Jefferson’s Kyle Hass had been a fullback for the majority of his career for the Falcons. But several weeks ago, he and fellow fullback Andy Santiago were asked to give up playing in the backfield to be offensive linemen.

Hass and Santiago, following in the footsteps of Grand Valley’s Trenton Doing, who moved from quarterback to tackle for the Mustangs, moved to tackle and guard, respectively, for the Falcons.

And they did so without so much as a wimper.

“I talked to them afterwards,” Jefferson coach Jimmy Henson said. “(Their reactions) tells me the things we’re trying to teach them beyond football are getting through.

“I went to two kids and asked them to move from running back to offensive line. They said, ‘Sure, Coach, whatever.’ There were other kids that came to me and told me they would move, too, if we needed them to. We have some great kids.”

“I just wanted to win,” Hass said. “I didn’t have a problem with it as long as it helped us win.”

Having to ask Hass and Santiago to move from fullback to tackle was difficult for Henson.

“It was probably harder on me than it was on him,” Henson said. “I didn’t want to do that to those two young men. But it just got to the point we needed it done.

“I thought they played pretty well.”

Santiago wasn’t all that surprised he was asked to make the move.

“Since eighth grade, (Henon’s) been telling me I would move to guard if my 40 time ever slowed down,” he said. “Once our starting guard went down, I knew I’d be up there.”

The move from backfield to line wasn’t too difficult in terms of the two players learning the plays. They already had a good idea of where they needed to be.

“I played the line when I was younger,” Hass said. “Plus, when I played running back, I had to know where everyone was going so I could read where to cut. Basically, I understood already.”

“The plays are the same as they are for the fullback,” Santiago said. “I knew where the linemen were supposed to be. We still block the same.

“It’s made me a better football player all around.”

The duo was wholeheartedly accepted by those already playing on the line.

“They were just fine,” Hass said. “They accepted us pretty well. A running back’s best friend is the line, anyway.”

But there was one aspect of the game the pair didn’t like giving up.

“Really, it wasn’t hard on me,” Hass said. “The toughest part was giving up the runs. I’m happy to do it for the wins, but there’s nothing more fun than running the ball.”

“I wasn’t starting (at fullback),” Santiago said. “It wasn’t that hard. But it was hard to give away the carries. But they needed me to go there because that was best for the team. So that’s what I did.”

There are a few up sides to being a lineman, too.

“There’s some fun stuff,” Hass said. “We’re running the spread and I get to be a pulling tackle. I get to hit people.”

— Bob Ettinger



Efficiency

It took the Edgewood offense one series to settle in, but once it did, it made the most of its opportunities.

After being forced into a three-and-out on its first opportunity with the ball, the Warriors scored on three straight possessions in the first half to build a 21-0 halftime advantage.

Edgewood coach Joe Kearney praised Conneaut for coming in with a good plan to slow down his offense.

“Their defense came out with the idea of shutting down our outside running game,” he said. “Give (assistant) Coach (Al) Carrino credit for that. It was a good plan.”

The Warriors were halted on their first possession of the second half, too, but then raced to another score on their next try. After Conneaut stopped Edgewood again, the Warriors scored on their last two offensive plays of the game.

— Karl Pearson



Tough draw

In the end, Division II, Region 5, in which the Geneva Eagles reside, turned out to be a tough draw.

Geneva finished with 18.95 computer points, which in many seasons would have been good enough to crack the requisite top eight spots. But this year, it gave the Eagles a 10th-place finish, behind eighth-place Ravenna (20.95) and ninth-place Cloverleaf (20.35).

“We’re disappointed we’re not in the playoffs,” Geneva coach Tony Hassett said. “Last year, if you lo\ok at it, Madison got in at 17.7 (points). It’s a tough bracket. This is one hell of a tough region, and we didn’t get it done that way. But I’m so proud of these guys for our turnaround.”

— Steve Goldman



One step at a time

Madison sophomore quarterback Andy Karlson has had an interesting season. Karlson opened up the year quarterbacking the junior varsity team, then started to share the position with senior Miles Iverson a few games into the campaign.

The two alternated back and forth during games, but recently Karlson began taking more snaps.

“We have opened up the playbook more and more each week with him,” Madison coach Tim Willis said. “Each week we would give him more.

