Hilliard Davidson's Johnny and Josh DiBlasio form stronger brotherly bond through football

John DiBlasio has countless fond memories of spending time with his family at Hilliard Davidson football games during his 23-year tenure serving as the team’s athletic trainer from 1997 to 2019.

He can remember his wife, Anne, holding their first-born son, Johnny, in her arms when the Wildcats defeated Mentor 36-35 in the Division I state championship game in 2006, when he was less than six months old; and Anne, Johnny and his younger brother, Josh, were in attendance when Davidson beat Cleveland Glenville 16-15 in the Division I state final in 2009.

Both Johnny and Josh would later accompany their father on the sidelines at dozens of other Davidson football games when they became old enough to serve as water boys and ball boys for the Wildcats.

John treasured those moments with his sons, but he said he never would have dreamed that they would both go on to become star players for the Wildcats.

Johnny, a 6-foot-1, 159-pound junior, is a second-year starter at quarterback while Josh, a 6-1, 165-pound sophomore, is Davidson’s backup quarterback and a wide receiver.

“Both of my boys grew up on the sidelines and in locker rooms watching Hilliard Davidson football games, but I definitely didn’t see this coming, because I played basketball and baseball and I was never a good football player,” said John, who played Division III college baseball at the University of Massachusetts Boston after graduating from Newark High School in 1988. “I didn’t think that they would be quarterbacks, and seeing Johnny throwing the ball to Josh this season is not something we saw coming.

“It’s been fun to watch them both out there on the field at the same time.”

Both Johnny and Josh are equally surprised with the roles that they are playing for the Wildcats, who are 5-4 overall and 1-3 in the Ohio Capital Conference-Central Division.

“It’s pretty surreal that we’re out there playing together on Friday nights,” Johnny said. “I never thought that would happen.”

That’s because Johnny was so content with playing basketball and baseball as a youth, that he quit playing football in sixth and seventh grade, with no plans to return to the gridiron.

But after developing cabin fever while missing out on his chance to play baseball in the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnny played quarterback in eighth grade and fell in love with football all over again.

Johnny played well as the starting quarterback on Davidson’s junior varsity squad as a freshman, and he was the heir apparent to become Davidson’s starting varsity quarterback, after also serving as 2022 graduate Blake Pettit’s varsity backup during the fall of 2021.

“I was just learning the ropes of how to run our offense as a freshman, but Blake Pettit was a great mentor, and I had a lot of fun while learning from him,” Johnny said. “I’ve also learned a lot from coach (Aaron) Kingcade the past three years. Coach Kingcade has improved my mental game. (Kingcade) played football at Otterbein (University) and while watching film he’s helped me to see the game through his lens, so I can understand what’s going to happen before it happens.”

However, Johnny tore the meniscus in his right knee while playing baseball for Davidson’s JV team in the spring of 2022, and he had to have surgery to repair his injury.

While rehabilitating his injured knee, Johnny served as a mentor to his younger brother, who has been playing quarterback dating all of the way back to his first grade season of flag football.

And when Johnny wasn’t healthy enough to start at quarterback in last year’s season opener, Josh took his place and threw two touchdown passes while leading the Wildcats to a 37-12 victory over Walnut Ridge.

“It was really cool to start my first varsity game at quarterback as a freshman,” Josh said. “Johnny got hurt in May and missed the whole summer, but he was like a mentor to me, teaching me everything he knew about how to run the offense, and he was a huge help.”

Johnny then returned to start the rest of Davidson’s varsity games at quarterback, completing 44 of 81 passes for 384 yards and one touchdown, to lead the Wildcats to a 5-7 overall record.

Josh went 6-of-10 passing for 115 yards and two touchdowns on varsity as a freshman, while serving as Johnny’s backup in the next five games but he suffered a broken right tibia while getting sacked in a freshman game against Olentangy Orange, causing him to miss the remainder of the season.

“I had to have surgery, and then I was in a hard cast for four weeks, and spent four more weeks in a boot,” Josh said. “But I learned a lot my freshman year, and missing those last seven weeks gave me a break and time to work on myself. I worked hard to put on weight, and I went from weighing 148 last year to about 165 this year.”

During the offseason, the DiBlasio brothers engaged in a fierce, and sometimes heated, competition for Davidson’s starting quarterback position.

“We’re fortunate to have two kids who throw the ball well, and back in December I couldn’t have told you who our starting quarterback was going to be,” fourth-year Davidson coach Jeremey Scally said. “They have a very healthy sibling rivalry, and if one of them doesn’t play well, the other one will let him know about it.

