FIELD FALCONS
Field football’s returning lettermen (15)
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Field football’s impact players
Alex Williams was a versatile weapon last year en route to earning second-team All-Metro Athletic Conference honors, excelling as a runner (24 carries, 109 yards, two touchdowns), receiver (21 catches, 237 yards, one touchdown) and returner (12 returns, 272 yards). Expect even more from Williams as a junior as “a lot of the offense is going to run through him,” said coach James Dutched, including somewhere in “the ballpark of 10 to 12 carries” potentially on any given night. Dutched said Williams is “going to be one of the key cogs of our offense,” both for the times he gets the ball and the fact that “we carry a lot of fakes and things like that through him as well.” …Fellow second team All-MAC standout Braylan Rufener was a disruptive force in 2025, racking up 46 tackles, 12 quarterback pressures, seven tackles for loss and three sacks. Expect the junior lineman to be a similar presence defensively, while Dutched said he hopes Rufener is “just as dominant on offense” at right guard, one of the most important positions for the Falcons given they “pull on every play pretty much.” … Honorable mention All-MAC selection Andrew Phillip is a third-year starter at outside linebacker. Dutched said Phillip is “going to be the leader of our defense,” while also stepping into the “Y” position in Field’s offense. Just like Rufener on the line, Phillip is taking over a critical role in the Falcons’ offensive scheme. Indeed, Dutched called it “the most important position in our offense,” with Phillip set to function as “the do-it-all kid on offense where he can block, catch, bounce in the backfield and run the ball at times.”
What’s new with Field football in 2026
What’s new for the Falcons? A lot, including a brand-new backfield. At 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, Mason Ford is not your typical freshman quarterback. Dutched said Ford is the “ideal quarterback that I like in my offense” given his ability to run the football and be a dual threat at the position. Sophomore Will Henson is set to take over at tailback after averaging 4.1 yards on 18 carries (for 74 yards) as a freshman. Henson is a “very hard, physical runner,” said Dutched, who will take over for longtime stalwart Victor Brown not only at tailback but strong safety. … Also expect to see junior Noah Scherer and senior Jack Wagner take on “much, much bigger roles,” with Scherer getting “some run at our Y spot” with Phillip and likely starting at safety and Wagner contributing at outside receiver and safety. Also watch for senior Brogan Kunkle, who made the move from quarterback to wide receiver last year, to be “one of those guys on the outside that we look to catch the ball.” … Fellow senior Garrett Smith is making his own position change, from outside linebacker (where he started last year) to corner (where he’s expected to start this season). Part of the reason Smith can make that move back to his natural position is because the Falcons have a “lot of good depth at our linebacker position,” including Xavier Robinson’s return from Tommy John surgery. The junior, said Dutched, is a “really good size kid with a good size motor.”
Field football’s outlook
Robinson’s older brother, Trey, started the last three games at right tackle last season and is part of a “starting five on the offensive line that should be pretty solid,” according to Dutched. Robinson joins senior Bryce Cadwell and Rufener, two more offensive line starters from a year ago. Cadwell is “probably our best returning offensive lineman,” said Dutched, as a “good pulling guard.” All in all, the Falcons “have some size, we have some returning experience [and] we have quickness as well” on the line. … The line is just one reason for optimism coming off a 3-7 season. Another is they are now in the second season of Dutched’s tenure, and “system-wise, offensively and defensively, we’re not changing anything, so the kids know it that much better this year.” … Moreover, despite graduating 10 seniors and losing a few other key contributors, Field has plenty of experience given an unusual number of its younger players got time last year because of injuries. So even if some of those players “weren’t technically starters during the season, we’re coming back with a lot of playing experience,” according to Dutched. … It also helps that the locker room vibes are good, said Dutched, as “they enjoy hanging out with each other off the field,” which “is really going to help us as the season goes hopefully.”
Field football schedule for 2026
Contact Jonah L. Rosenblum at jrosenblum@recordpub.com and follow him on Twitter at @JLRSports.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Field High School football schedule, lettermen, 2026 preview
Reporting by Jonah Rosenblum, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jonah Rosenblum, Ravenna Record-Courier | USA TODAY Network
