Clermont football 2016 2 by Clermont Sun Publishing Company

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P AGE 20 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

Clermont County High School Football Schedules Amelia Barons Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

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Opponent Time Mount Healthy 7 PM at CNE 7:30 PM at Williamsburg 7 PM Batavia 7 PM Bethel-Tate 7 PM at Norwood * 7 PM at WBrown * 7 PM New Richmond * 7 PM at Goshen * 7 PM at Blanchester 7 PM

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Batavia Bulldogs Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

Opponent East Clinton at Mariemont Madeira at Amelia at Norwood at Bethel-Tate * Blanchester * CNE * Portsmouth West at Williamsburg *

Time 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM

Goshen Warriors Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

Opponent at Ross Hillsboro at Bethel-Tate Blanchester at CHCA Williamsburg

Time 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM at New Richmond * 7 PM Norwood * 7 PM Amelia * 7 PM at WBrown * 7 PM

Bethel-Tate Tigers Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

Opponent at CCD Fayetteville Goshen Norwood at Amelia Batavia * Williamsburg * WBrown at Blanchester * at CNE *

Time 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM

Milford Eagles Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

Opponent Hamilton at Dixie Heights Norwood at Turpin * Loveland * Walnut Hills * at Kings * at Withrow * Anderson * at Glen Este *

CNE Rockets Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 10 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

Glen Este Trojans

Opponent Time at Fayetteville 7 PM at CNE 7:30 PM at Hillsboro 7:30 PM St. Bernard 7 PM MVCA 7:30 PM at Blanchester * 7 PM Norwood 7 PM at Batavia * 7 PM Williamsburg * 7 PM Bethel-Tate * 7 PM

New Richmond Lions Time 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM

Date Aug 25 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

Opponent Indian Hill at Taylor Monroe Talawanda at Blanchester at WBrown * Goshen * at Amelia * Walton-Verona Norwood *

Time 6 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM

Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 15 Oct 21 Oct 28

Opponent at Princeton at Winton Woods Mount Healthy Walnut Hills * Kings * at Withrow * Anderson * at Loveland * at Turpin * Milford *

Time 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM

Williamsburg Wildcats Date Aug 26 Sep 2 Sep 9 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28

Opponent at Deer Park at Paint Valley Amelia Fayetteville Minford at Goshen at Bethel-Tate * Blanchester * at CNE * Batavia *

Time 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM

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P AGE 2 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 19

Barons aiming to go out a winner

BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

177 West Main Street Amelia, OH 45102 513-753-6130

200 Western Avenue New Richmond, OH 45157 513-553-4132

315 Plane Street Bethel, OH 45106 513-734-2228

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The Amelia Barons football team has one goal on their mind as they prepare for their final gridiron campaign this year: winning. In 2015, the squad finished with a 1-9 record that, according to head coach Dave Brausch, didn't tell the whole story. “We wanted to be a little more successful than what we were,” Brausch said. “I think we showed great improvement from the beginning to the end, we just didn't end up with as many wins as we would have liked.” While the Barons did come away with just one victory, several of their games were close. The team lost to Blanchester by four and Norwood by three. They also lost a pair of games by one touchdown, one to Western Brown and the other to Batavia. “We played some people, I think, a lot closer than what people thought we would play them as the year went on, but as far as from week one to week 10 we may have improved as much as any team I've coached, we just didn't end up with wins,”

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Brausch said. One thing the Barons have going for them in 2016 is a lack of roster turnover. The team only had three seniors last season, allowing the squad to come out of the gates quickly in the offseason. “It definitely let us get off to a quicker start in two-a-days,” Brausch said. “Most of the guys have played and that put us ahead mentally. We had a great offseason, which put us ahead physically too. I know last year we may have had one or two guys who could bench-press 250 [pounds], and this year we probably have a dozen.” The team's newfound strength likely arose from a workout schedule that saw the squad begin preparation for the season before summer even began. “As soon as the weather broke, we started with 6 a.m. workouts with the varsity, and that went really well,” Brausch said. “Our attendance was actually better with that than in the afternoon.” If the Barons hope to win games this season, they'll need a big year from several senior leaders, including running back/defensive end Eli Altherr.

“He was a starter last year, we're expecting big things out of him,” Brausch said. “Kyle Nicodemus is back, he's our middle linebacker and he'll play some tight end and fullback. Brant Fluehr is a two-way starter at offensive tackle and defensive end. He was here in the weight room for us.” The team will also return senior quarterback Cage Meyer this season. “He's one of our top threats if not the top threat,” Brausch said. “He's a good runner and thrower, so that allows us to do both of those, which helps keep the defense off-balance.” Not all of the returning players from 2015 won their starting jobs, according to Brausch. “We had some guys who started last year that are second-team this year,” Brausch said. “We're up to 68 players, so we had a lot of competition for spots and some guys stepped up and grew a little bit. They earned some starting spots. I'm hoping it made us better just based on the competition on the practice field.” One of those players, Alex McQueen, played majority of his snaps at the junior varsity level in 2015. However, Brausch said he liked what he saw out of the junior lineman. “He has an excellent chance at being a starter this year on the offensive and defensive line,” Brausch said. “He's one of them that really stepped up. He didn't play a meaningful snap of varsity ball last year, and now he's one of those guys that really stepped up and got himself right.” McQueen and his Baron teammates will have to start the season on the right foot if they want to have a shot at a winning record, according to Brausch. “We just have to get off to a good start,” Brausch said. “The guys' attitude and work ethic has been great, so hopefully this year it'll pay off.” It won't be easy for the Barons, who open the regular season See Barons, Page 3

Wildcats: Lost top three rushers from 2015 Continued from page 19

The players are learning a different scheme than the one the Wildcats ran in 2015. Without the level of talent in the backfield the team had last year, Lefker made an adjustment to the team's offensive strategy. “Last year, we were a wing-T team,” Lefker said. “It was the first year I had ever ran the WingT, but my offensive coordinator is one of the best Wing-T coaches around. We were able to put that in last year and in one year run it like we had been doing it for 10 years, but we had three running backs that were pretty good.”

Instead, the team is going to spread the defense out and force teams to cover the entire field, instead of just stacking the box in preparation for a run play. “We weren't even sure heading into the season who was going to be our running back, let alone three,” Lefker said. “So we cha nged the offense. We went back to spread like we were a few years ago, trying to get the defense to respect us a bit on the outside. Since we do have some younger players on the line it might help them a bit.” Nate Bogan will quarterback the Wildcats this season. He spent last season in the defensive secondary, where he totaled 15 tackles and 18

2016 Williamsburg Wildcats Roster Name Andrew Smith #17 Blake Grigsby #64 Coby Hamilton #81 Dylan Bailey #73 Ethan Englehardt #42 Joey Walls #52 Kolh Miller #25 Noah Williams #51 Trevor Berry #56 Alex Hatter #58 Brian Stears #78 Cameron Hart #85 Nate Bogan #23 Wyatt Lefker #45 Aaron Tiger #22 Adam Donohoo #14 Alex Moore #24 Bryson Harmon #65 Calib Horton #61 Dakota Milton #57 Max Boland #84 Seth Lindsey #35 Timothy Foster #75 Austin Rapp #86 Brayden Cummins #50 Casey Bach #62 Colin Green #12 Connor May #54 Dakota Roberts #53 Dyllan West #88 Gavin Barnhart #74 Jacob Strunk #15 Joseph Stillwell #72 Loghan Kelley #11 Ryan Terrell #76 Seth Howard #55 Trey Hollins #82

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Position WR, LB OL, DL WR, DB OL, DE RB, S C, LB TB, S OL, DT OL, DE OL, LB OL, DL WR, DE QB, S WR, S WR, LB RB, S WR, LB OL, DL OL, DL OL, LB RB, CB TE, DE T, DT WR, DB OL, LB OL, LB WR, DB OL, DB OL, DB WR, DB OL, DE WR, DB OL, DL QB, DB OL, DL OL, DL WR, DB

assists while snagging five interceptions. In 2014, Bogan got some snaps at the quarterback position, where he completed 20 of his 38 pass attempts for 226 yards. The offense will also get a boost with the addition of Andrew Smith to the fray. He spent last season as a linebacker, racking up 58 assisted tackles, good for third-best on the team. He also had 13 solo tackles and an interception. Offensively, he caught two passes for 58 yards and a touchdown for the Wil dcats, who expect to use him more on that side of the ball this season. “He's been starting for the last three years, he's what we call an H-back,” Lefker said. “He'll be out catching passes, blocking for us on the run. He'll also play middle linebacker. He plays really well on the defensive side of the ball.” In addition to Smith on defense, Lefker said he hopes to rely on Dylan Bailey this season. Bailey ha d 16 tackles in 2015 along with 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He assisted on 52 tackles, fourth on the team. “He's a big, strong kid,” Lefker said. “He's really smart, and he understands what we want to do. He'll help anchor the line and [Smith] will help us out on the edge a little bit. Hopefully the rest of the guys follow their lead.” Despite the roster turnover and the changes to the offensive scheme, Lef ker said the team has no plans to aim lower in terms of their goals for this season. “Our goals haven't changed,” Lefker said. “We want to go 10-0 and make the state playoffs and finally win that first state playoff game. It might seem like a pretty lofty goal, with us being as young as we are, but those are our goals, regardless of how talented we are, how young we are, or how little our numbers are. We don' t change our goals.” Williamsburg opens up the 2016 campaign with back-to-back road non-conference contests. The Wildcats visit Deer Park on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. and then travel to Paint Valley on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. Williamsburg's home opener is against Amelia on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

