By DON McCORMACK - donmac@suite224.net
Sports Editor
—
Geneva and Madison began squaring off on the gridiron back in the fall of 1922, with the Eagles winning that first encounter, 55-0.
Friday night, the two rivals will go at it for the 79th time in this border war as coach Tony Hassett’s Eagles invade Blue Streak Memorial Stadium to tangle with coach Tim Willis’ Blue Streaks.
In other games involving area teams in Week 2, Conneaut hosts Lakeside, Edgewood welcomes Berkshire, Jefferson journeys to Kirtland, Grand Valley plays at Fairport, Pymatuning Valley travels to Cardinal, Perry hosts Harvey and Riverside will trek to West Geauga.
But the clash between Geneva (0-1) and Madison (1-0) is this week’s marquee attraction.
Geneva ran the curtain up on its 2010 season last week with a 14-8 loss at Kirtland on Friday night. Meanwhile, Madison debuted the night before at Normandy and dominated the Invaders, 43-14.
The Eagles actually dominated the Hornets at the line of scrimmage, amassing 322 total yards (147 on the ground and 175 through the air) in last week’s matchup. However, a pair of lost fumbles — including one that Kirtland’s Michael Brettrager ran back 30 yards for the game’s first touchdown — and an interception helped to grease the skids toward defeat, something that wasn’t lost on Hassett.
“One simple word — turnovers,” he said. “Our fumbles led directly to one of their scores and changed the momentum. We have to take care of the rock and turn it up a level in the fourth quarter.
“We have to not turn the ball over and execute our assignments.”
Jake Bowser threw for 175 yards in his first game at quarterback for the Eagles, including a 12-yard touchdown toss to Dillon Puckrin (5 catches, 59 yards), who along with Cody Morrow (5 catches, 65 yards) were his primary targets. Tommy Padavick (16 carries, 87 yards) led the ground attack.
Conversely, Madison mauled Normandy, piling up 22 first-quarter points, building a 29-0 halftime advantage and cruising the rest of the way. Running back Josh March led the way with 149 yards rushing on 23 carries, including touchdown runs of 13 and 1 yard and also hauled in an 84-yard scoring strike from quarterback Andy Karlson.
“The boys worked extremely hard in the offseason and are a year more mature,” Willis said. “Once again, we have 19 returning starters so that definitely helped.
“Josh is a very good player and our offensive line are all returning starters and we expect them to be productive. Josh had some very explosive plays.”
With the Blue Streaks piling up 468 yards of total offense on 52 plays — an average of 9.0 yards per snap — including 272 yards on 44 carries on the ground, Karlson’s strong arm wasn’t needed often.
However, when it was, he was deadly accurate, making good on seven of his eight attempts for 196 yards. Two of those seven completions went for touchdowns, the aforementioned 84-yarder to March and a 37-yard toss to Billy Skerkavich for the game’s first score.
“Getting six starts as a sophomore has given him great experience and the true speed of varsity football,” Willis said. “We have a good crop of wide receivers and we will have balance in our offense.”
Hassett realizes his squad faces another tough task this week in Madison.
“They are a very good team,” he said. “They have excellent size and speed. They have a very balanced attack. We have to be at our best and not turn the ball over.
“Obviously, (the Eagles) are not used to coming out on the short end. We will be fine. They are competitors. Madison is a rival game for us.”
Willis isn’t about to allow his squad to overlook the Eagles, who ended a 12-season losing skid in this series with a 30-14 win a year ago at Memorial Field.
“They have a balanced football team and we take games one at a time and will do our best to beat Geneva,” he said.
Madison, which has now won five consecutive games dating back to last season, holds a 42-33 edge in this series, with three games having been played to ties.
Lakeside at Conneaut
Both the Dragons and the Spartans took it on the chin in Week 1, Lakeside being felled at home Thursday night by visiting Howland, 45-14, and Conneaut dropping a 25-8 verdict at Ledgemont the next night.
The two former Northeastern Conference rivals will square off in the first game in the refurbished Municipal Stadium.
Lakeside was ambushed by a battle-tested, talented Howland squad of coach Dick Angle to the tune of being down, 24-0, after only one quarter of play and the Dragons never could catch their breath. The Tigers built a 38-0 halftime advantage and upped that to 45-0 before Lakeside scored 14 fourth-quarter points against the Howland reserves.
