News Man Weekly: Ready for some football? Our team previews the 2026 high school season

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MANSFIELD — Friday Night Lights return across north central Ohio this week.

So the News Man Weekly podcast (Episode No. 111) is essentially a high school football preview show.

We invite Source Media Managing Editor Larry Phillips, a former longtime high school sports reporter and editor, into the studio to help us get ready for the 2026 football season in Richland County.

But first, our team of Carl Hunnell, Zac Hiser and Hayden Gray break down the latest Richland County headlines, including the case against a 16-year-old accused in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Elias Uzunoff; a new memorial highway honoring Vietnam War veteran Glenn S. Wingenbach Jr.; and a major $500,000 donation moving the Mansfield Playhouse closer to its new downtown home.

Phillips then joins us for our special 2026 high school football roundtable. We break down the teams and players to watch across the county — including a new era beginning at Lexington; a rebuilding Mansfield Senior; a MOAC race that includes Shelby, Ontario, Clear Fork and Galion; Plymouth’s numbers issue leading to eight-man football; Lucas joining the Northern 10 Conference and more.

You can also hear the valiant efforts of Hiser and Gray to pull Hunnell and Phillips back into this century from their glory days of covering the sport in the 1980s and 1990s.

Check out all of our high school football previews at the links below:

This episode is powered by the great folks at Relax, It’s Just Coffee.