BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University football team under the direction of eighth-year head coach Jim Hilvert looks to return to to the top of the Ohio Athletic Conference standings and its quest for an Ohio Athletic Conference title.

Coach Hilvert welcomes back to Berea 46 letterwinners, 13 starters, 10 Academic All-OAC honorees and two All-OAC players from last year's squad that finished with an overall record of 6-4 and 6-3 mark in the league.

Quarterbacks
The quarterback position will see a new signal caller in 2024.

Sophomore Charlie Bubonics (Solon) returns with the most experience after completing 20-of-40 passes for 287 yards with three touchdowns in three games a season ago.

Senior Nick Calarco (Rochester, N.Y./West Irondequoit), juniors Mark Wilson (Northfield/Nordonia) and Derek Hutchinson (Malvern) and sophomore Xavier Balson (North Olmsted) will compete with Bubonics for the starting job.

Running Backs
Senior Victor Ford, Jr.  (Cleveland/Shaker Heights) and sophomore George Linberger (Barberton/St. Vincent-St. Mary) were the work horses in the back field a year ago.   Ford, Jr. rushed for 641 yards on 109 carries with seven touchdowns.  Linberger rushed for 589 yards on 116 carries with eight touchdowns.

Senior Khalize Beamon (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport), junior Mark Tomei, Jr. (Chagrin Falls/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) and sophomores Josiah Sessler (Fort Meyers, Fla./Bonita Springs) and Tyrone Singleton (Willoughby/South) all look to factor into the ground attack.

Tight Ends
Senior Austin Schuck (Wadsworth/Medina Highland) returns as the lone tight end to catch a pass in 2023.  Schuck reeled in three passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
Juniors Mason Bova (Bellevue), Josh Minier (New Albany) and Elijah Pearson (Martindale, Texas/San Marcos) will see extended time on the field this season.

Wide Receivers
The wide out unit returns four of its top six pass catchers from 2023.

Junior Tim Conwell (Avon) returns as the team leader in receptions and yards as he caught 28 passes for 337 yards with three touchdowns.  Senior Vinny Lomeo (East Amherst, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) reeled in 18 catches for 210 yards with two touchdowns.  Senior Mikel Love (Fort Pierce, Fla./Westwood) caught 18 passes for 195 yards with one score.  Junior Connor Awad (North Ridgeville/Midview) accounted for 286 yards on 15 catches with one touchdown.

Offensive Line
The offensive line returns two starters in senior Dominic Biagiotti (Brunswick/Padua Franciscan) and senior Academic All-OAC honoree Cole Bryan (Lancaster/Amanda Clearcreek).

Seniors Josh Reid (Mount Gilead/Highland) and Grant Davis (Ottawa Hills), who makes the move from the defensive line, juniors Alex Smith (Parma) and Jakson Attanasio (Raleigh, N.C./Sanderson), sophomores Shamus Griffin (Norton), Sam Jackson (Middelburg Heights/Berea-Midpark), Nick Lulow (Painesville/Riverside), Mason Nemec (Brook Park/Berea), Colton Ross (Youngtown/Ursuline), Noah Sali (Brunswick) will all look to fill in the other starting spots.  

Defensive Line
The defensive line will be anchored by senior All-OAC defensive end Jordan Smith (Painesville/Riverside) and junior Hasim Rashid (Cleveland/Shaker Heights).  Smith recorded 38 tackles, including a team leading 8.5 for loss, with a team-best 4.5 quarterback sacks.  Rashid returns as the top tackler as he was second on the squad a year ago with a career-best 70 stops, including eight tackles for loss, and three quarterback sacks.

Seniors RJ Pegues, Jr. (Youngstown/Ursuline), Bryce Sanders (North Ridgeville/Midview) and Kadyn Viancourt (Avon Lake), junior Landon Hare (Piqua) and sophomores JD Crouse (North Lima/South Range), Daniel Hopkins (Norton) and Judah Reid (Mount Gilead/have all disrupted the opponents backfield over the past seasons.

