Southington football stresses standard is state title
· Yahoo Sports
SOUTHINGTON, Ohio (WKBN) – Southington Chalker football was the Ohio 8-man football state champion runner-up in 2025, and the standard is to get back to the title game.
Watch above for a preview of the 2026 Southington Wildcats team.
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“Definitely hurt, I feel like I’ve been second my whole life, so I’m going to change, I’m going to change that this year,” said senior player Colton Levensky.
Southington has a squad of 19 players, one of the deepest rosters in the Wildcats’ history. The team boasts five seniors and seven new freshmen.
“They’ve been knowing, because we’ve known them a lot from when they were in middle school. We tell them freshman year, ‘You guys better be ready because we’re winning it all this year,’ and we’re getting them prepared also,” said senior player Tegun Noble.
Head coach Justin Kren is entering his fifth year as head coach and said the focus is on endurance this season.
Kren said their stamina is key, as the Wildcats were tied 20-20 in the fourth quarter against St. Mary Central Catholic in the title game and eventually lost, 34-20.
“We don’t quit, and we’re going to be in shape for four straight quarters,” said Kren. “I think that’s where that came to bite us in the backside in the state championship game was our endurance.”
Southington’s solution to the lack of endurance is letting the local National Guard soldiers run the Wildcats’ practices. The players run through physical training drills to complete exhaustion.
“I want them to feel us every hit, and I want them to feel our energy, how bad we want to win the game,” said Levensky. “I want to prove everybody wrong that we’re not second.”
Last season, the Wildcats posted a record of 9-2 and were state runner-up.
Southington starts the 2026 campaign on Aug. 22 at Stryker.
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