Having opened with Anna from the Midwest Athletic Conference for a number of seasons, Dick Roll and his Lehman Catholic Cavaliers would have enjoyed a tough opponent from another established football league in Week 2.
Roll didn’t mind being the underdog.
This is probably the case tonight for new head coach Dwane Rowley of Lehman and his staff, when the Cavaliers take on Southeastern from the Ohio Heritage Conference in a 7 p.m. kick-off. The online pregame starts at 6:25 on ScoresBroadcast.com. Bryant Billing and Chuck McBee are on the call.
A Division VII playoff team last year, Southeastern won seven games in 2022 and returns 16 starters.
Back in the day when Lehman under Roll made trip after trip to the postseason, the Cavaliers took on some heavyweights. In fact, in his first season at Lehman in 2006, the Cavs stunned defending state champ Patrick Henry, 20-17, in overtime. On the last play of this game, running back Dan Jacob, who has coached at Lehman since 2013, romped into the end zone to send the Sidney Memorial Stadium crowd into a frenzy.
Roll was a fine high school offensive lineman for Versailles, coached by the legendary Al Hetrick. Roll’s final game was at Piqua against Lehman in November 1970, a 6-6 tie in the mud. You can bet Roll loved that one.
Hetrick, whose motto was “block, tackle, win,” coached his Tigers to 334 victories in 38 seasons and earned six state titles. He was a terrific, but unassuming, head coach and a superb delegator of key responsibilities to his assistants who remained loyal and stayed on board for long tenures.
Roll, who coached high school teams to 200 wins including 112 at Lehman, learned from Hetrick in many ways and he, too, prided himself in creating a close-knit coaching staff that worked in concert season after season.
For sure, Roll is smiling today because the 2023 head man at his former school is one of Roll’s very first hires.
Coach Rowley is quick to say that so many of the “Dick Roll principles” are key components of how the game is coached and played today at Lehman.
Rowley’s staff assembled for this season provides an excellent blend of men who have played and coached at Lehman and others who have acquired high school experience at various quality programs in west central Ohio. Rowley also benefits from the fresh contributions of a couple more local coaches who are newer to the Lehman program.
Bill Zimmerman, a Lehman graduate with 18 years of coaching on his resume, returns to guide the offense and serve as the quarterback coach. Nate Bollheimer, an Anna graduate with eight years under his belt at Lehman, is the defensive coordinator, the spot previously held by Rowley.
Dan Jacob, a former Lehman gridiron standout, paces the running backs. This is his tenth year on the staff.
Having enjoyed his high school playing days at Piqua, Trent Karn is the defensive line coach at Lehman. He has been at the school for two seasons. Devin Stewart from Sidney leads the wide receivers and defensive backs. This is Stewart’s fourth year of coaching and first at Lehman.
The mentor for the offensive line is Joe Vondenhuevel, a Lehman grad who has totaled six years on the staff. Dustin Noffsinger from Anna joins Lehman in year one as coach of the linebackers.
Half of Lehman’s 30-man roster is comprised of juniors and seniors who had already logged valuable quarters of action at Lehman heading into this campaign.
Seniors JD Barhorst, Seth Kennedy and Ethan Stiver anchor the offensive and defensive lines. Senior Donovan O’Leary, a 6-5 quarterback, is a four-year performer. Seth Knapke, another senior, is an outstanding wide receiver and defensive back. Speedy juniors Da’Ron and Devin Pride are fine playmakers. Turner Lachey, only a sophomore and a talented multiple sport athlete, is a pass catcher and secondary defender.
After a 76-6 pasting of Lima Perry last week, the Cavaliers tangle with a potent Southeastern squad tonight at Sidney Memorial Stadium. The Trojans bested Northwestern, 28-20, on Friday. Skilled quarterback Zach McKee and strong running back Hayden Davis lead the way.
Southeastern fashions a unique “Shotgun Wing-T” on offense and will tote the football both inside and on the perimeter, thus placing a big emphasis on blocking and tackling in the run game.
This evening’s contest is probably one that Coach Roll would have especially liked.
