A deep bomb or a breakaway touchdown run will always get a high school football crowd on its feet, while the pancake block or huge hole that was opened to allow such a play barely gets noticed.
It’s for that reason, that it takes a special kind of athlete with a unique kind of mentality to [...]

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NORTH OLMSTED — The “Help Wanted” sign has been placed in the window.
Experience preferred, but not essential. If you have aggressiveness, smarts and dedication you could be part of our team.
“We graduated a ton of seniors,” North Olmsted head coach Mike Ptacek said, “so we’re looking for quarterbacks and running backs who can develop and [...]

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LORAIN — Breaking a pattern of losing is very, very hard.
Todd Auvil came on board at Southview three years ago fully aware of the football history at the school. Since opening in 1969, the Saints have endured nine winless seasons and eight one-win years. The only back-to-back winning seasons came in 1979 and ’80 when [...]

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Everyone has heard the old nursery rhyme about Old Mother Hubbard and her short journey to locate her poor doggie a bone.
Avon, which lost all but six starters from a team that rocked the local football community and made it to the regional championship game last season, insists the cupboard is not bare.
On the contrary, [...]

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LORAIN — Mike Akers didn’t need to be reminded.
You better believe he’s well aware that Admiral King is coming off its first back-to-back winning seasons since 1986 and 1987.
Mark Campo, who left to coach Westlake, was in charge the last two years. Akers is in charge now.
Akers also knows he’s inheriting a team that graduated [...]

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The Vermilion Sailors could have rolled over after being swept in their non-conference schedule last season. As fate would have it, all three of those opponents went on to successful seasons and postseason berths.
Instead, the Sailors bounced back to go 6-1 in their West Shore Conference schedule, with their lone loss coming to league champion [...]

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WELLINGTON — The 2009 high school football season kicks off in less than two weeks, but for Wellington the season started in January.
Aside from the normal offseason program, a group of players gathered every Tuesday morning before school to work on speed and agility drills. The group became known as the Band of Brothers and [...]

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As many West Shore Conference teams scrambled this offseason to find replacements at quarterback, running back or wide receiver, the Midview Middies brought back the bulk of their skill-position players and could be one of the most explosive teams in the league this year.
“We’re really excited about having the main skill positions coming back,” senior [...]

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OBERLIN — It seems like ancient history, those days when Oberlin was lucky to win just one football game a season.
Since Dave McFarland took over the program after two successful stints at Elyria Catholic, the Phoenix has won four and six games, respectively, in his two seasons.
Going 6-4 (3-4 in the Patriot Athletic Conference) has [...]

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LAGRANGE — A win in last year’s opener against perennial playoff qualifier Monroeville gave the Keystone Wildcats hope they could build on the success of 2007, when they went 8-2.
Then a number of injuries to key players hit, sending the season into a downward spiral that culminated in a 3-7 record.
But while the injuries were [...]

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