The Nation Ford Falcons football team will start their second season under head coach Jake Bentley with a little more familiarity this fall.
Nation Ford finished Bentley’s first season with a 4-7 record and a first-round playoff loss to Greenville. Bentley has a year under his belt and his players are more familiar with him now as they know what to expect from him.
“I feel really good,” Bentley said. “We are still as a team trying to understand that the little things matter. Our practice habits have greatly improved. Our leaders have stepped up and know they have to be consistent and the rest of the team will follow.”
Bentley said it will be awesome to see younger talent that played last year to take another step this year.
“We are going to play a lot of guys that made a lot of mistakes early and played early,” he said. “I believed they fixed it and it will pay off.”
Nation Ford lost players in key positions from last year due to graduation. Quarterback Kason Canuup was one of those to go with a strong receiving core. This year the two players looking to be the starting quarterback are Asher Beck and Ben Falkner.
“They are still competing,” he said. “Being a quarterback guy myself, I want to try and make it as real as possible at practice. We have two athletic quarterbacks who use their legs, so if we aren’t live, you never get the opportunity to see the full picture. It has been awesome to see them battle it out.”
Bentley said the offense and defense are also battling it out as well during spring practice. He said he likes what he sees from his running back thus far.
For the first time in a while – since 2015-2016 – the Falcons will be dropping down to 4A with the start of the 2026-2027 academic year.
“We are in the same region really,” Bentley said. “I am excited about it. Playing teams with similar enrollment. I think it is good. Our guys are excited about it.”
Nation Ford’s non-region schedule consists of games at home against Gilbert and Fort Mill and road games at Ridge View. They will have Region 3-4A home games against Clover, York, and Indian Land; while being on the road at Lake Wylie, South Pointe, and Catawba Ridge.
The 2026 season will open at home Aug. 21 against the Gilbert Indians.
2026 Nation Ford football schedule (* = Region 3-4A games)
Aug. 21 vs. Gilbert
Aug. 28 at South Pointe *
Sept. 4 at Lugoff-Elgin
Sept. 11 at Ridge View
Sept. 18 vs. Fort Mill
Sept. 25 vs. Clover*
Oct. 2 at Lake Wylie*
Oct. 9 at Catawba Ridge*
Oct. 15 vs. York*
Oct. 22 Bye
Oct. 30 vs. Indian Land*
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
