Unbeaten Badin football bidding for 1st state championship since 1990

Last season in the OHSAA Division III regional semifinals, Kettering Alter sent Badin packing for the offseason behind a ground game that churned out more than 200 yards. Alter's Branden McDonald led the way with 175 yards on 34 attempts and ran for a 15-yard touchdown that sealed Badin's demise.

Fast forward a year, and Badin has not let that happen again. The Rams have shut down the run, allowing only one 100-yard rusher this season (Bellbrook's Seth Borondy, twice).

Last week in the Division III state semifinals against a Granville team that came in averaging 35.6 points per game, the Rams gave up 178 total yards and just 10 on the ground en route to a 14-0 shutout win.

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An impressive defense that is giving up 7.8 points per game and has notched six shutouts this season, along with a solid rushing attack on offense has Badin (14-0) in the Division III state title game this Friday against Chardon at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

The Rams were perennial powers for more than two decades, going to the state Final Four 10 times between 1978-1998. Badin went to the state championship three times, winning a Division III title in 1990 under legendary coach Terry Malone, who retired in 2003 as the winningest coach in Ohio High School football history with 360 wins. Malone passed away at 83 years old in 2017.

Despite a 22-year hiatus from the state Final Four, the Rams have always been consistent. Badin has had just one losing season since 2004, going 2-8 in 2016 which led to the dismissal of Bill Tenore and the hiring of current head coach Nick Yordy, a 1997 Badin graduate.

Yordy is an impressive 44-14 in his four-plus seasons at the helm, leading Badin to the playoffs in each of the last four seasons. The Rams had the regional semifinal run last year and went to the regional finals in 2019, losing to Trotwood-Madison.

"Hey, only one team wins their last game," Yordy told The Enquirer after that 20-7 loss to Trotwood-Madison.

Just two years later, Badin is in position to be that team to win its final contest.

Another big reason for that is the offense, which has turned to a heavier run approach in recent weeks after the injury to starting quarterback Landyn Vidourek. Senior running back Jack Walsh, a first-team all-district selection, is averaging 129.6 rushing yards per game this season and has taken over in the postseason.

Against Bellbrook in the regional final, Badin was shut out for the first three-and-a-half quarters before Walsh was able to run for 151 yards and the game-winning 13-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left in regulation.

In the state semifinal win over Granville, Walsh was the bell-cow, running 43 times for 226 yards and both touchdowns.

"You can do anything when you have a guy running like Jack Walsh on your team. That dude makes my job so easy," Badin sophomore quarterback Alex Ritzie told The Enquirer last Friday.

Filling in for the Vidourek the last two weeks, Ritzie is 12-of-19 for 134 yards with a touchdown. He's added 32 rushing yards on six attempts. Badin's leading receiver is Braedyn Moore, a junior who has 58 catches for 623 yards and four touchdowns this season.

Moore also doubles as a starting defensive back in Badin's secondary, which has stymied opposing aerial assaults this season. Moore and teammate Carson Cheek, a sophomore, each have seven interceptions this season (tied for the most in the GCL Coed). Both have returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Cheek's fourth-quarter pick-six punctuated Badin's 21-9 win over Bellbrook in the regional final.

Badin's defense is deep at every position. Senior defensive end Logan Neu leads the GCL Coed with 13 sacks and senior linebackers Eli Emmons and T.J. Hayes are the league's top-two tacklers. Emmons has 155, including three straight with 11-plus.

Chardon has won 27 consecutive games, dating back to last season, when they polished off a perfect 12-0 season with a Division III state title win over St. Francis DeSales in overtime. It was Chardon's first state championship since 1994. Chardon has not had a game decided by one possession this season.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: High school football: Unbeaten Badin bidding for 1st state title since 1990