“He has really matured over the year. To throw a sophomore in there is not easy.”

That maturity was evident in Friday’s 24-17 win at Riverside. Karlson completed 9-of-10 passes (including his first seven) for 134 yards, no interceptions and a touchdown (a 21-yarder to senior fullback Ty Law).

“It was all on him,” Karlson said of Law on the bootleg pass. “He couldn’t have been more wide open.”

But, Iverson thinks Karlson should get more credit than that.

“He’s doing a great job,” Iverson said. “I know from experience that there is a lot of pressure playing it for the first time. It can be rough, but he has handled it well.”

“The experience he got this year and the way he played tonight is a big positive for him going into next year,” Willis said.

— David Negin



Airing it out

Normally a ground-oriented team, the Pymatuning Valley Lakers showed their grit early in Friday night’s contest with Youngstown Christian by driving the ball in for a 20-yard score by Nick Marshall after a short punt by the Eagles set up PV at the YC 34.

YC has become known in its six seasons of play for a wide-open style. Starting late in the first period and going the rest of the night, the Eagle passing attack, even when passes were dropped or overthrown, proved too much for PV to handle.

John Pecchia hit on 8-of-15 passes for four scores while having one pass picked off by Kyle Kiser, but he also had a pair dropped and another pair overshoot their mark by just a hair. He also played at defensive end, and late in the game, he took on the role of wideout to catch the last score of the game, a 13-yard pass from Victor Shaw.

Shaw had a game of his own, catching a pair of passes from Pecchia for 49 yards, picking off an errant Laker pass and taking it 39 yards to set up a five-yard run by Caleb Yanno for a touchdown, and then tossing the pass to Pecchia.

— Rich Kelly



Sad to see them go

The first group of players Henson had as students and athletes is finishing its senior season.

“The whole senior crew (has shown great leadership),” Henson said. “It tells you something about your kids when an official comes over and says, ‘Your kids are just having a blast out there.’

“That’s what it’s about. As serious as we get about this sometimes, it’s just a game. I’ve enjoyed (the seniors). They were the first crew that sat in my classroom in eighth grade. They’re special boys to me. All the way through, they’ve been with me. It makes me smile to see the great young men they turned out to be.”

— Bob Ettinger



Strides

The 8-2 record represents an improvement of three games from 2008, and the first winning record for the Eagles in this millennium.

“The coaching staff I can’t say enough about,” Hassett said.

“Our guys that were really improved were our linebackers. We knew our front four and secondary were going to be good. Coach (Bob) Trivisonno on defense has just done a spectacular job with all of them back there. And coach (Dick) Pierce with the kicking game; extra points were big today.”

Ryan Colby, a transfer from SS. John and Paul, connected on both of his extra-point attempts Saturday. Geneva failed on a pass for a two-point conversion off a fake.

Colby also caught two passes for 56 yards. On the first one, he took a short pass over the middle from Erb and raced to the end zone for a 37-yard score.

— Steve Goldman



For the defense

Steven Joslin had a big night for Conneaut on the defensive side of the ball. Tied for the area lead with Geneva’s Tyler Erb heading into the game with six interceptions, he picked off another pass just before halftime. He also recovered an Edgewood fumble in the third quarter.

— Karl Pearson



Running with injury

Riverside played Friday night’s game against Madison without senior tailback and leading rusher Ben Maxwell, who got injured the last game against South.

Replacement John Studio, a junior who had been injured most of the year, had 95 yards rushing on 18 carries, but he suffered an injury in the fourth quarter which required him to have his jersey cut off.

Riverside even used sophomore Anthony Bilal a bit as well as tight end Sean Schilling in the backfield for a series Friday.

“The only game we had all of them healthy was the Harvey game,” Riverside coach Ryan Wolf said. “Studio gets hurt and when he gets healthy, Maxwell gets hurt. We weren’t able to utilize them all the way we wanted this year.”

— David Negin



Leaning on seniors

Seniors made the big difference in Friday night’s battle at Laker Stadium. Carrying a roster with 13 of them, YC got big contributions from them all as the team has battled back from a massive hit in the health department.

“In the last three weeks, we’ve had 17 of our kids not practice or play with flulike problems,” coach Brian Marrow said. “The seniors needed to step up to finish the season strong, and they’ve done a great job of doing it.

