SMCC ready to defend Northern 8 title

SANDUSKY — St. Mary Central Catholic is going from the hunter to the hunted in Ohio 8-man football. The Panthers finished 11-1 last year and won the Northern 8 Conference championship. SMCC returns eight seniors and the MVP of the title game, but veteran head coach Toby Hammond wants his team to maintain its edge. "It's pretty hard to top last year. Like I told the kids at our summer meeting, our biggest opponent is complacency," said Hammond, who is beginning his 48th year as a high school football coach. "You think just because we won the whole thing last year, you think just by showing up we're gonna do it again, you're wrong." SMCC's only loss last season came against Fremont St. Joseph CC, 29-28 at the midway point of the season. The Panthers avenged that setback by beating SJCC in the first round of the playoffs. "Losing to St. Joe might've been the best thing for us," Hammond said. SMCC has 32 players on its roster, including eight seniors. "Senior leadership is gonna be huge," Hammond said. "Last year's senior group is gonna be hard to replace. Most of them were two-way starters. A lot of them had been playing a lot since they were freshmen when we went 0-9. It was like having extra coaches on the field. "Not only were they talented, but they were great leaders and probably the hardest workers on the team. You hope that carries over to the younger kids." SMCC averaged 36.5 points per game last year and defeated Southington Chalker 34-20 in the Northern 8 finale in Leetonia, in eastern Ohio. Repeating as champions in the goal this year. "This is a whole different group," Hammond said. "It's a lot of the same guys, but the big thing for our success will be how our seniors lead. I know they're talented, but now they've gotta take over the leadership role. We got a lot of holes to fill." Offense One position the Panthers don't have to fill is quarterback. Junior Cullen Dillard stepped in for the injured Grant Swain last year and led SMCC to the N8 title. Dillard was named MVP in the season finale. "I see a big jump in confidence from last year," Hammond said. "Swain got hurt in the fifth or sixth game and Cully stepped in and we didn't miss a beat. He led us to a championship. That really gave him a lot of confidence and, more importantly, it gave everyone else confidence in him. "He's just a great athlete. He should be starting on defense, but we can't afford to lose him. There are some guys you can't lose and still be competitive, and he's one of them." Dillard, who also is a baseball standout, threw five touchdown passes as a sophomore and rushed 88 times for 728 yards and 10 touchdowns. Rylan Wikel, Cayden Wikel and Macklin Dillard — Cullen's freshman brother — also are getting reps at quarterback. "Like we tell the kids, you're one play away from starting so you gotta know what's going on," Hammond said. Senior Josh Will, who started at wing last year, will take over at running back. He carried 46 times for 269 yards and four touchdowns last year. Will also caught a team-high 10 passes, including a pair of touchdowns. Jace Lane (140 yards) and freshman Sam Jones are other options at running back. Bryan Gibson, who was part of last year's strong senior class, rushed for 1,565 yards and 33 touchdowns. Three seniors — Cayden Wikel (8 catches, 116 yards, 1 TD), Benny Byington and Noah Michel — lead the receiving corps. Junior Grayor Opfer also could see time at receiver. "I think our skill kids are ahead of our linemen right now," Hammond said. At tight end, the Panthers will turn to senior Eli Dinsmore — who is back after a knee injury last year — senior Trace Smith and juniors Tyson Demore and Sirocco Lynch. SMCC has good size on its offensive line. Sophomore Adam Burch (6-1, 265) will start at center. John Burch, a 6-4, 245-pound junior, started at center last year and will move to guard. Seniors Lucas Kotnik, Jackson Grimm and junior Braylon Torres are other guards. Defense The Panthers, who shut out their first four opponents last year, have some good building blocks returning on defense. Smith, a linebacker, led SMCC with 92 tackles and four interceptions last year. Grimm, an athletic 6-4 end, added 69 tackles and a team-high seven quarterback sacks. "The big thing in 8-man is setting the edge," Hammond said. "We had two good ones