Since 2013, the Cincinnati Hills League has run through Wyoming or Indian Hill's football teams, sometimes both.
Wyoming's Cowboys have won or shared seven league championships since then with Indian Hill winning outright in 2015 and sharing the title last season with the Cowboys.
Other than a two-year run by Madeira in 2011 and 2012, it's been either Indian Hill or Wyoming since 2004. Wyoming hasn't lost a league contest since Oct. 23, 2015 when Reading defeated them 28-20. The Cowboys were the 2018 Division IV state champions and were a state semifinalist a year ago.
Can anyone surpass them? Here's a rundown of this year's CHL football squads.
Deer Park
Coach Calvin Johnson's Wildcats finished 4-3 with a postseason win last year. It was Deer Park's third straight winning season. Johnson was CHL Coach of the Year in 2018 when Deer Park went 7-4.
Senior Norey Johnson led Deer Park with 13 receptions for 264 yards and four scores in 2020 in addition to running for 397 yards and four touchdowns. Kendall Luckett had 518 yards on the ground with four touchdowns as a sophomore. Dearis Thomas ran for 266 yards and five scores with two sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles on defense.
Deer Park opens with Purcell Marian at home Aug. 20. Their CHL season begins also at home on Saturday, Sept. 11, against Reading at 7 p.m.
Finneytown
The Wildcats were 0-9 last season and haven't won since beating Riverview East 34-0 in 2019 for that season's lone victory. Their last winning season was a 6-4 mark in 2011.
Senior Ryan Siakam is the top returning rusher with 109 yards, while William Martin gained 102 yards his freshman season. The top returning pass-catcher is Carlos Cox with five grabs for 47 yards.
Finneytown opens at home with Hillcrest Aug. 20, then begins CHL play hosting Taylor Sept. 10.
Indian Hill
The Braves shared the CHL with Wyoming last season finishing 6-0 and 7-1 overall. They ended a perfect season in the second round of the OHSAA playoffs with a 22-21 loss to Valley View. That spoiled what would have been their only game against Wyoming last season as the two didn't meet in the shortened coronavirus pandemic regular season of 2020.
Indian Hill's last win against Wyoming came in a first-round playoff game in 2015. That was the last time coach Tony Arcuri's Braves won the CHL outright.
Again, the Braves have two sons of former NFL players with quarterback Ty Thornton (son of former Bengal John Thornton) and running back/linebacker Antwan Peek Jr. (son of former UC Bearcat and NFL defensive lineman Antwan Peek).
Thornton was third in the CHL in passing last year with 1,089 yards for 15 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He also ran the ball for 389 yards and eight scores.
Thornton didn't play AAU basketball as in past years, so Arcuri was able to have him in the extra summertime the OHSAA allotted to install plays and confidence in the 6-foot-3, 185-pound signal-caller. Right now he has an offer from Marshall and a handful of smaller schools with a whole season to provide better tape.
He went to an Elite 11 regional quarterback competition and a camp at West Virginia where his brother Jalen plays and where his father starred as a Mountaineer.
"It could be our year, but Wyoming's there and they've got a great program," Thornton said. "They've got dudes that play hard. We're just trying to match that every day. We're just worried about week one, McNick. We go week-to-week from there."
Peek Jr., who has noticeably filled out, ran for 430 yards and eight touchdowns and had an interception last season defensively.
"I'm way faster than last year," Peek Jr. said. "I get to that edge and I'm on them!"
Added Arcuri, "I'm a little more surprised he doesn't have a little more attention, but it's going to happen. That backfield duo of those two guys (Thornton, Peek) is formidable frankly at any level."
Indian Hill opens at Tomahawk Stadium with McNicholas Aug. 20. Another tough non-conference game is against Taft Sept. 3. One week later, they square off with co-champion Wyoming, whom they've not played since 2019.
"It's all going to depend 100% on how we can gel as a team on offensive line together," Arcuri said. "It's a small-school thing that's a perennial issue. We have skill guys and we've got some depth there and we have plenty of athletes. We lost some guys on offensive line to graduation, so it's a younger group and it's going to be how quickly do we mesh and how quickly do we come together?"
Carson Devine and Garrett McClung are returning starters on Indian Hill's line.
Madeira
Madeira was 6-4 a year ago but 4-1 over the last five games with a playoff win. They haven't had a losing season since 2015 and have made three consecutive playoff appearances. Chris Stewart was the CHL Coach of the Year in 2019 when Madeira finished 8-3.
This year's squad returns 6-foot-5-inch junior Conner Cravaack who can catch passes and chase passers. He had 23 catches for 216 yards as a sophomore and 1.5 sacks at linebacker. He's now moved to the defensive line. He also started in basketball as a sophomore averaging 19.5 points and 10.3 rebounds. Older brother Jack is a tight end at Purdue, so the younger Cravaack has attracted some interest.
"I went to a lot of camps this summer," Cravaack said. "I went to Toledo, Purdue, UC, Louisville and Marshall. I got some follows and stuff. I've got to just keep working."