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P AGE 18 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 3

Wildcats reloading after 2015 playoff push

Barons: Hoping to end 2016 on a high note Continued from page 2

with a home bout against Mt. Healthy, a team that won eight games in 2015, including a playoff victory over New Richmond. “It’s tough,” Brausch said. “Week one, you get Mt. Healthy, a playoff team. You go down, and we’ve got New Richmond, a playoff team. Williamsburg had a great year last year, we’ve got them week three. So right there, Mt. Healthy week one and them week three, there are some tough teams right away.”

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The Clermont Sun is online at

PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN

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The Amelia Barons enter the 2016 season, the team’s final year of competition, looking to go out on a winning note after earning victories in just three games in 2015. The team will merge with Glen Este next season.

2016 Amelia Barons Roster

P A G E S

PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN

The Williamsburg Wildcats lost their top three rushers from the 2015 squad that won eight games and advanced to the state playoffs for the second time in three seasons. A scheme change is in order for the team in 2016.

BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

GO WILDCATS ! ! Excellence through student-centered focus! 513-734-6222 www.grantcareer.com 718 West Plane Street Bethel, Ohio 45106

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The Williamsburg Wildcats enjoyed quite the season in 2015. Led by a three-headed rushing attack anchored by seniors Kurt Meisberger, Spencer Clowery and Dawson Davis, the Wildcats rushed for over 2,600 yards in 2015 en route to an 8-3 record and a postseason appearance. Head coach Scott Lefker said last season was a good year for his team, but the squad has moved on to 2016. “It was a pretty successful year for us,” Lefker said. “We were disappointed that we didn’t win our first-round playoff game, but leading up to that we played well. We had some good players, good kids. It was fun, exciting but it’s in the past.” As the team focuses on the future, they find themselves replacing players at key spots up and down the lineup. Very few players returned from last season, and this year’s senior class doesn’t

necessarily have a ton of experience at the varsity level, according to Lefker. “We have very few returning starters,” Lefker said. “It’s pretty close to four [returning players] when you look at both sides of the ball. Our junior class last year, out of 10 kids, half of them were varsity players, the other half played junior varsity. We didn’t have a lot coming back from that class that has varsity experience. That’s where we’re lacking. They’ve been working very hard, they just lack the experience.” The best way to gain experience on the field is to play in varsity games, and while those may have not started yet the Wildcats did have a few chances in the offseason to scrimmage other schools and get a read on where the team is at. According to Lefker, the team hasn’t been easy to read. “We had one good scrimmage and one bad scrimmage, so it’s really hard to say how we’ll end up,” Lefker said. “The kids came

out and played well [against North Adams], and then [against Mariemont] we felt the fact that 10 of 11 players are playing both ways right now. They got pretty tired and overheated pretty quick. It was a good learning experience for them, it was good for our coaches. We’ve got kids that were constantly moving around, trying to see where they fit best.” A lot of that movement revolves around the squad’s 15-man freshman class. It’s a bit of trial-anderror as they plug players into positions to see where they’re the best fit, Lefker said. “We’ve got some freshman that have decent size and we’re plugging them in and we’re seeing if they’ll be able to compete at that level,” Lefker said. “We’re still filling out, the kids are still learning and the coaches are still learning, but I think we’re getting really close to being where we need

Name Christen Samson #2 Noah Noffsinger #7 Blake Boykin #8 Kyle Nicodemus #9 Cage Meyer #16 Eli Altherr #21 Jake Rose #38 Daniel Hennessy #51 Tyler Hayward #55 Anthony Bailey #59 Brant Fluehr #66 David Collins #77 Mitch Mentzel #4 Nick Lawee #10 Dylan Hayward #13 Bobby Wilmoth #15 Kyle Kaiser #17 Caleb Price #18 Dakota Batten #20 Luke Meyer #22 Logan Crouch #50 Tyler Reed #52 Alex McQueen #53 Logan Smith #56 Logan Colby #65 Alex Duckwall #67 Will Young #73 Nathan Lacy #75 Trey Brausch #3 Jacob Kilgore #5 Austin Price #6 Hunter Eads #11 Cody Samson #14 Josh Thomas #19

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10

Ht. 5-10 6-2 5-9 6-4 6-7 5-9 6-2 6-0 5-11 5-11 6-2 6-3 6-2 5-11 5-10 6-1 6-4 6-3 5-10 6-4 5-7 5-10 6-2 6-1 6-1 6-0 5-11 6-1 6-0 5-11 5-10 5-11 5-8 5-11

Wt. 170 185 137 230 237 193 195 278 209 222 231 306 150 180 184 190 225 173 165 175 230 180 243 209 225 266 280 230 186 172 155 149 131 163

Position WR/C P/K WR/C TE/LB QB/SS RB/DE HB/LB C/DT G/DT T/DE T/DE G/DT WR/FS TE/SS RB/SS WR/SS TE/DT WR/LB HB/DE TE/LB C/DT C/DE T/DT G/DE T/DE C/DT T/DT T/DE HB/LB RB/C WR/FS QB/FS HB/C WR/LB

Name Connor Woolwiner #24 Ryan Cann #34 Clay Ness #54 Jared Sunkes #57 Chayse Vance #58 Jacob Dalkin #60 Anthony Pangallo #63 Bailey Climbell #64 David Wyatt #68 Gavin Haliverton #69 Jacob Dorsey #70 Tyler Scott #76 Nate Coyle #83 Jason Keith #87 Matt Fletcher #25 Josh Branham #26 Devon Boykin #27 Jaguar English #28 Cade Anderson #29 Jacob Towner #30 Shawn Hurley #32 Luke Mentzel #44 Trevor Click #46 Eli Baucom #62/72 Ryan Brown #80 Kyle Walker #89 Elijah Thomas #91 Ashton Hoeter #92 Nathan Daugherty #93 Jayme White #94 Landon Reveal #95 Eli Foreman #97 Jacob DiCarlo #98 Joe DiCarlo #99

Grade 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Ht. 5-7 5-11 5-9 5-11 5-11 5-11 5-11 5-11 5-11 5-11 6-0 6-2 6-1 6-0 6-5 5-7 5-10 6-1 5-9 5-8 5-10 5-7 5-6 5-6 5-11 5-6 5-2 5-11 5-9 6-2 6-0 5-9 6-1 6-0

Wt. 134 150 172 220 216 270 228 160 178 197 309 235 148 175 202 135 124 183 140 170 137 160 148 240 142 118 200 185 162 221 163 159 217 180

Position RB/C HB/C G/LB G/DT G/DE G/DT C/LB G/DE T/DT G/DE G/DT T/DT TE/LB TE/LB TE/LB QB/C WR/FS QB/LB WR/LB WR/SS RB/C RB/LB RB/LB C/DT WR/C T/DT T/DT T/DT C/LB T/DT G/DE G/DE G/DT G/DT

See Wildcats, Page 19

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P AGE 4 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 17

Bulldogs believe team building leads to success

Lions: Loads of talent returns from 2015 season Continued from page 16

they addressed by moving Chandler Kinalt to the halfback position. Kinalt led the team with 37 catches last season, his sophomore year. Defensively, senior linebacker Jacob Cyrus missed the team’s final two games in 2015, but still finished the year as the team’s leading tackler with 88 solo tackles and 43 assists. Those numbers give him career marks of 149 and 94, respectively. Stratton had nothing but praise for his senior linebacker. “He’s a really, really good player,” Stratton said. “His game speed is pretty impeccable.” The Lions will also look for production on both sides of the ball from Kenneth Moore and Peyton Schweickert, both seniors, along with junior Nick Sanchez. Sanchez missed the entirety of the 2015 season with a broken foot. Other players to look out for in

