lorain county football preview weol forecast …

Fall 2015 Forecast Magazine 1

2 Fall 2015 Forecast Magazine

ABOUT THE COVER

2014 was a remarkable year for Keystone tight end C.J. Conrad. He began theseason by accepting a Division One scholarship and committing to play foot-ball at the University of Kentucky. During the season Conrad lead his team with55 receptions for 742 yards and 10 touchdowns. On the defensive side of theball Conrad was just as effective, posting 76 tackles with two interceptions. Hisnumbers helped lead Keystone to an 8-2 record and their first Division IV play-off appearance in the school’s history. The dream season came to a fitting endwhen Conrad was named the Lorain County Golden Helmet Award winnermaking him just the second Wildcats player, and first since 1972, to receive theprestigious honor.

LORAIN COUNTY FOOTBALL PREVIEW ..................pg. 4

The Running Clock.....................................................pg. 15

Youth Football:

The Tail That Wags the Dog .......................................pg. 16

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PREVIEW .............pg. 22

CLEVELAND BROWNS PREVIEW ............................pg. 30

FOOTBALL SCHEDULESKOLCZUN & KOLCZUN GRIDIRON CLASHES.........pg. 5

AREA HIGH SCHOOLS ................................................pg. 8

MEDINA COUNTY MATCH-UPS ..............................pg. 19

OHIO COLLEGES .......................................................pg. 26

BUCKEYES ..................................................................pg. 23

BROWNS .....................................................................pg. 31

WEOL FORECAST MAGAZINEFALL 2015 PREVIEW

A Publication of AM930 WEOLVolume 17 Issue 1

Station ManagerTim Alcorn

EditorMatt Douglass

Assistant EditorsCraig AdamsTim Alcorn

Tom HutchisonBruce VanDyke

Cover DesignBozCorn Productions

PublisherDouthit Communications


Any moment now, the man wearing a black and white striped shirt will hand a brown, leathersphere to a young man who might have sharpened his skills on the soccer field. That young manwill no doubt squeeze the sphere...a football...then place it ever so carefully at the proper angle onan orange tee. He’ll then back away...7 to 10 yards will do...and wait for another man wearing ablack and white striped shirt at the other end of the field to raise his arm and blow his whistle. Theyoung man will quickly approach the ball with his eyes focused on the lower half...and with oneswing of a leg...BOOM!... the high school football season is underway.

Yes, it’s time for another season of outstanding high school football on AM930 WEOL and onlineat www.weol.com. Once again this year, AM 930 WEOL will bring you one game on-the-air andonline, and two other games online, every Friday night.

We hope this edition of FORECAST will help you enjoy the 2015 campaign...with features andschedules for your favorite high school teams plus the defending national champion Ohio StateBuckeyes and the rebuilding Cleveland Browns.

AM 930 WEOL is proud to cover and support our local high school teams. We thank our greatsponsors who make these games and this magazine possible. And as always, we appreciate theassistance of the high school athletic directors, coaches and staff who help us with our broadcastschedule.

See you under the lights!

Craig R. AdamsOperations Manager/News DirectorWEOL AM 930

By: Tim Alcorn“Change can be a good

thing”. How often have weheard that saying? Well, if it’strue, then the changes that willunfold this season both on andoff the field should make for agood, if not great, 2015 highschool football season.

The biggest change locallycomes in the form of confer-ence alignments and newleagues, with several localsquads competing against newteams, and forming new rival-ries. Notably, the West ShoreConference is gone, though notits incredible history and mem-orable games. The WSC will bemissed. Those WSC teams have

scattered elsewhere, with four(Avon, Midview, NorthRidgeville and Lakewood) nowin the Southwestern Confer-ence, making that league oneof the most formidable innortheast Ohio.

Delving into the SWC, let’sstart with the newer members,beginning with Midview. Pickany positive adjective, and itdescribes the Middie 2014 sea-son. Incredible, phenomenal,fantastic, would all be aptdescriptions of the 12-1 cam-paign (including a perfect 10-0regular season) the Middies puttogether last year under firstyear head coach DJ Shaw.Returning offensively from that

historic team is fabulously tal-ented quarterback DustinCrum, as well as star receiverLogan Bolin. Standoutreceivers Dimitri Redwood andDaimion Mahone are back aswell. Defensively, the Middiesreturn several starters, includ-ing linemen Trey Preston andJordan Shevel and linebackerAlec Forrer. The Middiesshould have another greatcampaign in front of them.Gunning for Midview will beAvon, who posted anothergreat season under coach MikeElder last year, going 10-2, withtheir only two setbacks comingto the Middies in epic regularseason and playoff battles. The

Eagles boast great returnees aswell, with QB Jake Sopko back,as well as running back GerrettChoat, and wide receivers Dar-rin Davis and Wil Heilman.Sopko is already a CincinnatiBearcat recruit. Joey Valentiand Sam Gerak will anchor aterrific offensive line. Choatreturns defensively, as donumerous other startersincluding linemen AndrewRoesch and Vince Gargaro, andlinebacker Austin Lewis. Nodoubt, the Eagles are primedfor another outstanding sea-son. Another newcomer to theSWC is North Ridgeville, who


2015 Lorain County high school football preview

Anna Norris/Chronicle

Midview entrance.

See CHANGE on page 6


comes off a 5-5 season. LukeDurbin enters his second yearas head coach, and has per-haps the most electrifyingplayer in the area in Ohio Staterecruit, running back DemarioMcCall to build around. Quar-terback Colin Sullinger joinsDemario in the backfield, whilewide receiver Jordan Mont-gomery is a great target. AustinSycz is a tremendous two-waylineman, while Jack Lesniakexcels as both a tight end anddefensive lineman. WithMcCall leading the way, theRangers will be a very danger-ous team to contend with thisseason. Another second yearhead coach is Bill Fishleigh atAmherst. While the Cometsstruggled through a 2-8 seasonlast year, Coach Fishleigh ravedabout the competitiveness ofhis team, and looks for betterresults in the won-loss columnthis season. Several playersreturn, including linebackersTodd Hastings, Cooper Cotter-ill, and Noah Jackson, andsafety Mark Harris on defense,while offensively, Nick DeJesus

will be the QB, with JarrodBradac returning at runningback. Three key offensive line-men are back too, including JoeMasters, Cam Haslage andAdrian Barnes. If ever a teamwants a bounce back year it’sAvon Lake. The Shoremen werealso 2-8 last season, including a1-5 SWC mark. Hall of Famecoach Dave Dlugosz does havesome solid returnees, includingbruising running back andlinebacker Sam Klimkowski,another linebacker (and tightend) Bobby Kiskin, two waylineman Jordan Turner andCarson Toy, a terrific widereceiver and defensive back.Berea-Midpark was the SWCchamp last year, with a perfect6-0 mark in the league (and 8-2overall), and should be primedfor another big season. West-lake has a new head coach informer Massillon coach JasonHall, who replaced MarkCampo following a 3-7 season.The always formidable NorthOlmsted Eagles come off a 7-3record, and Olmsted Falls was4-6 last year. Lakewood willround out the SWC, which isnow a ten team conference.

Perhaps the best story for

Lorain County football last sea-son was the resurgence of foot-ball at Lorain High School,where Dave McFarland led theTitans to the playoffs in hisvery first year at the helm.Lorain battled to a 7-4 overallrecord last year, and while theylost some great talent inRashod Berry and EddieWilliamson to name a couple,the Titans return such stalwartsas linemen Naz Bohannon,Josh Fenn, and Kenny Wash-ington, while Kevin Davis is aterrific skill player. Anotherreturnee for the Titans is thetalented Sam McGuigan.Lorain is in the rugged LEL, butCoach McFarland isn’t one tolet a team go backwards, sothere should be some funnights at George Daniel Fieldthis fall. Football is definitelyback at LHS!

Elyria Catholic heads to abrand new league (the GreatLakes Conference) with a newhead coach, as Dave Stupkatakes over the Panther pro-gram. Coach Stupka had beenon the EC staff as an assistant,and has previously been a headcoach at Lutheran West,Chanel, and Midpark. EC joinsRocky River, Bay, Parma, Nor-mandy, Holy Name and ValleyForge in the new conference.The Panthers battled to a 6-4record last year, and had a ter-rific offense, averaging 36points per game. Jacob Kuchtaled that offense at QB, and hereturns, as do several others,including sensational widereceiver Cole Virgin and offen-sive lineman Mickey O’Neil.Defensively, lineman TedAchladis returns along with DBZac Thurmon. The new GLLmay be more to EC’s likingthan the West Shore, where thePanthers were challengedmatching up with biggerschools.

