2025-2026 GHHS Football: What If?
The image above displays the Grandview Heights football assistant coach Micheal Dodge suiting up to practice on scout team, and this isn't AI.
Because of the numerous injuries that the Bobcats suffered this season, their roster dropped drastically from 34 to 16 active players. By the end of the season, only 6 initial starters remained active on the roster: Mario Ionno, Jhett Stanley, Kinny Wilson, Thomas Fischer, Cooper Bauer, Danny Main, Duncan Peters, and Matt Reichert. But the question stands: What if the Bobcats remained healthy?
Firstly, the 2024 Bobcats team was the most dominant they’ve been in a while, as they cruised through the playoffs all the way until the regional finals, where they finally came up short. This exact team last year was mostly made up of juniors that are now seniors this year. Because of this current senior class, the pre-season excitement to watch these boys play this year skyrocketed across the city of Grandview. Sadly, a series of unfortunate events began in the pre-season, and continued until their very last game.
It all started in mid-July, when stars like Duncan Peters and Boston Pearson both suffered a broken tibia. Although Duncan had a speedy recovery, Boston's (the potential stud newcomer) season ended right then and there. However, the Bobcats pushed through these adversities with a strong 1-0 start to the season, putting up 34 points in the first half of their game against the Briggs Bruins. After a promising week 1, this is where things slowly started to crumble for the team, as they lost senior defenders and wide receivers Owen Nugent (week 2) and Beckett Joubert (week 3). The Bobcats still remained a prominent team in Central Ohio afterwards as they proceeded to a dominant 5-0 record, but the injuries didn’t stop.
Much scarier injuries came upon players like 4 star Indiana University commit Henry Ohligher, who suffered a spine-related season ending injury in week 6 against Linden Mckinley, and senior linebacker Jhett Stanley who had a stinger in the same game, although he bounced back a couple weeks later.
Many other Bobcats experienced brutal season ending injuries too through weeks 3-10 like Ben Richardson, Gavin Miller, Roman Dye , Edward Hastie, Teddy Clifford, Adi Kumar, Alex Duranko, Cash Cates, Brody Boyd, and even the starting QB Jack Clifford. As a result of this, the team went from an explosive 5-0 record to ending the season 7-3. Grandview made the playoffs regardless, but lost 41-0 against Toronto High School in the first round, consequently ending their season.
Without all of the broken and sprained bones that haunted the Bobcats throughout their 2025 season, things would have undoubtedly been different. They had All State stars on both sides of the field, including Henry Ohlinger who was an unstoppable RB and a powerhouse at LB (former 1st Team All State on offense and 1st Team All District on defense), and Owen Nugent who was a scrappy CB and a speedy threat at slot WR (former 2nd Team All State on defense).
Other unforgettable difference makers who weren’t All State last year—who very much could have been this year—also suffered brutal season ending injuries, such as Beckett Joubert who was a deep threat at WR and a heavy hitter at S (former Honorable Mention All District on defense), Ben Richardson who had the size, strength, and skill needed to be a brick wall at C (former Honorable Mention All State for offense), QB Jack Clifford with his strong arm for deep balls and stellar play-making ability, and many more.
Although there weren’t many of them, it’s important to also mention the few Bobcats that avoided season-ending injury just to get a good idea of how complete this football team really was. These tough stars include Princeton University commit Cooper Bauer who played as a feisty DE (former 2nd team all state), Mario Ionno’s lockdown pass protection at LB and beautiful routes at WR (former Honorable Mention All District for defense), Danny Main’s elite blocking ability at OT regardless of his size (former 3rd Team All State for offense), Kinny Wilson’s crucial pass protection on the OL, Ben Matney’s strong blocking wherever he’s needed on the field (regardless of not having an ACL), and Jhett Stanley’s elite run defense (former Honorable Mention All District for defense).
It is quite the tragedy that the Bobcats went from state-contenders to a team requiring their own coaches to fill into the injured positions during practice. The dominance displayed in the first 5 games, even with just a semi-healthy roster, shows that the Bobcats were the real deal. Regardless of how the season ended, these boys had it in them to go all the way this year. Their loss in the first round of the playoffs wasn’t unjustified, and they will be remembered as one of the biggest “what if’s” in Grandview’s athletics history.