Badin Ready For New Season And Will Host Withrow To Begin D-II Playoffs

By Rick Cassano

HAMILTON – What Dominic Bowling sees is an opportunity to extend his gridiron career.

Badin High School’s football team is headed to the playoffs for the 31st time and will host Withrow in a Division II, Region 8 opener Friday night at the Matandy SportsPlex.

Bowling, an offensive guard, is one of 17 Ram seniors and would love to make some noise in the postseason.

“I’m not ready to give it up,” said Bowling, who won’t be playing at the next level. “This could be my last chance of playing football. I will hold onto it as much as I can. We’re going to punch them in the mouth. They’re going to punch back, but it’s whoever stays in the fight the longest.”

Badin (7-3) is the No. 8 seed and Withrow (7-3) is seeded ninth, with the winner earning a trip to No. 1 Anderson (9-1) in Week 12.

The Rams are just 3-3 in their last six games and got blanked 14-0 at home by McNicholas last week. The Tigers will bring a five-game winning streak to town.

“I think losing to McNick probably gave us a little bit of fire in our hearts,” Bowling said. “We’re blessed to have one more game here. We’re going to protect this field like it’s our home. We don’t want to be done. We want to go play Anderson next week.”

Badin is 39-29 in 30 years of postseason competition and does have a history of not departing quickly. The Rams haven’t lost a first-round playoff game since 2015.

“We get to play another week of football,” Badin coach Nick Yordy said. “It stings a little bit losing a game like that last week and not even getting a share of the league title, but we’re in the playoffs and we’re hosting a game.

“The kids are still excited, locked in, and the energy is good. They know what we’ve got in front of us, but there’s no need to be scared of it. Let’s just play our brand of football and do what we do and see what happens.

“They’re Badin kids and they’ll come out and play hard, and that’s all we can ask them to do. A lot of schools in Ohio are turning their equipment in this week and we’re not, so what are we going to do about it? We’ll see what we’ve got.”

Withrow, the Cincinnati Metro Conference Red Division champion, is scoring 33.7 points per game and giving up an average of 12.8.

The Tigers and Rams have three common opponents. Withrow beat Dayton Chaminade Julienne 45-12, lost to McNick 24-21 and beat La Salle 33-18. Badin lost to La Salle 27-14 and beat CJ 34-7 before falling to McNick.

Third-year Tigers coach Anthony Berry started the season with a lot of inexperienced players, but he said the rate of improvement has been impressive. Withrow was 2-3 after consecutive losses to Springboro (23-13), Harrison (22-13) and McNick.

“We had eight to nine new starters on both sides of the ball, so I wanted to beef up the schedule a little bit to get these guys battle tested and playoff ready,” Berry said. “I knew we were going to drop at least one of the big four games. I didn’t expect to drop three, but that’s the beauty of it, right?

“We were able to bounce back against La Salle on the road. That got us recharged and made us hone back in on the little things. Now I think these guys are understanding how to play on the road and how to attack the details to get us over the hump to win those close ballgames.”

Berry said Withrow has size and athleticism with a lot of bulk up front on both sides of the ball. Berry estimated his starting offensive line averages 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds.

“We’re always undersized,” Yordy said. “But if we’ve ever been outsized to an extreme point, it’s probably this game.”

The Tigers are hoping to turn the tide in this series, which began in 1970. Badin leads 7-1 and took its only loss against Withrow in 2001.

These teams haven’t squared off since the Rams went to Cincinnati and topped the Tigers 24-17 in 2022. Berry was the defensive coordinator for that WHS squad.

Withrow has 23 seniors, and Berry believes a sizable number of Tigers have the ability to play in college. The only commit at this point is senior wide receiver Charles Alexander Jr. (6-4, 175), who will enroll at Iowa State in January.

“We’ve got some studs,” Berry said. “I think this is going to be an intriguing matchup. I think it’s going to be a battle between really well-coached programs. I know our kids are locked in and ready to roll.”

Withrow is 6-9 in nine playoff appearances and had never won in the postseason until beating Troy in 2021.

