Correspondent photo / Michael G. Taylor South Range quarterback Nick Toy, Austintown Fitch quarterback Collin Kalaher and Lowellville quarterback Ricky Willrich stand with a ball at Boardman’s Spartan Stadium.

After several years with experienced, veteran quarterbacks across the area, it’s a new era for local teams under center.

Most schools will be breaking in completely new starters at the quarterback position, including Ursuline, Cardinal Mooney, Boardman, Struthers, Western Reserve, East and Chaney.

“All eyes in every program are on how the quarterback play is going to be,” Canfield head coach Joe Ignazio said.

At Mooney, Vince Gentile and Tyon Flowers are battling it out leading up to the season opener. Flowers spent last season as a receiver, and Gentile got some time behind center for the Cardinals late last fall.

“You can’t tell anything until you get pads, a scrimmage and those kinda things for a true, fair evaluation,” Mooney head coach Frank Colaprete said. “Tyon didn’t play quarterback for them last year, but he’s playing it this year.”

Ursuline has gone through three established starting quarterbacks in recent years, each of whom have put up big numbers. But this year, there will be a completely new face leading the offense, as George Camuso, Lucas Minenok and Massimo Furr battle it out.

“They have a lot of similarities. They’re similar body types and everything, and they’re all good enough athletes to be a threat with their feet and they all have good arms,” Irish head coach Dan Reardon said. “So it’s a good competition right now.”

At Boardman, Vince Butto is set to take over under center after backing up Zach Haus last season. He’s ready for the challenge of leading the Spartans’ unique Wing-T offense.

“Been sitting for two years, so I’m ready to go,” Butto said. “We just don’t want to be predictable. Last year we ran a base set of the Wing-T. It worked and we’re going to run the ball still, but we’re going to add onto it — maybe some more sets in the Wing-T and just add a little sprinkle to it.”

Only a few schools have returning starters at quarterback that are seniors.

Jeremiah Thomas is back at West Branch after throwing for almost 2,000 yards and 29 touchdowns, while also rushing for 933 yards and 15 touchdowns.

At Canfield, both Enzo Cocca and Tyler Rappach return after splitting time at quarterback last year. The Cardinals’ rival, Poland, also brings back its quarterback duo, David Xipolitas and Vito Komara. Both quarterbacks at both schools demonstrated the ability to throw and run the ball.

Plus, Springfield returns Brayden Baird to give first-year head coach Adam Slopek a player to build around, and new Jackson-Milton head coach Brian Shaner has Jack McDevitt.

Finally however, three underclassmen have already entrenched themselves as the starters for their respective programs this fall. They include: Austintown Fitch junior Collin Kalaher, Lowellville junior Ricky Willrich and South Range sophomore Nick Toy.

COLLIN KALAHER, AUSTINTOWN FITCH

Collin Kalaher comes into his junior season with seven games already under his belt as Fitch’s starting quarterback.

He didn’t begin the season last year as the starter, but he ended the season leading Fitch’s offense and is ready to take what he learned last year into the 2025 season.

“Last year, I was just trying to prove myself and earn my spot,” Kalaher said. “I just think coming into this year, people are going to know me a little bit more. They’re going to know what my strengths and weaknesses are. I think this year, I’m just working on eliminating those weaknesses, trying to get stronger, faster and throw the ball better so (opposing teams) can’t take anything away from our offense.”

Last summer, Kalaher competed with Falcons teammate Davanzo Tate for Fitch’s quarterback spot. It was a tight battle, but Tate ended up getting the starting nod heading into Week 1. Tate leaned on his strength as a runner, while Kalaher was more polished as a passer.

“We both got a fair shot,” Kalaher said. “The offensive coordinator told us both to keep our heads down and keep working in practice because both of us knew that we were going to get opportunities.”

For the first five games, Tate went 5-0 as Fitch’s starter. But then the Falcons got crushed 35-0 on the road at Ursuline.

Fitch’s coaches opted to give Kalaher a shot the next week and he received his first start in Week 7 against Massillon Perry. He led the Falcons to a 20-15 victory, completing 19-of-22 of his passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns.

“I got thrown in there, and I feel like I already had a good understanding of the offense,” Kalaher said. “I was just really excited to take over and lead our team the last few weeks of the regular season and go into the playoffs.”

Kalaher started the rest of the season, finishing with 1,173 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. He went 4-3 and helped lead Fitch to the Region 5 semifinal in Division II.

With Fitch returning nine starters on offense, Kalaher has no shortage of talent around him this season. It all starts in the Falcons’ backfield with the dynamic running back tandem of Deon’Dray Richard and Junie Higgs.

“I’ve played with Deon’Dray since eighth grade and every game, you know what you’re going to get from him,” Kalaher said. “If the pass game is not working or even if the offensive line isn’t playing like we know they can, we can just give the ball to him. We know he’s going to make something happen. Then there’s not only him, but Junie Higgs too, another kid who played tailback. He and (Richard) both had three touchdowns in our playoff win against Warren (Harding) last year, so we’re really confident in our run game.”

