LEBANON — Luke Faler emphasized how important the offense is going to be for the Lebanon Warriors this season.
Good thing he’s the one in charge of it.
“We have to put the ball in the end zone. We just have to,” said Faler, a senior who enters his third year as the Warriors’ starting quarterback.
“With our offense, I love where we’re going. We throw it every day. We’ve got a really good connection. We have to have long sustaining drives, and we have to put the ball in the end zone.”
Faler threw for 2,007 yards, ran for 302 yards and accounted for 22 touchdowns — 17 passing and five rushing — as a junior. He’s thrown for 4,069 yards and ran for 344 yards with 36 touchdown passes and eight rushing scores in his career.
Lebanon returns its offensive backfield from a team that went 7-5 overall and 5-4 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference in 2024. Senior Daniel Wallace and junior Logan Schmenk rushed for a combined 1,401 yards and 13 touchdowns last year.
Senior tight end Nick Lautar hauled in 23 receptions for 267 yards and three touchdowns as a junior. He stands at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and has offers from numerous Mid-American Conference schools, along with Army, Cincinnati, Pitt and among others.
Junior center Tucker Snelling helped the offense average 316.4 yards of total offense a game last fall.
Junior lineman Brody Lamb was named Second Team All-ECC as a sophomore. The 6-foot, 290-pounder had 23 tackles, 3.0 tackles for losses and a forced fumble for the Warriors’ defense.
“We graduated about half the O-line, but the new guys have been coming up, and they’re hungry,” Faler said. “They’re working hard. They want to learn. They stay for extra work, and they come early. You can tell they’re hungry, and they want to learn.”
Some key positions are tied down on defense, according to fourth-year coach Micah Faler.
“Most of them will be three-year starters,” the coach said. “So with that kind of experience coming back — having that much Friday night game experience — we have really high expectations for them. It also allows us to do some things that we feel are kind of next level because of the experience that those guys have.”
Senior linebacker Hunter Davis recorded 66 tackles, had 4.0 sacks, 4.5 tackles for losses and two interceptions to earn First Team All-ECC honors in 2024.
Senior defensive back Jack Sako was a Second Team All-ECC selection a year ago and has logged 91 tackles and four interceptions in his career.
Senior safety Ari Sizemore was in on 22 tackles and had a fumble recovery as a junior.
“Like everybody else, we had some really impactful seniors graduate last year,” Micah Faler said. “Now we’ve got some young guys that we’re really hopeful about that are going to be having their first starts on Friday nights.
“But I think it’s good to have that core group of seniors who have that kind of experience that if we have a sophomore playing receiver or playing at defensive back, they’ve got those guys to look to and say, ‘Hey, you were here two years ago.’”
Others to keep an eye on are senior defensive end Cooper Scott, junior center Ryan Minor, junior receiver Will Sands, sophomore receiver Wyatt Lassen and sophomore defensive end Marshall Fields.
“We’re excited with what we have,” Micah Faler said. “We will see when the pads start hitting on Friday nights.”
A football bond
Luke Faler said he’s lucky to be in the position he’s in.
He leads the Lebanon offense on a team led by Micah Faler — his father
“It’s something not every kid gets to experience,” Luke Faler said. “You grow up in the same household, but just for him to experience this is cool. High school football is so special because you only get it for four years.
“To do that with my dad — yeah, him and I ram heads sometimes, and it will carry over to home — but we still love each other. We are both so compassionate, and we care about this sport because we get to do this together.”
“That’s why this senior group is really special to me,” Micah Faler chimed in. “Not only is it my son’s group, but seeing these guys as freshmen come in and is kind of my first group that I’ve seen through fruition all the way through.”
Competitive conference
The ECC has a mixture of highly competitive Division I and II teams, and Micah Faler said he’s here for it.
“When you have a split conference like we do with some D-I and some D-II schools, some of the best football in southwest Ohio is in this conference,” the coach said. “At the D-II level, you’ve got Anderson making the state championship two years in a row. Then you’ve got Winton Woods, who is now D-I and is a high-level Division I team.
“We tell our guys that they’ve been competitive in the ECC. Some things tell you this is a great barometer that says you’re playing in a really good, competitive conference.”
A homegrown group
Micah Faler appreciates the amount of pride that’s been established within the Lebanon football program.
“We always say, ‘We are who we are,’” the coach said. “For a school that has closed enrollment, we don’t recruit like other teams in our conference.
“We have who is in our district, who’s in our school, and unless it’s someone that moves into our district and goes through the enrollment process, we don’t have transfers coming in like you’re hearing at all these other schools,” Faler added. “We take pride in us being homegrown. These guys have played pee-wee football together. They’ve grown up together, and it means something to them.
“When we say we play for our community, this is their community that they were born and raised in. So, there’s a huge level of pride in that.
“While we may not be the most talented across the board or as deep across the board as some of those other teams, we play with so much heart and play freaking hard — and that’s what we really take pride in.”
2025 Lebanon Warriors Schedule
Friday, Aug. 22, at Northmont
Friday, Aug. 29, Loveland
Friday, Sept. 5, West Clermont
Friday, Sept. 12, at Anderson
Friday, Sept. 19, at Little Miami
Friday, Sept. 26, Kings
Friday, Oct. 3, at Milford
Friday, Oct. 10, Turpin
Friday, Oct. 17, at Walnut Hills
Friday, Oct. 24, Winton Woods
