All four head coaches of Central Catholic League (CCL) teams – Brian Kennedy of Columbus Bishop Watterson, Ryan Wiggins of Columbus St. Francis DeSales, Brad Burchfield of Columbus Bishop Hartley and Deke Hocker of Columbus St. Charles – will return to the sidelines for another year when the high school football season opens Friday, Aug. 18. 

Columbus Bishop Ready will have a new coach – T.J. Burbridge – and will be playing in a new league.

All five schools remain in the same Ohio High School Athletic Association enrollment classifications as last year – DeSales and St. Charles in Division II, Watterson in Division III and Hartley and Ready in Division IV.

Here is a brief look at each of the five teams:


Bishop Watterson

The Eagles will be trying to at least duplicate the 2022 season, their most successful in recent years, when they finished 12-2, losing only to Tiffin Columbian by a field goal in the regular season and Bloom-Carroll by five points in the regional finals of the state playoffs.

Coach Kennedy said a strong defense will be led by senior linebacker Dominic Purcell and senior safety Elliott Baur. Purcell will be attending the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland next fall, and Kennedy said Baur, a preseason high school All-American in lacrosse, is likely to attend an NCAA Division I school to play that sport. Purcell and Baur were teammates on the Eagles’ 2023 lacrosse team, also regional finalists.

“Whatever superlatives you want to use are appropriate for Purcell,” Kennedy said. “He’s smart, a great leader with great football instincts – the total package.” He was a first-team All-Ohio player last year, when he had 102 tackles, three sacks, 18 tackles for loss and four interceptions.

The coach described Baur as “someone who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 180 but plays as though he’s 6-2 and 220. He makes the big plays and is a high-energy guy. He’s willing to play on the scout team (imitating the Eagles’ next opponent) on defense when needed, which shows the type of team-first player he is.”

“Our quarterback, A.J. McAninch, is a senior who won a two-way battle for the job in the second half of last season and got better with every game. He completed 16 of 21 passes against Bloom-Carroll to keep us in the game. His best sport is actually baseball, where he’s a Division I prospect and had two brothers who played in the division.”

The Eagles lost seven starters on offense and six on defense. “The biggest holes we need to fill are on the offensive and defensive lines, where we have only one starter coming back on each,” Kennedy said.

For the second straight year, Watterson will be playing all its home games at Ohio Dominican University. The Eagles will have the standard five home and five away games, but in a rare schedule quirk, all five home games are on consecutive Fridays in September, bracketed by two away games in August and three in October. 

Opponents for the first three home games are traditional northern Ohio powers: Parma Padua, Tiffin Columbian and Chardon. 

“Thanks to the expansion of the playoffs last year, we’re likely to be a playoff team most years, and you need to play schools like this to be ready for late October and November football,” Kennedy said. “You’ve got to be battle-tested, and we’re excited to face these challenges.”


St. Francis DeSales

The Stallions hope to continue the momentum of the second half of last season, when they got off to a 2-3 start but won four of their last five regular-season games, then defeated Dover in double overtime in the playoffs before losing 13-7 to Uniontown Lake.

Two defensive All-Ohioans from that team return – first-team tackle Cameron Gwinn, who will be playing at Boston College next fall, and third-team linebacker Max Shulaw, who will be going to the University of Virginia on a wrestling scholarship.

“Gwinn at 6-2 and 260 is fast off the ball and a hard guy to block,” Coach Wiggins said. “He just makes things hard on opposing offensive guards and centers and is a two-way player who plays a lot of football for us.

“Shulaw is a throwback to the old days – strong, tough and smart. He’s been tremendous for us in all three years he has played, leading us in tackles in the 2020 state championship game as a freshman and getting better each year. He missed a few games last year because of hand surgery but was back for our late surge.” 

Shulaw finished with a 51-0 wrestling record in the 2022-23 season, pinning his way through the state tournament and winning the 215-pound championship after finishing second in the classification in 2022 and fourth at 195 in 2021. 

His brother Lincoln, a junior lineman, was runner-up at 175 pounds last season, losing in an all-CCL championship match to Dylan Newsome of Hartley. They follow the tradition of current Wisconsin and former Cincinnati and Ohio State football coach Luke Fickell, a three-time state wrestling champion at DeSales.

“Senior Avery Garlock will be the featured running back, with junior PJ Noles at quarterback, possibly sharing time with RJ Day, a freshman with a lot of promise,” Wiggins said. Senior center Jake Velazquez, the last of three football-playing brothers, will be among the leaders on offense. 

Other returning players on offense who started or saw considerable playing time last year are seniors Raesean Betton, Nick Vance, Jakob Preece, Michael Walker and Jack Elgin. Defensive standouts include senior Elijah Charles and juniors Ty Neubert – whom Wiggins said was “probably the first freshman starter in my 17 years of coaching here” – Dane Crabtree, Andrew Barford, Adam Faulkner and Davis Anderson and sophomore Kingston Johnson.

“We start with four tough games, at home against Dresden Tri-Valley and Hamilton Badin and away against Stow Walsh Jesuit and Linsly of Wheeling, West Virginia. We also play Dover, whom we ended up playing twice last year. That’s a tough road but one we’re used to and one you have to go down if you expect to get anywhere in the playoffs,” he said.


Bishop Hartley

Like DeSales, the Hawks had the kind of season they’re not used to in 2022, going 4-6 in the regular season, then defeating New Lexington in the playoffs before losing to Steubenville.

