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By Rick Cassano
HAMILTON – Badin High School’s football team wants to begin the process of stacking victories this week.
The Rams opened the season with a 33-7 rout of Hamilton last weekend and will have their second straight home game Friday night when Dixie Heights (Ky.) invades the Matandy SportsPlex.
“They always say the biggest week to improve is from Week 1 to Week 2, and that’s what we’re hoping for,” Badin coach Nick Yordy said. “Nobody’s going to be perfect, but our goal is to strive for perfection.”
The first-team defensive unit was outstanding against Big Blue, who didn’t get on the scoreboard until there was 1:10 remaining.
Junior linebacker Jackson Turner was a large part of that effort with six tackles and two tackles for loss. He said it felt great to fly around and hit people in different uniforms.
“It was an awesome game. The atmosphere was great,” Turner said. “We need to improve on tackling. We missed a few tackles that we needed to make. But I would say our defense overall did really well.”
Turner rolled his ankle in that contest, but said he’ll be fine to face the visitors from Kentucky on Friday.
Junior running back Chase Even averaged nearly 9 yards per carry in the first half against HHS and sat out the second half with a leg injury. Yordy said he’s good to go this week.
Sophomore Jimmy Gajewski performed well in his varsity debut at quarterback against Big Blue, throwing for 136 yards and two touchdowns in place of projected starter Davis Martin, a junior who was recovering from illness.
Martin returned to practice Tuesday and should be available Friday, but Yordy said Gajewski is slated to start.
“Davis has been cleared, but he’s been sick and he’s lost weight and dealt with some things, so we’re going to kind of ease him back into things,” Yordy said. “Davis could play some this weekend. We’ll see.”
The Badin coach said the Rams’ Week 1 performance was generally pretty good with a lot of little issues that can be cleaned up.
Dixie Heights kicked off the year with a 42-13 loss to Simon Kenton (Ky.) last week, and the Colonels didn’t fare well against Badin in 2025. The Rams won 66-21, tying the third-highest single-game scoring total in Hamilton Catholic/Badin history.
That matchup featured a shootout for a while, but the Rams pulled away after halftime and romped to victory.
“It started out as a dogfight,” Yordy said. “It was a back-and-forth, big-play type of game, and we can’t allow that to happen defensively. Dixie looks like they’ve got a solid team this year. They’ve got some size … we’ll probably be undersized most of the year. But our kids are locked in and mentally focused. We’ll keep doing what we do.”
Dixie Heights is coming off a 4-7 season under Patrick Burke, who’s now in his fifth year as head coach.
Burke said he knows what the Colonels are in for when they come to Hamilton.
“Badin teams are sound. They’re sound. They’re fundamental. They’ve always been this way,” Burke said. “We’re going to get a steady dose of power and a steady dose of outside zone. We didn’t stop the run last year and you saw what happened. We’ve got to fit up and be disciplined in everything we do.”
Dixie Heights wants to run the ball as well. The Colonels had a big quarterback that threw for 2,669 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2025, but Mason Fields has moved on. He’s now a preferred walk-on at the University of Louisville.
Sophomore Brycen Schatzman is now the QB. He totaled 118 yards and a TD on 11-of-16 passing against Simon Kenton.
Burke said Schatzman did a good job of directing the offense, but he’s still got things to work as a first-year varsity starter.
Dixie Heights will run out of the spread in 11- and 12-personnel sets with tight ends and fullbacks.
Senior Levi Gilliland and sophomore Carter Skyrm are the primary running backs, while senior Parks Vonderhaar is the No. 1 receiving target. Vonderhaar actually led the Colonels in rushing last week with one carry for a 55-yard touchdown … he also had six receptions for 76 yards and a TD.
“Parks Vonderhaar is a stud for us,” Burke said. “He’s a wideout, but we’ll line him up anywhere. He can also play cornerback at times on defense.
“We came out and established the run early last week and got some points, then we put the ball on the ground twice and gave up some explosives in the passing game that ended up biting us. If you do that, you’re never going to be in a position to win a game. It’s a recipe for disaster.
“We’re going to rely heavily on the run to open up our pass a little bit. We’re going to hang our hat on running the football. We’re not gigantic on the line, but we’ve got decent size.”
Senior outside linebacker Brad Roaden and middle linebacker Gilliland are among the standouts in Dixie Heights’ 3-4 defense. Senior safety Gavin Henson is also a key figure on that side of the ball.
Burke said the Colonels are playing quite a few sophomores, including a couple on the O-line. Senior Henry Waters, a versatile guy who was expected to see time at running back, wide receiver, quarterback and safety, will miss his second straight game Friday.
The Rams had never squared off with Dixie Heights until last season. Burke, a former head coach at New Richmond, said the two-year deal isn’t being renewed.
“We were trying to see if we could keep it going,” Yordy said. “Ultimately there was just too many issues involved with trying to make it work.”
He said nonleague games with Hamilton, Edgewood and La Salle will be continuing next season. Yordy wants to keep playing Columbus Hartley, but he’s not sure at this point if that series will be extended.
Yordy said the best part about the Rams at this early stage of the season is the fact that they’re being physical.
“That’s good,” he said. “I thought at times against Hamilton our wide receivers did a good job of blocking and other times they didn’t. That’s been a point of emphasis to improve on. I thought our running game did pretty well, and that’s because of the guys up front being physical.”
Turner said Badin wants to force four turnovers and hold the opposing ground attack to 3.3 yards or fewer per carry every week. Hamilton gained 55 yards on 27 runs, yet didn’t turn the ball over.
“But they also didn’t go anywhere, so we’ll take that,” Turner said.
Badin-Hamilton is a huge rivalry clash, so coming back this week to face a team from Kentucky will likely have a different vibe.
“It’s definitely going to be a lot different from Hamilton to Dixie, but I feel like our defense is still going to have the same confidence we had against Hamilton and bring the same energy,” Turner said. “I feel like we’re headed toward a really good spot. We all have confidence in each other to win games.”
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