Nye's way-too-early power rankings

I'm back from vacation and ready to roll.As high school sports start so early now, which includes football as the expanded 16-team (money-making) playoff system was in place last year by the OHSAA, we are already underway working on our Fall A-T Sports Preview. It will be out the first week of the football season (Aug. 16). It's never to early to talk football. After an eventful regular season for the A-T coverage area with Carey and Hopewell-Loudon winning league titles, it did end sort of abruptly as no area team survived past the second round – this coming off a state championship run for the Blue Devils in 2021.Nonetheless, I will be compiling my power rankings every Tuesday for the regular season. I will have another preseason rankings the Tuesday of the first week when we actually talk to coaches and we gain knowledge from coaches for the tab on what they have returning and how I think they'll fair this season. These rankings are mostly going off of last year's finishes and off the top of my head remembering who they have back and how I think they stack up before August hits. Of course these are my opinions each week and it's certainly a way to make me look foolish by the end of the season, plus it can serve as motivation for coaches or players that think I disrespect them by not ranking them where they think they should be. My rankings are based on the team's seasons, and not head-to-head. We have football teams ranging from Division III to Division VII, so that's not how I do things. Here's a reminder of how each team finished last season: D-III: Columbian 9-3, Clyde 8-4; D-IV: Bellevue 7-5, Upper Sandusky 5-6. Fostoria 2-8; D-VI: H-L 9-3, Carey 11-1, Seneca East 7-4, Lakota 2-8; D-VII: Calvert 6-5, Mohawk 4-6, Buckeye Central 3-7.Now for my initial rankings for the 2023 football season: 1. Carey – For the second straight season, I have the Blue Devils at the top to begin my rankings. The Blue Devils, coming off an amazing state championship run in 2021, ran the table in the regular season, but fell to Colonel Crawford in the second round of the playoffs. It's tough to beat a team twice in football, especially a good CC program. I know the Blue Devils will have to replace Lance Rickle at QB and I'm sure they'll have to plug in some other players in some key spots, but it's Carey, they know how to produce championship-level football players and teams. I and the town of Carey have faith in coach Jonathon Mershman.2. H-L – Just like with Carey, the Chieftains under coach Brian Colatruglio always produce high-caliber football players. After losing All-Ohio QB Ashton Bour after the 2021 season, I was a little skeptical of who would take over and how H-L would fair. Well, Evan Kreais, an outstanding athlete overall, filled in pretty nicely – and so did breakout running back, do-it-all back Braylon Martinez. After Hayden Welly was injured, the sophomore sensation went wild for H-L. There will be some spots to fill, but with those two returning, exciting Friday nights are ahead in Bascom.3. Columbian – The Tornadoes put together another exciting and interesting football campaign. After a loss in Week 1 to Fremont Ross, TC racked off seven wins in a row, including a miraculous win against Bishop Watterson in Week 4. That was one of the craziest games I've ever seen. But in the SBC Lake title game (essentially) at Perkins, the Pirates were too much. After a playoff win in Week 11, the Tornadoes fell flat against 6-5 Padua Franciscan at home. So the motivation is there to bounce back for the Tornadoes as Akron (QB) commit Brayden Roggow leads an incredibly talented squad in his senior season. TC has weapons all over the place, including 1,000-yard back Damien Brockington and receivers like Jack Koerper, Brady Gooding and Bryce Roggow to name a few. The Tornadoes have skill and speed all over the place. The key will be up front on both sides of the ball.4. Bellevue: As I usually say with Clyde, it doesn't matter that much who is coming back, as Hall of Fame coach Ed Nasonti will mold his team into a competitive – and most likely – a winning team by the end of the season. It's nice they do play Clyde and TC this season as the Redmen are now in the Bay Division in the SBC. Don't get me wrong, there are some good football programs in that division, but dropping from the Lake to the Bay, I'd have to think Nasonti might add another league title to his resume.5. Calvert: This has to be the year for the Senecas. After a couple seasons where the Senecas had young players and showed some flashes of the team it could ultimately be, this is the time this season. The Senecas made the playoffs last season, but were stomped in the opening round by powerhouse Lima Central Catholic. QB Harry Shultz is entering his third season as the starter, he has the dynamic duo behind him in Jacob Rombach and Cal Warnement in the backfield, along with Billy Clouse and others on the outside at receiver. Not many River teams will match that skill and athleticism. Like TC, though, it might come down to what the Senecas have up front on the line and if they can stop the run, which had been an issue the past few seasons. The schedule will be interesting with the additions of Woodmore and Willard into the River.6. Clyde: Nobody adapts his gameplan to his personnel any better than Clyde coach Ryan Carter. The Fliers finished 8-4 last season and won a playoff game despite having not many players with a lot of varsity experience. In a meatgrinder of a conference like the Lake is, even with the loss of Bellevue, the Fliers will compete surely. 7. Seneca East: SE is an interesting one. I didn't really know where to put the Tigers, especially this early in the year. Once I talk to coach Ed Phillips soon, maybe I'll have a better idea of where to put them in my preseason rankings. But regardless, the Tigers return one of the best players in the area in first-team all-Ohio QB Blake Foos. He did it all last season for the Tigers. If he can get a little more help around him this season, the Tigers could be thinking about another deep playoff run.8. Upper Sandusky: The Rams have certainly turned things around under coach Russell Hall. US always has a lot of numbers on the team, but hasn't produced much in the way of winning recently. But the Rams do return N10 offense player of the year Kaden Holman at QB and some other skill players around him, so could the Rams continue to trend upward? We'll see.9. Mohawk: The Warriors played a crazy tough schedule to begin the season last year. They started to play better football by the end of the year, but missed out on the playoffs. They will have to replace Zaiden Fry on both sides of the ball, but Ben Bogner is back at QB and so is Kahne Hayman at receiver. Coach Eric Daniel will have his guys ready for Calvert Week 1. 10. Lakota: After a couple of really good seasons under coach Mike Lento, the Raiders took a step back in 2021. After graduating a ton of good players, it was a rebuilding year last season. We'll see if the Raiders can bounce back in a tough SBC River.11. Buckeye Central: The Bucks started 3-0 last season, but then lost seven straight. They do have QB Derex Dean returning for his senior season, so we'll see if they can get a league win this season. 12. Fostoria: Unfortunately for the second straight year, the final team is Fostoria. It's been a rough go of it for the Redmen since a 6-4 mark in 2019 as they've won three games since. But with an incredible new turf field and some key players returning, it could be an interesting season in Fostoria. Of course, it's never easy playing in the same league with the likes of Eastwood and Genoa.