Butler County football player poll 2026: Best and most underrated players, best uniforms and more
Before the Butler Eagle sports staff releases its preseason watch lists and team previews, we asked 32 of Butler County’s top football minds — the players — questions about the upcoming PIAA football season and more.
During Butler Eagle Football Media Day last week, players from 10 county teams were asked to answer 10 questions in an anonymous poll.
Here’s who they thought will be the best player, best team and more.
Karns City’s Cole Johnston got eight votes, beating the five Butler’s Nicco Baggetta received. Tying for third with three each were Knoch’s Carter Beres, North Catholic’s Will Waskiewicz and Mars’ Jameson Garvin.
This was the only question players were required to vote for someone not on their team.
Seneca Valley teammates voted for their own, lineman Ryland Kelly, three times, the most of anyone. Four other players got two votes.
The survey didn’t specify players instead of teams — blame the questioner, not the answerer. So, North Catholic won the “team vote” with five, and Karns City’s Johnston won the “player vote” with four.
North Catholic got 6.5 votes, we’ll call it, with one response splitting the vote between the Trojans and Raiders. Karns City and Mars tied for second with five votes.
Seneca Valley ran away with this one with 11 votes, beating second-place Karns City and North Catholic with four apiece.
Among some of the comments were “nothing beats the all black” and “love the color combo.”
Karns City got five of the votes, beating Montour, Brookville and Wheeling Park with three each.
This might have gotten the most creative (and sometimes confident) responses of the bunch. Six players said they’d need four teammates to stop the future Hall of Famer, and five players said they’d need five or “our starting offensive line.”
Three players drew some laughs for the bravado they brought believing they alone, or a teammate alone, could block Garrett, who used to play for Cleveland before getting traded this offseason to the Los Angeles Rams.
And more laughs for the answer “one player and Coach (Don) Barclay” of Seneca Valley, and the handful who were a little less confident when they responded “all of them.”
Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” was a runaway winner of this one, with eight players picking the song from 2012. Three athletes picked a Drake song, or the artist in general.
No surprise, the Steelers were the overwhelming pick — 22 players took the Black and Gold. But there was an even split for the most popular pick in College Football ’27, with Penn State, Pitt, Notre Dame and Oregon all receiving three votes.
Not every player said they played both games, so some answers were for only an NFL or NCAA team.
And the final question, where the walking taco was the most popular pick — six players would opt for that at a stadium. A soft pretzel finished second with four votes, and buffalo chicken dip, nachos, pizza and hot dogs each received three votes.
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Knoch's Makai Noah (73), Carter Beres, back center, and Max Wiley (4) pose with head coach T.J. Wiley, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Jake Kollinger, left, Nicco Baggetta, center, and Jordan Vicari, right, hold head coach Eric Christy during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Josiah Edwards (24), Josiah Hunter, back center, and Jamen Alwine (3), pose with head coach Don Barclay, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Moniteau's Carter Knight (56), Bryce Stamm, back center, and Bryan Hazlet (52) pose with head coach Clay Kohlmeyer, center, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Jameson Garvin (8), Jameson Dickman (77) and Ryan Walker (4) pose with head coach Zachary Benedek, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Will Waskiewicz (6), Joey Culleiton, back center, and Louie Iaquinta (3) pose with head coach Chris Rizzo, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Slippery Rock's Logan Schlobohm (4), Aden Shay, back center, and Cole Schwartz (11), pose with head coach Steve Monteleone, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Jameson Garvin (8), Jameson Dickman (77) and Ryan Walker (4) pose with head coach Zachary Benedek, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Union/A-C Valley's Parker Bish (2), Noah Yori (56), Stephen Hepler (12) and Nicholas Ielase (8) pose with head coach Dan Reed, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Freeport's Karter Kemp (60), Cameron Manke (52), Danny King (8) and Bryson Paga (2) pose during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Karns City's Owen Kaufman (24), Cole Johnston, back center, and Bryce Galan (25) pose with head coach Joe Sherwin, front, during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Seneca valley's Jamen Alwine (3) plays duck, duck, goose with teammates Julian Hunt (12) and Josiah Edwards (24) during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Union/A-C Valley's Noah Yorr (56) enjoys some wings from the Beacon Hotel during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Mars head coach Zachary Benedek, center, talks to Butler Radio's Tyler Friel, left, while players listen during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Slippery Rock's Aden Shay (5), Cole Schwartz (11) and Logan Schlobohm (4) record a celebration video during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Union/A-C Valley's Noah Yorr (56) and Parker Bish (2) enjoy wings from the Beacon Hotel during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley head coach Don Barclay talks to Eagle sports reporter Brendan Howe during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Freeport's Karter Kemp talks to Eagle sports reporter Brendan Howe during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Mars head coach Zachary Benedek talks to Eagle sports reporter Brendan Howe during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Moniteau's Bryan Hazlet (52), Bryce Stamm (64) and Carter Knight (56) during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Union/A-C Valley's Noah Yorr (56) enjoys some wings from the Beacon Hotel during Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
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Union/A-C Valley's Stephen Hepler (12) jumps to dunk the football through Nicholas Ielase's (right) arms during a video shoot with teammates at Butler Eagle Football Media Day on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, at Butler High School. Andrew Jackson/Butler Eagle
