The Reynoldsburg High School football team finished with the same record it did last year, but that does not mean it wasn't a better Raiders team.

Reynoldsburg took on a brutal non-league schedule that included perennial state power Cleveland Glenville and the top team in Division I, Region 3 in Dublin Coffman.

Reynoldsburg lost both of those games, falling to Glenville 35-14 on Sept. 5 and to Dublin Coffman 37-0 on Sept. 18. Sandwiched between those games was a 16-14 loss to a Watterson team that made the playoffs in Division III, Region 10.

In all, a building Reynoldsburg program, whose numbers took a hit after a levy failure on May 13 instituted a $500 pay-to-participate policy, faced six opponents this season who ended up qualifying for the playoffs.

Facing that kind of talent was a problem for a Raiders team with obvious shortcomings.

"We didn't have the depth," Reynoldsburg coach Steve Evans said. "There's no doubt about it. We're going against teams that run nine and 10 fresh guys on both sides of the ball and when we have guys going both ways the way we did, that's something you see more of at the lower division levels."

Reynoldsburg routinely used the same players on both sides of the ball. The result was a season full of games that were close in the first half before a letdown in the second.

Such was the case in losses to Dublin Jerome (16-6 on Aug. 28), Glenville, Watterson, Pickerington North (17-7 on Oct. 2) and Lancaster (15-7 on Oct. 9).

The Raiders actually led Glenville 14-0. The Tarblooders had gained national attention in the Espnrise.com preseason football poll. They were ranked 25th and Reynoldsburg led 14-0 in a game that was tied 14-14 at halftime.

The Raiders' defense kept them in games. They were led by Division I recruits Roosevelt Nix and Devon McKoy, both seniors. Nix has drawn strong interest from Kent State and McKoy has verbally committed to Bowling Green. Junior Darien Bryant, a linebacker and tight end, has also drawn interest from Toledo. Bryant, though, was hurt for half of the season.

In addition to Nix and McKoy, the Raiders' defense also loses seniors Patrick Gundelfinger, Brandon Mitchell, Manny Webb and Richard Wellman.

Bryant is expected to be one of the team's defensive leaders next year, along with juniors Tim Fryer, Talion Grace and Dalton Hoover. Junior Kyle Stagg, sophomore Chris Lee and freshman Sean McKeen also are expected to have an impact on defense. McKeen also was the kicker.

The offense is expected to benefit from the lumps it took this year against some of the top defenses in the area, like Coffman and Pickerington Central (a 27-7 loss on Oct. 30).

Coffman allowed 30 points during the regular season. Central held seven of its 10 opponents in the regular season to less than seven points.

Quarterback J.C. Gibson is expected to return for a third season as a starter. He threw a touchdown pass to junior Gabriel Nimmons in four of the last five games.

With those two expected back, and junior Derrick Goliday expected to return as the featured running back, the Raiders plan to build on the continuity developed this season. Goliday also missed significant time with injury.

The offensive line is expected to return Fryer and Bryant is also a tight end.

"We have high expectations (for the offense)," Nimmons said. "We're just going to keep working in the offseason and hopefully the returning people we have can keep getting better."

Key losses on offense are senior offensive lineman Nick Green, Nick Reid and Josh Montgomery as well as running back Dominique Walker, who rushed for 218 yards in a 46-23 win over Gahanna on Oct. 23. Gundelfinger also played fullback. Montgomery was a three-year letterwinner.

"Even though we lost, we still had a good time," Nimmons said. "We're going to have to keep working in the offseason and turn some of those games into wins and make the playoffs."

The Raiders were sixth in the OCC-Ohio Division at 2-4. Central and Lancaster shared the league title at 5-1 and were followed by North (4-2), Groveport (3-3) and Gahanna (2-4). Newark was seventh at 0-6.