last year in Gabe Burch and Jackson. We have Jackson back, but we have to find out who else can handle it." Kotnik (26 tackles), Dinsmore and John Burch will also get looks at defensive end. Adam Burch, John Burch and junior Anarion Stanford give the Panthers depth at nose guard. Other linebackers include Byington, Demore (31 tackles), Grayor Opfer, Dalton Morando, Lynch and promising freshmen Jones and Mac Dillard. Hammond said cornerback might be the defense's strength. Will, who matched Smith with four interceptions and added 40 tackles, and Cayden Wikel (35 tackles) start at the important position. Safeties include Michel, Rylan Wikel, Lane and Cullen Dillard. "Most teams that we play play all man. We very seldom do," Hammond said. "The field is narrower, so there's less ground to cover. We do a lot of zone stuff and coverages where we read routes, which turns into man. Some of the teams we play just line up and pressure or play off man. We don't do that. "It only takes one time to get burned, and if you get burned in 8-man it's six points." Special teams Matteo Di Rosa, who made 9 of 11 extra-point attempts last year, will handle placekicking duties. Five Panthers attempted extra points last year. Adam Burch and Cayden Wikel are other kickers. Grimm returns at the top punter after averaging 36 yards on just 15 attempts last year. Smith also is an option at punter. Dinsmore is the team's top long snapper. 2026 schedule Aug. 22: Danbury, 7 p.m. Aug. 28: at Lenawee Christian (Mich.), 7 p.m. Sept. 5: Plymouth, 7 p.m. Sept. 12: at Stryker, 5 p.m. Sept. 18: at Windham, 7 p.m. Sept. 25: Holgate, 7 p.m. Oct. 2: at Sebring McKinley, 7 p.m. Oct. 10: Kennedy Catholic (Pa.), 7 p.m. Oct. 17: Southington Chalker, 6 p.m. Oct. 24: at Fremont SJCC, 7 p.m. 2025 results (11-1) SMCC 43, Cardinal Stritch 0 SMCC 40, Sebring McKinley 0 SMCC 31, Kennedy Catholic 0 SMCC 42, Stryker 0 SMCC 33, Danbury 8 Fremont SJCC 29, SMCC 28 SMCC 28, Southington Chalker 24 SMCC 32, Cardinal Stritch 8 SMCC 38, Morenci 12 SMCC 51, Holgate 24 Playoffs SMCC 39, Fremont SJCC 18 SMCC 34, Southington Chalker 20 2026 roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 1&emsp;Benny Byington&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-0&emsp;150&emsp;12 2&emsp;Cayden Wikel&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-1&emsp;150&emsp;12 3&emsp;Eli Dinsmore&emsp;TE/DE&emsp;6-3&emsp;180&emsp;12 4&emsp;Noah Michel&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-3&emsp;190&emsp;12 5&emsp;Trace Smith&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;6-1&emsp;170&emsp;12 6&emsp;Cullen Dillard&emsp;QB/DB&emsp;6-2&emsp;175&emsp;11 7&emsp;Josh Will&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-11&emsp;175&emsp;12 8&emsp;Jackson Grimm&emsp;G/DE&emsp;6-4&emsp;200&emsp;12 9&emsp;Aidan VanScoy&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;140&emsp;10 10&emsp;Matteo Di Rosa&emsp;G/LB&emsp;5-11&emsp;195&emsp;11 11&emsp;Tyson Demore&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;6-1&emsp;200&emsp;11 12&emsp;Sam Jones&emsp;RB/LB&emsp;5-8&emsp;165&emsp;9 13&emsp;Vince Barone&emsp;G/DE&emsp;5-10&emsp;165&emsp;11 14&emsp;Coen Opfer&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-9&emsp;150&emsp;9 15&emsp;Perry Wobser&emsp;C/DL&emsp;5-10&emsp;140&emsp;9 17&emsp;Grayor Opfer&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-11&emsp;145&emsp;11 18&emsp;Joe White&emsp;TE/DE&emsp;6-0&emsp;180&emsp;10 20&emsp;Rylan Wikel&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;5-9&emsp;155&emsp;11 21&emsp;Yeidell Polanco&emsp;TE/DE&emsp;6-0&emsp;190&emsp;10 22&emsp;Dalton Morando&emsp;G/DL&emsp;5-9&emsp;210&emsp;10 23&emsp;Matthew Burns&emsp;WR/DB&emsp;6-0&emsp;140&emsp;11 24&emsp;Jace Lane&emsp;RB/DB&emsp;5-10&emsp;155&emsp;10 26&emsp;Sirocco Lynch&emsp;TE/LB&emsp;6-0&emsp;150&emsp;11 28&emsp;Macklin Dillard&emsp;QB/LB&emsp;5-9&emsp;155&emsp;9 30&emsp;Braylon Torres&emsp;G/DL&emsp;6-1&emsp;230&emsp;11 32&emsp;Anarion Stanford&emsp;RB/DL&emsp;5-7&emsp;225&emsp;11 33&emsp;Adam Burch&emsp;C/DL&emsp;6-1&emsp;265&emsp;10 55&emsp;Malachi Vice&emsp;G/DL&emsp;5-11&emsp;160&emsp;9 60&emsp;John Burch&emsp;G/DL&emsp;6-4&emsp;245&emsp;11 65&emsp;Brennan Widman&emsp;G/DE&emsp;6-1&emsp;175&emsp;9 67&emsp;Lucas Kotnik&emsp;G/DE&emsp;6-1&emsp;180&emsp;12 75&emsp;Matt Gebard&emsp;G/DL&emsp;6-1&emsp;240&emsp;11