Home Care In Newark, NC

NEWARK — Coach Josh Hendershot was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the Newark Catholic football program, but he knew he could not erase 6-24.

The Green Wave will enter the 2026 season with renewed optimism, hoping the results of an arduous rebuild will start paying off. Hendershot, however, will not be there to lead them as the school recently dismissed him.

"We're a results-driven society, and I understood things can change at any instant," Hendershot said. "The expectations are obviously high and rightfully so. It was not necessarily an inkling per se, but I was always aware in the back of my mind."

Hendershot, a 2010 NC graduate, was hired in 2023 with the Green Wave coming off of three consecutive Division VII regional championships, including a trip to the state final in 2021. Injuries and defections over time, however, decimated the roster.

Declining enrollment also contributed to record-low numbers in the program, NC finished 3-7, 1-9 and 2-8, the latter two the worst seasons in program history, under Hendershot. The next coach will inherit a roster that returns what was a productive junior class.

"We just got together and decided we needed to go in a different direction," NC athletic director Rob Smith said. "I will keep it pretty simple with that."

Hendershot was an All-Ohio lineman at NC before earning Mid-American Conference honors at Toledo. He had assistant coaching experience at the Division I college level before coming home to NC.

The Green Wave lost three games by three points or fewer despite starting the season with just three seniors. They were less competitive down the stretch in Licking County League-Cardinal Division losses to Heath and Johnstown.

"It's the same thing I have tried to preach for the last three years. 'Leave something better than how you found it.' For next year, there are so many really positive things for the program," Hendershot said. "I am really excited to watch from the outside how all of those guys do. Obviously, we're looking at roughly 13 or 14 seniors for the first time in a while with some really good juniors and a really strong sophomore class."

Smith declined to go deeper into specifics about the program’s performance under Hendershot. The school has set a deadline for applications of Nov. 28.

"I really don't want to get into the whys and why nots," Smith said. "You know ideally we would interview the first couple weeks of December if we can get some good candidates, which we will, and then try to make a decision mid-December. We just want someone to come in with some enthusiasm and that can relate to the kids."

Hendershot said he has not yet decided what his future in the sport holds. He is looking forward to spending time with his young family.

Hendershot filled his staff with fellow NC alumni. His assistants included former teammate Trevor Garber and Kelly Bourne, who was the program’s defensive coordinator when the Green Wave reached the 2012 state final.

"I'm extremely grateful for the guys I had on staff," Hendershot said. "To work at Newark Catholic, honestly, it's an honor; it's a privilege, but it's a challenge. … They helped me navigate some really tough times in terms of roster turnover or lack of numbers. This year, we had 60% new guys on the team. If it wasn't for those guys, it would have made my life more difficult."

Smith is hoping an efficient hiring process will allow the next coach to hit the ground running.

Hendershot said “expectations” multiple times in a short interview. He declined to say whether he thought those expectations must be slightly altered, but he noted better days are ahead for the Green Wave.

"Again, we are a results-driven society, which is awesome, but is always does need to mirror what you have and what's available," Hendershot said. "I am really excited for next year because those kids have worked their butts off. They are putting themselves in position to turn things around and really have some success."

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FAIRBORN ? Newark Catholic's volleyball team found another gear in Wright State's Nutter Center on Nov. 6, and it had to.

After losing only six sets all season, including none in five tournament wins, the Green Wave found themselves down 2-0 to top-ranked New Bremen in the Division VI state semifinals.

But once third-ranked NC (26-0) finally got rolling, a tidal wave washed over the Cardinals (25-3), who had won four state championships in the past eight years. It surged back for a heart-pounding 24-26, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-7 victory, sending it to its first state title match in 20 years. The Green Wave will play second-ranked St. Henry (23-5) at 2 p.m. Nov. 8.

"I had every faith in the world in my teammates that we would come back," said All-Ohio senior setter Natalie Harrington. "It was all the faith and love that we have, coming up through. During a timeout, coach (Katie Hill) told us, 'appreciate the fact that you're here, and why you're here, because you belong.' It helped carry us through."

Added classmate Sydney Gummer: "After that second set, coach told us to keep going until our feet fell off."

