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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Don’t overlook Greenon girls soccer this fall
LeeAnn Shaffer and her 93 career goals are gone. The crisp passes Leslie Oliver provided from the middle of the field and the wall defense of defenders Kasey Matthews and Kayla Falkenbach and goalkeeper Emma McCoy are gone as well.
One of Greenon High School’s most decorated girls soccer senior classes have graduated after winning two consecutive Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division titles. They finished unbeaten in back-to-back regular seasons.
Most will expect Greenon to be down in 2009, but coach Ray Raines is expecting big things once again.
“We have to adapt from all the players that we lost,” Raines said. “We have kids in those positions who’ll step up and do the job. We’re moving forward and that’s a big key. We’re going to come in and fight very hard. They’re eager to get out there and perform. It will be interesting.”
Defenders Maggie Picolo and Brittany Ennemoser and sweeper Kyra Dorney all return at the back for the Knights.
“Our defense is still in tact,” Raines said. “That’s going to be our strength.
Offensively, Raines said the Knights will be dangerous on set pieces.
“We’ve got kids who can hook balls left and right,” Raines said. “If we stay focused on our set pieces, we’ll be very good. You’re going to see goals come from a lot of different people this year.”
The Knights will be tested outside of the conference this season, facing the likes of Circleville, Carroll, Wyoming and Jonathan Alder.
“Our early games are extremely tough,” Raines said.
Team chemistry will be key for the Knights, who hope to keep their winning tradition alive.
“The main thing is coming together,” Raines said. “If they do that, we can achieve our goals.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Central Buckeye Conference, Greenon High School, High School Soccer
Football preview: Northeastern excited for season
There’s something to be said for a big roster, but Northeastern head coach Scott Rolf prefers a small roster that works hard.
That’s where the Jets find themselves heading into the 2009 season. With the roster in the mid-30s, the numbers are the smallest in Rolf’s four seasons.
But look who’s back: QB Damon Williams has been in Rolf’s system for four years. Chad Phillips led the Jets in scoring and is a big part of the wishbone and the defense. Reid Adkins was the leading receiver. Brand Setty and Brian Mabry are back on the line.
So it’s no wonder the Jets are excited to get the season underway.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Football preview, High School Football, Northeastern High School
Central boys soccer ready for big things
The Catholic Central High School boys soccer team has had 23 straight winning seasons and 23 straight seasons of 10 wins or more. They’ve won seven of eight Ohio Heritage Conference titles, including three outright titles. They’ve also won two Division III titles (2001 and 2007).
This year, the Irish are loaded once again after graduating just one senior from last year’s 12-win team.
Junior forward Joe Halula, a D-III All-Ohio Second Team selection, will lead the Irish offense this season. Halula provides great speed at the top of the Irish attack. He led the area with 20 assists last fall.
The Irish have another dangerous scorer in sophomore midfielder Calum Latham, who scored an area-best 26 goals during the regular season last fall.
Defensively, the Irish return a strong unit including senior goalkeeper J.P. Derr, who had a goals against average of 0.8. Senior Marco Campolo and juniors Alex Chase, Danny LeMelle and Dan Mullins round out the defensive unit.
“Our defense has been great this summer,” said Irish coach Shane Latham. “Teams find it very hard to get behind us.”
The Irish also have a tough non-conference schedule. They open with Cincinnati Seven Hills in the Private School Tournament on Tuesday, Aug. 25 and play Cincinnati Summit Country Day, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy and Dayton Christian among others.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Catholic Central High School, High School Soccer, Ohio Heritage Conference
An inspiring story of two wrestlers: One blind, one legless
From ESPN.com:
Two high school wrestlers, one blind and one with no legs, discover the meaning of true friendship.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: For your viewing pleasure..., High School Wrestling, Videos
Training Camp Insider: Northwestern
Of all the players I’ve interviewed over the last three weeks (close to 40 players at this point from 16 teams), four seniors from Northwestern — Brandon Vose, Taylor Turnmire, DeRick Newton and James Mantel — did the best in front of the camera as a group.
These seniors haven’t had a winning record since they were freshman, and they are coming off a 1-9 season, but I was impressed by their optimism and energy heading into 2009 with a new coach, Brian Stevens.
One of the more enthusiastic players was senior lineman Brandon Vose, who runs his own DJ business, Good Vibrations, when he’s not suiting up for the Warriors.
Vose said Stevens has improved the team’s discipline and tempo in practice. He likes the way the defense is shaping up.
“We’re a lot more aggressive. We’re flying around,” Vose said. “I feel bad for the O. That’s all I can say.”
“We’ve got a lot of guys who play fast,” Stevens said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who can hit you. We don’t have just one or two defensive players. We really feel like we’ve got 15 to 20 kids who can play for us on Friday night.”
Vose said the team has been working hard since the day Stevens was hired.
“We were out here puking,” Vose said. “He had us going. He’s the real deal.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Central Buckeye Conference, High School Football, Northwestern High School, Training Camp Insider, Videos
Football preview: Urbana wants to continue success
When Urbana needed a new high school football coach, the Hillclimbers turned to Geron Stokes, a 2003 grad.
He played, and coached, under Dave Carroll. Carroll was well liked and built a winning program at Urbana. Now it’s Stokes’ job to continue the tradition.
The biggest change fans will see this season is on offense. A strong offensive line, tight ends, fullbacks, and tailback Josh Calhoun hope to run up and down the field.
Leading tackler Braydon Gomes is back, along with tackle offensive tackle Brandon Herren (6-foot, 269 pounds).
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