New Richmond include senior safety Ethan Gundler, who had 54 tackles and three interceptions and forced three fumbles last season. Junior Corey Bozic had five interceptions last year, and Stratton said he believes Bozic will make his name known in 2016. “I think he’s going to get a lot of people’s attention this year,” Stratton said. “He’s going to be highlighted on every scouting report of everybody that we play. He’s just got a great motor, an impeccable worker. He plays with great technique, is incredibly coachable and just out-works everybody.” Gage Kramer was second on the Lions last season as a receiver, and after bulking up this past offseason Stratton said he expects good things from the tight end. However, the main cog on the offense is sophomore quarterback Josh Anderson. “He’s got the ‘it factor,’” Stratton said. “He’s got the confi-

dence, the swagger. He’s got that ability to where, when the game’s on the line, he’s not going to be scared. He’s still a 15-year-old kid, but I think he’s going to be a special player over the next three years. He’s got to keep working and developing, but we feel pretty happy with where he’s at in this stage of his career.” Anderson completed 67.9 percent of his passes last season for 617 yards and four touchdowns. He also carried the ball 87 times for 341 yards and four touchdowns as the offense ran heavily through both Michael Williamson and Austin Torrens. More importantly, Anderson provides stability at one of the more important positions on the field, which is not something Stratton has had all that often. “This is the first year that I’m starting a quarterback that I ended the previous season with,” Stratton said. “I think that’s huge.” While Anderson’s play last

PHOTO / PROVIDED

The Batavia Bulldogs, led by head coach Matt Lester, won just three games in 2015, but thanks to junior running back Austin Mahan, the team looks to contend for the SBAAC National Division Title in 2016. The Bulldogs open their season with East Clinton on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m.

BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

Football isn’t an individual sport. It takes an entire team pulling in the same direction for the squad to have success, and this season the Batavia Bulldogs are hoping to do just that. Head coach Matt Lester said the team rallied this offseason after the 2015 campaign thanks to a core group of players. “The program wasn’t in a great place after the end of last year,”

Lester said. “We didn’t have the success that we wanted, but we had a couple seniors, Stephen Trainor and Blake Albight, who committed to show up for weights every day and to buy in to what we were selling. Nate Martz, Sam Donaldson and a couple other sophomores really bought in to what we were trying to sell.” That small group helped springboard the team, as by the time summer practices began attendance in the weight room skyrocketed. “We started with 10 guys in the

weight room, we kept building and by the time we got to the summer we had most of our roster,” Lester said. The team’s schedule is difficult this season, and the team will rely on that core group of players if they want to have success in 2016. “Regardless of what our record is, we’ll go as far as those kids take us,” Lester said. “The schedule is pretty tough from top to bottom. We don’t have a game that I think will be a blowout either way. Every game is going to be very stressful, very competitive. We could win them all or we could lose them all. That’s the type of competition we’re playing, we’re pretty even with them.” In addition to their Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference slate of games, the Bulldogs will have non-conference contests at Amelia, Norwood and Mariemont. They’ll host East Clinton, Portsmouth West and Maderia at Holman Stadium. See Bulldogs, Page 5

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season did not net him postseason honors from the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference, several returning Lions did receive postseason awards. Junior Dan Troxell along with Cyrus and fellow senior Ethan Gundler all earned first-team nods, while Bozic and Schweickart were named to the

second-team all-conference squad. Head coach Josh Stratton also earned an award, sharing the coach of the year trophy with Western Brown head coach Don Sizer. After a week two road matchup at Taylor High School, the New Richmond Lions will face Monroe in their home opener on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.

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GO LIONS ! !

Excellence through student-centered focus! 513-734-6222 www.grantcareer.com 718 West Plane Street Bethel, Ohio 45106

PHOTO / PROVIDED

The New Richmond Lions football team qualified for the state playoffs in 2015, but lost in the first round to Mt. Healthy. The team returns several key weapons from last year and is looking to make another trip to the postseason in 2016. The Lions face Indian Hill on Thursday, Aug. 25 at 6 p.m. in their opener.

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P AGE 16 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 5

Lions seeking playoff berth BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

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Last season, the New Richmond Lions football team finally got over the metaphorical hump, according to head coach Josh Stratton. “We’ve been so close to making the playoffs,” Stratton said. “We’ve been so close to beating our rival. It just goes to show how important that game is, last year we beat our rival and it propelled us into the playoffs. There’s going to be a lot of Harbin points in that game gained to the winner, and last year we were able to pull it out. Two years prior, losing to Western Brown by three points cost us a perfect season and the playoffs.” The Lions earned a spot in the Division III Region 10 playoffs, and in the process a matchup with the fourth-seeded Mt. Healthy Owls. The Lions lost that game,

but Stratton said that quick glimpse of the postseason is helping drive the team in 2016. “We got a little taste of week 11,” Stratton said. “We got to play the offensive player of the year in Division III in the state of Ohio, that was fun. It was a great experience for our kids. We definitely walked away from that game feeling like we belonged a little bit, and that drove us this offseason in terms of our preparation and our work in the weight room.” The weight room has seen the Lions often since the end of last season. The team has bulked up since the end of last season and Stratton said they appear to be stronger than ever. “This is by far the strongest team I’ve ever had,” Stratton said. “We’ve got 16 players that squat over 420 pounds. You can’t play offensive or defensive line for us unless you squat 450. You can’t even get on the field. We’re pretty

P A G E S

tough up front, we’re pretty strong.” In addition to their strength, the Lions are also young. The team played several underclassmen in 2015, and those players are expected to return this season with more expectations. “We return a lot of guys,” Stratton said. “We played six sophomores and a freshman quarterback last year. All of them are back and a year older.” That experience will bode well for the Lions, who have a difficult schedule in 2016. Stratton said his goal as a coach at New Richmond has been to make the slate of games challenging, and this year he has done just that. “Every year I’ve been at New Richmond I’ve tried to make the schedule harder and harder,” Stratton said. “This is the hardest schedule that I’ve put together. It’s the hardest schedule New Richmond has seen in 10 years, and I hope we can step up to the challenge. That’s what we want to do, we want to challenge the players physically and mentally, and I think they’re a good bunch.” The team opens the season with a “road” contest against Indian Hill. The game is a part of the Skyline Crosstown Showdown and will be played at the Sheakley Athletics Center on the campus of the University of Cincinnati on Thursday, Aug. 25 at 6 p.m. “We’re really excited about that for our kids,” Stratton said. “It’s going to be a great experience for them, to play down at UC on Thursday night where there’s only two games in the whole city that night. We’re pretty excited to be a part of that, our kids are pumped about it and our fans are really excited for it.” Lions fans have a lot to be excited about on both sides of the ball. On offense, the team returns every single skill player from last season except the starting tailback, which See Lions, Page 17

177 West Main Street Amelia, OH 45102 513-753-6130

200 Western Avenue New Richmond, OH 45157 513-553-4132

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315 Plane Street Bethel, OH 45106 513-734-2228

2016 New Richmond Lions Roster Name Chase McDonald #70 Chris Nazerath #72 Clayton Farmer #10 Cory Higgenbotham #77 Dawson Cromwell #82 Ethan Gundler #20 Gage Kramer #9 Jacob Cyrus #28 Kennith Moore #78 Peyton Schweickart #55 PJ Simmons #59 Seth Butler #15 Zack Hubbard #54 Chandler Kinalt #18 Corey Bozic #25 Dan Troxell #74 Devin Milton #23 Jessup Durbin #5 Joel Bird #53 Matt Bateman #76 Nick Sanchez #65 Orien DeTellem #68 Ryan Buckley #39 Shane Jones #21 TJ Gelter #16 Zach Deardorff #13 Austin Kimmerly #85 Austin Plank #19 Chandler Wood #2 Chris Brunk #27 Gavin Clark #4 Hunter Cook #11 Jacob Noble #52 Josh Anderson #1 Logan Kunz #38 Mason Hance #34 Tobias Khan #50 Trent Felts #58 Austin Sharp #6 Carey Wyatt #14 Chris Dixon #12 Cody Boshears #61 Corydon Ward #69 Drew Coorey #81 Ethan Boyer #51 Jack McDonough #17 Jacob Duty #32 Jacob Farrell #8 Jarrett Donley #3 Jason Ackerman #80 Jayden Naegele #57 Maverick Ellington #63 Mitchell Williamson #22 Randy Hammons #24 Seth Fischesser #56 Steven Curless #75 Tommy Troy #67

