OC Rivals enter 2026 with Woodworth, Wills and veteran line pieces back

Overview

• Preston Woodworth returns as a senior QB/DB after passing for 1,445 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior in 2025.
• Jayzon Wills gives OC Rivals a returning two-way back after rushing for 276 yards and three touchdowns and making 43 total tackles with six tackles for loss last season.
• Hadrian Batista and Noah Harrison bring more senior skill experience, with Batista posting 203 receiving yards and three touchdown catches in 2025 and Harrison carrying a 17-catch, 118-yard, three-touchdown season from 2024.
• Senior lineman Jackson Snook returns after making 43 tackles and scoring a defensive touchdown in 2025.
• The listed schedule opens Sept. 3 at Akron and includes home games Sept. 11 against Lake Shore and Oct. 16 against Amherst at Veterans Park in Medina.

OC Rivals Football Preview

OC Rivals enter the 2026 football season with several proven upperclassmen back from last year's 6-3 team.

The Medina/Albion program is listed with Eric Valley as head coach, with Eric Gross, Gordy Luthart and Mike Vanderjagt on staff. Valley's group went 6-3 in 2025, according to the HighSchoolSports.org coverage window, and the current roster includes a strong senior class across the offensive backfield, secondary and line.

That starts with Preston Woodworth. The senior QB/DB returns after completing 81 passes for 1,445 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior in 2025. He also rushed for 168 yards and four touchdowns and added 22 total tackles, three interceptions and five passes defended.

Jayzon Wills is another senior with production on both sides. Listed as an RB/LB, Wills rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns last season and added 43 total tackles, six tackles for loss, one interception and one fumble recovery.

The passing game has returning names around Woodworth, too. Hadrian Batista, a senior QB/DB, caught 10 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns in 2025 while adding 16 total tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and two passes defended. Noah Harrison, a senior WR/DB, caught 17 passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns and made 31 solo tackles in 2024.

Boe Preston gives the roster another player with quarterback experience as a junior QB/LB. Preston's 2025 line included 481 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 197 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.

Line And Defensive Pieces

OC Rivals list several upperclassmen across the line. The senior group includes Jayden Travis, TJ Champney, Logan Kast, Jackson Snook and Matthew Jacobs, while Ryan Frentz, Cole Herman and Nate Surdel are listed as junior OL/LB or OL/DL options.

Snook brings proven defensive production to that group. As a junior in 2025, he made 43 total tackles, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and scored a defensive touchdown.

Frentz, a junior OL/LB, made 29 total tackles with one tackle for loss and one fumble recovery last season. Jacobs, a senior OL/DE, added 15 total tackles, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble and one pass defended in 2025. Champney, a senior OL/DL, had 11 total tackles.

Schedule Landmarks

The listed schedule starts Sept. 3 at Akron, then brings OC Rivals home Sept. 11 against Lake Shore at Veterans Park in Medina.

From there, the Rivals are scheduled to visit Williamsville South on Sept. 18, Lewiston Porter on Sept. 25 and Maryvale on Oct. 1. The listed regular-season schedule closes Oct. 16 at home against Amherst.

OC Rivals have a senior quarterback with a proven 2025 passing line, a two-way back in Wills, senior skill players in Batista and Harrison, and a roster with multiple upperclassmen across the line. Those are the pieces to watch as the Medina/Albion program opens another fall.