The Upper Arlington Golden Bears (3-1) travel to Marysville on Friday, Sept. 18, for a 7 p.m. kickoff at IMPACT Stadium.

The game is UA's first since a 28-21 loss to New Albany on Friday, Sept. 11, ended the team's unbeaten start. The Monarchs (2-2) are also coming off a lopsided defeat, falling to Hilliard Bradley 41-7 on Sept. 11, according to cleveland.com's statewide scoreboard.

UA opened the season with three dominant wins: 40-7 over Olentangy, 24-0 over Olentangy Berlin and 43-22 over Avon. The Bears allowed just seven points through their first two games. That run earned them a No. 16 spot in Sports Illustrated's Ohio high school football state rankings, published Tuesday, Sept. 8.

New Albany's Mason Ackermann changed the trajectory. The Eagles senior returned an interception of UA quarterback Reign St. Clair 41 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, added a 2-yard scoring run in the third and made a key fourth-down tackle in the fourth, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

The Bears will need a cleaner performance against a Marysville squad with playmakers of its own. Senior running back Colin Wimmers leads the Monarchs with 125.5 rushing yards per game and four touchdowns through four games, according to MaxPreps. On defense, senior end Mamour Saidy has recorded 6.5 sacks, and senior linebacker Carter Dunn averages 10.5 tackles per game.

Head coach Rich Weiskircher's Monarchs split their first four games, losing to Westerville North 31-9 on Aug. 21, beating KIPP Columbus 35-21 on Aug. 28 and Lancaster 15-10 on Sept. 4, then falling 41-7 to Hilliard Bradley.

UA went 10-3 in 2025, with the season ending on a 17-16 regional semifinal loss to Pickerington Central on a last-minute scoring drive. The program carried that momentum into 2026 with three straight wins before the New Albany setback.

Tickets for the Sept. 18 game are available through Hometown Ticketing, and the game can be streamed on Hudl.