Colerain and La Salle will play football again

Colerain and La Salle are less than four miles from each other. But, the short distance has only yielded one varsity football game between the two schools since 2004.

Colerain coach Tom Bolden and La Salle coach Nate Moore hope this year's game will be the start of a continuous series in the near future.

The Cardinals and Lancers will play in the nightcap of a doubleheader at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 29 at Miami University's Yager Stadium in the 17th annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown.

Loveland (15-0 in 2013), the reigning Division II state champion, will play Lakota West (9-2) in the night's first game at 6 p.m. at Yager Stadium.

Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown organizer Tom Gamble gave The Enquirer an exclusive glimpse into this year's schedule. The full schedule will be released at Monday's news conference at 12:30 p.m. at Mercy Health-West Hospital located off Interstate 74 at North Bend Road in Green Township.

The Colerain-La Salle game will mark the first time the two teams will play since the visiting Cardinals won 35-7 in Week 10 of the 2004 season.

"It's a neighborhood game that should be played," Bolden said.

Moore, who will begin his second season as Lancers coach this August, said when he was officially hired March 19, 2013 he wanted the game to resume.

"If you have a great rivalry game like that, I kind of feel like you have an obligation to play it," Moore said. "… It kind of feels wrong not to play the game."

Moore said both teams will compete well and he hopes the game will provide a positive impact on those of both school communities leading up to and after the game.

Colerain must replace 15 starters from a squad that went 12-1 last season and was a Division I regional semifinalist and Enquirer coaches' poll champion.

Early contenders for the quarterback position include junior-to-be Spencer Henn and sophomore-to-be Deshaunte Jones in the triple option offense. Henn was the backup to starter Kelvin Cook (Miami University signee) last season.

Senior-to-be Jordan Asberry returns after he averaged 14.5 yards per carry, according to the Greater Miami Conference website.

Jeffrey Christian, one of the area's most recruited players in the 2015 class, will lead the defensive secondary for the Cardinals and will be among the defensive standouts.

La Salle (3-7 in 2013) returns several key players, including senior-to-be defensive tackle Jordan Thompson, who verbally committed to Northwestern this spring after fielding several scholarship offers in the past year. He had 62 tackles and 4.5 sacks last season.

Junior-to-be quarterback Nick Watson threw for 1,864 yards and 22 touchdowns last season, according to the GCL website.

Junior-to-be running back Jeremy Larkin and junior-to-be punter Drue Chrisman – both Enquirer Division II all-area selections – also return.

Larkin rushed for 666 yards and eight touchdowns. He had 30 receptions for 507 yards and four touchdowns. Chrisman, a second-team all-district selection, had 34 punts with an average of 38.5 yards.

U.S. ARMY ALL-AMERICAN BOWL: Four area players were nominated for the 2015 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

A total of 22 players from Ohio were nominated for the game, which is Jan. 3, 2015 in San Antonio. The game will be televised live on NBC at 1 p.m.

The athletes were nominated by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Committee, which consists of All American Games, 247Sports and All American Games' network of coaches throughout the country.

Of the 400 nominees nationwide, 90 will be selected to the bowl game. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Tour begins in September and All the selections will be known by early December.

Winton Woods offensive lineman George Brown, St. Xavier linebacker Justin Hilliard, St. Xavier defensive lineman Simeon Lane and Moeller defensive lineman Elijah Taylor are on the initial list.

The Enquirer reported in mid-November that Hilliard committed to the bowl game after he received an invitation last summer.

OAK HILLS RECOMMENDS COOTS: Mike Coots has been recommended to be the next Oak Hills athletic director, pending Board of Education approval on May 19. Coots has been the Troy Christian athletic director for the past 10 years.

Coots, a native of Missouri, helped lead an athletic program that won two state wrestling titles and had two state runner-up finishes. Troy Christian is Division III in wrestling. The school was a Division IV state semifinalist in boys' basketball in 2013. Coots said he had been searching for an opportunity in Greater Cincinnati and Oak Hills was an attractive destination. Sonny Tudor has been the interim athletic director this school year.