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From the GAZETTE, by Albert Grindle, Staff Writer
First, Wooster running back Shawn Riley scampered for 100 yards. Next Nordonia tailback John Hamilton went berserk rumbled for 235. Then Medina quarterback Pat O’Boyle got his shot, rushing for 206 — a Medina County record for a QB by a wide margin. Wadsworth’s defense has a big problem, and it’s a disturbing one.
Allowing a ridiculous 253.3 yards on the ground every game is going to catch up with the Grizzlies at some point. O’Boyle was particularly giddy to face the Grizzlies in front of a regional television audience on Fox Sports Net. The Bees’ game plan wasn’t necessarily complex — counter right, counter left — but it sure worked. As long as Medina cracked down on mammoth Wadsworth defensive tackle Ben Buzzelli and made sure to get a hat on middle linebackers Jake Palidar and Zach Watts, O’Boyle ran around like a 6-year-old at recess.
Although the Suburban League has three passing teams in Green with signal caller Jesse Mason, Copley with Dom McClain and Barberton with Kyle Snyder, those squads might not have a reason to take to the air if Wadsworth’s run woes continue. On top of that, what about Highland’s Chris Snook and Tallmadge’s Tyler Fortner, who are without question the best running backs Wadsworth will face? They have to be licking their chops at this point. Simply put, someone other than the inside crew needs to step up defensively if the Grizzlies want to be a contender in the SL. We’ll find out Friday against Revere, which has been hovering around the 250 mark on the ground.
Of course, Wadsworth isn’t the only school with defensive problems. Medina (340.6 yards allowed), Buckeye (354.6) and Black River (382.7) all have major holes as well. Throw the Grizzlies into the mix, and the four teams have given up 356.8 yards. Yikes.
Holy Toledo
The tide has officially turned in Gazette Prep Fantasy Football after Week 3. Gazette Sports Editor Betty Szudlo and her Poe Ravens, the preseason GPFF favorite, had an absolutely ginormous performance, to say the least. The defending league champions not only scored a whopping 119 points, but broke their own record for points in a single week by one. On top of his 200-plus rushing yards, O’Boyle, who ran for a 10-point 82yard score, passed for 90 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. In the process, he took over the MVP lead with 49 points.
Brunswick wideout Jared Kaderbeck was strong in his first start with 27 points, while Highland tailback Chris Snook netted 20 points on his two carries against Brookside. Buckeye running back Shawn Cordes added 10 for Poe, which still broke the league mark despite losing three points from Burnswick’s defense.
Szudlo’s Ravens (10-2) weren’t the only unit kicking you-know-what and taking names having a field day in Week 3. Ho Hoffman’s Western Star Square Dancers were great as well with 106 points. Wadsworth QB Caleb Busson’s 39 points led the way for Western Star (5-7), which also received good nights from Cloverleaf QB Cody Roberts (29) and Wadsworth running back Aarick Jones (21). Too bad the Square Dancers didn’t start Black River’s Matt Joppeck, who had 34 points against Manchester.
My Spencer Redbirds were 2-2 with 79 points (Brit Musal is my hero good). Dan Brown’s Valley City Twisters were 1-3 with 64 points and Chad Grant’s Mallet Creek Maulers were winless with 63. Although there are still six weeks remaining in the regular season, a threeway logjam for the final playoff spot between Mallet Creek, Spencer and Western Star could make it interesting.
The tie-breaker will be overall points, so Spencer gets the nod right now, but Mallet Creek and Western Star aren’t far behind. Also, please take notice the league’s scoring system that supplements the results. We received a couple e-mails regarding how everything works, and hopefully this will clear up the questions.
Around the world OK, let’s take the cheap Rick Noland route and bust out random randomness. … As fellow staff writer Brian Dulik pointed out, Friday’s Highland/Brookside game might have been the first where four quarterbacks from the same team each completed a pass. The Hornets’ Nick Knerem, Anthony Petrilla, Trey Edwards and Jerry Scholle did just that against Brookside.
It’s really a meaningless question, but things like this keep people like Dulik and I — both self-proclaimed “numbers nerds” — up at night.… Courtesy of Buckeye stat guru Dave Rea: The last time the Bucks were 0-3 in back-to-back years was 1977 and 1978. The good news? In 1979 they had arguably the best team in school history and finished 10-1.… Two years ago, football beat writer Brad Bournival and I thought we wouldn’t see another do-everything player like Brunswick’s Dustin Zielaskiewicz for a while.
Whoops. Cloverleaf ’s Kyle Juszczyk sure made us look dumb as he’s done everything but water the field at Gene Clark Stadium. Wait a second. Never mind. My guess is not everyone outside of Westfield Township will appreciate get that joke. … Nice to see Buckeye running back Ryan McCormick was rewarded for his 119-yard effort against Highland with one carry more than the marching band’s tuba player Friday against Grafton Midview. … Did you know Highland’s uniforms were designed by Snook on the video game Madden NFL 06?… Speaking of the Hornets, they will have their hands full Friday against Tallmadge.
While the Blue Devils aren’t as deep offensively as in years past, running back Tyler Fortner is a terror and Tallmadge always does a great job of calling sneaky misdirection plays at perfect times. Highland is more than confident, but I would be shocked if either team wins by more than 10 points. … Drove by Buckeye High School the other day and nearly put my 1993 Buick LeSabre in a ditch on state Route 252 (not that I couldn’t use the insurance money to buy a new car).Reason being, the new scoreboard at Edwin Steingass Field is unbelievable. Someone in the athletic booster club is doing a heck of a job raising money if they can shell out the coin for something like that. Grindle may be reached at agrindle@ohio.net or 330.721.4043.