“We didn’t play in a league this year, but we did play the teams we had played from the ESC, and they are all tough. We beat Southington in overtime recently, and they have been one of the top teams in our area for a long time. We beat Ledgemont, which is a great program, too, and it took the seniors to step up to lead us and set an example.”

— Rich Kelly



Filling in

With Joe “Mr. Sports” Pete — aka, The King of Ashtabula County Media — out with a sickness, Ed Looman and Brad Petro broadcast the University School-Jefferson game from Falcon Pride Stadium for ESPN Radio 970 WFUN with the help of Dale “Iron Gut” Milano and Roger McCoy.

— Bob Ettinger



Offensive maven

Certainly a lot of the credit for Edgewood’s offensive productivity this year goes to talented skill players like Devon Anderson, who ran wild for six touchdowns and 230 yards in the final game of his career for the Warriors, along with running backs Matt Anderson, Stefan Dobriansky and Justin Wiley and quarterback Peter Mackey. But Edgewood has also benefited from some coaching expertise.

Dominic Iarocci, who has been around the block for most of four decades, including a head coaching stop, has functioned as Edgewood’s offensive coordinator. He has unleashed the Warriors’ offense.

A prime example Friday was Edgewood’s third score. In the red zone, but facing a third and fairly long distance play, Iarocci unleashed a double reverse. Devon Anderson did the rest, taking the second handoff and sprinting around right end into the corner of the end zone from 15 yards out. The call even had some of the other Warrior assistants up in the press box shaking their heads in admiration.

“Dominic has taken over the offense for us,” Kearney said. “He’s done a great job with it.”

— Karl Pearson



One for the books

North’s George Gresko completed 25-of-40 passes for 297 yards and two scores, and had three passes intercepted in Lakeside’s 28-24 victory on Friday.

Gresko’s two touchdown tosses were his 33rd and 34th of the season. After the first one, which went to Shawn Richter for 46 yards, it was announced that he had set a new single-season record for Lake County.

— Steve Goldman



Exciting future

While Riverside will lose key players in (Akron recruit) L.T. Smith, Maxwell, and quarterback Zack Kuzma, who passed for 223 yards Friday night against the Blue Streaks, Wolf is excited about what the future holds for the Beaver program.

“Studio ran it hard tonight and has played some quarterback in the past,” Wolf said. “We just need him to stay healthy. Both he and (sophomore running back) Bilal are excellent. We also started two sophomore linebackers tonight (Matt Cook and Tyler Burdorff), which is tough to do against a power-running team like Madison.

“Our junior varsity team has lost only one game this year,” he added. “I like what we have. I hope they go into the offseason determined to rectify what happened this year (2-8 overall).”

— David Negin



A lineman’s dream

Talk about being out of place, or so it would seem. Late in the YC win over PV, 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior center Doug Chumita did his version of the Refrigerator Perry gig, taking a couple of snaps out of the shotgun formation as the quarterback and running with the ball with some success. That’s a dream he can take along in life for a long, long time.

— Rich Kelly



Empty seats

Milano counted just 79 people in the stands behind the University bench Fridya night at Falcon Pride Stadium.

— Bob Ettinger



The possibilities

At just 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, it would seem Edgewood’s Devon Anderson might not have the physical stature to be a contributor to a good college program. But with his blazing speed, shifty running style and desire to get everything he can out of every play, coach Joe Kearney believes he could be a real asset.

“He might be able to fit in somewhere as a receiver or defensive back with his speed,” the coach said.

— Karl Pearson



Banged up

Kyle George reinjured his knee in the first quarter, and had to leave the contest for good. He hurt the knee on a failed attempt to run for a first down on fourth-and-one.

“I feel like crap, because I called the play,” Lakeside coach Bill Lipps said. “Maybe we punt there, and he’s out here hugging people now (after the game).”

— Steve Goldman



Oops!

The wind at Falcon Pride Stadium played havoc with the Jefferson cheerleaders.

As the band and cheerleaders were lined up for the Falcons to run from the end zone through a banner held by the cheerleaders on the way to the home sideline, the wind kicked up. It broke the banner in half, forcing the senior players, running arm in arm, to try and squeeze through exactly half a banner.

Late in the game, the wind became mischevious again.

As the the cheerleaders were throwing plastic footballs and water bottles to the home crowd, the wind grew stronger, causing everything that was thrown to curve in the wind.