“I used to joke with them all the time that one of them was going to get the top bunk, while the other one was going to have to take the bottom bunk.”

Johnny worked hard to eventually emerge as Davidson’s starting quarterback.

“Josh has always been a really good quarterback and he pushed me to get better and make sure I’m always on top of things,” Johnny said. “I have built a lot more confidence and strength, and my game has taken a quantum leap since last year.”

Indeed, Johnny has flourished as a junior, completing 59 of 105 passes for 903 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 380 yards and two scores on 65 carries to help carry the load in Davidson’s run-first spread option offense.

“Johnny’s improved as a leader, and he’s grown and developed into our No. 1 player in film studies,” Scally said. “He’s strong and skilled, and he executes our offense very well. Johnny throws and runs well, but above all else, he’s a team guy, who does what it takes to win games.”

When Johnny emerged as the victor, Josh began taking an increasing number of reps at the safety position before his coaches suddenly asked him to play wide receiver just weeks before the start of the regular season.

“I was adamant that if Josh was one of the best 11 athletes on our roster that we owed it to him to put him somewhere on the field,” Scally said. “Josh is a tremendous athlete and a winner. He’s also become our back-up punter. No moment is too big for him.”

In limited action playing quarterback in varsity games, Josh is 2-of-3 passing, including a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Davis Schmidt in Davidson’s 56-0 victory over Columbus West on Aug. 18.

During the Wildcats’ 17-13 victory at Dublin Jerome on Sept. 1, Josh also completed a pass to Johnny for a successful two-point conversion attempt.

“It’s always cool being on the same field as my brother, and getting to throw him that two-point conversion on a Philly Special (reverse handoff pass) was fun,” Josh said.

In addition to blocking well on the perimeter as a wide receiver, Josh also has six receptions for 64 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown catch on a pass thrown by his older brother during Davidson’s 20-14 loss to Olentangy Berlin on Sept. 15.

“Josh made a great play, and getting to throw a touchdown pass to him in a game was pretty special,” Johnny said. “He’s a quarterback, so he sees the game the way I do, and he knows what I’m thinking. We grew up throwing a football to each other in the backyard, so we don’t always have to say anything to know what each other is thinking.”

Josh said he will continue working hard at improving as a wide receiver and isn’t likely to try to beat out his brother for the starting quarterback position next season.

“Johnny likely will be back at quarterback his senior year, so I’m going to do my best to find a role that will help my team in any way I can,” Josh said. “Hopefully, I can take back over at quarterback when I’m a senior but I want to enjoy playing football with my brother while I still can, because this is something special that I don’t want to end.

“We talk a lot of trash to each other, but playing football together is bringing Johnny and I closer together, because we now have something we can both relate to.”

Johnny, who hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps by playing college baseball, agreed with his brother’s sentiments.

“We fight like brothers often do, when we’re at practice or watching film, but our common goal is to win, and we hype each other up during game days,” Johnny said. “We’ve not always been the closest brothers, but playing together has brought us closer together.

“My goal is to get college paid for with a baseball scholarship, but I’m learning to cherish my last few years of high school football. Our team is full of brothers, and that just makes us all pull harder for each other and love each other for real.”

The DiBlasios are just one of the nine groups of brothers, who play for Davidson.

The Wildcats also feature sophomores Gio Barr and Kaden Windham, Nate (sr.) and Dillon (soph.) Hovest, Paul (jr.) and AJ (fr.) Knapke, Josh (jr.) and Zach (fr.) Lance, Hawkins (sr.) and Jute (soph.) Marihugh, Cameron (jr.) and Carson (fr.) Metzger, Turner (sr.), Davis (sr.) and Dayne (soph.) Schmidt, and Cooper (sr.) and Beckett (jr.) Walsh.

Wildcats with younger brothers playing in middle school are Conner (sr.) and Kellan (8^th grade) Bullen, Bo (soph.) and Hud (7^th) Hulme, James (soph.) and Vinnie (7^th) Stinson, and Abe (soph.) and Ike (7^th) Swathwood. Cullen Walsh (7^th) is the younger brother of Cooper and Beckett.

“The concept you hear a lot in our program is that our team is a brotherhood, and that’s literally true this season more than ever before, with so many sets of brothers playing for us,” Scally said. “We always point out how rare this opportunity is to have so many guys getting the chance to play on the same team as their brother, and it’s special and something that we may never see again.

“Johnny and Josh put up a front when they are competing against each other, but you can see when you watch film that they get excited when their brother makes a big play and is successful, and that all of the brothers on our team love and support each other.”

(Feature photo of Johnny and Josh DeBlasio courtesy of the DiBlasio family)