Column: 5 thoughts before high school football begins

It isn’t a well-kept secret that I’m a big fan of three levels of football … high school, college and professional. It also isn’t much of a secret that Friday nights watching high school football are maybe my favorite part of the job of being a sports editor.

That said, July 23 marked the official one-month countdown to Week 1 of the 2024 high school football season, and as I prepare to preview the upcoming season for some of the area teams — don’t worry, I’m also working on some previews for soccer and volleyball, too — today football is on my mind. I have some thoughts about the upcoming seasons for the Frontier Athletic Conference and other area teams.

Last season with the playoff expansion, both Hillsboro and McClain qualified for the playoffs with that being the first occurrence in a non-COVID season, and for the first time in quite some time, both the Indians and Tigers won games in FAC play.

There was some success last season that made ’23 a fun year to watch high school football, and before the scrimmages start and the games count in the standings, here are five thoughts I have going into the ’24 high school football season.

1. Can both Hillsboro and McClain qualify for the playoffs again for a second consecutive season?
    
With the playoff expansion beginning last season, the Indians and Tigers each made the playoffs in their respective divisions. Though the games didn’t have winning results for the two Highland County teams in Week 11, getting there was exciting as the Tigers won their Week 10 game against the Indians to help their cause to make the playoffs. Maybe a lot will be on the line in Week 10 once again this season.

2. Hillsboro has to replace a lot of scoring and rushing yards after historic season
    
Not too often does a running back have a season as strong as Austin Barrett had for the Indians last year. Not even mentioning his play on defense as a linebacker, just on offense he was a standout running back with over 1,907 yards rushing, 17 touchdowns and a streak of nine consecutive games (weeks 1-9) of no less than 100 yards rushing a game, including one game of 303 yards.

One player to watch is Jeven Hochstuhl, who will be a junior this season. He rushed for 782 yards in eight games and totaled 115 yards receiving. He also produced on special teams and scored 12 total touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams combined (three receiving, eight rushing, one pick-six). He’s a player whom I can’t wait to watch again this upcoming season, as he can break open a play with his speed and athleticism.

Another returning player to watch for on defense is senior defensive back Nic Burns, who finished the ’23 season with five interceptions. Not only did he tally the five INTs, but he ​​totaled 51 tackles. In all, Burns collected four touchdowns in ’23, three receiving and one pick-six.

The Indians should also have the same quarterback for a second consecutive season, as Mason Dumpert returns for his junior season. There will be others returning for the ’24 season, and we’ll talk about them later this summer in the 2024 season preview.

3. McClain will have big shoes to fill in many spots on roster

The success of six wins last season for the Tigers saw them have a winning record, a Rotary Bowl win and multiple victories in the FAC, plus the program as a whole took a solid step forward in their progression to where they want to be as a competitive program on a yearly basis.
    
In their winning ways, the Tigers had a team full of seniors last year, and like their county counterpart, McClain must replace some big-time players who were varsity starters for multiple seasons.

Two of those players are Andrew Potts and Kaden Penwell, both of whom put up big numbers when they had possession of the ball, plus they will also be deeply missed on defense. Potts was responsible for 1,316 yards, 15 rushing touchdowns and 37 tackles. Also graduated is Penwell, who in eight games had three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, 70 tackles, two forced fumbles and one interception.

Also graduated from MHS are former players Drake Stapleton (QB), Cade Sponcil (ILB/OL), Jayden Allison (DT/C), and Max Eikenberry (WR/DB), all of whom were important players for the six-win season.

All of that said, the exciting thing about covering high school sports is seeing the new players and how they have success when it is their time to shine on the field, and this season MHS will have many new players looking to achieve success starting in 2024.

4. Watch out for the team from Bainbridge

When looking back at last season for the Paint Valley Bearcats, they had eight wins, including a win in the playoffs, plus they were third in the Scioto Valley Conference, and they had an overall record of 8-4.

That was with a new quarterback who is entering his second season with PVHS and third overall as a varsity starter at quarterback. Preston Fauber enters his junior season with PVHS, and having a quarterback on a varsity roster with two years of starting on his résumé is a big deal.

Fauber had over 950 yards rushing last season, over 10 touchdowns and passed for over 1,200 yards. Having a quarterback back with those numbers as a sophomore will be exciting for PVHS this season.

Paint Valley also has running back Braylon Robertson back for his senior season (over 1,400 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns), and also a senior this season is wide receiver Carson Free (over 1,000 yards receiving, 13 touchdowns), and that is just three players back. PVHS also has talented players returning to their offensive and defensive lines, and they will have two linebackers and a defensive tackle returning to their defense, as all three players will be entering their senior seasons (Colton Yoakum, Caleb Saunders and Zach Tennant).

It is easy to say Paint Valley is a team to keep an eye on for the 2024 season, as they have some very good players scheduled to return to the field this season.

5. Jackson is really good at football in the FAC

Since the inception of the Frontier Athletic Conference in 2017, only three teams have a FAC championship football trophy residing at their school, those teams being the Chillicothe Cavaliers (twice), the Hillsboro Indians (once, co-championship) and the Jackson Ironmen, who have won the FAC crown five times with one being a co-championship with HHS in 2018.

JHS has won the football conference title three consecutive seasons with 15 FAC wins in those same seasons, outscoring their conference foes, 766-193. In those three seasons in FAC games, Jackson is outscoring their opponents 51-13 per game.

The Ironmen have a very good football program coached by Andy Hall, one that has dominated the FAC for the most part in football. Their most recent conference loss was against Chillicothe by a 30-27 score in overtime in Week 10 of 2020 (Oct. 2) at CHS.

This season (Weeks 6-10), Jackson will play their FAC opener on Sept. 27 at McClain, followed by the remainder of their conference schedule: vs. Washington, vs. Miami Trace, vs. Hillsboro and at Chillicothe.

It will be interesting to see if any team in the FAC can compete with the Ironmen this season. It won’t be an easy task, as the Ironmen always rebuild their roster into the most competitive team in the conference, but time will tell if any of the other teams in the FAC will be able to be the team that stops JHS from being the top team in ’24.

Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.

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