Any look at football for the 10 diocesan high school teams this season has to start with Columbus Bishop Watterson.
The two-time defending Ohio Division III champions are on a 30-game winning streak and are going for a state three-peat, but have moved up to Division II because of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s competitive-balance rules.
Three-time champions are rare, but coach Brian Kennedy said the Eagles have the ability to return to the title game for what would be a fourth straight time. “We have 10 starters back on offense and six on defense and that’s a good position to be in,” he said.
“We have some holes to fill, especially at quarterback, but we’ll be fine. I’d be lying if I said we’re not going into the season with confidence in where we’re at. We toughened our schedule (adding traditional powers Anthony Wayne from suburban Toledo, Pickerington Central, Youngstown Ursuline, Cleveland Glenville and Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit) because of the division change.
“I think Division II, though it doesn’t have the largest schools, is the toughest in Ohio because of the caliber and tradition of the teams in the division.”
Among three-year starters returning is linebacker Michael Boyle, who had 102 tackles, including 43 for loss and 12 ½ sacks last year.
“I have never coached a player like Michael,” Kennedy said. “In every aspect – whether as a player, an overall athlete, a student or a Catholic leader – you can apply any superlative you want to use to describe him. Wrestling is his chosen sport and I think you’ll see him in the Olympics one day, but he could just as easily make it to the NFL.
“He’s going to miss the first game of the season, but he’s forgiven because he’ll be in Bratislava, Slovakia” as the U.S. entry in the 97-kilogram (213-pound) division of the world under-20 wrestling tournament.
Boyle, a three-time state high school champion in the sport, will attend Ohio State next year on a wrestling scholarship. Joining him as Buckeyes will be fellow seniors Davis Seaman, an offensive lineman; Nate Henderson, a defensive back; and Joe Hayes, who received scholarships in football, baseball and lacrosse respectively.
Other senior Watterson football players accepting Division I offers are edge rusher Jack Schuler, Michigan State; receiver Carter Bellisari (51 career catches, 977 yards), Miami of Ohio; and linebacker Ben Uhlenhake, Ohio University.
Boyle and Uhlenhake were first-team members of the 2025 Division III All-Ohio team selected by the state high school media association. Bellisari, Seaman and Henderson were on the second team.
The Eagles are rated in USA Today’s national preseason rankings as No. 2 among all classes in Ohio and No. 6 in the Midwest.
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Watterson’s north Columbus rival, St. Francis DeSales, also is receiving national attention this year because of RJ Day, the Stallions’ quarterback. Not only did Day, a Northwestern University commit, break all the school’s passing records last year as a junior, with 5,714 passing yards and 54 touchdown passes in 34 career starts, but he also is the son of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.
“RJ is a real football junkie, as you might expect from a coach’s son,” said Ryan Wiggins, who is entering his 20th season as DeSales head coach with a 152-72 record at the school. “He has a high football IQ and that extends to the classroom, where he has a 4.0 average.
“He’s been around Ohio State since he was little, so he’s had a lot of resources available to him and he’s taken full advantage. Northwestern is a great fit for him as a Big Ten school, but one where the spotlight won’t be so much on him because of his father.”
Day is one of three 2025 All-Ohio players returning at DeSales. He was the second-team quarterback in Division II, with teammates Dax Middleton chosen as a second-team wide receiver-tight end and Jordan Karhoff as a third-team defensive lineman.
“Dax has received offers from NCAA Division II schools but none from anyone in Division I yet. I’m really surprised at that,” Wiggins said. “He’s been RJ’s favorite target and holds school career records with 106 catches for 1,555 yards and 18 touchdowns. I think with all the attention we’re getting this year, major schools will begin to realize his talent.
“Jordan has committed to Virginia Tech. He made All-State on defense last year but he’s also a terrific tight end, catching 31 passes for 548 yards last season. He’s a freakish talent, and at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, he has a huge catch radius.”
Columbus Bishop Hartley finished 2025 with a 5-5 record that’s uncharacteristic for the Hawks, traditional postseason contenders.
“Missing the Division III playoffs last year was something we’re not used to, so our first goal is to return,” said second-year coach Matt Melle.
“Besides our three CCL (Central Catholic League) rivals, we’ve added some strong new opponents in Dublin Coffman, Columbus Marion-Franklin, Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, Delaware Buckeye Valley and Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
“Depth will be a concern this year, since we only return five starters on offense and two on defense. But our talent level is high, and if some of our young guys contribute early, we could be playing good football by the end of the season.”
