Talented Margaretta embracing change

CASTALIA — Margaretta has a new head coach this year. The Polar Bears also will play in a new division as well as a retooled Sandusky Bay Conference. The goal of winning a league title remains the same. "There are a lot of familiar faces in the league," first-year head coach Lucas Poggiali said. "Our mission is to win the SBC. There's a huge emphasis on winning those games and competing for a league championship." The Polar Bears went 7-0 in the eight-team SBC River Division last year, winning its first league title since 2001. This year, only six SBC schools will play 11-man football — three left for the Northern 10, including perennial powerhouse Hopewell-Loudon. Margaretta, which was moved up to Division V, is one of the favorites to win the league title under Poggiali, who takes over for hall-of-fame coach Gary Quisno. Poggiali previously was head coach at Sandusky for two years before working as an assistant under Quisno. "I felt really good about the culture he created here and I feel like it's my responsibility to continue to build that culture," Poggiali said. "The kids have been awesome. The parents and the community, there's this overwhelming amount of support for what we want to do with our program. It makes you feel really good about what we're doing. "It is more stressful than it was before, but that comes with it. It's been a great experience and the staff has been amazing. That gives you a lot of confidence as you plan a practice, having everybody working as one." Margaretta opens with five non-conference games, starting at home against Mohawk. That is followed by trips to Western Reserve and Brookside before a Week 4 matchup against Huron — an old rival the Bears used to play annually in the old SBC. "We've had a little turnover in our non-conference schedule, which I'm excited about," Poggiali said. "We're playing Huron, which is gonna be huge for both communities, kind of restoring a pretty important game, really a rivalry. "Our kids are fired up about it and I'm sure they're fired up about it over there. I want to keep that game as long as possible. It's an awesome game." Margaretta filled a late hole in Week 5 with a long trip to St. Thomas Aquinas in Louisville, east of Canton. "We were looking at a nine-game season," Poggiali said. "I didn't want to do that because it wouldn't be fair to our seniors. We're gonna be four at home and six on the road, but those kids deserve to play 10 games." Margaretta has 50 players on its roster, including 12 seniors and 19 freshmen. "We graduated a really strong senior class," Poggiali said. "I told our guys in the offseason that only are we gonna have to rely on them to be good players, but they have to be leaders. We're starting to see some of that progress with those guys." Seniors Kale Bailey, Tyson Bailey, Mason Kromer and Carter Luzader and Landon Weyer will serve as team captains. Offense The biggest offseason acquisition for the Bears was the addition of senior Robbie LaCourse, who hasn't played football since middle school. LaCourse, a standout baseball player, will start at quarterback for Margaretta. "He came out after baseball season and said he was interested in trying out at quarterback. He's had an awesome summer," said Poggiali, who was a college quarterback. "He's really kind of taken the next step as a guy who I think can run the offense efficiently. For me, it's about being efficient with the football. He's got a big arm and he understands that if he runs the offense the way it needs to operate we have guys we feel good about getting the ball to in space. "For a guy who's never really played quarterback before, there's two phases for me: understanding the game of football and understanding how to lead a unit. He's been really good at making progress in both of those things." LaCourse takes over for standout Jake Bouy, who accounted for more than 1,500 total yards and 21 touchdowns. Gavin Grahl, a sophomore, is taking snaps as the backup. LaCourse will have two physical running backs to help get him up to speed. Tyson Bailey, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior, is ready to go after gaining 338 yards last year. He'll be paired with 225-pound junior Jace Berg. "With Tyson and Jace, we feel pretty good about those guys being very good in our offense," Poggiali said. "Big guys, and Tyson might be the fastest guy on our team. We gotta get him the ball in space and let him go." Trace Wilson, Kainen Dodd and