Football Feature: Paint Valley Bearcats
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
One senior is a cross-country runner by daylight and a football player when the lights are on during Friday nights, not beginning his football career until his sophomore year of high school. One senior was in the third grade when he began playing football, and the other was around 12 years old when he first buttoned a chin strap.
Paint Valley seniors Riley Markko, Dallas Immell and Kyle Kottenbrook all may have had different beginnings in the game of football, but all have wound up in the same place their senior season with the same goals in mind … which is to continue to bring back the Paint Valley tradition with wins, all the while moving the program back to the top of the Scioto Valley Conference.
Each player spoke about the way the entered the game of football.
"I like to put all my heart and effort into the game of football. I think that I can get my teammates all pumped up and just have them go full-go all the time," Kottenbrook said. "I was around 12 years old in the seventh grade at Waverly when I first started football."
[[In-content Ad]]"I didn't start playing football until my sophomore year of high school," Markko said. "I was running cross-country at the time, then I joined the football team and now I do both. I started because of Coach (Pete) Hollon, and all the guys wanted me to give football a try."
"I started when I was in the third grade," Immell said. "My dad got me started and I have just kept playing ever since, but he helped me get my start in the game."
Markko's current fall sports situation is a rare one for a football player as he has two sports practices per day, playing a football game on a Friday night, then by Saturday morning he's running in a cross-country meet. Not to mention, Markko, in just his second season of any organized football, was an All-Ohio player.
"It's definitely hard to play both sports," he said. "After football practice, I go run for cross-country, and it gets tiring after a while," Markko said. "You have to fight through it, but it's a good feeling, knowing you can accomplish all of that in a day.
"We run about five miles a day in a cross-country practice, then have a long run and a team meet on Saturday. The endurance helps me in football because I feel I become a better player in the fourth quarter because of all the running and endurance from cross-country."
Markko said throughout the week, there's football and right after that, it's cross-country as this will be his fifth season in running cross-country.
"On Sundays, I run like 10 miles … I enjoy the racing of cross-country, but the practices definitely get hard. I started with cross-country, but I definitely like football more. My whole family is into cross-country. All my little brothers are doing it, and they are getting good. I'm definitely sticking with cross-country and finishing it out this year."
Markko also spoke about an actual cross-country race and what that is like.
"The cross-country race, you are going through the first couple miles and they are hard, but as you keep going, you are catching people … you get to beat some guys, and that makes it worth all the work in practice," he said.
continued from Page 18
Back to the football side of things, all three members of the team have not personal goals in mind, but team goals, as they prepare for their final year.
"I just want us to have a winning record," Kottenbrok said. "All that hard work we put in the past four years … getting up to this point has been rewarding, and this is the final time we can play for Paint Valley.
"All these two-a-days, all the reps we put in, help us work for our main goal."
Kottenbrook's teammates echoed his statements.
"My goal for our team is for us to win the gold football and win the SVC," Markko said. "We've been lifting a lot, and a lot of us got experience playing at varsity, and I think that is going to help us this season."
"I want the gold football so bad. We've been working so hard this offseason," Immell said. "That is the top goal for us, and it's a good goal to have. Learning from all the upperclassmen when we were freshmen was a big help, plus all the experience we had the past year will be big for us this year."
With the three players preparing to finish their high school playing careers with one last season, all three spoke about what being a Bearcat means to them and what a leader is to them personally.
"Being a part of the Paint Valley tradition, it just gets down in your heart, and you just love being at practice, knowing you are getting better every day," Kottenbrook said. "A good leader shows his underclassmen how to set the tone and how to be responsible."
"All the spirit and all the stuff has happened over the years here .. it's an honor to be a part of Paint Valley football," Markko said. "A good leader sets the example, and not gives it off to the underclassmen, but they go ahead and show them how to do stuff the right way."
"I love being out here, on the practice field, helping teach all the younger guys the stuff I've been taught," Immell said.
They, like other seniors, have many memories they look back on with fondness.
"I was running the ball, and both my shoes fell off at McClain a few years ago," Kottenbrook said. "I just kept on going, and I ran about 15 or 20 yards, and that was the first time I got the ball in varsity."
"At Westfall last season, I was mad after the first half, then in the second half I got a couple sacks," Markko said.
"I didn't play because I was a freshman, but against Huntington, we were up big at halftime, and the JV got to play most of the second half, and that was fun," Immell said.
All in all, the Bearcats are in good hands with their group of seniors.
"I'm just proud of my team and all the hard work they've put in, and I'm ready to execute all that work into the games," Kottenbrook said.