“Our kids went through a lot of emotions on Thursday, but maybe the one that hurt them the most was embarrassment,” Lipps said. “I had two players tell me they felt embarrassed. We lost a football game, nothing more. Half the state of Ohio lost football games last weekend.
“When you care about these kids as I do, when one says he was embarrassed, you put every effort you can in your being to see to it they never fell that emotion again. This week, although we are playing Conneaut, is really more about the Lakeside Dragons than the Conneaut Spartans. We need to get better each day. We need to practice better. We need better effort out of our offense, our defense and our special teams.”
Coach Ken Parise’s Spartans trailed by only seven points after two quarters at Ledgemont, 7-0, but were outscored in the third quarter, 12-0, by the Redskins and the game got away from them.
“It’s not so much what they did in the game, rather what we did not do,” Parise said. “Our inability early in the third quarter to take charge of the game was big.
“After that, they had two big plays that thwarted our efforts to come back and get a win. When you have 67 offensive plays, you should score more than eight points.”
Therein was the problem for Conneaut — it averaged but 3.25 yards per play on those 67 offensive snaps.
Lakeside had an even more difficult time of it against Howland, averaging just 1.94 yards on 48 offensive plays.
“We have to re-evaluate the offensive line,” Lipps said. “I do not think the same people who started against Howland will be the same people who start at Conneaut. I think our two tailbacks combined for about 15 yards. It starts up front. We just need to have patience with the group and Howland is not the defensive unit you want young lineman to get baptized against.”
Parise’s point of emphasis in the preseason was getting his guys to compete. Entering the season on a nine-game losing streak, he went back to the basics — compete.
“(We did, but) not to the point of us as a team being successful and winning the football game,” he said.
To its credit, Lakeside didn’t run up the white flag against Howland, despite the insurmountable deficit it faced as its two fourth-quarter touchdowns attest.
“Howland has a very talented well-coached team,” Lipps said. “They have three Division I recruits. We sure didn’t handle the pressure they came at us with and I think things snowballed our inexperience then was amplified.
“But then I credit our kids with regrouping and making some plays and getting some stops. There were some good things to come out of the film.”
Lipps, whose squad was hammered by graduation last spring, understands where things stand... and why.
“We have had great leadership here the last two seasons in the likes of Cody Maxwell, Isaac Moore in 2008, then, guys like Joe Kelly, Levi Halsey and that great senior class from 2009,” he said. “We have spoken to the guys about how to practice.
“This is a hard team to get to practice gamelike. Maybe because so few have played in games. But now that we have one under our belts, we hope to be able to turn up the intensity in practice. We are stressing in order to play with passion, you need to practice with passion.”
Which is exactly what Parise is stressing with his program in trying to get his guys to compete in every facet of the game.
“Lakeside is a big challenge for us,” he said. “Our schedule all year is tough and we have to forget about last week and keep improving until we find success.
“It is our home opener in the new stadium and we need to be ready to go and accept the challenge at hand.”
Lakeside and Conneaut have played six times since Ashtabula and Harbor were consolidated to form Lakeside starting with the 2001 season.
The Spartans actually won games played in the first two seasons — both of which were NEC championship seasons for Lakeside. Conneaut handed Lakeside its only league loss in 2001, 14-8, at Municipal Stadium, then did the same the next fall at Guarnieri Field, 22-18. That result cost the Dragons an outright NEC championship, a belt they were forced to wear with co-champion Jefferson.
However, Lakeside has won the last four meetings, including last year’s 54-15 domination at Lakeside Stadium.
Berkshire at Edgewood (WYBL)
This is another matchup of teams that struggled in their openers — both on their home turf.
The Warriors were manhandled by visiting Champion, 45-13, at Corlew Stadium. The Badgers were stunned at home by Pymatuning Valley’s fourth-quarter surge, 12-7.
Edgewood will have a new starting quarterback this week as Peter Mackey was hospitalized in midweek because of pneumonia. That means sophomore Lou Wisnyai will be under center for the Warriors.
