BARNESVILLE – After recording back-to-back perfect 10-0 regular seasons, there seems to be no let up for Barnesville as it enters the 2024 campaign. Both spotless seasons ended in Division V playoff losses to powerful Wheelersburg, last season in the Region 19 semifinals.

Head coach Blake Allen, who is entering his eighth year as the Shamrocks head coach with a 52-24 career record, welcomes back 23 lettermen from last fall when the Green Machine posted a sterling 12-1 overall mark. Of that number six will be seeking their fourth varsity letters, while another eight have lettered the last two seasons.

“Obviously, we lost some quality seniors from a year ago, three of them just played in the OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Game and a fourth was an all-Ohio lineman,” Allen said. “There are some big shoes to fill in the seniors we lost, but it feels good to be able to start training camp with the experience that we have back.

“Just about all of our 13 seniors have been starting or playing since they were freshman,” Allen added.

Picking up their diplomas after stellar careers were Jason “Duker” Castello, Luke Detling, Hank Johnson and Taison Starr.

Leading the list of returnees on the offensive side of the ball is senior quarterback Casey Carpenter (5-11, 185). The southpaw earned first-team all-Ohio and all-Eastern District honors, as well as being one of three players to share the all-Eastern District Player of the Year honor in just his first season under center.

He completed 70% of his passes (102-145) for 1,899 yards and 22 touchdowns versus just one interception. He also scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground and picked off four passes as an outside linebacker.

Coach Blake Allen discusses the upcoming season

Carpenter is backed up by sophomore Cole Francis (5-10, 150) and freshman Evan Wells (5-0, 145).

Allen is really excited about his offensive line, where the Shamrocks have a plethora of talent and experience.

“We only had one lineman graduate and the other four are all returnees, but due to injuries, we really have six starters back,” Allen noted. “We actually feel that we have a few other kids, Buckeye Trail junior transfer Gavin Morris (6-0, 295) included, who can step in and give us some much-needed depth along both lines. We can actually rotate kids in and out to keep them fresh.”

The trenchmen include seniors Salvador Almaraz (6-0, 300), Luke Taylor (6-1, 215), Braden Butler (6-0, 290) and Blake Kirk (5-11, 270); junior Dillon Lucas (5-9, 270) and sophomore Christien Hannahs (5-8, 225). Almaraz and Taylor both sustained season-ending knee injuries before the halfway mark and were replaced by Lucas and Hannahs.

“Our line is, and has been, the heart and soul of our team,” Allen noted.

Other linemen include seniors Marshall Meade (6-0, 235) and Montgomery Evans (6-0, 175); juniors Mac Cocioppo (6-0, 265) and Eric Wilson (6-1, 305); sophomores Austin Armstrong (5-8, 185), Braxton Byers (5-11, 240) and Macy Palmer (5-8, 225); and freshmen Chance Stevens (5-6, 160), Talon Anderson (5-10 195), Kevin Phillips (5-6, 180), Cole Atkinson (6-2, 170), Mason Berry (5-11, 295), Wyatt Newlan (5-9, 385), Devin McBridge (5-11, 140) and Kaiden Berry (6-2, 310).

Sophomore Trey Toliver (5-9, 205) will take over at tailback. He spelled Starr last year against Bellaire and enjoyed a 200-plus-yard day.

“We are really excited about our backs. Everyone remembers the Bellaire game when Trey ran wild, but what they target is that Trey was the blocking back for Taison last year,” Allen mentioned. “He’s very unselfish as a blocker, now it’s his turn to get more carries at tailback.”

Junior Koby Jones (5-8, 195) is the blocking back this year.

“He is a hard-nosed kid that will get his share of carries this year. Junior Hines Ford (5-10, 185) will also get some carries, as will classmates Logan Craker (5-9, 170) and Evan Carpenter (5-10, 150), who is the fastest kid on the team,” Allen continued.

“We’ve got a lot of options in the backfield.”

Also listed at running back are sophomore Riot McCort (5-10, 170); and freshmen Blake Messenger (5-8, 135), Haden Bowman (5-6, 115) and Ridge Holiday (5-8, 175).

Senior Bradey McIntire (6-0, 160) saw action at tight end last season but will move to the outside where graduation took a huge chunk of the offense. The tight end candidates are senior Karter Kaplet (5-9, 170); junior Jake Hannahs (5-8, 185); and freshmen Ethan Marcum (5-10, 115), Jack Morgan (5-9, 145) and Jaxton Swallie (6-0, 190).

