High school football preview: Bellbrook Golden Eagles

High school: Bellbrook Golden Eagles

Division III, Region 10

League: SWBL Southwestern

Head coach: Kevin Basinger, 19th season as Bellbrook's head coach (114-74). Overall career record of 146-82, which includes four seasons as the head coach at Greeneview.

Assistant coaches: Jim Benetis, Jon Rommel, Gary Barhorst, Todd Paul, Chip Will, Jeff Jenkins, Jason Tincher, Nick Combs, Patrick Will.

2014 record: 5-1, 8-4

2014 highlights: SWBL Southwestern champion, won playoff opener, lost to Trotwood-Madison in D-III regional semifinal.

5 key returners:

Malachi Diaz, 6-3, 310, sr., OL/DL

Nick Barhorst, 6-1, 165, sr., WR/DB

Caleb Shroyer, 5-9, 190, sr., LB; honorable mention All-SWBL

Connor Oldham, 5-8, 170, sr., RB/DB

Drew Ashurst, 6-3, 220, so., OL/DL

Key newcomers:

David Vine, 5-10, 185, sr., QB

Chandler Wren, 6-0, 170, jr., RB/DB

Brad Russelburg, 6-3, 245, sr., OL/DL

Nolan McNamee, 6-1, 230, sr., OL/DL

Austin Horne, 6-1, 235, sr., OL/DL

Coach's comments: It was great to get back to the top of the league and the playoffs after a 10-year break. We had a tremendous senior class last season that spearheaded our success. They did a great job of showing the younger players on the team how they should approach the game and work on a daily basis. We lost some big contributors in Alex Fryman, Sam Martin, Jacob Schmitt and Zach Bannister to name a few, but we have a good group coming in that have worked very hard and know it is their turn to take the reins of the team. The strength of our team at this point will be our offensive and defensive lines. We predominantly have new players at our skill positions on offense and our defensive backfield and are looking for quick growth in those areas.

Schedule:

Aug. 28, Waynesville, 7 p.m.

Sept. 4, Wilmington, 7 p.m.

Sept. 11, at Tecumseh, 7 p.m.

Sept. 18, at Brookville, 7 p.m.

Sept. 25, Eaton, 7 p.m.

Oct. 2, Valley View, 7 p.m.

Oct. 9, at Franklin, 7 p.m.

Oct. 16, at Northridge, 7 p.m.

Oct. 23, Monroe, 7 p.m.

Oct. 30, at Oakwood, 7 p.m.

On the web: View more teams, key players, schedules and more at MyDaytonDailyNews.com

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