“It was a down year for us, but good or bad, we don’t talk much about the previous year when we start training. Every year’s a brand-new year,” said Coach Burchfield, who in 16 years coaching the Hawks has made the playoffs 15 times. 

“We’ve got a solid group of 20 seniors who meshed last year, along with 14 juniors. Those guys gained a lot of experience last year. Overall, this will be a bigger, stronger unit than the one we had last year.”

Hartley’s defense will be led by two players who were second-team All-Ohio selections in 2022 – 6-1, 285-pound lineman Donovan Davis, who will be attending Davidson next year, and 6-4, 215-pound junior linebacker Denim Cook.

Burchfield said the offense probably will revolve around sophomore running back Robert Lathon, who has gained notice on some national recruiting sites and already has received offers from Kentucky, Akron, Ball State, Campbell and Liberty.

“He’s something special,” the coach said. “He’s a player with uncanny vision – a strong runner, hard to bring down. He showed his potential last year with 192 yards against Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph, 173 against New Lexington and 161 against DeSales, all on the road. He’s going to be bigger, stronger and better this year and could be quite a player by the time he graduates.” 

At 235 pounds, senior fullback Rory Ralston gives the Hawks an option that will keep defenses from focusing too much on Lathon.

Replacing three-year starter Peyton Underwood at quarterback will be sophomore Matt Galich. “Matt got some good experience last year as a backup and, like Peyton, could start for three years,” Burchfield said.

The Hawks were road warriors last year, playing their first eight regular-season games and both playoff contests away from home, with jaunts to Lima, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Steubenville included. 

Only their final two regular-season games were played at home at Jack Ryan Field. Five home games had been scheduled, but three teams backed out, and it was a scramble to fill those slots.

“We had to pay our dues with that road schedule last year, but that’s what can happen with only three league games and the reputation CCL schools have. By the same token, when one CCL team looks good, we all look good, and the league usually has a couple of teams with deep playoff runs,” Burchfield said.

“This year, it’s much better, with six home games and four on the road. The Lima, Cincinnati and Cleveland teams we played come here this year. Our only trip outside central Ohio is to Dayton Chaminade-Julienne on Sept. 1.”


St. Charles

The Cardinals finished 4-6 last year, two spots out of the playoffs, and Coach Hocker said that has his squad excited for the coming season, with 84 players turning out for the opening of practice, more than half of them freshmen.

“That’s led to some spirited competition in the early stages of camp,” he said. “There’s a core group of 13 seniors and juniors and 15 sophomores who we’ll be using most of the time, but some of the freshmen are bound to see playing time.

“Among our returning players, we’re expecting solid years from seniors Colin Greenhalge at running back and linebacker and Abrem Igwebuike on the offensive and defensive lines. Both made the All-CCL team last year, and Colin was All-Central District as well. They put in a lot of work in the off-season and are setting an example for the rest of the team.”

Ryan Mooney, who won a four-way battle for the position as a sophomore, will be returning at quarterback and will be throwing mostly to senior Will Bratt, who Hocker said had close to 90 catches last year. Senior Aidan Fox will be doing most of the running and some receiving.

“We’ll be running multiple offensive sets, and, without saying too much, we’ll try to be as balanced as possible between running and passing. Defensively, we’ll be running mostly a 4-3 and sometimes a 4-2-5 formation,” Hocker said.

“We start with three road games and, as coaches say all the time, right now we’re just focusing on our opener at Chillicothe. With the schedule we play in the CCL, it’s best not to look too far ahead.”


Bishop Ready

The Silver Knights, playing all their home games at Fortress Obetz for the fourth year, officially will be members of the revived Central Buckeye League after playing most of their games last year against Mid-State League members, several of whom have switched to the new affiliation.

The Knights left the CCL after the 2021 season because of the difference in enrollment between them and the other four league members and enjoyed immediate success last year, finishing 6-3 in the regular season, ending it on a four-game winning streak and continuing with playoff victories at Columbus Marion-Franklin and St. Clairsville before losing to Gnadenhutten Indian Valley.

Michael Schaefer left with a 13-10 record after two years as head coach to become an assistant at Upper Arlington, where he previously was on the coaching staff for 15 years and where his son is a sophomore. Coach Burbridge, his successor, coached Ready’s receivers and defensive backs for the past four years.

Burbridge, a 2007 graduate of Columbus Centennial High School, played for Wilmington College and will be a head coach for the first time after serving as an assistant at Centennial, Columbus Linden-McKinley, St. Charles, Upper Arlington and Ready.

“My plan is to continue what coach Schaefer did in using football as a way of impacting young lives and promoting excellence on and off the field,” he said. “Offensively, we’ll be running mostly a spread offense and a 3-4 defense, pretty much as we have since I’ve been here. 

“The kids have done well with it these last four years, making the playoffs for the last three, so there’s no reason to change. In the end, it’s all about blocking and tackling.

“This team will be a little younger than we’ve had in past years, with 13 seniors returning. But they have a ton of experience, with most of them having played quite a bit in the last two years, so we’ll be all right.”

Burbridge said he has potential Division I prospects in juniors Kasen Abbott, a third-team All-Ohioan at linebacker last year, and running back Kentrell Rinehart. Other key offensive players are senior lineman Tylar Mix and junior running back Anthony Campbell.

Junior Jacob Cheatham and sophomore Jayrece Dixon were in a two-way battle at quarterback in the early part of training camp. Senior JD Catena at safety is another key defender and was honorable mention All-Ohio last year.