DON McCORMACK
Paying another visit to the variety store...
Connected
None of the seven active Ashtabula County high school football programs qualified for postseason play this fall, the closest being coach Tony Hassett’s Geneva Eagles, who finished 10th in the Division II, Region 5 computer ratings. The top eight teams in each of Ohio’s 24 regions qualify for the playoffs.
However, one county program is connected to postseason play this fall in two different ways — Pymatuning Valley.
Former Lakers great Mike Bell is the head coach of the Lake Catholic Cougars and former PV head coach Brian Cross is the head coach of the Olentangy Orange Pioneers.
Both will lead their respective squads into Division II regional semifinals Friday night at 7:30.
Bell’s a ringer
A 1986 PV graduate and a star on PV’s only 10-0 team in program history, Bell’s top-seeded Cougars (10-1) will take on fourth-seeded Canfield (10-1) in a Division II, Region 5 semifinal at Twinsburg Tiger Stadium.
Last week, the Cougars defeated visiting Ravenna in a regional quarterfinal.
A 2008 inductee into the Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame, the 41-year-old Bell has enjoyed a fine career as head coach at Lake Catholic. Now in his eighth season at the helm since replacing Tom Lombardo just weeks before the 2002 season began when Lombardo was suddenly dismissed, Bell will carry a 62-33 record (.653) at Lake Catholic into Friday night’s contest.
The winner of the Lake Catholic-Canfield game will take on the winner of Friday night’s other Region 5 semifinal, which will pit second-seeded Howland (10-1) against third-seeded Ashland (10-1), in the regional championship game and a berth in the Final Four a week from Friday night.
Bell and his wife, the former Susan Moores, herself a 1989 PV graduate and a former basketball standout, have three children — 13-year-old Dylan, 11-year-old Megan and 3-year-old Teagan.
Life of Brian
As is usually the case, wherever Brian Cross goes, he wins.
He spent three seasons at the helm of the Lakers, the final one being a 9-1 campaign in 1984, the only blemish on that season’s ledger being a 14-3 loss at Jefferson, the famous “Chubby Special” contest.
Last week, the Pioneers defeated visiting Dresden Tri-Valley in a regional quarterfinal.
Cross will lead fourth-seeded Olentangy Orange (9-2), in only its second season of existence, into Division II, Region 7 semifinal against Columbus Marion-Franklin (9-2), the region’s eighth-seeded squad, at Dublin Scioto Stadium.
The winner of that contest will tangle with the survivor of Friday’s other Region 7 semifinal, which will see second-seeded and undefeated Logan (11-0) — one of 30 teams in the Buckeye State to navigate its way through the 2009 regular season undefeated — and third-seeded Columbus Brookhaven (9-2) in the regional championship game a week from Friday night and a spot in the Final Four.
After departing PV after the 1984 season and turning the program over to Ken Parise, Cross moved on to Columbus Eastmoor, then to Grove City, then to Canton McKinley before being at the helm of the Olentangy Orange program when it lifted off with the 2008 season.
Player and coach
Ironically, Bell and Cross have a major connection during their time spent on the gridiron at Laker Stadium in Andover Township.
Bell played the first three seasons of his hall-of-fame career with the Lakers with Cross at the helm.
Now, they are two wins by their respective teams from seeing each other in a Division II state semifinal.
McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.
