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August 2009
Hey, Lance Schneider: Wanna trade?
XENIA — Xenia High School football coach Bob DeLong joked that he has tried calling Northmont coach Lance Schneider with a trade offer, but with no success.
“I keep telling him I’ll trade him a tight end for one his tall receivers,” DeLong said Monday.
That’s because Xenia is flush with big, bulky blockers and pass-catchers, including seniors Dakota Anderson and Michael Vollmer and junior Hassiem Allen.
Getting Anderson and Vollmer on the field, in fact, took some innovation. Because they can play both line and tight end, they sometimes must switch numbers during games.
To solve the problem, DeLong’s mother created full Velcro-on jerseys to cover the other numbers to quickly put on or take off. The jerseys Velcro up the sides and can quickly get Anderson or Vollmer into games at different positions.
“(Anderson) is even a third-down pass rusher,” DeLong said.
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TweetStebbins QB recovering after big Friday hit
RIVERSIDE — Grayson Dekker, the Stebbins High School quarterback who was removed from the field on Friday, Aug. 28, on a stretcher, is recovering with heavy bruising to the rib area from the incident.
Trace Smitherman, the first-year Stebbins coach, said Dekker suffered the injury against Beavercreek with nine minutes left in the third quarter. On an option play, Dekker was hit from the front and then from the back.
“You see him get hit (on the tape), but you’re not quite sure exactly what caused it,” Smitherman said before Monday’s practice. “He’s really, really sore.”
Smitherman said the coaches will evaluate Dekker’s availability this week.
“We hope to have him back soon,” Smitherman said.
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TweetNorthmont, Wayne get first game looks at Saturday opponents
Northmont and Wayne scheduled big for Week 2, and they had to wait until Saturday night to get their first game looks at their opponents.
Both Cleveland St. Ignatius (Northmont’s foe on Saturday) and Canton McKinley (which will host Wayne, also on Saturday) provided plenty to check on film.
St. Ignatius topped Glenville 14-13 in a marquee Cleveland matchup in part because of an unusual special teams situation that hurt Glenville.
Glenville led 13-7 in the fourth quarter when its running back was injured on a third-down play. The running back is also the primary kicker, so the quarterback was forced to substitute as the punter on Glenville’s own 13-yard line.
The punt netted four years, and St. Ignatius, facing a fourth-and-9 with 2:13 left, scored the tying touchdown and kicked the extra point for the final margin.
The McKinley game wasn’t quite as exciting, as McKinley beat Cleveland East Tech 81-0 on the same field Wayne will visit on Saturday. In East Tech’s defense, though, the team dressed only 20 players for the game.
Area high school football fans enter the week feeling like the Miami Valley can prove something on Saturday against these state powers. Those opponents, at least, proved they’re as strong this season as tradition dictates.
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TweetLakota West’s Hicks in high demand
Lakota West High School senior linebacker Jordan Hicks has earned his reputation chasing down quarterbacks and running backs. Now, he’s being pursued … by the media.
To curb the demand for the No. 2-rated player from the Class of 2010, according to ESPN, Lakota West will hold a weekly conference call for media to interview him.
This from Lakota West’s website:
“Due to the high volume of requests from the media, the Lakota West Athletic Department will be holding a weekly conference call for media outlets to interview senior linebacker Jordan Hicks. Hicks, ESPN’s #2 rated player in the class of 2010, and Lakota West head coach Larry Cox will be available every Monday at 11:00am throughout the season to field questions regarding the recruiting process.”
Kudos to Lakota West for helping Hicks cut down on his media interviews and requests, allowing more time for school and high school football … and, well, just to be a kid. It’s sad things are coming to this for high school students, isn’t it?
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TweetTough win in the books, Northmont prepares for state champs
CLAYTON — Lance Schneider won’t have to spend as much time on the Monday pep talk this weekend.
The Northmont High School football coach and his team are gaining confidence following a 7-6 victory on Friday, Aug. 28, against a highly touted Lakota West team at Welcome Stadium in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown.
Now, with defending Division I state champion St. Ignatius coming up on Saturday — on the road, we might add — it’s easier for Schneider to handle Monday’s practice with a win in the books.
