Welcome to 2023 Cincinnati high school football season. Here's what you need to know
The Bengals and the Bearcats will have to wait their turns for full football attention. For now, it is officially high school football season in Greater Cincinnati.
The Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana High School Athletic Associations have flipped their calendars from preseason to regular season and the Friday (or some Thursday and Saturday) nights are for high school football.
Before heading out to watch that defending state champion or turning on the stream just in time to catch the band's halftime performances, here is your primer for stories to watch, schedules and more. Check cincinnati.com for game scores, stories and photos from Friday night.
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High school football: 2023 Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky high school football week 1 schedule
What are the main storylines heading into the 2023 Cincinnati high school football season?
Moeller eyes title 10: It has been a decade since the Moeller Crusaders last hoisted the OHSAA Division I state championship trophy at the end of the season. The Crusaders have been in the state semifinals three times since, including in each of the last two seasons, but have fallen short of reaching the final game.
Should the Crusaders make it out of Cincinnati and into Canton for week 16, they will try to become just the third program in the state to have 10 or more football state championships, joining Cleveland St. Ignatius and Maria Stein Marion Local.
A new regime at Beechwood: Moeller may be searching to be the first area team for 10 OHSAA state titles, but they’re not the first to come close to 10 among all the Greater Cincinnati programs.
Beechwood has nearly double the titles, winning its 17th KHSAA state championship and third-straight last year. The 2022 season also marked the final of legendary head coach Noel Rash who stepped down after being responsible for eight of Beechwood’s titles.
The Tigers hired former Talawanda head coach Jay Volker in March to take over the program. Volker, before his stint at Talawanda, had been a defensive coordinator at Kings, Moeller and La Salle.
East Central looking back-to-back: East Central dropped just two games in 2022, falling to Moeller 43-14 in the third week of the year before dropping a 21-19 decision to Indianapolis Roncalli in the regular season finale. Five weeks later, the Trojans avenged the loss to Roncalli with a 24-21 overtime victory in the IHSAA Class 4A state semifinals.
In the state finals, East Central used its dominating rushing attack and stifling defense to cruise by New Prairie 37-7. With the return of a big amount of talent ‒ including running back and likely Mr. Indiana Football candidate Josh Ringer who had four touchdowns in that state final ‒ East Central has a target on its back again in Class 4A and will play for the first back-to-back titles and fourth title overall in the program’s history.
Moving conferences and classes: In the Southwest Ohio Conference, Edgewood won the conference title the last two seasons and Ross was the champion the year before that in 2020. Neither will be champion in 2023. Ross and Edgewood departed the SWOC and joined the Southwestern Buckeye League starting this fall. That leaves just Harrison, Mount Healthy, Northwest and Talawanda in the four-team SWOC.
In Kentucky, some shakeup came from the results of the KHSAA’s class realignment. Multi-time Class 5A state champs Covington Catholic was dropped down to Class 4A due to its enrollment numbers. A year after falling to Beechwood in the Class 2A semifinals, Lloyd Memorial was pushed up to Class 3A. Among other changes, Dixie Heights dropped from Class 6A to 5A while both Holy Cross and Newport went from 2A to 1A. That means those teams can expect some new opponents come tournament time.
Transfer tracker: Which Greater Cincinnati football players switched schools?
Trey Barnette: The talented wide receiver is crossing the river to play for Tom Bolden at Lakota West. He led Dixie Heights last year with 47 catches for 616 yards and five touchdowns.
Tyson Beach: Beach will help fill the hole that Barnette left at Dixie Heights, slotting in as a wide receiver. The senior ran for 132 yards and one touchdown and caught eight passes for 135 passes and three touchdowns at Princeton last fall.
Luke Dunn: The leading passer in the Greater Catholic League-South sent shockwaves through the Cincinnati high school football scene when he announced his transfer to Withrow. Dunn joins a talented Tigers roster that includes University of Kentucky commit Tehryon Nichols and Ohio State commit Chris Henry Jr. after throwing for 1,856 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior to lead Moeller to the Division I state semifinals.
Dickie Engel: Harrison's Luke Rogers has boomeranged from wide receiver to quarterback to wide receiver since 2021. Now that he is back in the slot, Reading transfer Dickie Engel will be calling the plays. Engel threw for 970 yards and eight touchdowns while adding seven scores on the ground en route to a 7-4 record with the Blue Devils in 2022.
Cash Harney: Making the two-mile transfer from Fort Mitchell to Park Hills is almost unheard of in Northern Kentucky, but that's exactly what Harney is doing. He threw for 638 yards and seven touchdowns while running for 323 yards and four scores for the state-champion Beechwood Tigers. At Covington Catholic, he'll team up with Owen Leen to form one of the most dynamic backfields in Northern Kentucky.
Chris Henry Jr.: The son of the late Cincinnati Bengals receiver is back at Withrow after spending a year at West Clermont. Even though he only caught 29 passes for 292 yards and five touchdowns last year, his size, speed and playmaking ability make him one of the top sophomore wide receivers in the country. Henry Jr. recently committed to Ohio State, which has produced NFL talents such as Chris Olave, Jaxson Smith-Njigba and Terry McLaurin in recent years.
Shelvon Hibbet: The leading rusher at Mason a year ago, Hibbet will help to fill the hole left by R.J. West and DeAndre Rutherford, Princeton's two leading rushers in 2022. Hibbet gained 692 yards on the ground while scoring five touchdowns, and will team up with Viking senior Teryntino Brown-Foreman, who ran for 535 yards and nine touchdowns.
