Blanchester finished a robust 8-4 in Jon Mulvihill’s final season as head football coach in 2022.
Justin Schmitz takes over the program and the former Wildcats standout is looking for big things.
To do that, he’ll need to find a way to beat big-time programs.
Of the four losses last season, all were to playoff teams by at least 16 points. Of the eight wins, five came against teams that did not have winning records.
In 2021, Blanchester defeated just one team with a winning record and the five losses were by 26 points or more.
In the Covid-19 shortened 2020 campaign, Blanchester defeated six teams with non-winning records and lost to the two teams on the schedule that finished with winning records.
In 2019, five losses were to teams that won at least seven games. The Wildcats were able to defeat two league teams with winning marks but no more than six wins.
Schmitz must find a way to get over that hump, a hump that has led to four SBAAC National Division titles in the last seven seasons but little post-season success.
While the Mulvihills (father Jon and son Michael) swept SBAAC post-season top honors, they weren’t the only Wildcats to receive accolades in 2022. Gradautes Chasen Allison, Ty Goodwin, Cody Kidd and Dustin Trace along with then junior Bryce Sipple were first team. Second team honors went to graduates Carson Curless, Wyatt Oberle and Gabe Staehling as well as then sophomore Samuel Roush.
Michael Mulvihill, who is now playing for Cooper High School in Northern Kentucky, passed for 1,154 yards and 12 touchdowns while rushing for 1,415 yards and 20 scores. Sipple averaged 8.3 yards per carry and scored 12 times on the ground while catching eight touchdown passes.
In all, Blanchester ran for 3,010 yards and 44 scores while averaging 7.1 yards per carrry. But the losses of Staehling, Allison, Goodwin, Kidd and Oberle leave a massive hole in the lines on both sides of the ball for the Wildcats.
On defense, Mulvihill, the Division V Southwest District Defensive Player of the Year and a Division V first-team All-Ohio pick, led BHS with 105 tackles. Allison had 11 tackles for loss while Tristan Malone led with eight quarterback sacks. Roush had three interceptions.
Allison and Sipple were both named third team All-Ohio on the Division V squad.
In his first year as head coach, Schmitz will be assisted by John Lovin, Chris Herrington, Brandon Scott and Austin Knight at the varsity level. The JV coaches will be Jed Turpin, Tomas Oldham and Brayden Sipple.
There are just seven returning letterwinners this season for BHS, led by Bryce Sipple, Sebastian Smith and Malone. Austin Dick is a newcomer of note for the Wildcats.
“Sebastian and Austin have really stepped up as leaders this off-season,” Schmitz said. “They’re both high-motor kids that bring enthusiasm and energy every single day. Bryce is another kid who has stepped up as a leader. We have high expectations for him. He’s the leader of our offense and he’s been a field general out there for us.”
Schmitz has brought a tough, gritty attitude to the BHS football program this fall. “We don’t shy away from a fight,” he said.
He admits, though, his team is young in a lot of areas. He said, “What we lack in experience, we make up for in toughness and physicality.”
And he expects to contend in the SBAAC.
”We have some playmakers that can stretch the field on offense, and we’ve got some tenacious kids that fly around on defense,” he said. “We’re looking to sustain the success we’ve experienced the last several seasons. At Blanchester we expect to compete for league titles. While most teams are preparing for a 10 week season we train for 16 week seasons. We’re going to continue to work our tails off every week to ensure that after our 10 week season is over we’re rolling into the playoffs with a 1-0 record each week.”