“You don’t have to repair the psyche before you travel three and a half hours to play the defending state champions,” Schneider said Saturday.
For those who weren’t there, defensive fans missed a game of their dreams.
“It was very physical,” Schneider said. “There were some helmets getting knocked off, guys getting hit pretty hard when going through the secondary. Just two teams going toe to toe with the score very indicative of what the game was.”
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TweetKnowles, starting fullback and college recruit, to miss season for Xenia
XENIA — Justin Knowles, Xenia High School’s starting senior fullback who was expected to be the team’s featured back and had a shot at a college scholarship, will miss the season after tearing several knee ligaments last Friday in the team’s final preseason scrimmage.
That’s the height of frustration, first-year Xenia coach Bob DeLong said.
Knowles suffered the injury during the first few plays of the scrimmage while being tackled. Knowles drove his knee into the ground, and he tore his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, DeLong said. Knowles rolled in pain following the injury, which was clearly severe from the start.
“When you have that injury, you can’t mistake it,” DeLong said.
Knowles had a strong junior season for Xenia, including more than 200 yards rushing against Miamisburg, and was scheduled to be the featured back in DeLong’s Wing-T offense. At 6 feet 1 and 220 pounds, Knowles ran 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, DeLong said.
“We don’t have another one like him, let’s put it that way,” DeLong said.
The injury begins a greater uphill climb for Knowles to play college football. With a strong senior season, he likely would have earned a scholarship, but now his options are to work hard and either join a lower-level program or walk on to a larger program.
“He’s been working with the team, trying to train his backup,” DeLong said. “That’s the kind of guy he is.”
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TweetBig, big stadium changes coming at Wayne
HUBER HEIGHTS — Jay Minton, the Wayne High School football coach and athletic director, started our conversation about his football season by taking bug spray up the stairs toward the football stadium press box to kill some bees.
He climbed down, pointed toward the press box and stands and said, “That’ll all be gone next year.”
Minton then spent the next few minutes describing the upcoming changes the Wayne football stadium that will completely alter the look and experience of the place.
The plan starts following this football season, when the home stands and press box will be torn down and replaced. Then, by the start of the 2012 school year, Wayne plans on building other additions, including a large brick entry way on the stadium’s east side that will also contain restrooms and concession stands (much like, for those who have been there, Alexander Stadium at Piqua).
The plans are part of an even larger design for Wayne High School, which will have an entirely new building starting in August 2012.
Much like our discussion of the Beavercreek gym earlier today, the plans signify effort by high schools all over to give their fans the best experience possible and the players and coaches the top facilities they can.
The only problem for Minton, really, is keeping all of his season-ticket holders pleased with their new seats.
“We’re forming a committee for that,” Minton said. “We want to make sure everyone gets what they want.”
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TweetLighter, brighter gym coming soon to Beavercreek
BEAVERCREEK — For the past few seasons, it had become difficult to work on the main gym floor at Beavercreek High School.
“It was the original floor, about 50 years old, and they were at the point where they just couldn’t sand into the floor anymore,” said Ed Zink, the Beavercreek athletic director and girls basketball coach. “They just had to re-varnish it.”
The problem is being fixed with a new floor to go along with new lighting and duct work that is expected to be completed by late September. In the meantime, the auxiliary gym is being used for classes and events.
The Beavers will use the opportunity of a new gym to do some painting and decoration that will make the inside brighter with more color. Plus, Beavercreek players, along with opponents, will certainly appreciate the new digs.
“Even the auxiliary gym was so much better for the kids’ legs than the fieldhouse floor was,” Zink said. “There was just no give in it whatsoever. So, it’s exciting from that perspective, it’ll look better and be better for the players.”
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TweetPiqua programs earn national award
Attending a Piqua High School sporting event this fall? Make sure to pick up a sports program. They’re as good as gold.
Piqua’s 2008 fall sports program earned the Gold Award from the National High School Sports Publications Awards. Among the highlights, the program includes rosters, stats, feature stories, opponent profiles and Indians’ athletic history. A new cover is printed for every home football game.