The other school in Elyria,the Elyria Pioneers are also in anew conference in 2015. TheGreater Cleveland Conferencebegins this fall, and Elyria joinsBrunswick, Medina,

Strongsville, Solon, Mentor,and Shaker Heights in the newleague. Elyria comes off a 7-4season in 2014 including a tripto the Division 1 playoffs. Keyreturnees for Kevin Fell’s teaminclude the running back tan-dem of Mikah Price and ChrisAtkinson, while defensively,Kevin Vough will anchor thedefensive line, with linebackersZachary Mason and JT Brownholding down linebacker spots.

Independently, the sad newsfor Lorain County fans is thatOpen Door will not field a foot-ball team in 2015. Ray Lowe’sPatriots had a 3-6 season lastyear, but shortly before Fore-cast went to press, Coach Loweannounced that due to lack ofplayers, the Patriots would notbe on the field for a third sea-son in 2015. Another inde-pendent is Vermilion (they willjoin the Sandusky Bay Confer-ence next season). The Sailorswent through a tough 2-8 sea-son last year but coach RobDuray played a slew of young-sters who will return this fall,including eleven starters.Offensively, quarterback NickBray, linemen Jared Wright andLiam McCullough are back,along with wide receiversAustin and Justin Carlson.Defensively, linemen AricByington and Tyler Bath return,as does linebacker Trevor Boyd.

The Patriot Athletic Confer-ence provided some terrificmatchups last year, and should

CHANGEfrom page 4

See CHANGE on page 7

Ray Ridel/Chronicle

Elyria Catholic Cole Virgin

Ray Ridel/Chronicle

North Ridgeville DeMario McCall


do the same this season. In theStars, Buckeye won the divisionin ‘14, but the Keystone Wild-cats finished just one gameback, and put together atremendous 8-3 season,including a first ever trip to theplayoffs. Rob Clarico needs toreplace 2014 Golden Helmetwinner CJ Conrad, but CJ’syounger brother Austin is atremendous two-way player atlinebacker and running back.Other key returnees for Key-stone include Tyler Kelly andChris Sittinger. The Cats havetasted success and will look tosustain their great year last sea-son. Firelands had a big turn-around season last year, going6-4 after a 0-10 campaign theyear before. Head Coach MikePassarello should be excitedabout the upcoming season,with returnees such as QB BradThrasher, RB Aaron Stevanusand lineman Jake Grasso, anddefensively Aaron Miller, TrevorStefanski in the line, and defen-sive back Cole Ference. Brook-side will have a new headcoach in ‘15, as Paul Fergusontakes over the Cardinal pro-gram from Thom Lesiecki whowent to Uhrichsville Claymont.The Cards are coming off a 5-5season, and coach Fergusoninherits some nice talent fromthat squad, including quarter-back Dudley Taw, tight endMax Wilson, and running backHunter Schmeltzer. Keyreturnees defensively are line-backer Tim Akerman anddefensive back JeremiahEdwards. The Cardinals couldbe dangerous. Sean Arnoenters his second year as thehead coach at Wellington, asthe Dukes look to improve off a2-8 record in ‘14. Wellingtonreturns many players from lastyear, including Max Carevic,Trevor Porter and Cole Jerousekon offense, and key contribu-tors defensively will be JustinSkinner, Chris Wagner and Jor-dan Howard. Black Riverrounds out the Stars Division.

Al Young will look to have hisPirate team improve on a 5-5‘14 campaign. On the Stripesside, Columbia again won thedivision and made anotherpost-season appearance, com-piling an outstanding 9-2record. Jason Ward has built atrue football “program” atColumbia. The Raiders wel-come back their quarterbackJacob Viccarone and his speedytarget at wide receiver JesseLambert, while defensively,leading tackler Mike Jaccobucciis back and so is lineman JBSurman. 2015 should beanother big year for theRaiders. Clearview was 5-5 lastseason as Mike Collier’s clubstruggled with injuries all year.The Clippers hope to reboundthis fall, led by their spectacu-lar receiver Lance Billings, aswell as two outstanding line-men, Johnny McDermott andDakota Stout. Billings hasalready committed to Iowa inthe Big 10 which speaks to histalent level. Defensively, JacobCollier and Jamel Billingsreturn in the secondary, andDeAri Todd and Mike Brunecz

will be back in the defensiveline and linebacker respec-tively. Oberlin was 2-8 last year,but the Phoenix were anotherteam that played a tremendous

amount of younger players asthey built for the future. Sec-ond year coach Mike Lawreturns several starters, includ-ing dynamic running back Eli-jah Bugg and another back inKobe Fields. Mark Aguinigaand John Rosa will anchor theoffensive line, and JourneyToole will provide a nice targetat wide receiver. Defensively,Morality Anderson is back onthe line, while linebacker JoeMedina returns as does ZionHicks in the secondary.Lutheran West, Fairview andBrooklyn complete the StripesDivision.

While change is in the airregarding certain aspects onthe local gridiron scene, onething that never changes is theatmosphere that surrounds thegreat game of high school foot-ball. While players, coaches,and conferences may be differ-ent this year, the roar of thecrowd, the sounds of the band,the smell of the popcorn andthe excitement on the fieldremains constant. In thatsense, NO change is a goodthing!

CHANGEfrom page 6

Ray Ridel/Chronicle

Clearview Lance Billings.

Ray Ridel/Chronicle

Firelands Brand Thrasher


Amherst Comets8/28 Kenston ...............................Home9/4 North Ridgeville..................Home9/11 Midview ................................Away9/18 Berea-Midpark .....................Away9/25 Olmsted Falls ......................Home10/2 Avon Lake............................Away10/9 North Olmsted....................Home10/16 Avon.....................................Away10/23 Westlake ..............................Home10/30 Lakewood .............................Away

Avon Eagles8/28 Strongsville ...........................Away9/4 Avon Lake............................Home9/11 North Olmsted .....................Away9/18 Midview .............................Home9/25 Westlake................................Away10/2 Lakewood............................Home10/9 North Ridgeville ................Home10/16 Amherst .............................Home10/23 Berea - Midpark ...................Away10/30 Olmsted Falls........................Away

Avon Lake Shoremen 8/28 Elyria..................................Home9/04 Avon ......................................Away9/11 Westlake ..............................Home9/18 Lakewood .............................Away9/25 North Ridgeville..................Away10/2 Amherst .............................Home10/9 Berea – Midpark ...................Away10/16 Olmsted Falls ......................Home .10/23 Midview...............................Home10/30 North Olmsted .....................Away

Bay Rockets8/28 Brookside..............................Away9/4 Streetsboro..........................Home9/11 Fairview ...............................Home9/18 Holy Name............................Away9/25 Rocky River .........................Home10/2 Normandy ...........................Home10/9 Elyria Catholic......................Away10/16 Vermilion ..............................Away10/23 Valley Forge.........................Home10/30 Parma ..................................Home

Berea – Midpark Titans8/28 Bedford................................Home9/4 Lakewood .............................Away9/18 Amherst ...............................Home9/25 Midview...............................Home10/2 Olmsted Falls........................Away10/9 Avon Lake............................Home10/16 North Olmsted .....................Away10/23 Avon.....................................Home10/30 Westlake................................Away

Black River Pirates 8/28 Western Reserve .................Home9/4 Northwestern......................Home9/11 Crestview ..............................Away9/18 Brooklyn ..............................Home9/25 Columbia ............................Away10/2 Keystone..............................Away10/9 Buckeye ...............................Home10/16 Brookside ............................Home10/23 Firelands ...............................Away10/30 Wellington ............................Away

Brecksville Bees8/28 Padua Franciscan ...............Home9/4 Garfield Heights ...................Away9/11 Brunswick.............................Away9/18 Cuyahoga Falls....................Home9/25 Twinsburg .............................Away10/2 Nordonia .............................Home10/9 North Royalton ...................Home10/16 Wadsworth............................Away10/23 Stow-Munroe Falls .............Home10/30 Hudson .................................Away

Brooklyn Hurricanes8/28 Rhodes.................................Home9/4 Firelands..............................Home9/11 Lincoln West........................Home9/18 Black River ............................Away9/25 Wellington...........................Home10/2 Fairview ................................Away10/9 Lutheran West.....................Home10/16 Columbia ..............................Away10/23 Oberlin ................................Home10/30 Clearview ..............................Away

Brookside Cardinals8/28 Bay .......................................Home9/4 Oberlin ................................Home9/12 Western Reserve...................Away9/18 Columbia.............................Home9/25 Lutheran West ......................Away10/2 Firelands ...............................Away10/9 Keystone..............................Home10/16 Black River ............................Away10/23 Wellington...........................Home10/30 Buckeye.................................Away


