Monday Morning QB: Henson, 5 others enter GV HOF

FROM STAFF REPORTS
Star Beacon

August 25, 2008 04:07 am

— Jimmy Henson’s team might have suffered a heartbreaking loss on Friday night at Grand Valley Stadium, but Henson didn’t walk away empty handed.
The 1987 Grand Valley graduate was one of six former Mustangs inducted into the Grand Valley Hall of Fame before the game.
Henson eared three varsity letters in football and was named to the as a member of the All-County and All-Conference first teams in 1985 and 1986.
Henson was also a three-time letter winner in basketball and a four-time letter winner in track.
Joining Henson as a member of the 2008 Class were: Tom Schamberg, who coached four high school sports and three middle school sports; Bill Kemmer, a member of the Class of 1965 and the first quarterback in Grand Valley history; Nathan Paskey, who graduated in 1980 and was a three-year letter winner in baseball, basketball and football; Jessica Sommers Kassay, a 1984 grad who earned four softball letters and three volleyball letters, setting a school record for scoring 28 points in a single match; Brian Turner, a four-year baseball letter winner who earned all-conference and Star Beacon All-Ashtabula County first-team honors all four years before getting drafted by the New York Yankees.

Sharp eyes
It’s something that won’t show up in the box score, and that could easily have been forgotten about in the drama that played out during the Jefferson-Grand Valley game.
But that drama may have never happened had it not been for the sharp eyes of kicker Logan Nye.
Following Grand Valley’s first score of the second half, one Mustang player, in the excitement, forgot to come onto the field for kick coverage.
But right before letting loose with his leg, Nye did a quick count of his players and found one missing. With Grand Valley having a history of struggling on kick coverage, it may have made all the difference in the world. Jefferson returned the kickoff to its own 40 as it was. One player short, who knows, it might have turned into six.

A star is born
One of the definite stars for Lakeside in its opening game was junior kicker Adam Flaugher, who made his first varsity football start for the Dragons in their 31-7 loss to Howland after his referral to the football squad from the Lakeside soccer team.
Flaugher had a terrific night as a punter, averaging 40 yards on seven attempts. His first three punts averaged 44 yards. His last punt in the fourth quarter was his best of the night, a 48-yard effort.
Flaugher also did the job in his one attempt as a placekicker, drilling the extra point after Derrell McCaleb’s 16-yard touchdown run.
But perhaps the thing coach Van McWreath was most impressed was a touchdown-saving tackle Flaugher made on the kickoff to start the second half when Howland’s Danté Marsh broke free for what appeared to be a touchdown. Flaugher pushed Marsh out of bounds inside the Lakeside 10. Two plays later, the Dragons took possession when they recovered a fumble near their own goal line.
“Adam played a great game,” McWreath praised. “Coming into the game, he didn’t know if he was a football player. He found out he was.”

Not-so-special teams
Howland definitely has a weapon in placekicker-punter Eric Albani, who is considered a Division I prospect. He drilled all four extra points he was called on to perform and his 37-yard field goal just before halftime was a key juncture of the game.
Albani also did a decent job with four of his punts, averaging 36.8 yards per kick, with a long of 48. However, his average dropped to 29 yards a kick in the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t completely Albani’s fault. He received a poor snap that hit the turf at Lakeside Stadium. He had a little trouble picking it up before finally getting off a low kick that hit one of his blockers in the back and resulted in a kick that went for minus-1 yard.
There is other evidence to show Albani is a legitimate prospect with a cannon for a leg. Each of his kickoffs went into the Lakeside 5 and two went for touchbacks.

Great halftime
The Howland and Lakeside bands put on a halftime show that had to have appeal across generational lines.
The Tigers’ band had to appeal to those of the baby-boomer set with a program entitled “The British Invasion.” Starting with the tune from the British Grenadiers, they quickly switched to “She Loves You” by the Beatles, then switched to “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Get Off My Cloud” by the Rolling Stones.
They closed out their program with a feature piece involving their majorettes to the Beatles’ “Penny Lane,” which included a facsimile of a 1960s auto driven around the field and a telephone booth, along with brightly colored flowers and other hints of the era.
The Lakeside band went with a more contemporary route. They started off with “How Far We’ve Come” by Matchbox Twenty, followed with “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne and closed with “Glamorous” by Fergie.
Needless to say, fans of all persuasions were entertained by the halftime show.

