MONROE — Ground and pound football could be back at Monroe High School.
The culture shift is already present.
“We’re going to have to be able to run it,” Hornets second-year coach Mark Mueller said. “With what we’ve got coming back — we’ve got some guys returning on the offensive line and about five or six who have played up there. That’s going to be a staple in the offense.
“I’m just trying to keep my hand on the culture piece to make sure that we concentrate on what we do after we make a mistake — because mistakes are going to happen.
“But these kids believe. They’re believing, they’re working hard, they’re showing up. We’re in the right direction to be able to compete in our conference.”
The Hornets reeled off four victories in their first five games last season. But they lost six straight after that — including a 69-21 defeat to La Salle in the playoffs — to finish 4-7 overall and 0-4 in the Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division.
“This is year two,” Mueller said. “Culture was a big thing. Anytime you have a couple bad seasons in a row — they had some injuries the year before I got here. I’m not saying the culture was bad, it just gets negative — whether it is kids being negative to each other, not supporting each other or not lifting each other up.
“All of that has changed. That changed last year, it just didn’t change enough to get out of the funk last season. Once we lost to Franklin, it kind of carried to a few more games.”
There’s a new face leading the offense. Robert Burk comes over from Hamilton to be co-offensive coordinators with Brad Hunt. Mueller said Gary Clemmons is running the defense.
“It’s going to look a little more simpler on offense,” Mueller said. “I think last year, we got a little bit complex from going from the triple to the spread — then having some complex type of sets and situations. It was hard. It threw us off sometimes. So we’re going to be a lot simpler this year.”
The Hornets will have a new quarterback, too. Mueller said senior Maddox Monroe has been separating himself from others and could call the shots under center.
Jayden Hounchell, a junior, could play some QB as well, but Mueller said he likes Hounchell on the outside at receiver.
Sophomore Mason Reynolds could push for time at quarterback and is “a talented kid. We’ve just got to catch him up to speed because he’s a pretty good baseball player. He’s been running around playing baseball,” Mueller said.
“We’re going to utilize the strengths that we have upfront. We’ll probably have a stable of backs and not use just one guy because most of our running backs will start on defense. We’ll use that as a rotational position on offense.”
Senior Austin Haig will be the leader on the offensive line and earned accolades as a junior last season.
Senior Gavin Stromberg returns on the defensive line and has registered 77 tackles, 4.0 sacks, 7.0 tackles for loss and a forced fumble during his career.
Senior receiver and defensive back Bryant Lee had 42 tackles to earn Honorable Mention All-SWBL Southwestern accolades as a junior. Lee also caught 13 passes for 117 yards last year.
Other players to keep an eye on are senior linebacker Nehemiah Simms, senior running back and defensive back Dylan Miller, senior lineman Braden Wagner, senior linebacker Ridley Brown and senior offensive tackle Justin Dilworth.
Simms wrapped up 67 tackles, Miller had 60 and Wagner added 39 a season ago.
“We’re playing good football teams in our conference that are well-coached,” Mueller said. “Week in and week out, you’re seeing well-coached, tough-nosed kids. So I think the culture is the big piece of work that we’re focusing on so we can compete in the SWBL.”
2025 SCHEDULE
Friday, Aug. 22, Goshen
Friday, Aug. 29, at Fenwick
Friday, Sept. 5, at Wyoming
Friday, Sept. 12, Ponitz
Friday, Sept. 19, at Clinton-Massie
Friday, Sept. 26, Franklin
Friday, Oct. 3, Eaton
Friday, Oct. 10, at Bellbrook
Friday, Oct. 17, Ross
Friday, Oct. 24, at Edgewood
