The Wayne County Athletic League has established itself as one of the premier small school football conferences in the state of Ohio over the past 10-15 years, and one of the top leagues in Northeast Ohio period. Today, we’ll preview the WCAL as a whole and give the readers an idea of how the 2026 season could play out for the eight schools on the gridiron.
Team Breakdowns
Hillsdale − Coming off the most successful two-year run in school history with a 27-4 record and two straight Division VII state title game appearances, Hillsdale will now operate a division higher in Division VI and do so without a handful of top offensive and defensive players like Owen Sloan, Brock Bower, Hayden McFadden, Jake Haven, AJ Brown, Brady Heller, Aiden Hoffman, Garrett Furr and Jesse Trevathan that helped the Falcons the past two seasons reach heights the school had never achieved before.
With new faces on the offensive line, defensive line and at certain skill positions, Hillsdale still have two-time All-Ohioan quarterback in senior Kael Lewis to lean on, as well as senior tight end/defensive lineman Knox Lewis and senior wideout Kyle Turk. Hillsdale will be breaking in a number of new players in 2026, but expect the Falcons to be in the hunt as they chase after their first WCAL title since 2014.
Dalton − As Hillsdale makes the move up to Division VI, Dalton drops down a division to Division VII this fall. After a 9-4 season in 2025, where the Bulldogs played well in the second half of the year and made the regional semifinals, Dalton will look to improve upon that in head coach Reid Geibel’s second season. Dalton lost some valuable players in running back/linebackers Conner Mori and Jaxon Ryder, leading wide receiver/defensive back Aiden Pelfrey, offensive lineman Corbin Lehman and defensive tackle Mitchell Reynolds, but bring back two-time All-Ohioan quarterback in senior Carter Hignight, one of the top two-way players in the area in senior Jackson Oswald and senior wideout/defensive back Gage Stitt.
“Staying healthy is very important at a small school,” Geibel said ahead of the season. “We’re replacing key linebackers. We will need to rely heavily on them to excel as well as rely heavily on the D-Line that is returning a lot of game experienced players.”
For Dalton to reach their full potential in 2026, they will have to navigate a tough first four games on their schedule:
Week 1, at Danville, last year’s Division VII regional finalists
Week 2, at home vs. Garaway, last year’s Division VI regional finalists, who defeated Dalton in the regional semifinals
Week 3, at Mogadore, last year’s Division VII regional finalists
Week 4, at Hillsdale, last year’s Division VII state runners-up
This four-game stretch could tell us plenty about Dalton.
Norwayne − Replacing the likes of quarterback Jacob Bruner and wide receiver Ryder Ingold for the two-time WCAL champions will be difficult for the Bobcats offense, including running back Carson Arnold. Yet, given Norwayne’s track record of being able to find the right players to fit into the right roles and showing the ability get stronger from a roster building standpoint as the season progresses, expect the Bobcats to be right in the mix for another WCAL title.
Waynedale − Under first-year head coach Jay Vitallo, Waynedale will be looking to establish a foundation and show improvement from their two-win season a year ago. The Golden Bears will have improving junior quarterback Maddox Kidd to lead the way on offense.
Northwestern − Entering this season off a 1-9 record, head coach Steve Carozza will look for quarterback Leo Guidetti, one of the top wide receivers in the district in Rylie Ramsier and wide receiver/defensive back Jesse Hanshaw to help increase the Huskies win total in 2026.
Chippewa − The Chipps have first-year head coach Ian Leja ready to step in and guide Chippewa into a reboot of a season. They will look to avoid a winless campaign for the second straight year. Look for improvements on both the offensive and defensive lines, with sophomores James Herold, Dominic Spardy and Jude Johnsen, juniors Landon Goble and junior Dylan Powell, and senior AJ Petit.
Rittman − Rittman are typically a team that finishes right in the middle of the pack in the top-heavy WCAL (fifth in 2025) and were 6-4 a year ago. After missing the postseason last year, the Indians will aim to get back this fall.
Smithville − Smithville’s 10-win season in 2025 was the most wins since 2004 and that carried over to the Smithies advancing to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2015. The 2025 Smithville Smithies were a hard-nosed, tough, beat-you-up-in-the-trenches type of team that leaned on their defense — they had three shutouts and seven games where they held opponents to 15 points or less — and on their inside running game with the different formations they use. Some of those players that embodied Smithville’s identity have graduated like offensive/defensive linemen Chase Tomassetti and Nathan Horst, linebackers Will Blankenship and Javen Woodarski, and Division VI All-Ohio First Team power back Mason Haines.
The Smithies will have junior wide receiver and all-purpose threat Isaiah Lee, developing junior quarterback Brady Sidle and junior linebacker Zach Lanneaux to depend on to make another quality playoff run and finish on top of the WCAL, which feels like an open league to win with the expected top four of Dalton-Hillsdale-Norwayne-Smithville all having to retool at different positions.
Key Player(s) for Each Team
Dalton junior running back Ethan Raber (64 carries, 462 rushing yards, 5 TD runs in 2025) will likely get the bulk of the carries this season as the main tailback and his quickness could make the the Bulldogs even more difficult to deal with…Chippewa head coach Ian Leja will look to AJ Petit to provide leadership and production for the Chipps on both the defensive and offensive lines as he will be the lone senior on the O-line…With top pass-catcher in wide receiver Ryder Ingold gone, Norwayne’s 6-foot-4 senior wide receiver Braylon Arnold could very well be a big target the Bobcats use this fall…Smithville will have to replace the school’s all-time rushing leader and one of the best running backs in Division VI in Mason Haines, and junior Ben Beichler will get the opportunity to get a load of the carries…Waynedale senior offensive tackle and defensive lineman Branson Zuercher could help boaster the Golden Bears ground game on the O-line…Two breakout players to watch for Northwestern are junior tight end/wide receiver Grant Koch and junior defensive end Brayden Swank… Rittman senior tight end/linebacker Jacob Glick, a captain last season, will be one to keep a close eye on for the Indians…With playmaking receivers Hayden McFadden and Brock Bower graduating, Hillsdale junior wideout Ayden Salyer can be expected to have plenty of balls thrown his way in the Falcons passing game
Top 5 WCAL Games to Watch
Week 4, Dalton at Hillsdale − After taking place in Week 5 the past three seasons, this big midseason matchup moves to Week 4 for the WCAL opening game for both schools.
Week 5, Hillsdale at Smithville − Last season’s Week 6 game between these two featured two 5-0 teams going at it. Smithville and Hillsdale will meet one week earlier in mid-September.
Week 7, Norwayne at Dalton − For 11 years running from 2015-2025, either Norwyane or Dalton have won the WCAL title. Could that be the case for a 12th consecutive year?
Week 9, Norwayne at Hillsdale − The last two seasons the Hillsdale-Norwayne game took place in Week 10 with the WCAL title on the line. It moves to Week 9 this season. Will Hillsdale snap its 11-game losing streak to Norwayne? Or will Norwayne extend it to 12 games?
Week 10, Smithville at Dalton − This one takes place in the last week of the regular season. Given how the rest of the league plays out, the WCAL title could be at stake on October 23.
2026 WCAL Projected Standings
Media members and sports reporters across North Central Ohio took part in a High School Football Preseason Media Poll ahead of the 2026 season and voted on how they believe teams will finish in the final conference standings at season’s end. Here are how the results came out for the Wayne County Athletic League.
jamessimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpson II
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Football Preview | How will the WCAL play out in 2026?
Reporting by James Simpson II, Wooster Daily Record / The Daily Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By James Simpson II, Wooster Daily Record | USA TODAY Network
