SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Matt Ponatoski likes to say he’s spending a lot of time in Moeller football coach Bert Bathiany’s office these days. It’s definitely for good reasons.
Several major college football programs are showing interest in Ponatoski, the Moeller 2026 quarterback who was the Ohio Mr. Footballrecipient and Gatorade Ohio player of the year in 2024.
“It’s definitely been really fun to talk to everybody,” Ponatoski said after the Mr. Football ceremony Friday morning. “I’m just blessed to be in the place I am today.”
Oregon and Washington visited Moeller Friday morning. Three other schools were scheduled to visit during the day. The University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky and Notre Dame visited Thursday.
Boston College and Michigan are scheduled to visit next week. Ohio State, Texas A&M and Mississippi State are among other schools that have interest. Every baseball program in the country has interest in the nationally-ranked baseball player, too, according to Bathiany.
“College football is pretty crazy right now with everything going on,” Bathiany said. “But, everything is starting to pick up.”
Ponatoski has set up college campus visits over the upcoming weekends that include dual visits to football and baseball programs. He has football scholarship offers that include Kent State, Miami University, Purdue, Vanderbilt, UC, Duke, Maryland and Louisville.
“He’s staying pretty busy,” Bathiany said. “He’s done a good job staying organized, keeping his head on his shoulders and making sure his school work gets done.”
While Ponatoski is grateful for the individual awards, he prefers the focus to be on the football team. Moeller, the Division I state runner-up this past season, is hungry to return to Canton later this year.
“The (Mr. Football) award – it’s awesome,” Ponatoski said. “I’m really thankful for it. But, the one I wanted is the game that we lost in Week 16. So I’m coming back and I’m coming back with a new team and a new bunch of guys. And we’re going to get after it for sure.”
Ponatoski said he took two days off after the football season in December but is ready for the baseball season to start in late March. Ponatoski plays shortstop and is a pitcher at Moeller.
“I’m going at it right now; I’ve hit every day,” he said. “I’ve been going at it – getting stronger in the weight room, getting faster, locking in the swing and getting the arm ready.”
The entire Moeller program is preparing for this upcoming season by utilizing the weight room this winter.
“We’re hungry and we’re excited,” Bathiany said. “We’ve had over 80 guys in our workouts at 6 a.m. We’ve had five (workouts) so far. The energy’s up. The intensity’s up. We have a lot of guys who are hungry for reps so the competition is going to be at a premium. And I’m really happy where we’re at right now.”