Melle said wide receiver Javeir Napier, defensive back Camden Caldwell and quarterback-defensive back Oden Mertz have received NCAA Division II offers. Napier caught 24 passes for 282 yards and Caldwell made 35 tackles, broke up 10 passes and intercepted one last year.
Coach Anthony Colucci at Columbus St. Charles, the other CCL member with Watterson, DeSales and Hartley, said the Cardinals’ 3-7 record in 2025 wasn’t an accurate reflection of how they played.
“Three of those losses were by one score and we had two one-score wins, so we got plenty of experience in close games last year,” he said. “Our returning players grew and learned a lot from those games and I think we have a chance for much improvement this year. That’s something we’ll need, especially in the CCL, where everyone expects to make the state playoffs.”
Another challenge for St. Charles. the diocese’s only all-male school, is that it’s the lone diocesan school in the state’s Division I, consisting of the 80 high schools playing football in Ohio with the largest number of male students.
Colucci said the Cardinals will be led by captains Michael Zarick, Patick Malouf, Nick Grilli and Ben Nickey.
“Zarick is a three-year starter at running back and linebacker and rarely comes off the field. He’s a solid kid to have around. Malouf is a two-year starter and the strongest kid we have,” he said.
“Grilli has been a standout since he was a sophomore and plays linebacker and tight end. I consider him a real solid college prospect. Nickey is another three-year starter, played wide receiver and defensive back and led us in receiving, touchdowns and punt returns last year. He’s probably our most dynamic athlete.”
Coach TJ Burbridge said “experienced” is the word to best describe his Columbus Bishop Ready team.
“This is a senior-heavy group,” he said. “We have 17 seniors returning – a big load compared to last year when we only had five.
“We knew we were going to take our lumps and braced for a bad season last year but still finished 5-5. With all these guys coming back, we’re looking forward to what we hope is a much more successful year and are anticipating a return to the Division IV playoffs.”
Burbridge said the Silver Knights return a three-way punch at running back in Kingston Norris, Luke Kamerer and Markel Small, all of whom averaged 4 to 5 yards per carry in 2025.
“Norris is a game disrupter and has been a first-team All-Central Buckeye League player for two years,” he said. “He’s strong on both sides of the ball, gaining 307 yards on 65 carries last year and making 65 tackles, 19 of them for a loss, at defensive end. Small joined him last year as an All-CBL first-teamer. He came on with a rush late last year, finishing with 341 yards on 81 carries, and impressed me as someone who makes the right play constantly.
“Kamerer didn’t get the ball a lot last season and we want to use him more often because as he’s a speedster who can make big plays. He also made the state finals in the 300-meter hurdles this past spring. Izayah Taliaferro will be our main receiver. His numbers from last year (13 catches for 226 yards) show he can make big plays. He also showed last year that he’s very adaptable by moving from cornerback to safety.”
RELATED | DeSales, Notre Dame girls’ teams repeat as state champions
Lancaster Fisher Catholic is looking to build on its strongest season in several years.
“We had a real good year in 2025, finishing 8-2 in the regular season and losing to Danville in the first round of the Division VII playoffs,” coach Luke Thimmes said. “The kids played great and set a standard they want to surpass this year.”
The Irish return two second-team 2025 All-Ohioans in offensive lineman Nick Harris and linebacker Sam Tencza.
“Those two are very complementary to each other on both the offensive and defensive lines,” he said. “They’re great leaders who put team success above individual honors. I’d call both of them lunchpail-type players, the type who whenever they see something that needs to get done, they get it done.
“Ethan O’Rielley, our main running back, is kind of a secret because he’s really good but was injured for much of last year and a lot of people didn’t get to see what he can do. We have plenty of other guys who can run the ball, but we’ll be counting on Ethan for the hardest yards.
“James Wilkinson, a junior, returns at quarterback and has become effective in taking ownership of the offense. Another junior, Blake Wohrer, will be at slotback and is a real fast, shifty player who I think will surprise a lot of people.”
Portsmouth Notre Dame is one of two diocesan teams with new coaches this year. Steve Irwin takes over from the school’s athletic director, Bob Boldman, who took the job on an interim basis last season after the previous coach resigned in July to coach in Florida.
Despite the short notice, Boldman had a successful 2025 season as the Titans were 8-2 in the regular season, losing a close game to Cedarville in the Division VII playoff opener.
Irwin is a 2015 graduate of Portsmouth West who played quarterback in college at Otterbein and was quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at his high school alma mater. He was eager to take the Notre Dame job because he teaches geography and world history at the school and is familiar with most of its players.
