Blogs > In the Huddle

An inside look at area high school football.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Shake up at the top

It's only been a week and there is already going to be change at the top of the Morning Journal's Power Poll.
No. 1 Avon Lake loss to Maple Heights opens the door for a new No. 1. Could it be the Panthers of Elyria Catholic, who beat Collinwood 35-0, or will it be the Flyers of St. Paul, who crushed St. Mary 47-0. Stay tuned for the Edge this Friday to find out who will be the new No. 1.

  • Speaking of St. Paul, quarterback Eric Schwieterman was unavailable in the Flyers win over St. Mary because of a thumb injury on his throwing hand. It is uncertain whether or not Schwieterman will be available against Tiffin Calvert this week, but it will be interesting to see if he will ready for their Week 3 matchup against Huron.

  • Congratulations to the Southview Saints, who defeated Sandusky 14-6 on Saturday. Normally I wouldn't be praising a team for winning a game, but this was the Saints second win in five seasons and their first home win since the 2004 season.
Another interesting fact is that the two wins by the Saints in the those five seasons have been against Sandusky.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Opening night upsets

Week 1 had its fair share of bad weather and also its fair share of upsets.
The biggest one happened in Amherst as Elyria stole one from the Comets 14-13.
Elyria senior Trynell Davis was the hero as he picked off Amherst’s Alex Basinski and returned it 50 yards with just two minutes left in the game to seal the victory.
This was a huge win for the Pioneers who won just two games in 2008. Amherst on the other must put the loss behind them and prepare to face a Midview to crushed Admiral King on the road 35-15.
The other upset happened in Avon Lake as the Shoremen fell to Maple Heights 28-16. The most surprising thing about the game was how Avon Lake played. They fumbled the ball eight times and lost two of them, very uncharacteristic for a Dave Dlugosz coached team. For a team that has high expections this was not a good start for the Shoremen, who will go on the road to face a tough Brunswick team next week.
Other surprising wins included Perkins over Bellevue 34-12 and Monroeville defeating Keystone 27-16.

Mother Nature not a fan of early season football

Another week 1 of high school football, another week of stormy weather. For probably the fourth time this decade week 1 saw a number of postponements on the high school football. Four games in the Morning Journal coverage area were postponed to Saturday because of Friday's weather.
Westlake at North Ridgeville will kick off the season Saturday at 3 p.m. Wellington at Norwayne, Western Reserve at Black River and Bay at Orange also had their games moved to Saturday.
Ever since the OHSAA decided to move football season up a week into August in order to expand the playoffs to 32 teams Mother Nature has played havoc with the Week 1 schedule.
Just maybe, Mother Nature thinks football season should wait until the school year actually begins.

Huron coach a master of words and football

Huron football coach Tony Legando already proved he is one of the best football coaches in North Central Ohio with his teams performance over the past two decades. His Tigers entered Friday's game at Vermilion with exactly zero returning starters. By the time the night was done, the Tigers were 31-7 winners and Legando's squad looked like seasoned veterans.
Which leads to another thing Legando does well. He is a master of words.
All summer Legando told everyone who would listen that his Tigers would struggle come this fall.
I went out to Huron to interview Legando for our football preview and he had me believing it would be a rough year for the Tigers. However, after Friday, I would not be surprised to see Huron back in the OHSAA playoffs again this fall.
When Legando retires, I think he could get a part time job selling ice to Eskimos, because he did a good job of having us all believe his Tigers weren't ready for the Friday Night Lights this season.

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Panthers begin 2009 season with controversy

The Elyria Catholic Panthers will take the field Friday night against Collinwood without some of its top players.
Starting receiver/defensive back Josh Russ, starting tailback Alex Alicea, Mike Betka, Joe Dempsey, Cory Campbell and Buddy Davila will not be allowed to play in the game.
Panthers coach Ben Malbasa said the players violated team rules, but did not elaborate on details as to what the players actually did.
I don't think this will affect the outcome of tonight's game (EC should win by a lot), but it still doesn't look good for Panthers' image.
Yeah coach Malbasa is doing the right thing by sitting these guys out for the first game, but would he have sat these same players if the Panthers opened against Cardinal Mooney rather than Collinwood?
These players have to understand that they, just like pro athletes, are held to a higher standard in their high school because they play athletics.
Hopefully these guys have learned their lessons and Elyria Catholic will put the incident behind them and have a successful season.

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Knowing the Rules

In my many years as a high school football fan, former official and currently as a journalist one of most enjoyable part of Friday night's has been listening to the fans in the stands yelling at the officials.

Most fans don't understand the differences between high school football and the NFL and college varieties which each have their own rule book. I am sure the number has changed since than, but a few seasons ago someone counted 268 differences between High Schools and NCAA rules.

The differences between high school and NFL rules are even greater.

So just because you saw the Browns or the Buckeyes do it on TV, doesn't mean you can do it on Friday nights.

To help the fans TRY to understand the rules better, here are the rule changes for the 2009 season. You will see that some are just administrative changes, while some are changes that will have an effect on the game.

(The Numbers and Letters refer to the section in the rule book where the rules are found)

1-2-3b NOTE 2 (NEW): All required field markings must be clearly visible.

1-3-1c: Stripes located on the football must be adjacent to and perpendicular to the seam upon which the laces are stitched.

2-14-2; 7-2-5: The definition of a scrimmage-kick formation was clarified to differentiate formations that have been used traditionally for attempting a field goal or kick try from those used for a punt. The circumstances under which the numbering exception can be used have been changed to clarify what can be done on first, second, third and fourth downs.

Table 3-1; 9-8-1g: The mandatory three-minute warm-up period begins immediately following the conclusion of the halftime intermission. The head coach of each team is responsible for his team being on the field for the warm-up period.

3-3-4b5 (NEW): If a penalty resulting in a safety occurs on the last timed down of a period, the period is not extended.

8-2-2; 8-2-3; 8-2-4 (NEW); 10-5-1f: Three rules were refined and a new article created regarding penalty enforcement for dead-ball, non-player or unsportsmanlike fouls that occur during or after a touchdown scoring play. Now, the scoring team, in most situations, has the option of enforcing the penalty on the subsequent kickoff.

9-4-3h: It is now illegal to grasp the opponent's chin strap.

9-4-3k (NEW): The horse-collar tackle has been added to the list of illegal personal contact fouls, regardless of where it occurs on the field. It is illegal to grasp the inside back or side opening of the collar of the jersey or shoulder pads of the runner and subsequently pull the runner to the ground.

9-7-2 EXCEPTION: The kicking team cannot bat a scrimmage kick that has not yet been grounded unless it is toward its own goal line. Scrimmage kicks may only be batted by the kicking team towards its own goal line.

1-2-3g; 9-8-3: A restricted area has been defined where a maximum of three coaches may communicate with players and substitutes during dead-ball situations. The coaches must move into the team box before the ball becomes live. There will no longer be an allowance for three coaches to remain in an area adjacent to the sideline during play.

The biggest changes will be the banning of the "horse collar" tackle which will bring high school rules in line with the other levels of football that have already banned the dangerous practice.

During the course of the season watch how these rules will affect your favorite team.

If you have any questions about specific rules after a game, feel free to contact me at tshapiro@MorningJournal.com. I will try to answer some of your questions on this blog during the following week.


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