2024 football preview: No stranger to the playoffs, Indian Valley should be a force again

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.

Here is one in a series of previews for area football teams:

2024 football preview: Tuscarawas County football coaches talk more than X's and O's

Mark your calendar: Team-by-team schedules for the Tuscarawas County area

Indian Valley Braves

Paced by a veteran line and powerful rushing attack, led by junior star Grady Kinsey, who gained 1,446 yards and scored 29 touchdowns last fall and had 133 tackles on defense, the tradition-rich Braves look to be a force in the Tuscarawas County area once again.

Head coach Matt Lancaster has guided the Braves to the postseason in 11 of the past 12 seasons. Indian Valley won its last five regular-season games and two of its three playoff games last fall and many of the standouts from that team have returned. Look for Garaway and Indian Valley to be battling for top Inter Valley Conference South Division title honors this season.

"Due to the graduation of Kolton Thomas and Quake Beatty, we are going to have to have players step up in leadership roles," Lancaster said. "As always, we want to see execution on both sides of the ball and improve week to week. We will be looking for our defense to come together and especially at the linebacker position. We are expecting our offensive line, due to their extensive experience, to set the tone in games. We have some very good competitions for varsity positions going on now on both sides of the ball, so hopefully that will lead to developing some quality depth.”

Of course, another great area matchup will occur in Week 4 when the Braves travel to Crater Stadium to face Dover, a game which always attracts a large crowd. Indian Valley will play two new teams this fall. It hosts John Glenn in Week 3 and will entertain Buckeye Trail in Week 6. John Glenn and Buckeye Trail replace Cambridge and St. Clairsville on the Braves’ schedule. The Braves open the season Friday, Aug. 23 hosting Akron Ellet, a team it throttled 33-14 last season, in an independent contest.

Coach : Matt Lancaster (18th season), 119-68 record

2023 record: 9-4, including playoffs

Classification: Division IV, Region 15

Playoff appearances under current coach: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Key returners: Grady Kinsey, Jr., RB/DL/LB, David Striker, Sr., DT, Jaxon Burcher, Sr., TE/LB/DE, Hunter Peterman, Sr, C/DE, Brogan O’Conner, Jr., G/OLB, Ryker Williams, Soph., QB/OLB, Eric Golder, Sr., RB/OLB, Owen Fockler, Sr., WR/DB, Brogen Wilson, Soph., T/DT.

Key newcomers: Kolton Smith, Sr., WR/DB, Reese St. Clair, Soph., Kylar Vosick, Jr., WR/DB, Rowan Piccin, Jr., WR/DB, Titan Peterman, Soph., OL/DE.

Coach Lancaster’s take: “ While we graduated only a small group of seniors from last year’s 9-4 team, that small group had players that made huge contributions to our team for multiple years, including six players that were multiple-year starters. We have seven returning starters on offense and five on defense. We have a lot of returning role players from 2023 that are ready to step into an increased role. For 2024, our motto is “Reach Higher” and we expect our young men to step up and fill the void left by those who have graduated and seize the opportunities they will have while being selfless and doing what is best for the team.

"One of the strengths of our team is the invaluable playoff experience our players have earned over the last couple of seasons. We believe the experience will play a huge part as we try to “Reach Higher” as a program and make a deeper playoff run. We have many returning starters and several others that received playing time due to injury. We have great numbers again this year and a number of underclassmen who are competing for time. This has made practices competitive, and we feel we have a number of kids who can contribute on Friday nights."

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: 2024 football preview: No stranger to the playoffs, Indian Valley should be a force again