The Nordonia Knights visit the Wadsworth Grizzlies for a Week 10 game in the 2026 high school football season.
Nordonia and Wadsworth both enter Week 10 with an 8-1 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the Suburban League National Conference to be tied for second in the league standings behind Highland (8-1, 6-0).
Each team is headed to the playoffs in Division II, Region 5 with a prolific quarterback, as Steven Fakult lines up for the Knights and Brysen Hall suits up for the Grizzlies.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Art Wright Stadium. Follow along for live updates from the Nordonia vs. Wadsworth matchup:
What to know about the Nordonia football team
Nordonia enters Week 10 at No. 3 in the Division II, Region 5 playoff computer rankings under first-year coach Scott Barwidi. The Knights have clinched a top-eight seed and are in play for a top-four seed that carries a bye in the first round.
Nordonia quarterback Steven Fakult was 19-of-23 passing for 219 yards with touchdown passes to Collin Atha and Dominick Jackson last week in a 38-13 win over Medina. Atha had six catches for 95 yards and Jackson had four catches for 63 yards. CJ Mayes and Shawn Zivkovich are also threats to score as running backs. Mayes ran for 103 yards and two TDs on 19 carries against Medina and Zivkovich added a TD. Jackson Neal made all five of his PATs and a 21-yard field goal last week.
Brock Barwidi, Brayden Tufts, Karsen Fisher, Luke Roth and Dominic Schiavone are key defenders for Nordonia. Tufts recorded an interception against Medina, Fisher added 2½ sacks, Roth had two sacks and Schiavone had 1½ sacks.
What to know about the Wadsworth football team
Wadsworth enters Week 10 at No. 5 in the Division II, Region 5 playoff computer rankings under veteran coach Justin Todd. The Grizzlies have clinched a top-eight seed and are in play for a top-four seed that carries a bye in the first round.
Wadsworth looks to regroup after a 29-28 loss to Highland last week when the Hornets scored a touchdown as time expired. Wadsworth quarterback Brysen Hall finished 19-of-36 passing for 238 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions against Highland. He also ran for 72 yards on nine carries.
Jay'len King, Jude Haller, Kyle Schmeltzer, Kolbey Ostervich, Braydan Todd, Luke Kinser, Brandon Dishauzi and Bryson Bupp are other playmakers to watch for Wadsworth. King had eight catches for 113 yards and a TD versus Highland, Schmeltzer had four catches for 51 yards, Ostervich caught a TD pass and Haller and Todd both added TD runs. Braxtan Wagner is making an impact as a freshman kicker and made four PATs last week.
Wadsworth vs. Nordonia in football since 2020
Wadsworth has won the past four meetings with Nordonia, 62-21 in 2025, 37-36 in overtime in 2024, 55-14 in 2023 and 41-14 in 2022. Nordonia topped Wadsworth the previous two years, 35-0 in 2021 and 63-49 in 2020.
Wadsworth football's returning lettermen (24)
- Donny Bettis, WR-DB, 6-2, 180, Sr.
- Reid Close, WR-DB, 6-1, 180, Jr.
- Nicholas Dean, OL-DL, 6-0, 260, Sr.
- Brandon Dishauzi, WR-DB, 5-11, 180, Jr.
- Crew Eddy, TE-LB, 6-2, 215, Jr.
- Joshua Garcia, OL, 6-2, 295, So.
- Carson Glass, OL-DL, 6-0, 215, Jr.
- Brysen Hall, QB, 6-1, 205, Jr.
- Jude Haller, RB-LB, 6-0, 215, Jr.
- Jay'len King, WR-DB, 6-2, 190, Jr.
- PJ Megyes, RB-LB, 5-10, 180, Jr.
- Aiden Meisterics, OL-DL, 6-0, 225, Sr.
- Adam Neville, DB, 6-0, 175, Jr.
- Landyn Provance, LB, 6-3, 215, Jr.
- Carter Raymond, OL-DL, 6-1, 225, Sr.
- Noah Ries, RB-LB, 5-10, 185, Jr.
- Kyle Schmeltzer, WR-DB, 5-10, 165, Sr.
- Nathan Shipley, OL-DL, 6-0, 275, Sr.
