2023 Paint Valley Bearcats Football Preview

BAINBRIDGE – After playing in the Division VI state playoffs for the past three seasons, the Paint Valley Bearcats have high hopes and goals once again for the 2023 season as they are set to embark on a tough 10-game regular-season slate that will be a welcome challenge.

Paint Valley — who is coached by 11-year head coach (fourth year at PVHS) Corey Dye — is coming off a 7-5 season where they were 5-2 in the Scioto Valley Conference in 2022, as they qualified for the Division VI playoffs where they faced Huntington for a 50-6 win, followed by a playoff loss to Allen East by a 49-0 score.

The experience of reaching the playoffs the past three seasons will only make the Bearcats better for ’23, as they are replacing four-year varsity quarterback Cavan Cooper (All-Ohio last year), and they are facing a season without senior Dom Chambers, who tore his ACL at a summer camp.

Despite those big changes in their lineup, a lot has stayed the same, as there are six starters returning on both sides of the football and a total of eight seniors on the ’23 team.

The seniors are: Bryson Dunham, Dom Chambers, Justin Pence, Gavin Kingery, Hunter Freeman, Caiden Fauber, Peyton Bell and Reid Lanham.

“The first thing that has impressed me is the senior group and their leadership,” Dye said. “This is the first group that I’ve had that I’ve seen all the way through the program. I had them when they were freshmen, and here they are seniors, so they’re my first group that’s gone all the way through. They’re really special to me.

“Their work ethic is really impressive. It’s been really impressive this offseason, between the workouts and lifting, playing other sports and still finding time to train and lift and get strong. Just their desire to want to take this program and do something that it hasn’t done before, and that’s really a goal of theirs. They would like to obviously win the SVC, and then make a playoff run in Division VI, Region 24, but I’ve been really pleased with their effort, just their dedication to Paint Valley football.”

Dye spoke more in depth about his senior class.

“Peyton Bell, he had a monster year for us as an offensive lineman,” he said. “He’s a collegiate player, and he’s a super aggressive player. He was a part of an offensive line that blocked for over 4,800-plus yards last year. Reid Lanham played tight end for us, and Bryson Dunham had a big year for us on offense. He scored some critical touchdowns for us to help us win some games. He’s one of those kids who’s really undersized but you can’t measure him. He’s fast, got a lot of heart, a lot of hustle.

“Justin Pence, he started on defense for us, and he had a pretty good year last year. He’s really worked his tail off in the weight room to get stronger and faster and he plays safety for us. Hunter Freeman started on the d-line, and he had a real good, big year for us. I think he led defensive linemen in tackles and tackles for loss.

“Gavin Kingery started on the offensive line for us at center,” Dye continued. “He’ll be back. Then we had a move-in, Caiden Fauber, so we’re pretty excited about him and where he might be able to fit in our program. He’s a really hard worker. And then Dom Chambers, unfortunately, tore his ACL at Ashland’s camp. So he had surgery two months ago, and there’s a slight chance he might be able to play like in the later part of the season. He was a 1,200-yard back.”

Dye spoke highly of Chambers and how much he means to the Paint Valley program as last season, he scored 12 touchdowns and averaged 8.5 yards per carry. On defense, he totaled 405-plus sacks, four tackles for loss, three sacks and had an interception.

“It’s hard to replace a player like Dom as he’s a leader. He’s a hard worker. He does everything right. He’s a collegiate football player. His goal is to play in college, which he will, and he has a lot of schools looking at him,” Dye said.

“It’s just unfortunate that he was going to a camp to try to get recruited, and unfortunately, had his injury. Some things you can’t control. The one thing he does control is how he’s going to handle this.”

Having a balanced attack on offense is key for success in ’23 for the Bearcats, as Dye said the offensive expectations are simple, and a lot of that will involve the quarterback play of Preston Fauber, Owen Donahue and Drez Bolin, as the Bearcats look to replaced graduated four-year starter Cavan Cooper.

“I feel like we’ve got to have that balanced attack like we always try to achieve, meaning we’ve got to be able to run the football in order to be able to set up the pass and vice versa,” Dye said. “We’ve got to be able to pass in order to run.

“We like having that balanced attack, and it really comes down to the whole quarterback battle between Preston Fauber, Owen Donahue and Drez Bolin. Those are the three battling it out. They all have strengths and they all have weaknesses, and we’ve been really impressed with all of them. They can all throw the ball effectively and manage the game.”

Though the Bearcats have to replace SVC Lineman of the Year Roman Wisecup, there are battles going on for the vacant o-line position as well.

