Many highlights from a 2-week, 5-county First-and-Ten High School Football Tour
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The past two weeks, I've been on the road. It was just me, my car, my GPS and my radio every day for the past 14 days going to Ross, Clinton, Fayette, Madison and Highland Counties for what will soon be the third annual Highland County Press First-and-Ten Football Preview.
This is my absolute favorite project I work on every year. I don't know if it is the sport of football itself, getting out of the office, the driving to different towns, visiting Jen's Deli in Wilmington, talking football, watching practices or getting to meet new players and coaches, but whatever it is … possibly a mixture of all that I just mentioned … I love this time of year where hope for a winning season is at the highest and everyone is headed into the season with one thing on their mind: winning.
If you know me, you know I'm a football junkie. Just this past Sunday, I and some of my buddies went to Cincinnati to watch the Cincinnati Bengals play in a mock game (I’m not even a Bengals fan, but it was free at Paul Brown Stadium, of course I’m going to go) … and they didn't even tackle or wear a full regulation uniform (they had shorts, pads and helmets) … and you know what, it was exactly what I needed to get my pro football fix.
If anyone needs to forget the college football offseason, it is me … remember, I'm a Penn State fan, and though I agree with all that happened to the football program, I just want the new era of Bill O'Brien to begin, and putting the names on the jerseys is the right first step for his team.
Since every college football win I cheered for the past 14 years was vacated, I guess as a college football fan I'm starting over, too … it's a good thing for all involved. It was a entire sad episode, what happened at PSU and how it all turned out, but let’s hope the victims of this can move on with their lives and be healthy for the remainder of it because that’s more important than if a statue stands or if a team can play in the postseason.)
Back to what I originally wanted to write about, and that was my 2012 football tour. This year, I added two more teams to the soon-to-be-released football preview containing 11 team previews, along with 11 player features as I interviewed as many as five players from a team to two players on a team. The tour allowed me to get to meet coaches I've never had the opportunity to interview, meet the usual cast of coaches, talk to some former coaches of Highland County teams and see some of my past high school coaches along the way as well.
I also have preview notebooks online of all the schools I attended, giving my opinions on what I saw that day, and some other tidbits of information. I also had tweets about the tour (follow me on Twitter @hcpsportseditor).
This trip of high school football, though tiring once the entire preview is finished, is a good way to motivate me for the fall season.
Anyway, there was a lot to be learned on the tour as I saw Clinton-Massie on their very first day of two-a-days, and let's just say Massie is still Massie, and the rest of the South Central Ohio League will be chasing them all season long. After that, I went to Wilmington and got to watch them practice and made it a trifecta with a visit of the newest member of the SCOL in East Clinton, as all three schools had their own story to tell.
Take, for instance, at CM, they have the highest of all expectations this season as they want to achieve even more than their Final Four appearance last season. In Wilmington, the Hurricane are preparing the newly formed Southwest Ohio Conference, and in a few years, they will be headed to the SCOL. At East Clinton, I got to learn about the story of Robby Minney and all the injuries he's coming back from (you'll have to read the preview for his story) due to an auto accident last fall.
On the second day, I was in Madison County to talk to Coach Mike Siders of Madison-Plains and Coach Jerry Wasserman of London about their final season as members of the SCOL and how they each wanted to keep building onto their football programs.
One thing that sticks out with me from London is a sign hanging in the locker room stating, “Let’s see what we can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit.”
The third day I watched the Blue Lions practice in sprinklers and talk with one of my former assistant coaches from when I was in school in current WCH head coach Corey Dye.
At Miami Trace on my visit, I got to speak with the straight-shooting Steve Bartlett as he brings his 32 years of head coaching experience to turn around the Panther program. If any coach can do it he can, as MT does have some talented football players.
This past Monday, I swung by the McClain Tigers' practice and watched them work on the finer points of the game as one player I was chatting with said they will be better than last season. I like that because from what I saw, the Tigers were ready to work and improve on their '11 season. Monday evening I was at Hillsboro and saw an energized and positive Hillsboro team I didn't see last year at this time. The players were working but just their entire attitude this summer looks and feels different.
I visited with Paint Valley head coach Pete Hollon and three of his senior players on Wednesday afternoon in Bainbridge, and though I didn't get to see them practice much except for some punting, I did get to know the story of Riley Markko and how he not only is an All-Ohio football player (he's entering his third year of organized football), but how he also runs cross-country, and not just runs it but is very competitive in the sport. He was also a state qualifier in track this past June.
On Wednesday, I got to meet veteran head coach Ron Hinton and talked football for nearly 45 minutes with the state champion head coach. That was a treat to hear how he spoke in great detail about his team and how he wants to build his program at Chillicothe.
I just want to thank all the coaches and players who were involved with this project. Thanks to the 35-plus players who gave up their time before, during and after the dreaded two-a-day practices as there were some very hot days outside and some of the players came off wind sprints and spoke with me. I want to thank the 11 head coaches who gave up their time to talk about their upcoming season, and thanks to all the folks and businesses who are advertising in the preview edition, as I hope to make this the best one yet.
This trip has made me a better sports editor (I hope), and I hope everyone picks up a copy of the football preview that will be released before the season as I have put a lot of work into it. Even more than that, I want everyone to get to know the stories of the players who spoke about what leadership, school pride and playing under the lights on Friday nights really means to them. I gained even more respect for these players I write about on a daily basis because when I asked them what a true leader meant to them they didn't hesitate and gave their opinion on what a leader was. Fans of all 11 schools I cover in the upcoming First-and-Ten Football edition should be very proud of not only the players I interviewed, but the entire teams.