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Ht. 6-1 5-8 5-8 6-3 6-2 5-10 6-5 5-9 5-10 6-1 5-11 6-1 6-5 5-10 6-2 6-2 6-2 6-2 5-10 6-1 6-2 6-2 5-9 5-5 5-7 5-7 6-2 5-6 5-5 5-11 5-8 5-8 5-10 5-7 6-1 5-8 6-1 5-7 5-7 5-3 5-6 5-9 5-6 5-10 5-6 5-5 5-4 5-7 5-10 6-2 5-8 6-2 5-6 5-8 5-8 5-8 5-7

Wt. 325 230 160 285 190 160 230 185 210 215 240 185 345 180 170 270 190 155 185 255 240 260 190 150 155 140 170 125 115 180 150 150 175 155 165 115 220 205 125 101 118 165 191 120 186 120 120 122 155 185 155 202 165 148 188 205 215

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Position OL, DL OL, DL K OL, DL TE, DL WR, DB TE, DL RB, DB OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL TE, LB OL, DL HB, LB WR, DB OL, DL TE, LB WR, DB OL, LB OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL HB, LB WR, OLB RB, DB WR, DB WR, DE WR, DB WR, DB WR, LB WR, S WR, OLB OL, LB QB TE, OLB WR, DB OL, DL OL, DL WR, DB WR, DB K OL, LB OL, DL WR, DB OL, DL RB HB, DB WR QB TE, DL OL, LB OL, DL RB, LB TE, LB OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL

Bulldogs: Team-first in 2016

PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN

The Batavia Bulldogs, led by coach Matt Lester, will turn to Austin Maham in the backfield this season after the graduation of Shawn Adams last year. Continued from page 6

Six Bulldogs qualified for the SBAAC all-conference team last year, all of them seniors. Lester said the team won’t be able to simply fill in the blank spaces from last year, as new players will have to step up. “We had a lot of good individuals last year,” he said. “Adams was one of the better players to play at Batavia in a long time. We had a lot of individual talent, to say the least, but we didn’t have a real unified team. You can’t replace a kid like Adams, or Shawn Howe who played about every position on the field for us. We’re trying to replace those kids by what we do offensively and defensively schematically and by moving to a team-oriented culture.”

Adams led the team with 35 catches for 410 yards and six touchdowns in 2015. Howe threw for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for four more. The Bulldogs will look to replace the duo in the stat sheet with Austin Maham, who led the team with 679 rushing yards last season. Brandon Brookbank could also make a difference for the team this year, according to Lester. Brookbank had three receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown in 2015. Defensively, the Bulldogs will rely on their speed. The team isn’t very big, but they will be aggressive, Lester said. “The heart of any good defense is tackling and pursuing the football, we’ll be aggressive in the biggest thing and what we do,”

Lester said. He praised one of his assistants, Don Jacobs, for beginning leadership courses for the athletes. “He brought the Wing-T and some leadership, [we] started doing leadership courses for seniors and added juniors later on,” Lester said. “We’ve done a pretty good job at getting kids to take leadership, see the big picture, and realize more about journey than the end result. We want them to try to do things right every day, work hard, have a good attitude and act right at school. The kids get a bit better each day.” Getting better each day is what the Bulldogs hope happens on the field as well. The team has goals extending into October, but Lester takes things a bit slower. “It sounds cliché, but we have

2016 Batavia Bulldogs Roster Name Billy Furr #68 Blake Albright #57 Jacob Rowland #71 Kobe Stepp #21 Nathan Cummings #75 Skylar Morgan #20 Spencer Fluegel #2 Stephen Trainor #10 Steven Bailey #25 Zach Kennedy #9 Austin Maham #31 Brandon Brookbank #11 Cody Paulin #54 Cullen Gerrard #7 Dylan Ellington #23 Griffin Taulbee #69 Jake Ellington #34 Kody Cook #51 Kylun Swanson #67 Will Scaggs #12 Austin Guenther #61 Blake Casey #52 Deven Williams #5 Evan Mosley #18 Jagger McKenzie #6 Jake Paulin #45 Jason Griffin #3 Kaleb Moell #16 Luigi Lattero #26 Mason Owens #62 Matt Cummings #72 Nathan Martz #50 Sam Donaldson #79 Sam Donaldson #79 Adam Bird #53 Alex Byrd #80 Alex Gibbs #27 Alex Jones #8 Kaleb Stump #66 Logan Vaughan #42 Sam Bird #60

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

the same goals every year,” Lester said. “The first thing we want to do is win week one.” Lester said the team would also like to defeat their three rivals: Williamsburg, Amelia and Clermont Northeastern. In addition to those victories, the team has other goals they would like to achieve as well. “We want to win a league title

Ht. 5’10 6’1 6’2 5’7 5’9 5’10 6’1 5’10 5’9 5’7 5’9 5’7 6’1 5’10 5’10 6’0 5’7 6’0 6’2 5’9 6;0 5’11 5’9 5’10 5’10 6’1 5’7 6’1 5’6 6’0 5’11 5’7 6’0 6’0 5’11 5’11 6’0 5’8 5’9 5’11 6’0

Wt. 210 240 250 170 275 170 185 195 185 135 170 135 220 160 165 230 150 200 260 165 175 180 140 140 140 150 135 200 125 240 200 210 230 230 190 180 140 140 230 210 150

Position OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL RB, DB OL, DL WR, DL WR, S RB, LB RB, DE SE, DB RB, S WR, CB OL, DL WR, FS TE, LB OL, DL RB, S OL, LB OL, DL QB, S OL, DL OL, DL WR, CB RB, S WR, DB WR, DB RB, DB RB, OLB WR, DB OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL TE, LB QB, S QB, DB OL, DL RB, LB OL, DL

again,” Lester said. “It’s our last year in the national division. After that, we’re talking about trying to play in week 11. If you get there, you want to try to win the state championship. They’re the same goals we have every year, we just take it one week at a time.” Batavia’s march begins on Friday, Aug. 26 when the team hosts East Clinton at 7 p.m.

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P AGE 6 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 15

Bethel-Tate going upbeat with ‘Tate Tempo’ in 2016

Eagles: Six all-ECC players return

PHOTO / PROVIDED

The Bethel-Tate Tigers enter the 2016 season with a new offensive scheme under new head coach Jeff Essig. The Tigers qualified for the state playoffs in 2015.

BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

The 2015 season for the BethelTate Tigers football team was one for the record books. Behind the dual-threat backfield of Jeffrey Botts and Steven

Cooper, the team rolled to a 6-3 record, including a 3-1 mark in Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference play, en route to qualifying for their firstever state playoff berth. Shortly after the first-round loss ended their season, the squad sud-

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denly faced the loss of their head coach, as former coach Bill Jenike resigned because of travel issues. However, it didn’t take the Tigers long to find their new leader, as the squad handed the reigns over to former Western Brown offensive coordinator Jeff Essig roughly two weeks after Jenike’s resignation. Essig went to work immediately, with his main priority being finding a way to increase turnout on the team. He did just that, as this season the Tigers will be sponsoring a junior varsity squad for the first time in at least six years. Essig said in an email he was able to boost turnout by riding the wave of excitement stemming from the Tigers’ playoff run. “Making the playoffs for the first time in school history has to factor into the increase of players being interested in playing footSee Tigers, Page 7

PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN

The Milford Eagles will have numerous weapons on offense this season, according to head coach Shane Elkin. Milford hosts Hamilton on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016 in their home opener. Continued from page 14

“When you look at our home games, we’ve got something going on with the media every home game. We’ve got two Skyline Chili events, one of the Blitz 5 games and two ICRC TV games. That right there is exciting because for years we were happy to get any kind of media exposure and this year we’re fortunate enough to have multiple games where we’re going to be able to get our guys some quality media exposure.” The Eagles will host Hamilton in that game, which will be held on Friday, Aug. 26

at 7 p.m. According to Elkin, Milford’s non-conference schedule is full of teams who have made strides forward in recent seasons. “We’ve got three teams that are non-league that have shown to be competitive programs,” Elkin said. “Hamilton last year really turned it around and put together a quality team. They walked out on the field and shocked a lot of people in the city. They’re building momentum based upon that. A couple years ago, Dixie was in the finals of the state championship in Kentucky. Norwood’s done a phenomenal job in the division

that they’re in.” The Eagles’ conference schedule isn’t any easier, according to Elkin. “I think we’re one of the more competitive leagues in the city,” Elkin said. “If you look at the fact that Anderson’s won a state title, Loveland has won a state title...When we left the Greater Miami Conference, people said it was going to be easy. Then we walked in to a situation where some of the best football in the state was being played in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference and the ECC, and I don’t think anything has changed.”