Brunswick Blue Devils8/28 Highland ...............................Away9/4 Austintown-Fitch................Home9/11 Brecksville ...........................Home9/18 Solon .....................................Away9/25 Elyria....................................Home10/2 Medina..................................Away10/9 Shaker Heights....................Home10/15 Euclid ....................................Away10/23 Mentor ..................................Away10/30 Strongsville..........................Home

Buckeye Bucks8/28 Revere ..................................Home9/4 Rocky River...........................Away9/11 Cloverleaf..............................Away9/18 Fairview ...............................Home9/25 Clearview ..............................Away10/2 Wellington...........................Home10/9 Black River ............................Away10/16 Firelands..............................Home10/23 Keystone ...............................Away10/30 Brookside ............................Home

Clearview Clippers8/28 Vermilion ..............................Away9/4 Rhodes.................................Home9/11 Dalton ...................................Away9/18 Firelands ...............................Away9/25 Buckeye ...............................Home10/2 Oberlin ................................Home10/9 Columbia ............................Away10/16 Fairview ...............................Home10/23 Lutheran West ......................Away10/30 Brooklyn ..............................Home

Cloverleaf Colts8/28 Northwest............................Home9/4 Keystone ...............................Away9/11 Buckeye ...............................Home9/18 Coventry ...............................Away9/25 Norton .................................Home10/2 Woodridge ............................Away10/9 Springfield...........................Home10/16 Ravenna ................................Away10/23 Field .....................................Home10/30 Streetsboro ...........................Away

Columbia Raiders8/28 Independence.....................Home9/4 Wellington...........................Away9/11 Northwestern......................Home9/18 Brookside..............................Away9/25 Black River.........................Home10/2 Lutheran West ......................Away10/9 Clearview ...........................Home10/16 Brooklyn ..............................Home10/23 Fairview ................................Away10/30 Oberlin..................................Away

Elyria Pioneers8/28 Avon Lake............................Away9/4 Lorain ..................................Away9/11 Shaw ....................................Home9/18 Medina ................................Home9/25 Brunswick.............................Away10/2 Shaker Heights....................Home10/9 Euclid ....................................Away10/16 Solon .................................Home10/23 Strongsville ...........................Away10/30 Mentor.................................Home

Elyria Catholic Panthers8/28 St. Thomas Aquinas............Home9/5 Cleveland Central Catholic Away9/11 Mogadore ............................Home9/18 Valley Forge ..........................Away9/25 Parma ..................................Home10/3 Holy Name ..........................Away10/9 Bay .......................................Home10/16 Normandy ...........................Home10/23 Rocky River...........................Away10/30 Gilmour Academy ..............Home

Fairview Warriors8/27 Rocky River...........................Away9/4 Vermilion.............................Home9/11 Bay.........................................Away9/18 Buckeye.................................Away9/25 Keystone..............................Home10/2 Brooklyn ..............................Home10/9 Oberlin..................................Away10/16 Clearview ..............................Away10/23 Columbia.............................Home10/30 Lutheran West.....................Home

Firelands Falcons8/28 Edison ...................................Away9/4 Brooklyn ...............................Away9/11 Vermilion ...........................Home9/18 Clearview.............................Home9/25 Oberlin..................................Away10/2 Brookside ............................Home10/9 Wellington ............................Away10/16 Buckeye.................................Away10/23 Black River ..........................Home10/30 Keystone..............................Home


Highland Hornets8/28 Brunswick ...........................Home9/4 Ashland .................................Away9/11 North Royalton.....................Away9/18 Revere ...................................Away9/25 Green ...................................Home10/2 Aurora..................................Home10/9 Copley ...................................Away10/16 Tallmadge............................Home10/23 Barberton ............................Home10/30 Roosevelt ..............................Away

Holy Name Green Wave8/28 Garfield Heights ...................Away9/4 Padua Franciscan.................Away9/12 Benedictine.........................Home9/18 Bay .......................................Home9/25 Normandy ............................Away10/3 Elyria Catholic...................Home10/9 Vermilion.............................Home10/16 Valley Forge ..........................Away10/23 Parma....................................Away10/30 Rocky River .........................Home

Keystone Wildcats8/28 Cuyahoga Heights................Away9/4 Cloverleaf ............................Home9/11 Galion....................................Away9/18 Lutheran West ...................Home9/25 Fairview ................................Away10/2 Black River.........................Home10/9 Brookside..............................Away10/16 Wellington...........................Home10/23 Buckeye ...............................Home10/30 Firelands ...............................Away

Lakewood Rangers8/28 Medina..................................Away9/4 Berea....................................Home9/11 Olmsted Falls........................Away9/18 Avon Lake............................Home9/25 North Olmsted....................Home10/2 Avon ......................................Away10/9 Westlake................................Away10/16 Midview...............................Home10/23 North Ridgeville ...................Away10/30 Amherst ...............................Home

Lorain Titans8/28 Midview .............................Home9/4 Elyria..................................Home9/11 Scott ......................................Away9/18 Garfield Heights ...................Away9/25 Boardman.............................Away10/2 Shaw......................................Away10/9 Sandusky .............................Home10/16 Maple Heights.....................Home10/23 Bedford .................................Away10/30 Cleveland Heights ..............Home

Lutheran West Longhorns8/29 Wickliffe ..............................Home9/4 Hawken.................................Away9/11 Independence ......................Away9/18 Keystone..............................Away9/25 Brookside ............................Home10/2 Columbia.............................Home10/9 Brooklyn ...............................Away10/16 Oberlin ................................Home10/23 Clearview.............................Home10/30 Fairview ................................Away

Mapleton Mounties8/28 Crestline................................Away9/4 Sandy Valley..........................Away9/11 Rittman................................Home9/18 New London .......................Home9/25 Monroeville ..........................Away10/2 Crestview.............................Home10/9 South Central ......................Home10/16 St. Paul.................................Home10/23 Plymouth ..............................Away10/30 Western Reserve...................Away

Medina Battling Bees8/28 Lakewood............................Home9/4 Kenston.................................Away9/11 Wadsworth ..........................Home9/18 Elyria .....................................Away9/25 Strongsville..........................Home10/2 Brunswick ...........................Home10/9 Mentor ..................................Away10/17 Shaker Heights .....................Away10/23 Euclid...................................Home .10/30 Solon .....................................Away

Midview Middies8/28 Lorain ..................................Away9/4 North Olmsted....................Home9/11 Amherst ...............................Home9/18 Avon.....................................Away9/25 Berea – Midpark ...................Away10/2 Westlake ..............................Home10/9 Olmsted Falls ......................Home10/16 Lakewood .............................Away10/23 Avon Lake .............................Away10/30 North Ridgeville..................Home


Normandy Invaders8/29 St. Ignatius............................Away9/4 North.....................................Away9/11 Revere ...................................Away9/18 Parma....................................Away9/25 Holy Name ..........................Home10/2 Bay.........................................Away10/8 Rocky River .........................Home10/16 Elyria Catholic......................Away10/23 Vermilion ..............................Away10/30 Valley Forge.........................Home

North Olmsted Eagles8/28 Valley Forge ..........................Away9/4 Midview ................................Away9/11 Avon.....................................Home9/18 Westlake ..............................Home9/25 Lakewood .............................Away10/2 North Ridgeville..................Home10/9 Amherst ................................Away10/16 Berea – Midpark .................Home10/23 Olmsted Falls........................Away10/30 Avon Lake............................Home

North Ridgeville Rangers8/28 North Royalton ...................Home9/4 Amherst ................................Away9/11 Berea – Midpark .................Home9/18 Olmsted Falls........................Away9/25 Avon Lake ..........................Home10/2 North Olmsted .....................Away10/7 Avon.....................................Away10/16 Westlake ..............................Home10/23 Lakewood............................Home10/30 Midview ................................Away

Oberlin Phoenix8/28 New London .......................Home9/4 Brookside..............................Away9/18 Wellington ............................Away9/25 Firelands..............................Home10/2 Clearview ..............................Away10/9 Fairview ...............................Home10/16 Lutheran West ......................Away10/23 Brooklyn ...............................Away10/30 Columbia.............................Home

Olmsted Falls Bulldogs8/28 Parma....................................Away9/4 Westlake................................Away9/11 Lakewood............................Home9/18 North Ridgeville..................Home9/25 Amherst ................................Away10/2 Berea – Midpark .................Home10/9 Midview ................................Away10/16 Avon Lake .............................Away10/23 North Olmsted....................Home10/30 Avon.....................................Home

