The Associated Press

Versailles and Coldwater have conference and state stakes on the line Friday night.

Versailles, No. 1 in Division V, hosts Coldwater, No. 1 in Division IV, in the annual Battle of Orange. The winner takes over first place in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

A year ago Coldwater won the regular-season matchup 10-7 on the way to a 10-0 record. The Tigers, however, turned the tables in the Division IV semifinals, winning 14-0 before finishing second in the state.

Coldwater QB Steve Borger has completed 64 percent of his passes (going 68-of-106) for 1,123 yards with 15 touchdowns and just one interception. Ohio State recruit Ross Homan leads the team in scoring (14 TDs), rushing (629 yards on 94 carries) and tackles (79).

Versailles counters with a backfield featuring three backs who have each gained more than 400 yards this season.

SPEAKING OF NO. 1 Cincinnati St. Xavier beat La Salle 28-0 as Darius Ashley ran for three TDs. The Bombers' starting defense has not allowed a TD in six of seven games this year and overall St. X has outscored opponents 203-38.

‘‘There's a reason they're No. 1 in the state,'' La Salle coach Tom Grippa said.

REAL ESTATE: Barnesville's Buddy Hines had 344 yards and three TDs on 44 carries in a 41-20 win over Harrison Central; Cincinnati Winton Woods' Hosea Simpson ran for 263 yards and 3 TDs on only 12 carries in a 62-6 win over Walnut Hills; Hardin Northern's Nathan Bame rushed for 260 yards on eight carries in a 56-13 win over Van Buren; Collin McCafferty of Kings Mills ran for 221 yards and five touchdowns in a 48-3 win over Hamilton Ross; and Cincinnati Moeller's Martez Williams ran for 204 yards and three TDs in a 45-30 win over Elder.

TURNAROUNDS: Milford Center Fairbanks lost two of its first three games, but one of those was overturned because of a forfeit and the Panthers are now 6-1; Convoy Crestview beat Columbus Grove 25-19 to move to 7-0 for the first time since dropping the sport from 1982 to 1999; West Salem Northwestern, 2-8 a year ago, beat Creston Norwayne 35-7 to move to 7-0, the best start in school history; and Cincinnati Taft, coached by former Bengals receiver Mike Martin, improved to 6-1 with a 36-8 win over Aiken, assuring Taft of its first winning season since the early 1990s (the school dropped football in 2001 because only six players showed up for preseason workouts).

Termaine McCabe of Ashtabula Edgewood returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown against Conneaut. After Conneaut scored, McCabe returned the next kickoff 84 yards for a TD. He later scored on a 24-yard reception in a 58-35 victory.

FRIENDLY SKIES: North Ridgeville's Max Rothacker passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-9 win over Vermilion, hitting Sean Bunevich for eight completions, 202 yards and two of the scores; Nate Davis broke his older brother Jose's Bellaire record for career touchdown passes by pushing past the 60 mark in a 53-6 win over Belmont Union Local; Tyler Osterman threw a school-record 98-yard TD pass to Josh Herron in Lemon-Monroe's 34-6 victory over Oxford Talawanda, clinching the school's first winning season since 1994; and Waynesfield's Joe Horn had four receptions for 197 yards and TDs of 12, 95, 15 and 75 yards in a 42-0 win over Lima Perry.

NOTEWORTHY: Cory-Rawson scored 36 points in a span of 3:10 in a 57-22 win over Vanlue; Salem's Bryan Wright broke his school record with a 51-yard field goal in a 38-9 loss to unbeaten Canfield, the 15th year in a row the Cardinals have defeated the Quakers; Beloit West Branch's Shane Young kicked his first field goal, a 33-yarder, with 1:38 remaining in a 17-14 win over Alliance; Cincinnati Indian Hill's closest win this year has been 17 points and the Braves are scoring 49 points a game; Curtis Laudick returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a score, then intercepted a pass on Ada's first play from scrimmage and returned it 40 yards for another TD - 30 seconds into the game Delphos St. John's was on its way to a 62-0 victory; Medina Buckeye (7-0) allowed its first touchdown of the year in a 38-6 win over Black River; Caldwell's defense surrendered only 11 yards on 10 plays in the second half of a 28-8 win over New Matamoras Frontier; and Hopewell-Loudon's Sean Brickner intercepted three passes, recovered a fumble and caught a 56-yard TD pass in a 31-6 win over North Baltimore.

MAGIC FOR $4: Sometimes a fan plunks down $4 to go to a high school game and gets to witness magic.

Take, for example, when Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant met Proctorville Fairland. Coal Grove came in at 5-1 and Fairland had a mirror-image 1-5 mark.

Justin Hyland ran 50 times for 400 yards and six touchdowns to lead Coal Grove, which stockpiled 503 rushing yards but had minus-6 yards passing.

Fairland QB Rich Staggs completed 20-of-37 passes for 309 yards. Sam Huff caught six passes for 124 yards and two scores, and returned a kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown.

Coal Grove held on for a 52-50 victory as all those in attendance got more than their money's worth.