2024 Football Preview: Paint Valley Bearcats

BAINBRIDGE — Coming off a season where the Paint Valley Bearcats reached the second round of the Division VI Playoffs, the 2024 version of the team wants even more, as they have a strong nucleus of players returning to obtain even more success than the previous season.

The Bearcats — who have qualified for the playoffs for four consecutive seasons — finished the ’23 season with an 8-4 overall record, a 5-2 mark in the Scioto Valley Conference (third place), and they were 1-1 in the playoffs. Overall in ’23, the Bearcats scored 422 points and allowed 306 points. As usual for PVHS, their first goal for the ’24 season is to be champions of the SVC, a title they last won in 2018. From there, they have goals after the regular season, but the first goal is always the SVC, and that all starts with offseason training.

“This is probably one of the best offseasons we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Paint Valley head coach Corey Dye, who is entering his fifth season as head coach at PVHS (12th season as a head coach). “The kids have dedicated themselves. Our attendance has been really, really good. Our workouts have been intense and hard, and our kids have accepted that challenge and done a really good job with that, and I feel like we’re in the best shape that we’ve ever been in.

“I’m really excited about this group, because we’ve got a team full of hard workers and leaders, and when you have that combination, it definitely helps when it comes to taking on our schedule.”

Paint Valley’s 2024 roster includes: Xavier Adeva, James Annon, Gavin Bell, Kyle Bennett, Miles Blackstone, Bryce Blanton, Nick Boggs, Drez Bolin, Cam Butler, Jeremy Cain, Aiden Coffee, Cam Cooper, Brady Cowman, Keegan Cox, Gabe Dehoyos, Owen Donahue, Preston Fauber, Tucker Fitch, Carson Free, Ben Flora, Logan Hamlin, Brennen Ison, Abbott Johnson, Sebastian Lewis, CJ Manion, Owen Mather, Colton McNeal, Jayden Price, Jase Rinehart, Braylon Robertson, Caleb Saunders, David Shepherd, Corbin Smith, Eli Smith, Zach Tennant, Gage Wagner, Willy Wheaton, Colton Yoakum, Caydan Young and Parker Zamora.

Paint Valley’s offense sees them returning quarterback Preston Fauber (Honorable Mention All-SVC; Special Mention OPSWA All-District) for his junior season, as this is his third season as a varsity starter and his second season being a starter at PVHS. In ’23, Fauber passed for over 1,000 yards and rushed for over 1,000 yards in ’23, with 12-plus touchdown passes.

“Preston, the kid works his tail off. He’s one of the hardest workers we have, which is obviously what you want out of your quarterback,” Dye said. “Having that year of experience last year is definitely going to help him for this year. He had a really good offseason throwing the football and competed in some 7-on-7s, and he has improved immensely with his throwing and decision making. Again, having a guy like Preston as your leader on offense is definitely huge.”

Also back are senior running back Braylon Robertson, junior tight end Cam Cooper and senior Carson Free (All-SVC; First-Team OPSWA All-District - Offense/WRs; Div. VI Third-Team All-Ohio - WR/TE), plus a solid number of offensive linemen and other position players as the Bearcats return seven players on offense.

On offense for 12 games (counting playoffs), Robertson rushed for over 2,149 yards and 32 rushing touchdowns. Robertson collected the following postseason honors in ’23: SVC Defensive Back of the Year; All-SVC; OPSWA Southeast District Offensive Player of the Year; First-Team OPSWA All-District (Offense/RBs); and Div. VI First-Team All-Ohio (Offense/RBs).

“In my opinion, Braylon Robertson is the best football player in southern Ohio. He’s awesome. There’s not anything that he can’t do. He’s a force on offense, whether it’s running the ball, catching the ball, blocking. He can throw the ball. I mean, he can punt the ball, he can kick the ball, and then obviously, on defense, he’s just a natural linebacker. He has a real nose for the ball, and he’s a great football player,” Dye said. “I’m really excited about Braylon, and I know he’s excited about his senior year, and he wants to end his career on a good note.

“Cam Cooper, he’s going to be our starting tight end. He’s had an amazing preseason. We’re really excited about him and what he’s able to do, both on offense and defense. We’ve also got Jeremy Cain at receiver. We feel like he’s going to be a force on offense and defense.”

There will be more players that the Bearcats will look to in ’24, with players rotating in the offense and defense when their number is called, according to Dye, who was the 2023 OPSWA Southeast District Div. VI Coach of the Year.

“Some of our guys that could rotate in the backfield that we feel like have done a good job. Abbott Johnson, he’s a junior. He actually was one of our running backs last year, but with a change of our offense, he’s had to kind of transition roles, and he’ll also be a guy that we can plug in on defense and count on,” Dye said.

“There’s also CJ Manion. He’ll be a backup running back on offense. He’ll be one of our starters on defense. He’s a strong kid, athletic kid and will play at nose guard. We’re really excited about the type of year we think he may be able to have.

“Gage Wagner, this is another tall kid, 6-4, 190 pounds, strong, athletic. He starts at corner for us, but we’ve rotated him on defense, and he’s really had a really good offseason.

“Logan Hamlin will start for us on defense, and then he’ll also be a backup on offense, but he’s been waiting. He’s been waiting his whole career, and he’s a senior, to actually get the opportunity to start and play, and he’s going to have a really good year just because of his work ethic and what he’s been able to do.”

There are also others on the offense whom the Bearcats will need to have a successful season.

“Drez Bolin, he’s probably grown about five inches. He’s a big, tall, athletic receiver. We feel like with his size and height and his ability to catch the ball, he’s going to be a force on offense as well,” Dye said. “Then we’ve got some other receivers that are going to get some playing time and rotate in there, and Jase Rinehart’s one of them.