Padua Bruins8/28 Brecksville.............................Away9/4 Holy Name ..........................Home9/11 West Geauga .......................Home9/18 Maple Heights ......................Away9/25 Garfield Heights..................Home10/3 Benedictine ..........................Away10/9 Walsh Jesuit.........................Home10/16 Archbishop Hoban...............Away10/23 Lake Catholic ......................Home10/30 NDCL ....................................Away

Parma Redmen8/27 Olmsted Falls ......................Home9/4 North Royalton ...................Home9/10 John Marshall......................Home9/18 Normandy ...........................Home9/25 Elyria Catholic......................Away10/2 St. Ignatius............................Away10/9 Valley Forge ..........................Away10/16 Rocky River...........................Away10/23 Holy Name ..........................Home10/30 Bay.........................................Away

Rocky River Pirates8/27 Fairview ...............................Home9/4 Buckeye ...............................Home9/12 Trinity....................................Away9/18 Vermilion ..............................Away9/25 Bay.........................................Away10/2 Valley Forge.........................Home10/8 Normandy ............................Away10/16 Parma ..................................Home10/23 Elyria Catholic ....................Home10/30 Holy Name............................Away

St. Edward Eagles8/29 Gilman (MD) ........................Away9/5 Glenville ..............................Home9/12 St Joseph (NJ) .......................Away9/19 Elder ....................................Home9/26 Bergen (NJ)..........................Home10/3 Cocoa (FL)...........................Home10/10 Mainland (FL) .....................Home10/17 Canada Prep (ON) ..............Home10/24 Archbishop Moeller............Home10/31 St. Ignatius ..........................Home

St. Ignatius Wildcats8/29 Normandy ...........................Home9/4 Mentor ..................................Away9/11 Valley Forge ..........................Away9/26 Walsh Jesuit.........................Home10/2 Parma ..................................Home10/10 Assumption College (CA)...Home10/17 Archbishop Moller..............Home10/24 St. Xavier..............................Home10/31 St. Edward.............................Away

Strongsville Mustangs8/28 Avon.....................................Home9/4 Hudson .................................Away .9/11 Brush.....................................Away9/18 Shaker Heights....................Home9/25 Medina..................................Away10/2 Euclid...................................Home10/9 Solon .....................................Away10/16 Mentor.................................Home10/23 Elyria....................................Home10/30 Brunswick.............................Away

Valley Forge Patriots8/28 North Olmsted....................Home9/4 Revere ..................................Home9/11 St. Ignatius ..........................Home9/17 Elyria Catholic ....................Home9/25 Vermilion ..............................Away10/2 Rocky River...........................Away10/9 Parma....................................Away10/16 Holy Name ..........................Home10/23 Bay.........................................Away10/30 Normandy ............................Away

Vermilion Sailors8/28 Clearview.............................Home9/4 Fairview ................................Away9/11 Firelands .............................Away9/18 Rocky River .........................Home9/25 Valley Forge.........................Home10/2 Ontario..................................Away10/9 Holy Name............................Away10/16 Bay .......................................Home10/23 Normandy ...........................Home10/30 Clyde .....................................Away

Wadsworth Grizzlies8/28 Ashland ...............................Home9/4 Wooster ...............................Home9/11 Medina..................................Away9/18 Stow – Munroe Falls ...........Home9/25 Cuyahoga Falls .....................Away10/2 North Royalton.....................Away10/9 Twinsburg............................Home10/16 Brecksville ...........................Home10/23 Hudson .................................Away10/30 Nordonia...............................Away

Wellington Dukes8/28 Chippewa ............................Home9/4 Columbia ...........................Home9/11 New London.........................Away9/18 Oberlin ................................Home9/25 Brooklyn ...............................Away10/2 Buckeye.................................Away10/9 Firelands..............................Home10/16 Keystone ...............................Away10/23 Brookside..............................Away10/30 Black River ..........................Home

Westlake Demons8/28 North ...................................Home9/4 Olmsted Falls ......................Home9/11 Avon Lake .............................Away9/18 North Olmsted .....................Away9/25 Avon.....................................Home10/2 Midview ................................Away10/9 Lakewood............................Home10/16 North Ridgeville ...................Away10/23 Amherst ................................Away10/30 Berea – Midpark .................Home


By Bob “Tomo” TomaszewskiLast year the OHSAA added

a new rule to the High SchoolFootball Rules Book. The rulesays if a team is losing by 30points or more at half time,referees are instructed to use arunning clock. That means theclock does NOT stop for anyreason other than an injury.This rule applies to all levels offootball: middle school to highschool. We now can playlonger with overtime gamesgoing on until a winner isestablished or teams couldplay less because a big half-time leads. I really don’t likethis new rule. I have talked tomany coaches and officialsand very, very few think thisrule is a good idea. In mymind, by implementing thisnew rule we are telling the los-ing team you are so bad we aregoing to shorten the game.Now I know that is not whatthe rule is intended to say, butin young athlete’s mind is hethinking: we not only got beatbad, but they shortened thegame on us? Isn’t one of the lifelessons sports are supposed toteach is finishing what youstart? In life you cannot gohome at noon because themorning didn’t go as well asyou had hoped.

Some coaches have told methey can barely get theirreserves in the game because

there is so little time.Think about this -during a game, theoffense has to put theball in play in justunder 30 seconds. If ittakes 15-20 seconds torun a play: whichincludes spotting theball and resetting thedown markers, you arelucky to run 18 to 19plays in a 12 minutequarter, even less ifyou turn the ball overon downs.

I have broadcast 7thand 8th grade gamesfor WLCS TV20 inLorain and in somecases the entire sec-ond half took less than15 minutes. A varsitygame may take only20-25 minutes to play.Why not make a rulethat says end thegame at half time?!

So what is the answerto handling lopsided vic-tories: I think it starts with thecoaches. We talk about sports-manship all the time. So howabout this – let’s show somesportsmanship to our players,fans and the other team.Coaches, call off the dogs inthose lopsided games. Let’sclear the bench. All players onthe team practice every day. Ifthey can’t get in the game

when you’re ahead by 30, whencan they? A lot of these kids areseniors and juniors that neversee the field, but are on thescout team all week helpingthe starters prepare. They areon the team because they lovefootball and want to be part ofthe team. Let them get theiruniform dirty on Friday night.

Here’s another idea. If youare one of those coaches thatthrows the ball 50 times agame: how about running theball a little bit why you are upby 30 points. That takes a lot oftime off the clock: and it willprotect your quarterback andreceivers from injuries late inthe game.

I think the OHSAA shouldinclude a 15 or 20 minute ses-sion during their annual rulesinterpretation meeting thatcovers lopsided games and theimportance of good sports-

manship. Coaches have toremember a win is a winwhether it’s by one point or by50. All the athletic conferencesin the state could place anemphasis on sportsmanship.The Ohio Football CoachesAssociation could also remindtheir members how to closeout lopsided games. Thatincludes the winning and los-ing coaches.

Wouldn’t it be nice to knowthat fans and parents thattravel to places likeYoungstown or Toledo will seea complete game and not asecond half that is shorter thanhalftime.

And a final thought – to allthe coaches and players in theWEOL AM930 broadcast area –GOOD LUCK this year andenjoy every minute of playingthe game.


The Running ClockHow time is changing in High School Football

David Richard/Chronicle

Tom Mahl/Chronicle


By: “Z” ZoltaiShould your youth-football

team use the same offense anddefense as your local highschool? Hell, no! Ok… some ofyou are all ready to lynch me.Don’t reach for the rope just yet— first read on with an openmind as I share a different viewon the subject with the hope oftaking you to an enlightenedplace.

Most reading this story don’tknow that 73 percent of youthathletes are out of all youthsports by age 13! The other 27percent tend to specialize inone sport for high school, andthey don’t all choose football.The typical youth team only hasabout six kids (20%), who aregoing to wind up ever playinghigh school varsity football. Thisnumber is supported atClearview, where sixth year

head coach, Mike Collier, esti-mates their percentage at 20-30percent. So, to run your localhigh school’s schemes on thetheory that your players are allgoing to play high school foot-ball in the future is the six-mantail wagging the 29-manremainder-of-the-team dog.Run the team for all the kids,not just the handful that willplay high school varsity football.

Is it About the Kids or Win-ning? For my story I reached outto numerous Lorain Countyhigh school football coaches,past and present. With the helpof Tim Gebhardt of the Chroni-cle, I was able to reconnect withmy former high school coach atElyria West, Bill Hewitt, whosaid during his career he did astint coaching 7th graders andfelt that if younger players didn’thave the basic fundamentals of

football, not only would thesekids be unable to develop theskills they need but they arealso more at risk for injury.Hewitt shared, “The thing thatupsets me the most was youngcoaches put more influence onwinning. They coach for themoment, for their own glory.”Veteran coach Bill Barton wouldalways say, “Kids need to enjoythe game, it’s only a game, havefun, let the kids have fun.” Oneof Coach Mike Collier’s ways tokeep the youth game fun isthrough, “pad work, rollingdrills, avoid talking too much,and shorter practice length forthe young kids”.

