Speyer looking for mistake-free play from Falcons

MOUNT BLANCHARD– The Riverdale Falcons will have their third head coach in four seasons heading into 2026. Newly-appointed mentor Tyson Speyer isn't focused on the past. Speyer, who was previously an assistant for the Falcons, is stepping into the role with excitement and enthusiasm, looking to establish a new culture at Riverdale. That all starts in camp, something Speyer is well aware of. He and his coaching staff have been taking advantage of a full offseason with the players, in hopes of building camaraderie and cohesion early on. For the Falcons to move forward from last year, they had to look backwards, at least once. Riverdale went 0-10 in 2025 after going just 3-7 the year prior, only managing to score 48 points while giving up 407 and committing a BVC-leading 18 fumbles. "We sat down as a coaching staff, and ended up sitting down with the kids, and we talked about last season," Speyer said. "We talked about the 0-10, and we said this will be the last time we talk about it. We haven't brought it up with the kids again. We're trying to throw everything that happened last season, the last few seasons really, in the past and just start completely fresh with our kids."The good news for the Falcons is they're returning quite a few players, now with an adversity-filled season under their belts and a chip on their shoulders. That starts under center, with senior quarterback Kydin Reed. Reed stepped into two games as a junior QB, and went 10 of 37 passing for 186 yards and a touchdown. Reed's numbers through two games accounted for 25% of the team's passing yards on the season. Now, with time to grow in the role over the course of the summer, Reed is stepping up to the plate. "We've been super proud of him, not having a lot of quarterback reps in the last few years," Speyer said. "But, he stepped in in early June, got into our new offense, and just dove in head-first. Reading the playbook every night, repping with our wide receivers all the time. To see his growth from June to now has been awesome, and I just hope he continues that growth as the season goes on, and I think he'll be really successful."Reed's options to throw to should be plentiful this year. The Falcons return their four main receiving targets from a year ago, and have a freshman in the mix as well. Seniors Cale Young and Trent Locke, both All-BVC honorable mentions, junior Dominic Benitez, sophomore Trent Brown, and freshman Taeven Sheets all figure into Speyer's plans for his receiving corps, while the running back position will be largely done by committee. Speyer plans to get his team's creative juices flowing on the offensive side of the ball, in hopes of gaining an advantage against jumpy defenses. The Falcons' blend of highly skilled athletes on the outside with a former All-BVC honorable mention running back in Reed taking the snaps may result in some unique opportunities for the Riverdale offense."I think the key for us is being a little creative with what we do," Speyer said. "The chances of us just being able to line up, and run it wherever we want to run it, they're not super high. We've gotta kind of confuse people, we've gotta keep people guessing and be able to get our athletes out on the edge and get them in some space to make some moves on their own. The days of us being able to get nine or ten people in the box and just mow over eight guys are over. We've got to find a way to give our athletes that room. We're still going to be a balanced run-pass team, but finding ways to get those athletes in a good position is how we get that opportunity to be successful."Defensively, the Falcons return 10 starters on that side of the ball. Reed is expected to resume his role at outside linebacker, flanked by All-BVC honorable mentions Young at defensive back and senior Kaleb Risner at middle linebacker. While the Falcons might have some growing pains early, Speyer is focused on getting the basics down early and avoiding the simple problems the team faced a year ago. "Our main focus is playing mistake-free football and getting guys to do their job every single play," Speyer said. "We found ourselves in a lot of bad positions last year, whether it was turning the ball over, or giving the other team the ball on our own 40, or whatever it was. We found ourselves with bad ball position a lot of the time. So making sure we take care of the ball on offense, force a few turnovers on defense, and winning the field position battle are gonna be big keys that we focus on this year."The Falcons begin the 2026 season on August 21, taking on the Ridgemont Golden Gophers on the road in a non-conference collision. 2025 Results Ridgemont (L) 7-28Arlington (L) 0-35Arcadia (L) 13-32Liberty-Benton (L) 0-51Van Buren (L) 0-48Leipsic (L) 0-40Ada (L) 10-51Elmwood (W) 11-28McComb (L) 0-47Pandora-Gilboa (L) 7-43 10-Year 2025 0-102024 3-72023 4-62022 5-62021 3-72020 4-42019 6-42018 5-52017 5-52016 4-6 2026 Schedule Date Opponent Home/AwayAug. 21 Ridgemont H 28 Bucyrus HSept. 4 Leipsic* H 11 Pandora-Gilboa* A 18 McComb* A 25 Arcadia* HOct. 2 Arlington* A 9 Van Buren* A 16 Ada* H 23 Elmwood* H*Blanchard Valley Conference games RIVERDALE FALCONS 2026 ROSTER1 Trent Brown WR/DB 102 Dominic Benitez WR/DB 114 Taeven Sheets WR/DB 95 Jesse Barger WR/LB 107 Grant Swavel OL/LB 118 Jonathon Hay WR/DB 99 Carson Brightman OL/LB 910 Braxton Fredricks QB/DB 912 Davison Hay WR/DB 913 Keelend Reed WR/LB 1015 Channing Tillman WR/DB 1017 Kydin Reed QB/LB 1219 Cale Young WR/DB 1225 Bentley Wilson WR/DB 931 Cameron Quail WR/DB 932 Trent Locke WR/DB 1233 James Sears WR/DB 943 Cameron Snook K 1152 Kaleb Risner OL/LB 1253 Caleb Powell OL/LB 1054 Drew Shuck WR/DB 956 Wyatt Leeth OL/DL 1260 Odyn Ackermann OL/DL 1261 Bentley Gobrecht OL/LB 970 Jacob Shuley OL/DL 1073 Sabastien Southward OL/DL 1175 Ethan Sanders OL/DL 12