Hold on tight
Thursday’s Howland-Lakeside game was one for unconventional kickoffs, though the Tigers easily had the claim for the most unique style.
On a night when their band channeled British Rock, the Tigers’ kickoff brought to mind the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The Tigers started the kickoff in a circle, hand-in-hand, before spreading out sideline-to-sideline in a more traditional sense.
The Dragons, meanwhile, went the psyche-you-out route, having Flaugher sprint to the ball before pulling up short and regrouping.
“You’ve got to do that stuff now days to keep (the return team) from bailing out,” McWreath said.

Line ’em up
Even before the season started, McWreath had a hunch that lineman Isaac Moore would turn into a weapon on defense. After one game, McWreath is more convinced than ever in Moore’s abilities.
“If (Howland) can’t block Isaac, I don’t know how other teams are going to do it,” he said.

Scary moment
For a few minutes Thursday, it looked like Howland’s win over Lakeside was going to come at a steep price.
With Howland well in control in the middle of the third quarter, starting running back and corner, Marsh, was the last player left lying at the bottom of a pile, and slow to get up. He’d limp off the field and not return to the game.
“It’s just a really bad cramp,” Marsh said after the game.

Be patient
With access to Lakeside Stadium off Route 84 blocked by road construction in that area, fans got their first taste of having to resort to approaching the school from the Sanborn Road side of the high school on Thursday.
That figures to make leaving Lakeside games a bit of a chore this fall. It was quite a sight seeing the light show created by cars winding their way out of the school, with most turning north on Sanborn Road to make their way home off Route 20. There is also an exit going south on Sanborn up to Route 84 and turning west.
A little patience will no doubt be required this season, but the flow of traffic seemed to move along at a reasonable pace. It will be interesting to see what effect an entanglement while heading north on Sanborn Road might create, however.

Major grindage
Over the first 14:19 of the second half Friday night, Edgewood and Champion combined to run 30 plays that ate up 103 yards and accounted for 10 points.
The Golden Flashes opened the half with a 16-play, 63-yard monster of a drive that resulted in a four-yard touchdown run by Zack Hayslett. Fifteen of Champion’s plays were of the running variety and the drive lasted 8:49.
The Warriors answered with a 14-play, 40-yard drive that stalled at the Champion 26. Joey DiTirro salvaged a 36-yard field goal for the Warriors.
Edgewood ran the ball 11 times on its whopper.
The teams opened the game much the same way, with far different results.
Edgewood took the opening kick and marched 42 yards in nine plays over a span of five minutes. The Warriors ran the ball on every play, except the final one of the possession because they were forced to punt.
The Golden Flashes then held the ball for the next 7:05 — taking the game into the second quarter — running 17 plays, keeping it on the ground for 13 of those plays. Champion tried three passes and punted.
In the game, the teams combined to run the ball 74 times for 329 yards (Champion 41 for 198; Edgewood 33 for 131).
Zack Hayslett led all runners with 103 yards and a score on 16 carries. Chris Nicopolis carried 15 times for 66 yards and Tommy Stroup handled the rock nine times for 36 yards.
Devon Anderson led the Warriors with 73 yards on 11 carries and Matt Anderson carried 13 times for 41 yards.

