Bellevue wants to improve on 8-win season

BELLEVUE — Bellevue won more games last season than the two previous years combined. Yet, second-year coach Alex Shepherd still saw things the Redmen didn't do well. It could have led to more wins or more comfortable wins. "We moved the ball well for the most part last year," Shepherd said. "We struggled once we got inside the red zone, especially the games toward the end of the year. I felt like we'd drive down the field and couldn't punch it in the end zone. A lot of that was mistakes, whether it was a fumble or a drive-stopping penalty. "Not making as many mistakes, I think, is going to be crucial to our offensive success this year." Bellevue finished 8-4 overall, winning a home playoff game for the first time since 2022. The Redmen went 3-1 in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division, sharing the league title with Edison. "I think we want to improve on the things we didn't do last year," Shepherd said. "We won eight games and we want to improve on that. We talk about winning every game. All we can do is do the things we did last year, but more so. We want to fine-tune some things and get some more wins. Our goal is to always win a conference championship." For the fourth year in a row, the Redmen will open the season with Clyde. The Route 20 Rivalry gets the juices flowing for both teams early. Bellevue won two meetings against the Fliers last year, including the first-ever playoff meeting between the two, an overtime Week 11 win at Bellevue Athletic Field. "It brings a lot of emotion and intensity to Week 1," Shepherd said. "For a lot of people around the state, that might not be true. There's going to be some big games that first Friday and there's going to be games that probably aren't super exciting. Luckily, ours is always going to be exciting as long as Clyde is that. "I think in a couple years that's going to change as they're going to be move down into the schedule as the conference changes." Bellevue should be battle-tested by the time the end of the season rolls around. After facing Clyde, the Redmen travel to Wauseon before a trip to Shelby to take on a Whippets team that played in the Division IV state championship game last season. Bellevue also takes on Norwalk and Perkins before opening Northern Ohio Conference Bay Division play in Week 6. "Clyde is always a great football team," Shepherd said. "Wauseon has had great years. Then you have Shelby, Perkins and Norwalk in there. Those first five games are tough. If you can withstand it and overcome adversity, you can learn a lot about yourself and it can pay off. "I thought last year we took some lumps in some games with a young team and a new system. Week 7 through 10, I don't think we lost a game. We ran off four or five straight going into the playoffs." The Redmen begin league play by hosting Edison. The SBC Bay last season nearly ended in a five-way tie, showing the balance and toughness of each team in the conference. "There's a lot of good teams and a lot of good offenses," Shepherd said. "We're going to see triple option and we're going to see empty spread and everything in between. I thought last year we did a good job at stopping the run against pretty much everybody. We didn't always play our A-game, but I thought overall we stopped the run pretty well. "I think the big plays we gave up in certain games, and especially the games we lost, is something we've been working on and need to fix." Offense Bellevue averaged 16.9 points and 260.3 yards per game last year. The offense starts and ends with quarterback Ike Brown. The senior is likely the most experienced and successful quarterback in the area. Last season, he completed 128 of 265 passes for 1,444 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. On the ground, he added 90 carries for 467 yards and six touchdowns. "He's going to be a three-year starter," Shepherd said. "He had a really good year last year and did a lot of things. Year 2 in an offense, he's coming in knowing the basic plays. Now we can be a little more intricate and put some things in and change some things up because he can handle it. "Our base things he knew in June, whereas last year everything was new. He's taken that extra step in fine-tuning some things." Senior Caden Cramer led the team with 40 catches for 594 yards and seven touchdowns a season ago. Owen Hancock graduated after catching 25 passes for 325 yards. Also back for the Redmen is Konner Dauch, who hauled in 24 receptions for 226 yards. On the ground, Logan Hartman graduated after 112 rushes for 503 yards and four touchdowns. Also gone to graduation is Billy Sberna, who had 71 