“This is a young team with a lot of great athletes but only one senior,” he said. “We played a lot of freshmen last year and they played better than most people expected. It’s a team with high character and a lot of experience, with a deep junior class. We want to maintain that excellence and exceed what we did last year.
“Chris Piccalo, who will be our only senior on a 23-player roster, is a four-year starter who has played just about every position. He’ll be playing mainly running back and linebacker, but we also will use him often at receiver. The other starting running back, Archie West, is really elusive and spent a lot of time in the weight room this summer.
“Someone we hope to be more involved in the offense is Jaxon Stombock at tight end. He’s a player with great potential. Warren Kelly at quarterback is a real cerebral guy who loves the game of football and we’re hoping for two good years from him.”
Tom Phillips at Newark Catholic returns to high school coaching after three seasons as football operations chief at Youngstown State University, where his brother Doug is head coach. Tom Phillips is 116-62 in 18 seasons as a high school coach, including 11 at Pickerington North, where he made the state semifinals in 2012, three at Bexley and four at Stow.
“Credit my wife for bringing me back to high schools,” he said. “I thought I had retired from that five years ago, but she could tell I was frustrated by not teaching the basics to younger players. She said she could get her old job back in the medical field in Columbus, which she did. I looked around for openings in central Ohio and Newark Catholic stood out because of its tradition, so I applied for and got the job there.”
The Green Wave has won eight state titles in small-school divisions, played in the state championship game 15 times and qualified for the state playoffs 39 times in the tournament’s 54-year history, but the team has hit an uncharacteristic slump in the past three seasons, going 6-24 in that span.
“That doesn’t bother me because schools, especially small ones, go through up-and-down cycles all the time and Newark Catholic has been very fortunate in that regard,” Phillips said.
“I had three goals for the team once I got the job in January: getting our roster numbers back up from about 30, developing players who could handle multiple positions and staying healthy. We’re now at 37 players and I think we’ve accomplished the first two goals. We’ll have to wait to find out about the third.”
Two Division VII All-Ohio players return to the Green Wave, who move to Division VI because of increased enrollment. They are second-team running back Jaxon Holman and third-team quarterback Malone Hutchison.
“Jaxon put on about 25 pounds over the summer and he’s at a solid 200 pounds,” Phillips said. “I saw him on film at Youngstown before ever imagining I’d come here and could see then that he has the potential to play in college at a high level.
“Malone is just a smart son-of-a-gun, really fun to be around and a real student of the game.”
He also anticipates significant contributions from seniors Alex Nagel, Jack Lohri, Carter Chupka and Jack Gossett and sophomore Landon Cox, who’s already a team co-captain as a sophomore.
Continuing improvement is the goal for Giovanni Ionno in his third year as coach at Tuscarawas Central Catholic, which competes in Division VII.
“I became coach in 2024 with 1 ½ months to go before the start of the season and eight players on the team,” he said. “It was hard just to get enough players for a full team. We finished 0-9 but the important thing was just having a team.
“Last year, the number of players was in the upper 20s and we were 2-8, breaking a 27-game losing streak in the third game of the season. Now there are 30 players on the roster and we hope to take the next step – being competitive and winning a few more games.
“We have a lot of good talent and guys who saw plenty of playing time last year. Seven players are seniors and they’re joined by a lot of juniors. Last year’s was mostly a freshman and sophomore team. This year, it’s a sophomore and junior team, and that makes a big difference. It also helps a lot that our entire starting offensive line is back.
“Grady Stein, a senior, will be our lead running back and defensive back and has probably the most experience on our roster. Flynn Rennicker at linebacker and running back also will be playing a big role.
“Joseph Moss, a junior, takes over at fullback. Nick Lesiecki returns for a second year as starting quarterback, and Ethan Rothrock is another starter who will be among our leaders.”
“Young but feisty would be a good way to describe us,” said Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans coach Chris Zemba.
“We graduated 10 or 11 seniors I’ve coached since they were fifth-graders,” said Zemba, in his seventh year at Rosecrans, also in Division VII. “They’re being replaced by a lot of younger guys who responded well during the summer. These are a bunch of vocal leaders who have patiently been waiting their turn to take charge.”
“Clay Mattingly has been a center and defensive tackle since ninth grade. He’s become our most vocal leader and probably the best example of that transition. At quarterback this year is Brandon Harney, who adds a running dimension to that position that’s been missing for a few years.
“Frankie Palandrani is a tough kid at running back who’s very coachable. A couple others who are taking big advantage of their shot at playing time are Titus Morrow at tackle and linebacker, and Nathan Parker at receiver. Titus has been looking forward to his turn to call the defensive signals and doing a good job in that role.”