COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: No. 78 Bishop Kenny Crusaders — 2026 Season Preview, Schedule Analysis, Players to Watch and Playoff Outlook

Bishop Kenny does not need to search for its offensive identity. The Crusaders can hand the ball to Caleb Mattison and let defenses deal with the consequences. The larger question is whether a reworked passing game and a young defense can mature quickly enough to keep a talented team from becoming one-dimensional when the schedule turns unforgiving.

BISHOP KENNY CRUSADERS (JACKSONVILLE)

Head Coach: Tim Krause, eighth year District: District 3A-3 2024 Record: 9-4 2025 Record: 10-3 2025 Final FPRI Rating: 63.55 2025 Final State Rank: No. 88 2026 Preseason Rating: 65.26 2026 Preseason Rank: No. 78 2026 Class Rank: No. 10 2025 Playoff / FIT Finish: 3A Regional Finalist

Bishop Kenny’s 10-3 season was built on an offense that averaged nearly 39 points and produced 4,207 total yards. The Crusaders reached the Class 3A regional final behind a senior quarterback who threw 25 touchdown passes, a senior-heavy receiving corps and Mattison’s 1,733 rushing yards. That was not a one-player operation, even if Mattison supplied the horsepower. Now Krause must replace most of the passing production, several leading tacklers and a dependable kicking game while keeping the program in the upper tier of Northeast Florida.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Category Value Average Opponent Rating 52.39 Opponent 2025 Record 70-49 Opponent 2025 Win Percentage .588 Hardest Opponent Raines (Jacksonville) District Games 2

The average is manageable. The peaks are not. Bishop Kenny faces three opponents ranked inside the preseason top 42, including the state’s No. 2 team, and must travel for four of its first five games.

2026 FULL SCHEDULE

Week Date Time Opponent 2025 Record 2026 Rank (Overall | Class) Preseason Rating 1 8/21 7:00 PM @ North Florida Educational (Jacksonville) 6-5 No. 353 | No. 32 29.75 2 8/28 7:00 PM Ponte Vedra 11-3 No. 42 | No. 14 (5A) 73.38 3 9/4 7:00 PM @ Bartram Trail (St. Johns) 4-8 No. 249 | No. 49 41.41 4 9/11 7:00 PM @ Bolles (Jacksonville) 13-2 No. 17 | No. 3 (2A) 85.50 5 9/18 7:00 PM @ Merritt Island 7-5 No. 119 | No. 12 57.93 6 9/25 — BYE — — — 7 10/2 7:00 PM Menendez (St. Augustine) 3-7 No. 339 | No. 42 31.56 8 10/9 7:00 PM Raines (Jacksonville)* 14-0 No. 2 | No. 1 (3A) 101.14 9 10/16 7:00 PM Zarephath Academy (Jacksonville) 4-8 No. 329 | No. 8 32.61 10 10/23 7:00 PM @ Terry Parker (Jacksonville)* 2-7 No. 447 | No. 55 (3A) 15.85 11 10/30 7:00 PM Fleming Island 6-4 No. 140 | No. 22 54.79

*District game

Four road trips in five weeks will expose any weakness in the rebuilt portions of the roster. The reward comes later: five of the final six games are in Jacksonville, with four on Bishop Kenny’s home field.

KEY LOSSES

The most obvious departure is quarterback Gavin Hawkins, who completed 64.9% of his passes for 1,779 yards and 25 touchdowns against four interceptions. He was efficient, explosive and rarely reckless. Bishop Kenny is not merely replacing a passer. It is replacing the player who made the offense whole.

The receiving turnover is just as significant. James Davis III produced 674 yards and eight receiving touchdowns while adding 10 tackles for loss and five sacks on defense. Carter Harris added 369 yards and six touchdowns, and Aidan Piper contributed 98 receiving yards, 69 tackles and four tackles for loss. Jelani Dawkins supplied 323 rushing yards, seven touchdowns and 403 kick-return yards. That is a lot of versatility walking out the door at once.

