FAIRFIELD — A Hamilton high school football rivalry will continue in adjacent Fairfield this weekend.
Hamilton and Badin meet for the sixth time to open the 2024 season — this go-round at 7 p.m. Saturday at Fairfield’s Alumni Stadium.
“We’re just ready to play ball,” Big Blue coach Arvie Crouch said. “We’ve been beating up on each other all summer. Our guys are just ready to play. That’s all there is to it. It doesn’t matter who. It doesn’t matter when. We’re just trying to get a game plan together and win a ballgame.”
The two schools previously met in 1980, 1981, 1999, 2000 and 2023. Badin holds a 4-1 edge in the series, including last year’s 18-0 victory at Hamilton.
Last season was the first meeting between Hamilton and Badin in 23 years. That marked the first time Virgil Schwarm Stadium had sold out during a Big Blue regular season football game.
“I think Hamilton’s better. I really do,” Rams coach Nick Yordy said comparing last season. “They had a really good defense, and a lot of those guys are back. We’re aware of that. They’re just better being with Coach Crouch a couple years now. So, I think Hamilton’s a lot better.”
Badin only brings back four starters from last year’s 13-1 team, including junior running back Lem Grayson — the only returning player on offense.
On the defensive side of the ball, Badin returns senior lineman Ethan Kent, senior lineman Royce Rachel and senior defensive back Kai Samples.
“That’s about it,” said Yordy, who enters his eighth season at Badin. “We’re young, but these guys have gotten better every single day — from the start of summer until now. They’re going to have to learn how to deal with some adversity. That’s what the game is all about.
“We’ve been seeing growth. There’s a lot of new guys out there. But I think we’ve got some pretty good guys. We’ve got some really good athletes, and we have faith in them. We believe in them. We believe in this team. They’re just guys that haven’t done it with the lights on — on a Friday night. That was something that we’ve said to them. They know it’s real now. It’s Week 1 now.”
Crouch is in his third season at Hamilton, which celebrated its first playoff victory in school history and went 8-4 a year ago.
“I think we have the possibility of being really good,” Crouch said. “There’s a slim margin between the teams that we play on our schedule. You will have to play your best ball or you’re going to get beat.
“To say that we’re not ready to take that challenge on — not true,” Crouch added. “We’re ready to go. We’re proud of where we’re at and proud of how hard our kids have worked the last few years. We’re going to go out and try to put a good show on.”
Coming back to lead Big Blue’s offense is senior quarterback Antonio Mathis, who threw for a Greater Miami Conference-second best 1,557 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2023.
Hamilton’s defense returns three of the top four tacklers in the GMC from last season — junior CJ Bryant (124), senior Gracen Goldsmith (113) and senior Carter Isaacs (107).
Big Blue also has a pair of Division I college commits in senior wide receiver/defensive back Noah King (Kansas State) and senior defensive end Trey Verdon (Iowa State).
“I think Badin’s a lot better than what people think,” Crouch said. “They’re very disciplined. They do a good job. But I just know that we care about us, and as long as we take care of us, we will feel very confident that we can take care of business.”
COACHING CONNECTION
Yordy was the offensive coordinator under Crouch at Mount Healthy for seven seasons before taking the Badin head coach position in 2017.
“Yordy’s a good buddy of mine, but he’s going to be an enemy on Saturday night,” Crouch said. “Love him to death. I hope he wins every other game and goes 9-1. He’s a great individual and a great human being. We’ve got a lot of history together and won a lot of ballgames together. I’ve yet to beat him as a head coach, so let’s see what happens here.”
QUOTABLE
“I’m thinking that maybe we snuck up on them a little bit last year,” Yordy said. “So, I know they’re going to be fired up. I know Coach Crouch and his staff is going to get them revved up. We’ve got to be able to match that. It’s going to be an emphasis for us this week and to get ready for a big game.
“We are well aware of the target on our back — not just with Hamilton, but probably with everybody else on our schedule. We’ve got to take that with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder and get ready to play a good football game.”
