Red Devils open season Friday at Bellbrook

After a long summer of preparation, the Tippecanoe football team kicks off their 2025 season on Friday night at Bellbrook, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. It is the start of another season of high expectations and a hopeful deep playoff run for the boys, as they look to continue their recent success.

“Every year I think the excitement gets higher with more anticipation for the season because our program has raised its level of play,” Burgbacher said. “We have had some senior classes come through here who have raised the bar, and this senior class is no different. It’s a great thing to have.”

“This group wants to be that team in 20 years that everyone is talking about. I love the mentality and makeup of this group, and they have learned a lot from last year.” Burgbacher wasn’t shy about the loss that knocked Tipp out of the playoffs last season, a 16-14 loss to St. Mary’s at home in week 12. It is a feeling that hasn’t subsided. “We have a bad taste in our mouths,” he said. “We are at a point where we are done with that, but it is always going to be in the back of our heads, and we have to play our best.”

Most fans know the MVL will be a tough battle between some teams joining Tipp such as Butler, Xenia, Stebbins and Troy leading the way, but for the Red Devils, they know in order to survive the target on their backs, it is about competing well every week against all the competition in the conference. “People want to talk about rivalries, but everybody is a rivalry to us,” Burgbacher said. “We know we are going to get everybody’s best shot. There is no more flying under the radar for Tipp football.” “We have learned to embrace the expectations, embrace the rankings. It is proof that we are doing the right thing. I want our kids to read the press clippings, but everyone else is reading them too. We have to work even harder knowing that other teams are using it as motivation also.”

When the Red Devils take the field on Friday nights, their offense will be led by all-conference and school record-setting quarterback Larkin Thomas, who returns as the league’s top signal caller. “This is the most Friday night football experience we have coming back since I have been here,” Burgbacher said. “We have very high expectations for Larkin, and sometimes it may seem we are hard on him, but we want the best from him, and he wants the best. Our offense runs through our quarterback.” Xavier Melton also returns at running back, and his best game last year was at Xenia, and he hopes to carry that over this season. Out on the outside they have Will Strong, their leading receiver coming back. He is joined out there by Grant Titley, Max Deckard, Atticus Poulous, who all look to compete at the receiver position, along with a couple of young guys, Bentley Heckman and Gavin Smith. Aaron Hart will be out for part of the season due to injury, and hopes are for him to return soon and make contributions.

At H-Back look for Cade Havill, who had a great sophomore season while dealing with injuries, and he will be joined by Jackson Robbins. Up front on the line are three returning key players from last year: senior Jeffrey Martin leads the way with Mason Dungan and Cal Connors back at the guard spots. Tipp also has Ben Bledsoe at center, giving Tipp a lot of experience to control things up front. Sophomore Sam Adkins, juniors Nick Wemple, Isaac Broering and Ryan Kolb all fighting for time on the line.

“We have some great competition there and what we are working on now is the continuity,” Burgbacher said. “It’s so important to get that continuity down. We come into this season with very high expectations with what they can all accomplish.” On the defensive side, it all begins with the Southwest District Defensive Player of the Year returning, Collin Isaac at inside linebacker. “Our defense starts with our inside linebackers and having (Isaac) coming back is a great feeling,” Burgbacher said. “Every adjective a football player can earn, Collin has it.” Joining him at inside linebacker will be Drew Husic, Raiden Nicholls and Havill. On the defensive line, Tipp loses some key talent and reps, but the Red Devils will have Brody Hogge, Kolb and several of the offensive linemen will all be battling for spots. Burgbacher also mentioned Carter Chinn as someone who could be a nice factor for the defense.

“We have a lot of depth,” Burgbacher said. “They have had a great camp.” The biggest question mark could be the outside linebacker spots. Burgbacher said some of the names to watch include seniors Bryton Otto and Carter Brooks, juniors James Merry, Jackson Sinning and Broering along with sophomore Toby Hoover. Handing the duties in the defensive backfield, Tipp brings back Deckard, who was an all-district player last season, and he will be joined by Micah Pyles-Dodds and Robbins along with Talan Hoover, Zach Foster, Evan Cooper and Poulos all providing a lot of depth according to Burgbacher. 

Tipp’s returning kicker Owen Baileys suffered a preseason injury, which will sideline him for a period of time, and Burgbacher said there is good competition at that spot with senior Preston Harding, sophomore Rohan Nicholls, and a couple of freshmen, Layton McMurry and Kellen Sellers. The Tipp coach said it is an open competition at this time for that job.