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TweetA touchdown would be nice
So, what should the Browns do tonight against the Detroit Lions in the event they finally score an offensive touchdown?
Surely some sort of celebration will be in order. A dance. A backflip. No use acting like they’ve been there before, because they haven’t. Not recently anyway. It’s been seven games and 75 possessions, after all, including the preseason opener.
For the record, the Browns last scored a touchdown on offense Nov. 17 at Buffalo when Jerome Harrison went 72 yards virtually untouched. That was also the night, of course, when General Manager Phil Savage just couldn’t turn the other cheek anymore and fired off a profane e-mail response to a fan while sitting on the team bus.
Savage is long gone, but Harrison remains. Maybe he can break the seven-game drought.
How will the fans react? Certainly a big cheer will be in order if someone hits paydirt.
“The fans pay good money to be in those seats and to watch us perform and towards the end of ‘08 we just weren’t getting it done,” guard Eric Steinbach told the Akron Beacon Journal.
Quarterback Brady Quinn, who handed the ball to Harrison last November, said the Browns have made scoring touchdowns a priority. It’s “obviously vital to us at this point. It’s one of our keys this week,” Quinn told the ABJ.
Then he said he’s not thinking about the drought, or what to do if he has a hand in breaking it.
“I’m horrible at dancing, so I’ll leave that to the guys who score the touchdown,” Quinn told the Akron paper. “If I would happen to run one in, I don’t know, I’ll think of something then.”
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TweetSaturday morning film session in Oakwood
OAKWOOD — The high school football film session is a unique experience.
Take this morning, Aug. 22, for instance. Oakwood players and coaches gathered in coach Paul Stone’s math classroom to undergo the examination of film evidence from Friday night’s jamboree scrimmage at Minster High School.
In general, the sessions go something like this: Coaches using a mix of constructive criticism and comedy while controlling the rewinding and playback of the previous night’s game. The players squirm while watching the uncomfortable squiggly lines that signify a rewind and then the grinding, slow-motion replay that uncovers mistakes that might have been overlooked in real time. Coaches point out miscues and dole out praise much more conservatively.
With six days left before facing Versailles in Week 1, Stone gathered 23 players and six coaches to watch the 3-foot square screen while holding a gap wedge in one hand a laser pointer in the other. A sampling of some comments:
— (After one play he particularly didn’t like) “This is gonna be one of those years when the other team makes a highlight tape at the end of the year and we’re in a lot of those videos.”
— “If you get yelled at, you can be immature and say, ‘Woe is me,’ or you can learn from it.”
— “Films don’t lie.”
— A player raises his hand to ask a question and mentions he called “Crash” during one play. Stone looks confused. “OK, that’s not good when you use a term that the head coach doesn’t know.”
— (After watching an opposing player, No. 42, make several tackles against an Oakwood player) “Do you have a girlfriend? Well, 42 is your new girlfriend, he apparently liked you a ton.”
— (To one player) “If you had a senior and a sophomore, equal ability, who would you play?”
The answer: “I don’t know.”
“You’re a senior, right? You wanna say senior. Well, guess what. That might not be the answer.”
Teams all over the Miami Valley are going through similar experiences this morning as coaches study the scrimmage tape to determine, among other things, who their personnel will be starting Friday night, who will be playing for the varsity team and who will gain more experience on junior varsity games on Saturday mornings.
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TweetWeek 2 will be madness in Cincinnati
To start the football season, the Cincinnati area will claim two of the nation’s Top 13 high school football teams, at least according to USA Today.
The first Super 25 ranking from the newspaper is now available, and although Elder High School didn’t make No. 1, the Panthers will have to settle for No. 4.
Elder will get a quick test to see if it belongs on the list, as the Panthers will open their season against East St. Louis, which is No. 10 on USA Today’s list.
It gets better. Elder, in Week 2, will meet Colerain, which starts its season No. 13 on the national list.
An important note on Colerain from the USA Today reporter, who says that “Colerain’s defense might be its best ever.” Do you know how serious of a statement that is? Anyone remember Colerain from 2004? The team that pretty much made opposing offenses cry? The one against which Moeller decided it wouldn’t call running plays because, really, what was the point?
