High school football preview: Eastern Cincinnati Conference stacked with talent

The Eastern Cincinnati Conference has been filled with parity in recent years with three different teams winning the league outright over the last three seasons.

In 2023, Milford climbed to the top by going 9-0 in ECC play , though it was league runner-up Anderson who enjoyed the most postseason success by winning its first regional championship since 2008.

Can a new team climb to the summit in 2024? Here’s an alphabetical breakdown of each team in the ECC this fall.

Anderson

2023 : 13-2, lost Division II state semifinals

Head coach: Evan Dreyer

Returning players: QB Justice Burnam, OL Cam Mathis, WR Trace Jallick, TE Caden Piening, LB Tommy Huster, LB Reid Baker, LB Owen Bergman, DB Ace Alston, DL Alex Stanyard, LB Antwoine Higgins

Outlook: Anderson has won at least one playoff game in the last four seasons and has gone to back-to-back regional championship games. There’s no reason to believe the Raptors won’t contend for another deep postseason run with the talent they have coming back blended with impactful incoming transfers. Any time you can return a gunslinger like Justice Burnam (4,186 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2023) you’re cooking with fire, especially in a high-powered offense like Anderson. The Raptors needed a running back to replace Brodey Berg and found a gem in Simon Kenton’s Durrell Turner, who led all of Class 6A in rushing yards last season.

The Raptors have a formidable defense behind a key group of returning linebackers. They beefed up the defense with a pair of Purcell Marian transfers: defensive lineman Jayden Egbert and defensive back Jayonn Saunders.

Kings

2023: 6-6, lost Division II regional quarterfinals

Head coach: Alex Garvin

Returning players: QB Grant Nurre, WR Nate Lyman, RB Carson Lindholm, LB Patrick Holubetz, LB Kato Meissner, DL Caden Walker, LB Michael Farnham

Outlook: Kings graduated a ton of talent in 2023 from a team that came within a field goal of going to the state championship game. The result was a 6-6 season last year and a second-round playoff exit. A welcome sight for head coach Alex Garvin is the return of formidable QB-WR duo Grant Nurre and Nate Lyman. Nurre took over the reins under center as a sophomore last season and threw for nearly 2,400 yards and 23 touchdowns. The Knights also return their leading rusher Carson Lindholm, who ran for 659 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023.

Lebanon

2023: 7-4, lost first round of playoffs

Head coach: Micah Faler

Returning players: QB Luke Faler, RB Alex Klein, DB Jack Sako, DL Regan Bonny

Outlook: Lebanon is coming off its best season since joining the ECC. The Warriors went 7-4 and made the postseason. Can the Warriors make the jump and improve on that success? Quarterback Luke Faler threw for over 1,900 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore and will try to take a bigger leap as an upperclassman. The Warriors return leading rusher Alex Klein but lost its top two pass-catchers. They’ll need to rely on guys like Cam Williams, who had 36 catches for 289 yards and four touchdowns last season. On the defensive end, Regan Bonny had 9.5 sacks last season.

Little Miami

2023: 1-9, missed playoffs

Head coach: Arryn Chenault

Returning players: K Gunnar Hoffman, WR Mitchell Lyons, LB Eli Schoellman, DL Ethan Dowden, DL Cody Neltner, QB Case Miller, LB Rhys Jones

Outlook: The Caleb Jones era ended after an abysmal 2023 season where the Panthers went winless until the final week of the regular season. The biggest question for new head coach Arryn Chenault is deciding who will be QB1 as the Panthers move to Division I. Case Miller threw for 776 yards and two touchdowns last season and ran for a team-high 228 yards. He’ll have to compete with Lakota East transfer Jayshan Sandhar for the starting spot.

Loveland

2023: 5-6, lost first round of playoffs

Head coach: Brian Damewood

Returning players: QB Tyler Roberts, QB Jewel Vorbroker, TE/LB Max Carver, DB Sawyer Muchmore, WR/S Chase Dahlke

Outlook: Loveland had its best season since 2015, but the Tigers lost head coach Andy Cruse this summer for an assistant gig at Miami. Now longtime assistant Brian Damewood has a quick turnaround to keep the momentum for the Tigers. Loveland lost the ECC Co-Offensive Player of the Year Colton Endicott, so the offense's identity is unknown. What is known is quarterback Tyler Roberts returns after throwing for 1,652 yards and 13 touchdowns. Jewel Vorbroker is listed as a quarterback but was a contributor in the offense with over 300 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns.