- Braden Sterpka, TE-LB, 6-2, 180, Jr.
- Anderson Tetzel, OL-DL, 6-3, 275, Sr.
- DJ Thompson , DB, 5-11, 170, Jr.
- Augustus Titus, OL-DL, 6-2, 215, Sr.
- Braydan Todd, WR-DB, 6-0, 185, Jr.
- Cole Wilson, TE-DL, 6-2, 215, Jr.
Wadsworth's impact players
Power Four recruit Brysen Hall returns for his junior season as a three-year starter at quarterback. Last season, he was first-team Division II All-Ohio adter he completed 139 of 215 passes for 2,490 yards and 29 touchdowns with just four interceptions. The standout has offers from Pittsburgh, Kent State, Toledo, Miami (Ohio), UConn, USF, Buffalo and Syracuse. ... Calix Lemp (46 receptions, 999 yards, 15 TDs) is catching passes at Air Force but the Grizzlies have a burner in Jay'len King. Add Kyle Schmeltzer, Donny Bettis and Kolbey Ostervich to the mix and the passing attack is amazing. "I think we've got big bodies that are possession based," Todd said. "We've got shifty dudes on the inside that are a matchup nightmare. In the pass game, we present more problems than we have since 2017." ... That 2017 team was led by Mr. Football Joey Baughman, who rushed 154 times for 1,533 yards and 20 touchdowns and was 219-for-326 passing (.672) for 3,060 yards, 36 touchdowns and three interceptions through the air in 12 games.
Nordonia football’s returning lettermen (22)
- Collin Atha, WR-S, 6-0, 190, Sr.
- Brady Arbutina, QB-K, 6-2, 175, Jr.
- Brock Barwidi, WR-S, 6-0 185, Sr.
- Jamiere Davis, WR-CB, 6-0, 165, Sr.
- Jamison Elerick, WR-LB, 6-5, 195, Jr.
- Steven Fakult, QB, 6-2, 195, Sr.
- Karsen Fisher, TE-LB, 6-3, 225, Sr.
- Trent Foster, OL-LB, 6-0, 220, Sr.
- Dominick Jackson, WR-CB, 6-1, 195, Sr.
- Grant Kaminski, TE-LB, 6-3, 225, Sr.
- John Koran, RB-S, 5-10, 170, Sr.
- Joey Kormos, C-DL, 6-2, 270, Sr.
- CJ Mayes, RB-LB, 5-9, 165, Sr.
- Brayden Myers, RB-LB, 5-9, 160, Jr.
- Jackson Neal, K, 5-11, 160, Sr.
- Adam Ralls, OL-DL, 6-4, 230, Sr.
- Luke Roth, WR-LB, 6-0, 190, Sr.
- Jourdan Rox-Bell, WR-CB, 5-10, 165, Sr.
- Dom Schiavone, OL-DL, 5-9, 190, Sr.
- Luke Williams, OL-DL, 5-1, 275, Sr.
- Jaden Wonsick, WR-LB, 5-11, 190, Jr.
- Shawn Zivkovich, RB-LB, 5-, 175, Sr.
Nordonia impact players
Steven Fakult has a rocket arm, and he'll get to show it off once again with Collin Atha, Grant Kaminski, Dominick Jackson and Karsen Fisher as his primary receivers. ... Fakult is coming off a season in which he was second-team Division II All-Ohio. He completed 199 of 354 passes for 3,072 and 27 touchdowns with only four interceptions. He has offers from Findlay, Walsh and Clarion. ... Jackson is a phenomenal two-way player who led the team in receptions (49), yards (933) and touchdowns (12). Atha (48 receptions, 646 yards, five TDs) and Kaminski (36 receptions, 608 yards, three TDs) weren't far behind. ... Speaking of Fisher, the Toledo commit is nails on defense. He returns at linebacker after 59 tackles, three for loss, 1½ sacks, a forced fumble and an interceptions last season. ... "I think the passing attack can be really lethal," Barwidi said. "With another year and attention to detail in putting on depth and timing, we can be even better than we were last year."
Akron Beacon Journal sports writer Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ. Akron Beacon Journal sports writerBrad Bournival contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nordonia vs Wadsworth High School football score, live updates