2025 Highland County Boys Soccer Preview
The 2025 Highland County boys soccer season is here, and there is much in store for the five schools competing from Highland County this fall.
The Hillsboro Indians look to add to their 12-win season from 2024, while the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs are coming off a ’24 campaign where they were district runners-up, as this season they have a roster that also wants to continue the success of their current 12-year conference championship streak.
McClain wants to be improved from a year ago, while the Fairfield Lions are set to battle in a tough Southern Hills Athletic Conference. The Whiteoak Wildcats team looks to add to their success from last year, as they won 10 games in their first season playing in the SHAC at the varsity level.
Below are previews of all five Highland County boys soccer teams.
Hillsboro Indians
Head Coach: Ben Howland
Conference: Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC)
Division: IV
2024 Overall Record: 12-6-0
2024 FAC Record: 5-3
The Hillsboro Indians are coming off a 12-win season (12-6) where they had six seniors on a roster that doubled their win total from the previous season. This year, the Indians have a total of six seniors, along with four juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen on their 2025 roster.
The Indians lost a total of 152 points from their top four players from a year ago due to graduation, including 54 goals and 44 assists.
Coming off a second-place finish in the Frontier Athletic Conference (tied with Jackson), the Indians will look to a roster that includes seniors Jacob Seaman, Ryan Howland, Cameron Burkard, Cooper Swope, Mathias Hostetler and Dylan Bender.
Last season, Howland totaled 32 points, including 10 goals and 12 assists. Swope as a junior finished with eight points (two goals, four assists). Hostetler ended last season with three points (one goal, one assist), Seaman collected one assist and Bender scored one goal a season ago.
Hillsboro’s juniors for the ’25 season are Kameron Evers, Mason Harper, Riley Gallimore, and Grant Shepard. Evers a season ago finished with two assists.
The sophomores this season for the Indians are Aiden Thomas, Brandon Schellinger, Korbin Stratton and Easton Inman. Inman in ’24 totaled seven points with three goals and one assist.
Hillsboro’s freshmen class consists of Owen Davis, Mason Rinal, Tyler Bender and Kyle Thoroman.
In ’24, the FAC champions were the Chillicothe Cavaliers with a conference mark of 8-0, as the Indians and Jackson Ironmen both finished with 5-3 records in conference play.
This season for the Indians, their FAC schedule starts with a game at Miami Trace on Aug. 26 at 5 p.m., then later in the season they face MTHS at home on Sept. 18. The rest of Hillsboro’s FAC schedule includes Chillicothe (8-28 away, 9-23 home), Jackson (9-11 away, 9-30 home), McClain (9-16 home, 10-2 away) and Washington (9-29 home).
Hillsboro’s non-conference schedule begins with their season opener on Friday, Aug. 15 as they’ll face North Adams in the annual “Friday Night Futbol” opener, this season at North Adams High School at 7 p.m.
Hillsboro in ’25 will also face the following non-conference opponents: Wilmington (8-18 away), Fairfield (8-19 away), Eastern (9-8 home), Western Brown (9-15 home), Lynchburg-Clay (9-22 away), Peebles (10-6 away) and Clinton-Massie (10-7 away).
Hillsboro’s first home game of the ’25 season will be on Monday, Sept. 8 against the aforementioned Eastern Warriors at 7 p.m., which is their sixth game of the season.
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McClain Tigers
Head Coach: John Gill
Conference: Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC)
Division: IV
2024 Overall Record: 3-14-1
2024 FAC Record: 0-8
McClain begins the 2025 season with John Gill returning as the head coach of the program, as he and his team are working toward improvement with lessons learned and gained from a season ago.
In ’24, the Tigers finished with three wins (3-14-1) overall, as they played in the Frontier Athletic Conference and they also had a strong schedule played away from the conference. The Tigers this season return to play another strong slate of games, as the Tigers’ roster consists of 17 players with five seniors, two juniors, six sophomores and four freshmen.
McClain’s seniors are captains Creed Davis and Brynnen Babbs, along with Ethan Eakins, Zion Barron and Jayden Lanning. Juniors this season are Case Robbins and Colton Dennis.
Davis last season was an All-FAC selection in for the Frontier Athletic Conference as he was their leading scorer in ‘24.
