MOUNT ST. MARY ROCKETS
Coach: JD RUNNELS
7-4
Momentum is very real at Mount St. Mary, where a record-setting 2025 campaign has expectations surging for 2026. Under third-year head coach JD Runnels, the Rockets went 7-4, started 6-0 for the first time in school history, set the program’s single-season scoring record and made the playoffs for just the sixth time ever. Even more encouraging, they did it with a roster that remains largely intact, losing only two seniors on offense and one on defense. “The team is excited to compete with nearly everybody back,” Runnels notes, and the goal is simple: take a breakthrough season and push it even further this fall.
The offense returns nine starters and is built around heavy personnel groupings and balance. Mount St. Mary operates out of 11, 12 and 13 personnel and prides itself on being “very balanced, can run or pass,” leveraging a veteran group and “great coaching” to keep defenses guessing. Junior offensive tackle and VYPE Top 100 nominee Malachi Hardiman (6-3, 330) is the headliner up front, coming off a season in which he did not allow a sack. Runnels calls him a “special talent” with a “great frame” who is already being recruited by OU, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and others and was named a top-five offensive lineman in Oklahoma by PrepRedzone while also holding several Division II offers. His presence on the edge gives the Rockets a true cornerstone to run behind and build protections around, and he’s paired with underclassman to watch Marcus Benavides (6-3, 330), who has already started as both a freshman and sophomore and brings similar size and strength on both sides of the ball. With that kind of mass and experience up front and so many skill players returning, Mount St. Mary’s offense has the pieces to match or exceed last year’s scoring outburst.
Defensively, the Rockets might be even more imposing, returning 10 starters from a unit Runnels believes is ready to set the tone. They base out of a 4-2-5 but can seamlessly shift into a 3-4, giving them flexibility to adjust to different opponents while leaning on a “great defensive front” that is “ready to compete.” Junior defensive end Zechariah Robinson (6-3, 230) is a terror off the edge, coming off a 15-sack season that also included an interception returned for a touchdown and a fumble recovery. Robinson is praised as a “fantastic human” who is always carrying his Bible, humble, hardworking and someone who “makes everyone around him better.” Around him, Benavides contributes up front, and the overall returning experience allows Mount St. Mary to be creative with fronts and pressures without sacrificing gap integrity. With a dominant left tackle in Hardiman, a disruptive pass rusher in Robinson, a deep returning core on both sides and a challenging schedule that includes Legacy Christian (TX), Jones, Marlow, Plainview, OCS, North Rock Creek, Kingfisher and Purcell, the Rockets are positioned to prove that 2025 was just the beginning.
8-28 – at Legacy Christian, TX
9-4 – vs. John Marshall
9-11 – vs. Jones
9-25 – at Marlow
10-2 – vs. Plainview
10-9 – at OCS
10-15 – vs. North Rock Creek
10-23 – vs. McLoud
10-30 – at Kingfisher
11-6 – at Purcell
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