"Hopefully all the hard work we put in lasts though the fourth quarter, and like Kyle said, I'm proud of the guys," Immell said.
Paint Valley seniors Riley Markko, Dallas Immell and Kyle Kottenbrook all may have had different beginnings in the game of football, but all have wound up in the same place their senior season with the same goals in mind … which is to continue to bring back the Paint Valley tradition with wins, all the while moving the program back to the top of the Scioto Valley Conference.
Each player spoke about the way the entered the game of football.
"I like to put all my heart and effort into the game of football. I think that I can get my teammates all pumped up and just have them go full-go all the time," Kottenbrook said. "I was around 12 years old in the seventh grade at Waverly when I first started football."
[[In-content Ad]]"I didn't start playing football until my sophomore year of high school," Markko said. "I was running cross-country at the time, then I joined the football team and now I do both. I started because of Coach (Pete) Hollon, and all the guys wanted me to give football a try."
"I started when I was in the third grade," Immell said. "My dad got me started and I have just kept playing ever since, but he helped me get my start in the game."
Markko's current fall sports situation is a rare one for a football player as he has two sports practices per day, playing a football game on a Friday night, then by Saturday morning he's running in a cross-country meet. Not to mention, Markko, in just his second season of any organized football, was an All-Ohio player.
"It's definitely hard to play both sports," he said. "After football practice, I go run for cross-country, and it gets tiring after a while," Markko said. "You have to fight through it, but it's a good feeling, knowing you can accomplish all of that in a day.
"We run about five miles a day in a cross-country practice, then have a long run and a team meet on Saturday. The endurance helps me in football because I feel I become a better player in the fourth quarter because of all the running and endurance from cross-country."
Markko said throughout the week, there's football and right after that, it's cross-country as this will be his fifth season in running cross-country.
"On Sundays, I run like 10 miles … I enjoy the racing of cross-country, but the practices definitely get hard. I started with cross-country, but I definitely like football more. My whole family is into cross-country. All my little brothers are doing it, and they are getting good. I'm definitely sticking with cross-country and finishing it out this year."
Markko also spoke about an actual cross-country race and what that is like.
"The cross-country race, you are going through the first couple miles and they are hard, but as you keep going, you are catching people … you get to beat some guys, and that makes it worth all the work in practice," he said.
continued from Page 18
Back to the football side of things, all three members of the team have not personal goals in mind, but team goals, as they prepare for their final year.
"I just want us to have a winning record," Kottenbrok said. "All that hard work we put in the past four years … getting up to this point has been rewarding, and this is the final time we can play for Paint Valley.
"All these two-a-days, all the reps we put in, help us work for our main goal."
Kottenbrook's teammates echoed his statements.
"My goal for our team is for us to win the gold football and win the SVC," Markko said. "We've been lifting a lot, and a lot of us got experience playing at varsity, and I think that is going to help us this season."
"I want the gold football so bad. We've been working so hard this offseason," Immell said. "That is the top goal for us, and it's a good goal to have. Learning from all the upperclassmen when we were freshmen was a big help, plus all the experience we had the past year will be big for us this year."
With the three players preparing to finish their high school playing careers with one last season, all three spoke about what being a Bearcat means to them and what a leader is to them personally.
"Being a part of the Paint Valley tradition, it just gets down in your heart, and you just love being at practice, knowing you are getting better every day," Kottenbrook said. "A good leader shows his underclassmen how to set the tone and how to be responsible."
"All the spirit and all the stuff has happened over the years here .. it's an honor to be a part of Paint Valley football," Markko said. "A good leader sets the example, and not gives it off to the underclassmen, but they go ahead and show them how to do stuff the right way."
"I love being out here, on the practice field, helping teach all the younger guys the stuff I've been taught," Immell said.
They, like other seniors, have many memories they look back on with fondness.
"I was running the ball, and both my shoes fell off at McClain a few years ago," Kottenbrook said. "I just kept on going, and I ran about 15 or 20 yards, and that was the first time I got the ball in varsity."
"At Westfall last season, I was mad after the first half, then in the second half I got a couple sacks," Markko said.
"I didn't play because I was a freshman, but against Huntington, we were up big at halftime, and the JV got to play most of the second half, and that was fun," Immell said.
All in all, the Bearcats are in good hands with their group of seniors.
"I'm just proud of my team and all the hard work they've put in, and I'm ready to execute all that work into the games," Kottenbrook said.
"Hopefully all the hard work we put in lasts though the fourth quarter, and like Kyle said, I'm proud of the guys," Immell said.