CINCINNATI — Between the heat concerns, game cancellations due to COVID-19 and Friday's inclement weather, it was quite a week for Greater Cincinnati high school football.

Six games were canceled due to COVID-19, multiple schools pushed back kickoff times in advance of heat concerns and then several games had to delay Friday night or postpone until Saturday morning due to inclement weather.

"We fought through more adversity last year than ever before and we've been trained to be prepared for any opportunity at any moment," said Anderson coach Evan Dreyer, whose Raptors played Clinton-Massie Saturday morning after being postponed Friday.

Adversity came in the form earlier this week of unexpected scheduling issues for multiple Greater Cincinnati teams that were impacted by their opponent's COVID-19 quarantines.

McNicholas found out its game with Batavia was canceled Thursday but was eventually able to connect with New Richmond whose game with Bethel-Tate was canceled.

McNicholas had some familiarity since its first scrimmage was against New Richmond. Still, the uncertainty didn't make it any easier with about 24 hours to prepare a game plan.

"I mean it was a whirlwind," McNicholas coach Mike Orlando said. "We found out (Thursday) afternoon and it was probably a two-hour window there where it was like kind of scrambling - what do you want to do, what can we do with our options that type of thing."

McNicholas defeated host New Richmond 34-14 Friday night but those two teams weren't the only schools looking for opponents the day before the game.

McNicholas High School

RELATED: Sign for our high school sports newsletter
Join the Cincinnati area high school sports Facebook group

Moeller football coach Mark Elder sent calls and text messages from his iPhone starting Thursday morning in order to find an opponent after Louisville Trinity had to cancel its trip to Cincinnati for a Saturday night game at Shea Stadium in Norwood.

Initially, he wasn't receiving much success.

"I kept getting no, no, no," Elder said. "It reminded me of my dating life in high school. Rejection after rejection."

At one point, Elder reached out to contacts in five states from Tennessee to Michigan for hours on Thursday in order to try to schedule a game.

"I was literally all over the place," Elder said. "I was on Google maps going, 'What else is there? Are there any other areas I need to look up?'"

Elder told the team around 2:45 p.m. Thursday about the cancellation and instructed the players to bring home and road uniforms Friday to prepare for any game location and most importantly a mindset to be ready to compete.

"'If we get a game at noon (Friday), we're playing," Elder told the team. "'That's what we're doing. I don't know if it will be at home. I don't know if it will be away. I have no idea. Nor do I care nor should you.'"

Two hours later, Elder sent a text message to the team saying an agreement to play at Chaminade Julienne at 7 p.m. Friday had been reached.

Moeller had considered a Northeast Indiana opponent that would've been a four-hour and 30 minute bus ride. But, Moeller athletic director Justin Bayer wanted more time to find the right fit.

"I was actually more like, 'Justin, I've been doing this for five hours and the game is tomorrow,'" Elder said. "'Like we need to make a call.' And so we started to get in talks with CJ and that other school in Indiana called back and said, 'We're out, we found somebody else.' My heart sunk because CJ hadn't made the call yet."

WCPO

Eventually Moeller and Chaminade Julienne agreed on Friday night. Chaminade Julienne's game with Dayton Belmont was canceled so it created an opening for the Eagles, who hadn't played Moeller since 1977.

On Thursday night, Elder sent over Hudl film of Moeller's two scrimmage and last week's win over Lakota East and organized a quick game plan after breaking down CJ's film.

"We had a team meeting at 6:30 a.m. (Friday)," Elder said. "We met for an hour to cover special teams, the day and then side of the ball stuff and that was it. Offense did a walk through. No practice, no nothing. We didn't practice (Thursday). We get to roll the ball out and play some football. That's the most important thing to these kids."

Yet, that wasn't the end of the challenging week.

Moeller's game at Chaminade Julienne was delayed nearly two hours due to weather Friday night in yet another twist this week.

The Crusaders eventually won 42-28 to improve to 2-0 this season. Elder was grateful for an opportunity for his team to close out August.

"We couldn't be more appreciative of (Chaminade Julienne) coach (Marcus) Colvin and CJ for giving us this opportunity," Elder said.

"I will be honest. I don't know if we're playing a game if they say no. Very, very appreciative of them playing us. It was huge for us."

GREEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — La Salle junior kicker Mason Luensman made four field goals as the host Lancers defeated Winton Woods 21-7 Friday night.

Luensman made field goals from 38, 34, 30 and 36 yards to help lead the Lancers.

"He did a fantastic job," La Salle coach Pat McLaughlin said. "The operation from snap to hold to kick was good. Protection was good. Anytime you have a weapon when you kick the ball, anytime you get inside the 20, it's awesome. He did a great job tonight."

La Salle earned a 13-0 halftime lead and went ahead 18-0 when senior linebacker Tristen Wolf made a tackle for a safety late in the third quarter.

