The fastest 10 weeks of the year is half over already.

That’s extremely hard to wrap my head around. It seems like Executive Sports Editor Bubba Kapral and I were at Beallsville for the Blue Devils’ media day on Aug. 1.

The season — though only half over — is certainly getting to the point where a lot of things are sorting themselves out.

If I had a dollar for each time I was asked — during the summer and pre-season — ‘who’s going to be good in football?’ I could have probably retired by now.

I wasn’t sure then because so many teams — outside of a handful — has some glaring question marks. Plus, I am not a fan of painting myself into a corner because when it pertains to high school football, you really never know because there are so many factors.

With the second half of the season just a few days away, let’s a take a look at some of the things we’ve learned about area teams.

Some observations in each of the teams in The Times Leader coverage area:

BARNESVILLE — The Shamrocks are improved in year two under Blake Allen, but they find themselves at 2-3.

They let a game get away last Friday at River View, coughing up a 13-point lead in the game’s final six minutes.

The Shamrocks lack a true home-run hitter on offense and it’s often times tough for a high school team to consistently string together lengthy drives. Tate Dowler, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, has played well at quarterback.

Barnesville owns a quality win over Buckeye Trail, but it’s other victory came over winless Newcomerstown in the opener.

Steubenville Central and Fort Frye will both provide stern tests for a team that’s also been bitten by the injury bug, losing a couple of guys for the season.

BEALLSVILLE — The work goes on for the Blue Devils. Coach Larry Deem — despite a roster of just 16 — continues to plug away. A new fieldhouse will officially be dedicated this week to go along with a new scoreboard that was erected last season. So, in many ways things are looking up for the Blue Devils.

However, the numbers are consistently an issue, but there are only 87 total kids in the school in the upper three grades.

Dakota Phillips is putting together a solid season at quarterback.

Beallsville has games against Conotton Valley and Paden City coming down the pike in which the Blue Devils will be favored.

BELLAIRE — The Big Reds are year ahead of schedule. Playing with predominantly a junior-oriented lineup, Coach Mark Spigarelli’s team has been impressive.

The Big Reds have changed their offensive identity to a power, down-hill running approach behind a physical and talented offensive line.

Junior Trace Sechrest — an all-Ohioan in 2017 — has picked up right where he left off last season and Cole Porter has developed into one of the area’s most dynamic runners.

Bellaire faces a formidable slate with four of five on the road in the second half. Its lone home date comes with Union Local in Week 9. A trip to St. Clairsville and Shadyside in Weeks 7 and 8, respectively, will be solid tests for both teams.

BRIDGEPORT — The Bulldogs were placed behind the 8-ball in more than one way before the season even began.

Fred Ray was a tremendous hire, but the former Martins Ferry and Ohio University quarterback didn’t get the job until late May. And then the Bridgeport administration was informed that it wouldn’t be able to utilize Perkins Field at Bill Jobko Stadium because of unsafe grandstands, thus Athletics Director Greg Harkness and company were on the look for a stadium.

If that wasn’t enough, just a couple of weeks ago, Perkins Field was flooded once again and the staff had to take all of the equipment from the fieldhouse quickly.

On the field, the Bulldogs have won two straight since an 0-3 start and trek to Beallsville this week where they’ll be favored to make it three wins in a row. The opener at Madonna was a tough loss when the Blue Dons scored with less than 10 seconds to play.

Bridgeport has a tremendous player in senior quarterback Tino Kusic, who has been very impressive on the defensive side of the ball, too.

Better days certainly lie ahead for the Bulldogs. And the search for land to eventually build a new football stadium is still ongoing.

BUCKEYE LOCAL — The rebuild is still ongoing and has a ways to go. The Panthers have played better that’s a credit to Roger Hebert and his staff.

However, playing better has to yet to equate to a victory. Buckeye turns the ball over far too often on offense and it puts their defense in precarious positions. Quite simply, the Panthers aren’t good enough to overcome those kinds of mistakes.

Buckeye Local has competed better, including having a second-half lead in a game at Union Local. Learning to protect the ball, finish games and not allow so many big plays will be key for the Panthers to continue to take positive steps forward.

HARRISON CENTRAL — The Huskies have two of the area’s most explosive offensive players in Tyler West and Kobe Mitchell at running back and quarterback, respectively.

However, they’ve tasted victory just once for rookie head coach Anthony Hayes.

Harrison Central’s biggest issues have come on the defensive side of the ball. It allowed more than 300 yards rushing to one player last week. Garaway hit some big plays in week one and Bell Multicultural did the same in week two.

The second half of the slate — after this week’s test against St. Clairsville — eases up with a combined record 7-13.

