  

“After digging such a big hole, we finally believed we could play at the end of the first half.  That has got to come earlier, we’ve got to start believing on the kick-off and not be timid, trying to feel things out … but go pedal to metal and play as hard as we possibly can,” Hopkins said after the game.

“We can't worry about the name on their Jersey, right?  And understand they're the same 15- to 18-year-old knuckleheads we got but just live a little further north, and we're going to play football and make some mistakes but let's just go play,” Hopkins added.

And it easy to understand why some would have that feeling of awe when playing Coldwater who is the defending State Champions and has won 8 state titles since 2005. 

It’s the type of game the Patriots need to play in just their 8^th year of varsity football who continues to make strides in their own program with their first undefeated regular season and a WOAC football championship. 

Regardless of what you heard about Coldwater being down this year they are a team who got better and better by being battle tested week by week and the Patriots have to learn how to compete against the Coldwater’s to reach their ultimate post season goal of making it to state.

“This game is a benchmark we got to know where we're with this being year 11 for us as a program. Where are we at and how are we moving forward,” Tri-Village coach Matt Hopkins said after the game.

“We’ve played two really tough MAC schools in back-to-back years in the playoffs, and we're putting up points,” Hopkins said.

Tri-Village scored 51 points against Anna in 2023, 13 points verses Marion Local last year and 29 against Coldwater this year.  But the MAC is always going to be the juggernaught standing in the way to reach the goal.

“Last year against Local we scored the most points they had against them all year. This year were putting up 30 points against a really good Coldwater team, and they've been playing football since Moses walked the Earth. We're just a baby compared to that. So, let's be upset about it, sad that it's over that we don't get to hang out every single day. But let's also understand that we're making leaps and bounds improvement, we're light years ahead of where we should be with such a young program,” Hopkins explained.

The Patriots got a big test as Noah Finkbine & Teddy Miller try to slow down Coldwater rushing game. The Cavaliers ran for over 300 plus yards in the game.

We didn't quit, kept scoring, we just needed to string a couple stops but couldn’t do it but I’m extremely proud of this team, what a great group of kids, especially this senior group my first freshman to seniors group and I couldn't be more grateful and blessed to have such a great group of kids. from top to bottom just great leaders, workers, they're going to be great men. I'm sad for them, I know that they didn't want it to end this way, but they gave us everything we got. We got guys that are banged up, and they just kept playing, as hard as they possibly could. And sometimes, you know, your best isn't good enough and that's okay, the sun will still come up, and these kids will still be winners,” Hopkins concluded.

The Patriots will say good-bye to twelve seniors who have been in some big games over their four-year careers that includes a record of 42 wins, 8 losses, 3 regional semi-final appearances and 2 WOAC Championships.

Congratulations on a fine season.

The 2025 Patriot Senior Class has had the best 4-year stretch in the young program's history.  Senior L-R: Hunter Ridout, Noah Finkbine, Cam Poston Landen Moore, Hunter Johnson, Tommy Nuse, Logan Delong, Trey Sagester, Levi Farmer, Carson Bedinghaus and Lathen Wehr.

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Several WOAC Football Players earn All-Southwest District Football Recognition.

The Ohio Prep Sports Media Association has named the All-Southwest District Football Teams. The Western Ohio Athletic Conference is well represented in DV, DVI and DVII.

In DV Preble Shawnee Senior Quarterback Brody Morton led the way and was named the Offensive Player of the Year.  Morton’s four-year career includes a school record for passing yards with 7,251 which also puts him on the OHSAA State leader board.  Morton threw for 1529 yards, 20 TDs and ran for 1346 yards, 24 TDs for a total of 44 TDs. 


Preble Shawnee senior Brody Morton was recognized as the DV Southwest District Offensive Player of the Year.

DV Southwest District First Team Offense
Brody Morton                   - Backfield         - Preble Shawnee
Caleb Blankenship      - Receivers        - Preble Shawnee
Cooper Shrout                 - Linemen           - Preble Shawnee
Marcus Rayburn            - Linemen           - Arcanum

DV Southwest District First Team Defense
Colton Schroeder         - Punter                - Preble Shawnee

DV Southwest District Second Team Offense
MJ Macy                                - Backfield         - Arcanum

DV Southwest District Second Team Defense
Kolton Quiqney              - Linebacker    - Arcanum
Bishop Cartwright        - Secondary     - Arcanum

DV Southwest District Honorable Mention
Isaiah Frazee                     - Arcanum
Brayden Freeman         - Arcanum
Connor Rogers                - Arcanum

In DVI Tri-Village Senior Quarterback Trey Sagester was named the Offensive Player of the Year.  Sagester has thrown for 2234-yards, 34 TDs and rushed for 265-yards and 5 TDs this year.  In two years as a starter at QB Sagester has thrown for 5500 career yards and 72 TDs.



