Badin And La Salle Set To Renew Rivalry With First Clash Since 1992

By Rick Cassano

Badin High School’s final tune-up for Greater Catholic League Coed Division football play may have a little extra juice.

The Rams will host La Salle on Friday night at the Matandy SportsPlex in a matchup of Division II, Region 8 combatants. The Lancers have been high-level D-II performers for years, while Badin got bumped up into D-II this season.

A sellout crowd and a postseason atmosphere are expected for the first clash of these two programs since 1992.

“I can see why there’s probably more people that are worried about this game outside of our locker room,” Rams coach Nick Yordy said. “We’re one of the smallest schools in Division II. Realistically, we should really be in Division III.

“And playing a program like La Salle, which won state championships not too long ago, this is a game we’re not supposed to win. That’s something a little bit different this season. At the same time, it’s kind of nice going into a game and being the underdog and having a little bit of a chip on our shoulder.”

Badin hasn’t been seriously challenged in rolling to 4-0, outscoring its first four opponents 152-40. The Lancers are 2-2 and coming off consecutive losses to Kettering Fairmont (24-21) and Elder (35-0) after opening with wins over Colerain (30-21) and Clayton Northmont (38-6).

La Salle’s schedule has the Rams sandwiched between Elder and Moeller. It’s natural to wonder what the Lancers’ mind-set might be in regard to facing Badin.

“I know how hard it is to find nonconference games,” Yordy said. “I don’t know if they know a whole lot about us, and I don’t really care. It’s more about us as a team and as a program. Hopefully we handle ourselves well Friday night.”

Tenth-year La Salle coach Pat McLaughlin conceded the Rams haven’t been on his radar through the years because they were almost never in the Lancers’ division. Badin had a brief stay in D-II in 2024.

“Honestly, I haven’t studied Badin a ton because they’ve been in D-III. Our paths haven’t crossed,” McLaughlin said. “But I think it’s a good game for both schools in every sport.

“The facility up there is very nice, and they’re a growing school. I’ve seen them in baseball. I’ve seen them in basketball. I’ve seen them in soccer. They have all the things you’d expect from a GCL school. It’s a good, hard-nosed program.”

McLaughlin said he didn’t know these teams haven’t played in more than three decades. The series with Hamilton Catholic/Badin is tied 2-2, with the Rams winning in 1964 and 1965 and the Lancers winning in 1991 and 1992.

Badin and La Salle have agreed to a two-year deal, and both programs have issues finding nonconference games. The Lancers only get three guaranteed contests in the GCL South Division and still have two open dates in 2027.

“I certainly would like to keep playing Badin,” McLaughlin said. “It’s two good GCL schools, they’re in D-II, and if they want to keep playing us, then we’ll do it. It’s becoming harder and harder to find games. This is a good game for us. Harrison’s a good game for us. Anytime we can play these local teams that are good and can create some rivalries, I think it’s fantastic.”

La Salle, which won state titles in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019, has a young squad this year and is dealing with multiple injuries.

The biggest loss was sophomore Aiden Arnold (6-0, 210), a two-way standout at running back and linebacker. He suffered a knee injury in Week 2 and won’t return this season.

Yordy described the Lancers as “very athletic with good size up front as well.” Junior quarterback Garrett Fraley (6-3, 205) is running their spread offense, and he’s completed 31-of-60 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also his team’s leading rusher (59 carries, 227 yards, one TD).

La Salle has a no-huddle, up-tempo approach on offense. Fraley saw some action with the Lancers last season, though McLaughlin said this is his first full year in the system after transferring from Springboro in the summer of 2025.

“It’s baptism by fire,” McLaughlin said. “He’s handling the load. He’s good and still learning.”

Defensively, the Lancers will rotate between even and odd fronts depending on the situation. Senior Javion Presswood (6-0, 240) and sophomore Haden Neff (6-0, 212) are linebackers and La Salle’s leading tacklers. Presswood also has three interceptions.

“We’re extremely young,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t think that attitude and effort have been a problem. I don’t think want-to has been a problem. You’re going to have some mistakes when you’re playing five, six, seven sophomores consistently. You live with that and hopefully we’re better by the back end of the season.”

