- Chiefs replacing St. Clair with St. Clair
Tavien St. Clair wowed the fans for over three years throwing the football for the Chiefs. He owns almost every passing record at BHS and we will all be watching on Saturdays this year anticipating him getting on the field at Ohio Stadium. Bellefontaine will replace one St. Clair with another as younger brother Reign St. Clair will take over as the signal caller for the Chiefs. Reign saw a little action last season when Tavien injured his knee against Indian Lake. He’ll step in and look to lead the Chiefs to their sixth straight playoff appearance and attempt to knock off the London Red Raiders atop the Kenton Trail. BHS will lean on senior running back Carter Caudill (1,040 yards in 2024) to take some pressure off the young QB.
2. How will West Liberty-Salem follow-up their State Semifinal season?
It was a dream season for the West Liberty-Salem Tigers in 2024. They roared through the regular season 9-1 and made school history by advancing to the State Semifinal. Now they need to replace the QB, RB, top two receivers, and a defense that was top heavy with seniors. Plus, they have a new head coach (more on that below). Normally, you would think rebuild, but at WL-S they don’t rebuild, they reload.
3. Benjamin Logan looks to build on strong end to last season
The Raiders were 0-7 last season, but put together three straight wins to take some much needed momentum into the offseason. Paul Jenne returns for season three with a young, but experienced team looking to make waves in the CBC Mad River and perhaps push for a playoff spot. After some tough years, the Raiders have some excitement heading into this season.
4. The Pirates go from Orsborne to Orsborne
Just like Bellefontaine, the Riverside Pirates will replace their starting quarterback with a younger brother. Gavin Orsborne graduated and Brody Orsborne will now fill the role as QB for the Pirates. Brody is an athletic sophomore who started varsity basketball as a freshman. Brody will get battle tested early with the Pirates at Ansonia in week 1 and back home with Northeastern for week 2.
5. WL-S starts the Brad Jarzab era
Dan McGill decided to step down after more than a decade at the helm of the Tigers. He left on a high-note making a run all the way to the final four in DV last season. WL-S stayed “in house” for their next head coach as they hired Brad Jarzab in February. Jarzab is a Shawnee grad, but has been on the WL-S staff since 2018. He has his work cut out for him replacing several starters and contributors to last year’s team.
6. Indian Lake looks to replace key players
Different year, same story for Indian Lake. Coach Jonn Rapp entered 2024 with a young offensive line and a new quarterback, but made it work to an 8-2 record and a march to the Regional Final in DV. This year he replaces his starting QB, top rushing RB, and his all-state player Quest Clay. The Lakers will see a new opponent on the schedule in week 1 as they face Bath. Hopefully a new opponent can change the trend for the Lakers. They haven’t won an opening game since 2017.
7. Riverside opens new turf field
Last year we asked the question who would be next to put in a turf field. 50 bonus points if you picked the Riverside Pirates. This summer they installed their new field and they will officially open the new complex in week 2 when they host Northeastern.
8. New playoff format (again) this season
The OHSAA decided that 16 teams in each region was too much. They trimmed it back to twelve starting this season. The top four seeds in each region will receive a first-round bye and the higher seeds will now be able to host the first three weeks of the playoffs.
9. Playoff streaks
Mechanicsburg made it twelve straight trips to the playoffs last season and they hold the longest streak in the area. They may need to improve on their 7-3 record this season because that was only good enough for 14th in their region last year. Riverside and Bellefontaine are the next closest making the playoffs the last five years.
10. Who will be the surprise team this season?
We’re pushing our chips in the middle on Benjamin Logan. The Raiders won their final three games of 2024. As you look at their roster they are still young, BUT a lot of their players were on the field last season. Wyatt Predmore took his lumps as a freshman QB last year and is ready to make strides forward as a sophomore. Most of the defense returns and they must improve to stay competitive. They allowed 30 points per game last year. However, looking at the games, the defense was on the field A LOT. They need their offense to score and sustain drives to help the defense. We’re picking the Raiders to double their win total and grab six wins this season…and maybe sniff the playoffs.
11. Will the CBC Mad River carousel of winners continue?
Indian Lake won the Mad River last season extending the streak to 7 years since the Mad River has had a repeat winner. Indian Lake is the last team to win back-to-back Mad River titles in 2016 & 2017. The Mad River is wide open again this year. Shawnee and North Union both had disappointing 2024 seasons while Graham continues to rebuild. Northwestern finished 6-4 last year and will look to make some noise. Will the Mad River come down to Indian Lake vs. Benjamin Logan on October 10?
12. Can anyone stop London in the CBC Kenton Trail?
The Red Raiders made it four straight Kenton Trail titles last season and they made it look easy. They rolled through the regular season having a running clock in EVERY game until they hit the postseason. Can Bellefontaine exercise the demons and knock the Red Raiders off the throne or will another team like Jonathan Alder or Urbana be able to pull off the upset this season?
13. Who wins the OHC North?
Last year came down to the last week when WL-S outlasted Fairbanks in a slugfest. Both teams were hit hard by graduation. Mechanicsburg returns a lot of talent on offense including QB Conley Bogard. West Jefferson will look to rebound from a down season with senior QB Austin Buescher who has thrown for over 8,000 yards and 80 touchdowns in his career.
14. Circle these games on your calendar
8/29 Mechanicsburg @ Urbana-Great to have these two county teams facing each other
8/29 West Liberty-Salem @ Benjamin Logan-An old WCOC matchup as the Tigers face the Raiders
9/12 Urbana @ Graham-The Battle of Champaign County will see Graham look to rebound after last year’s loss
10/3 London @ Bellefontaine-To be the champ, you have to beat the champ. The path to a Kenton Trail title runs through London
10/10 Indian Lake @ Benjamin Logan-The Backyard Brawl will be a key matchup in the CBC Mad River this season
10/17 Urbana @ Bellefontaine-We’re all thankful this rival game returned to the schedule last season and is here to stay
10/24 Mechanicsburg @ West Liberty-Salem-The annual rival game is always a must see