Tri-Village senior Trey Sagester was recognized as the Southwest District DVI Offensive Player of the Year.

Tri-Village Senior Linebacker Noah Finkbine was also named the Defensive Player of the Year.  Finkbine led the team with 151 tackles, 16 for losses and also contributed offensively with 539 yards rushing, 8 TD’s and 424 yards receiving with 4 TDs.

DVI Southwest District First Team Offense
Trey Sagester                    - Backfield         - Tri-Village
Griffin Richards              - Receiver           - Tri-Village
Dom Black                          - Linemen           - Tri-Village
Luke Vernon                      - Linemen           - National Trail

DVI Southwest District First Team Defense
Hunter Johnsman         - Linemen           - Tri-Village
Noah Finkbine                 - Linebacker    - Tri-Village
Colt Camacho                 - Secondary     - Tri-Village

DVI Southwest District Second Team Offense
Staley Colston                 - Backfield         - Tri-Village
Jonah Brinkley                 - Receiver           - National Trail
Levi Farmer                       - Linemen           - Tri-Village

DVI Southwest District Second Team Defense
Landen Moore                 - Linebacker    - Tri-Village
Grady Ott                         - Linebacker    - National Trail
Talon Bousman                - Secondary     - National Trail
Aiden Martin                     - Secondary     - National Trail
DVI Southwest District Honorable Mention
Cole Swafford                   - Dixie
Jody Wintrow                    - National Trail

DVII Southwest District First Team Offense
Jacob Schmitmeyer        - Backfield        - Ansonia
Oden Hoening                 - Lineman          - Ansonia

DVII Southwest District First Team Defense
Lucas Barlow                   - Linemen         - Twin Valley South
Luke Wright                     - Linemen         - Tri-County North
Frank Filbrun                   - Linebacker     - Tri-County North

DVII Southwest District Second Team Offense
Peyton Fannin               - Backfield          - Tri-County North
Lander Shives                - Backfield         - Ansonia
Kyle Wehrkamp              - Receiver          - Mississinawa Valley
Ty Houser                       - Linemen           - Mississinawa Valley
Bennett Woodyard         - Linemen           - Tri-County North

DVII Southwest District Second Team Defense
Colton Hiestand            - Linebacker        - Mississinawa Valley
Jake Norris                    - Linemen            - Mississinawa Valley
Cainan Robinson           - Secondary         - Ansonia

DVII Southwest District Honorable Mention
Corbin Flory                    - Tri-County North
Bryce Krickenbarger      - Tri-County North
Aiden Ritchie                  - Tri-County North
Mason Givens                 - Tri-County North
Grayson Woodworth      - Tri-County North

Congratulations to all our WOAC Football Athletes earning All-Southwest District Honors.


Tri-Village senior Noah Finkbine was recognized at the Southwest District DVI Defensive Player of the Year.

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Lainey Mercer - Twin Valley South, Haydn Davies - National Trail and Sallie Montgomery - Preble Shawnee participated in the District 15 Volleyball Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game. (Coach Kaylie Case photo)

It was a good year for the WOAC in volleyball and several players were named to the volleyball coaches all district teams.

WOAC Schools in Division 5 & 6 District 15 Volleyball includes Dixie, National Trail, Preble Shawnee, Tri-County North and Twin Valley South.

Dixie jr. Kendyl Hypes was named District 15 Volleyball Player of the Year.
(Champine Photography photo)

Preble Shawnee’s Sallie Montgomery was the D5 Senior Player of the Year. 
(Champine Photography photo)

Twin Valley South’s Lainey Mercer was the D6 Senior Player of the Year.
(Champine Photography photo)

Twin Valley South coach Mary Johnson was named District 15 Coach of the Year.(Champine Photography photo)

List of District 15 Teams

First Team District 15
Kendyl Hypes                      -                Dixie
Sallie Mongomery            -                Preble Shawnee
Paityn Davidson                -                Tri-County North

Second Team District 15
Lainey Mercer                     -                Twin Valley South
Haydn Davies                      -                National Trail
Teegan Miller                       -                Dixie

Playing the District 15 Senior All-Star game were Sallie Montgomery – Preble Shawnee, Lainey Mercer – Twin Valley South, Haydn Davies – National Trail and Macy Price – Preble Shawnee.

WOAC Schools in Division 6 & 7 District 9 Volleyball includes: Ansonia, Arcanum, Bradford, Franklin Monroe, Mississinawa Valley, Newton and Tri-Village.