The kickoff was delayed due to inclement weather like many Greater Cincinnati high school football games Friday. The game didn't conclude until well after 11 p.m.

La Salle earned three interceptions, including a pick-six by senior defensive back Gage Howard late in the second quarter.

Senior defensive end JJ Ruffin had a game-high 10 tackles (six solo). Senior linebacker Chase Stein had nine tackles.

"We're finding a way to win," McLaughlin said. "They battled. They play hard. We played a ton of kids tonight. I told them I'm proud of just how hard they played."

La Salle (2-0) is scheduled to play IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) Sept. 3. That will be the third consecutive home game for La Salle.

"We want to bring the best teams in here," McLaughlin said.

"I think we got one of the best teams in the last 25 years in Colerain Week 1. We got one of the best teams in Kentucky. We got one of the best teams in Division II this week. We got one of the best teams in the country (with IMG Academy) and then you have our league. Our kids are going to be excited. We're going to have a good week of practice and we'll go out there like we did tonight and play hard from start to finish."

IMG Academy is scheduled to play Bishop Sycamore (Ohio) Saturday afternoon.

IMG Academy, ranked No. 2 nationally by MaxPreps, was declared the 2020 national champion by MaxPreps and USA Today.

CINCINNATI — When Elder senior Drew Ramsey walks into The Pit Friday night, he will likely have a much different feeling than the 2020 season opener.

Thousands of fans will likely await the opening kickoff against visiting Covington Catholic at 7 p.m. in the 24th annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown.

There is simply no replicating the anticipatory energy for players and coaches when a stadium has thousands of fans.

"My sophomore year (in 2019) it was just crazy because it was always so loud," said Ramsey, a Greater Catholic League South division football tri-athlete of the year in 2020.

"Every game was packed. Then last year there was just no one there. It was silent. You could literally hear what the coaches were saying on the sideline. It was so much different. We weren't used to it. When you know you're going to have 10,000 or 8,000 fans there it changes the game so much. It gives so much more momentum."

Mike Dyer/WCPO

Ohio high school football games likely will return to a more traditional game-day atmosphere this week without COVID-19 restrictions and protocols.

RELATED: Sign for our new high school sports newsletter
Join the Cincinnati area high school sports Facebook group

Ohio lifted most statewide COVID-19 pandemic health orders in June and Ohio High School Athletic Association member high schools aren't subject to the state mandates and limited attendance procedures set forth by the Ohio governor's office in 2020.

Local and county health departments, school districts and private schools set their own guidance this fall for interscholastic and extracurricular activities.

Last season, high school sports venues could have no more than 1,500 fans or 15% of their seating capacity starting in August 2020.

The spectators last season were primarily parents, families or loved ones of the student-athletes. The euphoria around the stadium wasn't the same.

"I think last year was so different that you just hope that student sections can get back to being the way they were and fans in stands and packed crowds," said Tom Gamble, organizer of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown. "We just hope that's the way it is because I think that's what makes high school football not only in this area but anywhere."

Mason High School is having a 60th anniversary celebration of its football program Friday night in its home game against Gahanna Lincoln. More than 50 alumni are scheduled to join the celebration in the pregame and halftime festivities.

WCPO

Mason coach Brian Castner said the return of a larger fan capacity at Dwire Field is "long overdue."

"I met with my captains last night," Castner said. "Just to talk through a 15-minute captains' meeting, see them smiling and just chomping at the bit -- can't wait to get to Friday. You can't mimic that. You can't make that up."

Despite the easing of restrictions, school administrators are using cautious optimism to start the school year as the pandemic continues.

"On one hand there is a lot that I'm excited about," said Lakota West athletic director Scott Kaufman, who is president of the OHSAA board of directors. "We're going into this season with no fan restrictions, which certainly is a dramatic change from last year. But, in the same respects it's a little bit disheartening and frustrating that we're dealing with restrictions (in schools) that quite frankly are probably more self-induced than they are necessary.

"When you look at numbers of hospitalizations being where they are and the percentage of those being unvaccinated people -- without getting into a political battle -- we're all being handcuffed because of people choosing not to get a vaccination. If we want to get back to normal especially in the schools, we have to get people vaccinated."

Lakota West opens the football season at St. Xavier Friday night in a highly-anticipated rematch of the 2020 Division I regional final that St. X won en route to a state title.

St. Xavier High School

St. X athletic director Brian Reinhart anticipates a sold-out RDI Stadium at Ballaban Field, which has a capacity of about 7,500 fans.

Reinhart said Monday there are no pandemic-related attendance regulations for those entering the game, but the school plans to make announcements and reminders to encourage the use of hand sanitizer, hand-washing procedures or wearing masks when necessary.

"You know last year I just can't say enough good about our families and our entire community was so supportive because they knew how important athletics was," Reinhart said. "I think we have a whole new level of respect for our coaches, our athletic trainers, our training staff -- just the amount of time and energy they put into supporting and enabling our young people to be able to play."