Correspondent photo / Michael G. Taylor Ursuline’s Devonte Taylor, right, pulls in a touchdown catch in the rain during a regional final against Gilmour Academy on Nov. 22 at Ravenna.

YOUNGSTOWN — Last year, Ursuline was on the cusp of making history. But the Fighting Irish came up just short of a state championship run, falling in the Division III state semifinal.

Ursuline had perennial power Toledo Central Catholic on the ropes, as the Irish defense had stymied TCC’s explosive offense. But in the final minute of regulation, TCC drove down the field and scored the game-tying touchdown and kicked the game-winning extra point with just seconds to go.

The Irish attempted a potential game-winning field goal, but the attempt fell short on a brisk and blustery fall night as Ursuline bowed out of the state playoffs in heartbreaking fashion.

That defeat left a sour taste in the Irish’s mouth all offseason, and it has provided motivation as Ursuline prepares to head into the upcoming 2025 season.

“I think our guys are hungry, I think they’re motivated and I think they had a really, really good offseason,” head coach Dan Reardon said. “We got a lot stronger as a football team, and we have a good core of kids back. So all those things put together, our goals haven’t changed. That’s the expectation — to play very deep in the playoffs and have a chance to win the state championship.”

Usually during Reardon’s second stint at Ursuline, the Irish have been known for their offense. But over the last couple seasons, that identity has shifted slightly.

While Ursuline has still maintained an offense capable of scoring points in bunches, the defense has become the team’s calling card. That’s expected to continue this season as the Irish return eight starters from a defense that allowed 8.1 points per game last year.

“That starts with good kids that work hard and they’re weight room guys. They take a lot of pride in that,” Reardon said. “When you work hard and you get after the weight room, you have a chance to be a strong unit. They are guys who play fast and have that kind of mindset to be great defensive players.

“The thing that was encouraging last year, we had a bunch of guys that every single week you could argue that they could have been our defensive player of the week. When you have those debates after you watch the film as a coaching staff, you know it means a lot of guys are playing well. When you have that, you have a really good unit.”

Schedule-wise, the Irish will play just nine games during the regular season with East coming off the schedule during Week 4.

Ursuline opens up with a stiff test on the road at Steubenville, which is the return game of the home-and-home series that began in 2023 when the Irish opened the season with a 36-28 win over the Big Red.

“We’re opening up at their place opening night, so that’ll be fun. That’s always a great atmosphere to play in,” Reardon said. “That’ll be a statewide-focus game with a lot of eyes on it, so we expect two really good football teams on the field that night. We’ll know right away how we stand based on that game, and I’m sure they’re saying the same thing to their kids.”

The Irish then follow that up with a pair of home games against a familiar pair of non-local schools in Bishop Hartley and Farrell (Pa.). After the bye week, Ursuline hosts Warren G. Harding before back-to-back road contests at Austintown Fitch and St. Vincent-St. Mary. Then comes two more home games against Walsh Jesuit and Chaney, before the usual season finale against rival Cardinal Mooney.

OFFENSE

The offensive side of the ball will look significantly different this season for the Irish.

Ursuline only has five starters returning between offensive linemen London Ellis, Seth Bowen and William Sanders and receivers Devonte Taylor and Ray Javey.

As a result, the Irish will feature a new quarterback and tailback in the backfield.

Reardon said three players are vying for the starting quarterback job, including George Camuso, Lucas Minenok, and Massimo Furr.

In Reardon and offensive coordinator John DeSantis’ system, decision making is critical. The quarterback has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders with the pre-snap reads and decisions they have to make during any given play.

“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,” Reardon said. “So it’s a good competition right now. They’ve all shown a lot of good and they’ve all shown things they need to clean up as well. Once we get through that first scrimmage, likely there will be some separation starting to occur. Then we’ll whittle that down during the second scrimmage and then we’re into game week.”

At tailback, Vinny Fecko is the most experienced player coming back after he had 168 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries last year. Zalin Strother, Daveon Patterson and Kevin Boudrey also will be in the mix for carries for the Irish.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of guys who can contribute there,” Reardon said. “It’s kind of who has the hot hand, but all of those guys are really good football players.”

But even with the new faces in the backfield, they’ll be aided by the pair of returning receivers and linemen, especially Taylor, who is a three-star receiver prospect with over a dozen Division I offers. Taylor and Javey combined for more than 1,100 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns last season.

“He has the ability to get open on virtually everybody,” Reardon said of Taylor. “The thing he’s best at is those 50/50 balls — when he goes up for them, it’s usually not a 50/50 ball and he usually comes down with it. That’s his most significant attribute. He had a good offseason and he got stronger in the weight room. … So he’s gotten stronger, gotten faster and obviously putting all those things together, you expect him to have a great senior year.”

On the offensive line, in addition to returners Ellis, Bowen and Sanders, Ursuline also returns Israel Davis, who is back after suffering a season-ending injury last year.

But alongside those four, Reardon added that the Irish will have considerable more depth on the offensive line than they’ve had in the past.

“We have 11 guys that are competing where there’s not a whole lot of separation, and that’s rare,” Reardon said. “We have 11 guys we’re comfortable with to play at the varsity-team caliber level. It’s going to give us a little more ability to play a lot of guys.”

DEFENSE

With the pieces coming back, Ursuline’s defense figures to be stout, especially in its front-seven.

Along the defensive line, Israel Davis, AJ Snyder and Drake Campbell all return, while the linebacker position is loaded once again with Kevin Boudrey, Karter Rudzik, Rashad Harris and Campbell played a ton in the second level as well.

Boudrey is the team’s leading returning tackler of the group after racking up 127 total tackles last season. Snyder, Rudzik and Campbell also racked up big numbers at the point of attack with a combined 75 tackles for loss and 21 sacks between them.

“We have a lot of returners on defense and a lot of defensive production,” Reardon said. “Our defense was very hard to score on last year, and even in the state semifinal game, we only gave up seven points. That’s something we expect — we expect to play defense at a very high level with the volume of guys returning, with the experience, with the production and all those things coming back.”

In addition to his duties on offense at receiver, Javey will also continue to feature heavily in Ursuline’s secondary alongside Amire Brown.

Brown is the Irish’s third-leading returning tackler with 94 total tackles last year and he also had two interceptions, while Javey picked off three passes last season.

“A lot of guys have the ability to play at a high level, and they take pride in doing their job and playing their responsibility,” Reardon said. “They’re unselfish from that standpoint in not trying to do too much and trying to stay within the framework of a good unit. That’s a goal to continue that.”

SPECIAL TEAMS

After the graduation of kicker Anthony Tabak, Reardon said Campbell and Antonio Ricchiuti are both in competition for the placekicker job, while Patrick Reardon and Furr are battling at punter. Reardon added that Camuso and Brody Daniels are also getting reps at long snapper.