Defensively, Gunnar Rogers leaves behind 86 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles. Christian Lopez also must be replaced after converting all 67 of his extra-point attempts and averaging 40.1 yards per punt. Bishop Kenny lost production at premium positions, but it also lost players who solved small problems before they became large ones.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player Position Class 2025 Production Caleb Mattison RB Senior 1,733 rushing yards, 225 receiving yards and 31 total touchdowns Andrew McCoy Jr. WR/CB Senior 180 receiving yards and three touchdowns in three games Michael Harms WR/FS Junior 137 receiving yards and one touchdown in five games Will Alesch MLB/RB Senior 134 rushing yards, three touchdowns and 15 tackles Jerald Dewdney Jr. DE/TE Junior 35 tackles, seven tackles for loss and three sacks Donavon Mattis DT/DE Senior 16 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack in six games J.C. Lundgren DE/NG Senior 12 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack in seven games Jack Sutter MLB/RB Senior 15 tackles and one tackle for loss in 10 games Mac Ryan DE/TE Senior Nine tackles in six games Tristan Lackovich WR/FS Junior Five receiving yards and one interception in five games

Mattison is the headline, but McCoy may be the roster’s most intriguing variable. His three-game sample was brief and loud: nine catches, 180 yards and three touchdowns. Bishop Kenny needs that explosiveness over a full season.

1ST DOWN — THE GAUNTLET

The season’s defining stretch arrives early: Ponte Vedra, Bartram Trail, Bolles and Merritt Island in consecutive weeks. Three are road games. Two finished 2025 with at least 11 victories. Bolles reached the Class 2A State Runner-Up finish, while Ponte Vedra advanced to the Class 5A State Semifinalist round.

Mattison gives Bishop Kenny a way to control tempo through that run. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry despite handling the ball 237 times, which is the statistical profile of a back who can carry an offense rather than merely complement one. The Crusaders cannot ask him to erase every passing-game mistake, though. Against Bolles in particular, obvious rushing situations will turn into a weekly stress test for Bishop Kenny’s line.

The pass rush has its own burden. Dewdney, Mattis, Lundgren and Ryan must replace a large share of the disruption created by Davis, Rogers and Piper. Bishop Kenny’s best defense against elite opponents may be getting them behind schedule before their talent can take over.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT

Opponent Week/Location 2025 Record 2026 Rank (Overall | Class) Preseason Rating 2025 Finish Raines (Jacksonville) Week 8 / Home 14-0 No. 2 | No. 1 (3A) 101.14 3A State Champion Bolles (Jacksonville) Week 4 / Away 13-2 No. 17 | No. 3 (2A) 85.50 2A State Runner-Up

These are not ordinary measuring-stick games. They are opponents capable of punishing a team for every unfinished detail.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Bishop Kenny does not have to win both games to validate its season, but it cannot allow either one to become a lesson in how far away the Crusaders remain.

2ND DOWN — STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

The schedule front-loads the developmental pressure. North Florida Educational offers a reasonable opening test, but Ponte Vedra arrives one week later. By Week 4, Bishop Kenny will be standing across from Bolles. There is no extended runway for a new quarterback to find his timing.

Aiden Smith and Bryce Lapenes return with limited varsity passing experience, while freshman transfer John Upchurch adds another option to the competition. None should be treated as an established replacement for Hawkins. The job must be won, and the winner must learn quickly how to use Mattison without becoming dependent on him.

That distinction matters. A functional passing game can punish defenses for crowding the box. An unreliable one invites every opponent to attack Mattison before he reaches the line of scrimmage. McCoy, Harms and Lackovich therefore carry more responsibility than their 2025 totals suggest. They must help turn the quarterback competition into an offense rather than a weekly survival exercise.

The post-bye schedule is more forgiving outside of Raines and Fleming Island. Menendez, Zarephath Academy and Terry Parker enter the season ranked No. 330 or lower. Those games should allow the Crusaders to stabilize, but only if the early stretch does not drain their confidence.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Bishop Kenny’s schedule is difficult less because of its average opponent and more because the hardest tests arrive before the passing game is likely to be fully formed.

