ROMM PHOTOGRAPHY
Mogadore junior running back Gary Strain tries to fight through the tackle from Woodridge senior Dan Rice. Mogadore is in the unfamiliar position of being 2-2. The Wildcats haven't lost two games in the regular season since 2006. Woodridge is 3-1, including a 36-28 win over Mogadore.
The Rootstown Rovers (4-0, 1-0) football team is off to its best start since 2004. That year Rootstown won its first six games en route to a 9-2 record and a playoff berth. And while this past month has established the Rovers as a program on the upswing, the next month will determine just how real of a contender Rootstown is to chase down its first ever Portage Trail Conference County Division title.
“We’ve got a tough schedule ahead of us and we’ve got a long way to go before we do any sort of celebrating,” coach Randy McCoy said. “We are a young team and a small team that loses some focus at times and that’s when things start breaking down.”
Rootstown’s next four games are road contests against Woodridge and Southeast and home games with Garrettsville Garfield and Mogadore. Those four schools were the most talked about programs entering the season and with good reason – the Wildcats have won at least a share of each of the last five County Division titles, the G-Men are coming off a 2010 playoff appearance, the Bulldogs split the title with Mogadore in 2009 and made it to the regional championship game, and the Pirates are entering their first season in the County Division after playing in the larger Metro Division.
The key to the Rovers' success has been pretty simple: a punishing ground game paired with a suffocating defense. That defense has been scoreboard-perfect for three games, shutting out opponents for the last 12 quarters, as only Sebring McKinley (12) has put points on the board. That’s just an average of a field goal per game.
“The defense has played really well so far this season, but the opponents are going to get tougher with a pretty rugged schedule over the next four weeks,” McCoy said.
Defense is the name of the game in the County Division as the only other perfect team through four games, Southeast (4-0, 1-0), is allowing just seven points per game. Waterloo (17 points per game allowed) is a third team that opened divisional play with a win and holds opponents to under 20 points per game.
Woodridge is the only team in the County Division that has been winning consistently by simply outscoring its opponent. The Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0) are allowing 25 points per game, but are winning thanks to the tandem of quarterback Sean McCoy and running back Devonte Fellows and a spread offense that scores 33 points per game.
McCoy is keeping Rootstown’s players adjusted to the hype and excitement of a big season, reminding them that with more than half of the season left to play there is plenty of work still to be done.
With some good fortune, it’s work that the Rovers are more than capable of completing, but their biggest challenge may be out of their hands. Injuries are a concern for any team, but even more so for Rootstown, who lists just 25 players on its roster. That is roughly half of the players that any of their next four opponents will put on the sidelines – making health a top concern.
More football: The weekend lineup and computer talk
As mentioned previously, the Rovers will travel to Peninsula to take on Woodridge in what’s the most highly anticipated game of the weekend, pitting the league’s stingiest defense against the most potent offense. The game will also have a large bearing as teams enter the midway point and begin to think about playoff positioning.
The first edition of the Harbin computer rankings came out this week, and Rootstown is one of just two County teams currently sitting in position to make one of their respective region’s eight playoff spots. Rootstown sits in seventh place in Division V, Region 17 – just more than half a point ahead of ninth place Beverly Fort Frye. The Bulldogs currently sit in 10th place in Division III, Region 9. A loss for Woodridge would really damage the Bulldogs standing, because the Rovers play two divisions down. It would also really help to solidify Rootstown’s standing with a win over a Division III school with three solid wins. However, a Woodridge victory would get the Bulldogs that much closer to narrowing the less than half-point gap on the playoffs.
The team Woodridge is chasing is division foe Southeast, who currently sits in eighth place in Division III. The Pirates will continue Windham’s run of tough opponents for the Bombers (0-4, 0-1). Beginning the conference season against the County Division’s last two remaining undefeated teams is not an easy task for first year coach Brian Kiser.
Up next, is a game that poses an interesting matchup of two teams trying to inch closer to their perspective playoff regions when Mogadore hosts Waterloo. The Wildcats aren’t used to trying to make up ground or chase down playoff spots in October, making the playoffs every year since the Y2K computer scare was a topic on everyone’s mind, but that’s where they find themselves after a rare 2-2 start. The last time Mogadore even lost two games in the regular season was 2006, a year they won Region 21, before losing to Shadyside in the state semifinals. The Vikings, on the other hand, can match their highest win total since 2003 with a win on Friday. Both teams are ranked 14th in their respective regions.
Finally, the East Canton Hornets (0-4, 0-1) have the unenviable task of facing Garrettsville Garfield (2-2, 0-1) coming off of a loss to Southeast to open play.
Golf: Woodridge keeps title
Storylines were plentiful coming out of the PTC golf tournament, starting with the Woodridge Bulldogs completing an undefeated run through the County Division with a victory in the tournament. Woodridge defended its championship thanks to 79’s from Colin Westphal and Nick Flasco, but the real story was the Bulldogs' highest scorer was Nick Karam just five strokes back. Westphal took third and Flasco fourth, thanks to a scorecard playoff.
Behind Woodridge things got downright crowded. Mogadore, Southeast, Garrettsville Garfield and Rootstown were separated by eight strokes for second through fifth places. The four teams also finished three points apart in the final standings. The Pirates took second place, the Wildcats and G-Men split third place, while the Rovers took fifth place.
Mogadore’s Brandon Hall won individual honors by shooting a 77, while senior Nevada Lemon became the PTC’s golfer of the year for the third straight year.
Wrestling: New king of the 'Cats
The Mogadore Wildcats have tabbed Jason Windon to replace former wrestling coach John Tompkins, Jr. after Tompkins had a two-year run leading the Wildcats. Windon takes over after most recently mentoring Steubenville Catholic Central’s squad. Mogadore is looking to build on the roots of its program and grow into a challenger for County Division powers Garrettsville Garfield, Rootstown and Waterloo.
Girls Soccer: Rovers running wild
The girls soccer season is more than half over in the County Division, and Rootstown is proving to be the squad to beat, that is if anybody could beat them. The Rovers are 4-0-2 in the County Division with their ties coming against Woodridge and Southeast. The Bulldogs will collide with Rootstown for the second time in the final game of the regular season, roughly three weeks away. The Rovers have gained at least a two game lead on everyone else in the division.