Leetonia’s Jaden Rivers will lead the Bears into action on Thursday at Vanlue. (Photo by Michael Burich)

The 2025 high school football season kicks off Thursday and Friday, the final season for most seniors.

“I’ll definitely remember fighting as hard as I can, the blood, sweat and tears, with my brothers on the field,” Columbiana senior lineman Brayden Clancy said. “You only get 40 nights total your whole career.”

“I’ve got one more year to make it count,” Southern senior running back Landen Heffner said.

“We’ve been waiting for it,” Lisbon senior running back Ashton Hinchliffe said. “I’m super pumped.”

East Palestine and Leetonia will be on the road for the season openers on Thursday night.

“I’m just glad I made it to another year with not a lot of injuries,” East Palestine senior running back Zach Schnelle said. “I’m glad I can make more memories with everybody.”

The Bears are coming off three straight 0-10 seasons and their season is in doubt as they have about 20 players on the roster.

“We’ve got a lot of pressure this year because of the three-year losing streak,” Leetonia senior lineman Jaden Rivers said. “I’m looking forward to bringing our community back together. Most people have high hopes. Others have doubts, but that’s everywhere. We’re looking to shut up the doubters.”

Being a senior means more responsibility.

“I used to have someone picked out every year to look up to,” United senior wide receiver Quentin Taylor said. “Now I’m that person.

“I think all the younger guys are looking at the seniors right now. They’re kind of lost still. By week one, they’ll be all right.”

Southern has 30 players on the roster, which includes six sophomores and seven freshmen.

“I feel like I’ve got to step up and lead this year,” Heffner said. “We’ve got a bunch of young guys. They’re going to be relying on me and the other seniors. We did lose a lot. We got a couple of new kids transfer in who are going to help. I think we’ll be all right.”

Wellsville hasn’t had a winning season since 2014.

“A lot of kids look up to me,” Wellsville senior running back Leland Monte said. “I try to be a little hard on them. I know that teams we play will be no easier than I am on them. Get them ready for war.

“A lot of people know we’re a young team, but it’s going to be real different come Fridays.”

The seniors already know what they’ll remember most from their playing days.

“The Friday night lights,” Crestview senior quarterback Jake Noling said. “Getting out there with my teammates, my best friends. Running out on the field with them, there’s nothing like it.”

“The great memories on Friday nights and the summers with my friends,” Hinchliffe said. “I’m going to miss the Friday nights with the community.”

“Hopefully it’s going to be this season,” Taylor said.

Game notes

¯ Jim Tsilimos makes his Wellsville head coaching debut at Friday’s home opener against Steubenville Catholic Central.

He is Lisbon’s all-time winningest coach with 147 victories in 25 seasons, including the 1995 Division V state championship.

But the Tigers are coming off consecutive 1-9 seasons, the only victories against winless Leetonia.

“He’s the best coach I’ve ever had and a good person,” Monte said. “He teaches us a lot of stuff that we didn’t know, like mechanics and different techniques that we never picked up. He’s a really good coach and is positive. Everybody loves him.”

¯ Heffner enters his senior season with 2,651 career rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on 314 carries (8.4).

“It feels like just yesterday I was a freshman,” he said. “My freshman year I had my big brother (Colton Soukup) on the team. It helped having my brother there to guide me through it.”

Another bother, Mark Soukup, is on the Southern coaching staff.

¯ Noling was one of the most improved players last season. Now he is the top returning quarterback in Columbiana County.

“The offseason training is where it started,” he said. “I know I got bigger and I got stronger. That helped me with my confidence level.”

¯ “My freshman year I had the whole class of seniors to look up to because I was just a little freshman,” Taylor said. “My sophomore year I had Logan Casto. Last year I had Parker Newburn.”

¯ Taylor also was an All-Ohio second-team center fielder on the United baseball team that captured the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference title this spring.

He hit .487 with a school-record 36 steals. He also tied a school record with 38 runs scored.

What is his favorite sport?

“I can’t say that,” Taylor said. “It’s kind of what sport is in season.”

¯ Schnelle also played soccer as a sophomore, but the Bulldogs don’t have a team now. He said he is going to join the basketball team this winter.

“Football will forever be my favorite sport,” he said.

¯ Clancy wears prescription goggles for games.

“People say they make me look like the toughest person they’ve ever seen,” he said.