Air balls
With so many running plays being called, it could be thought the game was decided on the ground. In reality, the majority of the game’s crucial plays were courtesy of the passing game.
The Warriors took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter on the strength of a pair of passing plays.
On the first score, wide receiver-tight end Ricky Kaydo ran right past the Champion defense and caught a 62-yard strike by beating two Golden Flashes by at least 12 yards. Quarterback Marc Bartone hit him in stride for the score.
On Edgewood’s next possession, Bartone was injured while scrambling with the ball and was replaced by Peter Mackey. Usually, backup quarterbacks come in and the offense becomes extremely conservative.
Not the Warriors. On his only snap of the game, Mackey fired a pass to none other than Kaydo for a 16-yard gain.
Bartone was back under center on the next play and on the third play after returing, fired a pass intended for Kaydo into heavy coverage — four defenders were within five yards of Kaydo. A Champion defender got his hands on the pass, but couldn’t knock it down. Kaydo, using some impressive concentration skills, made the catch at about the 10-yard line and managed to find his way into the end zone.
Inspired by the Warriors’ success through the air, the Golden Flashes decided to take to the air as well. On the first play of the ensuing possession, quarterback Shane Brown passed to Derek Sumner for 13 yards. After a running play and an incompletion, Brown hit Cody Cage for nine yards. Three plays after that, Brown connected with Sumner on a slant for 19 yards and Champion’s first score.
With just under five minutes to play and Edgewood leading 17-14, Bartone was looking for Kaydo deep over the middle, but Sumner intercepted the pass and returned it to the Warriors’ 17. Five plays later, the Golden Flashes took their first lead of the game at 20-17.
Bartone threw for 118 yards on 4-of-9 passing with an interception. Brown passed for 58 yards on 6-of-10 passing.
Kaydo led all receivers with 113 yards on 4 receptions and Justin Rodriguez caught one pass for 21 yards for Edgewood. Sumner caught four balls for 45 yards and Cage had two catches for 13 yards.

Feelin’ fine
Madison’s season-opening 14-10 loss at Normandy was frustrating, since the Blue Streaks led the 2007 Division II regional finalist 10-0 until late in the third quarter. But Tim Willis feels his team has demonstrated that it can play.
“We’re a good football team,” he said. “I can tell you that right now.”
Nobody present at Byers Field would disagree.

Focal point
One thing that Willis and his coaches will need to address is the need for someone to take part of the offensive burden from senior Mitch Krotz, a two-way player.
Either running or throwing, Krotz was involved in 49 of Madison’s 57 offensive plays on Thursday. He carried the ball 29 times, and had 231 of its 233 total yards.
“Absolutely,” Willis said when asked if he would look for someone to share Krotz’s burden. “But we haven’t found that guy yet.
“I thought Jordan Dickman (who had 4 catches for 40 yards) had a great game. He’s a guy who stepped up. Steven Isabella (who had 4 catches for 60 yards, including a 37-yard reception) made a nice play early in the game.”
Krotz also hooked up with Paul Gain for a 42-yard reception, and threw a three-yard touchdown to tight end Hunter Legeza.

Oops
An interesting sequence of events occurred just after Normandy scored for the first time.
Following the kickoff, the Blue Streaks had the ball on their own 18. On the first play, Krotz fumbled the snap but picked the ball up and ran for 8 yards.
However, the Invaders were called for having too many men on the field. At first, five yards were added to the end of the play, giving Madison a first down on the 31, and the chains were moved.
But after a lengthy conference between the officials, it was ruled that the penalty should be marked from the original line of scrimmage. The chains were reset and the ball was spotted at the 27, with a first-and-five situation.
One problem, though — as we already noted, the original line of scrimmage was the 18, not the 22.

Medic’s report
The Perry-Riverside game was delayed several times with injuries as a number of players on both teams suffered leg cramps because of the hot muggy weather.
Perry’s Josh Mullins dinged his shoulder, but appeared all right on the sidelines. The Beavers’ Jim Teknipp, who is University of Central Florida recruit tweaked his ankle, left the game and didn’t return. Riverside coach Ryan Wolf said if it would have been a tight game, he would have returned.

Slow starters
Though the Pymatuning Valley Lakers would rather not be in the position of having to rebound from an 0-1 start, they have done it successfully in the recent past.
Friday’s 40-7 defeat at Berkshire marked the Lakers’ sixth consecutive opening-night loss, the last four coming against Berkshire. Still, PV has managed to turn three of the prior five seasons into winning ones, including the last two.
Coach Jason Root explained that in the time between Friday’s 40-7 loss at Berkshire and the following Friday’s contest at Cardinal, one of the things the team should do is invoke selective hearing.
“We have to not listen to negative thoughts from outside of our program, and stay positive,” he said.