Even though he’s still young, Kalaher already has plenty of experience under center, and he’s ready to lead the Falcons’ talented and explosive offense from start to finish.

“I just feel like this year, I understand every single part of our offense,” Kalaher said. “There’s nothing that I don’t understand. I know and understand every concept and I’m just ready to lead us to what we know we can do.”

RICKY WILLRICH, LOWELLVILLE

Ricky Willrich took the area by storm last season in his first year as Lowellville’s starting quarterback.

As a sophomore, he helped lead the Rockets to the second round of the playoffs and put up big passing numbers, completing 56% of his passes for 2,327 yards and 23 touchdowns — the most regular season passing yards of any quarterback in Mahoning County.

“The coaches made it really easy because I learned the offense as soon as I came in my freshman year. Then we kept everything the same,” Willrich said. “We just had a couple of new run plays last year, then this year we’re just tweaking some stuff. We have a whole new coaching staff pretty much, but everything’s almost the same, just a little different.”

Rockets alum Drew McLaughlin took over the head coaching job this offseason. Even though Willrich and his teammates have had to adjust to the new coaches, the transition has been seamless.

“They just want to see different schemes,” Willrich said. “But it’s mainly just go out and play, win and just give it your all.”

In addition to making big plays through the air, Willrich made some mistakes last season that can be chalked up to his relative youth and inexperience as a first-time starter, as he threw 10 interceptions.

He’s hoping to significantly cut down on those turnovers this year.

“I’ve just learned to take what’s there and stop forcing the ball,” Willrich said. “This year I’m looking to turn the ball over less and just take what the defense gives me.”

Even though 2,000-yard rusher Geno Perry graduated, Lowellville returns plenty of talent and weapons for Willrich to get the ball to, including eight starters on offense and Willrich’s top target Josh Pazel.

AJ Boehlke, Kaden Italiano, Michael Lucido and Nicky LaRosa are all back as well offensively for Willrich.

Willrich and Pazel demonstrated their connection last season, as Pazel hauled in 45 receptions for 1,135 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging just over 25 yards per catch.

“Me and Josh have been quarterback-receiver since pee-wee,” Willrich said. “I started playing with him in fifth grade, then sixth grade I didn’t play because of COVID. Junior high, we played together and now in high school, so our chemistry has just been building ever since.”

The Rockets have maintained a consistent level of success in recent years, winning 37 games over the past four seasons. Willrich and his teammates are hoping to continue that momentum this season.

“I’m looking forward to winning a lot of games this year,” Willrich said. “Definitely want to go deeper into the playoffs. Now the playoffs are only 12 teams, so it could be better or worse for us, but we’ll have to see when we get there.”

NICK TOY, SOUTH RANGE

A familiar name will be under center for South Range again this season, with a twist.

After two seasons as the Raiders quarterback, Tristan Toy graduated last year. Now, his younger cousin, sophomore Nick Toy, is ready to take over South Range’s potent offense.

“It feels pretty good. I’m really grateful for the opportunity, and it’s pretty exciting,” the younger Toy said. “(My coaches and teammates) are really supportive. They believe in me, and I believe in them. That’s all I really need.”

While Nick and Tristan may be different physically, their skillsets have some similarities.

Nick is taller, standing at 6-foot-2, which he says helps allow him to see over his offensive line in the pocket to complete passes downfield. Tristan utilized his unique athleticism with his running ability.

“They’re both kind of their own unique player,” Raiders head coach David Rach said. “The intangible stuff, the leadership qualities, just the way in which they both compete — those kinds of things are similar. As far as skillset goes, both of them can probably do a lot in the run game and in the throw game. I think a large part of how you use them depends on the pieces that are around them.”

Given Nick’s skillset and intangible qualities, making him the Raiders’ new starter was an easy decision this summer for Rach and South Range’s coaching staff.

“There’s no doubt that he’s our guy,” Rach said. “I think just over the past couple years, seeing him grow, seeing him develop, seeing the way he leads and studies the game, we knew day one this offseason that he was going to be our guy.”

Along with Nick, the Raiders will have as many as nine other new starters on offense this season. Receiver Gavin Hiscox is one of the more experienced players, and he’ll be key for helping Nick and the rest of South Range’s offense continue its run of success.

“Our big focus so far has just been efficiency, trying to be efficient on all three downs. Sometimes for a young quarterback, that’s something that takes time,” Rach said. “So we’re trying to put (Nick) in great positions. We know he’s a terrific football player and a great quarterback. … So we have to do our part and put him in good situations, stay ahead of the sticks and trust him.”

The Raiders are Mahoning County’s winningest program over the past five seasons, having won 64 games.

That puts considerable expectations on Nick and South Range’s other new playmakers on offense, but they’re ready for the challenge.

“Our community is great. The energy that they bring to the game is great,” Nick said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”