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2016 Milford Eagles Roster Name Andrew Johnson #72 Blake Miller #48 Cameron Wilson #41 Chase Witte #4 Connor Elliott #80 Daniel Wilson #70 Dawson Slone #38 Derek Sartor #79 Eric Richey #32 Graham Martin #47 Hayden Sluder #52 Jack Hannah #92 Jakob Schwartz #65 Jeremy Dentino #18 Justin Potter #95 Kyle Brady #85 Max Brewer #83 Nicholas Schaefer #67 Tyler Smith #11 Zach Martin #53 Zack Buhler #89 Adam Bartrum #21 Alex Garcia #90 Alex Lutz #51 Bailey Knox #56 Blake King #10 Brandon Anderson #58 Bryce Dugan #96 Dan Lutz #66 Dax Creager #82 Dillon Coleman #33 Evan Baugh #14 Grayson Kiser #54 Jacob Fryman #12 Jacob Wallace #94 Jarrod Maltry #81 Luken Dalessandro #2 Matthew Moore #43 Max Lewis #15 Mitchell Cox #77 Nick Folino #39 Owen Elsbernd #8 Rob McQueary #30 Ryan Hezlep #17 Rylan Childs #35 Sam Pickett #23 Tre Spillman #57

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

Ht. 6-3 5-8 6-0 5-10 5-10 6-0 5-6 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 5-11 5-10 5-11 5-7 6-4 6-1 6-2 6-0 5-11 5-9 5-8 6-1 5-10 6-1 5-7 6-1 6-1 6-1 5-10 5-8 5-11 5-7 5-7 5-11 5-9 5-10 5-8 5-11 5-6 5-9 5-8 5-10 5-7 5-11 5-11

Wt. 320 160 186 171 161 226 169 290 183 168 191 185 239 138 150 147 214 247 172 183 173 141 136 150 167 161 138 194 154 216 149 144 191 143 125 208 140 178 215 251 117 160 132 141 109 139 159

Position OL K LB DB WR OL RB OL QB LB LB LB OL DB WR WR WR OL QB OL LB DB LB DL LB QB LB DL DL TE WR DB LB WR LB TE DB LB RB OL DB WR RB WR DB DB OL

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P AGE 14 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 7

Returning players key to Milford’s success BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

The Milford Eagles football team enters 2016 with a difficult task ahead of them. The squad finished the 2015 campaign with four wins, two in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference. Combine that with the five wins from 2014, and the Eagles have won the same amount of games the last two seasons as 2010 to 2013 combined.

Head coach Shane Elkin said fielding a competitive team was his vision as a head coach, and he acknowledged the players that have helped the Eagles get to that point. “The last couple years, we’ve been competitive,” Elkin said. “My goal as head coach was to create a program that was competitive. Over the last seven years, I feel like the kids that have played football for me have worked their

O D D P A G E S

tails off and have put us in a position to be that kind of a team.” Last year’s squad didn’t have any “superstar” players, according to Elkin. The team accomplished everything by working together, and numerous players who didn’t have a lot of experience found themselves in important roles. “We had a lot of very consistent football players,” Elkin said. “We had one guy who was probably going to be our superstar, and we lost him in the first half of the season. He played six quarters for us, but when we lost him the guys who were going to be his supporting cast became the guys at that point. The nice thing was that we had 30 guys who worked really hard. When they lost the leader, we were an offense-by-committee at that point. We had a first-year quarterback, a first-year running back and at one point in the year we had eight or nine different guys catch a ball.” Those players who gained expe-

rience on the field last season will be joined by six players who earned all-conference honors in 2015. Offensive linemen Alex Herbst and Andrew Johnson earned second-team all-ECC honors, along with defensive lineman Riley Holbrook and specialists Eric Richey and Chase Witte. Brendan Dugan earned an honorable mention from the league. “I have six guys coming back with all-league mentions, and that’s huge,” Elkin said. “Every year, if we had an all-league player, it was always a senior and they would graduate. This year I have multiple guys coming back that have received league mention. For the last two years, they’ve watched our two groups of seniors do things at Milford that haven’t been done in a long time, in terms of the type of success and the type of players that they were.” Elkin said the Eagles’ offense is one to be reckoned with this season, as he believes the team has

Tigers: New coach, same goals

multiple ways to move the ball. “The thing that I like about our offense this year is that we have multiple weapons,” Elkin said. “When a team tries to defend our offense, they’re going to have to make decisions. If I were coordinating against our offense, I’m not really sure what I would do. I feel like we have an all-league returning quarterback, an all-league running back, three offensive lineman that are coming back as varsity players. We have multiple weapons on the perimeter. You have to make a decision as to how you’re going to defend that.” The Eagles will have plenty of chances to show their high-flying offense off, as all five home games have a special event, including the team’s first-ever appearance in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown week one. “I’m super excited,” Elkin said. PHOTO / PROVIDED

See Eagles, Page 15

The Bethel-Tate Tigers earned a trip to the state playoffs in 2015. If they return this season, it will be with a new head coach and a completely different offensive scheme. Continued from page 6

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ball,” Essig said. “Another factor has got to be the new and different philosophies of our program.” Essig will bring the spread offense to the Tigers, who threw for roughly 400 yards total in 2015. Essig said the scheme will allow tons of player involvement. “Offensively, our system allows for us to share the ball with all six skill players, including the quarterback, while at the same time our big guys get excited with their assignments and technique,” Essig said. As a middle school teacher, Essig said he’s able to “spark interest” in high school football earlier, which helps players transition to the high school game. On defense, Essig will work with new defensive coordinator Randy Hospelhorn, who comes to the Tigers by way of Amelia. Finding assistant coaches was another challenge Essig faced in the offseason due to budget restraints. “I’m trying to get creative to find a way to hire another coach so we can have a fourth paid football position,” Essig said. “The focus would be primarily sharing some of the junior varsity responsibilities with Coach [Cody] Wilson as well

as being a varsity assistant.” Wilson, a Western Brown graduate, started on the offensive line for three seasons under Essig at Western Brown. Essig said he liked Wilson’s knowledge of how to play the offensive line in the system. In terms of the on-field product, the Tigers only lost two players from last season’s offense: Botts and wide receiver Justin Hixson. The team added over 20 players to the roster this season, which will help provide competition to the returners from last year, Essig said. “With the team more than doubling in size, we will be returning players who have a lot of varsity experience and at the same time bringing in players to push them,” Essig said. “No one can get comfortable, our player know there is competition at every position. They must compete every day.” The clubhouse leader to take the reigns at the quarterback position is junior Chris Wheeler, according to Essig. “[He] had limited playing time in his first two years as a high school player, but he has always been a quarterback,” Essig said. “He has worked hard all summer to get better mentally and physically. He has all the tools a quarterback in our system needs. His leadership skills

are improving, and his understanding of our system gets better every day.” That said, the running game will still play a crucial role in the Tigers’ offensive attack this season. Having Cooper return in the backfield will force opponents to respect both the run and the pass, according to Essig. “He has worked on his catching abilities and isn’t one-dimensional,” Essig said. “He’ll be the focal point of all defensive preparation by our opponents. Teams will have to prepare for him to be in the backfield, in routes receiving, and not lined up in the backfield at all.” Defensively, the increased numbers allow the Tigers to rotate players in and out, keeping them fresh. Essig added the team will be more aggressive under Hospelhorn. “I love his style of defense,” Essig said. “During my time at Western Brown, his Amelia defenses always gave us trouble. [They held] us to some of the lowest-scoring totals of all our opponents we faced.” The Tigers and Essig will face off against the Broncos in week eight of the regular season. Essig acknowledged his time with the Broncos, adding there is a lot of familiarity on the staffs of both

2016 Bethel-Tate Tigers Roster Name Austin Veve #21 Caleb Bastin #64 Cooper Dunn #3 Josh Hammock #57 Kermit Beckworth #74 Noah Pickelheimer #18 Steven Cooper #5 Aaron Cunningham #50 Andrew Ball #54 Austin Carter #4 Bradley Lewis #52 Chris Wheeler #12 Drake Dockery #28 Jacob Bussell #8 Jacob Collins #51 Jarret Walters #45 Malachi Price #19 Nate Owens #6 Owen Holtke #2 Caleb Demaris #33 Charlie Paul #9 Chris Thomas #75 Dylan Keller #22 E.J. Prall #62 Gabe Kilgore #53 Gabe Noble #10 Hunter Clark #25 Jacob Heck #55 Jared Bishop #23 Logan Cox #30 Michael Whittington #27 Noah Macko #32 Tyler Burk #85 Zachary Gutknect #42 Alex Manz #1 Dylan Poff #24 Ethan Erwin #81 Gavin Smith #76 Jayce Glenn #58 Mason Marsh #88 Neil Kamphaus #40 Riley O’Neil #66 OL, DL

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

schools. “My time at Western Brown was special and we had a lot of success,” Essig said. “It won’t be strange, but it’ll be different for both sides. I have Western Brown graduates on my staff, and Western Brown has former Bethel-Tate head coaches on their staff, Don Sizer, Richie Cox and Wayne Stacy.” The Tigers and Broncos haven’t matched up since 2012, with the Broncos winning that game 46-13. Bethel-Tate’s last win in the series came on Oct. 25, 2002 by a 7-3 margin.

