2024 Football Preview: McClain Tigers

GREENFIELD — The McClain Tigers earned a spot in the Division IV playoffs last season, regained possession of the Rotary Bowl trophy and took a step forward in building their program into a year-to-year contender.

Many of the players from last season who held starting spots and scored a majority of the Tigers’ touchdowns have graduated, but that leaves opportunities ahead for players who return or join the roster for the 2024 football season.

Entering his third season as the Tigers’ head coach, Keith Penwell knows his team is young, but he also knows they have a strong work ethic, and he wants to see how they can improve throughout the upcoming season.

“We’ve had really good numbers in the weight room and conditioning this offseason,” Penwell said. “The kids have worked really hard. I think we’ve gotten to the point where they know ‘OK, if I do this, I am going to be better.’ They’ve worked really hard at it this summer.

“We as coaches come in every day and talk about it like, ‘OK, this kid looked really good today,’ so forth, so on. I feel like by having options, we have a little more depth this year than what we’ve had in the past. I feel like our kids have worked really hard. They’re starting to pick up on things, especially our skill level. I feel like we have some depth, so that’s nice to see. When you have depth, it creates competition, and competition makes you better.”

In ’23, the Tigers finished 14th in the Division IV, Region 16 standings, putting them in the playoffs for the first time in program history in a non-COVID season. McClain held an overall record of 6-5 last season; earned victories in the Frontier Athletic Conference for the first time since 2018, finishing with a 2-3 record in the conference; and had their first overall record of over .500 since 2012.

“I think it sets a tone,” Penwell said of his Tigers making the playoffs last season. “We worked really hard to get to where we were at, and the hard work paid off. I think it sets that tone, like in order to do it again, we’ve got to duplicate that and get a little bit better. I think our guys realize that, and I think they’re excited for the challenge, and I’m excited to see it.”

McClain’s six wins in 2023 were against Adena (41-23), Northwest (14-13), East Clinton (22-6), Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (27-25), Chillicothe (20-17) and Hillsboro (21-13). The losses by MHS in ’23 were against Paint Valley (29-15), Miami Trace (29-20), Washington (49-25) and Jackson (62-14), and their playoff loss was versus Taft (39-7). The Tigers said goodbye to some quality football players at the conclusion of last season, including Andrew Potts, who as a running back had 258 carries for 1,316 yards with 15 rushing touchdowns, and he averaged 5.1 yards per carry. He also caught 16 passes for 170 yards. On defense at linebacker, Potts finished with 37 tackles, four tackles for loss and he caused a fumble. Potts was named All-FAC; First-Team OPSWA All-District (RBs); and Div. IV Honorable Mention All-Ohio (RBs) for his senior year.

Also graduated is Kaden Penwell, who at linebacker totaled 70 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one interception. Playing in eight games in ’23, Penwell at running back totaled 44 carries for 301 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 10 receptions for 140 yards and two touchdown catches. Among his honors for his play his senior year were being named All-FAC; First-Team OPSWA All-District (Defense/LBs); and Div. IV Honorable Mention All-Ohio (LBs).

Also graduated is defensive impact player, linebacker Cade Sponcil, who totaled 108 tackles, two TFL, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns. Sponcil was All-FAC; First-Team OPSWA All-District (Defense/LBs); and Div. IV Honorable Mention All-Ohio (LBs). Another impact player graduated from last season is Jayden Allison, who as a Special Mention OPSWA All-District defensive tackle finished with 65 tackles, two TFL, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

A fifth senior from last season whom the Tigers must replace is wide receiver and defensive back Max Eikenberry, who in ’23 had 19 catches for 269 yards and two touchdowns, plus on defense made 20 tackles and had a pass deflection and four interceptions. Eikenberry was also Special Mention OPSWA All-District.

“Those guys, they are hard to replace, but I feel like our kids are working hard, and they are accepting a challenge. I love those guys that have played for me. I mean, they did it for four years,” Penwell said. “They were a special part of our program, but we’ve got to move on. I’m excited about the new guys. I’m excited about what they bring to the table. I’m excited about their work ethic. I’m excited to see what they can do.”