“There’s no way Pete will be able to go, no matter what,” first-year Warriors coach Dominic Iarocci said. “I wouldn’t do that to any young man, even if he is released.
“Louie has been taking snaps all preseason and played the second half against Champion. He will get the call Friday night.”
Offense, though, was not the problem for Edgewood against Champion. The Warriors ran for 204 yards, running 50 offensive plays (one more than Champion) and averaging 5.0 yards per snap. Devin McCaleb led the ground attack with 90 yards on 17 carries. Ball security is an issue for Edgewood, though, as it fumbled the football seven times last week against Champion, losing it twice.
Defense, though, was a titanic issue for Edgewood as Champion ran for 264 yards and piled up 503 total yards in the game.
The Golden Flashes averaged a staggering 10.26 yards on their 49 offensive snaps, something you can bet Berkshire — which returns four starters to an offensive line from a year ago — to a unit that averages 223 pounds per man will do everything it can to exploit this week.
“It was a combination of several things,” Iarocci said. “I think the defense, as a whole, played extremely poor. Especially when we thought the defense was the strongest part of our football team, and I’m talking about the defensive line, linebackers and secondary.
“We gave up too many big plays, and that’s unacceptable.”
Edgewood was certainly hampered by the loss of outside linebacker (and running back) Drew Severino. The senior was lost to a broken ankle early in the contest.
“It was extremely deflating, because Drew is a four-year letterman and he’s one of our best defensive players and one of our hardest workers,” Iarocci said. “But the rest of the team has to learn that when someone goes down, you have pick up the pieces and play harder.”
Berkshire, which is once again being led by former coach Jack Arnold, held a 7-0 lead against visiting PV last week, only to see the Lakers score 12 fourth-quarter points and record a 12-7 victory.
The Badgers averaged only 2.04 yards on their 53 offensive plays against the Lakers last week.
Edgewood and Berkshire have played 12 games since Edgewood started playing football in 1944, all dozen being played since 1998. The Badgers lead the all-time series, 7-5, having won the last four matchups at Corlew Stadium.
The last time the Warriors defeated the Badgers at Corlew Stadium was in 2000, when they claimed a 28-13 verdict.
Edgewood snapped a seven-game losing streak to Berkshire with a 28-19 triumph a year ago in Burton.
Jefferson at Kirtland
The Falcons are coming off a disappointing 20-12 loss at Grand Valley in their opener, a game in which they ran 17 more offensive plays than the Mustangs and outgained them, 353-219.
However, three interceptions and an inability to turn its yardage advantage into points thwarted their efforts.
“We had too many turnovers and Grand Valley made plays when they had the opportunity,” Falcons coach Jimmy Henson said.
Running back Scott Davidson was the hammer of the Jefferson attack in Week 1, rumbling for 180 yards on 17 carries, including a 46-yard first-quarter touchdown run for the game’s first score.
“We knew that Scott was good, but we didn’t expect 180-plus yards,” Henson admitted. “Scott did a great job of hitting the hole quick and running very hard to break tackles.
“The offensive line deserves a lot of credit. They blocked very well all night and opened holes for all of our backs.”
Kirtland, on the other hand, hung tough to knock off Geneva in its opener.
The Hornets of fifth-year coach Tiger LaVerde are led by quarterback Paul Guhde, who led the Kirtland attack to more than 2,400 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2009. Last season, Kirtland came to Jefferson and KO’d the Falcons, 34-6.
“Kirtland has a very good QB back this year (Guhde), who can both run and pass,” Henson said. They ran the ball very well against Geneva with (Christian Hauber, 990 yards and 16 TDs a year ago as a sophomore) doing a great job (104 yards on 23 carries). He runs the ball very hard.”
High-powered as Kirtland’s offensive attack is, the Hornets did fumble six times in their opener against Geneva, losing five of them.
“To beat them, we must continue to run the ball well and we need to throw it better and eliminate turnovers,” Henson said. “On defense, we must be ready to play very physical to slow down their offense.
“Last week, they put the ball on the ground six times, so hopefully, we can cause some turnovers.”
These two former Western Reserve League rivals resumed a series last fall with the game in Jefferson of a series that had been put on ice since 1983. Jefferson’s last win in this matchup happened when coach Reid Lamport’s Falcons recorded a 13-0 win at Kirtland in 1982.
