2024 football preview: TCC Saints going 'old school' to rev up their offense

The start of the 2024 Ohio high school football season is right around the corner.

Most teams open Week 1 on Friday, Aug. 23, with a handful playing their season opener on Thursday, Aug. 22.

This week, we are holding our own kind of two-a-days with previews on two teams released each morning. Here is one in a series of previews for area football teams:

Tuscarawas Central Catholic Saints

The Saints will be under the direction of a new head coach. TCC graduate (2003) and former player Giovanni Ionno takes over the program.

The Saints finished 0-10 in 2023 and will be looking to build for the future with some youthful classes. In particular, TCC will be looking to improve on the offensive side of the football after scoring just 41 points last season.

"I’m an old-school guy at heart," Ionno said. "We’re going to run the ball, and we’re going to run it again, and we’re going to run it on fourth down. That’s going to be our key to the season. It’s going to be the double-wing offense. It will look a little bit old school, but it will fit our needs. Defensively, we’ll be a 5-2. Stopping the run is the No. 1 priority

The Saints are penciled in against one new opponent in 2024 in Ridgewood who visits in Week 5. Ridgewood replaces Sandy Valley on the Saints’ schedule. TCC, a member of the Inter Valley Conference North Division, opens the Ionno era Saturday, Aug. 24 when it hosts the Conotton Valley Rockets in IVC action.

Coach : Giovanni Ionno (1st season)

2023 Record: 0-10

Classification: Division VII, Region 27

Playoff appearances under current coach: none

Key returners: Warren Tienerand, Sr., OL/NG, Kolton Whitaker, Sr., QB/LB, Anthony Bollon, Soph., OL/DL, Grady Stein, Soph., RB.

Key newcomers: Sebastian Ball, Soph., RB/S.

Coach Ionno’s take: “ I’ve got about 15 (players) right now, but I’ve got a couple other kids in the school that are talking, so I’m expecting it to be around 17 or 18 by the time the season gets rolling. We did have about eight seniors that graduated, so we had a heavy senior class, but this year we are mainly freshmen and sophomores, so we’re a very young team. A lot of kids have experience that came back but now we’re looking to be mainly freshmen heavy and build for the future. I want the kids to learn how to play the right way, practice the right way. I want them to start to fulfill their potential. I want them to grow in the weight room and become stronger. We’re hoping to sneak out a win or two this year and start to build, so the core group of kids will start to catch up with the rest of the league, and in years to come, Central Catholic will be one of the main (Inter Valley Conference) teams.”

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: 2024 football preview: TCC Saints going 'old school' to rev up their offense