Josh Werling played on the 2006 St. Henry team…and coaches the 2026 team making its first appearance in an OHSAA final in 19 seasons. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Making their first appearance in an OHSAA title game in 19 years when they meet Hillsdale Jerome next Saturday, St. Henry has endured the well-known adage of…what goes around, comes around.
No one could ever have believed back in 2006…that when then coach Jeff Starkey and the St. Henry Redskins thoroughly defeated Warren John F. Kennedy High School for the Division V state title in football that it would be a long time before they would do it again.
A long time between drinks of water, as they say…in a community, and conference (the Midwest Athletic Conference) accustomed to winning on a regular basis – six OHSAA titles in football, seven in volleyball, four in basketball and three in baseball at St. Henry.
You never take winning for granted, of course. And as it turned out…in football it would be nineteen seasons before those beloved Redskins would grace the spotlight of Ohio football again this weekend when they meet Hillsdale Jerome on Saturday morning for the Division VII state title. And can you think of a better candidate, given the wait, the trials, and the wondering about if, and when, for ‘Who’s Hot’ recognition this week on Press Pros…than, of course, the St. Henry Redskins?
The ironies!
For a high school program that’s seen four of its best play football at its highest level – Jeff Hartings, Jim Lachey, Bob Hoying, and Todd Boeckman – who would have dared imagine that it would be so long between drinks of water.
And how could you overlook another irony, that the current coach, Josh Werling, played cornerback on the last team to win a state title in 2006?
And that the patriarch of St. Henry football title history, Tim Boeckman, who coached the first four title winners in 1990, ’92, ’94, and ’95, would be around to witness their return for a hoped-for seventh (Starkey won in 2004 and ’06)?
Family…Then-coach Tim Boeckman won with the Redskins in 1990, ’92, ’94, and ’95. His grandson Tate will play this weekend as a cornerback and wide receiver.
And more? Boeckman’s grandson, Tate, will play cornerback and receiver this weekend in Canton.
Full circle.
The elder Boeckman, a Press Pros colleague and former athletic director at the school, takes a more-than-casual interest about Saturday, and the same ironies that are sure to be examined as kick-off grows closer.
“It’s awesome,” he said Friday night, following the Redskins’ state semi-final win over Columbus Grove that punched their ticket for the title game.
“Did I think it would take so long to have this opportunity again after 2006? Never, but you never know. You don’t take anything for granted with football in this area. It’s just so hard to get there.”
And is it even more special because his grandson has an opportunity to experience it?
“Oh, you bet it is. There’s nothing like it. That, and Josh being a member of that 2006 team, and now the coach of this year’s team. What a great angle to cover.”
Nineteen years, in reality, represents an entire generation, and one dominated in Mercer County football and the unprecedented success of Marion Local football during St. Henry’s title game absence. Just eight miles removed on Ohio route 119, Marion has won 15 state titles in the last twenty five years. So the standard is, and has been, incredibly high, with titles by Delphos St. John, Minster, Versailles, Anna, Fort Recovery, Coldwater, and New Bremen since St. Henry’s last.
But, as they say, what goes around, comes around, and who with a pedigree like that could be more anticipated than St. Henry?
And Hillsdale Jerome is seeking to make up for lost time, having fallen to Marion Local in last year’s Division VII title game, 74-0.
And one last irony.
2025 represents an OHSAA anomaly in that St.Henry is the ONLY Midwest Athletic Conference team to compete for a title this year, the first time in 22 years…2003!
So yes, it’s history-making stuff, and worthy of this week’s ‘Who’s Hot’ recognition on Press Pros. We wish the St. Henry Redskins, and history, nothing short of a whole new chapter.
Peace of mind is as easy as the relationship you have with your local bank, and the St. Henry bank is small enough to know you, and big enough to serve you. The St. Henry Bank joins Press Pros Magazine in recognizing this week’s “Who’s Hot” honoree…the St. Henry Redskins football team.