The sophomores for ’25 are Todd Warren, Bryce Barber, Cade Raike, Eyan Hill, Zayne Knisley and Brayden Shover. New to the roster this season are freshmen Henry Hickok, Lucas Banks, Janson Allison and Ethan Varney.
Last season, the Tigers defeated Piketon, Peebles and Westfall, plus they tied Eastern Brown.
This season, McClain’s FAC schedule starts with Chillicothe at home on Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. Later in the season, MHS will travel to face Chillicothe on Sept. 18. The rest of the Tigers’ FAC schedule includes Jackson (9-9 home, 9-25 away), Miami Trace (9-11 away, 9-30 home) and Hillsboro (9-16 away, 10-2 home).
The non-conference schedule for McClain includes the following games, starting with their season opener on Friday, Aug. 15 on the road at Unioto. From there the rest of the non-conference opponents are Logan Elm (8-18 away), Zane Trace (8-21 home), Peebles (8-23 away), Westfall (8-28 home), Circleville (9-8 home), Eastern Brown (10-4 away), Fairfield (10-6 home and Whiteoak (10-8 away).
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Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs
Head Coach: Jason West
Conference: Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC)
Division: V
2024 Overall Record: 14-4-2
2024 SHAC Record: 7-0-1
Coming off a strong season in 2024 by winning at least a share of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship for the past 12 seasons, the Mustangs are looking to continue that streak of championship soccer going into 2025.
LCHS in ’24 went 14-4-2, where they were Division V SE district runners-up. From that team, the Mustangs lost a total of 44 goals and 19 assists due to graduated seniors from the ’24 season. Lynchburg-Clay’s defense in ’24 was strong a season ago, as they allowed just 21 goals, including 12 shutouts.
The Mustangs — who are coached by Jason West — have a roster of 17 players with four seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores and one freshman.
Lynchburg-Clay’s seniors are Elam Faust, Wyatt Osborn, Caden Boone and MaCade Boyd.
In ’24, Faust totaled four goals and one assist for nine points. Osborn totaled four assists in ’24, and Boone scored one goal last season.
The junior class for the Mustangs includes Aric Slack, Mason Fisher, Sam Turner, Alexander VanFleet and Levi Fields.
Slack in ’24 totaled one goal and one assist, while Fisher finished with six goals and four assists for 16 points. VanFleet ended last season with four goals and five assists for 13 points. The Mustangs also had Fields score one goal last season.
LC’s seven sophomores are Linkin Barnett, Tavion Huguely, Brayden Warne, Quin Wells, Darryn Odum, Harley Lewis and Tanner Roberts. The lone freshman is Hayden West. Wells last season finished with two goals and one assist.
The schedule for the Mustangs is, once again, competitive in the SHAC and in their non-conference games too. LCHS in their non-conference games will play Minford (8-16 away), Unioto (8-20 home), Ironton St. Joseph (8-23 home), Western Brown (9-18 away), South Webster (9-20 home), Hillsboro (9-22 home), Clinton-Massie (9-24 home), Wheelersburg (9-27 away) and Williamsburg (10-6 away).
Lynchburg-Clay’s SHAC schedule includes Peebles (8-18 away), Eastern (8-25 away), Ripley (8-27 home), West Union (9-10 away), Whiteoak (9-29 home), North Adams (10-3 home), Fairfield (10-8 away) and Fayetteville (10-11 home).
The Mustangs start their 2025 season on Saturday, Aug. 16 on the road in non-conference play against the Minford Falcons at 1 p.m.
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Fairfield Lions
Head Coach: Jacob Alexander
Conference: Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC)
Division: V
2024 Overall Record: 5-14-0
2024 SHAC Record: 3-5-0
There is nothing easy about playing in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, and for the Fairfield Lions they are set to play another tough schedule for the 2025 season, but they are also a team that will be very young with 17 players, 13 of those players being freshmen or sophomores.
Fairfield went 5-14 a season ago, and the team coached by Jacob Alexander is in a bit of a refocus so to speak with the aforementioned 13 freshmen and sophomore players, as the roster includes five freshmen, eight sophomores, one junior and three seniors.
