The Malvern Hornets are preparing for another run at an Inter-Valley Conference title, returning 13 lettermen and a defense stacked with veteran playmakers.
The Hornets, coming off an 11-2 season and a Division VII Region 25 postseason appearance, will kick off the 2025 campaign Friday, Aug. 22, on the road against Valley Christian in Youngstown.
Head coach Matt Chiurco, entering his eighth season with a 53-24 career record, said he likes the balance of experience and emerging talent on this year’s squad.
“We lost a very good senior class, but we do return a good group of players,” Chiurco said. “We have some very good skill players and have a lot of juniors and seniors ready to contribute. We are very excited about this team and believe we can have another very good year.”
Offense breaking in new quarterback
The biggest change comes under center. Junior Jaxon Jones will step in at quarterback after two years leading the Hornets’ junior varsity team.
“Jaxon is a lot like Jared (Witherow), a top-notch kid, great student, good leader, similar frame and big arm,” Chiurco said. “We will certainly be easing Jaxon into the QB role and will be playing to his strengths and what he does well. We’ve really been on Jaxon this summer about becoming more vocal and to play with a ton of confidence. We’re really excited to see Jaxon grow this year and believe he will do a very good job of leading us.”
Jones will have weapons around him, including senior running back and linebacker Julius Gore (497 yards rushing, 9 TDs; 71 tackles) and a deep receiver group led by Roy Simmons (876 yards, 7 TDs), Josh Untch, Aiden Sprague, Rocco Marinucci and Camrin Detchon.
“Julius, Roy and Luke Thomas are really good athletes and we will certainly find ways to get the ball in their hands, but we feel we do have a good core of receivers in Untch, Sprague, Marinucci, Barkley and Detchon that will get their fair share as well,” Chiurco said.
Defense leads the way
While the offense adjusts, the defense should again be the team’s anchor. Seven starters return, including senior linebacker Owen Ball, who recorded 96 tackles last season.
“We really feel like our strength coming into this year is our defense,” Chiurco said. “We bring back a lot of experience on that side of the ball and believe our linebackers and secondary are going to be very good. Owen Ball is the leader of the defense and is coming off a great junior season. Owen is one of the best individuals I have coached in my 20 years at Malvern as an assistant coach and head coach. He might be the smartest player I’ve ever coached and knows exactly what we want on that side of the ball.”
The Hornets will lean on a linebacker corps of Ball, Gore and Untch, while Simmons and Marinucci anchor the secondary. Up front, juniors Bryson Casler, Stephen Harmon, Andrew Walters and sophomore Brennan Mitchell will look to replace three departed senior starters.
“We don’t have a lot of big kids, but we do have kids that can move,” Chiurco said. “We feel that Casler, Mitchell, Harmon and Walters are ready to step into those positions and we’ve been trying to build some depth there over the summer.”
Tough schedule, title hopes
The early-season slate won’t leave much room for a learning curve. Malvern faces Valley Christian, Martins Ferry, Harrison Central and small-school power Mogadore in nonleague play before entering the IVC North grind.
“We will be going into the season cautiously optimistic that we can be a pretty good football team,” Chiurco said. “We don’t have as much depth as we’ve had in recent years, but we’re hoping as the season progresses we can build on that. We have a very tough schedule early on and will be tested right out of the gate with an athletic Youngstown Valley Christian team. All of them will be very tough tests, but we believe they will have us ready for league play and the playoffs.”
Malvern is chasing its fifth IVC North title in six years, though Chiurco expects more parity across the conference.
“We believe the IVC North will be the most balanced it’s been in years, with a lot of teams heavy in juniors and seniors,” he said. “It will be a grind nearly every week.”
Rivalries and challenges
“Our two biggest rivals are East Canton and Sandy Valley,” Chiurco said. “We play for the Hornet Trophy against East Canton in a rivalry game that has gone on for over the last 50 years. Although we don’t have a rivalry trophy for Sandy Valley, we both consider each other big rivals. There have been some very intense games over the years between the two schools in all different sports and you see the passion from the players and community members in this game.”
Looking ahead, Chiurco said one of the biggest concerns facing high school football isn’t competition, but participation.
“I feel the biggest issue at least for us will be numbers,” he said. “I feel you see less drive from kids these days with social media and video games. You have kids that feel concentrating on one sport is the way to go and will help them in the long run, but it won’t. Data shows the more sports you play, the more successful you will become.”