attempts for 258 yards. Evan Bova was banged up a lot of the season, but is back after 68 rushes for 327 yards and five touchdowns. Shepherd said Cooper Winke played tight end for Bellevue last year, but is moving outside to receiver and will be in the mix for a starting spot there. "Up front, we replace three seniors from last year," Shepherd said. " We'll rotate a handful of guys in, but we have some options. Konner Dauch is back at receiver and Caden was our leading pass catcher and touchdowns scorer as a tight end. Evan Bova returns at tailback. We're replacing our fullback, but we have a handful of guys in that position. "Our second tight end, Eli Turinsky, is having a great summer. We're working at some other guys at outside positions." Defense The Redmen allowed 17.7 points and 240.8 yards a contest a season ago. There's some pieces Bellevue will have to replace. That competition may come down to the final days of camp. "We're healthy, which is important," Shepherd said. "We lost four guys up front on our defensive line. That's the biggest thing we're doing in camp. We return most of our secondary and linebackers from last year. Nobody is guaranteed a spot, but most of those guys come back. We're rotating a lot of guys up front trying to see who is going to step up and be those guys." Hartman graduated after 103.5 tackles while Dauch is back following 101 tackles last season. Tatum Gore is gone to graduation following a team-high 6.5 sacks. Brown and Reid Claus, who graduated, each grabbed two interceptions. Shepherd said senior Brock Stovall will see time at corner after not playing since his freshman year. "Caden Cramer was our MIKE (middle linebacker) and he'll be a three-year starter," Shepherd said. "He's obviously one of our best players and he's back. Ike Brown and Konner Dauch are our safeties from last year. Justin Boucher is a returning corner. "Up front, we have a bunch of guys we're rotating in and out. It's hard to say who the first four right now, but we have a handful we like." 2026 schedule Aug. 21: Clyde, 7 p.m. Aug. 28: at Wauseon, 7 p.m. Sept. 4: at Shelby, 7 p.m. Sept. 11: at Norwalk, 7 p.m. Sept. 18: Perkins, 7 p.m. Sept. 25: Edison, 7 p.m. Oct. 2: at Huron, 7 p.m. Oct. 9: Columbian, 7 p.m. Oct. 16: Port Clinton, 7 p.m. Oct. 23: at Vermilion, 7 p.m. 2025 results (8-4) Bellevue 33, Clyde 23 Bellevue 42, Wauseon 14 Shelby 49, Bellevue 6 Bellevue 19, Norwalk 0 Perkins 41, Bellevue 0 Edison 21, Bellevue 14 Bellevue 28, Huron 14 Bellevue 21, Columbian 14 Bellevue 12, Port Clinton 3 Bellevue 16, Vermilion 6 Playoffs Bellevue 12, Clyde 6, OT Bath 21, Bellevue 0 2026 roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 0 Justin Bucher WR/DB 5-9 140 11 1 Dreydin Strause WR/DB 6-1 149 11 2 Konner Dauch WR/DB 6-0 184 12 3 Remington Davidson WR/DB 6-2 185 10 4 Evan Bova RB/LB 6-0 183 12 5 Thomas Reesman RB/DB 5-6 144 11 6 Cooper Winke WR/DL 6-0 194 12 7 Maddex Bailey TE/LB 6-1 178 10 8 Mason Mazza WR/DB 5-6 154 12 9 Caden Cramer TE/LB 6-1 222 12 10 Brock Stovall WR/DB 5-11 160 12 11 Tyler Bailey RB/LB 5-10 162 12 12 Zach Moses K 6-0 194 12 13 Dominic DeCaro WR/DB 5-7 131 10 14 Jabari Davis WR/DB 6-1 185 10 15 Ike Brown QB/DB 6-3 180 12 16 Andrew Miller WR/DB 5-5 112 10 17 Henry Highlander QB/DB 6-1 152 9 18 Zander Shober QB/DB 6-2 174 11 20 Braylen Miller TE/LB 6-0 175 12 21 Joseph Caranfa WR/DB 5-8 135 9 23 Ethan Bair WR/DB 6-2 153 9 24 Gavin Cramer TE/LB 5-10 143 9 25 Jordan Johnson WR/DB 5-11 165 10 26 Wesley Carr RB/LB 5-9 172 11 27 Devin Bischoff K 5-9 146 10 30 Elijah Turinsky TE/DL 6-3 204 11 33 Dalton Schlottag RB/LB 5-11 171 9 35 Ian Killingsworth WR/DB 5-10 142 9 40 Carson Treat FB/LB 5-10 162 9 42 Eddison Rich WR/DB 6-2 154 9 44 Vincent Sberna RB/LB 6-0 170 11 45 Landon Sartor RB/LB 5-10 182 11 48 Tyler Nehls RB/DL 6-0 170 9 50 Rahlee Fleenor OL/DL 5-9 201 10 51 Aven Turner OL/DL 6-1 188 9 52 Jacob Allen OL/DL 6-0 191 10 54 Kwinn Shaffer OL/DL 5-10 193 10 55 Briggs Nejedly OL/DL 6-1 212 10 56 Jared Frederick OL/DL 5-11 182 10 57 Jaxson Heath OL/DL 5-7 177 10 58 Laird Gore OL/DL 6-0 185 10 59 Taevin Hay OL/DL 6-2 271 11 61 Brayden Hofer OL/DL 5-9 165 10 62 Coal Schwochow OL/DL 5-11 224 11 63 Elliot Jones OL/DL 6-0 224 9 64 Noah Hade OL/DL 6-0 194 9 65 Collin Martin OL/DL 5-8 247 9 66 Chase Burt OL/DL 6-0 226 11 67 Noah Kreglow OL/DL 6-3 306 9 70 Bradlee King OL/DL 5-10 221 10 71 Grant Hancock OL/DL 6-0 252 11 72 Logan Schwochow OL/DL 5-9 257 9 73 Dalton Farris OL/DL 5-10 206 9 74 Deacon Nunez OL/DL 6-0 292 11 75 Grayson Herrera OL/DL 5-10 244 9 77 Kane Spring OL/DL 6-4 241 9 78 Elijah Hemminger OL/DL 5-8 216 9 80 Carson Steinmetz WR/DB 5-9 130 9 81 Aden Thompson WR/DB 5-8 138 11