Preview: Talawanda football faces Dayton Carroll for homecoming weekend matchup
"I think the theme of this week is to...appreciate what’s going on around us as far as the festivities go, but then to make sure that on Friday we dial in and take care of business.”
A parade down High Street is always a fun way to kick off the homecoming season, and the Talawanda High School football team took part in one on Thursday evening. That’s just the beginning of a weekend packed full of events for Oxford teams, beginning with the Brave’s home game against the Patriots of Dayton Carroll High School.
Talawanda is 4-0 heading into the matchup, with Carroll entering the contest with an even record of 2-2.
“It’s really fun right now in Oxford for Talawanda football,” Brave Head Coach Andy Stuckert said. “I think the word is out that Talawanda is not what they used to be, and people are coming out to the games. Then it gets magnified on homecoming because people find an excuse to come to the game, and they’ll show up and be loud.
“Our homecoming parade is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. It’s really well-done. It’s packed; the kids have fun with it. So overall, I think the theme of this week is to make sure that we take a minute to understand where we’re at, appreciate what’s going on around us as far as the festivities go, but then to make sure that on Friday we dial in and take care of business.”
The last time these two programs played each other was last season, when the Brave took the over-an-hour drive north and came out with a 49-8 victory, with 42 of those points scored in the first half. Almost all of their work came on the ground, with senior running back Lance Cantrell rushing for 286 yards over 10 total carries and a long of 61 with four touchdowns.
The leading receiver was Camar Ellis, now a senior for the Talawanda team, with 58 yards on three receptions and a touchdown. Junior quarterback Oliver Bennett, also now in his final year with the program, completed four passes on eight attempts with a total of 89 yards and two touchdowns. The defense nabbed two interceptions, including one from Kemper McAfee, who tallied one in the Brave’s most recent game against Franklin High School.
In week four, the Brave dominated Franklin with a 35-0 win. The defense was stifling, earning their second shutout of the season while gathering three turnovers and three sacks. Sophomore Bryton Vaughn has had to come into his own following an injury in week one for the Brave, but he has more than pulled his weight under defensive coordinator Cortez McGinnis. His five sacks on the season are 18th best in Ohio. One more would put him in the top 10.
“He’s a great example of a guy that’s getting developed and starting to play fast and understand the game on the fly,” Stuckert said. “He’s going to be a really good one for us.”
As for the offense, it was once again sophomore quarterback Jake Van Gorden and senior Camar Ellis leading the charge. With Ellis’ most recent performance (139 yards and two touchdowns on six receptions, his second week in a row of 135+ yards), he sits 12th in Ohio in receiving yards. The Talawanda running game was strong, too, with junior Ethan Hainline collecting 102 rushing yards across 14 carries.
Van Gorden was 16 for 23 on the night with 241 yards of passing and four total touchdowns. It was his second game in a row of over 240 passing yards, and his first of the season with two or more touchdown passes.
“I thought our quarterback Jake Van Gorden played a really nice football game on Friday,” Stuckert said. “We threw a little bit more on him. The initial game plan wasn’t going the way we wanted it to, even though we did put up 35 in the first half. There were things we thought we’d be able to do or that we wanted to do to dictate the tempo of the first half, and they didn’t really work in the first two drives, so we kind of scrapped it and went with a little bit more pass-heavy (plays). That put more on his plate, and he did a nice job of making plays.”
With the offense clicking and the defense continuing to run on all cylinders as they have all year, Talawanda’s next goal is facing a team that has dealt with some turmoil recently but still has enough talent to be a real test.
The Patriots were led by Mike Pomfret, who was hired in January of 2025 and heading into his second season. However, he was dismissed after an on-field incident at a practice at the end of July.
He was initially placed on administrative leave by the school before his firing and is no longer a teacher at the high school either.
“As a result of an on-field incident at practice, effective immediately, Mike Pomfret is no longer employed at Archbishop Carroll High School as a teacher or coach,” Carroll High School Principal Matt Sableski said in a statement reported by the Dayton Daily News.
With that event occurring less than a month before Carroll’s first game against Stebbins High School, interim coach Mitch Weitz had a lot of work to do to pull the team together.
Despite losing that first contest against Stebbins, the Patriots won their next two games, including their home opener, but fell in shutout fashion in their most recent game against Northwest. Their offense will be looking to get back on the scoreboard through sophomore quarterback James Jaynes, who has gathered an impressive 287 yards over 28 carries with three touchdowns on the ground, and junior running back Casey Steck, who has collected 349 yards through 56 attempts.
The passing game has left much to be desired, but given the nature of the offense on the ground, that side of the football could open up sooner rather than later.
“(Carroll is) really well-coached,” Stuckert said. “The staff had to turn around and get those guys organized. To think that they’re 2-2, that tells you a lot about that staff. And then from a pure scouting standpoint, they have some really good football players. (Jaynes) is poised for a breakout game, and I’m hoping it happens next week, not against us. He’s a phenomenal athlete. He’s a bigger kid; he’s fast. And they have some skill players. They have a couple of running backs who get carries. They both look pretty good.
“They’re probably the biggest offensive line we’ll see all year as far as height and weight goes, certainly the two biggest inside linebackers we’ll play against. They have some size, they have some speed, too. So they’re going to be a challenge just to make sure we keep them contained. They don’t throw the ball all that well, just being completely honest, but what they do in the run game is dangerous if you’re not playing solid football.”
The Brave will try to maintain their undefeated record on homecoming weekend, taking on Carroll at 7 p.m. E.T. on Friday, Sept. 18 at Talawanda High School Stadium.
