At 5′,11′ and 175 pounds Tipp’s Larkin Thomas isn’t big…he just puts up big numbers as quarterback of the Red Devils. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
With the start of high school football just six weeks away, the focus is on those key players that portend success and failure, even for average teams. Regardless of what they’ve won and who they’ve lost, quarterbacks will dictate the conversation and headlines in 2025 area football.
Here’s some trivia pertaining to 2024 area high school football and teams that stood out throughout the regular season and post-season…until they couldn’t stand any longer.
What did Lehman, Marion Local, Tippecanoe, Tri-Village, Coldwater, Minster, New Bremen, Miami East, West Milton and Anna all have in common?
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Well, they all won at least five games in the regular season. New Bremen, among the afore-mentioned ten finished the year with a 5-5 mark.
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But every one of the ten had a quarterback that threw for at least 1,000 yards.
Minster’s Brogan Stephey threw for 2,100 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Coldwater’s Baylen Blockberger threw for 1,417 and 16 touchdowns.
Marion Local’s Justin Knouff threw for 1,520 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Milton’s Wyatt Kimmel threw for 1,574 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Miami East’s KJ Gustin threw for 2,335 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Tipp sophomore Larkin Thomas threw for 2,674 yards and 38 touchdowns.
Tri-Village junior Trey Sagester threw for 3,242 yards and 38 touchdowns.
And Lehman’s Turner Lachey threw for 3,254 yards and 41 touchdowns.
Lehman’s Turner Lachey twists his way out of a tackle during the Cavaliers’ 27 point second half scoring surge against Riverside last year.
And yes, we left out some, like Anna’s Alex Shappie (1,514 and 18), and New Bremen’s Gavin Dicke (1,175 and 8)…but you get the idea about the impact of that one player on a football team that can do so much to dictate success, given you have the requisite parts around him. Stephey, Knouff, Gustin, Thomas, Sagester, and Lachey had to have someone to catch those passes, and there had to be people in front of them to protect their effort.
But when you look ahead six weeks to the start of the 2025 season nothing will have changed in terms of the importance of returning quarterbacks (Gustin, Thomas, Sagester, Lachey, Kimmel and New Bremen’s Gavin Dicke) and what they portend to the record and stat line come November.
“I’m not sure you can really appreciate the value of a player like Baylen (Blockberger),” says Coldwater coach Chip Otten. While his stats were more subdued than others, his efficiency and ability to make the right decision at the right time guided the Cavaliers to their 8th state title and a dominating 31-7 win over over favored Kirtland in the Division VI championship game.
“Baylen is like having another coach on the field,” describes Otten. “He’s very calm. He has tremendous instincts. He’s the quarterback, the point forward in basketball, and the shortstop in baseball. He makes good decisions, regardless of how it looks. He threw the ball out of bounds with his opposite hand a couple times this year and everyone was wondering what was wrong. Nothing was wrong, he just saved us eight yards by throwing the ball out of bounds with the wrong hand.”
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Ask 15-time state champion Tim Goodwin about the impact of the quarterback postion at Marion Local and Goodwin might say something like, “We always seem to find someone.” At least he’s said that before.
But ask him about Justin Knouff’s impact over his junior and senior seasons and at least once Goodwin has been generous to say, “I’m glad he plays for our side. He might be the best complete quarterback we’ve ever had at the position. And we had some good ones.”
But you can’t redshirt high school quarterbacks and sooner or later they move on, as Knouff, Blockberger, and Anna’s Alex Shappie did last spring. The challenge then becomes…who’s next that exemplifies those qualities of athleticism, poise, and leadership that you can build around. And at New Bremen coach Chris Schmidt debuted sophomore Gavin Dicke last year, and Dicke gave him plenty to consider going forward.
New Bremen’s Gavin Dicke (#9, above) showed his creativity against Versailles during the Cardinals’ 5-5 2024 season.
Despite his lack of size, 5’11” and 150 pounds, Dicke proved to be a playmaker, throwing for 1,175 yards, and running enough to keep opposing defenses honest. Doing it all while learning through on-the-job training.
“We tried to protect him some,” says Schmidt. “We didn’t want defenses to tee off on him any more than necessary. But Gavin did things that made you remember Mitchell Hays and David Homan, a couple of really good players at the position for us. And that’s exciting to think about. Obviously, his impact will be important for us in 2025, and we’ll have some other nice players around him.”
Likewise, Tri-Village will pull things together fround Trey Sagester for one more season, despite the fact that Sagester is more noted for his contribution on the court in basketball. But…”I’m eager to play quarterback,” he said recently after scoring 20 points in a showcase basketball game in Sandusky.
But the highest expectation may rest upon Tipp City’s junior Larkin Thomas as he heads the talent-rich Red Devils towards another Miami Valley League North title and another serious post-season run in Division III.
Thomas burst upon the scene last year with his 2,674 yards and 38 touchdowns, and while losing some of the pieces from that 11-1 team, coach Matt Burgbacher assures that this year’s team is no less situated to repeat around Thomas.
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“He reminds you a lot of Liam Poronsky,” Burgbacher said this week. “And he’s probably a bit more of a passing threat than Liam.”
Poronsky is currently a candidate for the starting quarterback job at the University of Dayton.
“But as long as Larkin doesn’t try to do too much he’s going to take the next step,” adds Burgbacher. “We just tell him, ‘You’re a two-year starter on an experienced football team, just go be Larkin.”
The passing game has become so much a part of high school football (above)…and it’s here to stay. “Teams throw because they want to, not because they have to,” says one seven-time champion coach.
Tipp lost its main pass catcher from 2024 in Jackson Davis (73 catches and 20 touchdowns, but senior Will Strong returns after recently committing to Division I (FCS) Illinois State, adding speculation that Thomas and the Red Devils’ offense may again shred the MVL Miami Division.
“We have to stay healthy, of course,” says Burgbacher. “But we probably have the best offensive line in the time I’ve coached at Tipp.”
That bodes well for the offense…and for Larkin Thomas.
He has that look in his eye. He has the deep tone in his voice that makes you believe he’s actually older than his years, a high school junior. A transfer from the Tecumseh district the same year that Burgbacher moved back from Troy High School, a simple introduction and handshake is all you need to understand that Larkin Thomas is the starting quarterback of the Red Devils.
“He matured a lot in just one year…last year,” says Burgbacher. “He just built day by day. The offense came naturally to him.”
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And there are roots. Thomas’ mother, Danielle Chinn, was a fine soccer goalie at Tipp City, graduating in the same class with Burgbacher back in 1995.
“She told me…you’re going to get to play for a really good football coach when we came back to Tipp,” he says with a smile.
With that formative year (last year) under his belt, he exudes confidence for 2025.
“I get to lead these guys for the.next two years. It’s an honor,” he says, not surprised at all the yards and points being put up around him by other, equally optimistic quarterbacks in the Miami Valley and beyond.
“Everyone throws the ball now,” he smiles. “Even at Tipp. There’s no more Wing T here.”
It’s Mouse Davis football. Just go be Larkin!
Davis, who revolutionized the ‘run-and-shoot’ offense a quarter century ago at Portland State University, then marketed it to the rest of the world through his time as a head coach in the Arena Football League – who’d be proud to know that he made the Wing T obselete at Tipp City.
Proud that he paved the way for quarterbacks like KJ Gustin, Turner Lachey, Gavin Dicke, and Larkin Thomas. You don’t have to be 6’5″ anymore to put up big numbers. Just think Gavin Dicke. Borrow as you need. It’s exciting football.
Steve Nolan and Chuck Asher never knew this day…or even saw it coming.
It’s time to talk quarterbacks.
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