Badin Looks To Extend Early-Season Roll With Trip To Columbus To Face Hartley

By Rick Cassano

HAMILTON – Badin High School’s football team is off to its sixth 3-0 start in the last seven years.

That’s good, of course. But Nick Yordy said his Rams have been far from perfect.

“You’ll never really be totally happy, and I don’t think you can ever be totally down and out,” Yordy said. “We’ve been fortunate to get off to a good start. I think at times we are not very disciplined with some of the penalties that we’ve gotten lately.

“We’ve got to eliminate some of the undisciplined things … taking a play off in practice, taking a play off in a game, thinking that maybe a special-teams play is not very important. We’re trying to get our kids to recognize how important every rep is. If we continue to get better at those things, then we’ll continue to go out and have a good chance to win games.”

Badin has two remaining games before Greater Catholic League Coed Division play begins, traveling to Columbus Hartley (1-2) on Friday and hosting La Salle (2-1) in Week 5.

Hartley has rich tradition with four state titles to its credit (1986, 2010, 2015, 2016), but the Hawks are just 12-12 over the last three seasons and missed the Division III playoffs last year.

The 2026 campaign began with a 51-27 loss to Dublin Coffman and a 28-27 overtime win over Marion-Franklin before Hartley got blanked 28-0 by Dayton Chaminade Julienne last Friday.

Senior quarterback Oden Mertz is dealing with an Achilles issue, so senior wideout Javeir Napier stepped in at QB last week. Second-year Hawks coach Matt Melle said Napier is slated to start against Badin and described a possible Mertz return in Week 4 as “very unlikely.”

Hartley struggled on special teams last week as well with its punter (Mertz) and long snapper both sidelined.

“After three weeks, we’ve kind of been a mixed bag,” Melle said. “We took Division I Coffman to the fourth quarter and we were down 3 before things kind of snowballed on us. We ended up losing that game by probably a little more than we deserved to lose it by. Marion-Franklin was pretty talented and we were up 14-0, but we lost our quarterback at the end of that game and won in OT.

“We asked Javeir to play quarterback last week and he tried really, really hard and gave us what he’s got, but we were a little limited offensively playing with a backup and we also had a hard time getting practice time last week with the weather. It was a bad combination.”

Melle noted that the Hawks had five sophomores playing in the second half against CJ. Napier has also been a defensive back for a Hartley squad that has a number of guys going both ways.

“We certainly have a different team than we had last year,” said Melle, whose team took a 42-24 defeat at Badin in 2025. “We had a three-year starter at quarterback and kind of a four-year starter at running back, and we had other guys around them that were seasoned. We’ve got some talented young kids right now, but there’s a learning curve to that. I was proud of the way we fought last week defensively.”

Melle said Napier should be better at quarterback with a full week of outdoor practice. The Hawks have a multiple offense that will run out of one- and two-back sets with junior Kyron Gordon and sophomore Justin Jenkins.

“We’ve got an offensive line that’s also kind of growing,” Melle said. “We’re going to be a little more ground-oriented for the time being, but our perimeter guys are pretty good. We need to get them out in space and find ways to get them the ball.”

Defensively, senior Joe Zang has moved from the line to middle linebacker this season. Senior Camden Caldwell is also a standout at cornerback.

Yordy said Hartley has some size on the offensive and defensive lines, so he’s expecting some trench warfare Friday.

Badin has rushed for 589 yards and thrown for 460 through three weeks.

“We’ll try to be multiple defensively if we can,” Melle said. “I know that’s what we’ve got to do against Badin to keep them off-kilter a bit.

“Badin’s just tough. I told the kids they go about their business in a very matter-of-fact way. They’re going to push you around until you don’t get pushed around, which in my opinion is the right way to play football. They’re super, super organized and disciplined, which requires a certain amount of focus and repetitive toughness to even compete with them.

“I love how their offensive line gets off the ball physically and moves people, and their defense is uber-aggressive. You have a wide shot and a tight shot when you’re looking at teams, and we really only need a tight shot for their defense because they’ve got so many guys by the line of scrimmage. Their schemes on both sides of the ball are really, really sound and difficult to attack if you don’t have superior personnel.”

Sophomore Jimmy Gajewski has started the first three games at quarterback for the Rams. Projected starter Davis Martin missed Week 1 due to sickness and has been playing a relief role the last two weeks, but Yordy said he’s leaning toward starting the junior against Hartley.