Arcanum’s Caroline Long was named D6 Volleyball Player of the Year.

Arcanum coach Jacie Holman was the D6 Volleyball Coach of the Year.

First Team D6 District 9
Caroline Long                     -               Arcanum
Kamryn Beisner                  -               Arcanum
Estie Rapp                          -                Newton
Gabby Kirby                        -               Tri-Village
Olivia Schmitmeyer            -               Ansonia

Second Team D6 District 9
Gracy Fry                            -                Arcanum
Grace Psczulkoski             -                Arcanum
Reagan Flora                      -                Franklin Monroe
Mya Denlinger                    -                Newton
Mylee Bierly                       -                Tri-Village
Lydia Hahn                         -                Ansonia

Honorable Mention D6 District 9
Zoe Ayette                          -                Tri-Village

First Team D7 District 9
Cora Hoggatt                     -              Mississinawa Valley

Second Team D7 District 9
McKenna Hoggatt            -                Mississinawa Valley

Honorable Mention D7 District 9
Allyson Waymire              -                 Mississinawa Valley
Danika Neargarder          -                 Mississinawa Valley

The District 9 Senior All-Star game will be played on Wednesday November 12th, 6:30pm at Versailles High School.  Playing in the event will be Olivia Schmitmeyer – Ansonia, Cora Hoggatt – Mississinawa Valley, Makenna Hoggatt – Mississinawa Valley, Allyson Waymire – Mississinawa Valley, Caroline Long – Arcanum, Grace Fry – Arcanum, Kamryn Beisner – Arcanum, Estie Rapp – Newton and Aubrey Stetzel – Newton.

Congratulations to all the WOAC Volleyball players earning post season awards and participating in the All-Star Games.

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Soph running back Ethan Mauller fights for yards in playoff game at Indian Lake.

Photos by Don Selanders

LEWISTOWN – Preble Shawnee nearly pulled off a 2nd round upset at Indian Lake in an OHSAA DV football playoff game. The Lakers were able to hold on for a 17-14 win to advance to the regional semifinals.

Indian Lake took an early lead on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Brady Golliday to Brodey Reisinger for a 7-0 start for the home team.

The Arrows who fell to the Lakers last year on their own field in the 2nd round responded on their first drive with Brody Morton capping it on a one-yard keeper to tie the game at 7-7.

Brody Morton scores on a one-yard run. He had 74 yards rushing and 112 yards passing in the game.

Both teams were unable to score the rest of the first half … but the Arrows had a golden opportunity to take the lead. 

Indian Lake’s Noah Shirk was able to pick off a Brody Morton pass in the back of the endzone with time dwindling down to keep the game tied at the break at 7-7.

Indian Lake got a big play from Golliday in the third quarter on a 43-yard pass to set up another 3-yard pass to Reisinger to move ahead 14-7.

The Lakers add a 32-yard field goal in the 4th quarter to improve their lead to 17-7.

Junior receiver Caleb Blankenship hauls in this 19-yard TD pass from Morton to get the Arrows 17-14 but the clock would run out on their comeback attempt.

Preble Shawnee needing a score bad got one as Morton and company orchestrated a drive that culminated with a 19-yard pass to Caleb Blankenship to narrow the gap to 17-14 with just over two-minutes left in the game.

Indian Lake to milk the cloc and hang on for a 17-14 win.

The #2 seeded Lakers in DV Region 20 advances to the regional semifinals and will host #11 Cincinnati Mariemont next week.

Preble Shawnee closes out their 2025 season with a fine 10-2 record and a second place finish in the WOAC at 8-1.

Preble Shawnee fell to the Lakers for the 2nd straight year in the Regional Quarterfinals concluding a good season. 

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Tri-Village Offensive line was bright spot in 54-22 playoff win over Portsmouth West.

Story and Photos by Dale Barger

NEW MADISON – The Tri-Village Patriots 'bend but don’t break' defense bolstered by an efficient and effective offense came away with a 54-22 win over Portsmouth West in the second round of the OHSAA DVI football regional quarterfinal playoff game.

The Patriots defense allowed the Senators to march into their own territory three straight possession in the first quarter only to thwart their attempts to get into the endzone, while striking quickly to put their own points on the board

Tri-Village stopped Portsmouth’s opening drive at the 15-yard line and just three plays later Trey Sagester tossed one to Griffin Richards for a 51-yard scoring strike and with an extra point from Owen Ridout they led 7-0.

The Senators in almost the same fashion as the first drive got all the way to the 17-yard line but was held on downs and it took just two runs, both by Colt Camacho with the big one going 64-yards to put the Patriots up 14-0 in the first quarter.

