Countdown to Football: Carey

CAREY 2024 Record: 6-6 (5-2 N10)Head coach: Jonathon Mershman, ninth year (72-27)KEY GAME: Aug. 22, season opener, at Hopewell-Loudon. Going 6-6 would be an acceptable season at some schools. Not so much at Carey, which won a Division VI state championship in 2021, and has averaged eight wins a year and gone 72-27 in Jonathon Mershman's nine years as head coach. Numbers are good; expectations are always high. Bragging-rights games with Wyandot County rivals Upper Sandusky and Mohawk are always high-intensity. Northern 10 matchups with Colonel Crawford and Seneca East always seem to have championship implications on the line. Those games will create their own level of gut-wrench intensity as they pop up on the calendar, but the Aug. 22 matchup at Hopewell-Loudon, a competitively high-caliber program that has beaten Carey in two straight season openers, might be the best indication of whether the Blue Devils are looking at another .500 record or something better in 2025.INTERESTING FACT: Nearly 100 of Ohio's 700 football playing schools have won a state championship. Carey is among only 25 schools that have won exactly two. Carey claimed its first state title in dramatic fashion. Back when there were still three classes (AAA, AA, A) instead of seven divisions, Carey earned one of just four playoff bids in Class A. The Blue Devils made the most of the opportunity, getting past Burton Berkshire 26-24 in the state semifinals, then edging perennial power Newark Catholic, 15-7 in overtime in the final. Forty-six years later Carey needed to win six playoff games – not two – but did just that in typical style, using its ground-and-pound running game and solid defense to bring home the Division VI crown. Jordan Vallejo, a 265-pound running back, rushed for 95 yards and two TDs and Carey generated 243 of its 322 yards total offense on the ground in a 26-14 championship game win over Coldwater.MAGIC NUMBER: 9. When the all-Northern 10 Conference football teams were announced following the 2024 season, Carey had 10 players receive first- or second-team recognition. Nine of those 10 players – running back Eli Steen, linemen Garrett Boes, Carter Bame, Caleb Putnam and Louis Watkins, linebackers Dash Puckett and Mace Puckett, and defensive backs Tripp Phoenix and Logan Summit – were underclassmen. Veteran experience is always valuable; veteran experience that played well enough to earn all-league recognition from coaches in the league is an added plus. 2025 SCHEDULEDate Opponent Home/AwayAug. 22 Hopewell-Loudon A 29 Galion ASept. 5 Lima Central Cath. H 12 Upper Sandusky* A 19 Seneca East* A 26 Wynford* HOct. 3 Buckeye Central* A 10 Colonel Crawford* H 17 Mohawk* H 24 Bucyrus* H*Northern 10 Conference games