Brunswick, Head Coach LukeBeal said, he does prefer to haveelements of his high school phi-losophy taught at the youth lev-els, but added he also wants theyouth teams to keep theschemes simple, so that theplayers can focus on the funda-mentals of blocking and tack-ling. Lorain High Head CoachDave McFarland feels the youthlevel is less about winning andmore about teaching the game.However, when players get intojunior high and early highschool, learning how to achievesuccess has a place providedthe experience is fun and kidsare getting game experienceequally.

Avon Lake basketball coach,Dave Zavara has worn more

coaching hats in the area thananyone I know. He feels youthfootball is not helping at thehigh school level. Despite adecade separating the eras of heand Bill Hewitt’s coachingtenures, Dave echoes the samesentiments as Hewitt. “I thinkyou don’t get coaches who careabout teaching fundamentals.The approach of youth footballcoaches nowadays is turningkids off.” He feels the exceptionwould be if you can find a per-son that really loves to teach thegame and not an individualwho wants to win at all cost.

Mark Pinzone, the HeadCoach, at Buckeye High Schoolsays wins at the youth levelaren’t as important as keepingthe kids in the program throughhaving a positive playing expe-rience and staying committed,especially when the big chal-lenge is the declining number ofplayers due to the family’s fearof injury (i.e. concussion). For-mer Elyria High head coachTerry Doan who retired from in1984 says, “There will always bean occasional Vince Lombarditype youth football coach whowants to win more than any-thing. There is no way aroundit”.

Players move. A soberingthought for High SchoolCoaches is the national averageis about 15 percent of players

Youth football and the high school game

See YOUTH on page 17

per year move. So you can cal-culate the probability that anygiven player on your youthteam will play for your localhigh-school varsity by raising100% - 15% = 85% to the powerof the number of years betweennow and his junior year of highschool. For example, the proba-bility that a given ten-year oldwill still live in the area when heor she is 16 years of age wouldbe .85 x .85 x .85 x .85 x .85 x .85= .38 or 38 percent. When youcombine the probability that agiven ten-year old will still beplaying football anywhere whenage 16 with the probability thathe will still live in your areaequates as: 20% x 38% = a mere7.6% chance that they will playhigh school football and still livein the area.

Take what you learned and goelsewhere. The fact that a playerdoes not move out of yourschool district does not neces-sarily mean he will attend yourlocal public high school. Youth-football players I’ve known inthe Parma City School Districtwho did not move could end upplaying for about three differentlocal public high schools (ValleyForge, Parma Senior, Nor-mandy) or either of the twolocal Catholic high schools(Padua or Holy Name). So if youlive in an area where your youthteams feed more than one highschool, the question becomeswhich high school’s system doyou adopt? In the three years Istudied the trends and talkedwith parents and coaches, itseemed that about five playersfrom each youth team ended upplaying high school varsity foot-ball. Only one out five (20%) gotfurther fragmented throughopen enrollment when theywent to different high schools inthe district. So only one playerand high school would get anybenefit from having becomefamiliar with a local highschool’s system. Each of thethree public (and two private)don’t exactly teach and run thesame systems either. So muchfor the game you learned to

play ball with, right?Furthermore, competition

created by open enrollment andprivate schools whispering in aparent’s ear, the high school inquestion would probably sufferfrom the other former youthplayers taking their knowledgeto an opposing high school.Combining this fact with theabove two, the chances of agiven ten-year old attendingyour local high school and play-ing football are 20% x 38% x20% = only 1.52%!

At Clearview, Coach Colliersaid , “kids bounce back andforth quite a bit (betweenLorain and his district) but thatthis constant migration hap-pens between the two schoolareas regardless if a young per-son is an athlete or not. How-ever, with good youth coacheskeeping it fun (like Clearviewdoes), you might cut down onthat number

Coaches move up/move ontoo. Not only do high-schoolcoaches frequently get fired fordoing badly, they often get achance to move up to a betterhigh school or to college or profootball if they do well. It wouldbe logical to only use your localhigh school’s system if it wasworking at that high school. Butthe more it works at that highschool, the greater the probabil-ity that coach will move on tobigger and better things. Thisleaves your youth football pro-gram exposed to confusion andthe treadmill of having torelearn yet another new way ofdoing things via the frequentchanges in ‘philosophies’ gener-ated by a revolving coachesdoor at the high school. This toocauses young players to quit ortransfer to another district. Ihave seen this happen toomany times to count. As a resultthere are some kids that endureas many as three high schoolfootball coaching changes fromseventh grade until graduation.In Avon High School HeadCoach, Mike Elder, feels that ifyou build and structure youryouth and High School footballefforts around a ‘program’ con-cept it really shouldn’t matter ateither level if a coach moves on.

As Star Trek’s Mr. Spock said,“The needs of the many, out-weigh the needs of the few”

Coaches change their minds.Maybe your local high-schoolcoach neither gets fired normoves up in the next five or sixyears. That does not guaranteethat he will not change his mindabout what offense or defensehe wants to use. If some otherscheme becomes fashionable,he is impressed by a clinicspeaker, or he gets his buttkicked by a school using a dif-ferent system.. “Hey, we put inyour system at your requestthree years ago. What do youmean you’re changing it?” “Oh,yeah. Sorry about that.” Maybeyour head coach both stays inhis job and stays with his offen-sive system, but he hires a newdefensive coordinator whototally changes the school’sapproach to defense. “Sorryabout that, too.”

Been there- but have youdone it? Two years ago whenresearching this topic for myCox Cable television show(called One Man Show) I con-ducted a personal straw-poll ofmany Head Coaches both whilebroadcasting games on WEOLand those I met through mytravels as Coach in the ParmaSchool District. What aston-ished me is most high-schoolcoaches have never coachedyouth football. They assumethey know everything there is toknow about youth football onthe grounds that they coach at ahigher level.

In fact, youth football is quite

different than the high schoollevel because of the obviousreasons like: smaller athletes,less speed, less strength, emo-tional and athletic immaturity,practice time length, but alsofor reasons that are not obvioussuch as minimum-play rules,majority of players are non-ath-letes and incompetent coaches.Much of what works at the highschool level does not work inyouth football and vice versa.For example, the most success-ful youth play is generally thesweep. In high school, it’s theoff-tackle or some high octaneno- huddle spread offense bigplay.

Ask yourself. If your local highschool coach is a football geniusand using the best system hecan come up with. As a youthcoach, I would be inclined touse his system, too. However,The majority of high-schoolfootball coaches are conform-ists. They use the same offenseand defense as everyone else, orat least an accepted popularoffense and defense, because ifthe the one they use does notwork, they will be highly criti-cized and probably fired. Byusing the same schemes aseveryone else, even though theydo not totally believe in them,they can blame the playerswhen they lose. (e.g., “The bet-ter team won.”)

“System, shmystem”. Whatdifference does it make if localyouth coaches run the samesystem? The main thing is to getthe youth players over their fear



YOUTHfrom page 16

of hitting and teach them fun-damentals like rules, blockingand tackling. Freshman footballplayers can learn things like thehigh school’s hole-and-back-numbering system in a day ortwo. I know several Freshmanfootball coaches (Mayfield andValley Forge) where do notknow one another but share theview that younger players sharethe same struggles, a fear of hit-ting and staying put until theballs snapped. One of themshared he’d wished their localyouth program had done that.

Says Buckeye’s Pinzone,“there is no wrong answer tothis question. Usually a coach’sphilosophy at the high schoollevel dictates what’s run at theyouth level.” he may shareoffensive and defensive systemswith his youth coaches but heencourages them to run theirown show.

Zavara on whether a youthfootball team runs the varsitydefense and offense: “Maybe alittle bit of the same but not all.”He shared that some highschool head coaches who desiretheir youth football kids to learntheir brand of football mightnot even be the coach by thetime a kid makes it up to the

high school level (sound famil-iar). He believes no matter whatthe sport, winning games is aresult of strong fundamentals.Even “as Head Coaches we tendto forget it’s for the kids-not ouregos. We are getting too special-ized.”

In Lorain, Coach Dave McFar-land said he prefers a tier sys-tem whereby at the young levelsshould work on fundamentalslike how to cover or drop back(linebacker) but at the JuniorHigh level is where high schoolcoaches should start to getinvolved to introduce their highschool level philosophies.

