Gajewski Steps In At Quarterback And Helps Badin Overpower Hamilton In Season Opener
Badin High School's Balin Wong runs in to Hamilton quarterback Trae Davidson in the end zone Aug. 21, 2026, during a football game at Badin's Matandy SportsPlex in Hamilton.
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By Rick Cassano
HAMILTON – As far as Jimmy Gajewski was concerned, the only thing to do was perform.
The Badin High School sophomore got the call at quarterback Friday night with projected starter Davis Martin sidelined by illness, and Gajewski rose up on a very big stage in his varsity football debut.
He threw for 136 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams opened the 2026 season by routing visiting Hamilton 33-7 at a sold-out Matandy SportsPlex, winning for the sixth time in eight meetings in the city rivalry series.
“As a backup quarterback, you’ve always got to be ready,” Gajewski said. “I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew what was expected of me, and I came out and met the expectations. I was a little nervous coming in, but after that first drive, that first score, I felt like everything was just cruising from there.
“I was expecting to kind of just go through the motions, nothing too crazy, but God blessed with me with such a great opportunity and I took advantage of it. I was always expecting to be the JV quarterback this year. I never really expected this to happen. It’s a dream come true.”
Gajewski completed 7-of-10 passes and connected with Reece Donges and Hudson Heid for TDs as Badin went up 11-0 in its first two possessions and limited Big Blue to 155 total yards, most of which came in the second half.
The Rams turned the ball over three times and HHS had zero turnovers, though Badin’s defense piled up 14 tackles for loss.
“That was just aggression and work,” Rams senior defensive end Aiden Kramer said. “We were pushing these guys back and doing our jobs. That makes the linebackers able to get tackles.
“We’ve put in a lot of work in this offseason, so we’re glad we got a chance to showcase our teamwork. All these people backing us all around town … we felt the presence. We knew we had to come out here and represent Badin. That’s who we are.”
BHS coach Nick Yordy liked the way his crew responded to the magnitude of the season opener.
“Great crowd, great atmosphere. That’s what you expect when you’ve got Badin and Hamilton playing in Week 1,” Yordy said. “It’s just a sign of relief to get Week 1 done and get that game under our belt with a win over Hamilton. We made some mistakes that we can get fixed.
“I want to dive into the film and see what we look like, but I know we’ve just got tough kids. We were outsized a lot tonight pretty much across the line, and our kids played very hard. I feel pretty good about the fight those kids have. It’s something to hang your hat on.”
Big Blue avoided the goose egg on the scoreboard with a 19-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trae Davidson with 1:10 remaining.
Hamilton didn’t do much offensively until the contest was essentially over. The visitors trailed 20-0 at halftime and tried to claw back into it after Capone Shavers opened the third quarter by picking off a Gajewski pass, but Big Blue turned the ball over on downs at the Badin 15.
Just over a minute later, the Rams’ L.T. King took a handoff, ran to his right and sprinted down the home sideline for an 80-yard touchdown.
“We just couldn’t get any momentum,” Hamilton coach Arvie Crouch said. “We had a little bit coming out at half. I thought we’d go down there and get back in the game, and a penalty killed it all. That’s very frustrating to me.
“We’re very inexperienced. A lot of guys on that field have never played football on Friday nights. It was pretty hard coming out and playing a team like that when you’ve got guys needing to get some experience. That’s just the way it is. No excuses. We’ve got high-character kids that work hard, and we’re just going to keep doing it.”
Crouch said he envisioned Big Blue struggling a bit against the Rams, “but not the physical butt whooping up front. We didn’t see that coming.”
Davidson went down with an ankle injury late in the first half, but came back to play after halftime. Davidson (8-of-12, 42 yards) and Ben Pendergrass (6-of-10, 58 yards) both ended up seeing a good deal of action.
Hamilton running back Amerius Stringer was limited to 4 yards on nine carries. Badin rotated a number of guys through the defensive front, but Kramer, Jake Bucheit, Balin Wong and Cruz Fox were the starters.