And the Green Wave did. That was after the hard-hitting, youthful Cardinals, who had only two seniors and a tallest player of 5-foot-11, going up against NC's trio of 6-1 towers, took it to them the first two sets and seemed poised for victory.

New Bremen saw the Wave rally from a 23-19 deficit in the first to lead 24-23, but came back for a 26-24 win. Led by outside hitters Mariana Muether, a 5-7 sophomore who had 17 kills, and Mary Rinder, a 5-9 senior who added 14, the Cardinals then led most of the second. But Hill sensed a change coming.

"I know the score didn't show it, but we started playing at the pace we wanted," she said. "It took us a moment to settle in against a very good team."

Locked in a 9-9 tie in what could have been the last set, NC created some space with a 5-0 run as sophomore Layla Jones scored at the net, Harrington assisted Gummer on a kill, then served an ace. After finishing the set with two Gummer assists to junior Leah Caudill for spikes, the Green Wave got rolling in the fourth.

Up 12-9, Caudill had a block, Harrington passed to Gummer for a kill and sophomore Sophia Basham added another as the lead grew to 16-9.

"In the third, fourth and fifth sets, they went on one or two long runs," said New Bremen coach Diana Kramer, who owns a 251-28 record in 10 years with the Cardinals. "Not 8-0, but even four points is huge in a match like this. Those moments, that minute or so that it took, doomed us today."

The Green Wave trailed 3-2 in the fifth but went up 6-3 as senior Christiana Scarsella served two aces and Harrington had two assists to Basham and another to Jones. Leading 7-5, NC put the match away with a 5-0 blitz, with senior Victoria Bailey serving an ace and Caudill recording two blocks.

"We finally executed the way we wanted to execute," said Caudill, who had nine kills along with Basham. "We play as a family, one unit, and we play at a level that upholds the Newark Catholic reputation and legacy."

Gummer said the Cardinals had the Green Wave well scouted. She led NC with 24 assists and had seven kills.

"They kind of had us figured out," she said. "We had to do something different, and we made some adjustments."

As usual, Harrington's all-around 17-assist, 15-kill, 13-dig, four-ace effort propelled NC. Jones came through with 13 kills and Scarsella had 12 digs to go with three aces, with libero Bailey adding 10 digs. Gummer and Caudill chipped in with eight digs apiece and Jones had seven as the Green Wave was able to finally solve New Bremen's well-placed hitting.

"They're a great team," Kramer said. "They're big, 6-1 across the front, physical and serve aggressively. A few points here or there, and it could have gone the other way, but they earned their points today."

In the process, NC broke a seven-game losing streak in the state semifinals since 2005's state final loss. Now, the Green Wave has a chance to add its ninth state championship to the trophy case, but first since 2004.

"We had a big sign up in the locker room: 'Newark Catholic has lost seven in a row in the state,' " Gummer said. "We read that every day, and it motivated us."

Said Hill: "We talked a lot about past history, about how a lot of players did not get the outcome they wanted on this court. We watched video from the 2004 championship all week. It got us ready."

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FAIRBORN — It was not about the culmination of a four-year journey for the Newark Catholic volleyball seniors.

The pride for the program runs deep for a group of girls that have not known life without it. Their goal was not simply to take NC back to the state tournament but to what the Green Wave believed was their rightful position on top.

“Especially after seeing how we have gone to state so many times and only having the outcome of eight championships, we really put in our mind that we wanted to get this job done,” senior Sydney Gummer said.

NC won that elusive ninth state championship for the program Nov. 8, sweeping St. Henry in the Division VI final. The Green Wave won No. 8 in 2004, and they fell short of an unbeaten season and No. 9 a year later.

It took two decades to win that last game. It is something the Green Wave knew all too well, directed by coach Katie Hill, a member of the 2007 state qualifier and players, who had several older sisters and relatives that had come up short.

“My sister went to the Final Four, and she was devastated after she lost," added Gummer, whose sister Ava starred for NC during runs to the state tournament in 2019, ‘20 and ‘22. "We knew we didn’t want to have that feeling."