Linebackers
Senior Johnathon Dixon (Riverview, Fla./Bloomingdale) and junior Dom Tromba (Painesville/Riverside) return as the veterans in the middle of the field. Tromba was the fourth leading tackler with 43 stops, including four for a loss, and 1.5 quarterback sacks.  Dixon tallied 25 tackles, one quarterback hurry, one pass breakup and one blocked kick.

Seniors Devontae Jackson (Cleveland/John Hay) and Zac Zoul (Strongsville) and Zane Zaborowski (Berkey/Perrysburg), who all return after missing last year with injuries, juniors Isaac DiTirro (Rootstown), Dylan Naylor (LaGrange/Keystone) Kross Rapini (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Tyler Smith (Grafton/Midview) and sophomore Nolan Hartsel (Lodi/Northwestern) provide experience and depth in the middle.

Defensive Backs
The back end of the defense returns two starters and six players who all saw action last season.

Senior strong safety Alden Steele (Lorain/Amherst) and sophomore corner back Marquee Vereen (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Technical) are the returning starters.  Senior corner back Brandon Kelley (Bedford Heights/John Hay), junior corner back Jamar Worthy (Lithonia, Ga./Decatur), sophomore free safety TJ Gibbons (Willoughby/Lake Catholic) and sophomore strong safety Kyle Langenbrunner (Newark/Newark Catholic) all played a major role in the pass defense. 

Gibbons was fifth on the team with 40 tackles but was tied for the team lead with two interceptions.  Steele was sixth on the squad with 39 stops and was second with eight pass breakups.  Vereen was seventh on the team with 38 tackles but led the team with 10 pass breakups and was tied for first with two interceptions.  Langenbrunner finished ninth on the squad with 29 tackles and had one interception.

Seniors TJ Handsel (Palm Harbor, Fla./East Lake) and Marco Stilliana (Youngstown), juniors Ty Mitchell, Jr. (Youngstown/Austintown Fitch), Sean O'Horo (Boardman) and Jaeden Roman (Grafton/North Olmsted), sophomores JJ Jethroe (Warren/LaBrae), Donnie Oesch (Salem), Triston Valley (Mineral Ridge) and Ben Wilcox (Hubbard) all could find time on the back line.

Special Teams
Sophomore All-OAC kicker Joseph Evans (Chardon) returns to handle the kicking game.  Evans connected on 35-of-38 extra points and 7-of-8 field goals in his rookie season.  He took over the punting duties in the final eight games and booted 37 punts for 1,476 yards and a 39.9 average.  Evans led the OAC with 14 punts inside the 20-yard.

Return Game
The return duties will once again be handled by Love and Steele.   Love returned 17 kickoffs for 350 yards with a long of 59.   Steele returned 11 punts for 66 yards with a long of 20.

The Schedule
For the seventh straight season, BW will not have their bye week in the first two weeks of the season but instead will take a Saturday off during week five.

BW opens the campaign with its lone non-conference game on Saturday, September 7 when it renews its rivalry with Wittenberg University in the 46th Lee Tressel Shrine Classic. What would have been the normal bye week in week two, the Yellow Jackets open OAC action as it travels to Wilmington to take on Wilmington College on September 14.  Week three features another OAC road contest as BW travels to Bexley to face Capital University on September 21.   The Yellow Jackets close out the first month of action and return home on September 28 to host defending OAC Champion the University of Mount Union on Homecoming weekend.

As the season rolls into October, the Yellow Jackets enjoy their bye week on October 5.  After the bye week, BW entertains Otterbein University in an OAC and Hall of Fame game on October 12.  The Yellow Jackets then hit the road for back-to-back OAC games against crosstown rival John Carroll University in the final OAC game between the schools in the 36th Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Trophy game on October 19 and then against Marietta College on October 26.

As the calendar flips into November and the final month of regular season action, BW plays back-to-back home OAC games against Muskingum University on November 2 and a Seniors' Day game against Ohio Northern University on November 9. The regular season comes to an end on November 16 when the Yellow Jackets travel to Tiffin for an  OAC game against Heidelberg University.