“He’s just an exceptional athlete. He plays baseball, he plays basketball. We feel like he’s had a really good preseason as well, and he’s going to get, hopefully, a lot of catches there. Willy Wheaton, he’ll be a senior. He’s a guy that started for us on defense, and he still could, but we feel like he’s going to be a threat offensively. He’s a receiver and he’s a safety.”

Up front will be important for Paint Valley, as they have to replace quality players who graduated. They also have players returning who had success, plus new players taking over the vacated positions, as PVHS has to replace the tackle spot vacated by Peyton Bell, who graduated. In ’23, Bell was named All-SVC; SVC Co-Lineman of the Year (with Unioto’s Jordan Perkins); OPSWA Southeast District Lineman of the Year; First-Team OPSWA All-District (Offense/OL); and Div. VI Second-Team All-Ohio (OL).

One of the returning standout players is Colton Yoakum, who was named All-SVC; First-Team OPSWA All-District (Defense/DL); and Div. VI Honorable Mention All-Ohio (LBs) last season.

“Talking about our offensive line, Colton Yoakum was an all-league player last year for us. He’s been a three-year starter. He’ll be one of our captains, and he’s a leader. The kids really look up to him. He’ll be one of our guards up front,” Dye said.

“Zach Tennant had an injury earlier this spring, and we feel like he’s going to be back. We’re just not 100-percent sure when, but he’s definitely a good player for us, a senior, and he’s worked really hard this offseason and trying to make sure that he does make a comeback.

“Brady Cowman, he’ll be a first-year starter for us at tackle, really big, like, he’s about 6-5. I think he’s weighing in at like 250. He’s a wrestler, tough kid. We’re really excited about him. Gavin Bell, he’s a returning starter. He played center for us last year. He’s going to be making a transition to tackle. He’s one of our strongest players that we have on our team.”

Dye continued to talk about the offensive line, spotlighting Caleb Saunders (Honorable Mention All-SVC; Special Mention OPSWA All-District in ’23).

“Caleb Saunders returns, and he rotated in on offense last season. He was a starter on defense, but this year, his role is going to change a little bit into a starter on offense and then also on defense. He’s a big, strong, athletic kid, and has worked really hard,” Dye said. “He’s the type of kid that he’s also one of our leaders, and then he leads by example. He works hard each and every day. I never have to get on him one time about not working hard.

“James Annon is another senior. He’ll be one of our guards as well. He’s had a great offseason. He’s worked hard in the weight room, got stronger, and he’s a big, strong, athletic kid who will also rotate in on defense. Parker Zamora is a kid defensively, we feel like he’s going to be a really good corner, lockdown corner for us. He moved in last year from Chillicothe. He’s fast, athletic.”

PVHS also has a new offensive coordinator, that being Trevon Bolin, who was already a position coach at Paint Valley.

“It’s super exciting. Obviously, we’re changing some things offensively. Trevon Bolin is our offensive coordinator. He’s done a great job this offseason, and the offensive coaching staff, in really implementing our style of offense, I think some things that we do is definitely going to help us,” Dye said. “I’m really excited about that.

“The one thing that I’ve noticed with our kids, they’ve really kind of bought into some of the new ideas that we’re doing, and I think it’s going to be fun for him this year. Bolin’s coached here the last few years, and he’s a Waverly guy. His grandfather [Ralph Bolin] was the old Waverly coach, so he’s been around football his whole life, and he’s more than ready for this, and I’m excited for him. I’m excited for our program.”

Many of the players mentioned on offense will also play big roles on defense, and the defense is something Dye is really looking forward to this season.

“Defense wins championships, and we feel like with the guys we will have on the field every night, those guys are going to really take pride and play fast and physical, which is the type of defense that we want at Paint Valley,” Dye said.

Accountability is big for the Bearcats in ’24, and for Coach Dye, he and his coaching staff have worked to bring that to the players this offseason, as that was a focus since the end of last season.

“The one thing that we’ve sat down and we’ve really focused hard on is the character with some things that we’ve done within our leadership program that we do,” Dye said. “We do an accountability team where they earn points for attendance and their effort and their attitude. Our kids have really bought into that.”

Dye has taken over the special teams for the Bearcats in ’24, as he wants to make improvements on the unit.

“We felt like last year, special teams cost us a couple games. We’ve worked really hard on that, and I’ve taken over the role of that, of making sure our special teams will be on point, and our kids have worked hard on that,” he said.

“When I sat down at the beginning of preseason, I would use a PowerPoint presentation. I went over the things that we’ve got to get better at, and it was character and special teams. Those were the two main things that I thought, if we can improve these areas, we will become a better team because of it, and we could potentially give ourselves a chance to win a championship. It’s not going to be easy because the SVC is hard enough, and we are the smallest school in the SVC. We don’t make that an excuse, though. We’re up for the challenge.”

Last year, the Bearcats recorded wins against Blanchester (35-14), McClain (29-15), Southeastern (49-9), Westfall (41-20), Adena (76-41), Piketon (49-30) and Huntington (41-0) in the regular season, plus a postseason win against Parkway (37-23).
This season, the Bearcats’ non-conference schedule includes Week 1 (at Blanchester), Week 2 (vs. West Jefferson) and Week 3 (at McClain) for the “Battle of 41” trophy.

“The overall community support of our program is so great to have,” Dye said. “It’s always been here. We can always count on Bearcat Nation to be there for us. Hopefully, we can make our community proud.”

Paint Valley opens the season Aug. 23 on the road against the Blanchester Wildcats.

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