Brunswick’s Luke Beal feelsfundamentals are important, healso views youth football as akey part of the overall highschool program at Brunswick,and that it is critical their youthcoaches use the same basicschemes that the high schoolplayers use. Coach Elder atAvon reevaluates the skill levelsof the kids coming up throughhigh school and remains flexi-ble with what they will run. “Weprefer youth kids running fun-damental skill drills and we alsoprefer our youth coaches teachour terminology rather thanspecific X and O’s”.

Doan said that some youthprograms can be a successfulfeeder system in a one-high

school envi-ronment ata place likeMassillon,“it can beeffective touse the highschool wayof doingthings at theyouth level”.

Pinchyourself:Let’s sayyour highschoolteam’sdream isrealized. A16-year-oldstud trans-fers intoyour localhigh schoolfrom theother side ofthe country.He hasnever playedin any youthor highschool system remotely resem-bling your schools. Is your var-sity coach going to tell the kid togo play soccer? Heck no! He’llteach the kid his system in a fewdays or a week and the kid willstart over your youth playerswho have been running the sys-

tem for eight years. Sad for thelocal youth leaguers, but it ismore likely than most willadmit.

Catching more flies withsugar. It’s easier to persuadeothers with polite requests anda positive attitude than withrude demands. Let me addressthe high school coaches here. Ifyou want the youth coaches toimplement your system, sellthem on it. Integrate them intosome of your meetings andpractices. Their brains arealmost blank slates when itcomes to knowing how to coachfootball. If you make the effort,they will probably do it yourway because now your way isthe only one they know. That isespecially true if you are suc-cessful.

At first, you might try the soft-sell approach and not forceyour system upon your youthprogram by threatening to takeaway their field . How wouldyou like it if your local commu-nity college head football coachdemanded that you run his sys-tem? You actually could make abetter argument for that than


YOUTHfrom page 17


for a youth program using ahigh school system.

“Don’t tell us how to do it.Show us.” Good place to startfor a high-school coach is tooffer to help the youth programis stuff that requires thousandsof reps, like running the tripleoption or a few selected passplays. Types of plays or schemesthat can be put in with a fewhundred reps or fewer do notneed more than three years tolearn. Some studies show thatonly about 10 percent of thetypical freshman football teamhas played youth football. Someof them just moved into yourtown so they know another sys-tem.

If your high-school team isnot successful, do not tell thelocal youth program to use yoursystem. They will likely laugh inyour face. For example if aperennial 3-7 high school teamasks the local youth program touse their system, the youthcoaches might just tell that highschool team to use theirsinstead.

Youth football and all levels ofthe game are coming underattack and not just fromscreaming coaches or over thetop parents. A disturbing refrainis being echoed by coachesthroughout high-school footballas of late: ‘Our numbers aredown’.

Always fearful of injuries dec-imating team depth, coachescan never have enough playerson the roster. Their concernsthe last few seasons have moremerit. Studies in Ohio andnationwide confirm that partic-ipation numbers, trickling allthe way to the youth level, areon a steady decline. In Avon forgrades 7 through 12, CoachElder hasn’t seen a drastic dropin youth football numbers buthas begun to see a slight declinein 3rd and 4th grade partici-pants as these findings have“made people stop and talk”. Hethinks more parents are waitinguntil 7th grade to allow theirkids to play the sport. Hebelieves that “it is important for

your lower level youth coachesto practice appropriately toavoid injury for the young play-ers. A good practice plan isimportant”, Elder said. BillHewitt feels, “Taught the correctway of doing things gives moreconfidence, and also preventsinjury. We always played every-thing straight up, one on one.We never taught blitz or trickplays, it was always straight up.I had a lot of players at Franklin(Middle School in Elyria) thatwent to EHS and played verywell.”

The vast majority of youthcoaches want desperately to benoticed and helped by the localhigh-school coaches. But they

do not want to be dictated to,especially by some unsuccessfulguy who has not thoughtthrough the need for the localyouth team to use his systemand who has not done hishomework on the nature ofyouth football. Approach theyouth coaches correctly andyou can help each other.

Epilog: (OK, I have to explainthis word. As a kid growing upin the 1970s, “Epilog” was aword that appeared on thescreen before the last scene ofmany Quinn Martin producedcop-detective TV shows.).Coach Collier said this-”keep itin perspective- don’t live

through the kids”. So, my ‘lastwords are to all footballcoaches, youth or higher level.Use the system you believe in. Ifyou take that away, you arenothing more than a day-careworker or equipment manager.Remember 99% of youth par-ents are unpaid volunteers.They will walk away from help-ing if the only thing they had todo is take attendance. So wouldmost good youth coaches. Driv-ing out the few good coachesyou might have is not a prudentstrategy. Striking a fun, interest-ing, and productive balance forthe player and volunteer alikeis.


YOUTHfrom page 18

By Rob PolinskyOSU will begin the defense

of their national championshipMonday, Labor Day, Septem-ber 7th 2015 at Virginia Tech inBlacksburg. The game vs. theHokies will kickoff at 8pm. TheBucks will look for revenge astheir last loss & only loss in2014 was to Virginia Tech 35 –21 on September 6th 2014 inColumbus. Urban Meyer, nowin his fourth season at OSU,has an overall record of 38-3 ashead coach of the Bucks. Hisonly regular season loss inthree seasons was the defeat toVirginia Tech. OSU finishedlast year 14-1 winners of thir-teen straight games & ofcourse national champions.They destroyed Wisconsin 59-0in the Big Ten championshipgame. They went on to beatAlabama 42-35 in the nationalsemifinal game & knocked offOregon 42-20 in the nationalchampionship game.

Heading into 2015 OSUreturns 45 letter winners, 20 onoffense, 22 on defense and 3on special teams. 16 startersare back, 7 on offense, 7 ondefense and 2 special teamers.They lost 8 starters, 4 on eachside of the ball. Two newcoaches have been added toMeyer’s staff. Tim Beck will beCo-Offensive Coordinator andQB coach, Tony Alford will beRB coach & Assistant HeadCoach for the Offense.

The big question this yearfor Meyer and his offensiveassistant coaches will be whois the starting QB? Cardale

Jones, J.T. Barrett, or BraxtonMiller. Quite frankly withOSU’s overall talent & scheduleI don’t know if it matters allthat much. OSU can & shouldwin big with any of the threeunder center. In the back fieldEzekiel Elliott returns as theleading RB. Michael Thomas isback at WR, he had 54 catchesfor 799 yards and 9 scores ayear ago. Up front OSU shouldbe really good four of the fivestarters return from 2014. LTTaylor Decker, LG Billy Price, CJacoby Boren & RG Pat Elflein.Elyria native and fifth year sen-ior Chase Farris will competefor the starting RT position.

Looking at Defensive Coor-dinator Luke Fickell’s defense,

the D Line brings back DE JoeyBosa & DT Adolphus Washing-ton. The LB core might be thedeepest position unit this year,8 lettermen return includingstarters Joshua Perry & Darron

Lee. In the secondary CB EliApple, safeties Vonn Bell &Tyvis Powell all will be back.

If OSU can start strong witha win at Virginia Tech they


2015 OSU football preview

See OSU on page 23


should enter Big Ten playundefeated. If they knock offPenn State at Columbus onOctober 17th OSU could easily

be undefeated heading into ashowdown with Michigan Stateon November 21st in Colum-bus. The regular season con-cludes up north a week lateron November 28th as OSUtakes on Jim Harbaugh’s Michi-

gan Wolverines. The Big Tenchampionship game is oneweek later December 5th inIndianapolis.

Listen to every OSU game in2015 on AM 930 WEOL. Callingthe action will be veteran play

by play announcer Paul Keels,color analyst Jim Lachey, side-line reporter Marty Bannister &pre, post & in game host SkipMosic. Pregame coverage onAM 930 WEOL begins ninetyminutes prior to kickoff.