Here are a few snippets from a 2004 story we reported on that Colerain team:
The payoff has been a 14-0 record heading into Saturday’s Division I state final appearance against Canton McKinley. And, a reputation throughout the state as one of the most demoralizing defenses in recent memory. In outscoring opponents a combined 645-88 (an average of 46.1 to 6.3), the Cardinals have remained No. 1 in the state and No. 5 nationally, according to USA Today, for much of the season.
“If they can go on and win this thing, I think they’ll be looked at as one of the best teams that has played in this state,” said Elder coach Doug Ramsey, whose team, the two-time defending state champion, lost by a combined 59-6 in two games with Colerain this season.
And …
“They are, without a doubt, the absolute best high school football team I’ve ever seen, hands down,” said Centerville coach Ron Ullery, who recently finished his 28th year of coaching.
The Elks were 11-0, the state’s No. 3 team and had scored an average of 37.1 points per game when they faced Colerain in the second round of the playoffs. They lost 35-0.
“I don’t think anybody remembers a team so overwhelming,” said Mike Schneider, a Northmont assistant coach who has been following Ohio high school football since he was 4 years old. “I mean, their defense … I don’t think we remember hearing about anything like it.”
Anyway, here’s USA Today’s Top 10:
St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale
Byrnes, Duncan, S.C.
Katy, Texas
Elder
Don Bosco Prep, Ramsey, N.J.
Miami (Fla.) Northwestern
Oaks Christian, Westlake Village, Calif.
Oscar Smith, Chesapeake, Va.
Centennial, Peoria, Ariz.
East St. Louis, Ill.
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TweetIn football players, no one comes close to Texas (Ohio’s third)
When discussing the best high school football nationally, the first states often thrown around are California, Texas, Florida and Ohio.
Would you believe this: Ohio has 15,997 more high school football players than Florida.
How about this: Ohio has only 32 percent of the players Texas has.
Last one: With three fewer high schools playing the sport, Texas has 53,341 more players then California.
Ohio, for its part, ranks third nationally in both number of schools sponsoring football (727) and players participating (52,098), according to the 2007-08 participation survey compiled by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Top 10 states, by players:
Texas (161,503)
California (108,162)
Ohio (52,098)
Illinois (51,334)
Michigan (46,395)
New York (38,354)
Florida (36,101)
Georgia (32,209)
North Carolina (29,569)
New Jersey (27,626)
Bottom 10 states, by players*:
Vermont (1,346)
Alaska (2,018)
Wyoming (2,822)
North Dakota (3,167)
Delaware (3,224)
New Hampshire (3,537)
South Dakota (3,831)
Maine (3,974)
Louisiana (4,260)
Montana (4,796)
*Note: Not including the District of Columbia, which has 727 players from 12 schools.
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TweetNumbers a concern for Meadowdale
At last week’s City League football media day, coaches tabbed the defending champ Dunbar Wolverines as the team to beat. Don’t count out Meadowdale and coach Bosie Miliner, who returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense. But what his team lacks the most might intercept those plans to upset the Wolverines.
“Our only concern is backups. We only have like 30 kids right now,” Miliner said. “Last year we had about 35. This year we won’t have a freshman program. They only had 100 freshman coming in and only 40 of them were boys. We’re going to be hurting. Right now we only have three freshmen who even came out. We only have like five sophomores now. We’re top heavy this year and we’re going to be hurting next year.”
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TweetLebanon pitcher gives verbal to Ga. Tech
Lebanon High School pitcher Dusty Isaacs doesn’t have to worry about location next season. At least not as far as college is concerned. Isaacs, a senior to be, gave a verbal commitment to Georgia Tech.
Isaacs appeared in 10 games for Lebanon last season going 2-3 with a 2.18 ERA. He struck out 61 in 41.2 innings.
“He’s developing a good breaking ball. For a pitcher who just started the last couple years he’s starting to get a feel for that,” said Milwaukee Brewers scout Roger Janeway. “He caught the eye of Georgia Tech.”
Isaacs pitched the last two summers with the Cincinnati Flames and participated in the Perfect Game USA National Showcase at the Minneapolis Metrodome in June.
