Joey Baughman highlights Wadsworth High SchoolWatch the senior quarterback and his teammates in action in a Division I first round playoff win over Sylvania Northview.
Senior quarterback accounts for 4,602 yards and 52 touchdowns
Trotwood-Madison's Hargrove finishes runner-up, five players earn first place vote“Wow.”
That was the response many uttered this fall when watching Wadsworth quarterback Joey Baughman play.
It was also the retort the senior gave Wednesday when informed he was Ohio’s 31st Mr. Football Award winner.
Previously bestowed by the Associated Press, the Ohio Mr. Football Award is being presented by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association this season. Each of Ohio’s districts nominated players for the honor, which was decided by a statewide vote.
An unlikely candidate as the state’s top individual in August, Baughman blossomed into a favorite by leading Wadsworth to its first undefeated season since 1996 and just its fourth overall. The Grizzlies also went unblemished in 1966 and 1967.
Wadsworth won the Suburban League, hosted (and won) a first round playoff game and averaged 50.8 points per game during the regular season.
“In the preseason our goals were to win the Suburban League, go undefeated and host a first round playoff game,” Baughman said. “There was talk of going 15-0 or what not, but those were our big three goals.”
Baughman was a big reason the Grizzlies achieved each.
He ended the season with 3,079 yards passing and 1,523 yards rushing. Baughman threw for 36 touchdowns and ran for 20. He earned the nickname “Joey Football” by September.
“I didn’t think about Mr. Football until the playoffs started,” Baughman said. “That’s when (head) coach (Justin) Todd showed me my numbers and mentioned it. After that first playoff game I knew it was a possibility.”
In that contest, a 61-42 Division II regional quarterfinal win over Sylvania Northview, Baughman threw for 229 yards and five touchdowns, carried the ball 14 times for 191 yards and a touchdown and completed a 2-point conversion pass.
He had comparable performances during the regular season, throwing for a Medina County-record 416 yards in a win over North Royalton.
Baughman’s most impressive senior stat? Three interceptions in 331 attempts.
Baughman, who started playing football at age six, was a running back until middle school. That’s when Sophia Fortner stopped playing. A senior point guard on the Grizzlies girls basketball team and a University of Toledo recruit, Fortner was the Wadsworth senior class’s quarterback through seventh-grade. Baughman took snaps starting in eighth.
Fortner helped Wadsworth win the 2016 D-I basketball state title. Baughman hopes to win a state title himself this winter.
A University of Virginia wrestling recruit, Baughman is a two-time D-I state runner-up. He finished second at 170 pounds as a junior and second at 160 as a sophomore. He was fifth at 145 as a freshman.
“I certainly have some unfinished business,” Baughman said. “I’m looking for that state title.”
Baughman, who enters his final season 112-17, picked the Cavaliers over Ohio State, North Carolina, Oregon State and Appalachian State.
This year’s Mr. Football Award field was diverse and well respected. Five different players earned a first place vote.
Trotwood-Madison senior running back Ra’Vion Hargrove finished second.
The other finalists were senior running back Daniel Bangura (Canal Winchester Harvest Prep), senior quarterback Lukas Isaly (Hannibal River), junior receiver Tanner Holden (Wheelersburg), senior quarterback Ja’Vez Alexander (Sandusky), senior defensive end Tyreke Smith (Cleveland Heights), senior running back Isaiah Bowser (Sidney) and senior quarterback Jimmy Weirick (Pickerington North).
Wadsworth quarterback Joey Baughman threw for 3,079 yards, ran for 1,523 and accounted for 52 touchdowns as a senior en route to being named Mr. Football.
Submitted Photo
1987: Buster Howe, RB-DB-K-P, Zanesville, Ohio State
1988: Robert Smith, RB, Euclid, Ohio State
1989: Robert Smith, RB, Euclid, Ohio State
1990: Bobby Hoying, QB, St. Henry, Ohio State
1991: Derek Kidwell, QB-DE, Fostoria, Bowling Green
1992: Marc Edwards, RB-LB, Norwood, Notre Dame
1993: Curtis Enis, RB-LB, Mississinawa Valley, Penn State
1994: Charles Woodson, DB-RB, Fremont Ross, Michigan
1995: Andy Katzenmoyer, LB, Westerville South, Ohio State
1996: Derek Combs, RB-DB-KR, Grove City, Ohio State
1997: Tony Fisher, RB, Euclid, Notre Dame
1998: Ryan Brewer, RB, Troy, South Carolina
1999: Bam Childress, DB-WR-KR, Bedford St. Peter Chanel, Ohio State
2000: Jeff Backes, RB-DB, Upper Arlington, Northwestern
2001: Maurice Clarett, RB, Warren G. Harding, Ohio State
2002: Ben Mauk, QB, Kenton, Wake Forest/Cincinnati
2003: Ray Williams, RB, Cleveland Benedictine, West Virginia
2004: Tyrell Sutton, RB, Archbishop Hoban, Northwestern
2005: Delone Carter, RB, Copley, Syracuse
2006: Brandon Saine, RB, Piqua, Ohio State
2007: Bart Tanski, QB, Mentor, Bowling Green
2008: Erick Howard, RB, North Canton Hoover, Akron
2009: Erick Howard, RB, North Canton Hoover, Akron
2010: Akise Teague, RB-DB-KR, Youngstown Ursuline, Cincinnati
2011: Maty Mauk, QB, Kenton, Missouri/Eastern Kentucky
2012: Mitch Trubisky, QB, Mentor, North Carolina
2013: Dante Booker Jr., LB, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Ohio State
2014: Joe Burrow, QB, Athens, Ohio State
2015: Keishaun Sims, RB-DB, Massillon Perry, Ashland
2016: Michael Warren, RB, Toledo Central Catholic, University of Cincinnati
2017: Joey Baughman, QB, Wadsworth, Virginia (Wrestling)
All-Ohio TeamsThe Division I football All-Ohio team was announced Wednesday by a statewide media panel.
The
teams were selected by members of the Ohio Prep Sportswriters
Association, most of whom were voters for the former Associated Press
All-Ohio teams. The Associated Press no longer coordinates postseason
honors for high school sports.
