2024 NWOAL football team previews: Liberty Center picked to three-peat

Two-time defending league football champions tend to be favored to continue their title-winning ways the following year, unless losses to graduation are simply too much to overcome.

Entering the 2024 season, Liberty Center is coming off not only back-to-back Northwest Ohio Athletic League titles with matching 7-0 league records, but the Tigers have also had consecutive playoff treks that led a 14-1 Division V state-semifinal run in 2022 and a 15-1 state runner-up finish last year.

But, as he begins his eighth season guiding the Tigers, head coach Casey Mohler (76-15 record) will hit the field with just three starters returning on offense and four on defense.

Regardless, NWOAL coaches have enough respect for the base strength of Liberty Center’s program to see the Tigers as clear favorites to capture a third straight league championship. LC received six of the eight first-place votes and 61 of a possible 64 voting points to finish first in a preseason polls of NWOAL coaches.

“Being picked first has a lot to do with winning last year,” Mohler said. “But, we’re not where we were last year, at least not yet. So, we’ll have to continue to improve, continue to work hard, and just do the little things that it takes to make a difference. We've been making progress, but we still have a long way to go.”

The Tigers’ Henry County rival, Patrick Henry, which placed third in the league and reached the Division VII state semifinals a year ago, collected the other two first-place nods and 57 voting points to place second in the poll. The Patriots' last league title came in 2018

Archbold, which won three consecutive NWOAL titles (2019 to 2021), sharing the first of those with LC, was third in the poll at 50 points, followed by Wauseon (39).

Here is a look at all the NWOAL in predicted order of finish:

LIBERTY CENTER

■ Coach: Casey Mohler, eighth season

■ Last season: 15-1 overall, 7-0 NWOAL

■ Top players: Seniors Waylon Rentz, 5-11, 205, RB-LB; Zander Zeiter, 6-2, 215, TE-DL; Cam Kahle, 5-9, 155, DB; Grady Miller, 6-4, 210, QB-WR-DB; Stephen Brogan, 5-11, 210, OL-LB; Brady Giesige, 6-2, 265, OL-DL.

■ Outlook: Graduation losses were significant, most notably two-time first team All-Ohio offensive lineman Landon Bockelman, who also dominated up front on defense, and the talented Kruse triplets – Colton (first team All-Ohio RB), Trenton (second team LB), and Landen (third team DB). Helping to fill the void will be Rentz (567 rush yards, 9 TD; 65 tackles, 5 sacks), Zeiter (60 tackles, 9 sacks), and Kahle (32 tackles, 5 interceptions). Mohler views depth on both lines, collective big-game experience, and the kicking game as chief team strengths. His greatest concern will be developing offensive skill-position players to make up for the Tigers losing 90 percent of their offensive output from 2023.

“We are going to need to use last year's experience and extra practice time to our advantage,” Mohler said. “Replacing our skill players on offense is going to be the big priority. Hopefully, we can find some play-makers and develop some depth at all of our positions. We are going to need to lean on our defense early until we can develop on offense.”

PATRICK HENRY

■ Coach: Bill Inselmann, 32nd season

■ Last season: 12-3, 5-2

■ Top players: Seniors Lincoln Creager, 6-2, 185, QB-DB; Avery Wright, 5-11, 225, OL-DL; Jaden Punches, 6-4, 185, LB. Juniors Grant Smith, 6-2, 210, DL; Trent Johnson, 6-0, 205, TE-DE; Akevian Kryder, 5-9, 175, LB; Adrian Delgado, 6-0, 265, OL; Grant Schwab, 5-9, 145, S. Sophomore Reid Creager, 6-3, 165, CB.

■ Outlook: When Patrick Henry career completions (530) and passing yardage (6,699) leader Nash Meyer sustained a season-ending injury prior to Week 7, Lincoln Creager took over at QB and excelled. He will be expected to lead the Pats’ offense this year. Other key graduation losses were three-year WR-DB Landon Johnson, and productive two-year RB-LB Houston Miranda. First team All-Ohio DL Smith (102 tackles, 12 TFL, 23 sacks) will anchor the defense up front, with help from Creager on the back end.