Ht. 5-11 6-4 5-10 6-0 6-0 6-2 5-11 6-0 6-2 5-7 5-9 6-1 6-1 6-1 5-9 6-2 5-11 6-0 6-0 6-2 5-7 6-1 6-1 5-10 5-10 5-8 6-1 5-4 5-7 5-10 5-7 5-8 6-0 5-4 5-11 5-9 5-3 6-0 5-11 5-10 5-6 9

Wt. 169 210 160 245 230 185 198 165 195 145 225 185 145 170 180 210 142 175 175 172 168 205 145 210 225 121 150 166 130 170 140 160 180 115 170 160 125 190 240 170 120 5-10

Position WR, DB OL, DL WR, DB OL, DL OL, DL WR, DB RB, LB OL, DL OL, DL WR, DB OL, DL QB, DB WR, DB WR, DB RB, LB OL, DL WR, DB RB, LB RB, LB WR, DL WR, LB OL, DL WR, DB OL, DL OL, DL WR, DB WR, DB OL, DL WR, DB WR, LB RB, DB WR, DB RB, LB WR, DB QB, DB WR, LB WR, DB OL, DL OL, DL RB, LB WR, DB 213

Essig said the team has set lofty goals for this season, but they know they have to maintain focus if they want to achieve them. “We have set our goals high, but we have to take it one step at a time,” Essig said. “If we focus on the little things each day, we will accomplish our goal of earning our third-ever SBAAC championship.” The Tigers begin their gridiron quest in 2016 with a road contest on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. against Cincinnati Country Day. The team’s home opener will be against Fayetteville-Perry High School on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.

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P AGE 8 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 13

Rockets seeking culture change under Fishback BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

In 2010, the Clermont Northeastern Rockets started the season 3-0. Wins over Cincinnati Country Day, Goshen and Batavia appeared to set the team up to snap a lengthy streak of losing seasons. However, the team lost their next game by just eight points to Goshen, triggering a streak of six consecutive losses that ended with a week 10 victory over Blanchester. That is the closest the Rockets have come to a non-losing season since at least 1999, the furthest back records on the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference website go. After an 010 campaign in 2016, the team turned to a familiar face, hiring Jeremy Fishback as the team’s new head coach. Fishback graduated from CNE in 1997 and served as the team’s defensive coordinator at one point. He spent last sea-

son coaching the junior high team, and now he aims to turn the tide at CNE. “We’re trying to change the culture a bit,” Fishback said. “We’d like to get more involvement in the community and get the boys to where they’re prideful about what they’re doing and they believe in themselves. We want to create young men who will better our society, and if we can win some football games in the process, that’s a plus.” Things would be off to a solid start so far for the Rockets, according to Fishback. The team dealt with weather issues last week, forcing changes to the practice schedule. Those changes didn’t limit them against Deer Park, according to their coach. “It’s going really well,” Fishback said. “We had one practice, then came out against Deer Park and did really well. They did a good job, I was pleased with them. They’re picking up the new

system very well.” The new system is more balanced than in years past. Last season, Dalton Miracle rushed for 1,308 yards on 167 carries. CNE threw for just 835 yards in 2015. The run game will be just as important in 2016, Fishback said. “We’re going to move the ball,” he said. “We averaging 273 pounds across the front line, so we’re just going to run the ball and open things up for our pass game. It’s a little bit different than what they ran last year, but I’d like to take advantage of the personnel we have. When you have that kind of meat on the front line and they’re agile, you can establish a good run game.” Defensively, the scheme the Rockets ran in 2015 left them vulnerable to runs outside the tackles. That won’t be the case in 2016. “Basically, we’re closing down the box,” Fishback said. “They had a hard time in the 40 defense getting beat off-tackle last year, so

I took that to heed and decided to put more guys in the box to squeeze things down. I’ve got some fast kids, so I’m confident in our defensive back’s abilities to shut things down.” The team’s senior class has stepped up in a big way, according to their coach. “The senior class I have bought in,” Fishback said. “After I got hired, we started an offseason lifting program, and I ran 6 a.m. sessions where you had to be there by 5:45. Those seniors and some of the juniors that were able to drive didn’t miss a day. If they were running late, they called me. They’re a really dedicated group of boys and I look for them all to stand out in their own way over the course of the season.” If the team’s scrimmage against Deer Park is any indication, the Rockets could be a bit of a dark horse team in 2016. Winning games isn’t necessarily the team’s main goal, at least not yet.

“We have several goals,” Fishback said. “We’d like to change the culture, be prideful about what we’re doing. Throughout the course of the year, not just during football season, we’d like them to be leaders. We had some of our guys take the younger freshman and sophomores and take them under their wing. Having these guys be there as a mentor is huge.” The Rockets also instituted programs to give back to the community this year. Rocket Cleanup Days, as Fishback referred to them, helped build the team’s bond with members of the community. “We’d get calls from the community and go out and do yard work,” Fishback said. “We were just giving back to the community and being thankful for the people that support us. It’s aways better to See Rockets, Page 9

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Warriors: Hoping to build on 7-3 season in 2015

PHOTO / PROVIDED

Clermont Northeastern will be manned by new head coach Jeremy Fishback, who hopes to change the culture at CNE.

Continued from page 12

year,” George said. “We expect them to play well. We’re pleased with our linebacking corp, our secondary has a few guys back that have experience. Even though we lost a good senior class, we still have quite a few guys that have experience.” That experience will serve Goshen well this season, as they take on a schedule that includes four teams, Bethel-Tate, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, New Richmond and Williamsburg, that qualified for the state playoffs in 2015 and another, Western Brown, who narrowly missed a qualifying spot. George said his team has to start

2016 Goshen Warriors Roster Name Kamrin Tuerck #3 Conner Thomas #7 Jordan Ulrey #10 Jacob Hopkins #17 Nick Allen #33 Johnny Kube #34 Viktor VonDille #35 Kenny Wilson #56 Austin Newman #77 Sam Edwards #81 Jake Meader #82 Payton Lugers #1 Josh Ulrey #2 Ayden Bennet #11 Kyle Proffitt #14 Sebastian Abshire #15 Jimmy Strunk #21 Logan Mantz #22 Deonte Bailey #31 Brandon Harrison #41 Andrew Dick #48 Cole Geary #50 Dougie Widner #55 Austin Oliver #62 Jake Tatman #63 Andrew Arnold #71 Jordan Figs #73 Dawson Ramey #74 Daniel Baldridge #78

Grade Ht.

12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 Gerado Espinosa-Ley #4 10 Michael Figgs #6 10 Andrew Lambert #13 10 Josh Sutton #18 10 Trey Armacost #19 10 Will Kilgore #24 10 Ethan West #25 10

6-0 5-9 5-6 5-10 5-5 5-9 5-11 6-0 6-4 6-1 6-5 5-10 5-7 6-1 6-2 5-10 5-9 5-11 5-9 5-11 6-1 6-0 5-8 6-1 5-10 6-3 6-5 6-3 6-3 5-9 6-1 5-7 5-11 5-7 5-9 5-6

Wt.

Position

Name

148 137 161 132 128 230 200 307 209 170 180 151 181 171 175 167 168 151 152 200 190 194 275 202 219 271 398 227 330 172 154 140 170 121 148 140

DB/WR DB/WR LB/FB DB/WR DB/WR LB/RB LB/TE DL/OL DL/OL DE/TE DB/WR DB/WR LB/TE DE/TE DB/QB DB/WR LB/RB DB/WR DB/WR LB/FB DE/TE DE/OL DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL DE/OL DL/OL DB/WR DB/WR DB/WR LB/TE DB/WR LB/FB DB/RB

Adam Slusher #30 Colby King #43 Keaton Henry #44 Chandler Miller #47 Dylan Shelton #51 Logan Perry #54 Austin Stillwell #57 Ricky Holt #58 Shayne Shinkle #60 Trevor Webb #66 Mark Fouts #69 Jeff Landers #75 Austin Jones #76 Dylan Koepke #79 Jacob Haas #84 Dylan Velagic #89 Clayton Jones #5 CJ Munafo #8 Jaxon Abshire #9 Jacob Wall #16 Dylan Ashcraft #20 Anthony Wilson #29

Grade Ht.

