“You can coach, you can do X’s and O’s, but it doesn’t matter if the kids aren’t ready to play for you, and more important, for their town. It’s not about playing for me…but playing for, and buying into the community.” – Josh Werling (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Nineteen years after their last state football title, and thirty two years since their last MAC championship, Josh Werling and the St. Henry Redskins believe they have the goods to restore football success, and pride, to a community starved for a taste of the past.
St. Henry, OH – There’s a mural on the wall in the coaches’ office at St. Henry’s Wally Post Athletic Complex that displays the familiar symbols of the Redskins’ football past. It has the Indian head, of course, along with crossed tomahawks and at the bottom of the mural, the word…legacy.
And what a legacy…….
Six state championships…four by then coach Tim Boeckman in 1990, ’92, ’94, and ’95, at a time when St. Henry’s appearance in the title game was as sure a thing as Marion Local in the Goodwin era.
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When Boeckman stepped aside to work in administration, Jeff Starkey stepped in, winning Division V titles in 2004 and 2006.
At the time it felt like there was no end in sight for St. Henry dominance in Ohio high school football, as bruising running backs, talented quarterbacks, and offensive linemen cycled through one after another.
Four of those players were selected to the NFL…offensive linemen Jim Lachey and Jeff Hartings, and quarterbacks Bobby Hoying and Todd Boeckman. Lachey and Hartings both won Super Bowls with the Washington Redskins and the Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively.
There was a time when a table at the annual football ‘stag’ at Fishmo’s, a local watering hole adjacent to the lumber yard, was as coveted as any fund-raiser in Ohio. The list of ‘Who’s Whos’ and dignitaries that showed up yearly to honor St. Henry football was legendary.
But alas, there was an end in sight to an unsuspecting community, and those outside, those who had grown accustomed to St. Henry duking it out with Delphos St. John and Versailles for state bragging rights during that period. There have been no state titles at the corner of routes 119 and 118 since 2006, while Marion Local, Coldwater, Delphos St. John, New Bremen, Minster, Anna, Fort Recovery and Versailles have tallied 30, collectively.
Faces from the good ol’ days…Jeff Hartings (left) played on one of Tim Boeckman’s four state championship teams, and later won a Super Bowl (XL) with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Moreover, not since 1996 – 29 years – has St. Henry won a MAC conference title in football.
Jeff Starkey left soon after the 2006 title to enter school administration in northern Ohio, replaced by former Marion Local assistant Brad Luthman.
Luthman had some good, but not great years, averaging six wins a season in his decade of work (62-58) before resigning at the conclusion of the 2023 season.
In his place, St. Henry hired a Luthman assistant, Josh Werling, in February of 2024 – a former cornerback and wide receiver for Starkey on that 2006 title team – to turn the tide toward bringing back the legacy that suddenly seemed so far away.
“We’ve had some great teams during that time (since 2006),” says Werling, an optometrist by day, and a walking, talking model of energy and enthusiasm.
“You remember the great regional final game with Coldwater that we came up short in triple overtime? And we’ve run into some great conference teams – Marion, Coldwater, New Bremen, Versailles and Minster – and how do you get beyond that? Right?
“Our early schedule last year was brutal,” he said of his first head coaching experience. “Our first MAC game was on the road at Marion Local, and at one point we were 2-4 after the Minster game, another great team.
It did not seem, six games into the year, that they were destined for any specific return to glory.
“But my players – my seniors – hung in there. And it’s really easy to get discouraged when you’re 2-4,” says Werling. “They were tremendous, they helped to right the ship, and we started to get a feel for who we were. We became a bunch of grinders.”
They won their next five games, against Parkway, St. John, New Bremen (21-14), Versailles (17-10), and a round one playoff game against New Bremen (13-10), pushing their record to 7-4 before finally losing to Minster in round 2 of the Division VII playoffs, 42-14. Another MAC coach, talking about the Redskins’ end-of-the-season run added this: “They found their identity during that five-game streak.”
Senior Charlie Werling can play multiple positions and is a key to the Redskins’ hopes in 2025.
They were physical, energetic, committed, and dedicated to what they did well. As it turned out, the same things that Boeckman’s and Starkey’s teams did during those better times.
“A sense of identity helps when you’re developing a culture,” says Werling. “You begin to trust and play with a different confidence. Rome was not built overnight, and to me the way to build a program is through the relationship you have with your kids.”