3RD DOWN — THE PROVING GROUND

Ponte Vedra and Merritt Island are the swing games that will reveal Bishop Kenny’s ceiling.

The Crusaders are not expected to be favored against Raines, and the trip to Bolles is another severe assignment. Ponte Vedra at home is different. It is a top-50 opponent, but it comes in Week 2 on Bishop Kenny’s field. A competitive performance would show that the rebuilt offense can function under immediate pressure. A victory would change the temperature of the entire season.

Merritt Island may be even more revealing. It closes the opening road grind and comes one week after Bolles. That is where emotional durability matters. Good teams do not let one difficult Friday contaminate the next one.

Mattison will be tested as a volume runner in both games, but McCoy and Harms may determine whether the offense has enough width. Defensively, Dewdney and Mattis need to create negative plays while Alesch and Sutter keep routine gains from becoming explosive ones.

Fleming Island is the late checkpoint. By Week 11, quarterback development, defensive rotation and special teams should no longer be works in progress. That game will show what Bishop Kenny has become, not what it hopes to become.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Split the Ponte Vedra and Merritt Island games, and Bishop Kenny remains positioned for another strong year. Win both, and the Crusaders become much more than a Mattison-led playoff hopeful.

4TH DOWN — PLAYOFF PICTURE

District 3A-3 is brutally simple. Raines is the defending Class 3A State Champion, the preseason No. 2 team in Florida and the top-ranked team in the class. Bishop Kenny is the only other district team rated above 16.

That creates two distinct playoff paths. Winning the district brings an automatic bid, but doing so likely requires solving the biggest problem on the schedule. The more realistic path may run through a strong overall record and favorable MaxPreps positioning for a wildcard berth and seeding.

The Oct. 23 trip to Terry Parker cannot become complicated. It is the district game Bishop Kenny is expected to control, and losing it would damage both the district standings and the Crusaders’ broader playoff profile. The Raines game offers the opposite opportunity: a win would transform Bishop Kenny’s postseason path, while a competitive loss could still matter as the rankings take shape.

Mattison gives the Crusaders a playoff-caliber offensive centerpiece. Dewdney, Mattis, Lundgren and the rest of the front must supply enough defensive growth to prevent the postseason from becoming a weekly race to 40 points. Quarterback play will set the ceiling, but defense may decide whether Bishop Kenny receives a favorable seed or an unforgiving first-round assignment.

DISTRICT BREAKDOWN

Team 2025 Record 2026 Rank (Overall | Class) Preseason Rating 2025 Finish Raines (Jacksonville) 14-0 No. 2 | No. 1 (3A) 101.14 3A State Champion Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) 10-3 No. 78 | No. 10 (3A) 65.26 3A Regional Finalist @ Terry Parker (Jacksonville) 2-7 No. 447 | No. 55 (3A) 15.85 Missed postseason

Raines owns the district’s clearest path. Bishop Kenny owns the district’s most interesting one.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The automatic bid runs through Raines, but Bishop Kenny’s schedule offers enough quality victories to build a strong wildcard case without winning the district.

SEASON OUTLOOK

Difficulty Rating: 8/10

A 7-3 regular season is the realistic projection, with 8-2 attainable if the quarterback competition produces a steady answer and the young pass rush develops around Dewdney, Mattis and Lundgren. Bishop Kenny has a proven star in Mattison and enough returning pieces to reach the playoff bracket, but its ceiling will be limited if the offense cannot create explosive plays when opponents sell out to stop the run.

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: No. 78 Bishop Kenny Crusaders — 2026 Season Preview, Schedule Analysis, Players to Watch and Playoff Outlook

A proven workhorse returns, but Bishop Kenny must rebuild the machinery around him to survive a schedule loaded with Jacksonville-area heavyweights.

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COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: No. 78 Bishop Kenny Crusaders — 2026 Season Preview, Schedule Analysis, Players to Watch and Playoff Outlook

A proven workhorse returns, but Bishop Kenny must rebuild the machinery around him to survive a schedule loaded with Jacksonville-area heavyweights.

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