The seniors this season are William Rowe, Aiden Teeters and Quentin McIntosh, while the lone junior is Mason Lightle.
Teeters last season finished with two assists, and McIntosh totaled one assist. Lightle made one save at keeper in ’24 in one game appearance at the position.
The sophomore class consists of Logan Burgess, Colton Durose, Noah Eldridge, Patrick Hughes, Anderson Humphreys, Joel Matthews, Silas Newman and Parker Pierce.
Burgess in ’24 as a freshman totaled two goals and one assist. Eldridge finished with one goal last season, while Humphreys had 13 saves in 16 SOG against him last season.
Freshmen for the Lions are Vinny Ballard, Liam Bender, Cam Caudill, Blake Walters and Easton Zink.
The Lions have to replace 15 of their 19 goals scored from last season due to graduation, plus replace 163 saves from the ’24 season as well. Fairfield’s wins last season were versus Ripley, Whiteoak, McClain and West Union, and they won a tournament game against Portsmouth Clay.
Fairfield’s schedule starts with two home games, followed by five consecutive away games.
The SHAC schedule for the Lions has games against North Adams (8-25 away), Fayetteville (8-26 away), Eastern (8-28 away), Peebles (9-12 home), Ripley (9-15 away), West Union (10-1 home) and Lynchburg-Clay (10-8 home).
Fairfield’s non-conference schedule is Clinton-Massie (8-15 home), Hillsboro (8-19 home), Greeneview (9-9 away), Clermont Northeastern (9-11 away), Portsmouth Clay (9-16 away), Western Latham (9-22 home), Northwest (9-24 away), Westfall (9-25 home), McClain (10-6 away) and Lynchburg-Clay (10-8 home).
The Lions are scheduled to start the ’25 season on Friday, Aug. 15 at home against the Clinton-Massie Falcons with a 5 p.m. start.
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Whiteoak Wildcats
Head Coach: Adam Schelling
Conference: Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC)
Division: V
2024 Overall Record: 10-7-0
2024 SHAC Record: 3-5-0
The Whiteoak Wildcats are about to embark on their second varsity season since making the jump from a JV program to a varsity program last season. Coached by Adam Schelling, the Wildcats have a co-ed team that last season finished with a 10-7 overall record, with a 3-5 mark in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
The Wildcats have a program roster of six seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores and 11 freshmen on their co-ed team that will compete in boys competition. WHS must replace graduated senior from ’24 Tyler Wessner who led the team with 24 goals.
Seniors for Whiteoak in ’25 are Gabe Ulrey, Shawn Mitchell-Cox, Shane Mitchell-Cox, Kenyon Hughes, Cody Richards and Borja Esteban.
Shawn Mitchell-Cox in ’24 finished with three goals, while Hughes had one goal and seven assists.
Whiteoak’s junior class consists of Levi Smallwood, Gideon Swingle, Abe Flader, Tre Lamb and Preston Groverson.
Flader as a sophomore in ’24 scored 13 goals and had one assist. Lamb finished ’24 with two goals.
The sophomores are Gabriel Ullon, Levi Flader, Chancellor Lister, Rowan Roades, Chris Wessner, Jacob Gibson and Jillian Lucas.
Chris Wessner in ’24 totaled one goal and three assists, while Lucas had one assist.
New to the high school program are freshmen Lucas Pollard, Konner Arey, Karson Arey, Ella Howard, Keedan Antinore, Wyatt Lister, Jaden Fitzgerald, Maddox Hicks, Evan Richmond, Marley Parsons and Madalynn Oliver.
Whiteoak, playing a boys SHAC schedule, starts with a conference schedule that includes North Adams (8-18 home), Peebles (8-27 away), Fayetteville (9-10 home), Eastern (9-12 home), West Union (9-17 home), Lynchburg-Clay (9-29 away), Ripley (10-1 away) and Fairfield (10-3 away).
There is also the non-conference schedule for the Wildcats, consisting of nine games against New Boston (8-21 home), Northwest (8-25 home), Portsmouth Clay (8-28 away), Western Latham (9-15 away), Westfall (9-18 home), Wellston (9-23 away), Portsmouth (10-6 at Shawnee State University), Felicity (10-7 away) and McClain (10-8 home).
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