Missing key elements to the run game all season, Versailles has existed on doing it my committee (junior Oliver Brunswick, above). Press Pros Feature Photos
In an opening weekend featuring fifth seeds playing twelves, the question looms as to how many really good playoff games to expect…and who might they feature. First-year Versailles coach expects to be one of them.
First-year coach Scott Broerman was upbeat on the phone Tuesday. You could almost hear his sigh of relief over making the OHSAA playoff field that begins this Friday when his 6-4 Versailles Tigers take to the road south to play Portsmouth West on its home turf in Scioto County – a good three-hour drive away.
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If you’re not aware, it felt like a final playoff opportunity rested on the winner of the Anna-Versailles matchup last Friday, with Versailles sitting in the 11th position of the Joe Eitel rankings, and Anna at #14.
And in the irony of ironies, Anna won the battle (and the game), then lost the war.
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Because of the Harbin system of computer points and respective schedules, Versailles, even with a loss, ended up in the playoff field…and Anna was out at 7-3. This was the same Anna, a team that many picked in the pre-season (including this website) to actually compete for the Division VI title in Canton, come December 3rd weekend.
“I feel bad for Anna,” said Broerman, who doubles as Versailles’ long-time athletic director, assuming the coaching position at the first of the year when Ryan Jones departed to take over the coaching duties at Division II Troy High School.
“But I feel good for our 23 seniors, too,” he added. “Those kids have worked so hard, done everything we asked, and this is how I want to see them finish their high school football career.”
The road to that finish begins this Friday night in Scioto County when Broerman and Versailles locks up with Portsmouth West, a team out of the renewed, regenerated, and renovated Southern Ohio Conference comprised of teams like Oak Hill, Waverly, Lucasville Valley, and Wheelersburg.
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Nattily nicknamed the Senators, West has a respected athletic legacy from as far back as the 50s, when the school was originally founded as Washington High School, in west Portsmouth. The Senators finished 8-2 for the 2026 regular season, and their significant losses were to Wheelersburg in Week 10, and Williamsburg in Week 4. Both are playoff participants in Division V.
Their significant wins came against Proctorville Fairland (7-3), Waverly (6-4), and Lucasville Valley (7-3).
Blake Monnin’s been our leading rusher,” says coach Scott Broerman. “And it’s good to have Landyn (Knapke) back.”
Portsmouth West in recent years has been known for playing a physical brand of football. They don’t throw it much, as evidenced by statistics. They’d rather run the ball with featured backs named Anthony Bishop and Westyn Ratcliff. Together, they’ve combined for more than 2,100 yards and 27 touchdowns.
“They’ll be a challenge,” says Broerman.
But in the next breath the competitiveness oozes out of the Tigers’ coach, in his description of their own preparation – his players. A lot of that starts with an impressive interior line, both offense and defense, that feature MAC stalwarts like Nate Marshal, Ben Kaiser and Jackson Morgan. Kaiser, a sophomore, became the first freshman in OHSAA history last year to win the state wrestling title as a freshman. The trio, together, comprise one of the best offensive line cores seen by this writer in west-central Ohio VI, and VII football.
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“We’re fortunate to have them,” says Broerman, “Because we can rotate them in and out every other series. We have some depth.
“And they’re leaders on the field – silent leadership,” he adds. “Because they play on both sides of the ball. They work hard – first in and last to leave the weight room. Great teammates, and appreciated by their teammates.”
And, they’re fortunate to have senior quarterback Blake Monnin, a leader in the tradition Carson Bey from the ’21 title team, and Ethan Wilker, more recently. Now it’s Monnin’s time to prove the comparison, and he has not disappointed throughout the regular season.
“He’s been our leading rusher,” Broerman mentions, citing his value and dependability. And no small accomplishment because Versailles is a running team in the tradition of the great Al Hetrick teams.
No small accomplishment, either, because potential thousand-yard rusher, senior Landyn Knapke, has missed three-quarters of the season with a lower leg injury suffered early.
“But Landyn’s back now,” says Broerman. “And the last couple of weeks he’s looked progressively better. But his absence has forced us to be a run the ball by committee team all year. And they’ve responded.”
“He’s been a leader,” says Tiger radio voice Scott Ward of Monnin. “On both sides of the ball. And he’s answered some questions about himself and this football team, probably from added experience in basketball. He’s a baller. He guts things out…tough!”
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished,” says Broerman. “There have been a lot of moving pieces.”
Monnin is also a capable passer, contributing 950 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns.
“Portsmouth will do some things that resemble what we do,” Broerman adds. “They just do them a little differently.”
When you compare first-round games this weekend, stats and schedules, Versailles and Portsmouth West would emerge as one of the best in all divisions – similar styles of football from contrasting areas of the state.
“There’ll be a lot of respect for any MAC team who comes to the Ohio River to play,” say people we’ve contacted in Portsmouth, New Boston, and nearby Wheelersburg. It’s kind of a big deal…Portsmouth West and Versailles.
Scott Broerman cares nothing about that, only that his team, at 6-4, has survived the season-long questions about style, substance, and an abrupt coaching change to land in a post-season opportunity with a chance to prove their capability.
“I don’t know that there’s a letter grade that you can give to what we’ve done so far,” he adds. “Some things that I think I could have done better. But really, I’m just happy for our kids.”
Along with the school community and Versailles, Ohio, 45380. One would expect them to travel well.
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“I’m proud of what they accomplished,” he added about his team. “There have been a lot of moving pieces.”
As for Broerman, personally, how many in Ohio get to drive three hours and play in the post-season in their first season as coach?
Good enough to drive three hours to write about. And dinner at The Ribber Steakhouse…of course!
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