Kobe Limberios provide depth at running back. Kromer will start at tight end for the third straight season. He's a key player in a spread offense that will move players around. "We feel good about him as a fullback and even split out as a receiver," Poggiali said. "He allows us to be multiple with what we do offensively. "I want to try to cater what we do offensively around the personnel we have. We can play with two running backs, multiple tight ends or multiple receivers. We want to be multiple with everything we do out of that spread look. Maybe take a wrinkle or two from Coach Quisno." Quisno ran the Wing-T, but Poggiali has said the install for his offense has gone smoothly. "I knew they'd pick up on it. They've been very enthusiastic about what we're doing offensively so it makes it a lot easier to teach it." There is plenty of speed and experience at wide receiver, led by Kale Bailey, who caught 23 passes for 442 yards and four touchdowns for the Bears' 9-2 team in 2025. "He leads by example. He's a kid who does it right all the time, not just as a football player, but in the school and community," Poggiali said. "He is a guy who will lead from the front. He's so explosive and has great hands. He's a willing blocker and he does all of the things we need that type of receiver to be offensively." Mason Reinbolt and Luzader are other top targets. Antonio Ramon-Quintero and Lucas Greenawald are other options. The offensive line includes two returning All-SBC River picks in left tackle Weyer (6-1, 250) and center Camden Hineline (6-1, 230). Gavin LaMarca starts at left guard while Tyler Johnson and Kolton Edwards, who is healthy after battling injuries last year, hold down the right side. "That's a really good group," Poggiali said. "They have to play at a high level for us to operate the way we want to operate. We've got guys who can move, guys who can anchor down on the edges. Landon has been a staple for us the last few years and Camden has done a really good job running the show." Defense Margaretta allowed only 130 points last season and graduated standouts Judah Keller and Brett Miller, who each made well over 100 tackles. Plenty of experience returns, though, including middle linebacker Kromer, who made 96 stops. "He's the quarterback of the defense, he sets the tone for us and allows for us to play fast and get into the right fronts and right coverages," Poggiali said. Berg (77 tackles) and Tyson Bailey (60 tackles) also return as starting linebackers and Tyler Johnson is in the top four at the position. The Bears will employ the same odd-front defense as last year, which starts with Weyer (66 tackles). "Landon really anchors that defensive line and has been doing it at a high level for a long time," Poggiali said. Edwards, LaMarca, Hineline, sophomore Auden Lehrer and junior Brendyn Huber also will get snaps in the trenches. The Bears' athletic receivers — Kale Bailey, Luzader and Reinbolt — also will play defensive back. Luzader made 90 tackles and intercepted three passes last year. Bailey picked off three passes and Reinbolt had two. Troy Pooch, Ramon-Quintero, Greenawald, Vincent Barnett and Mason Antunez add depth at defensive back. "We've got the guys everybody knows about," Poggiali said. "What's gonna be important for us on both sides of the ball is who are the other guys who come in and play at a high level?" Special teams Jaxon Shearn, a senior who is playing football for the first time, will handle kicking and punting duties. Kale Bailey also can punt. "We're replacing an All-Ohio kid at that position (Bouy) who helped win some very important games last year because of special teams," Poggiali said. "There has not been a drop-off of how important those units are." 2026 schedule Aug. 21: Mohawk, 7 p.m. Aug. 28: at Western Reserve, 7 p.m. Sept. 4: at Brookside, 7 p.m. Sept. 11: Huron, 7 p.m. Sept. 18: at St. Thomas Aquinas, 7 p.m. Sept. 25: at Lakota, 7 p.m. Oct. 2: at Northwood, 7 p.m. Oct. 9: Woodmore, 7 p.m. Oct. 16: at Gibsonburg, 7 p.m. Oct. 23: Ottawa Hills, 7 p.m. 2025 results (9-2) Vermilion 21, Margaretta 20 Margaretta 21, Western Reserve 0 Margaretta 48, Brookside 7 Margaretta 42, Willard 0 Margaretta 49, Northwood 14 Margaretta 35, Woodmore 0 Margaretta 29, Hopewell-Loudon 26 Margaretta 56, Calvert 14 Margaretta 38, Lakota 7 Margaretta 9, Gibsonburg 6 Playoffs Carey 35, Margaretta 7 2026 roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 1&emsp;Lucas Greenawald&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-9&emsp;150&emsp;10 