Seventeen central Ohio high school football teams remain undefeated entering Week 4, and 23 more continue to seek their first win.
Not only does this week mark the start of league play for several area conferences, including the City League, the OCC in the Buckeye and Capital divisions, the MSL and the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference, but two showdowns between undefeated teams highlight the schedule as North Union visits Jonathan Alder and Worthington Christian hosts Newark Catholic.
Here are five things to watch in Week 4:
Maturing South surges to 3-0 start
One of the City League’s two turnaround stories comes from South, which two years removed from a 0-10 season is 3-0 – tying its win total of a year ago – with a veteran defense complementing a rebuilding offense that has averaged
35.3 points.
The Bulldogs returned six starters, including four on defense and two who go both ways in seniors Timothy Lipsey Jr. (DB/WR) and Donte Robinson (OL/DL). The others on defense are seniors Jayden Mattox (DL) and Daniel Runyon (DB).
“The biggest thing is, compared to last year, we’re not turning the ball over,” coach Adam Warren said, crediting strong play from senior multi-threat quarterback Leon Tilley Jr. “It’s just the mindset of the young men. They have really bought into the culture change.
“It’s been a bunch of guys who weren’t sure they were football players in the spring but have really bought into it. They have made an impact. We’re not physically big, but we have speed and we can get you in space.”
Junior lineman Shaun Robinson’s seven sacks lead the defense entering a Sept. 11 visit to two-time defending City-South champion Walnut Ridge (0-3).
The City League’s other unbeaten teams are West, which has won its first three games for the first time in a decade, and Linden-McKinley.
New Albany, Upper Arlington set for clash
Mark Solis saw enough film of UA during the past four seasons as an assistant at OCC-Central rival Hilliard Davidson to not be caught off-guard this week.
That’s also part of the reason Solis, now in his first season coaching New Albany (2-1), heaped high praise on a Golden Bears team (3-0) that is coming off a dominating 43-22 win over two-time defending Division II state champion Avon.
“I don’t see any flaws,” Solis said. “This might be one of the best teams [UA coach Justin Buttermore] has ever had. He is one of, if not the, best defensive coaches in the state of Ohio. Combine that with the fact that they have very good players and a strong coaching staff, we have our work cut out for us. Fundamentally, they are as good as you’ll ever see in central Ohio.
“What makes this team a little bit different than some of the others they’ve had is their offensive line is like a small [Mid-American Conference] line. They’re 6-3, 6-4 across the board and … we added up the weights and they are over 1,500 pounds combined, and they can move.”
Led by junior quarterbacks Charlie Hunt and Reign St. Clair, UA has outscored its opponents 107-29. New Albany rebounded from a 35-28 loss to Canal Winchester in Week 2 by routing Dublin Scioto 56-7, a game it led 54-0 at halftime.
Undefeated St. Charles leaning on defense
The Cardinals are 3-0 for the third time in four years, and coach Anthony Colucci said the common thread during this start has been the defense.
With seven seniors back on defense and eight on offense, St. Charles gave up just a touchdown in wins over Central Crossing (42-7) and Westerville South (13-7), sandwiched around a 28-26 win over Hamilton Township in Week 2.
Colucci said “a good portion” of those starters are two-way players, but added the Cardinals – who host Ready (2-1) this week – can rotate more now than in previous seasons because of depth.
“One of the senior goals that they came up with was ‘rise to the occasion,’ and the thing we have spoken about is the best teams make plays when it mattered most,” Colucci said. “It’s been cool to see that happen in real life for the defense and some of the veteran players who might have made mistakes in years past but aren’t anymore. They are making the plays when it matters most.”
Junior defensive back Nick Grilli’s 20 tackles lead the team.
Four starting wide receivers are seniors in Trey Davis, Ben Nickey, Liam Nordstrom and Jack Hilbert. Sophomore quarterback Nolan Beyer (601 yards passing, 9 TDs) is a first-year starter.
Davis leads the receivers with 17 catches for 262 yards. His three TD catches tie Hilbert and Nickey for the team lead.
Watterson looks to extend winning streak
Two-time reigning Division III state champion Watterson (3-0) puts its 33-game winning streak on the line against 2025 Division IV state champion Cleveland Glenville (2-1) on Sept. 11 at Ohio Dominican.
Watterson shut out its first two opponents and defeated Youngstown Ursuline 41-10 on Sept. 5.
Glenville will be making its second trip to central Ohio in three weeks after beating Olentangy Liberty 34-13 on Aug. 28. The previous day, players from the team were accused by staff at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Grove City of taking more than $4,500 worth of merchandise.
According to Cleveland.com, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District announced Sept. 3 that 11 players were suspended from school and benched for two games.
In the Tarblooders’ first game since defeating Liberty, they racked up 566 yards of offense, including 314 rushing, on Sept. 4 in a 37-21 win over Clarkson Football North of Mississauga, Ontario.
“They do everything really well,” Watterson coach Brian Kennedy said. “They’re not going to beat themselves. You’re going to have to go beat them.”
For Watterson, junior Dash Hoy continues to develop in his first year as starting quarterback. He has passed for 301 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 283 yards and four scores, leading an offense that averages 34.7 points.
Senior Caden Mangini has rushed for 368 yards and six scores, and senior Carter Bellisari has 229 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
“We have put our defense in some tough spots the last couple of weeks, and they’ve responded,” Kennedy said. “Offensively, we’re still breaking in a new quarterback. We got better from Week 2 to Week 3, but we still have some improvement. I’m not going to complain about putting up 28 and 41 [points] the [past] two weeks.”
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Worthington Christian preps for fellow unbeaten Newark Catholic
There are some similarities between Worthington Christian and its Week 4 opponent, visiting Newark Catholic.
Both teams are 3-0 for the first time since 2021, and both are led by first-year coaches.
Andy Johnson, a 2006 graduate of Worthington Kilbourne, is guiding Worthington Christian after previously serving as an assistant at Dublin Jerome.
Newark Catholic’s Tom Phillips has coached and served as an administrator at several schools. He was head coach at Pickerington North from 2007-16.
Newark Catholic is coming off a 31-0 win over Lore City Buckeye Trail in which senior Alex Nagel became the first player in program history to throw a touchdown pass, run for a score and return an interception for a touchdown in the same game.
For Worthington Christian, junior Isaac Zerkle has passed for 409 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 161 yards and four scores. Junior Jack Smolenski has 14 receptions for 213 yards and three TDs.
“We have some good athletes,” said Johnson, who is the program’s fourth coach in four seasons. “There’s some good kids here, but it’s a small school. You’re always one or two injuries away from things going sideways. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve been able to stay mostly healthy. We’ve left some meat on the bone at times, but we’ve played well. I’m impressed with the character of our kids [after] what they’ve been through.”
Worthington Christian beat Newark Catholic 21-20 last season.
High school sports reporters Frank DiRenna and Dave Purpura can be reached at sports@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 things to watch in central Ohio high school football Week 4
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