Hill’s lead assistant Mackenzie Egan played in the state tournament with Hill in 2007 and again in ‘08. Hill started coaching in the program as the seventh-grade coach for the current seniors, and they began the climb together.

“We understand the heartbreak that has been on that court, and we wanted to make sure we were going to establish the outcome,” Hill said. “We wanted it in our hands.”

Senior Natalie Harrington appropriately held the championship trophy high as the Green Wave celebrated with the student section following the victory against St. Henry, leading the program to that first unbeaten season since 1983.

Harrington seemed destined for this moment. Her sister Katie played for NC in the state tournament in 2008, and she and her mom Mary (Weisgerber) Harrington became the program’s first mother and daughter to finish on top.

“With our coaches being alumni and having skin in the state championship game, it gives us a lot of heart,” Harrington said. “It makes this less of a game and more of a family. It gives us a purpose. We have something to look forward to after school every day. We have people to confide in every day, especially these amazing coaches.”

It was not simply like family for the Green Wave. It was literal family.

Junior Leah Caudill and sophomore Sophia Basham also had older sisters play in the program as did Caudill’s mother, and the aunts of four NC players. Harrington, Caudill and sophomore Aubrey Winters are cousins going back to five generations of Winters.

“We just know the reputation of NC, the legacy that NC has,” Caudill said. “We really hold that close and play to the level we know we can. We hold ourselves to that (standard).”

The Green Wave now have raised the bar for future generations.

"We wanted to start a new chapter of NC volleyball with this state championship," Gummer said.

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NEWARK — Jack Gossett said he owes Carmine Annarino and Billy Staneart a debt of gratitude for having his back when he first stepped into a varsity game for the Newark Catholic football team.

After two seasons together, Gossett will no longer have those two behind him. Next season, Gossett will be taking the next wave of NC linemen under his wing.

“Carmine and Billy made a major impact on me especially sophomore year coming in as a 160-pound right tackle,” Gossett said. “Carmine and (2025 graduate Keaton Helms) helped me earn my keep on the line. Games can be tough, but I knew I had Carmine right next to me.”

Annarino and Staneart played their final game along with classmates Kylen Eskins and Owen Przymierski in Week 10, falling 52-7 to visiting Johnstown to wrap up Licking County League-Cardinal Division play. On Saturday morning, NC (2-8, 1-4) went from a small senior class to a big senior class.

Gossett, who was joined on the offensive line by classmates Max Moore and Jack Lohri, said they must take what learned from those before them if they are going to continue the climb back to prominence. NC only won one additional game this season, but the Green Wave showed potential 2027 could be much better in the win column.

“As a junior class, we are close, but we are not close enough,” Gossett said. “We have to keep to coming together as a brotherhood and become one.”

Embedded content: https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2025/08/20/2025-licking-county-football-schedule/84438240007/

Gossett developed into one of NC’s top defensive players at linebacker. He made three tackles, of his 31 tackles on the season, and intercepted a pass in a 28-14 victory at Lakewood in Week 9.

“Even if the score has been bad, we have fought until the end,” Gossett said. “We are improving every week, every day. We are getting better.”

Junior Jaxon Holman eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark, rushing for 1,041 yards and seven TDs. Junior Malone Hutchison threw for 1,498 yards and 20 TDs as Eskins, 33 catches, 359 yards, junior Kyler Dales, 20 and 305, and freshman Landon Cox, 27 and 303, emerged as the most productive targets.

Holman also led the team in tackles, making 61 with Przymierski adding 51 in a half-season of action. Cox made 50, who finished an impressive freshman season, stepping in at quarterback against the Johnnies after Hutchison left injured.

Coach Josh Hendershot noted the production is only half the battle. Where this season’s seniors excelled was on the practice field and in the locker room.

The seniors set an example for the junior class to follow and add to the foundation.

“A legacy is a lot more than wins and losses,” Hendershot said. “It’s who you are, what you show your teammates and what you establish. Those four guys have done a fantastic job. They have been put in a hard situation. It’s rare to have so few, and they have taken on that huge task. They have busted their butt and continued to lead those guys, and that is something I appreciate.”

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