As successful as the Tigers were last season, it is now time to turn the page, and the ’24 Tigers have players who can also gain success in their football careers, starting with the ’24 season.

Seniors for the Tigers this season are Zane Adams, Riley Cummins, Conner Frazier, Gabriel Gilbert, T.D. Matesic, Cameron Medley, Connor McCune, Dawson McMurry, Tanner O’Connor, Logan Ritchie, Zeke Sexton, Cohen Six, Owen Sykes and Jhett Watson.

Juniors for MHS include Jordan Bell, Keaton Beucler, Carson Chandler, Eli Douglas, Tristan Dowden, Julian Evans, Kaleb Fryer, Clayton Gipson, Carson Netral, Andrew Roeder, Dalton Rowland, Austin Ruddle and Levi Warren.

Sophomores on the McClain roster are Peyton Alexander, Leiland Bond, Ethan Fryer, Charlie Gipson, Isaac Morgan, Ty Morrison, Julian Swan and Noah Sponcil. New to the team this year are freshmen Noah Addis, Gavin Anderson, Brady Binegar, Jason Brown, Conner Chandler, Leland Corey, Hayden Cornell, Mathew Cummins, Bentley Hester, Leland Knedler, Kolton Lamb, Hudson Lovett, Jordan McGinnis, Landon McNeal, Kamden Penwell, Hunter Peabody, Ryan Roberts, Ryan Roeder, Hunter Skaggs and James Zamora.

“It’s new opportunities for new people, and I’m excited for them, to see how they take on the challenge,” Penwell said. “At running back we’ve got multiple guys working at the position right now. We’ve got Owen Sykes, who was our tight end, Y wide receiver, W wide receiver, last year. We moved him to running back.”
“Riley Cummins is in there, too,” Penwell said.

“We’ve got Jordan Bell and Keaton Beucler working in there. Tanner O’Connor is working in the mix as well. We have a freshman, Hayden Cornell, who has been working with that group. We’ve got some other good running backs that are working hard, so I feel like we have some depth there. We’re just going to see how well they adjust and how well they play.”

At quarterback this season is senior Cohen Six, who has made some starts in his varsity career. Also at quarterback are junior Eli Douglas and freshman Hudson Lovett.

“We’ve got a number of quarterbacks right now. We’ve got Cohen Six, who is a senior. He was the backup last year, so he’s working there,” Penwell said. “He knows the offense. He’s doing a pretty good job for us. We’ve got Eli Douglas, he’s a junior, little different type of quarterback. He can run a little bit, and then we’ve got Hudson Lovett, who’s a freshman that’s looked pretty good as well.

“It’s been very important to me (having a returning player at quarterback), because you’ve got to be the captain out on the field, and you’ve got to get people where they need to be. If there’s audibles, you’ve got to make sure people move and know what they’re doing, so it is nice to have that. Cohen is doing a good job leading right now, and he’s doing a good job working with the younger ones.”

There are a number of players battling on the offensive line this preseason, and Penwell enjoys seeing his players compete as he works on adding new players into the mix for the ’24 season.

“We’ve got a couple guys back from last year, including Conner Frazier and Kaleb Fryer,” Penwell said. “Austin Ruddle has been working in the center. Kam Penwell, Levi Warren, Noah Sponcil and Zeke Sexton all have been working hard as Zeke got some time last year, so he’s not new to the situation, but he’s been doing a really good job for us, leading us. He’s really done a good job working and helping the younger players as well.

“Gabe Gilbert is a returner from last year, so we’ve got a few returners with some experience, and then we’ve got some new guys that don’t have any. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

“Leland Corey is a freshman that’s done a pretty good job so far,” Penwell continued. “At Y, our tight end is totally new, but Tristan Dowden has been working at tight end and Jhett Watson. They’ve been going in at tight end and working back and forth. It’s a lot of new opportunities for new kids, and I’m excited to see how they handle it.”