“Line play on both sides of the ball will need to be one of our strengths,” Inselmann said. “Experience in the secondary, and keeping Lincoln Creager healthy at the QB position will be important. How quickly we can develop our receivers and a running back will be big keys to our season. Another big concern is our lack of depth.”

ARCHBOLD

■ Coach: David Dominique, 10th season

■ Last season: 10-2, 6-1

■ Top players: Seniors Evan Wendt, 5-11, 180, WR-S; Eddie Yoder, 5-11, 195, TE-LB; Jayden Gensler, 6-4, 290, OT-DT; Tristan Wyse, 5-6, 165, RB-S; David Oregon, 6-3, 285, OT-DT; Broden Piercefield, 6-0, 175, WR-DB.

■ Outlook: The Blue Streaks look to contend for a league title with 20 returning letterwinners, including 11 seniors, on a 59-player roster. But, just two offensive and three defensive starters return, so inexperience may be a hurdle to those title aspirations. Dominique likes the Streaks’ experience on the offensive line and sees a good blend of size and athleticism as well as solid potential up front and at the linebacker level on defense. His chief concerns are inexperience at the offensive skill spots, and in the secondary on defense. Oregon is back after earning first team All-NWOAL honors at DL last year. Yoder was a second team all-league LB.

“With the loss of 22 seniors from last year, we are looking to replace the majority of our productivity on both sides,” said Dominique. “In order for us to find success, we are going to have to get these new faces up to the speed and physicality of varsity football. Thankfully, a lot of them got the opportunity to play at that level last year, and we are looking for them to adjust pretty quickly.”

WAUSEON

■ Coach: Shawn Moore, sixth season

■ Last season: 6-5, 4-3

■ Top players: Seniors Wyatt Smith, 6-2, 180, WR-DB; Braylon Miller, 6-0, 145, QB-DB; Ashton Vonier, 5-10, 187, G-LB. Junior Kahle Albright, 6-3, 173, QB-DB. Sophomores Tyler Rodriguez, 6-0, 210, RB-LB; Xzavier Molina, 5-11, 158, RB-DB.

■ Outlook: The Indians, like several top teams in the league, lost some top-rate players to graduation from 2023. For Wauseon, the most glaring void is left by Tyson Rodriquez (WR-DB-PK-PU), who did a little bit of everything for the Indians the past two years. Wauseon includes 18 returning letterwinners and 11 seniors on a 58-player roster, and five starters are back on each side of the ball. Size on the offensive line and depth at running back are bright spots for Moore, who sees overall inexperience as his greatest concern.

“We have a young team that lacks experience, but they are looking to prove themselves,” said Moore (35-19 record). “We will need to stay healthy due to a lack of depth at certain positions.”

DELTA

■ Coach: Mike Vicars, first season back (10th overall)

■ Last season: 3-7, 1-6

■ Top players: Seniors Landon Lintermoot, 5-10, 170, RB-LB; Cass Chiesa, 5-10, 225, C-LB; Carl Warner, 5-7, 160, RB-DB; Parker Cone, 5-7, 160, G-DL; Brody Roth, 6-2, 170, PK. Junior Brady Smith, 6-3, 265, OT-DL. Sophomore Kade Lintermoot, 6-1, 185, TE-DE.

■ Outlook: Vicars inherits a 50-player roster that includes 16 returning letterwinners but just seven seniors. Six starters are back on offense and three on defense. Landon Lintermoot (538 rushing yards, 4 TD; 52 tackles, 5 sacks) and Cone (466 rushing yards, 125 receiving yards) bring experience in the backfield, and Vicars was encouraged by the team's offseason training work. A coaching staff with more than 200 combined years of experience will be a boost to a program trying to turn a competitive corner. One key element may be building confidence in the players for a team that has not experienced much winning in recent years.

“This group of players has been great in both their commitment and their desire to get better,” said Vicars. “Truly, we have one goal right now — we just want to be a pain in the rear end each and every week for opponents. When Friday night comes, we want them to know they have a battle on their hands, regardless of the outcome of the game. We need to be gritty and tough every Friday night.”

