Twenty-five wins and two Division II state semifinal appearances since the start of the 2024 season were enough reason to shine a spotlight on Big Walnut’s football program as this fall approached.
Add Big Ten commits at two of the game’s most prominent positions and a handful of other touted prospects to the mix, and even more eyes should be on the Golden Eagles the next several weeks.
“I like the pressure,” said senior running back Nolan Buirley, who amassed 5,289 all-purpose yards and 65 touchdowns the past two years but committed to Northwestern in June as a linebacker. “When I have pressure, I tend to do better.”
Big Walnut players, especially its three three-year starters – Buirley, versatile offensive lineman Matt Green and Michigan State quarterback commit Eli Stumpf – are no strangers to pressure. The Golden Eagles have bested perennial power Massillon Washington in each of the past two Region 7 finals, and their only losses since the start of 2024 have come to two-time reigning Division III champion Watterson in the past two season openers and Cincinnati Anderson in two state semifinals.
The losses to Anderson were by a combined 11 points.
Nine starters, six on offense and three on defense, and 23 seniors return this fall.
Another senior, five-star receiver and Ohio State commit Jamier Brown, arrived via transfer in January only to return to his original school, Huber Heights Wayne, in early August.
Even that being in the rearview mirror fits somewhat into one of coach Curtis Crager’s tenets.
“We don’t even talk about what happened last year or two years ago,” Crager said before the start of preseason practice. “How this year goes is their legacy. They are doing a good job of avoiding the distractions. I always tell them not to read their press clippings and all that, because it doesn’t matter. They haven’t done a thing yet [this year], and they have embraced that [approach].”
Dynamic Big Walnut might be even better
A run-first offense and dominant defense have been at the center of the Golden Eagles’ recent dominance – they outscored opponents by an average of 35.9-10 a season ago – but that is not all they have done well.
Buirley contributed 2,226 yards and 30 touchdowns on the ground, 21 catches for 240 yards and another 135 yards on kick returns last year.
Stumpf threw for 2,150 yards and 23 touchdowns, but three of his top receivers graduated.
With Brown gone before he ever played a snap for the Golden Eagles, seniors Gavin Harrington and Fen Stumpf – Eli’s cousin – stand to be the team’s primary receivers.
Eli Stumpf, who committed to Michigan State in March, spent the offseason working with northeast Ohio quarterbacks coach Brad Maendler. Maendler’s other pupils have included former Olentangy star Ethan Grunkemeyer, now at Virginia Tech after two years at Penn State, and ex-Penn State starter Drew Allar. Allar was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in April.
“I am starting to grow into a bigger role of managing the whole game instead of just the offense,” Stumpf said. “[Maendler and I] are both very technical about everything, so I will watch clips for hours and hours and find little things on how I can improve. We just keep hammering those things home until it is second nature. Right now, I am finishing up that stretch and now on to the season where we will just play and not worry too much about mechanics.”
Buirley primarily played safety as a freshman before shifting to offense. He made 10 tackles last fall in limited time on defense.
“When I was younger, I kind of just had a vision to get to the ball,” Buirley said. “Recruiting-wise, [a defensive background] has helped a ton. You don’t see a lot of running backs in college like me [6-foot-2, 205 pounds], so a lot of college coaches have talked more about the defensive side and that has helped a lot.”
Three-star junior defensive lineman Thomas Minor has drawn 11 offers, including from Ohio State.
Green, who owns seven Division II offers but is receiving some Division I attention, was crucial to Big Walnut amassing 5,097 total yards last year. One of two returning starters on the line with senior tackle Caiden Long, Green has started at guard, center and left tackle.
“Even though having those past two years gives me a lot of confidence, I try and realize that we have Week 1, then Week 2 and so on now,” Green said. “If we do that all the way until Week 16, it will be a completely new year.”
Big Walnut faces tough road ahead
Big Walnut opens Aug. 21 at home against Hilliard Bradley. The OCC-Capital schedule includes a Week 7 home game with resurgent Worthington Kilbourne – the only team to lose to Big Walnut by fewer than 21 points in the regular season last year, and a bye within league play led to a Week 6 visit to Ironton.
On top of that, Region 7 now includes Watterson in addition to usual contenders DeSales and Massillon, meaning the Golden Eagles now could see a two-time reigning state champion in the playoffs.
Crager laughed as he admitted that even he could not totally block out the noise from that realignment, which was announced in April.
“We are just worried about Week 1 and getting ready for that,” Crager said. “If you start looking ahead, you are going to miss the mark and not do your kids justice by getting them ready for the season. The kids have done a great job the last two years of just [going] one game at a time. If you can do that, build some momentum and peak at the right time, I think the region and playoffs will take care of themselves.
“But if you start worrying about the region, you’ll never sleep.”
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Can Big Walnut football complete OHSAA championship run in 2026?
Reporting by Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