“Replacing a guy like Wisecup who was SVC Offensive Lineman of the Year is obviously a challenge for us, but we’ve got some guys that are battling for that tackle spot,” Dye said. “James Annon, he’s really impressed us on tape as being one of the guards, and Zach Tennant is impressive too. Hunter Freeman, we’ve been working him a little bit on offense. We’ve really been impressed with those guys and how they’re really picking the offense up. Those guys have worked really hard this offseason.”

Junior Braylon Robertson — a junior — returns following a sophomore season that saw the running back and linebacker rush for 1,372 yards, 14 touchdowns and average 8.2 yards per carry on offense. Defensively, he led the Bearcats in tackles (106), plus he had one tackle for loss, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Dye described Lanham as a “force at defensive end,” and others on the defense who will be looked upon to make an impact include Lanham (DE), Abbott Johnson (LB), Gage Wagner (CB), Carson Free (DB), Kingery, CJ Manion and Annon.

Last season as a sophomore, Free was Paint Valley’s leading receiver at 19.1 yards per reception, 13 touchdowns, and had over 1,000 yards receiving. On defense, he totaled 50-plus tackles, one TFL, four interceptions and had a fumble recovery. His receiving numbers set a new PVHS receiving record, breaking a mark that had stood since 2003.

Dye said an important element with his team in ’23 is the number of sophomores he has on the roster and how they will be counted on this season.

“I’ve got 24 sophomores on this team, and a lot of the sophomores are really counted on to play, so we’re fairly young in some areas,” he said. “We’re not going to let that be an excuse. We feel like we’re going to be pretty competitive with who we’ve got.

“I feel like this team, they really obviously have put the work in, but more importantly, they’ve really gelled. Their chemistry is really impressive. Over the last two weeks, I’ve really kind of seen them kind of bond, and they’ve really become close.”

Besides the players mentioned above, the roster of Paint Valley also includes: Colton Yoakum, Willy Wheaton, Carson Boggs, Ashton Crowder, Jase Rinehart, Parker Zamora, Jayden Price, Eli Smith, Kyle Bennett, Nick Boggs, Brayden Kirkbride, Trevin Tuttle, Owen Mather, Wynn Williams, Miles Blackstone, Xavier Yates, Kaden Young, Logan Hamlin, Bryson Neff, Bryce Blanton, Caleb Saunders, TJ Pettiford, Gabe Dehoyas, Colton McNeal, Keagon Cox, Austin Garrison, Corbin Smith, Kam Butler, Brady Cowman, River Mettler, Gavin Bell, Camden Norman and Kaden Wells.

The SVC will be challenging again, as Dye spoke about the conference and its competitiveness entering the ’23 season.

“Without a doubt, Unioto, I feel like they’re the team to beat. Obviously, Zane Trace coming off the year that they had last year, they still have some really productive players,” Dye said. “Piketon has a lot returning. Westfall, I think, is a really sneaky team. With their coaching staff and their scheme, they’ve done a really good job.

“Give Huntington credit, [Clay] Beeler is taking over as head coach there. I feel like really he’s got that program headed in the right direction. Southeastern, they started a lot of young guys last year. so I think you know that they’ll be competitive as well. Adena’s got a new coach [Doug Miller]. He’s got a really good record, and he’s had a lot of success. He’s coming from Fisher Catholic, where he was able to take them on a nice playoff run several years ago.”

The non-conference schedule for Paint Valley starts the season vs. Blanchester, followed with a game at West Jefferson and a home game in Week 3 against McClain, renewing a rivalry that last took place in 2010.

“Greenfield McClain is just down the road. We’ve been trying to really bring that rivalry back just because we’re 12 miles away, and really, we felt like it was important to the community to bring that back because there’s a lot of our players who have family that are from there and vice versa,” Dye said.

“We feel like it’s one of those games that’s going to bring a large crowd and give our kids an opportunity to play in a big game.

“McClain has got a lot of talent, got some tremendous athletes, and they are well coached by Coach (Keith) Penwell.

“I just know that that’s going to be one of those big battle tests that we have going into starting our league,” Dye continued. “We have a trophy called the Battle of 41. We’re starting a new tradition. It’s a road sign trophy and it’s called the Battle of 41, so we decided to come up with that and just to make it even more fun.”

The PVHS head coach gave some final thoughts before the start of the ’23 season begins.

“I’m really proud of this group of kids. I’m proud of the coaching staff that I have. We’ve worked extremely hard to get this team prepared and ready, and the big thing is we’ve got to go,” Dye said.

“We’ve got to be ready. Our schedule is not easy, and our kids know that, so hopefully all that hard work that we put in in the offseason will pay off for our kids.”

The Paint Valley Bearcats begin their ’23 season on Friday, Aug. 18 at home against Blanchester at 7 p.m.