Blessed with a strong, physical offensive line, and a tandem of running backs in Charlie Werling and Jack Huelsman (both of whom have played quarterback), the Redskins focused on running the ball during that five-game stretch. And when teams muscled up to stop the run, they left themselves vulnerable to a well-timed throw downfield to a group of young, and capable, receivers. 2-4 became 7-4 in what seemed little more than a fortnight.
Werling played four years as a corner and wide receiver for Jeff Starkey, and can make some comparisons between his team as a player, and his team as a coach.
“I really didn’t have to do a lot on that 2006 team,” he laughs. “Mostly, we just turned and gave the ball to Andy Puthoff, big #3.”
“And that was the soul of last year’s team,” says Werling. “That was St. Henry football. I tell my offensive linemen that we’ve had some tremendous athletes come through our school, including NFL athletes. But two of those NFL athletes played offensive line. So to me the core of any good football team is to line up man on man and show toughness. That was what we became.”
Hence, when we recently quoted Marion’s Tim Goodwin about a competitive change for the MAC in 2025 he immediately cited St. Henry, saying, “I know St. Henry, and they’re going to be a load.”
Werling cites a frustrating, pivotal loss in 2024, to Minster – in the mud – as that point where they had no place to look, except forward.
It’s hoped that a healthy Carter Laguire (#8, above) will return to fortify an athletic receiving complement to the Redskins’ offense.
“That was the point of our season when we were 2-3. We were coming off a loss to Anna, Minster was our fourth loss, and we talked in the locker room afterwards about having a chance to close out our season the right way…if we stayed with it. You could feel the tension. And as a coach you begin to doubt if you’re doing the right things, preaching the right message. We talk a lot about giving ourselves a chance…and our seniors stepped up, rallied around each other, and we came to practice on Monday with a confirmation that we were doing things the right way. They were ready to go and we had the five-game streak. We finished our season the right way.
“So you can coach, you can do X’s and O’s, but it doesn’t matter if the kids aren’t ready to play for you, and more important, for their town. It’s really not about playing for me. It’s about playing for the community – to buy into the community. This community is so supportive. We’re talking about excitement on Friday nights, but they’re also excited for the volleyball program, and basketball, as well. This is a school-wide, community-wide excitement for the fall. It’s not just one program. That’s what gets me jacked up.”
In the next breath he cautions: “But we haven’t done a thing yet. We haven’t put on pads. We have something to prove.”
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The reality is that last year didn’t happen in a vacuum. Other teams are aware – the reality of an experienced, physical offensive line….Charlie Werling and Jack Huelsman with an eager supporting cast…a healthy Carter Laguire…excellent special teams. There’s questions over depth, but that comes with high school football.
Something to prove?
St. Henry plays Marion Local in Week 3 and no fewer than one hundred thousand people will be anticipating to read online – the outcome, and if St. Henry can break the most significant streak in Ohio high school football. That’s respect, and of course, a step toward identity becoming a culture.
“Games like that one get towns excited. My mom is from Marion. She was a Prenger, and my business partner, Chad Otte, is an assistant coach for Marion. So there’s a lot going on there. It’s a significant date on the MAC schedule.
“The floor of where you begin is the ceiling of the team that came before you. I want us to be the best version of that team last year…and we’re going to work out butts off to make that happen.”
“But I also understand how significant Week 1 is to my guys. Week 3 will be a great night, but I want all of our attention on week 1. I’m excited about who we can be, but we’re not there, yet.”
Jeff Starkey’s old cornerback finds himself in the midst of hoped-for break-through, in the locker room, and outside, where he cannot escape the anticipation of those who’ve waited so long for at least a glimpse of the glory and respect that was once St. Henry football.
“We’re aware,” he admits. “And I cannot say enough about the people, the community, and how patient and supportive they are of the kids. Frank Griesdorn, my old position coach, still shows up to run the scoreboard on Saturday mornings, just because he wants to be around. Coach Boeckman is there anytime you need an ear. And so many of those who played here before…they’re still here to hold up that legacy and honor of who we are.
“Ben Hartings gave me some perspective in the weight room the other day, about how ‘the floor of where you begin is the ceiling of the team that came before you.’ And that’s how you build it. We’re not starting from scratch, but off the accomplishments of all those who played before. So that’s our goal in camp.
“Who we were at the end of last year? And who are we now? I want us to be the best version of that, coming into 2025. And we’re going to work our butts off to make that happen.”
He picked up his things, snapped a notebook shut, and started out the back door of the Wally Post building. If he hurried, he said, he might get a last look at the junior high practice just across the parking lot…just before the sun went down.
And just before the sun rises…on the hoped-for restoration of a legacy.
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