Allen and his staff have a huge gallery of wide receivers to choose from. They are seniors Camden Carpenter (5-10, 165), Bode Carpenter (5-3, 125) and Eli Messenger (5-11, 145); juniors Jack Anderson (5-7, 145) and Wyatt Carpenter (5-10, 120); sophomores Colt Carpenter (5-10, 150), Phoenix Graham (5-10, 165), Vince Taylor (5-6, 130), Brody Schaeffer (5-9, 135), Rylan Jeffers (5-8, 135), Brayden Watters (5-5, 135), Joel Detling (5-7, 130) and Braylon Lucas (5-8, 135); and freshmen Wyatt Leek (5-8, 130), Gunner Dudzik (5-8, 120), Brady Powell (5-8, 125), Skyler Werts (6-0, 150), Leland Burtner (5-7, 120) and Malachi Mann (5-8, 135).

“Casey has been a great leader with our wideouts, which is where we lost the most on offense,” Allen explained. “He has been working with the young kids trying to develop some chemistry. He’s really showing his leadership skills and his decision-making has been outstanding. He will bring the other kids together.

“Bradey McIntire is back. He will play some tight end like he did last year,” Allen noted. “Eli Messenger is another to watch out for. Camden Carpenter is like our Deebo Samuel. Casey’s brother, Colt, is another player that is stepping up as a kid we can trust. Cole Francis is our backup quarterback, but he is pretty athletic so we can use him out there, as well as Jack Anderson.”

Defensively, the Shamrocks have a pair of all-Ohioans to anchor this side of the ball.

“In my opinion, Marshall Meade is one of the best players in the Ohio Valley,” Allen stressed. “He’s a force on defense and opponents have to recognize where he is at all times. He’ll anchor the defensive line.

“Hines stepped up huge for us last year, but this year he will have to step it up with Taison (Starr) having graduated,” Allen allowed. “He’s ready for it despite his lack of size. He’s all grit and heart. He has a nose for the ball.”

The down linemen are where Allen is excited, as well.

“This is definitely the deepest defensive line I’ve had in my time here. We feel we’ve got seven, eight, even nine guys that can play and compete. That’s pretty pleasing.”

Meade will anchor one end with Luke Taylor and Jones manning the other terminal post. Morgan is also listed at defensive end.

The tackles are Morris, Almaraz, Christien Hannahs, Butler, Kirk, Dillon Lucas, Evans, Stevens, McBride, Armstrong, Phillips, Palmer Cacioppo, Atkinson, Wilson, Mason Berry, Newlan, Byers and Kaiden Berry.

Joining Ford at linebacker will be McIntire, Eli Messenger, Schaeffer, Hannahs, Wyatt Carpenter, Evan Carpenter, Craker, Toliver, McCort, Blake Messenger, Bowman, Jeffers, Holiday, Anderson, Swallie and Kaplet.

Casey Carpenter will move to safety from linebacker and is joined in the secondary by Colt Carpenter, Bode Carpenter, Camden Carpenter, Francis, Wells, Graham, Vince Taylor, Leek, Dudzik, Anderson, Powell, Werts, Marcum, Burtner, Mann, Watters, Braylon Lucas and Detling.

The special teams are in good hands with senior Evan Lough, a three-year vet, who handles all the kicking and punting duties.

“What I’m really proud of is the fact that Evan took it upon himself to go to a lot of camps and work with some specialists,” Allen said. “His biggest thing is kicking from the hash marks and his directional kicking. He has put in a lot of work this off season.”

Barnesville is nine wins shy of joining an elite club with 500 victories.

“There’s a lot of history here at Barnesville. We’ve been playing football for more than 100 years. That’s a cool thing,” Allen added. “We’re finally over the .500 mark. That was a big thing that I stressed when I got here. I wanted to get us over that hump, and we’ve reached that goal, but the game we are looking at right now is the first one at Fort Frye.

“We’ve had a lot of battles with those guys and they’ve always seemed to have our number, but we’re excited to be going down there (to Beverly) in Week 1. They are the type of team that you want to test yourself with, especially in the season opener.”

Another number that sticks out, which Allen also downplays, is 26 regular-season victories in a row. The Shamrocks haven’t lost since week 4 of the 2021 season, a 35-14 reversal to Shadyside.

“That is something the kids can look back on one day and be proud of, and when I’m done doing this coaching thing, I’ll probably be proud of that fact, but when you’re coaching you try not to get caught up in things like that, but, hey, it’s nice,” Allen said.

Barnesville has no new teams on this season’s schedule, except Fort Frye which replaces Newcomerstown.

“We pushed Buckeye Local back to Week 4,” Allen said.

There are also no new assistant coaches on the staff.

“That’s another huge plus for us. Devin Nichols is back in the fold. He’s been with us here and there,” Allen noted. “Consistency is huge at this level. The coaches know the system. They know the players and the players know them.”

In addition to Nichols, Allen is aided by Neal Zaccagnini, Bryce Allen, Dylan Rogers, Brady Treherne, Steven Shumaker, Tony Starr and Chris Hannahs.