As if containing Mitch Davidson hasn’t been enough of a headache for area defenders, now they are faced with the unenviable task of trying to stop another Mitch Davidson.

Columbiana senior quarterback Mitch Davidson has spent his high school career lighting up the opposition. He owns practically every school record, and this season he has completed 52 of 85 passes (10 TDs, one interception interception) for 784 yards.

Meanwhile, Salem’s Mitch Davidson has recently emerged as one of the Mahoning Valley’s top signal-callers. In his first year as a starter, the junior has completed 76 of 120 passes (nine TDs, four interceptions) for an area-best 1,067 yards.

“It’s pretty odd that there are two of us with the same name playing in the same county,” said Columbiana Mitch. “It’s odd to pick up the paper and see his name. If I see it, I’ll generally check to see how he did.”

Salem Mitch said he can’t help but notice the numbers put up by Columbiana Mitch.

“He has put up some ridiculous numbers in his career, you can’t help but pay attention,” Salem Mitch said. “Over the past three years, it was pretty funny to pick up the paper and see my name next to those stats.”

And, area football fans shouldn’t feel bad if they accidentally confuse one Davidson for the other. It wouldn’t be the first time such a mix-up has occurred.

“My mom always tells me the story about how our doctor mixed the two of us up when we were little kids,” Salem Mitch said. “We both went to the same doctor, and I guess he mistook me for [Columbiana] Mitch.”

NUMBERS GAME

While much has been made about an overall national decline in football participation, an odd trend has occurred throughout the Mahoning Valley.

Participation at the high school level either remained the same or increased from what it was a year ago at 39 of the 44 football-playing schools in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull Counties.

The findings are based on a study conducted by WFMJ TV-21 Sports Director Dana Balash.

Balash used a plus-five, minus-five scale when comparing rosters from 2015 and 2016.

Only five schools showed a decrease of more than five players from a year ago. Eighteen schools showed a roster increase of more than five players, while 21 rosters were nearly the same from what they were in 2015.

Columbiana showed the greatest increase. Last year the Clippers fielded a 35-man team. This year, they started the season in the upper 50s. Warren G. Harding entered summer camp with 97 players.

Howland’s roster decreased by roughly 15 members, the largest decrease among area schools.

“I’m not sure there is a solidified reason as to why the overall numbers have increased this year,” Balash said. “Is it simply a case of schools experiencing a cycle of larger class sizes? Maybe in some cases the increase is the result of a program’s success. Several factors could explain the numbers.

“Honestly, one year probably isn’t a true indicator of which direction the numbers are heading. I will be very curious to see where things stand a year from now.”

A GOLDEN START

As far as Champion coach Nick Wagner is concerned, his team very well may have scored its biggest victory of 2016 even before the season began.

As a result, the Golden Flashes (3-1) are off to their best start in six years.

“Coming in here, our first and foremost challenge was to change the mentality of everyone in this program,” said the first-year coach. “The players had to believe in themselves. They had to believe in each other. We had to rid the program of a losing mindset.

“We saw it start to come together during the off-season. In the summer, there was a belief in the minds of these players that they could succeed. When a program has struggled for so long, sometimes the biggest victory comes from a mental aspect.”

After opening the season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2007, the Golden Flashes suffered a 50-28 defeat at the hands of Garrettsville Garfield (4-0). However, the Flashes bounced back last Friday with a 38-34 league win against Girard.

Wagner even found a silver lining in Champion’s lone defeat. Against the G-Men, the Flashes trailed 43-6 at halftime. They outscored their opponent 22-7 after the break.

“We never stopped battling, we never stopped learning,” Wagner said. “Then after the loss, I asked our players, ‘What would happen in the past after such a loss?’ They acknowledged it would be tough to rebound. Well this time, we came right back and got a big win against a conference opponent.”

Champion, which travels to LaBrae tonight, is currently sixth in the Division V, Region 17 computer rankings.

A PERFECT START

For 16 consecutive years, the Mahoning Valley had at least one team finish with a perfect regular-season record. The streak was broken last year as 9-1 (Poland, Salem, Lisbon, Columbiana, Warren JFK, Brookfield) was the best the area could do.

If a new streak is to begin in 2016, it will have to be started by Warren G. Harding, Warren John F. Kennedy, Hubbard, South Range or Lisbon. Those are the remaining undefeated teams (all 4-0) after four weeks of play.

The number of unbeaten teams will be reduced by at least one tonight as South Range visits Lisbon.

JFK owns the area’s longest regular-season winning streak at 10.

Meanwhile, Lowellville, Leetonia, Girard, Mineral Ridge and East Liverpool are all seeking their first win.

Again, the number of winless teams will decrease by at least one, as Leetonia travels to Lowellville.

Of the 44 area teams, 24 own a record of 2-2.

Write Vindicator correspondent Steve Ruman at sports@vindy.com