March of the Lakers
The Lakers accumulated 80 of their 176 total yards on their one scoring drive. It came in the fourth quarter after the Badgers had run off the first 33 points.
The march took six plays, and was capped by senior Jarrod Woodard’s 6-yard run with 5:54 remaining. Woodard also had a 38-yard run on the drive. Senior Andrew Smith threw a 10-yard pass to sophomore Kyle Kiser and a 19-yard pass to sophomore Nick Marshall on the possession.
Woodard’s long run represented exactly half PV’s total rushing yards in the game.
Senior running back and defensive back Thomas Erwin left the contest for good early on, with a neck injury not believed to be serious.
In the first quarter, Erwin, who also briefly played at the quarterback spot, had 26 rushing yards in five attempts. Most of those came in his role as the punter, when he retrieved a bad snap and ran 15 yards for a first down.
Though he had long been out of the game, Erwin’s rushing total led the team until Woodard passed it on the TD drive. Erwin’s absence may have hurt the punting game as well. Altogether, PV punted six times for an average of 21.7 yards.
Berkshire, on the other hand, punted just once. On its other possessions that didn’t result in a TD, it turned the ball over three times, lost it on downs once and had the half run out twice.
When the Badgers had the ball at the close of the first half, it wasn’t a matter of them sitting on the ball. With the score 13-0, Brett Ambrose returned a punt 45 yards to the Laker 3 with just 10 seconds remaining.
However, Ambrose, the quarterback, was stopped on a run on the next play, and Berkshire didn’t have time to get off another.
Partially because Berkshire scored one of its first-half touchdowns on defense and took two plays to score the other, it ran only 17 offensive plays before the intermission. It turned the ball over three times within that span.
“Our first half, we were a little disappointed with our offense,” Berkshire coach Terry King said. “But our defense was great in the first half. Our defense was strong, and we wanted that. And they came out in the second half and they executed a little bit better. I was more happy with our execution in the second half.”

More than James
While senior James Murray deservedly gets attention for his production running the football, Geneva showed it has some talented younger running backs waiting in the wings during Friday’s win against Wickliffe.
Juniors Quaid Traves (21 yards), Jimmy Haines (20 yards) and quarterback Tyler Erb (59 yards, 1 touchdown) all showed the ability to run the football. In addition, sophomore fullback Nelson Marquez (16 yards) made a key block on a touchdown pass before the half.

Efficiency
Geneva punted just once and did not commit a penalty during its 42-7 season-opening win against Wickliffe.

Nerves
While Erb had a big game (190 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions), it could have been even better. His first four passes were incomplete, but a couple of those were dropped passes. Erb and his receiving corps rebounded from that by completing the next 9 attempts.
“We had a few drops early,” Geneva coach Tony Hassett said. “I think we had a few butterflies at the beginning. I told Tyler he was throwing the ball just fine.”

Moving up
One of the fun things to do when watching a football team over the years is see the improvement of ball players from one year to another, and even though the SS. John and Paul Heralds have fallen on tough times in recent years it’s always good to see certain players emerge to the front of the class.
This year, SJP’s Ryan Colby seems to have improved his kicking immeasureably as he boomed kickoffs well into end zone against Oberlin.
Mike Moore has emerged as a deep threat for the Heralds as he hauled in a neat 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Phelps and caught three on the evening for 86-yards.
Phelps, the offensive leader, seems to have a few more weapons he can go to this year in Moore, Adam Liuzzo and Colby, but the addition of Tyler Baker has to be a real coup for the Heralds. Baker transferred from Edgewood and has already paid big dividends on both offense and defense. He shows an inate ability to be around the ball and has shown that he’s ready for prime time.

Missed chances
While the stats seem to say that their game with Southington was a blowout, there were chances for the Spartans to make things a bit different, but they just didn’t take advantage of them. There were some holes to run through, but runners cut the wrong way or cut too slowly, receivers got wide open and were missed by the quarterbacks, tackles were missed, or blocks were missed.
By the time Cody Blood broke free and outran the defense, a quick unit to boot for Southington, for the only score for Conneaut, there was no doubt how the game would wind up, but the Spartans just couldn’t put things together to get any momentum going, and with Southington doing just that on both sides of the ball, the Wildcats got what they needed to start the season, a good win against a larger school.

Work to do
The Spartans got many things to retool and work harder on, and if they can put some of the miscues from this game on the positive side on Friday against SJP, it could go a long way in determining how this season will play out.
The ground game has solid runners in Joe Teed and Blood, solid throwers in Jake Simek and Blake Heinonen, and good receivers in Jered Moisio, Ryan Anderson, and Teed, so there are no empty shelves in the Spartan cupboard.

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