{"id":207364,"date":"2026-06-28T20:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T01:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=207364"},"modified":"2026-06-28T20:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T01:56:14","slug":"2026-hs-football-some-old-some-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/06\/28\/2026-hs-football-some-old-some-new\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 HS football -some old, some new"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some things may never change but others will when the 2026 high school football season kicks off in August. If you take out the COVID-19 season, Van Wert and Bryan have opened the regular season against each other seemingly forever and they\u2019ll do so again this year. Crestview and Parkway met in the season opener for over 20 years (minus 2020), but they won\u2019t square off at all this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert Cougars <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars will continue their longstanding opening game rivalry against the Bryan Golden Bears August 21 at Eggerss Stadium. Except for the COVID-19 season of 2020, the two teams have opened the season against each other for a number of years. In fact, it\u2019s thought to be one of Ohio\u2019s longest season opening rivalries.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Micah Cowan (10) and the Van Wert Cougars will open the 2026 season at home against Bryan. Monica Campbell photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By the way \u2013 during the shortened COVID-19 regular season, the two teams were expected to meet once their respective playoff runs were complete. In 2020, the OHSAA allowed teams to schedule regular season games after a playoff loss. Just one thing \u2013 the Cougars kept winning in the postseason and went on to win the Division IV state championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re keeping track, Van Wert has won eight straight games against the Golden Bears. Bryan\u2019s last victory in the series came in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert\u2019s WBL opener will be at home against Elida on August 28, giving the Cougars two straight home games to begin the season. Other regular season home games this year will be against Defiance on September 18, vs. St. Marys Memorial on October 2, and vs. Shawnee on October 16. A special dedication ceremony for the massive Eggerss Stadium renovation project is scheduled prior to the September 18 game vs. Defiance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview Knights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview\u2019s non-conference schedule is getting a two-thirds makeover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last season, the Knights opened the season against Parkway and powerhouse Marion Local. In 2024, the first two games were against Parkway and McComb. This year, Crestview will host a former NWC foe Paulding in the August 21 season opener. The northern Panthers are replacing Parkway, a team that the Knights faced in the season opener since 2003, except for the 2020 COVID-19 season. The Knights then will hit the road against a different, but still consistently strong team from the MAC \u2013 Minster. The third and final non-conference matchup will be a familiar one \u2013 the Wayne Trace Raiders. In addition to home games against Paulding and Wayne Trace, the Knights will also host Allen East, Bluffton and Columbus Grove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The NWC opener for Crestview will be September 11, at Spencerville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other schools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After opening against Crestview since 2003, Parkway will begin the 2026 season at home against Brookville on August 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wayne Trace\u2019s non-conference schedule has the same three opponents as last year \u2013 New Bremen, Spencerville and Crestview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spencerville too, will have the same three non-conference opponents \u2013 Anna, Wayne Trace and Riverside, as will Delphos Jefferson, with Evergreen, Parkway and Paulding on the slate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Delphos St. John\u2019s Blue Jays will see the same two non-conference opponents this season. The Blue Jays will open their season at home on Thursday, August 20 against Lehman Catholic, then will travel to Spartan Stadium to face Lima Central Catholic on Saturday, August 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s one other non-conference schedule that\u2019s notable \u2013 Marion Local. The Flyers, who had their 76-game winning streak snapped by St. Henry in the Division VII regional final last fall, have two new non-conference opponents, Carey, and powerful Harvest Prep. Marion Local hasn\u2019t had the same two non-conference opponents since 2021-2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • 2025: South Adams (IN) (W 56-0), Crestview (W 63-0)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 2024: Linton-Stockton (IN) (W 45-6), Franklin (49-0)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 2023: Wapakoneta (W 29-26), Franklin (W 63-7)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 2022: Wapakoneta (W 21-7), McComb (W 42-0)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 2021: Wapakoneta (W 31-6), McComb (W 10-0)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    If you\u2019re wondering, the last time Marion Local lost a regular season non-conference game was in Week No. 2 of the 2019 season, when the Flyers fell to Division III power Bishop-Watterson 31-7). Marion Local still has a 58-game regular season winning streak. The last regular season loss came in Week No. 8 of the 2019 season, 27-26. The Flyers went on to win the Division VII state title that season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports Some things may never change but others will when the 2026 high school football season kicks off in August. If you take out the COVID-19 season, Van Wert and Bryan have opened the regular season against each other seemingly forever and they\u2019ll do so again this year. Crestview and Parkway met in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-06 00:35:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207396,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207364\/revisions\/207396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}