Football season is officially here, with high school squadrons beginning their practices on Aug. 1 across Ohio.
This story has been updated with most recent information.
Many standout seniors were lost to graduation from 2025, including a pair of first-team All-Ohioans in New Lexington’s Harrison Ratliff, now on the wrestling team at Ohio University, and Tri-Valley’s Ryan Lamonica, who took his 19 career interceptions to Muskingum.
There are a horde of quality returnees, however. Here is a look at that list, in alphabetical order.
Tanner Bankes, Morgan, RB/LB, sr.
Bankes was the Muskingum Valley League’s version of Indian Valley great Grady Kinsey, using his combination of hard running, deceptive speed and 5-7, 195-pound frame to pile up 1,147 yards on 178 carries for an eight-win playoff team in 2025. The first-team All-East District pick in Division V also had 73 tackles and four sacks.
Keaton Bryan, Maysville, WR/DB, jr.
Bryan was an impact performer as a sophomore during Chase Bowman’s first season as head coach in 2025, catching 29 passes for 443 yards with seven TDs. He also broke up five passes and averaged 21 yards on kickoffs, one of which he returned for a score. He was a second-team All-East District pick in Division IV.
Brody Cottrell, Crooksville, QB/RB/LB/K, jr.
Cottrell is one of the MVL’s most versatile chess pieces, able to contribute as a runner, passer and kicker for second-year coach Marcus Pardon-Dudash’s spread offense. But his biggest affect was felt with his leg, where he hit 4 of 7 field goals, including a 45-yarder, and had five punts inside the 20-yard line. He was MVL Punters of the Year and a second-team All-East District pick in Division VI.
Grady Dollings, West Muskingum, WR/DB, jr.
Dollings was a two-way starter as a sophomore, when he intercepted three passes playing opposite of All-Ohioan Braxton Brownrigg at cornerback. He was a second-team All-East District pick.
Casey Foley, Morgan, WR/DB, sr.
Foley led the Raiders in receptions as first-year starter, teaming with seniors Arliss Ponchak and Hayden Bankes to form one of the MVL’s best receiving corps. He was also a key figure on defense as the team’s fourth-leading tackler in the secondary.
Titan Grandstaff, Zanesville, WR/DB, jr.
Grandstaff, a transfer from Rosecrans, is coming off a sophomore season with the Bishops in which he caught 32 passes for 551 yards (a 17.1-yard average per catch) and set a single-season school record for interceptions with seven. He joins a Blue Devil defense coordinated by his father and longtime former ZHS head coach Chad Grandstaff.
Champ Haley, Coshocton, RB/LB, sr.
Haley was a second-team All-East District pick at linebacker with 44 tackles and two sacks in just six games due to injury in 2025, which went a long way toward the team’s midseason struggles. He also averaged 15.1 yards on seven catches and ran for 434 yards and five more scores.
Haley and Kash Murphy, another second-team All-East pick, figure to be impact receivers for second-year quarterback Mason Williams under first-year coach Braydon Johns.
Brayson Hill, Crooksville, QB/DB, sr.
Hill, a true dual threat, has been productive from the moment he stepped onto the field as a freshman starter. In eight games, the 6-1, 185-pounder ran 130 times for 881 yards with 15 TDs, passed for 752 more with 9 scores and even caught 11 passes for a 13-yard average in 2026.
He was second-team All-East District in Division VI for the second straight season.
Connor Johnson, Zanesville, WR/DB, jr.
The Blue Devils’ top target in 2025 was a first-team All-East District and first-team Licking County League-Buckeye Division pick as a sophomore after producing 39 catches for 637 yards and five TDs. Those numbers could improve even more on an offense that returns many of its top players.
Trio Ladd, Zanesville, OL/DL, sr.
Ladd, a two-sport standout, returns to lead the Blue Devils’ defensive front that should be even better with 12 tackles-for-loss and seven pressures returning in 2026. He also was a state qualifier in wrestling at 215 pounds after being a first-team All-East District choice in Division III.
Maverick Lockard, Ridgewood, TE/LB, sr.
An unofficial member of the All-Cool Name squad, Lockard was also a hammer on John Slusser’s defensive front and a starter at H-back, coming off a 90-tackle, four-sack campaign at outside linebacker in 2025.
He and fellow linebackers Drake Angle and Bryce Tolliver were All-East District picks and return for another round in the Inter-Valley Conference’s South Division.
Christian Long, Philo, OL/DL, sr.
Long, far and away the area’s biggest player, played tackle at 6-8, 375 pounds as a junior, helping lead the way for a ground game that ran for more than 2,000 yards. The Division I prospect, who also had 34 tackles, returns as a first-team All-East District performer on offense in Division IV.
Jensen Parry, John Glenn, RB/OLB/P, jr.
Parry was the MVL’s Punter of the Year as a sophomore after producing a 37-yard average, and this season his overall role will increase as a primary ballcarrier to start the season in Edwards’ spread offense. He rushed for 92 yards on 14 carries and also recorded 18 tackles in 2025..
Lane Ratliff, New Lexington, QB/DB, sr.
Like Hill, the 6-1, 200-pound Ratliff, a lefty, is an explosive dual threat. He accounted for more than 2,200 yards of offense in the Panthers’ spread offense during an 11-2 season in 2025. He averaged more than nine yards per carry.
Ratliff, who owns a Division I scholarship offer from Charlotte, is arguably the top quarterback returnig the MVL.
