Sports

Licking Valley’s Randy Baughman Enters 46th Season As Head Coach

By: Bryan Kurp
Posted on: Tuesday, August 10, 2021

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NEWARK, Ohio (WOUB) — The name Randy Baughman is synonymous with Licking Valley football.

The long-time head coach is heading into his 46th season and has a long list of accomplishments.  He has over 300 wins and has made the state championship game three times, in 2001, 2007 and 2019.  Baughman is also in the Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame.

Licking Valley High School has been part of Baughman almost his entire life.

“I went to school here, graduated here, played here,” Baughman said.  “I went away for a while but came back and have stayed.  It’s a good community, close-knit community.  I’ve just enjoyed my time here.”

Hundreds of players have gone through Baughman’s football program. Many of them, past and present, have tons of respect for the long-time coach.

“It feels great knowing how you have a legendary coach like him to be coaching you and knowing you have a lot to prove, especially for him being your coach,” senior linebacker Konner Compton said.  “It really gets (the team) motivated.”

Year 46 is a new chapter for Baughman.

After going 5-1 in last year’s regular season with a trip to the Division IV regional semifinals, the Panthers graduated several players.  Baughman still has confidence in this year’s squad.

“We, as coaches and players are, I think, playing with a chip on our shoulder, more so this year than most just because people are kind of counting us out,” he said.

Baughman and his Panthers will be tested immediately this fall.  They are set to travel to Sheridan to take on their long-time rivals in week one.

The Panthers and Generals last faced each other in week one in 2019, with Licking Valley earning a 21-7 road victory.  Sheridan won the previous year at Licking Valley.

Both teams are usually evenly-matched on the football field.

“I mean it’s just the perfect high school school rivalry,” Baughman said.  “Both schools are country schools.  A lot of the parents know each other and work with each other.  They don’t like us and we don’t like them but we certainly respect them.  We know they are going to be a great football team.”

The Panthers have a scrimmage scheduled for Aug. 13 against Maysville ahead of the big game against Sheridan on Aug. 20.