Zae Jennings: One of the most dynamic playmakers in Cincinnati is taking his talents from Colerain to Winton Woods. A year ago, he was the Cardinals' top passer (393 yards and three touchdowns) and rusher (719 yards and eight scores). This year, he won't have to worry about throwing the ball with Van George under center for the Warriors.
Michael Mulvihill: The SBAAC-National Player of the Year at Blanchester and second-team All-Ohio in Division V is joining a contender in Kentucky's Class 5A at Cooper. His stats last year are impressive: 1,154 passing yards, 1,415 rushing yards and 32 total touchdowns on offense. He also racked up 105 tackles and two interceptions on defense. His teammates at Cooper include sophomore quarterback Cam O'Hara, running back Keagan Maher, defensive lineman Austin Alexander (University of Kentucky commit) and linebacker Jack Lonaker, who was second in Class 5A with 148 tackles in 2022.
Mikale Satterwhite: Behind Jennings, Satterwhite was Colerain's third-leading rusher with 119 yards. He and Jennings will not only catch passes from George but will also help to fill the hole left by Trey Cornist, who led the Eastern Cincinnati Conference in rushing in 2022, as well as second-leading rusher James Minor III.
Armoud Seals: After leading the Cincinnati Metro Conference with 3,095 passing yards and 25 touchdowns, Seals briefly transferred to Milford before coming back to the CMAC to play for coach Tyler Williams at Taft. The senior, who also ran for 601 yards and eight scores, will join forces with Michigan commit Elias Rudolph and West Virginia commit Jay'Quan Bostic as the Senators challenge Withrow for the CMAC Red Division title.
What will the weather be like for Cincinnati high school football week 1?
A quick peek at the forecast reveals that Friday will be a sun-soaked day in Greater Cincinnati, though Thursday night holds a slight chance of rain.
The temperature Thursday should be around 74 degrees at game time with a 20 percent chance of rain. On Friday, the temperature is expected to reach a high of 80 degrees with a low of 56 degrees overnight. That means it should be in the low 70s or high 60s as games kick off that evening.
With premier matchups and pristine weather on deck, high school football fans in Greater Cincinnati will be treated to a perfect start to the season.
What are key Cincinnati high school football matchups to watch during the 2023 season?
GREATER MIAMI CONFERENCE: Lakota West has dominated the championship discussion in recent years and is favored to do so again, but there are elite players and rivalries throughout the league. There is a new buzz at Lakota East with the arrival of former Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna as head coach, with his son Jamison, a Houston commit, at QB. Fairfield’s Talon Fisher is also one of the top QBs in the city.
Lakota West at Fairfield (Sept. 1), Lakota East at Princeton (Sept. 1), Princeton at Mason (Sept. 8), Fairfield at Lakota East (Sept. 8), Lakota West at Lakota East (Oct. 6), Mason at Lakota West (Oct. 13).
Week 1 games: Greater Cincinnati high school football: Games to watch for Week 1
EASTERN CINCINNATI CONFERENCE: The ECC was a high-flying league last year with two QBs throwing for over 4,000 yards and five receivers reaching the 1,000-yard plateau. While some of that talent graduated, the ECC always has entertaining teams with big goals.
Anderson at Milford (Sept. 8), Milford at Kings (Sept. 15), Winton Woods at Anderson (Sept. 22), Kings at Winton Woods (Sept. 29), Anderson at Kings (Sept. 22).
GREATER CATHOLIC LEAGUE-SOUTH: The GCL-South is one of the toughest leagues in the state. When the four teams aren’t playing each other, they’re usually playing a returning state champ or potential 2023 title contender from another region or state. While many of their games are must-see TV, here are the head-to-head matchups in the league.
St. Xavier at Moeller (Sept. 15), Elder at St. Xavier (Sept. 22), La Salle at Moeller (Sept. 22), Moeller at Elder (Sept. 29), La Salle at St. Xavier (Oct. 6), Elder at La Salle (Oct. 20).
OTHERS TO WATCH: St. Xavier at Withrow (Sept. 8) ‒ It will be interesting to see if talented Withrow can contend with a perennial GCL power; Taft at Withrow (Sept. 23) ‒ Two teams with plenty of future Division I stars look to battle for Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference supremacy and a long playoff run once again. Withrow won 17-14 last year but Taft went to the Division IV regional finals, losing to Wyoming; Indian Hill at Wyoming (Oct. 13) - There are many intense rivalries in the CHL, but this is one of the top ones. Indian Hill was the last team besides Wyoming to win a league title (2015) and returns all but one starter from last year’s 3-8 team, so if John Rodenberg can mold the Braves back into winning form this fall, this game could be for the league title.
KENTUCKY: Archrivals Covington Catholic and Highlands are in different classes for the first time in recent memory, so they play a non-district game early this year, Aug. 25 in Fort Thomas.
CovCath plays at Beechwood Sept. 15 in a battle of storied programs with a trophy case full of state championships.
Ryle hosts crosstown rival Cooper Sept. 1 with both teams having district title hopes this season. Ryle plays at Highlands Sept. 8 and hosts Simon Kenton Oct. 20 in what has been a meaningful rivalry for several years.
Cooper hosts Highlands Sept. 22 in a game with plenty of star power that could decide the local 5A district.
Bellevue plays at Dayton Oct. 6 to renew their historic rivalry, which has had more games played than any other pairing in the state.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: OHSAA: Cincinnati high school football 2023 is here. What to know