Milford

2023: 11-1, Lost Division II regional quarterfinals

Head coach: Tom Grippa

Returning players: RB/DB Tim Dick, OLB Andrew Crouch, OL Cole Huffer, QB Luke Brand, WR Ethan Melgard, WR Caden Bailey, DL Daniel Walker, DB Carter Ings, K Mason Cooper

Outlook: It’s been a great three-year run for Grippa’s Eagles, going 27-9 overall with an outright ECC title and three playoff wins. Can Milford get past the second round? There’s unfinished business for quarterback Luke Brand, who threw for 2,049 yards and 13 touchdowns last season before getting hurt late in the regular season and missing the postseason. He’ll have some returning production at receiver in Ethan Melgard and Caden Bailey, a tandem that combined for 41 receptions and over 500 yards.

Turpin

2023: 3-8, lost first round of playoffs

Head coach: Bryan Walker

Returning players: QB Devan Nigam, RB Joey Gardner, LB Carson Stier, LB Brody Nickerson, WR Evan Overholser, WR Mickey Abbatiello

Outlook: Head coach Bryan Walker is entering his second season with the Spartans and is trying to find the success he had at Bethlehem High School in Kentucky, the school he took to the KHSAA Class 1A Final Four in 2021. A good start for the Spartans is the return of quarterback Devan Nigam. The good news? Nigam set the Turpin single-season record for passing yards last season (2,783). The bad news? Turpin had a hard time keeping him upright as he was sacked over 40 times. While the offensive line needs to improve, Nigam does have two of his top three receivers in Overholser and Abbatiello back in the fold.

Walnut Hills

2023: 0-10, missed playoffs

Head coach: G. Benjamin Myles

Returning players: QB Will Rivers, WR Ty Austin, WR Mark Bronson, DE Kade Fightmaster

Outlook: Walnut Hills enters the 2024 season on a 27-game losing streak after back-to-back 0-10 seasons. The Eagles’ last victory was over Little Miami on Sept. 10, 2021, and coach Myles has his work cut out for him heading into the fall. One bright spot is the return of quarterback Will Rivers, who started five games as a sophomore last season.

West Clermont

2023: 4-7, lost first round of playoffs

Head coach: Ben Moorman

Returning players: QB/DB Bo Rickman, WR Hayden Jones, OL Maddox Zeigler, DB Caiden Burt, LB Caillou Robinson, LB Julian Hinkston

Outlook: Moorman has his work cut out for him, taking over a program that has not had a winning season since its inaugural year in 2017. The Wolves lost five of their final six games last season. Moorman, West Clermont’s former defensive coordinator, has a nice base to work with on the defensive end with two of the team’s top-3 tacklers returning in Robinson and Hinkston. Offensively, West Clermont will look for more production from Rickman, who returns at quarterback. They’ll also get junior Landon Young back in the backfield. He started his sophomore campaign with back-to-back 100-yard games before getting hurt in Week 3.

Winton Woods

2023: 8-4, lost Division II regional quarterfinals

Head coach: Chad Murphy

Returning players: LB Justin Hill, LB Erick Morris, DL Delan Massey-Wright, DB Donmiel Rogers, OL Raphael Greene, DB Seaonta Stewart, DL Keenan Brown, OL Chaz Sanders, RB Tyler Gooding, RB Isaiah Garrett

Outlook: Winton Woods has a slew of Division I recruits on both sides of the ball. That group will lead a Warriors squad that moves up to Division I this season. Last year, offense was the issue as the Warriors eclipsed 20-plus points just once after a 5-0 start. Injuries derailed the Warriors’ offense and the duo of Tyler Gooding and Isaiah Garrett should help with returning quarterback Bryshawn Brown.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: High school football preview: Eastern Cincinnati Conference stacked with talent