BRYAN

■ Coach: Scott Staten, first year

■ Last season: 5-6, 3-4

■ Top players: Seniors Cade Spiesak, 5-10, 207, G; Carter Dominique, 6-2, 215, WR-DE; Dameon Wolfe, 5-8, 190, RB-LB. Juniors Connor Hogan, 6-0, 230, G; Cody Shaffer, 5-9, 206, TE-LB; Jacob Uran, 6-1, 185, DE-TE.

■ Outlook: Staten moves up to head coach after serving as a Golden Bears assistant for four years and a prior head-coaching run at Edon (2010 to 2019), where his Bombers went 54-49 overall and 43-22 in Toledo Area Athletic Conference play. He inherits a roster with just 27 players in grades 10 to 12, including just five seniors and 13 letterwinners overall. Three starters are back on offense and five on defense. The biggest graduation void was led by the 1-2 offensive punch of first team All-NWOAL players Sam Herold (RB, 1,426 rushing yards, 443 receiving yards, 18 TD) and Jase Kepler (QB, 1,383 passing yards, 11 TD; 912 rush yards, 17 TD), who accounted for almost all of the Golden Bears' offense. Staten sees the linebacking corps as the team’s top strength, and his biggest concerns are inexperience at the skill positions, and depth on the offensive line.

“We need to focus on the process, and the outcome will take care of itself,” Staten said. “As far as where we see ourselves the the league, we will need to be fundamentally sound on offense, take what the defense gives us, and limit turnovers in order to have success offensively. We have a number of play-makers that can step up make big plays. Limiting big plays and playing fundamentally sound football will also be the keys on defense.”

EVERGREEN

■ Coach: Barry Bock, second season

■ Last season: 4-6, 2-5

■ Top players: Seniors Joey Okos, 5-11, 270, OL-DL; Colton Robertson, 5-11, 170, WR-DB; Max Mossing, 5-9, 185, RB-DB; Trevor Johnson, 5-7, 175, RB-LB; Will Johnson, 6-3, 205, TE-LB. Juniors Bryce Bolger, 5-9, 180, QB-DB; J.J. Johnson, 5-10, 185, TE-LB.

■ Outlook: In his second season building the Vikings, Bock has just seven seniors on a 33-player roster, which includes 17 letterwinners. Seven starters are back on both offense and defense. Bolger (86 of 155 passing, 805 passing yards, 6 TD), Mossing (630 rushing yards), and Robertson (36 catches, 300 yards) bring a solid skill-position trio for the Viking offense to build around. Bock sees program continuity with the schemes on offense and defense as another strength along with talent on the offensive line. On defense, he has great confidence in the defense as a whole, and mostly with experience up front and at linebacker. His concerns include turnovers, getting defensive stops, and preventing big plays.

“For us to take the next step and raise our program standard, we need to find a way to be more competitive every week,” Bock said. “We play in a very tough league, especially with Liberty Center, Patrick Henry and Archbold making deep playoff runs yearly. If we can find a way to stay healthy throughout the season, even though we may look young on the roster, we have experience and the athletes will continue to show up and compete daily.”

SWANTON

■ Coach: Nate McAfee, first year

■ Last season: 0-10, 0-7

■ Top players: Seniors Drake Harris, 6-0, 205, QB-RB-LB; Lucas Wilson, 6-1, 210, QB-RB-LB; Kaiden Bryan, 6-5, 200, TE-SS; Josh Tyburski, 5-9, 185, RB-LB; Evan Smigelski, 6-2, 290, OL-DL. Junior Zak Wylie, 6-4, 285, OL-DL.

■ Outlook: McAfee begins a building process as the Bulldogs’ third head coach in three years. He starts with a 45-player roster that includes 18 seniors, 17 letterwinners, and eight starters back on both offense and defense. McAfee will utilize a spread offense and a 4-3 base defense. He likes the size and strength on the offensive and defensive lines, but is concerned with the transition to new schemes, and an overall lack of depth.

“The team has the potential to do some exciting things this season,” McAfee said. “With the way the players have bought into and accepted the new coaching staff, new systems, and the new atmosphere, things are moving in the right direction for Swanton football. Our focus is on us and trying to get better through hard work and determination. If we keep moving in this positive direction, we will be very competitive against the teams on our schedule this season.”