In the lead-up to the 2026 Ohio high school football season, we’re previewing all the Stark County-area teams.
Today we’ll look at the Sandy Valley Cardinals, who are looking to bounce back from an 0-10 season in 2025.
Here are first-year head coach Torrance Carle’s returning lettermen, impact players, top newcomers, schedule and other tidbits for the 2026 season.
Sandy Valley Cardinals
Watch Ohio High School Sports Live on the NFHS Network all season
Sandy Valley football’s top returning players
Sandy Valley football’s impact players
Caleb Deubner, Bo Bernower and Chase Helwig are three go-to receivers in Sandy Valley’s offense. Deubner also has experience at quarterback. … Liam Fetty threw for over 1,000 yards and five touchdown passes as a freshman last season. “He has a great arm and can let it loose,” coach Torrance Carle said. “Picking up the offense is something that has not taken a whole lot of extra reps for him to get. He’s a competitor. When he’s out there, he’s not going to take it on the chin. He’s going to go out there and compete until the clock hits zero every time.” … Carle is looking for big things from Natch Overly at running back and defensive back. He missed half of the 2025 season because of an injury. … Chace Debellis is a workhorse at center and linebacker.
What’s new with Sandy Valley football in 2026
Freshman Brody Merrick is a player Carle is looking forward to seeing when he returns from injury. Carle calls him a “very smart kid” who can help the Cardinals at running back, on the offensive line and at linebacker. “As a freshman, he was able to handle that mental workload,” Carle said. “It’s really impressive. Knowing that, I expect big things from him in the future.” The 5-foot-9, 203-pound Merrick may be back by early September. … Norton is a new nonleague opponent Sandy Valley will face in Week 2. Malvern replaces Strasburg as an Inter-Valley Conference opponent in Week 5. Sandy Valley has not faced the Hornets since 2023.
Sandy Valley football’s outlook
Carle said he doesn’t think Sandy Valley’s 0-10 record in 2025 is a reflection of the program he is inheriting. He replaces Brian Gamble, who is now an assistant coach at GlenOak. “I came into a really good situation with what Coach Gamble set up,” Carle said. “The kids have been well-coached. Now it’s just a matter of implementing some of the things I want to implement.” … The Cardinals had one of the area’s youngest teams last year. “A lot of sophomores ended up getting in games maybe before they were ready,” Carle said. “That means our junior class [this year] has a lot more experience than your typical junior class coming into a varsity season.”
Sandy Valley football schedule for 2026
Home games in all CAPS. All games at 7 p.m., unless noted
Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com
On X: @PopperUSATODAY | On Instagram: mike_popovich | On Snapchat: popovich_mike | On TikTok: mikepopovich
The Canton Repository sports department can be contacted via email at sports@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Sandy Valley High School football schedule. lettermen, 2026 preview
Reporting by Mike Popovich, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Popovich, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