2&emsp;Troy Pooch&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-11&emsp;170&emsp;11 3&emsp;Trace Wilson&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-8&emsp;155&emsp;12 4&emsp;Brayden Ballard&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-6&emsp;115&emsp;10 5&emsp;Tyson Bailey&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-2&emsp;205&emsp;12 6&emsp;Vincent Barnett&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-6&emsp;140&emsp;10 7&emsp;Caleb Reedy&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;5-10&emsp;165&emsp;10 8&emsp;Kale Bailey&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-4&emsp;180&emsp;12 9&emsp;Kallon Kingsborough&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;150&emsp;9 10&emsp;Gavin Grahl&emsp;QB/LB&emsp;6-0&emsp;175&emsp;10 11&emsp;Nolan Siesel&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-3&emsp;100&emsp;9 12&emsp;Robbie LaCourse&emsp;QB/DB&emsp;5-11&emsp;165&emsp;12 13&emsp;Mason Kromer&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;6-1&emsp;210&emsp;12 14&emsp;Judah Hudgel&emsp;QB/LB&emsp;5-7&emsp;155&emsp;9 15&emsp;Mason Antunez&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;155&emsp;11 17&emsp;Carter Luzader&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-0&emsp;180&emsp;12 18&emsp;Brandon Belak&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;140&emsp;9 19&emsp;Colton Adams&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;135&emsp;9 20&emsp;Antonio Ramon-Quintero&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-6&emsp;140&emsp;11 21&emsp;Kobe Limberios&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;5-8&emsp;165&emsp;9 22&emsp;Lucas Downs&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;5-6&emsp;155&emsp;10 24&emsp;Chance Tucker&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;5-3&emsp;170&emsp;9 25&emsp;Jaxon Shearn&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-8&emsp;165&emsp;12 28&emsp;Kainen Dodd&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-8&emsp;140&emsp;10 32&emsp;Westin White&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-7&emsp;130&emsp;9 33&emsp;Mason Reinbolt&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-11&emsp;165&emsp;12 39&emsp;Braydyn Cook&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;5-9&emsp;170&emsp;9 43&emsp;Jace Berg&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;5-11&emsp;225&emsp;11 50&emsp;Kaleb Weyer&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-10&emsp;175&emsp;10 51&emsp;Logan King&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-7&emsp;165&emsp;9 52&emsp;Kolton Edwards&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-11&emsp;205&emsp;12 53&emsp;Landon Weyer&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-1&emsp;250&emsp;12 54&emsp;Shelton Stuckey&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-8&emsp;200&emsp;9 55&emsp;Tyler Johnson&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-0&emsp;175&emsp;12 57&emsp;Roman Weiner&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-8&emsp;170&emsp;9 60&emsp;Brantley Meisler&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-11&emsp;185&emsp;9 61&emsp;Tyler Wiedenheft&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-7&emsp;175&emsp;9 63&emsp;Auden Lehrer&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-0&emsp;170&emsp;10 65&emsp;Camden Hineline&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-1&emsp;230&emsp;12 67&emsp;Gavin LaMarca&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-10&emsp;250&emsp;11 70&emsp;Ashton Bramel&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-11&emsp;180&emsp;9 71&emsp;Kolton Miller&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-11&emsp;255&emsp;9 72&emsp;Connor Williams&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-8&emsp;170&emsp;10 73&emsp;Max Alkire&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-9&emsp;235&emsp;9 74&emsp;Weston Conrad&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-8&emsp;215&emsp;10 76&emsp;Rocky Hemmer&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-7&emsp;185&emsp;9 77&emsp;Brendyn Huber&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;5-11&emsp;240&emsp;11 78&emsp;Scottie Macek&emsp;OL/DL&emsp;6-3&emsp;255&emsp;11 83&emsp;Landen Bettis&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;5-10&emsp;165&emsp;10 88&emsp;Lane Hula&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;5-11&emsp;165&emsp;9