10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 Austin McClanahan #32 9 Seth Harrell #38 9 Hunter Slusher #40 9 Carl Anderson #45 9 Jarred Re #46 9 Dylan Dutlinger #49 9 Logan Marlowe #52 9 Cameron Anderson #53 9 9 Michael Deaton #59 Conner Bucksath #61 9 David Bundy #70 9 Seth Paytes #80 9 Mikey Reyes #83 9

5-8 5-6 5-5 5-6 6-2 5-6 5-9 5-5 5-11 6-1 6-2 5-11 6-0 6-4 6-0 6-0 5-7 5-9 5-7 5-7 5-7 5-3 6-1 5-7 5-8 5"7 5-6 5-6 5-6 5-11 6-0 5-6 6-1 5-6 5-4

Wt.

Position

150 111 152 107 190 235 207 180 234 242 275 242 235 190 150 190 113 150 143 154 115 117 177 126 143 162 149 125 177 231 197 135 183 123 116

LB/RB DB/WR LB/WR DB/WR DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL LB/DL DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL DE/TE DE/TE DB/WR DB/WR DB/WR LB/WR DB/WR DB/RB DB/WR DB/WR OLB/RB LB/FB LB/TE LB/WR DL/OL DL/OL DL/OL K DL/OL DB/WR DB/WR

beating quality teams if they want to make the postseason. “We have to win more games,” George said. “It’s just a matter of getting over the hump and understanding that we got off to a good start last year and then we had a let-down. You just can’t have those let-downs.” The Warriors started the 2015 season 6-1, with their only loss a 34-20 defeat at the hands of the Bethel-Tate Tigers. At the time, the Warriors sat in seventh place in the computer ratings used to determine the playoff teams. However, the team would lose two of their final three games. They lost their next matchup to New Richmond before rallying to shut out Amelia 14-0. However, another home loss, this time to Western Brown, eliminated Goshen from the postseason. New Richmond would qualify instead. If the Warriors are able to avoid those “let-downs,” they’ll have a decent shot at achieving their team goals, but George said the team won’t look too far ahead. “Just like everyone else, you always want to win your league,” George said. “We’d like to accomplish that, be a playoff team and get in there and see what can happen. Our biggest concern when we strap up against Ross is trying to get a win against them. Just take it one at a time and let the other things take care of themselves.” The Warriors visit the Ross Rams on Friday, Aug. 26 for a 7 p.m. start. The team will host Hillsboro on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in their home opener.

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E V E N P A G E S

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P AGE 12 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 9

Warriors hoping to take next step in 2016

Rockets: Fishback takes over in 2016, looks to change culture Continued from page 8

changing the culture around here.” As the literal rainclouds that forced the team’s practice to change finally broke late in the week, Fishback said he hopes the metaphorical clouds over the program begin to disappear as well. “We’re trying to push those clouds out, and let the sun shine through for these boys,” Fishback said.

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CNE had four players earn allconference honors in 2015. Seniors Dalton Miracle and Logan Fishback were joined by sophomore Joey Groeber and junior Luke Newton. Miracle was the team’s leading rusher last season, tallying 1,308 yards on 167 carries, good for an average of slightly fewer than eight yards per attempt. The yardage total was good for 12th in the city, and it led the entire Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference by over 200

2016 CNE Rockets Roster

PHOTO / PROVIDED

The Bethel-Tate Tigers enter the 2016 season with a new offensive scheme under new head coach Jeff Essig. The Tigers qualified for the state playoffs in 2015.

BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

Evans Funeral Home John H. Evans • Charles E. Evans • Andrew W. Evans Lewis E. Frith • Mary Lu Roby • Jamie M. Gier Brian A. Wikoff • Matthew Strefelt

Traditional Funeral & Cremation Services Pre-Planning Available

741 Center Street Milford, Ohio 45150 513-831-3172

www.evansfuneralhome.com

1944 State Route 28 Goshen, Ohio 45122 513-722-3272 Fax: (513) 831-3179

Character & Excellence in Funeral Service

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The Goshen Warriors finished the 2014 campaign with just one win, but in 2015 the team underwent a massive turnaround, narrowly missing a playoff berth and ending the season 7-3. Now in 2016, the squad is looking for a playoff spot and the chance to play in week 11. Head coach Ryan George acknowledged the team’s improvement, but noted they missed some opportunities. “It was a big improvement,” George said. “We were a lot better, but we still could have made some plays and possibly made the playoffs, but we didn’t get it done. We have to take that next step.” One of the first things the team has to sort out before taking that step is the depth chart. Goshen lost 17 seniors from last year’s team, including five all-conference honorees. “We lost a good senior class, so

we are replacing some people,” George said. “It’ll be good to see who is going to step up. We’ve seen some of it in our preseason, but we’re looking for a few guys to step up and help us out on Friday nights.” Someone will have to step up and replace Isaac Hart, who started as quarterback for Goshen last season. Hart threw for 750 yards and ran for another 1,120 while totaling 15 touchdowns for the Warriors. Luckily for Goshen, they appear to already have an heir to the position. “Our new quarterback is Kyle Proffitt,” George said. “He’s a junior, but the year we only won the one game, he was the quarterback that came in and won it. He has some varsity experience, but he played behind Isaac Hart last year and he’s going to have to step up and be the leader.” Proffitt is one of several juniors who saw playing time at the varsity level in 2014, according to George. That, combined with the

senior leadership of returning allconference honorees Sam Edwards and Jordan Ulrey, sets the Warriors up well for the 2016 season. “They do a real good job being our senior leaders,” George said. “They both have been starting for us for three years. Another one that could’ve been on that list but wasn’t was John Kube, he’s played fullback and he’s going to play fullback and linebacker for us this year. Those guys are just good, hard-working kids who understand how to play. They do a real good job of communicating with the younger kids on different things we want to get accomplished.” Edwards is expected to play on the defensive line for the Warriors, while Kube and Ulrey are both linebackers. That linebacking corp is a strength of the team this season, according to George. See Eagles, Page 15

Name Dakota Fultz #50 Cooper Adkins #5 Trevor Braun #3 Dylan Jones #43 Mark Aselage #59 Luke Newton #44 Tucker Thornberry #55 Austin Horrell #66 Ty Brinson #75 Stephen Randolph #56 Joey Groeber #70 Layne Todd #71 Russell Brock #45 Luke Rayburn #2 Neal Dahlheimer #40 Cody Spilker #46 Noah Pennington #52 Dylan Gilley #14 Cody Hale #76 Matthew Jenkins #12 Nick Randolph #64 Cole Richter #65 Gavin Hickey #25 Jordan Dean #61 Billy Elam #30 Albert Corey #32 Austin Askren #57 Austin Pottorf #54 Dakota Hawk #20 Cole Joslin #21 Damien Bowen #10 Wade Stewart #74 Donny Franz #69 James Shepherd #58 John Hatfield #62 David Pride #39

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Ht. 6-1 6-0 5-7 5-10 6-5 5-10 5-11 5-9 5-11 5-10 6-4 6-0 6-1 5-7 5-6 5-7 6-0 5-7 5-6 5-9 6-2 5-8 6-0 6-0 5-7 5-8 5-6 6-0 5-6 5-7 5-10 5-9 5-10 5-9 6-1 5-11

Wt. 250 140 160 175 290 215 275 180 160 190 310 250 215 160 140 180 155 140 210 150 270 190 170 255 145 150 155 250 155 150 150 270 185 200 240 150

Position OL/DL WR/DB RB/DB TE/LB OL/DE RB/LB OL/DL WR/DL OL/DL TE/LB OL/DL OL/DL OL/DL QB/DB WR/DB TE/DE OL/DE QB/DB OL/DL WR/DB OL/DL OL/DL WR/LB OL/DL WR/LB RB/DE OL/DL OL/DL RB/LB RB/LB WR/DB OL/DL OL/DE OL/DL OL/DL WR/DB

yards. Miracle also scored nine rushing touchdowns for the Rockets, three of which came in the team’s 43-29 loss to Miami Valley Christian Academy in week five of the regular season. Miracle put on a show for his home fans, rushing for 358 yards on 30 carries in the game. He also caught a pass for 15 yards, one of his seven catches for 52 yards on the season. Defensively, Logan Fishback ended the 2015 campaign second on the team with 67 tackles. The only player with more than Fishback was Newton, who tallied 75 solo tackles as well as a fumble recovery last season. Newton led

the team in receptions in 2015, hauling in 14 passes. However, that translated to just 177 yards for the Rockets. Matthew Jenkins only had 11 catches, but he totaled 325 yards and a touchdown, including a long of 56 yards. Groeber played primarily on the offensive and defensive lines for Clermont Northeastern. Defensively, he totaled 29 solo tackles and a halfsack for the Rockets last year. Only one opponent is different for the Rockets in 2016. The team replaces Jefferson Township on their schedule with St. Bernard, a squad that went 3-6 in 2015. That game will be held at CNE

in week four of the regular season, on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. The Rockets open the 2016 season with a rivalry match with Fayetteville. The Rocket Trophy is on the line when CNE faces their future SBAAC foe on Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. The team’s home opener is one week later, on Friday Sept. 2 against Amelia at 7:30 p.m. Clermont Northeastern’s third game of the season, a road trip to Hillsboro for a contest against the Hillsboro Indians, will be played on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7:30. CNE lost the matchup between the two teams last year.

