With temperatures in the low 80s and six central Ohio football teams facing someone other than themselves in their first live action since last fall, Groveport coach Mitch Westcamp could be excused for making a Freudian slip during a 7-on-7 Sunday afternoon at Hartley.
"How often do you get to practice a little bit, get out here and compete, on what is it, Aug. 28?" Westcamp said before catching his error regarding the date. "We always want to compete in everything we do, and this is another opportunity. We stress it every day, whether it's practice, the weight room, the classroom, whatever. This is a great opportunity for everybody out here."
Big Walnut, DeSales, Gahanna and Hilliard Bradley joined the Cruisers and host Hawks for a preview of the 2024 season, three weeks after the Ohio High School Athletic Association expanded the timeframe for offseason 7-on-7 activities . Previously permitted between May 15 and July 31, 7-on-7 is now allowed the entire offseason other than the 28-day no-contact period after the season.
Such contests consist of quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs on offense and cornerbacks, linebackers and safeties on defense.
Here are seven things we learned, one for each team and a little more, from Sunday's action:
Still a freshman, Declan O'Neil is only five months removed from a spot start in the Jaguars' first Division I state semifinal. O'Neil started in place of Bradyn Fleharty , a Mr. Football finalist who injured his left ankle while scoring the winning touchdown in the Region 3 final a week earlier.
O'Neil overcame a slow start to throw for 101 yards in a 26-3 loss , something he said has served as motivation into a likely starting job this fall.
"I think it was a good first game, a great way to start my high school career," O'Neil said. "It's so fun to get this work in. It's fun to learn. The upperclassmen have been helping me through the process. We've had some good offensive sessions."
Receivers Daniel Shaffer and Drew Williams and running back Jack Whitmore are among the other returnees for Bradley (14-1 in 2023).
Quarterback and Kentucky commit Brennen Ward is among the lead returnees for a Lions team that is 25-3 the past two seasons, including a 12-0 start a year ago . But Gahanna also lost 5,254 of its 6,057 all-purpose yards to graduation, including 2022 Mr. Football finalist and two-time first-team all-state running back Diore Hubbard .
Jayden Gwinn, a move-in from Westerville Central with four Football Bowl Subdivision offers, should help pick up some of the slack.
Ward, who threw for 2,482 yards with 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions last fall, looked sharp Sunday despite offseason knee surgery.
"For him to be out here at this point, moving around and throwing is good for him," coach Bruce Ward said. "We've (graduated) a lot over the last two years, so it's good to get out here early to see where we are and what we have."
The Cruisers return several key pieces from a team that won six of eight games after a 0-2 start but fell to Hilliard Darby in the first round of the Region 3 playoffs.
Junior Raishad King rushed for 1,072 yards and 12 touchdowns to take pressure off freshman starting quarterback Baker Bowden. Receivers Imar Dunlap and Josh Moore will be seniors, and classmate Jeremiah Moore (WR/CB) has an offer from Toledo.
King did not see time at running back Sunday, instead playing on defense.
"Every play we run is run for improvement," Westcamp said. "Maybe the alignment is wrong, something. We have a lot to work on still.
"We have a rough start (this fall against Bradley and Gahanna) and we don't care. We'll play anybody. We had a tough go (to start last season), but we wanted to see where we were."
All of the Hawks' expected top players were on the field Sunday, getting their first work together before a season that will find them in Division III, Region 11. Hartley, which made a Division IV, Region 15 semifinal last fall, joins CCL rival and 2023 state runner-up Watterson along with Bloom-Carroll, Steubenville and Thornville Sheridan among others.
Quarterback Matt Galich (1,146 yards, 9 TDs), running back Robert Lathon (1,723 yards, 21 TDs), linebacker Denim Cook and defensive back Fidelis Imojah all return. Galich and Lathon will be juniors; Cook and Imojah are entering their senior seasons.
"We're just looking at running, catching and throwing, the fundamentals of football," coach Brad Burchfield said. "The kids want to do something … and we owe it to them to give them that chance."
The Stallions did not bring all of their expected contributors because of conflicts with other sports, but coach Ryan Wiggins was pleased enough with his team's first outing of the spring.
Quarterback R.J. Day (1,600 yards passing, 15 TDs) worked with an array of receivers including fellow sophomore-to-be Dax Middleton, senior-to-be Nolan McSweeny and junior-to-be Blake Donnelly. Elazar Hood is trying to build on his five-interception junior season.
Day is the son of Ohio State football coach Ryan Day.
"We haven't had a chance to practice, talk through particulars, things like that, but you coach on the run," coach Ryan Wiggins said. "It all starts somewhere."
Facing its first fall without star running back Nate Severs since 2019, the Golden Eagles had three sessions with quarterback Jackson Barnecut leading an offense that includes seniors-to-be Brody Hatfield and Owen Pollock at receiver.
Hatfield and Pollock combined for 454 yards and five touchdowns a season ago, when Big Walnut went 5-2 after a 1-4 start. Barnecut saw limited time as a sophomore, throwing for 35 yards and a touchdown as Severs wrapped up a career in which he amassed 5,898 total yards and 98 scores.
Big Walnut ran for 2,289 yards last fall and passed for 795.
While DeSales and Hartley were the only league rivals in the field and have longtime institutional knowledge of the other thanks to annual CCL meetings, a handful of other teams got an early look at some of their competition this fall.
Groveport opens against Bradley, visits Gahanna the next week and hosts Big Walnut in Week 3.
Hartley visits DeSales in Week 7, immediately after opening CCL play against Watterson.
Before all of that, the same six teams will participate in another 7-on-7 Saturday at Groveport.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio high school football: Takeaways from 7-on-7 at Hartley