The Rams have also been playing without two key defensive players, outside linebacker Emmett Sackenheim and end Logan Karwisch, because of injuries. Yordy believes both will return to action “sooner than later.”

Junior inside linebacker Colton Pauley is among Badin’s leading tacklers after transferring from New Miami. This is his first year as a linebacker, having played nickel back and safety last year with the Vikings.

“A lot more hitting, a lot more intensity, but I definitely like it,” Pauley said of moving into a LB spot. “That was a big switch for me and I feel like I’ve had a solid year so far, but there’s still a lot to work on. Whatever’s going to help the team the most is what I’m going to do.”

He was excited to get his first interception as a Ram in last week’s 31-7 win at Edgewood.

“It got tipped … I just saw it in the air and took the ball,” Pauley said. “I was in the right spot.”

Pauley said the next step for him as a player is the mental game and staying out of his own head. His linebacker coach at Badin, Jeremy Rogers, is a former New Miami head coach. Yordy was also an assistant with the Vikings.

“Having coached there myself, I have an expectation of New Miami kids being tough, hard-nosed kids,” Yordy said. “Having a village guy like Coach Rogers here has probably helped Colton a little bit. I think he knew coming here that things were going to be a little different, but he’s responded really well. He’s bought into what we’re doing and flying around and making plays.”

Pauley came up through the Hamilton school system before playing two seasons at New Miami. He lived in New Miami and appeared to be headed toward a high school career at Hamilton, “but there was something wrong with open enrollment, so I went to New Miami.”

Pauley said he’s happy that he ended up at Badin.

“I came to a lot of open houses. Everybody was very welcoming … I just felt like this was the right decision for me,” Pauley said. “Bigger school, more opportunities and better overall sports. I’m grateful for the coaches and fans we have here at Badin. It’s definitely a big change from New Miami, where maybe you’d see 30 or 40 people at a game.”

Friday will mark the end of a two-year playing agreement between Badin and Hartley. Both schools are interested in continuing the series, which the Rams lead 7-2. They’ve won the last four meetings.

Melle and Yordy both said nothing has been worked out yet for next season. Melle said he wants to play Badin every year and would love to partner with the Rams, either in a scheduling alliance or by becoming a member of the GCL Coed Division.

Hartley is in the Central Catholic League with DeSales, Watterson and St. Charles. Hartley, DeSales and Watterson announced in 2024 that they were combining with northeast Ohio schools to create the Ohio Catholic Athletic Conference for football. OCAC play was scheduled to begin in 2026, but the conference fell apart last year.

“I believe our football program is a perfect fit for the GCL,” Melle said. “I would be more than willing to discuss the possibility of adding us to that group. I would be open to any and all options.

“I know it’s a little bit of a drive for most, but you factor in you’re only doing it every other year for some of these schools and many of us are driving and traveling as it is. I don’t think it’s that outlandish or far-fetched. As much as I would like to continue a relationship with Badin moving forward – and we’re going to see if we can make that work – I’m more interested in the long-term possibility of pairing up with the GCL.”

Hartley doesn’t have a Week 9 game this season. Melle said the Hawks were scheduled to play Buffalo (N.Y.) Canisius, which pulled out over the summer.

“I’m on the golf course in late June and I get a call that they’re canceling that game because they have to play Christian Brothers out of Syracuse, and I have absolutely no recourse against that,” Melle said. “We just had to take it.

“We are the only team in Ohio to my knowledge that’s not going to be playing on Oct. 16, and that’s just unfair to our kids. It’s a problem that’s going to continue to occur for us, so I’m looking for a solution to that. We have to think for ourselves and find a way to get competitive football games on our schedule for the future.

“We’re a medium-sized Division III school. We want to play D-III and smaller D-II schools. The reality is that we can only pull from a certain geographic footprint. We can’t get kids from all across Columbus.”

Yordy said he knows what it’s like to struggle to find nonleague opponents, so he’d welcome any discussion that might bring more Catholic schools together.

“Maybe with the landscape of high school football right now and all the transfers, this could definitely be an opportunity to revisit that,” Yordy said.

Badin and Hartley played together in the Ohio Catholic League for two seasons (1988-89) before the Rams joined the GCL in 1991.

#HarkYe