This season is going to be fun, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Week 1 to kickoff.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
This is my absolute favorite project I work on every year. I don't know if it is the sport of football itself, getting out of the office, the driving to different towns, visiting Jen's Deli in Wilmington, talking football, watching practices or getting to meet new players and coaches, but whatever it is … possibly a mixture of all that I just mentioned … I love this time of year where hope for a winning season is at the highest and everyone is headed into the season with one thing on their mind: winning.
If you know me, you know I'm a football junkie. Just this past Sunday, I and some of my buddies went to Cincinnati to watch the Cincinnati Bengals play in a mock game (I’m not even a Bengals fan, but it was free at Paul Brown Stadium, of course I’m going to go) … and they didn't even tackle or wear a full regulation uniform (they had shorts, pads and helmets) … and you know what, it was exactly what I needed to get my pro football fix.
If anyone needs to forget the college football offseason, it is me … remember, I'm a Penn State fan, and though I agree with all that happened to the football program, I just want the new era of Bill O'Brien to begin, and putting the names on the jerseys is the right first step for his team.
Since every college football win I cheered for the past 14 years was vacated, I guess as a college football fan I'm starting over, too … it's a good thing for all involved. It was a entire sad episode, what happened at PSU and how it all turned out, but let’s hope the victims of this can move on with their lives and be healthy for the remainder of it because that’s more important than if a statue stands or if a team can play in the postseason.)
Back to what I originally wanted to write about, and that was my 2012 football tour. This year, I added two more teams to the soon-to-be-released football preview containing 11 team previews, along with 11 player features as I interviewed as many as five players from a team to two players on a team. The tour allowed me to get to meet coaches I've never had the opportunity to interview, meet the usual cast of coaches, talk to some former coaches of Highland County teams and see some of my past high school coaches along the way as well.
I also have preview notebooks online of all the schools I attended, giving my opinions on what I saw that day, and some other tidbits of information. I also had tweets about the tour (follow me on Twitter @hcpsportseditor).
This trip of high school football, though tiring once the entire preview is finished, is a good way to motivate me for the fall season.
Anyway, there was a lot to be learned on the tour as I saw Clinton-Massie on their very first day of two-a-days, and let's just say Massie is still Massie, and the rest of the South Central Ohio League will be chasing them all season long. After that, I went to Wilmington and got to watch them practice and made it a trifecta with a visit of the newest member of the SCOL in East Clinton, as all three schools had their own story to tell.
Take, for instance, at CM, they have the highest of all expectations this season as they want to achieve even more than their Final Four appearance last season. In Wilmington, the Hurricane are preparing the newly formed Southwest Ohio Conference, and in a few years, they will be headed to the SCOL. At East Clinton, I got to learn about the story of Robby Minney and all the injuries he's coming back from (you'll have to read the preview for his story) due to an auto accident last fall.
On the second day, I was in Madison County to talk to Coach Mike Siders of Madison-Plains and Coach Jerry Wasserman of London about their final season as members of the SCOL and how they each wanted to keep building onto their football programs.
One thing that sticks out with me from London is a sign hanging in the locker room stating, “Let’s see what we can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit.”
The third day I watched the Blue Lions practice in sprinklers and talk with one of my former assistant coaches from when I was in school in current WCH head coach Corey Dye.
At Miami Trace on my visit, I got to speak with the straight-shooting Steve Bartlett as he brings his 32 years of head coaching experience to turn around the Panther program. If any coach can do it he can, as MT does have some talented football players.
This past Monday, I swung by the McClain Tigers' practice and watched them work on the finer points of the game as one player I was chatting with said they will be better than last season. I like that because from what I saw, the Tigers were ready to work and improve on their '11 season. Monday evening I was at Hillsboro and saw an energized and positive Hillsboro team I didn't see last year at this time. The players were working but just their entire attitude this summer looks and feels different.
I visited with Paint Valley head coach Pete Hollon and three of his senior players on Wednesday afternoon in Bainbridge, and though I didn't get to see them practice much except for some punting, I did get to know the story of Riley Markko and how he not only is an All-Ohio football player (he's entering his third year of organized football), but how he also runs cross-country, and not just runs it but is very competitive in the sport. He was also a state qualifier in track this past June.
On Wednesday, I got to meet veteran head coach Ron Hinton and talked football for nearly 45 minutes with the state champion head coach. That was a treat to hear how he spoke in great detail about his team and how he wants to build his program at Chillicothe.
I just want to thank all the coaches and players who were involved with this project. Thanks to the 35-plus players who gave up their time before, during and after the dreaded two-a-day practices as there were some very hot days outside and some of the players came off wind sprints and spoke with me. I want to thank the 11 head coaches who gave up their time to talk about their upcoming season, and thanks to all the folks and businesses who are advertising in the preview edition, as I hope to make this the best one yet.
This trip has made me a better sports editor (I hope), and I hope everyone picks up a copy of the football preview that will be released before the season as I have put a lot of work into it. Even more than that, I want everyone to get to know the stories of the players who spoke about what leadership, school pride and playing under the lights on Friday nights really means to them. I gained even more respect for these players I write about on a daily basis because when I asked them what a true leader meant to them they didn't hesitate and gave their opinion on what a leader was. Fans of all 11 schools I cover in the upcoming First-and-Ten Football edition should be very proud of not only the players I interviewed, but the entire teams.
This season is going to be fun, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Week 1 to kickoff.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]