LINSLY — The Cadets are for real. They came into the season with high expectations and other than stubbing their toe last Friday at Morgantown, Coach B.J. Depew’s team has been impressive.

The Cadets have one of the area’s most dominant offensive lines led by senior Thomas Arokonhale, who has a slew of Division I offers. They seem sort of torn on how they want to approach their offense.

But, it’s nice to have options. Senior Eli Petho is a gamer and hard nosed. He gives Linsly a legitimate big-play threat in the ground game. The five interceptions he threw last week, quarterback Wyatt Hirt is impressive throwing the ball. Junior Trevin Tush, who caught 7 balls for 150 last week, is emerging in the passing game.

Big question surrounding Linsly in the second half is can they survive without senior Jules Giovengo, who left last week’s game and didn’t return after suffering an elbow injury?

MARTINS FERRY — The Purple Riders have performed extremely well under first-year head coach Chas Yoder, posting a 4-1 record.

The Riders have become more balanced on offense with veteran quarterback Jacob Probst leading the way. Caleb Olson is coming off a 300-plus yards rushing performance last week.

Ferry’s second-half schedule gets much more challenging as every team except for Beaver Local currently has a better than .500 record. Included are season-ending tests against currently undefeated Wheeling Central and Bellaire outfits.

MONROE CENTRAL — It’s been a rough go of it for rookie head coach Josh Ischy and company. To say the Seminoles are offensively challenged would be an understatement. They’ve scored just seven points all season and that came in Week 3 against River.

The Seminoles’ remaining schedule gets no easier with Magnolia, Shenandoah and Barnesville the next three weeks before Frontier and West Muskingum to close it out.

Better days certainly lie ahead for Monroe because of the sheer number of young players it’s utilizing. Unfortunately, those days may not be fully experienced until the 2019 season.

RIVER — Coach Mike Flannery team had a lot to overcome when this season started. On top of the graduation toll, the Pilots’ roster had just 22 players. They’ve persevered and are at 2-3.

Last week, River took down a then 3-1 Caldwell squad on the road for a quality win.

Many people probably haven’t heard the name Carter Dennis … yet. This sophomore is one of the more talented defensive players in the area. In the opening game against Bellaire, he was charted for 17 tackles.

The Pilots host Shadyside and Bridgeport the next two weeks before embarking on long bus trips — in back-to-back weeks — to Richland County to take on Crestline and Lucas, respectively.

SHADYSIDE — The Tigers were expected to be one of the top teams in the area at the season’s outset. Then they went and lost to East Liverpool (which is much better than it has been) and many pressed a panic button.

Coach Mark Holenka and his staff didn’t. They simply made some adjustments, shifted some personnel and coached their players. It’s paid off because the Tigers are now 4-1 and playing very well.

Anthony Coggins — in his second season as the starting quarterback — has been outstanding, throwing for 1,110 yards and 8 touchdowns in the first half of the season.

He and junior wide receiver Kelly Hendershot (28-420-3td) have been on the same page offensively.

Coggins and Connor Banco, who has rushed for 380 yards and seven touchdowns, provide a lot of leadership for a team that’s playing many young kids, including several freshmen on the defensive side.

The Tigers’ meatgrinder of a schedule has second-half dates with Bellaire and Wheeling Central still forthcoming.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Quite simply, the Red Devils have been as good as advertised.

Coach Brett McLean’s team is sitting at 5-0 and other than last week’s contest at rain-soaked Kettlewell Memorial Stadium against Indian Creek, the Red Devils have been basically unchallenged.

The Red Devils are skilled, big, physical and deep. Their ability to platoon up front has been a huge luxury. Plus, their smash-and-dash combination of Brady Kolb and Justin Heatherington has been effective, rushing for a combined 1,344 yards and 18 touchdowns.

On top of the ground-and-pound game, St. C. has shown a few wrinkles with gadget plays, utilizing talented senior wide receiver Craig Bober.

Defensively, the Red Devils have been staunch. Justice McCammick, Isaak Myers, Kyle Storer, Noah Trubiano, David Mellema and Tyler Tonkovich are just a few of the defensive standouts.

UNION LOCAL — The Jets were hit hard by graduation, but they’ve navigated their way to a 3-2 record in the first half of the season under head coach Bernie Thompson.

However, all three of those wins came against teams without a victory.

Senior quarterback Cal Kildow has been effective as both a runner and passer. For instance, last week at Warren, he rushed 28 times for 144 yards and a score.

Coming into the season, the Jets’ offensive line was a question mark because they were victimized by graduation up front, but that group has been solid.

The second half of the schedule is a grind with teams owning an 18-7 combined record.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com