There is also a wide receiver group that’s going to need a player to fill the stats left by Eikenberry, who graduated.

“We’ve got Connor McCune returning. He’s a returning wide receiver for us, and then Zane Adams, who didn’t play last year, came back this year, and we’ve got Cam Medley working in there,” Penwell said. “There’s a bunch of guys at wide receiver that’ve been working in, a bunch of young guys.

“Eli Douglas is one other guy we’re working hard, and we also put Tanner O’Connor at wide receiver some. We also have Dalton Rowland and Leiland Bond, so once again, it’s one of those situations we just don’t know yet. These kids get new opportunities, and we don’t know until we actually play exactly what we have.”

Looking at the McClain defense, some of the players lost from the offense will also need to be replaced on defense, though there are still players returning from the successful defense from last season.  

“We’ve got a couple of our defensive ends back. Cohen Six played defensive end for us last year, but now he’s the quarterback. I’m not saying he’s not going to play defensive end, because he did a pretty good job for us last year,” Penwell said. “Owen Sykes is also back at the defensive end.

“We also have Conner Frazier, who I thought had a great year defensively last year, and then Andrew Roeder, who’s got experience at that linebacker core. We’ve got a bunch of new guys in there, and they’re really pushing each other, and they look better and better every day. I’m really excited to see what they can do.”

There is still a lot of unknown with the Tigers, so the preseason scrimmages are even more important than usual.

“Obviously, when we go full go with another team, that’s going to tell us a little bit more. Keaton Beucler has looked really good. Jordan Bell’s also looked really good in practices. We’ve got Noah Sponcil and Kam Penwell as others who have looked really good,” Penwell said. “Jhett Watson and Cam Medley also have been competing hard in practice. I moved Cam from corner down to linebacker as he’s a physical kid, so I moved him to linebacker. Cam has gotten stronger and bigger, and he knew he was going to move down, so he worked at it.

“We’ve got some good young kids, and they’re really pushing each other at the linebacker spot. I feel like we have more depth there at linebacker this year than we’ve had in a long time.”

Having players that are pushing each other in practice to become better players is a great thing to have, Penwell said, because it is making the whole team better from where they’ve started this summer.

“I’m feeling more and more comfortable with our linebackers, with the way they’re playing. Again, you don’t know anything until you play, so we’ll find out,” he said. “DB-wise, TD Matesic returns, and we have Riley Cummins, who’s been basically a four-year starter out there. This will be his fourth year at strong safety.

“I have Zane Adams, once again, who didn’t play last year, but he’s working at the cornerback spot. Carson [Chandler] is working in the corner, too. We’ve got Dalton Rowland, Charlie Gipson and Eli Douglas competing in the secondary.

“Tanner O’Connor, he’s a senior. He’s been working in the free safety spot. Leiland Bond working in strong safety has looked really good. We have a freshman, Hayden Cornell, who’s looked really good back there. We have a lot of options, and we’ve been playing a lot of young kids too, mixing them in. Gavin Anderson, Hunter Peabody, Brady Binegar, Mathew Cummins, those young guys have really been locked in.”

This season the Tigers’ non-conference schedule consists of Week 1 (at Adena), Week 2 (vs. Northwest), Week 3 (vs. Paint Valley), Week 4 (at East Clinton), and Week 5 (vs. Williamsburg), which is the homecoming game for McClain.

The FAC schedule consists of Week 6 (vs. Jackson), Week 7 (at Miami Trace), Week 8 (vs. Chillicothe), Week 9 (at Washington) and Week 10 (at Hillsboro) in the annual Rotary Bowl game.

“My expectation is to compete. Let’s work hard, let’s give ourselves a chance to win, and let’s start with week one,” Penwell said. “I’m not looking past anybody. I can’t. It’s just not my nature to do that. You’ve got to start it week one. So once you win week one, then we’ll move on to week two. I just want our kids to go out, be physical. I want them to compete, and I want them to play fast.”

The Tigers open the 2024 regular season on Friday, Aug. 23 on the road against the Adena Warriors at Bostic Field with a kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.