The Rams played without returning defensive end Logan Karwisch, who recently had surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Yordy is hoping he can return to action in the next couple weeks.
“The defensive line is where we had the most guys coming back,” Yordy said. “I thought they did a really good job of winning up front. On the flip side of that, I thought our offensive line did a really good job of that as well.”
Chase Even ran 11 times for 96 yards and a 48-yard touchdown for Badin. He didn’t play in the second half because of a leg injury that Yordy hopes isn’t serious.
Gabe Miyahara added a 40-yard field goal to the Rams’ cause. Badin had a chance to pad its 20-0 lead just before halftime, but fumbled the ball away at the HHS 5 after Gajewski bobbled a high snap and made an unsuccessful handoff attempt.
“It was a real mess, and it started off with me,” Gajewski said. “I kind of messed up the play call, then the snap was bad.”
“I should’ve called a timeout,” Yordy said. “We weren’t lined up correctly and had one timeout and a minute left on the clock. It would’ve been nice to punch one in there.”
Gajewski wasn’t perfect, but his overall performance exceeded expectations. He was the Rams’ freshman quarterback last year and came to Badin from Lakota Plains, a Lakota West feeder school.
“Long story short, my parents just kind of wanted a change,” Gajewski said. “We decided on Badin. We looked through a bunch of schools, and this one was just the right fit. This is home for me.”
Yordy said Martin said may or may not be ready for next Friday’s home game against Dixie Heights (Ky.). Gajewski said he’ll be ready regardless.
“If they need me again, I’ll step up,” Gajewski said. “I thought we looked fine tonight. A little sloppy, but there were times when we really were shining. I think we have something special here.”
Yordy said he was thrilled with Gajewski’s approach to the challenge.
“He did a really good job of managing the game,” the Badin coach said. “He was pretty calm all week long and controlled his emotions tonight. He did what we asked him to do. We didn’t ask him to do too much.”
Preston Davenport (seven), Joey Geltz (six) and Jackson Turner (six) paced the Rams in tackles. Geltz and Turner combined for 4.5 tackles for loss. The Rams swarmed Davidson in the end zone for a safety in the second period.
Quaylen Hamilton and Caiden Wilson recovered fumbles for HHS.
“We had some dudes flying around, we had some dudes not flying around,” Crouch said. “I think defensively we got better as the night went along. We didn’t have any kids cramping. I was impressed with that compared to last year.”
Kramer said Badin will “do wonders” once it gets closer to full strength. He doesn’t have a negative view of the rivalry with Big Blue and said playing Hamilton is a great thing.
“We love Hamilton. We’ve got a lot of friends between teams,” Kramer said. “It’s football, so when we put the cleats on and get on the field, you’re doing your job. Off the field, we love these guys.”
Hamilton offensive coordinator J.D. Vonderheide has a son, Hudson, playing in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Vonderheide watched Hamilton West Side play Friday morning, then got a long ride home and arrived at Badin around 7:15 p.m.
Vonderheide said he called the first offensive series by FaceTime in the car. After the game, he said he was leaving for Pennsylvania at 3 a.m. to watch West Side play at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
“I would say I’m mentally and physically exhausted, but this is once in a lifetime,” Vonderheide said. “I’m going to watch my kid play.”
Hamilton will begin Greater Miami Conference play next Friday at Colerain. Crouch said one tough night won’t make him throw in the towel.
“We’ve got an opportunity to play some good football the next couple weeks and get this thing turned around,” Crouch said. “Maybe we can and maybe we can’t. It depends on how we handle it mentally. It’s up to them. I’ve been in this situation before. We’re going to keep grinding.”
Hamilton 0-0-0-7 — 7
Badin 11-9-13-0 — 33
B: Chase Even 48 run (Even run)
B: Gabe Miyahara 40 field goal
B: Safety, Hamilton quarterback Trae Davidson tackled in end zone
B: Reece Donges 35 pass from Jimmy Gajewski (Miyahara kick)
B: L.T. King 80 run (Run failed)
B: Hudson Heid 52 pass from Gajewski (Miyahara kick)