On the offensive line and at middle linebacker is Aidan Megois, a junior who looks every bit as tough as his four brothers who passed through Madeira's multi-sport athletic system.
"I love it," Megois said. "It's a great place to play and I have great teammates and coaches."
The Mustangs last beat Indian Hill in 2013 and beat both the Braves and Wyoming Cowboys in 2012.
"Those schools, especially Wyoming lately, have been the gold standard of the league with their winning streak," Stewart said. "We're trying to push ourselves a little bit better, 1% better every day so that we have the goal of winning a CHL championship at some point."
Madeira opens with Norwood Aug. 20, then travels to CHCA who knocked them off in their second playoff game last season. Their date with recent nemesis Wyoming is on the road Oct. 22.
Mariemont
Nick Leone is in his second year at Mariemont after leading the Warriors to a 6-4 record in 2020, with three of those victories coming in the postseason.
The four playoff games by the Warriors represented their first postseason appearance since 2014.
Mariemont graduated quarterback Andrew Glassmeyer and running back Seth Greene, but returns top receiver Max Tepe, who was fourth in the CHL with 387 receiving yards. Defensive lineman Jack Mileham returns after a seven-sack year.
"This is our best offensive/defensive line group in my years here," Leone said. "We had a great summer. We have a new school, new weight room, new turf and many other things at Mariemont. It's an exciting time to be a Warrior!"
Leone also cited David Dorsten, Ethan Malafa and Connor Souders as players who will work to pick up the slack of graduated players. Plus, junior Mark Morgan and senior Alex Hatcher are back from season-ending injuries last season.
Mariemont hosts Oakwood out of Dayton on Aug. 20. Their CHL opener is at Madeira Sept. 10.
Reading
Reading finished 2020 at 2-6 but ended with a victory over Norwood Oct. 30 after a tight playoff loss the week before to Mariemont 31-28 on Oct. 10.
Top athletes from last season were 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound quarterback Joel Steinkoenig, who threw for 1,089 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for 54 yards and three more scores. Receiver Casey Hinton caught 28 balls for 329 yards and two touchdowns.
The Blue Devils open with Lockland Aug. 20. A tough non-conference foe will be Summit Country Day on Sept. 3 and the CHL season starts Saturday, Sept. 11, at Deer Park.
Taylor
The Yellowjackets were 3-6 last season and 2-4 in the CHL. They did earn a postseason win against Northwestern, 49-6, but had to forfeit the next round to Wyoming after a COVID-19 issue. Their playoff victory was their first since 2001.
Lineman Harry Hilvert and receiver/defensive back Johnny Kearns were notable players a year ago with Hilvert being named CHL Defensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Southwest Ohio and second-team all-state in Division IV.
"Harry's always one of the first in the weight room and one of the last guys out," Taylor coach David Dransman said. "This kid is the real deal!"
Hilvert was fourth in the league in sacks with 6.5 last season and Kearns was No. 5 in receiving with 382 yards.
Tight end Dylan Lanham is back after missing most of 2020 with a broken hand. Also back is starting quarterback Mark Snowden and starting offensive lineman/linebacker Owen Ferguson.
"This team has really come together and embraced getting better every day," Dransman said. "We have a talented group of seniors to lead us and a lot of underclassmen that are pushing them."
Taylor travels to Greenon Aug. 20 to start the season, then hosts Lawrenceburg at home Aug. 28. They begin CHL play at Finneytown Sept. 10.
Wyoming
Aaron Hancock enters 2021 five wins away from 100 in his career at 95-15. Prior to that, he was part of many victories under former coach Bernie Barre for 11 seasons.
Wyoming was 6-0 in the league and finished 10-1. They reeled off four playoff victories before falling 28-20 to Van Wert in the Division IV state semifinal in Piqua. Just like they graduated a starting quarterback after 2019 (UC's Evan Prater), they graduated team leader Brennan Pagan this past spring.
But, at Wyoming, they tend to reload.
"The 2021 class finished 50-3 in their four seasons," Hancock said. "The class of 2022 is 38-2 in their first three seasons."
Wyoming has won 47 straight regular-season games, the top streak in Ohio in all divisions. They've won or shared the CHL for five straight years and seven of the last eight.
The 2021 team captains are junior running back C.J. Hester and seniors Jared Hancock and Max Wilking.
Hester was first-team all-state, District Offensive Player of the Year and Cincinnati Enquirer Division IV Offensive Player of the Year, while Hancock was first-team all-district and third-team all-state as a linebacker/tight end.
Hester ran for 1,121 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 games for Wyoming. Sophomore Quaid Hauer was fifth in the league with six sacks as a defensive lineman and also plays quarterback.
Among those making all-league honors a year ago were Wilking on the line, senior receiver/defensive back Cole O'Gara, and junior lineman A.J. Howard and Theo Davis.
The Cowboys begin the season Aug. 20 at Harrison. Their home opener is Aug. 27 vs. Taft and the CHL portion of the season begins Sept. 10 at home against Indian Hill, whom Wyoming didn't play last season due to the shortened 2020 campaign.
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