DELPHOS, Ohio (WLIO) - Our Countdown to Kickoff series brings us back to Delphos.

Two seasons ago, the Blue Jays were one win away from a spot at state. But 2025 saw DSJ pick up only one win.

After that tough campaign, the Blue Jays are looking to bounce back in a big way.

The Blue Jays were 1-9 overall and ninth in the Midwest Athletic Conference. It's a new slate in 2026 for 28th-year head coach Todd Schulte and his team.

"We got two hours on the practice field and we're going to make the best of the two hours, whether it's from stretching to doing your individual reps or whatever it may be. You got to make each thing the best that you can absolutely do for those two hours," said Todd Schulte.

The Blue Jays struggled on both sides of the ball last season, finishing last in the MAC in total offense while allowing the second-most points per game. DSJ brings back six offensive starters and five defensive starters as they look to turn things around in 2026.

"One is stay healthy, keep our guys on the field, not feel like we're making adjustments every week to fill the positions we need out there. We're just hoping we can stay healthy and build a little continuity on both sides and hopefully that'll make a difference for us," said Todd Schulte.

"The main thing we learned is that we just kept giving up towards the ends of games. Like after halftime we were all exhausted, but this year we're coming out stronger. A lot of our O-line and we have a problem with our steps. We got to make sure we get our steps down and then especially on the D-line, we just didn't go hard and we didn't like attack and that's what we're doing now, we're working on, we got to get, we got to punch first, we got to punch hard," said Christian Young.

The starting quarterback for the Blue Jays this season will be sophomore Drew Martz.

"He understands what we're trying to get done. Defense alignments, where guys need to be, where they need to go. And again, now it's just him getting caught up to the speed of the first two scrimmages. So we've seen some of that and that'll come just with getting more reps," said Schulte.

"This has been my dream since I was a little kid. It's something I've been waiting to do. And again, it's an honor. Like my grandpa, my uncles all played for this program and they were pretty successful, so I'm kind of hoping to keep it going," said Drew Martz.

St. John's starts the season with back-to-back rivalry games, taking on Lehman Catholic in Week 1 before facing Lima Central Catholic in Week 2.

Then, as head coach Todd Schulte puts it, comes the "meat-grinder" of the MAC schedule, where every Friday night is another tough test.

"You know, we know what our schedule is made of and so does everybody else in the area. It's a meat grinder. And we understand that. We're going to be prepared and be a better football team than when we stepped on the practice field. And we hope by the end of the week, whether we're opening on a Thursday or playing a Friday or Saturday, when we get to that game, that we have put in a great week of practice and put all the work in, and then on Friday night, we can just go play," said Todd Schulte.

"We just have to defy the odds. You know, adversity is a big challenge against us right now. Small teams, small numbers, but we're all going to play our hearts out. We're going to punch hard first and we're going out there and play ball," said Christian Young.

For the Blue Jays to be successful in 2026, it will come down to their preparation and execution in practice.

"We may not be the biggest, fastest team out there, but we want to be pretty darn smart with what we're trying to get done. The thing that we want to kind of hang our hat on is we're going to practice hard and we're going to do everything right in practice by the end of the week so that we feel that we are prepared to play some of the best opponents in the state of Ohio," said Schulte.

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