With the warm weather behind us, it’s hard to believe that the first day of fall was last week.  I guess if you look at the calendar, you would notice that with the area high school football games that were played, exactly half the season is already over.

That’s right - five games are already in the books.  As Bethel continues to play in the Cross County Conference, the Tecumseh Arrows will start their quest for a division title in the Central Buckeye Conference Friday night against Stebbins.

Both teams have enjoyed big wins, while also suffering tough losses.  Going into this week, the Bees stand 2-3 overall, with conference losses already to Miami East, Covington and Tri County North.  While their league hopes are gone, they strive to get back to .500 this week, and put together a streak to end the season.

For the Arrows, Kent Massie’s squad had big road wins against Fairborn and Urbana, and only a loss at Butler tarnished their record.  Things don’t get any easier for the Arrows however in their goal to capture a league title.  In the next five weeks, three of their opponents are Kenton Ridge, Tippecanoe and Shawnee, all 4-0 going into last weekend’s games. Needless to say, it will be quite a challenge for the Arrows, trying to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

But there has been more success in the fall for the two schools.  Tecumseh’s volleyball team sits second in the conference, only suffering a tough three-set loss to division leading 13-1 Shawnee.  Tecumseh has jumped out to a 10-3 record this season, including a huge road win at Tippecanoe. 

Bethel’s volleyball team has struggled this season, but did record a pair of wins recently including against perennial league power Franklin-Monroe. 

On the soccer field, the Bethel Bees have been the most productive of the area teams on the boys’ side, sprinting out to a 10-0 start to the season.  They have senior Joe Zimmerman who has nearly scored 30 goals already, along with senior Kyle Hamlin producing a strong duo up front for the Bees.

Tecumseh’s boys squad has started 6-1-1, and 4-1 in the conference.  They sit one game behind the league leading Tippecanoe Red Devils, and only a half game ahead of third place Kenton Ridge.

While Bethel’s girls soccer team has struggled offensively and are off to a 3-7 start, the Lady Arrows sit second in their division, as Tecumseh’s girls are 6-4 overall, and 5-1 in the league.  They are tied with Kenton Ridge, and are one half-game ahead of Tippecanoe.

Also shining in the fall is freshman tennis player Taylor Culbertson, who stands 13-0 on the season for Tecumseh at number-one singles.  She has a showdown this week against Tippecanoe’s Sierra Nellessen, also unbeaten.  The Lady Arrows frosh has a bright future on the courts for Tecumseh.  Also for Tecumseh, Amber Koepnick is 9-3 on the season at third-singles, and Sydney Back is 8-5 at second-singles.

Overall, it has been a strong fall sports season in the area, with basketball and wrestling starting practice in less than a month.