The first week of September coincides with the final week of non-league play for some central Ohio high school football teams.
As the early season picture continues to come into focus, 27 area teams enter Week 3 undefeated. Thirty-two teams are still seeking their first victories in a week highlighted by a crosstown rivalry and several intriguing matchups.
Here are five things to watch in Week 3:
New-look Pickerington North prepares for Pickerington Central
The Panthers (1-1) have looked different out of necessity, whether that has meant injuries or situational need, but they hope a similar result awaits in the latest installment of their crosstown rivalry with Central (0-2).
A knee injury to Ohio University running back commit Andyriq Thomas in Week 1 at Troy thrust freshman Jayden Preece into the spotlight.
Preece has responded with 185 yards and two touchdowns through two weeks, and Thomas is expected to return at Central.
North also got 192 passing yards and three touchdowns from sophomore quarterback Demetrius Neal in a 24-21 loss to Cleveland St. Ignatius, creating a timeshare with junior Chase McKee.
“Those two have been battling,” North coach Nate Hillerich said. “Chase is bigger, a little more experienced and runs the ball a little better. Demetrius is a good thrower. They both have their strengths.”
Both will be tested against a Central defense that forced three turnovers – all interceptions from freshman cornerback Braylen Burnette – and played well in spurts in a 28-0 loss to Watterson last week. Still, the Tigers have not scored a touchdown this season and are at risk for their first 0-3 start since 1985.
North has won four in a row in the series.
“They are in a similar situation to us with a lot of young players, a new quarterback [sophomore Winnie Garnett] and a lot of young linemen,” Hillerich said. “But they will be ready and prepared for us.”
Road test awaits 2-0 Worthington Kilbourne
A handful of defensive tweaks seemed to have worked so far for the undefeated Wolves, who outscored Watkins Memorial and Thomas Worthington 101-27 in two home games to start the year.
Still, coach Mike Edwards expects a stiff test during a visit to Canal Winchester (1-1), which is coming off a program-record 10 wins last year and handed Kilbourne its largest loss in 2025, 48-28 in Week 3.
Kilbourne went from a 3-4 to a 4-2-5 look. Senior linebacker Brendan Rhoads’ 28 tackles, including 22 solo, leads a unit that has racked up 7½ stops for loss.
Quarterback Jackson Szabo has thrown for 442 yards, run for 186 and accounted for 11 total touchdowns.
“We play a lot of the same coverage standards,” Edwards said. “We wanted to emphasize stopping the run; we struggled there last year. … The 4-2-5 concept, we have good leadership out of our middle linebacker [Rhoads], who is off to a crazy strong start. And we have a really good secondary, so we can play aggressive in the run game and trust our safeties and defensive backs to take care of business.”
Canal Winchester averages 31 points, scoring 27 in a one-point opening loss at Grove City and 35 in a seven-point win at New Albany.
Gahanna Lincoln embracing different challenge at Olentangy Liberty
A 2-0 start in which his team has outscored its opponents 59-10 is reason enough to thrill Gahanna coach Bruce Ward, but he is happier that the wins were not necessarily similar.
The Lions opened with a 35-3 rout of Pickerington Central, then came from behind to defeat Springboro 24-7.
The schedule gets no easier with a visit to winless Liberty, which opened with perennial power Lakewood St. Edward (15-12) and reigning Division IV state champion Cleveland Glenville (34-13).
“To me, [the first two weeks were] two drastically different games as far as how we played, the opponent we played and the style of team we played,” Ward said. “Pick Central is a little more explosive [with] athletes all over the place. Springboro is a little more process-detailed in my opinion with some good players, but I like that our team accepted two different challenges from two traditionally great teams and came out on top in both of them. …
“Liberty is a hungry team. Nobody wants to be 0-2, and they’re traditionally good. They are physical up front. They just haven’t put a total game together.”
Junior Leon Cummings has accounted for 315 of Gahanna’s 383 yards on the ground.
Dublin Jerome’s Crabtree taking return to Dublin Coffman in stride
Second-year Jerome coach Mark Crabtree is downplaying his return to his former school as an opposing head coach.
Crabtree has already faced the Shamrocks once, winning 24-7 at home last season. He coached Coffman for 20 seasons before stepping down in January 2021.
“I haven’t even thought much about it,” Crabtree said. “I know when I get over there and I’m on the visitors’ sideline, it will be a little bit weird.”
Jerome will try to avoid its first 0-3 start since 2015, while Coffman (1-1) is looking to rebound from a 39-7 loss at Division II power Big Walnut.
“The game is all over the school,” Crabtree said. “That’s why I don’t even bring it up because they’re living it all day long with all the stuff in the school, high school rivalry stuff.”
Crabtree, who served as an assistant at DeSales for four seasons between head-coaching jobs, has a 233-80 career record.
Junior Rocco Lombardi and sophomore Bryce Jenkins have split time at quarterback for Jerome. Jenkins has passed for 122 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and Lombardi has thrown for 79 yards and a score.
For Coffman, junior Jack Morris has passed for 181 yards with one touchdown and one interception and rushed for 214 yards and four scores.
Watch Ohio high school football on NFHS Network
East faces tough test against DeSales
Since being named coach at East in 2020, Mike Bell has tried to schedule challenging non-league opponents.
The most challenging one so far, DeSales, visits East on Sept. 4. Both teams are 2-0.
Division III East has 26 players in its program, while Division II DeSales has 69 with 49 on varsity. DeSales leads the all-time series 4-0, but the teams haven’t met since 1994 (40-12).
Bell’s team has had four consecutive winning seasons, qualifying for the postseason each year. The Tigers won two playoff games in 2022 and one last year.
“We’re small in numbers but we’re coming, all 20-something of us,” Bell said. “We’ve had to play ironman football, but the kids have bought into it. They’re training that much harder knowing that we have to be in better shape to win games against good programs with numbers.”
In a 25-14 win over Whitehall in Week 2, Dior Hansard passed for 234 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 89 yards and a score to lead East. Lou Goodlow had 107 yards receiving, 75 yards rushing and two TDs, and Michael Thompson-Ayers had 109 yards receiving and a score.
“They have a really good group of skilled kids, and they do a great job schematically,” DeSales coach Ryan Wiggins said.
For DeSales, quarterback RJ Day – the son of Ohio State football coach Ryan Day and a Northwestern commit – has completed 42 of 52 passes for 517 yards with five TDs and one interception. CJ Wells has six catches for 144 yards and one score.
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 3
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.
