Jeff Jackson www.jsquared.photoreflect.com
Mogadore travels to Woodridge on Friday for a key Portage Trail Conference football game.
Friday night marks a big moment in the Portage Trail Conference County Division as the Southeast Pirates make their debut on the football field after switching places with Streetsboro. Southeast (3-0) gets a heckuva debut contest as the Pirates travel to Garrettsville Garfield to take on the preseason conference favorite G-Men (2-1), and both teams know how much is on the line.
“We’ve come out fairly consistent, but I don’t think we are sure how good we can be yet,” second-year Southeast coach Steve Sigworth said. “Our number one goal is to come in and win the league.
“We are really excited to recreate those old rivalries (from the Portage County League).”
Garrettsville Garfield coach Steve Wyllie said his team is still trying to find itself after non-league play. The G-Men beat Middlefield Cardinal and Warren Champion, but suffered a 30-3 loss to Streetsboro in between the two victories.
“We’ve been hit-and-miss so far this season, we’ve struggled running the ball, our offensive line is still trying to jell,” Wyllie said. “We’re only going to be as good as our offensive line.”
The biggest factor in Garrettsville Garfield’s struggles to this point has been a series of injuries, according to Wyllie. The run of bad luck started just days before the season when starting guard Trevor Chambers was lost for the year. The injury forced Joe Brahler to move over and fill in Chambers spot and the rotation of the offensive line is still a work in progress.
Wyllie’s squad knows just how much could be on the line for them Friday night.
“I think you’ll prove your worth (in the County Division) this week,” Wyllie said. “The top four teams, (based on preseason speculation), are all matched up with each other.
“We never want to put our kids in a position where we label a must-win game in Week 4, but this is one.”
The other game Wyllie eluded to pits the last two County Division champions against each other when Mogadore travels to Woodridge.
“We want to come in and prove the County Division is formidable,” Wyllie said. “And, they want to come in as a former Metro school and prove they will take charge of the league.”
Sigworth and his players are looking at this matchup as a crucial game against one of the big contenders in the County Division.
“We knew coming in Garrettsville was picked to win it and with good reason,” Sigworth said. “They are really fast and strong at the skill positions with players like Bob Bright.”
While the G-Men’s speed on the outside is Sigworth’s main concern, Wyllie said his team needs to prepare for the big and strong mentality of Southeast.
“One thing they will bring is that Metro mentality – they will try to maul you,” Wyllie said. “Our kids can’t be passive, they have to be able to punch back. That’s what we hang our hats on.”
One thing is for certain, whoever wins between Garrettsville Garfield and the Pirates, that team will start with a big advantage in chasing the County Division title.
More football: The rest of the football slate
If the G-Men’s contest with Southeast is the biggest game of weekend, then the Summit County clash of Mogadore travelling to Woodridge is a close second. Two years ago the Bulldogs split the County Division crown with the Wildcats after a blowout victory. Last season Mogadore got its revenge in a physical defensive contest that was part of the Wildcats’ string of 13 straight victories to start the season. It’s been since 2007 that the road team has won when Mogadore took a 33-15 decision.
The next game of the weekend has Rootstown (3-0) trying to continue its best start in five years, when it takes on the Windham Bombers (0-3), still looking for their first victory on the season. An upset for Windham will be tough to come by as the Rovers are the stingiest defense in Summit, Medina or Portage County – allowing just 12 points in three games. Conversely, the Bombers have scored the fewest points in the County Division with 24 points.
Finally, East Canton (0-3) will look for its first win when it hosts Waterloo (2-1). The Hornets have struggled to hold on to leads this season and have a defense that has allowed 39 points per game. The Vikings have had an offensive outburst with 49 and 33-point efforts against Chalker and Lutheran East, respectively, but struggled against Canton Timken – scoring just 16 points.
Cross Country: Bulldog brigade still on top
The Woodridge Bulldogs continued their run of cross country dominance over the PTC County Division on Tuesday by sweeping the Super Dual event hosted by the Bulldogs. While the Woodridge boys didn’t sweep the top five spots this year, like they did last year, senior Drake Sulzer won the event by more than 20 seconds to guide the Bulldogs to victory. Fellow senior Jared Cottrill, sophomore John Harry and junior Steve Frederick did sweep fifth through seventh places.
East Canton senior Josh Schleappi finished second behind Sulzer, while William Morgan (Rootstown) and Tyler Cooper (Waterloo) finished on each other’s heels in third and fourth place, respectively.
On the girls side, sophomore Madison Spreitzer paced the field for Woodridge and junior Emiko Waight finished in fourth place. Garrettsville Garfield junior Caroline Hahn pushed Speitzer until the end, finishing just three seconds behind the champion.
Boys soccer: Rovers in middle of big run
It’s hard to imagine a better week for a soccer player than the one Rootstown senior Ronnie Moss has been on. Moss has scored five goals in both of the Rovers last two games – both wins – against Ravenna and Streetsboro. Rootstown (1-1-1 in County Division) can only hope Moss’ hot streak continues as they enter a streak of tough County Division games. Thursday night the Rovers host defending County Division champion Woodridge, then next Tuesday Rootstown will travel to arch rival Waterloo (3-1-0 in County Division) in a pair of games that will go a long way to determining who wins the league championship this season.