One water bottle curved and was knocked out of the air by the wind, knocking a young fan right in the forehead.

— Bob Ettinger



A bonus

In addition to Edgewood’s convincing victory, Edgewood fan Debbie Reed walked away from Corlew Stadium with an extra reason to smile. She won the $257 prize in the 50-50 raffle.

— Karl Pearson



Grand man

Derrell McCaleb’s final carry of the season, a six-yard gain, put him over 1,000 yards for the season.

McCaleb entered 82 yards short of the milestone. According to Lipps’s staff, he ran for exactly 82. We have him for 87, but either way, he reached the 1,000 mark on his final attempt.

“We wanted to kneel the ball down there,” Lipps said. “And then they tell me six more yards for 1,000. We had to give him the ball, and I’m thinking, ‘Ohhhh, here we go.’ And I didn’t even want to look at the last one.”

McCaleb also had a 60-yard touchdown run nullified by a penalty. The Rangers also had a would-be 60-yard scoring play called back. Gresko threw to Brent Bryner on that play.

McCaleb, who played the second half of the campaign with a pulled hip flexor muscle, had his carries limited in some contests because of that.

— Steve Goldman



Making way for progress

Chuck Borsukoff has been a fixture in the press box at Jefferson’s Falcon Pride Stadium for 27 years.

And up until the old stadium and press box were leveled to make way for a new one this year, Borsukoff could claim the press box was his, at least in part.

He and his wife, Dona, were responsible for donating the two-level cement structure that once stood on the east side of the old stadium between two sets of bleachers.

“It was built in 1982,” Borsukoff said. “We did it to support the school. We designed it, built it and donated it to the school.”

In a way, Borsukoff misses the old building, which was replaced by a one-level pressbox on the west side of the stadium that is attached to the top row of bleachers. But he knows the time for a new structure had come.

“Yeah (I was sad to see it go),” he said. “But you can’t stand in the way of progress. Most schools would give anything to have a stadium and press box like this. It stood for 26 years.”

— Bob Ettinger



Big night

Levi Halsey made some big plays on defense from his linebacker position, including a crushing hit to stop Brent Bryner on third-and-one, one play before McCaleb returned a punt 58 yards for a TD.

Halsey also caught a 13-yard pass from Brandon Gibson to help set up the winning touchdown scored by Devonte Morris. It was the only pass of the night for Gibson, who played some quarterback after George went down. Joe Kelly, however, played that position for the majority of the plays after George’s injury.

“Levi Halsey’s probably got a broken foot,” Lipps said. “He did that in the Madison game (two weeks ago). He’s been playing on one leg.”

— Steve Goldman



Looking ahead

The PV roster sports only four seniors, three of whom played quite regularly, which means the next couple of years in Lakerland could be very interesting, if those underclassmen commit to working harder in the offseason.

“Football has become a year-round sport,” coach Jason Root said. “This is a great bunch of kids off the field, but we don’t have the mean streak to take out on the field and win this year. We will have a nice trio of running backs to build on for next year with Josh Kirby, Nick Marshall and Kurtis Marsh, and we have some quality kids on the line who just need to hit the weights harder all year round to make themselves into better players.”

PV sports 15 freshmen this year, and as those youngsters grow and mature, the opportunities for them are great, if they put in the work. Add in 13 sophomores and 15 juniors to the mix, and a return to dominance is well within reach, if they put in the work to make it happen. The skills are there, but focus and desire at times have lacked this season.

Improving the tackling also would help, as several YC plays turned into big gains Friday night as Lakers attempted to make the plays but failed to wrap up the legs of the Eagle players. Three scores for YC were a direct result of that problem, but it’s just something for PV to grow on for next year.

— Rich Kelly



Final fling

George, Kelly, McCaleb, Halsey and Morris are among the group of seniors who played their final game for Lakeside.

“I’m really proud of these seniors — the job all of them did,” Lipps said. “I’m really excited for our guys — even the younger guys. To get this win, I think it bodes well going into the offseason to get a win like this, just for those guys.

“I don’t think 5-5 was our goal at the beginning of the year, but you win your last two ballgames (including last week’s 42-13 triumph over Chardon), and to win them the way we won them, I’m pretty excited.”

— Steve Goldman