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P AGE 10 - 2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW

2016 F OOTBALL P REVIEW - P AGE 11

Trojans preparing for their ‘One Last Ride’

Name Aaron Johnston #22 Arnett Corey #20 Ben Weathers #25 Brennan Eldridge #4 Cainan Miles #77 Cameron Hood #58 Colin Speer #64 Devon Howard #62 Eli Ulsh #73 Elijah Johnson #6 Evan Shirley #12 Isaiah Toole #13 Jacob French #18 Jason Chandler #19 Kat Richey #89 Logan Abner #55 Trey Krista #10 Bubba Chambers #61 Chris Wilson #71 David Jones #24 Elijah Beck #63 Gunnar Johnson #31

O D D P A G E S

2016 Glen Este Trojans Roster

Hayden Cunningham #15

PHOTO / PROVIDED

The Glen Este Trojans won eight games in 2015, qualifying for the playoffs in the process. One year later, the team prepares for the final season of football at Glen Este High School with lofty goals for the season.

BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor

One last ride. That’s the mantra the Glen Este football team has followed since the beginning of the season, the final football campaign for the Trojans before the merger next year. If the 2016 season is anything like the 2015 one was, it’s going to be one wild curtain call. The Trojans went 8-2 in the regular season last year, with both of their losses coming to Eastern Cincinnati Conference foes Kings and Turpin. The Spartans eliminated Glen Este from the postseason as well. Regardless, head coach Nick Ayers said last season’s team was full of both talent and experience. “We had a really good, experienced team,” Ayers said. “There were a lot of seniors and a lot of guys who were very, very good football players.” There were 21 seniors on Glen Este’s roster last year, all of whom had played under Ayers for four

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seasons. That kind of continuity helped the team stay consistent and know their respective roles on the field. “All of those guys were experienced in how we did things,” Ayers said. “They were leaders for a couple years. That was the fourth year we had our staff together, and that was my fourth year of coaching. We had a routine down of who was going to do what, and everybody knew where they were going.” This season, with so many players gone, Ayers said the team had to push the reset button. “We started over,” Ayers said. “We had to find new leadership in new guys, find some guys who were going to help out early and start over.” Some of those players who will have to step up will be sophomores, according to Ayers, but the coach added the team’s senior leaders have done a great job guiding the underclassmen. “We’re going to have eight sophomores that will be with us

early on in the season that will get a lot of time, if not starts,” Ayers said. “The biggest surprise is that this senior class has just taken over the leadership role. I think they have so many doubters that they just came in and took over. They left no doubt about what was going on, who was going to be a leader, how practice was going to be run. They’ve exceeded any expectation that me or my staff could have.” Ayers said watching his seniors take over the leadership roles on the team made him realize he needed to make an adjustment as to how he coaches some of the younger players. “Even though you don’t really see those kids watching how other kids lead, taking bits and pieces and making it their own, it really came out,” Ayers said. “I really need to start digging deeper into the program and helping these kids be leaders earlier. Some of them See Trojans, Page 11

Isaiah Hein #80 Jaxson Kees #52 Joey Floccari #1 Justin Petty #13 Mason Dance #35 Matt Beach #45 Nick Hinton #3 Nolan Simmons #54 Owen May #78 Robby Rinckel #16 Shane Smith #8 Taylor Jones #60 Trey Bowman #81 Tyler Steinker #7 Wyatt Guethlein #76 Zak Raper #67 Devin Williams #23 Jules Miller #21 Lorenzo Jones #9 Matt Lewis #2

Grade 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10

Ht. 5-7 5-11 5-8 5-10 6-1 5-7 5-9 5-11 5-11 6-0 6-3 6-0 6-0 6-1 5-4 5-8 6-0 6-0 6-3 5-8 5-10 6-0 5-8 5-6 5-8 5-11 5-11 5-11 5-11 5-11 6-0 6-0 5-9 5-10 6-0 5-8 6-3 6-2 6-1 5-8 5-9 5-4 5-10

Wt. 155 175 140 145 225 157 166 163 207 205 175 150 140 160 115 186 185 250 205 165 225 205 140 135 175 200 160 160 175 175 180 260 170 180 205 125 160 270 225 135 155 140 160

Position HB LB DB WR, DB DL OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL OL, DL RB, DB QB WR K WR K OL, DL DB OL, DL OL, DL LB OL, DL FB, ILB WR WR, DB OL, DL WR, DB WR, DB HB LB WR OL, DL OL LB DB OL, DL WR, DB WR, DB OL OL, DL DB DB WR, DB QB, DB

Trojans: Team-first in 2016 Continued from page 11

have just grown up over the past year, the way they act, walk, talk and how they treat people. Everything they do has created this program, along with the added pressure of the school shutting down.” With the Amelia-Glen Este merger looming, Ayers said simply adding an expiration date to the season has helped jump-start his team this season. “We have 10 football weeks left, not counting playoffs,” Ayers said. “When you put a timetable on it, and you’re wiping it off the face of the earth, it adds a bit to it. Our kids have taken that and used it as a total motivator.” Ayers tabbed senior running back/defensive end Elijah Johnson as a player who could make a difference this season for the Trojans as they look to go out a winner. “Johnson has two Division I offers,” Ayers said. “He’s super athletic and does a good job. His younger brother Gunnar Johnson is a defensive end and outside linebacker, he does a great job. Our quarterback, Evan Shirley, is going to be a one-year starter. He was behind Tyler Pilcher for three years. I think he’s going to have a great, all-league type year. That’s the expectation of him since he’s grown so much.” Shirley can’t catch the balls he throws, so he needs some help on the outside. Ayers said the team’s receiving corps looks solid this year as well. “We’ve got some junior wide receivers in Tyler Steinker and Joey Floccari,” Ayers said. “Nick Hinton looks good out of the slot. Aaron Johnston, a senior, looks really good.” A potent offense will be crucial for a team that faces a tough slate of games in 2016. The Trojans face three teams that made the postseason last year, two of whom, Kings and Turpin, are conference foes. Ayers said the team’s schedule is one of the most difficult in the state, and they have to be mentally prepared for difficult games. “Our schedule’s tough,” Ayers said. “We have one of the toughest Division II schedules. We’re in the toughest region, we’re in the best

Division II conference in the state, and we think that with these kids it goes well beyond the lines. You have to develop their mental aspect to give them that competitive advantage, that one thing they have to hang on to each game.” The team opens the season with a road contest at Princeton that is a part of the 2016 Skyline Crosstown Showdown. The contest marks Glen Este’s third appearance in the Showdown and the team’s first since 2007. Ayers said he likes the exposure the games get the Trojans and added he believes the team’s hard-working style is why they earn their spot in the event. “It’s great,” Ayers said. “We’ve had a TV game every year, and our kids are always entertaining when we play. It shows that our kids have great amounts of effort. It’s the mentality of a Clermont County kid getting after it, going to play hard regardless of the opponent. I think those games should be on TV every

year because our kids do play so hard, and them putting us on says other people agree with what we’re doing.” As the team prepares for their final season of play, Ayers said they want to go out a winner, adding expectations from outside the program only feed their desire. “Every year, you want to win a league title,” Ayers said. “Every year, you want to go to the playoffs. Glen Este hasn’t had an outright league title since the late 60s. That’s always a goal in our mind, and you think that with all of the talent, if we were going to win, we would’ve won it last year. We use that as motivation, that people are looking past us. We are going to compete in every game, we have to be able to make those plays. That’s what it’s going to come down to.” The Trojans will open their home schedule on Sept. 9 with a 7 p.m. matchup against Mount Healthy.