He said La Salle moved on quickly from last week’s loss to Elder, a team that McLaughlin believes could very well win the Division I state title.

“We’ve played good in spots, we’ve played bad in spots. Overall, we’re been pretty inconsistent,” McLaughlin said. “We had a chance to beat Fairmont. Honestly, I made a bad call at the end of the game. We also probably didn’t make a few plays that we should’ve made.

“We don’t look back and don’t look ahead. We have a saying that our opponent is the best team we’re playing this week, so until you go out there and beat them on Friday night and do all the things it takes to develop good habits, then nothing else matters. If we don’t come out ready to play against Badin, it won’t be good for us.

“We’re 2-2, and if people look at the wins and losses, I understand it. That’s part of it. But I think we play disciplined football, I think our kids are tough, and I think they represent La Salle well. We’re just not seeing the results yet on the field. Do I think we can get there? I certainly think we can, but is it going to be this year? Is it going to be Week 7 or Week 10? I’m not sure.”

Yordy said Badin is almost always the smaller team up front and that will continue to be the case against the Lancers. But the Rams have gotten strong line play on both sides of the ball.

“We’ve got some small guys up there, but they’ve got big motors and big hearts,” Yordy said. “They’re just not 300-pounders. La Salle’s got a few of those guys.”

Badin has pretty much steamrolled through the first four games on the scoreboard. Those four opponents currently have a combined record of 4-12, though Yordy said his crew deserves credit for consistently taking care of business.

“I don’t want to say we’re exceeded our expectations,” Yordy said. “But we have definitely progressed maybe a little faster than we thought.”

The Rams got off to a sloppy start at Columbus Hartley last week before bringing home a 46-13 victory. Yordy said the Rams are getting healthier with the return of defensive end Logan Karwisch and outside linebacker Emmett Sackenheim to practice this week.

Junior outside linebacker Joey Geltz (6-0, 180) has been one of Badin’s success stories this year. He was mostly a junior varsity player last season and would only see the varsity field in blowouts.

Geltz worked his way into the starting lineup in 2026 and is among the Rams’ top three tacklers. He intercepted a conversion pass that could’ve tied the Hartley game in the first quarter.

“That was the first pick I’ve ever had anywhere,” Geltz said. “Being an outside linebacker is mostly pass coverage and getting hands on receivers so they can’t get their full route out and messing up their timing.”

Yordy said Geltz has made himself into a player that needs to be on the field more times than not.

“He’s an athletic kid who works hard in the weight room,” Yordy said. “The biggest thing for him this year is the way he’s transformed his body physically. Once we saw that and saw him flying around in the summer, we knew he had a shot to help us. He’s one of those guys that we really needed to step up and make plays for us, and so far he’s done exactly what we needed him to do.”

Geltz admitted he didn’t help himself in the leadup to his sophomore campaign. He missed two-a-days because he went on vacation and said he had to restore his reputation as a worker when he got back.

“This year I was going to show up at every practice and see what it got me,” Geltz said.

He’s gotten taller and stronger, noting that he’s increased his bench press by about 100 pounds over the last year. Geltz described himself as “pretty weak” as a freshman.

“I didn’t feel I was big enough or strong enough,” he said. “I wanted to start this year, so I knew I needed to get bigger. I was eating as much as I could and doing the three-coiler – bench press, squat and dead lift – in the weight room. I also got taller, so I’m not really bulky. I’m able to fly around and make a lot of contact. I feel like I’m filling up an outside backer spot.”

Geltz was an inside linebacker in 2025, but he’s enjoying being on the outside this season. He said Badin’s defensive success this year centers on the fact that “we’re all best friends and we all love playing defense. We’re happy to be out here.”

Geltz said there’s no question that La Salle will be the Rams’ biggest challenge of the season thus far. He said Badin needs to come out firing and play emotional football.

“We were not fired up for Dixie Heights or Hartley,” Geltz said. “We have to come out fired up like we did against Hamilton.”

The Rams will begin GCL Coed play next Friday at home against Dayton Chaminade Julienne.

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