The last time that St. Henry played for a state championship in football was 19 years ago, under coach Jeff Starkey. Now a school principal in Trumbull County, Ohio, he remembers the excitement, the players…and never believed it would be nineteen years before they would have the chance again.
At the time he guided the Redskins to Division V state football titles in 2004 and 2006, St. Henry football coach Jeff Starkey had brought the program to the brink of historic status – the verge of being the next football colossus in the Midwest Athletic Conference, joining the then five-time champions, Al Hetrick’s Versailles Tigers.
Technical Roofing proudly sponsors the Midwest Athletic Conference on Press Pros Magazine.com.
And St. Henry was already well-known for both its football and its football players, having won four state titles and finishing runner-up once in a span of six years, 1990 through 1996, under Tim Boeckman.
Offensive lineman Jeff Hartings had gone on to Penn State, and ultimately the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he won a Super Bowl.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Offensive lineman Jim Lachey had gone on to Ohio State, and ultimately the Washington Redskins, where he won a Super Bowl.
Brothers Bob and Tom Hoying had gone to Ohio State, where Bob would ultimately find success before landing as a quarterback post-Buckeyes with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Todd Boeckman, son of the coach, would go to Ohio State, and for a time afterwards pursue professional football as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Boeckman stepped down as coach prior to the 2003 season to assume the athletic director position at St. Henry, and Starkey, a fresh face who played his college football at Mount Union, stepped in to guide the Redskins to a 5-5 record in his first season…and then a meteoric rise to 14-1 in 2004 and the school’s fifth state title, a 35-7 thrashing over Amanda-Clearcreek.
Jeff Starkey holds aloft the spoils of one of his two state titles as coach of the St. Henry Redskins.
Two years later, in 2006, he returned to Canton with another St. Henry powerhouse, fueled by indefatigable running back Andy Puthoff, and whipped Warren John F. Kennedy in the Division V title game, 28-7. Puthoff carried the ball 37 times that day (that’s not a typo) for 215 yards and three touchdowns.
And lost in the score, and the stats, were the contributions of one Josh Werling, who played cornerback and returned three punts in that game for 34 yards…and one kickoff for 25 yards.
Starkey never got that far again with St. Henry, and following the 2012 season stepped aside as coach to take a principal position at LaBrae High School in Trumbull County, returning to his family roots. He’s still there, and this week remembered his 2006 team right down to Andy Puthoff’s #3, his 37 carries, those 215 yards (209 net), and three touchdowns.
And yes, he remembered Josh Werling, too, never dreaming that he’d one day be the next coach to take the ‘Skins back to Canton in search of the seventh state title in football.
“You know, it’s funny how time gets away from you,” remembers Starkey. “It’s been thirteen years now since we left St. Henry, and yet it doesn’t seem that long ago. And the last time I really talked to Josh about his professional plans he was leaving Ohio Dominican early to pursue a degree in optometry. And how awesome that he could land back in Mercer County with a position flexible enough for him to be able to coach. And it’s really hard to coach when you’re not teaching, or not in the building.
“You know, Josh was not the most physically-imposing St. Henry football athlete. But his attention to detail was really strong. He was a tough-minded player, and his best asset was he was just a great competitor. Warren JFK had this big 6’7″ receiver that we talked about the week of the 2006 game, and the importance of us getting pressure on their quarterback all week…that it was going to be tough to cover that guy if we didn’t. And Josh and the other corner, Zach Thobe, just festered on that all week. They took it to heart, and we did it. I remember Josh as being a little ornery, but commitment was never a problem for him. He’s never been afraid to invest in himself, and how many times have you seen teams take on the characteristics of the head coach? If they’re like Josh they’re going to be tough.”
Almost twenty years ago now, Starkey admits that it’s hard to imagine that the opportunity to play for another state championship would not have come again sooner.
“It’s difficult to imagine that it’s been this long,” he adds. “But it’s not just St. Henry. When you look at the football around St Henry, that league, and the streak that Marion Local put on…and they were a dominant football program before they won 70-plus games in a row.
“Josh was not the most physically-imposing St. Henry player. But he was tough-minded and his best asset was his competitiveness.”
“There’s special programs everywhere in the MAC, and they challenge you to work at it every day. You’re playing against kids that compete hard, they’re coached hard, and they play the right way. It’s not easy to play in the MAC. And unfortunately, there have been years when a good MAC team has encountered another MAC-like team somewhere on the playoff road. Getting to the championship game this weekend is just an incredible challenge.”
He’s been out of coaching a while, and has adjusted to not coaching as a full-time pursuit. But Jeff Starkey is probably forever imprinted with the experience of having coached in the MAC, having won those two state titles, and being a part of a league-wide culture that he appreciates all the more as time goes by.
“I played at Mount Union on a couple of the first National Champion teams we had, so I remember the standard we had there. You work at it day in and day out, and I felt like that’s what we had to do at St Henry to be competitive in the MAC. And I miss that standard…of competing that hard…because you’re surrounded by great teams and great coaches.
“You always hope [as a coach] that your culture can win you some games, and when you’re surrounded by Marion, Coldwater, Delphos St. John, Minster, and Versailles the cultures are all the same. You miss being a part of that – all the same families, the same family values, and the MAC values. No excuses, just do your job.”
“It’s all the same families, the same family values, and the MAC values. No excuses, just do your job. You miss being a part of that.”
Thirteen years have not diminished the experience, and as noted above, the details of what he encountered – the people and the times – as the football coach at St. Henry. No coach could forget Andy Puthoff…those 37 carries, those 215 yards, and those three touchdowns against Warren JFK.
“When we finished up the season after 2006 I knew we were not going use those jerseys again the following year,” he laughs. “And when I was packing to leave the facility I wanted one of the [champion] jerseys as a keepsake. I thought of Andy, of his #3, and that’s one one I picked out and kept.
“I don’t know if Andy ever knew that until now, but I have the jersey he wore for that 2006 championship game. And he knows it now.”
His name is on the wall at Fishmo’s, in St. Henry, with his teams…the sports watering hole that honors every Redskin champion and legend. And Starkey will be there on Saturday to watch, no doubt from the sidelines with the other champion coach, Tim Boeckman…hoping, of course, for one more. Neither believed that it would ever take this long. But then again, no one knows better the challenge of getting there – to win a state title!
The work…the people…the memories…and the scars. Titles come hard.
Hail to the Redskins.