Kirtland leads the all-time series, 10-8, having won seven of the last eight games.
Jefferson won the initial clash, 34-0, in its first season of 11-man football after a 20-year absence — 1946 — 34-0 at Kirtland.
Grand Valley at Fairport
This matchup features a pair of former Grand River Conference rivals that had opposite results in their 2010 debuts.
While coach Tom Henson’s Mustangs gutted out a 20-12 victory against visiting Jefferson at Grand Valley Stadium on Friday night, coach John Lipps’ Skippers were thwarted by visiting Harvey the night before, 27-12.
After the emotional victory against rival Jefferson, the Mustangs face the prospect of a letdown this week at Fairport. Don’t think for a second Henson isn’t aware of it — and he knows just how to make sure that doesn’t take place. Fairport returns 16 starters — seven on offense and nine on defense
“Watch the game film and bring them back to reality,” he said matter of factly. “You are never as good as you think you are, or as bad as you think you were.
“The film doesn’t lie. We have a lot of improving to do if we want to keep winning.”
The Mustangs took to the air to defeat the Falcons, with junior quarterback A.J. Henson completing an impressive 13 of 17 passes in the victory. Most impressive, though, was the fact GV’s 15 total completions were divvied up to five different receivers, a fact that was not lost on Tom Henson.
With Jefferson’s attention obviously focused on Ashtabula County’s leader in receptions and yardage a year ago — Mitchell Lake — being able to spread the wealth proved extremely important. Joe Satterfield (4 catches, 34 yards), Mason Berkey (4 catches, 29 yards), Jeromy Rockafellow (3 catches, 26 yards), Adam Moodt (3 catches, 26 yards) and Lake (2 catches, 19 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown reception) made the GV passing attack very difficult to defend.
“Last year was a transition for both the players and coaching staff,” Tom Henson said. “We went to the spread and we still had Trenton Doing at QB to start. With this type of offense you need your best athlete at QB and they need to work together.
“This summer allowed these players to get together, knowing full well what each one’s role was going to be and they all embraced that role. Remember, these kids play baseball, basketball and football together all the time. They know each other better than the coaches know them.”
The veteran coach admitted having so many guys who can catch the football will also help the Mustangs establish a ground attack.
“How many teams have the ability to stop all five receivers?” he said. “If they choose to do that, we will be able to run the ball any time.”
While being outgained by Jefferson in Game 1, 353 yards to 219, Tom Henson said those numbers are a bit misleading.
“Although there was a big disparity in the yardage, remember they had a 74- and 4- yard run which both should have been tackled at the line... missed tackles,” he said. “The second thing is we did not break like we have in the past. We adjusted some player alignments and changed stunts to help coverage, knowing they would have to go to the air because we had the lead.
“The most important thing we did to negate the yardage was score.”
Not to mention pick off three Jefferson passes, one each by Satterfield, Lake and Seth Bixel.
Tom Henson said even though Fairport has struggled in recent years — it has won more than two games in a season only once (4 in 2007) since its 2003 squad of coach Wally Kesling went 6-4 and won the East Suburban Conference championship — these are not the same Skippers, the 27-12 opening loss to Harvey after leading at the half, not withstanding.
Mustangs scout Tom Triskett came home with plenty for GV to work on. The Fairport attack is led by 5-foot-7, 165-pound senior running back J.C. Griffin, who was a state-qualifying wrestler a year ago as a junior.
“They are solid on both sides of the ball,” Henson said. “They have 10 seniors who have started together for three years.
“They will run the wing-T and spread on offense and bring a lot of heat on defense. They are an eight-man front and stunt with man coverage in the secondary.
“Hot reads when passing and strong blocking for the run game will be the key on offense. Defensively, we must remain disciplined for the wing-T, trap plays in the spread and their play-action passing game.”
This series began in 1976 when Fairport joined the GRC and won the league behind future Ohio State Buckeye Tom Orosz are quarterback. Orosz, who was a national Punt, Pass and Kick champion as a kid, led the Skippers to a 62-8 win in Orwell that fall.
