Chillicothe Football fans left Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium with something to smile about following the four team jamboree scrimmage. While no official scoring was kept, the Hornets outscored Knob Noster and Smithville, and came away with a tie against defending Class 3 champion Richmond.
     Chillicothe used a different quarterback against each opponent: last year's starter Jacob Lewis (Senior) against Knob Noster, Tyler Clampitt (Sophomore) against Smithville in a Junior Varsity contest, and Jake Mathew (Senior) against Richmond. The Hornets took a good look at everyone, with 10 different Hornets getting at least one carry in the scrimmages.
      Hornets Coach Phil Willard was pleased that his team came out injury free. Willard was also happy with some of the hitting and the effort from some of the new players getting their first starting experience on varsity. However, he also was well aware that much more work needs to be done. "You know coaches, we're never happy" quipped Willard.
     In the Jamboree format, each team started on the 40 yard line and ran 12 consecutive offensive plays. There was no kicking, and if a team failed to make a first down, they started over on the 40. Five minute intermissions were held between each of the three rounds.
     Chillicothe opened against a Knob Noster team that struggled offensively most of the night. The Hornets scored on a Jacob Lewis 1 yard run on the 5th play, on a 40 yard Lewis to Guy Vinson (Senior) pass two plays later, and on a 40 yard run by Austin Hatfield (Senior) on the 11th of 12 plays.
     On defense against Knob Noster, Chillicothe had a quarterback sack on the 3rd play and had back to back fumble recoveries from Spencer Hart (Senior) and Hunter Keller (Senior) on the 6th and 7th plays. On the other end of the field, Richmond scored one touchdown and held Smithville scoreless in a solid defensive effort by both teams.
     In the second round, Clampitt led the Junior Varsity Hornets to a 12-6 victory. Clampitt connected with Zach Alperin (Sophomore) on back to back touchdown passes of 13 yards on the 10th play and 40 yards on the 11th play.
     On defense, the JV Hornets gave up a 33 yard touchdown pass on the second play, but did get a sack from Lake Still (Sophomore) on the 9th play. On the other end of the field, Knob Noster's JV team edged Richmond's JV team 1 touchdown to none.
     In the third and final round, Chillicothe's Mathew quarterbacked an 11 play, 40 yard drive that featured Drew Wilkison (Junior) on five running plays, Guy Vinson (Senior) on two runs and was capped by a quick half back pass from DJ Gannan (Junior) to Jacob Lewis (Senior) from 6 yards out.
     Richmond struggled at times against the Chillicothe defense, throwing two incompletions and one interception by Chillicothe's Connor Dixon (Senior) on their first five plays. Richmond's touchdown came on a busted play that resulted in a 33 yard run on their 8th play. On the other end of the field, Smithville scored once while holding Knob Noster scoreless.
     Chillicothe opens against Marshall on Friday, August 26th at Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium at 7:00pm.