Logan Russell, Sheridan, RB/DB, sr.
The hard-charging Russell, who played at 6-2, 195 as a junior, ran for 1,486 yards and 17 TDs and displayed deft pass-catching skills as the MVL’s second-leading rusher. He suffered a significant ankle injury in the playoff loss to Granville, which cost him a month of basketball season, but has returned to full strength to lead the Generals’ offense.
Connor Shoemake, John Glenn, RB/MLB, jr.
With Cameron out, Shoemake stepped into a starting role as a sophomore and recorded a team-high 92 tackles, of which 52 were solos. He was honorable mention All-East District in Division III.
Carter Smith, West Muskingum, WR/RB/LB, sr.
One of the MVL’s top all-around athletes, the 6-3, 205-pound Smith has shown the ability do a little of everything for head coach Nathan Brownrigg. He produced 13 total TDs and 742 all-purpose yards in 2025, of which 426 came through the air on 31 catches. He added 99 tackles — 10 went for losses — with with six sacks and three forced fumble at outside linebacker.
He was a first-team All-East District pick in a deep pool of talent in Division V.
Tyson Spicer, New Lexington, WR/DB, sr.
The Panthers’ most explosive playmaker in 2025 accounted for more than 1,000 all-purpose yards, with 459 coming on 38 catches in the regular season as Lane Ratliff’s top target. The honorable mention All-Ohioan also averaged 15.2 yards on punt returns and was fourth on the team in tackles.
Stone Spiker, Tri-Valley, QB, jr.
Spiker developed into a steady complementary piece to a 2,000-yard running game with 1,234 yards with 13 touchdowns as a sophomore starter, when he was a first-year starter. He connected on 90 of 160 aerial attempts, with classmate Lucca Gargasz his top target back after averaging 17.6 yards on 17 catches.
Slade Sprankle, Philo, RB/DB, soph.
Sprankle, who ran 205 times for 1,220 yards as a junior, is one of four running backs coming off 1,000-yard seasons in the MVL. The sturdy 5-7, 175-pounder shouldered a heavy burden in the second half of the season with quarterback Jack Lincicome hampered by an ankle injury, but he remained productive. He was also a key defender with 61 tackles and three pass breakups.
Eli Stephens, New Lexington, OL/DL, sr.
The unquestioned interior force — on both lines of scrimmage — is back at center and nose guard after dominating at both positions in 2025. The 6-4, 280-pounder, who is verbally committed to Army, was third-team All-Ohio and first-team All-Southeast District in Division IV.
He is entering his fourth year as a starter at center, where his ability to pull on running plays helped the team run for 2,422 yards on 6.6 yards per carry in the regular season.
Lane Taylor, Tri-Valley, OL/DL sr.
Taylor, the team’s top two-way lineman in 2025, when he played at 6-2, 250 pounds, is the most seasoned of the Scotties’ trench men as a three-year starter at tackle. He and fellow lineman Oliver Lanning, who was lost to graduation, were first-team All-East District picks in Division III.
Bryce Tolliver, Ridgewood, RB/LB, sr.
The heartbeat of John Slusser’s defense has been a linchpin at linebacker since his arrival in West Lafayette, helping the Generals to playoff wins in each season he has spent as a starter. The 6-1, 200-pounder, who was second-team All-Ohio in Division V, totaled a team-high 102 tackles (11 for losses) with six sacks and an interception.
He added offensive prowess as a powerful lead blocker and inside runner last season, rushing 50 times for 313 yards with nine TDs.
Tanner Toth, New Lexington, WR/LB
Toth averaged a team-high 15.6 yards per catch in the regular season, but it was his play alongside Harrison Ratliff at linebacker that helped the Panthers lead the area in total defense.
Head coach Kevin Board called him “a coach’s dream” for his headiness on the field and maturity away from it, as evidenced by earning honorable mention All-Ohio.
Leevi Wade, Tri-Valley, RB, jr.
The 5-7, 185-pound Wade ran for 1,668 regular-season yards in a first-team All-Ohio campaign in Division III, as the Scotties’ workhorse runner helped lead another playoff outfit in Dresden. He ran for 260 yards and 5 TDs in a double-overtime win at Sheridan that sealed a share of the MVL-Big School title.
Tyce Whiteman, Sheridan, QB, sr.
The 6-4, 205-pound Whiteman, in his third year as a starter, played through a shoulder injury suffered in the season opener in 2025.
Owner of two Division I scholarship offers, he passed for 844 yards with 7 TDs in a run-heavy offense and has three of his top targets back in James Solomon, T.J. Connors and Reid Parkinson.
Logan Wince, Ridgewood, WR/DB, sr.
Wince, first-team All-East District at Coshocton as a sophomore, was limited to five games in 2026 due to transfer rules. The versatile two-way starter was a game changer when on the field, accounting for nine TDs among his 598 all-purpose yards. Two of his scores were on punt returns, while he also ran for 356 yards and seven TDs with a 7.6-yard average.
Hayden Young, Coshocton, TE/LB/P, sr.
The 6-1, 230-pound Young, second-team All-East District in Division V in 2025, caught 25 passes and was a steady blocker on offense as arguably the team’s most consistent player in 2025.
He added 58 tackles, two sacks and four forced fumbles, while he also handled punting duties to the tune of 37 attempts. Four went inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
sblackbu@usatodayco.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Running backs lead Muskingum Valley’s top 25 returning football stars
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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By Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder | USA TODAY Network