However, the Mustangs then ripped off 13 straight wins in the series, which was played annually through 1997. The two teams did not play again until the series was resumed in the fall of 2007, a game won by Fairport, 39-27, at Fairport. GV bounced back with wins the past two seasons, 34-28 in 2008 and 47-7 last fall.
The Mustangs lead the all-time series, 21-4, including an 8-2 edge in games played at Fairport.
Pymatuning Valley at Cardinal
These two former ESC rivals square off in Middlefield, meeting for the 26th time on the gridiron.
Both squads came out on the long end in their respective openers, the Lakers prevailing in coach Neal Croston’s debut as a head coach, 12-7 at Berkshire, and coach Eric Cardinal’s Huskies besting Garrettsville Garfield on the road, 15-10.
The victory snapped a seven-year opening-game losing skid for Pymatuning Valley.
Croston installed an offense that relies on running the football and it paid off at Berkshire. The Lakers kept hammering away at the Badgers and it paid off huge in the fourth quarter, when running back Nick Marshall broke loose for touchdown runs of 3 and 77 yards to overcome a 7-0 deficit.
That despite the fact PV fumbled five times, losing three of them, something it turned around in the final quarter.
“We held on to the football, where as the first three quarters, we put the ball on the ground a few times,” Croston said. “Our front six set the tone early and just creating holes throughout the game. The constant drive blocking can really make the opposing team tired by the fourth quarter.”
Marshall compiled 137 yards on the ground and was ably supported by Josh Kirby’s 76 yards. The two Laker backs halved 36 rushing attempts.
Meanwhile, while the Lakers were averaging a solid 4.25 yards on their 42 offensive snaps, the PV defense limited Berkshire to an average of just 2.04 yards on its 53 offensive plays.
Croston, who had served as an assistant coach at PV for five years before stepping up to fill the shoes of Jason Root, knows the task is expected to be a bit more difficult this week at Cardinal.
“They have senior QB (T.J. Minnick), who is a good one, but they also have a nice running game to take the pressure off him,” Croston said of the Huskies’ wing-T attack, which is led by running backs Adam Farmwald and Vinny Polverine. The two backs combined for 756 yards last season, averaging better than seven yards per carry.
Defensively, Cardinal is led by lineman Clayton Thurling, who had 91.5 tackles in 2009.
“They created turnovers in their first game and physically played with Garfield,” Croston said. “We will need another team effort for four quarters to beat Cardinal. We must be able to run the ball again, but also must be able to have a few big plays down the field.”
While admittedly excited about the opening victory, Croston didn’t even keep the game ball.
“I was very excited about the win, but more for our players,” he said. “They really played with passion for four quarters.
“No, I didn’t keep the ball or anything like that. We will now just focus on Cardinal and probably use the same game balls as last week.”
These two teams have played 25 times on the gridiron, Cardinal holding a 15-10 lead, built on winning 12 of the last 13 contests played between the schools. The only exception in that 13-year span was a 19-3 win by the Lakers in 2007 at Laker Stadium.
The Huskies have won eight of 13 games played in Middlefield, including the last seven. PV’s last win at Cardinal was a 33-14 triumph in 1993.
Harvey at Perry
The Pirates came out with guns a blazin’ in Week 1, pillaging Riverside, 49-14, at Riverside Stadium.
Perry hit a young Riverside squad with a 21-point second quarter, which when added to a 14-7 lead after one quarter, resulted in a 35-14 halftime advantage.
The Pirates’ efficiency even caught coach Matt Rosati a bit off-guard.
“Yes, we are a little surprised, but we got on a roll and things went our way,” he said. “The game plan was well executed.”
Especially by senior quarterback Mitchel Hokavar, who was what amounted to a greyhound playing against an arena full of alley cats.
Hokavar used his legs (101 yards on 13 carries, TD rushes of 13, 9 and 5 yards) and his arm (17 of 25, 247 yards, TD strikes of 11 and 19 yards to Anthony Kukwa) to simply overwhelm the Beavers. In the end, Perry ran 60 offensive plays and compiled 431 total yards, averaging 7.2 yards per play.
“We expected that from Mitchel, but the key was our offensive line,” Rosati said. “They played extremely well and gave Mitchel the opportunity to do what he does.
