HAMILTON — Badin High School football spent years building one of southwest Ohio’s most consistent programs without something most teams take for granted — a place of its own.
That’s no longer the case.
The Rams enter the 2026 season with a year of experience at Lanni Family Stadium inside the Matandy SportsPlex, and Badin coach Nick Yordy has already noticed how much having a true home has changed everyday operations.
No loading equipment. No trips across town for practice. No juggling schedules at Joyce Park or Spooky Nook.
Badin football can simply walk outside and go to work.
“The fact that we finally have the field has really allowed us to get better and kind of hone in on our skills and our craft a little bit,” Yordy said.
The Rams hope that familiarity provides another boost as they prepare for a season carrying the usual expectations surrounding the program.
Badin went 10-2 last season, winning its first nine games before falling to McNicholas 17-10 in the regular-season finale. The Rams responded with a 35-28 Division III playoff victory over Alter before their season ended with a 23-16 loss at Tippecanoe.
Now, Badin will test its winning ways in Division II.
“Since freshman year, you come in, you don’t know what to think going into high school football,” Rams senior Hudson Heid said. “But here … if you’re not going to meet the standard that people have set here before, you’re not going to get that opportunity.”
Maintaining that standard will require Badin to replace a significant senior class. Yordy pointed to the departures of James Brink, Lem Grayson, Cole Emerson, Pete Pendergest and Andrew Lipp among the losses the Rams must overcome. Badin also lost considerable experience at linebacker.
There are no plans, however, to change the program’s foundation.
Defense remains at the center of Badin’s identity.
“We’re always going to lean on our defense,” Yordy said. “Been doing it for years, so we’re going to keep doing it.”
There is experience returning up front, and Yordy said several younger players who waited behind last year’s veteran linebackers will finally get their opportunities.
“There’s a lot of young guys that last year were kind of chomping at the bit,” Yordy said. “Now it’s their time to go out there, earn their spot and show that they’re capable of doing it and capable of putting forth the effort and the numbers and intensity that we expect out of our defense.”
Heid figures to be one of the players helping set that tone.
The senior expects to contribute at receiver and safety while remaining available for whatever else Badin needs offensively. His versatility could put him in the backfield at times as well.
“I will play wherever they need me to play,” Heid said. “If they say go to right guard, I’m going to right guard. It’s just whatever is going to help this team win.
“It’s a little more eyes on you, a little more respect to what you have to say. I think just being myself and lifting this team up and just keeping the energy moving, keeping us moving in the right direction, is just the biggest goal this year.”
Hamilton visits the Matandy SportsPlex on Aug. 21 in one of Butler County’s most anticipated opening-week matchups.
The programs have split their past two meetings. Hamilton defeated Badin in 2024 before the Rams answered with a 38-20 victory at Hamilton last season.
This time, the rivalry comes to Badin.
It will be the first time Hamilton has played the Rams on Badin’s campus, adding another chapter to a matchup Yordy hopes remains on both programs’ schedules.
“We’ve been in that environment,” Yordy said. “We beat them, they beat us. So we know what’s coming. And I think it’s good that we’ve gotten this game back on the schedule and hopefully keep it going.”
Yordy expects a packed stadium and plenty of emotion when the teams meet.
“We know there’s obviously going to be a lot of people here,” Yordy said. “There’s a lot to it there, but at the same time, we have to work to keep our kids focused and maintained in what our goal is. And that’s to win a football game.”
“We’re not going to change anything,” Heid added. “We’re going to play hard football. We’re going to find what works, and within the game, we’re going to stick to it. We’re just going to play our brand of football like we know. And the standard that is here, we’re going to stick to that standard.”