Berry said the Tigers are a traditional spread team offensively and a 4-2-5 unit on defense. He said there’s plenty of explosiveness on both sides of the ball.

“It’s probably one of our biggest O-lines in recent memory,” Berry said. “The D-line is pretty big as well, and we’ve got a lot of speedsters at wide receiver and in the defensive backfield.”

Junior quarterback Sa’Vion Davis (5-10, 170) has completed 67-of-113 passes for 1,299 yards and 19 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He’s also the leading rusher with 805 yards on seven TDs on 84 carries, while junior running back Dion Clardy (5-9, 195) has 711 yards on 10 scores on 96 rushes.

Alexander and senior Tyshawn Johnson (5-8, 165) are the top receivers with 54 catches, 1,059 yards and 16 touchdowns between them in the aerial attack.

“Alexander is a special kid,” Berry said. “He’s got an Andre Johnson type of body. He’s a guy I would bet the house on – 50-50 balls are more like 90-10 to him. Tyshawn is not the biggest kid in the world, but he’s probably got the biggest heart in the world.”

Davis is a guy who can extend plays and spread the ball around to his playmakers. Berry said he’s been starting since his freshman year and has become smarter with the ball.

Junior middle linebacker Joshua Erkins (6-1, 195) heads the defense, and senior Mark Madden (5-9, 165) and junior Mister Achoe (5-10, 160) bring experience and talent as safeties. Senior Chris Barnes (5-10, 205) is also a standout at end. WHS has 101.5 tackles for loss as a team.

Madden, Alexander, Johnson and junior Z’yhon Gillespie (5-8, 165) are all threats in the return game.

“I feel real good going into this game,” said Berry, who has around 65 kids in grades 9-12. “We’re just being even-keeled right now. We want to put the football down and get to work and just let the kids play.”

Yordy said there’s no question that Withrow is legit, but he’s still more concerned about how his team plays. He said the Rams had a few too many mental mistakes last week.

Junior Chase Even has piled up 1,315 yards and 16 touchdowns on 187 carries for Badin. The passing game hasn’t been crisp in recent weeks, and sophomore Jimmy Gajewski saw some action in relief of junior starter Davis Martin against McNick.

Asked about the quarterback situation heading into Week 11, Yordy said simply, “It’s always a competition. We’ll see who the best guy is and put him out there.”

Bowling said the offensive line is proud of the rushing numbers Even has put up. The O-linemen consider his stats to be their stats.

Badin’s line from left to right includes senior tackle Chance Retherford (6-2, 215), Bowling (5-9, 185), junior center Sawyer Arnold (5-10, 240), senior guard Evan Price (6-0, 235) and sophomore tackle Bentley Moyer (6-3, 220).

“Chance and Evan have been starting since their sophomore year. They are the glue that holds us together,” Bowling said. “Evan is the mind of us all. Sawyer is a bull. He’s ready for anything, and I think he’s the best pass blocker we’ve got. Bentley has stepped up in a big role after we lost two great tackles last year. We’ve only given up a couple sacks all year. That’s pretty good.

“We don’t really have size, but we’re scrappy and willing to fight for it. It’s not about the size of the person. It’s about the battle. Withrow is not going to come into our home and just wipe us off the field. I believe our boys can hold it together and bring home this win. They’re not a joke, but we’re not a joke either.”

Bowling conceded he never thought the Rams would take three regular-season losses, but he thinks Badin has been seasoned and is ready for the playoffs.

This is Bowling’s first year as an offensive lineman since he was an eighth-grader. He was a nose guard as a junior and suffered a dislocated right thumb that required surgery early in the year. When he did play, his hand was heavily wrapped and essentially a club.

“And as a defensive lineman, you can’t really do much with a club,” Bowling said.

He said he suffered the same injury to his left thumb this year and will have surgery when the season’s over. The coaching staff decided to move him to offense in 2026, and Bowling said he was fine with that.

“After being injured my junior year, I just wanted to do whatever I could to fit in the lineup,” he said. “Wherever they needed me, I was willing to go. I picked up the playbook in the offseason and ran with it.”

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