“Mitchel and the offensive line did a great job of identifying the blitz and blocking it.”
While Kukwa had the two touchdown grabs and finished with five catches for 52 yards, Matt Kropko (6 receptions, 62 yards), Mickey Parker (3 grabs, 79 yards) and Ryan Phelps (2 catches, 34 yards) were all targets hit by Hokavar.
The big early advantage allowed Rosati and his staff the opportunity to get a look at a ton of younger players in actual game-speed action, which should prove beneficial down the road.
“We were able to get everyone on the field and it is great for morale,” Rosati said. “The kids work hard and love to be on the field on Friday nights. It makes it fun for everyone involved in the entire community.”
The Red Raiders, led by second-year coach Marwin Walling, himself a Harvey graduate, are led on offense by running back Justin Rice, a 5-10, 160-pound senior. The line is anchored by 6-3, 270-pound Kyle Bates.
“Harvey is a very well- coached team and has some very good athletes,” Rosati said. “They do a nice job offensively spreading the field and getting the ball to a number of different guys.
“Defensively, they are fast and blitz well. They played a very impressive second half against Fairport and do have our full attention.”
The two schools squared off for only the fifth time in the last 50 years last season when the Pirates doubled up the Red Raiders at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium, 42-21.
Perry leads the series in games played the last half-century, 3-2, having won the last three matchups.
Harvey’s last triumph at Perry was a 32-0 whitewashing of the Pirates in 1968.
Riverside at West Geauga
It’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Beavers as first-year head coach Dave Bors and both his coordinators return to coach against the squad they led to a 9-1 regular season and a playoff berth last season.
Bors admits a plethora of emotions will be on hand in this one.
“It will definitely be emotional,” he said. “We left a team that quite arguably could be the best team in school history. We had those kids since they were freshmen and built strong relationships. It’s a game that will be difficult in more ways than one.
“However, we are at Riverside now and couldn’t be happier with the way things are going, how our kids are responding and the support of administration and community. It’s still going to take a bit of time yet, but we’ll turn the corner here soon enough.”
The Beavers were hit early and often by Hokavar and his Perry teammates in Week 1. Bors came away impressed.
“They definitely were very good and we are pretty inexperienced right now,” he said. “Couple that with new schemes and philosophies everywhere and you have a game versus a very good team that will exploit any weakness you have.”
After a 13-yard touchdown run to open the scoring last week, Riverside’s Anthony Bilal ran back the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to tie the game, electrifying the home crowd.
“Anthony is a special talent,” Bors said. “He is capable of taking it to the house any time he touches the ball. It was a huge lift for us at that particular moment, and it was one of the highlights of the night.”
Also, the Beavers were able to establish a running game last week, putting up 137 yards on 39 carries with their new triple-option attack. Ben Maxwell (45) and Matt Tash (43) did most of the damage.
“If we can’t run the ball, we are in big trouble,” Bors said. “While the score was ugly, we took plenty of positives away from this game and will continue to work extremely hard to get better.”
First-year coach Lou Cirino, himself a former Wolverine, has kept the triple-option attack Bors had in place, though he has added a bit of a spread look, too.
Quarterback Joe Drenski, a 5-9, 175-pound senior, leads the West G attack, having rushed for 642 yards and 12 touchdowns a year ago as a junior.
On the other side of the football, since they lack size, the Wolverines will rely on schemes and quickness to try and limit the Beavers.
Bors is more than aware of what his squad is facing Friday night in Chesterland,
“They are every bit as good as Perry,” the man who led West G to a 35-14 victory at Riverside Stadium a year ago said matter of factly. “They want to run the football, but they mix in the pass nicely as well. We need to continue to establish the ground game, shore up our special teams and work to get key stops on defense.”
These two schools have played nine games all-time, Riverside leading the series, 5-4, though West G has won all three games played since the series resumed in 2007 after a 35-year absence.
The Beavers and the Wolverines played every season from 1967 through 1972. Riverside hasn’t defeated West Geauga since a 6-0 victory in Painesville Township in 1972. Its last triumph in Chesterland took place the year before, 14-13.
McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Read his blog at donmac1.blogspot.com. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.