OSUfrom page 22

2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALLUniversity of Akron Ashland University Baldwin-Wallace University

Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/5 at Oklahoma 7pm 9/3 at Lake Erie 7pm 9/12 at Bluffton 1:30pm9/12 Pittsburgh 6pm 9/12 at Walsh 12pm 9/19 at Ohio Northern 7pm9/19 Savannah State TBA 9/19 Ohio Dominican 7pm 9/26 John Carroll 2pm9/26 at Louisiana TBA 9/26 Findlay 7pm 10/3 at Muskingum 1:30pm10/3 Ohio 2pm 10/3 at Malone 2pm 10/10 marietta 2pm10/10 at Eastern Michigan 3pm 10/10 at Saginaw Valley St. 7pm 10/17 Wilmington 1:30pm10/17 at Bowling Green 3pm 10/17 Hillsdale 1pm 10/24 at Otterbein 1:30pm10/31 Central Michigan TBA 10/24 at Northern Michigan 1pm 10/31 Capital 1:30pm11/7 at Massachusetts TBA 10/31 Grand Valley St. 7pm 7/7 at Mount Union 1:30pm11/14 at Miami (Oh) TBA 11/7 Michigan Tech 1pm 7/14 Heidelberg 1:30pm11/21 Buffalo TBA11/27 Kent State TBA

Bowling Green State University Capital University Case Western Reserve UniversityDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/5 Tennessee 4pm 9/5 Wittenberg 1:30pm 9/5 at Chicago 1pm9/12 at Maryland 12pm 9/19 at Wilmington 7pm 9/19 St. Vincent 7pm9/19 Memphis 3pm 9/26 Muskingum TBA 9/26 at Theil 1pm9/26 at Purdue TBA 10/3 at Mount Union 7pm 10/3 at Bethany (WV) 2pm10/3 at Buffalo 3:30pm 10/10 Otterbein 1:30pm 10/10 Waynesburg 1:30pm10/10 Umass TBA 10/17 at Ohio Northern 1:30pm 10/17 at Geneva 7pm10/17 Akron 3pm 10/24 John Carroll 1:30pm 10/24 Wash. & Jeff. 6pm10/24 at Kent State TBA 10/31 at Baldwin Wallace 1:30pm 10/31 Washington (Mo) 12pm11/4 Ohio 8pm 11/7 at Heidelberg 1:30pm 11/7 Thomas More 1pm11/11 at Western Michigan 8pm 11/14 Marietta 1:30pm 11/14 at Carnegie Mellon 2pm11/17 Toledo TBA11/24 at Ball State 7:30pm

University of Cincinnati University of Dayton Denison UniversityDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/5 Alabama A&M 7pm 9/5 at Robert Morris 12pm 9/5 Marietta 7pm9/12 Temple 8pm 9/19 Duquesne 1pm 9/19 Oberlin 7pm9/19 at Miami (Oh) 3:30pm 9/26 Kennesaw State 6pm 9/26 at Wooster 1pm9/24 at Memphis 7:30pm 10/3 at Stetson 1pm 10/3 at Ohio Wesleyan 1pm10/1 Miami 7:30pm 10/10 San Diego 1pm 10/10 Hiram 7pm10/16 at BYU 8pm 10/17 at Valparaiso 2pm 10/17 at Wittenberg 7pm10/24 Uconn TBA 10/24 Butler 6pm 10/24 at Allegheny 1pm10/31 UCF TBA 10/31 Jacksonville 1pm 10/31 DePauw 2pm11/7 at Houston TBA 11/7 at Morehead State 1pm 11/7 at Wabash 1pm11/14 Tulsa TBA 11/14 Marist 1pm 11/14 Kenyon 1pm11/20 at USF 8pm 11/21 at Drake 2pm11/28 at East Carolina TBA

Heidelberg College Hiram College John Carroll UniversityDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/5 at Cortland St. 12pm 9/5 Westminster (Pa) 7pm 9/5 at St. Vincent 1:30pm9/19 John Carroll 2pm 9/19 at Kenyon 1pm 9/19 at Heidelberg 2pm9/26 at Ohio Northern 1:30pm 9/26 DePauw (Ind) 1pm 9/26 at Baldwin Wallace 2pm10/3 Otterbein 1:30pm 10/3 at Wabash (Ind) 2pm 10/3 Ohio Northern 1:30pm10/10 at Muskingum 1:30pm 10/10 at Denison 7pm 10/10 Wilmington 1:30pm10/17 Mount Union 1:30pm 10/17 Ohio Wesleyan 1pm 10/17 at Marietta 1:30pm10/24 at Marietta 1:30pm 10/24 Wittenberg 1pm 10/24 at Capital 1:30pm10/31 Wilmington 1:30pm 10/31 at Allegheny (Pa) 5pm 10/31 Muskingum 1:30pm11/7 Capital 1:30pm 11/7 Wooster 1pm 11/7 at Otterbein 1:30pm11/14 at Baldwin Wallace 1:30pm 11/14 at Oberlin 1pm 11/14 Mount Union 1:30pm

Kent State University Kenyon College Malone CollegeDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/4 at Univ. of Illinois 9pm 9/5 at Sewanee: U of the South 2pm 9/3 Ohio Dominican 7:30p9/12 Delaware State 6pm 9/12 at Oberlin 6pm 9/12 at Michigan Tech 1pm9/19 at Univ. of Minnesota 12pm 9/19 Hiram 1pm 9/19 at Wayne State (MI) 6pm9/26 Marshall TBA 9/26 at Allegheny 1pm 9/26 Tiffin 1pm10/3 Miami (Oh) 3:30pm 10/3 DePauw 1pm 10/3 Ashland 2pm10/10 at Univ. of Toledo 3pm 10/10 Ohio Wesleyan 1pm 10/10 at Northern Michigan TBA10/17 at Univ. of Massachusetts3:30pm 10/17 at Wabash 1pm 10/17 Walsh 6pm10/24 Bowling Green TBA 10/31 Wooster 2pm 10/24 at Lake Erie TBA11/5 Univ. at Buffalo 7:30pm 11/7 Wittenberg 1pm 11/7 at Findlay 12pm11/10 at Ohio Univ. 8pm 11/14 at Denison 1pm 11/14 Northwood (MI) 1pm11/18 Central Michigan 8pm11/27 at Univ. of Akron TBA


2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALLMarietta College Miami University Mount Union College

Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/5 at Denison 7pm 9/5 Presbyterian 3:30pm 9/5 Bethany (WV) 1:30pm9/19 Otterbein 6pm 9/12 at Wisconsin 12pm 9/19 Muskingum 7pm9/26 Mount Union 1:30pm 9/19 Cincinnati 3:30pm 9/26 at Marietta 1:30pm10/3 at Wilmington 2pm 9/26 at Western Kentucky 3:30pm 10/3 Capital 7pm10/10 at Baldwin Wallace 2pm 10/3 at Kent State 3:30pm 10/10 Ohio Northern 1:30pm10/17 John Carroll 1:30pm 10/10 at Ohio 2pm 10/17 at Heidelberg 1:30pm10/24 Heidelberg 1:30pm 10/17 Northern Illinois 2:30pm 10/24 at Wilmington 1:30pm10/31 at Ohio Northern 6pm 10/24 at Western Michigan 2pm 10/31 Otterbein 1:30pm11/7 Muskingum 1:30pm 10/29 Buffalo 7:30pm 11/7 Baldwin Wallace 1:30pm11/14 at Capital 1:30pm 11/7 Eastern Michigan TBA 11/14 at JohnCarroll 1:30pm11/14 Akron TBA11/21 at Massachusetts TBA

Muskingum College Oberlin College Ohio UniversityDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/5 Waynesburg 1pm 9/5 The College at Brockport 1pm 9/3 at Idaho 9pm9/19 at Mount Union 7pm 9/12 Kenyon 6pm 9/12 Marshall 7pm9/26 at Capital 7pm 9/19 at Denison 7pm 9/19 Southeastern Louisiana 2pm10/3 Baldwin Wallace 1:30pm 9/26 at Ohio Wesleyan 7pm 9/26 at Minnesota 3:30pm10/10 Heidelberg 1:30pm 10/3 Allegheny 3pm 10/3 at Akron 2pm10/17 at Otterbein 7pm 10/10 Wabash 1pm 10/10 Miami (Oh) 2pm10/24 Ohio Northern 1:30pm 10/17 at Wooster 7pm 10/17 Western Michigan TBA10/31 at John Carroll 1:30pm 10/31 at Wittenberg 1pm 10/24 at Buffalo TBA11/7 at Marietta 1:30pm 11/7 at DePauw 1pm 11/4 at Bowling Green 8pm11/14 Wilmington 1:30pm 11/14 Hiram 1pm 11/10 Kent State 8pm11/17 Ball State TBA11/24 at NIU 7:30pm

