The Firebirds are seeking to regroup after an up-and-down regular season and a Week 10 loss to rival Lakota East. While the Big Blue — winners of three straight — are riding into the playoffs with confidence and purpose.
Lakota West beat Hamilton 38-6 during the regular season, and Big Blue’s last win against the Firebirds came in 2017.
Hamilton coach Arvie Crouch said the 2025 campaign has been a grind marked by perseverance. The Big Blue stumbled early, including a season-opening loss to Badin that Crouch admitted lingered longer than he’d hoped.
But his group never folded.
“It’s been long,” Crouch said. “I think losing that Badin game really hurt us confidence-wise. I thought we were a better team, but you know, that’s just the way it is. We didn’t win that game, and I think it hurt us in the long run. But overall, it’s been an up-and-down season.
“Our kids have always been constant — great attitude, great human beings, hard workers. We didn’t deal with a lot of problems at all. Just kids wanting to get better and finally figure it out.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Hamilton closed the regular season with three consecutive victories over Fairfield, Middletown and Colerain — a stretch that not only salvaged its year but also got them into the playoffs.
“We’ll take anything that gives us momentum,” Crouch said. “I don’t know what else I need to tell the kids to make them understand they’re an elite team. They just beat really good teams in Middletown and Fairfield — high-caliber football programs. We’re looking to build off that.”
The Big Blue defense has disruptive linemen in Mason Holbrook and Eckley Bridges, whom Lakota West coach Tom Bolden called “as good as I’ve seen in a long time.
“Those two are absolutely exceptional players,” Bolden added. “They’ve got a lot of good defensive players around them as well. We’ve got our hands full with them for sure.”
Offensively, senior running back Andre Bailey leads the way for Hamilton. He’s second in the GMC with 1,228 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns.
Bolden, whose Firebirds are no strangers to deep postseason runs, sees this year’s 6-4 record as an opportunity to reset.
“It’s a whole new season — playoff time,” Bolden said. “The regular season wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but we’ve got playoffs and a home game. That’s all that matters.”
Despite injuries, Lakota West remains one of the most complete teams in the area.
Junior quarterback Jackson Smith has thrown for 1,735 yards — third in the GMC — with 17 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. Junior Kenyon Norman handles the bulk of the rushing duties.
“Offensively, we’ve got to take care of the ball — that’s first and foremost,” Bolden said. “If we don’t turn it over, we’re tough to beat. Defensively, we’ve got to eliminate explosive plays. We gave up too many last Friday, and that’s uncharacteristic of us. Everyone just needs to do their job and trust their teammates.”
Both coaches agree that turnovers and physicality will define this one.
“We need to get some takeaways, play great defense and take care of the ball,” Crouch said. “If we can win the turnover battle and keep everything in front of us, I think we’ve got a shot. They’re really good and well-coached, but we’re a pretty good team too — playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
“Everybody’s 0-0 now,” Bolden added. “It’s a whole new season and anything can happen.”
Moeller will play the winner on Nov. 7 at Mount St. Joseph University.
