Week 1 High School Football Preview: Indians, Tigers both start '26 season on the road
In Week 1 of the 2026 high school football season the Hillsboro Indians will travel to face the Western Brown Broncos at 7 p.m. Also in Week 1, the McClain Tigers travel to face the Adena Warriors at 7 p.m. (HCP Photos Jim Jones and Stephen Forsha)
The “boys of fall” are back with a new football season, as Highland County will have the Hillsboro Indians and McClain Tigers represent them on the gridiron for the 2026 season.
The Indians and Tigers both will be on the road for their season-opening games with Hillsboro traveling to Mt. Orab to take on the Western Brown Broncos, while the Tigers will be traveling to Frankfort in Ross County to face the Adena Warriors.
Both of these matchups are the traditional season-opening games for all four teams, as last year it was Hillsboro defeating the Broncos, 34-22 at Richards Memorial Field. The Tigers shut out the Warriors 20-0 in their game played at McClain Field last August.
Here is a look at the two games for Highland County football teams.
• Hillsboro Indians at Western Brown Broncos (Kibler Stadium)
The annual game to start the high school football season for the Hillsboro Indians and the Western Brown Broncos will be played at Kibler Stadium on LaRosa’s Field this year with HHS coming into the game as the winners from a season ago.
Hillsboro is coming off a 4-7 overall season as they qualified for the Division IV playoffs, while Western Brown had a 2-8 record in ’25.
HHS defeated the Broncos at Richards Memorial Field in Hillsboro last season by a 34-22 score, a game where the Indians’ defense had three interceptions. This year, the defense is a little different due to players graduating, but the same can be said for the Broncos as they had also had a number of players graduate who contributed to their team last season.
The Indians start the season with a new quarterback with Collin Swackhamer taking over at the position, but he is a familiar face with the team because last season he was in the running back rotation for the Indians and was a strong presence on the defense at linebacker. Last season against WBHS, Swackhamer excelled on defense with six tackles, a game-changing interception and a pass deflection.
Running back Tre Captain returns for his senior season, and if he repeats his season-opening performance he had as a junior this season, then be on high alert. In ’25 against the Broncos, Captain rushed for four touchdowns, finishing the game with 12 carries for 214 yards rushing. Captain’s touchdown runs went for 48, 26, 61 and 46 yards.
Returning for the Broncos is junior quarterback Deon Bradford. As a sophomore last season Bradford was 155-284 for 2,096 yards with 15 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 54.6-completion percentage averaging 7.4 yards per attempt. Bradford also had 67 rushes for 422 yards with six rushing touchdowns, as he averaged 6.6 yards per carry.
Against the Indians in ’25, Bradford was 13-of-30 for 175 yards passing with two passing touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries.
The Broncos also have tight end/linebacker Peyton Day returning, where he totaled 23 tackles in’25 with 16 of those being solo. He also caught 36 receptions for 430 yards with two touchdowns for the season.
Another TE/LB on WBHS Adam Pena returns from a season where he had 86 tackles (61 solo), with two sacks, six tackles for loss, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Against Hillsboro last season, Pena totaled seven tackles (four solo).
Also back for Western Brown is Noah Scroggins on the defensive line where he had 22 tackles (18 solo) with one sack and one forced fumble. Against HHS in ’25, he had three solo tackles.
Looking back at last year’s game, the Indians held a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and a 28-6 halftime advantage. In the third, the Broncos outscored HHS 16-0 for a 28-22 Indians lead, but HHS kept WBHS out of the end zone in the fourth quarter and scored one last touchdown for the 34-22 12-point win.
The Indians and Broncos kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
• McClain Tigers at Adena Warriors (Bostic Field)
This annual season-opening game is set to write another chapter on Friday evening as the McClain Tigers make the short drive to Frankfort in Ross County to face the Adena Warriors of the Scioto Valley Conference.
Last season, the Tigers defeated the Warriors at McClain Field by a 20-0 score. In that game from last season, McClain quarterback Hudson Lovett (who is now a junior in ’26) rushed for 169 yards on 23 carries, and he completed 10-of-16 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown against the Warriors.
Also last season, Lovett played in 10 games as a sophomore, finishing with 1,440 yards passing and 15 touchdown passes, plus 839 yards rushing with 11 rushing touchdowns.
Touchdowns scored by the Tigers against Adena last season were made by Leiland Bond, Lovett and Brady Binegar, all of whom are back for this season.
The Tigers and Warriors kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
• Week 1 Frontier Athletic Conference Football Schedule
The 2026 Week 1 (Aug. 20-21) schedule for the Frontier Athletic Conference includes:
- Jackson Ironmen (0-0) at Unioto Shermans (0-0) (Thursday, Aug. 20)
- Hillsboro Indians (0-0) at Western Brown Broncos (0-0)
- McClain Tigers (0-0) at Adena Warriors (0-0)
- Washington Blue Lions (0-0) at Mechanicsburg Indians (0-0)
- Miami Trace Panthers (0-0) at Waverly Tigers (0-0)
- Chillicothe Cavaliers (0-0) vs. Circleville Tigers (0-0)
• 2026 Season Previews
- McClain Tigers click here
- Hillsboro Indians click here
• Football Scrimmage Photos
- McClain Tigers click here
- Hillsboro Indians click here