Ohio Northern University Ohio Wesleyan University Otterbein CollegeDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/12 Utica (NY) 12pm 9/5 Mary Hardin-Baylor 7pm 9/5 Buffalo 1:30pm9/19 Baldwin Wallace 7pm 9/19 at Wittenberg 7pm 9/19 at Marietta 6pm9/26 Heidelberg 1:30pm 9/26 Oberlin 7pm 9/26 Wilmington 2pm10/3 at John Carroll 1:30pm 10/3 Denison 1pm 10/3 at Heidelberg 1:30pm10/10 at Mount Union 1:30pm 10/10 at Kenyon 1pm 10/10 at Capital 1:30pm10/17 Capital 1:30pm 10/17 at Hiram 1pm 10/17 Muskingum 7pm10/24 at Muskingum 1:30pm 10/24 DePauw 1pm 10/24 Baldwin Wallace 1:30pm10/31 Marietta 6pm 10/31 at Wabash 1pm 10/31 at Mount Union 1:30pm11/7 at Wilmington 1:30pm 11/7 Allegheny 1pm 11/7 John Carroll 1:30pm11/14 Otterbein 1:30pm 11/14 at Wooster 1pm 11/14 at Ohio Northern 1:30pm

Tiffin University University of Toledo Wilmington CollegeDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/3 Walsh 7pm 9/3 Stony Brook 7pm 9/5 Bluffton 1:30pm9/12 Saginaw Valley State 1:30pm 9/12 at Arkansas 4pm 9/19 Capital 7pm9/19 at Findlay 7pm 9/19 Iowa State 8pm 9/26 at Otterbein 2pm9/26 at Malone 1pm 9/26 Arkansas State TBA 10/3 Marietta 2pm10/3 Wayne State 3pm 10/3 at Ball State 3pm 10/10 at John Carroll 1:30pm10/10 Ferris State 1:30pm 10/10 Kent State 3pm 10/17 at Baldwin Wallace 1:30pm10/17 at Concordia 2pm 10/17 Eastern Michigan TBA 10/24 Mount Union 1:30pm10/24 at Hillsdale 4:30pm 10/24 at Umass TBA 10/31 at Heidelberg 1:30pm10/31 at Michigan Tech 1pm 11/3 Northern Illinois 8pm 11/7 Ohio Northern 1:30pm11/7 Grand Valley State 1:30pm 11/10 at Central Michigan 8pm 11/14 at Muskingum 1:30pm11/14 at Ohio Dominican 12:30pm 11/17 at Bowling Green TBA11/27 Western Michigan TBA

Wittenberg University College of Wooster Youngstown State UniversityDate Opponent Time Date Opponent Time Date Opponent Time9/5 at Capital 1:30pm 9/5 Wash. & Jeff. 1pm 9/5 at Pittsburgh 1pm9/19 Ohio Wesleyan 7pm 9/12 at Allegheny 7pm 9/12 Robert Morris 7pm9/26 at Wabash 1pm 9/19 at DePauw 1pm 9/19 Saint Francis (Pa) 4pm10/3 Wooster 1pm 9/26 Denison 1pm 10/3 at South Dakota 3pm10/10 at DePauw 2pm 10/3 at Wittenberg 1pm 10/10 Illinois State 7pm10/17 Denison 7pm 10/17 Oberlin 7pm 10/17 South Dakota State 4pm10/24 at Hiram 1pm 10/24 Wabash 1pm 10/24 at Southern Illinois 7pm10/31 Oberlin 1pm 10/31 at Kenyon 2pm 10/31 at Western Illinois 2pm11/7 at Kenyon 1pm 11/7 at Hiram 1pm 11/7 Missouri State 2pm11/14 Allegheny 1pm 11/14 Ohio Wesleyan 1pm 11/14 North Dakota State 2pm11/21 at Indiana State 1pm



By: Matt Douglass Changes, looking back on

the Cleveland Browns offsea-son this may be the best wordto describe the team. Over thesummer, we saw the Brownsreveal new logos and uniforms.The biggest change seemed tobe made in the color of orangethe team wears. This year itseems just a bit brighter thanin years past and, as is thepoint every time a team makesa change like this, the organi-zation hopes the players andcoaches will follow suit for abrighter future. Aside from uni-forms and logos, the Brownsalso saw changes to the coach-ing staff and key positions dur-ing the off season.

In what seems to be a yearlytradition for the Browns, hav-ing gone through 21 differentstarters since 1999, at quarter-back, Bryan Hoyer is out, andin is veteran journeyman, JoshMcCown. Last season, McCownpicked up just one win in the11 games with a Tampa BayBuccaneers team that certainlyhad its struggles. He finishedthe season with 2,206 passingyards with 11 touchdowns and14 interceptions. The mainthing that McCown brings tothe quarterback position isexperience. He has been in theleague 13 seasons playing inArizona, Detroit, Chicago, Oak-land, Miami, Carolina and SanFrancisco.

Continuing with changes atthe quarterback position,Johnny Manziel returns to theteam for his second season as aBrown, but perhaps as a newand improved teammate. Aftera tough season that ended ininjury for the former Heismanwinner, Manziel took someheat from teammates and ana-lysts alike about his off-field

behavior. Over the summer, theTexas native checked intorehab and now claims to be achanged man. Time will tell ifhe is truly a changed quarter-back.

On the sidelines, new facestake over primarily on theoffensive side of the ball. Afteroffensive coordinator KyleShanahan voiced his displeas-ure with the front office andparted ways with the team,Cleveland hired OaklandRaiders quarterback coachJohn DeFilippo to take over theposition. At just 36 years of age,DeFilippo has had tremendousexperience at the NFL level. Inthe last five seasons with theRaiders, he has coached thelikes of Carson Palmer, MattMcGloin, Terrelle Pryor (nowwith the Browns as a widereceiver) and Derek Carr. Thiswill be DeFilippos first seasonas an offensive coordinator inthe league, but he was consid-ered for the job by Brownshead coach Mike Pettine beforehe gave it to Shanahan in 2014.Working alongside DeFilippowill be the Browns new quar-terback coach Kevin O’Connell.The former New England draftpick has spoken highly ofJohnny Manziel in the past.Now O’Connell will be taskedwith job of making ManzielNFL ready while helpingMcCown lead the team in 2015.

Looking to give the Brownsquarterbacks a little help in thereceiving corps is free agentDwayne Bowe. Coming overfrom the Kansas City Chiefs,Bowe failed to score a singletouchdown in 2014, however,he has shown flashes of bril-liance in his career averagingnearly 5 touchdowns a seasonsince his rookie year in ‘07 and

scoring 15 times in 2010. TheCanton native, Brian Hartline,makes his way back to hishome state. In six seasons withthe Miami Dolphins, the for-mer Buckeye has 13 touch-downs and over 4,243 yardsreceiving. Finally, there arehigh expectations for rookiewide out Vince Mayle. While atWashington State last season,the Browns fourth round draftpick was in the top five in thecountry in catches (106) andreceiving yards (1,483).

At running back it may be aposition battle all year. Return-ing for their second seasons areIsiah Crowell and TerranceWest. Rookie Duke Johnson outof Miami will look to get someplaying time as well.

The Browns offensive lineshould be steady, if they canstay healthy this season. Thebig guys will be led by eighttime pro-bowler Joe Thomas atthe left tackle. A number ofplayers could find themselvesmoving around like JohnGreco, who played both guardand center last season. Theaddition of Florida State rookieCam Ervin will make this groupas deep as they have ever been.

On the defensive side of theball, Joe Haden leads a second-ary that showed signs of great-ness a season ago. His oppositewill be Tramon Williams, a for-mer Packer, who helped leadGreen Bay all the way to theNFC championship last year.

At linebacker, Cleveland islooking to get a little more outof Barkevious Mingo. Defensivecoordinator, Jim O’Neil, hasalready made mention that hethinks Mingo’s backup, ScottSolomon, is a little bit better atthe run. Stay tuned to the pre-season because that should be

a great battle. On the defensive line, the

Browns fans are looking for-ward to seeing what DannyShelton can do centering thedefense. Last season at theUniversity of Washington, theBrowns’ first round draft pick,finished the season with aremarkable 93 tackles. At noseguard, the Browns will look toShelton to draw more attentionfrom offensive lines and createspace for his line mates and thelinebackers to penetrate.

While much has changed,Head Coach Mike Pettineremains the main man inCleveland. In his first season atthe helm, he led the Browns toa hot 7-4 start. Unfortunately,in true Browns fashion, thingsfell apart and Clevelanddropped their final five games.The Browns schedule is nopiece of cake this year as theyplay in the always challengingAFC North. This season Cleve-land’s non-division schedulewill see Payton Manning cometo town with the Broncos onOct. 18. Just two weeks later,the Browns will host Arizona, ateam that could have been thebest team in the NFL last sea-son if not for injuries. Cleve-land will end the season on Jan.3 hosting division rival Pitts-burgh.

As Browns fans, we haveseen the new and improvedbrighter orange uniforms forthis season, but the questionstill remains… are brighterdays ahead for the Clevelandfootball organization? Here’shoping it is more than just anew looking uniform in 2015.

2015 Browns Preview

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