Colt Camacho breaks into the clear on his way to a 64-yard TD run.

Portsmouth West for a third time threatened but the Patriot defense held at the 7-yard line this time.  Sagester and Richards would make good off the turnover on downs by hooking up for a 45-yard score expanding their lead to 21-0 in the early part of the 2nd quarter.

Trey Sagester airs one out with Griffin Richards hauling it in.  The duo would connect four times for TDs in the game.

Portsmouth finally punched a hole in the Patriots defense with 37 seconds left on a 6-yard run then added a two-point conversion and gaining some momentum heading into the break trailing the Patriots 21-8.

Tri-Village received the ball to start the second half bolstered by solid play up front from their offensive line.  Staley Colston hit on two large chunk plays that included a 25-yard TD run to increase their lead to 27-8.

Staley Colston had a couple of nice runs including this one going 25-yards for the TD.

The Patriots defense finally stopped the Senators on their own side of the field forcing a punt for the first time in the game.

Trey Sagester threw a pass into the flat to Griffin Richards, and he followed a couple of good blocks then busted through a hole racing 37-yards to push the lead to 34-8.

Portsmouth came to play as they put together another drive into Tri-Village territory and the PATS struggled to slow them down.  They would score on a 7-yard run giving them just a bit of hope trailing 34-15 with 5:38 to play in 3rd frame.

It took all of just one-minute though for the Patriots to squash that hope and for the fourth time in the game the Sagester – Richards connection added a 39-yard score upping the lead to 40-15.

The Patriots held the Senators for the second time in the third quarter on their side of the field forcing a second punt and it would prove be a backbreaker. 

It was a good punt that sent Richards back who let the ball drop instead of catching it on the fly … the bounce was high enough to allow Richards to run up, catch it like a bolt of lightning he was gone.  71-yards later he had his fifth TD in the game that would start the running clock, and hope was turning into despair for the Senators who now trailed 47-15.

Griffin Richards scored his 5th TD in the game on this 71-yard punt return.

Portsmouth West started the fourth quarter looking to try and answer but Lathen Wehr intercepted the ball and then a few plays later Noah Finkbine burst through the middle, leaped a player on the ground and went 51 yards to cap the Tri-Village scoring at 54-15.

The Senators scored one more time late in the game on a pass play bringing the final score to 54-22.

Noah Finkbine jumps through the middle and goes for a 51-yard TD run.

With the win Tri-Village advances to the OHSAA DVI regional semifinal game that they will host next Friday at 7pm verses Coldwater.

Coldwater earned their way with a 38-0 win at Cincinnati St. Bernard Elmwood Place.

After the game Tri-Village coach Matt Hopkins praised Portsmouth because they came to play.

“That's a really good football team. Their running back is tough, and he ran super hard, and those guys up front on the line were dominant and kicked our butts. I'm going to be really honest we got lucky to get out of here with the win, because that's a good football team,” Hopkins stated.

The Senators make the Patriots work on defense with good blocking up front and a running back who ran hard.

“I didn't think we played particularly well, if we break a couple times on defense early in the game then it’s a different game. It's stuff we talk about all the time, we didn't play really focused or discipline football,” Hopkins noted.

“That's going to be a huge point of emphasis about that stuff this week about, we can't even get close to a Coldwater team if we even think about playing like that against them,” Hopkins exclaimed.

“Portsmouth gave us a tight front, took away our Inside Zone, which is something we wanted to do, again, they were big, physical, and fast up front,” Hopkins added.

Lathen Wehr snagged this interception to halt a drive midfield.

The Senators managed 375 total yards of offense: 197 rushing and 178 yards passing in the game.

“Offensively our guys played really well. If there’s a bright spot, I thought it was our offensive line. Trey Sagester made the right reads our offensive backs hit the hole hard and when they tried to overplay that's when Griff got loose and he’s a tough cover,” Hopkins added.

Tri-Village had 516 total yards of offense: 285 rushing and 231 passing. Trey Sagester 4 TDs. Griffin Richards 8 catches, 4 TDs, 195 yards receiving and a 71-yard punt return for a score.

On the ground, Staley Colston, Colt Camacho and Noah Finkbine each had long TD runs.

“Next week we're going to see a little bit more complex stuff and we're going to have to rise to meet the challenge.” Hopkins said.

“You know, my dad always says an ugly win is always better than a pretty loss, right?”

“It's a win, we get to move forward … but we need better focus, if we don't play really well, it's going to be a clock game, so we're going to have to lock it in this week,” Hopkins concluded.

Tri-Village Cheerleaders take time to pose before the game. They will be on-hand next week as the Patriots take on Coldwaters in week 13th in the Regional Semi-Finals.

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