Here’s what perfectgame.org had to say about Isaacs: “Rare HS pitcher with true (slider)/true (curveball) combo. SL is sharp and consistent at 78-80, commands it well. Big CB break, lacks velo but very effective pitch. Did not see change. Three quality pitches, good command, projection. He can pitch for any college program. Good student.”
Isaacs led Lebanon with a .457 batting average, 37 hits, 28 runs and 24 RBIs. He also hit five homers and stole 12 bases.
Georgia Tech finished last season 38-19-1 and 17-10-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Yellow Jackets reached the NCAA tournament for the 23rd time in 25 seasons and was tabbed by Baseball America as national title contender for 2010.
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TweetPrep star heading overseas for senior season
If you went to the Flyin’ to the Hoop invitational back in January, you probably remember San Diego High School’s Jeremy Tyler. He wowed the crowd with 27 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots.
If you want to see him play any time soon, you’ll need an airline ticket.
The 6-foot-11, 260-pounder signed with Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Premier League on Wednesday, Aug. 12. He becomes the first American-born basketball player to leave high school early to play professionally overseas. He reportedly signed a one-year deal with $140,000.
Tyler, who averaged 28.7 points for San Diego last season, will likely return to this side of the Atlantic Ocean for the NBA Draft in 2011.
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TweetDayton Christian and AIA team up for cancer research
Dayton Christian is joining ranks with Athletes in Actions fields in Xenia on Saturday, Aug. 15 in the 3rd Annual “Kick Off for Cancer” Benefit.
DC athletic director Brad Pompos reports that football and soccer teams will scrimmage throughout the day at the sprawling complex. Concession sales and donations will go toward the Candlelighters organization. Admission is free to all the events.
The schedule
2:30 p.m. Girls varsity soccer vs. Monroe (soccer fields);
3 p.m. JV boys soccer scrimmage vs. Carroll (soccer fields);
3 p.m. Intra-squad scrimmage 7th/8th football (football field);
5 p.m. Boys varsity soccer scrimmage vs. Cincinnati Christian (soccer fields);
5 p.m. Varsity/JV football vs. Columbus Crusaders (football field).
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TweetHigh-tech swim suits out for prep swimmers
High-tech swim suits for high school swimmers?
Fahget-about-it.
The National Federation of State High School Associations Swimming and Diving Rules Committee and the NFHS Board of Directors just said no Tuesday, Aug. 11.
The suits that blitzed many world records the last year are off limits to prep swimmers, effective immediately.
The following is from a NFHS news release:
“Swimmers shall be limited to one swimsuit, which shall be constructed of a woven/knit textile material, permeable to water and air, constructed so as not to aid in buoyancy, and shall not contain zippers or other fastening systems. In addition, the suit shall be constructed so that the style/shape for males shall not extend above the waist or below the top of the kneecap and for females shall not extend beyond the shoulders or below the top of the kneecap, and it shall not cover the neck.”
“These high-tech suits had fundamentally altered the sport and become more similar to equipment, rather than a uniform,” said Becky Oakes, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Swimming and Diving Rules Committee.
“The rules of swimming have always prohibited the use or wearing of items that would aid in the swimmer’s speed and/or buoyancy. The technical suits and styles had evolved to a point where there was little, if any, compliance with these basic rules.”
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TweetTipp AD Matt Shomper on OHSAA Board of Directors
Tippecanoe H.S. athletic director Matt Shomper has joined the OHSAA Board of Directors.
Shomper also is currently the president of the Southwest Ohio Athletics Directors Association and this fall will be the president of the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
Shomper previously was the AD at Springboro before landing the Tipp position in 2006.
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TweetFranklin-Monroe superintendent Dave Gray returns to OHSAA Board of Directors
Longtime Southwest District board member and Franklin-Monroe H.S. superintendent Dave Gray has rejoined the OHSAA Board of Directors. Gray previously was the board’s vice president in 1992-93.
Gray has been on the SW District board for 27 years and is the coordinator of the district’s scholarship program.
Gray has been a head coach for both varsity boys basketball and varsity girls track at F-M. He also served as athletic director for five years. He started his teaching/coaching career at Twin Valley South.
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