Friday, August 25, 2000
Season overview
Coaches: Watch out for that first step
By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor
Are you ready for some football? “Probably not” would be a popular answer from a number of Cincinnati high school football coaches, who will struggle to get their teams prepared for the earliest ever season starting date.
This is the second year of the expanded playoff system in Ohio, allowing twice as many teams to qualify for the playoffs. But it also opens the season a week earlier by sacrificing a second scrimmage week coaches used to rely on for additional preparation. This year's opener comes two calendar days earlier than last year.
That makes Week One a little shaky. Slip-ups in the opening week can prove costly in the long run, since all of the games are out-of-league contests, which often make them pivotal to a team's Harbin point total that determines playoff qualification.
The early start can also be rough on fans. If you're struggling to get your bearings on pre-Labor Day prep football, here's an overview of things to watch for across the area this season.
First, a quick review of where things ended last year.
• 1999 Ohio playoff qualifiers: 19 in all — St. Xavier, Elder, Fairfield, Mason, Oak Hills, Moeller, Kings, Edgewood, Lebanon, Springboro, McNicholas, Purcell Marian, New Richmond, Wyoming, Indian Hill, Madeira, Badin, Batavia, Cincinnati Country Day.
• Undefeated regular-season teams from 1999: St. Xavier (9-0), Cincinnati Country Day (10-0), Edgewood (10-0), Batavia (10-0).
• Big games on the 2000 schedule: Right off the bat, it doesn't get much better than the schedule put together for the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown, which opened with last night's Edgewood-Kings game and continues tomorrow at UC's Nippert Stadium with Anderson vs. Lakota East at noon, La Salle vs. Oak Hills at 2:45 p.m., Colerain vs. Elder at 5:30 and Fairfield vs. St. Xavier at 8:15 p.m.
The best candidate for non-league Game of the Year comes Sept. 15, when Cincinnati's preseason No.1, Elder, travels across the river to meet Northern Kentucky's preseason No.1, Highlands. Should both teams come out strong at season's start, they may have to build a new bridge just to make room for all the hype that will commute across the river that week.
• More Ohio vs. N. Ky. fodder: Ohioans sometimes like to think of their brand of football as superior, but when it comes recently to dominance in their own ranks, the edge clearly belongs to Northern Kentucky. During the 1990s, local Ohio teams won three state titles — Badin in Division III in 1990, CAPE in Division IV in 1992 and Lebanon in Division II in 1998. Over that same span, Northern Kentucky teams won 14 state titles — seven by Beechwood, four by Highlands and three by Covington Catholic.
• Time for a new paradigm?: During the 1980s, the acknowledged trio atop the local football scene was Moeller, Princeton and Elder. But consider what has happened during the last three years. Over that span, those three programs have combined to win six playoff games. During that same time frame, St. Xavier, Lebanon and Edgewood — three programs that had a combined four playoff appearances during the 80s — have combined for 18 playoff victories.
• Harbinger of Harbin games: Besides the Crosstown Showdown games this year, these following games matching teams from competing leagues could end up being pivotal in positioning teams for playoff qualifying: Aug. 25 — Moeller at Lakota West, North College Hill at Finneytown; Sept. 2 — Winton Woods at Purcell Marian; Sept. 8 — McNicholas at Loveland; Oct. 27 — Fairfield at Winton Woods, Oak Hills at Elder, Badin at Hamilton.
• Pushing for the playoffs: Western Hills thinks it has the talent and experience to compete for a playoff spot this year. The question is: Will its membership in the Queen City Conference deliver enough Harbin points to get the Mustangs there? Out-of-conference wins could be huge for West Hi, with the two biggest opportunities coming in Weeks 2 and 3, with games against Oak Hills and Elder, respectively.
• Scheduling tool: Coaches and fans can have access to any Ohio team's schedule starting this year through the Ohio High School Athletic Association's Web site. To access it, go to www.OHSAA.org and click on the "Football' link.
• New digs: Fans in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference's Cardinal Division will surely notice the new stadium that came with the new high school at Little Miami. The old stadium dated back to the school's opening in 1957 and had a lot of age on it. The new facility doubles seating capacity to 2,500, features an all-weather 8-lane track and is augmented by the former scoreboard from Dayton's Welcome Stadium, which includes a message center.
• Who will replace... : Every year, a few "irreplaceable' talents graduate, leaving big voids in area programs. Big shoes that need filling this year include:
Moeller's Michael Munoz — Taking over after Munoz's three years as a starting offensive tackle is 6-4, 265-pound senior Andy Smith, no slouch himself after starting at offensive guard a year ago.
St. Xavier's Steve Sollmann — No clear cut replacement has emerged for St. X's career rushing leader, but the leading candidates are junior track star Enye Willingham and last year's backup, senior Tom Parazzo.
Cincinnati Country Day's Jon Smith — Smith ran for 2,427 yards to lead the area last year, but for the first time in a long time, CCD may have no big-time rushing threat to replace him. Senior fullback Matt Cohen, a power runner who ran for 400 yards last year, could be the mainstay when CCD runs the ball.
Batavia's Chad Kelley — Kelley was Mr. Everything at both linebacker and running back in Batavia's unbeaten season last year. Tabbed to take his place is senior Jantsen Dunn, a slightly larger version of Kelley at 6-3 and 220 pounds.
• Most dangerous player you may not have heard of: North College Hill's Donnie Johnson had himself quite a sophomore season in 1999, rushing 192 times for 1,812 yards. He could be a 2,000-yard guy in Year 2000.
• Most valuable newcomer: They're trying to hold expectations down in Reading, but there's no question that Lockland transfer DeShawn Wynn has the talent to elevate the Blue Devils much higher in the CHL standings. Wynn was hindered by injuries last year at Lockland, but two years ago as a freshman, ran for 1,915 yards and averaged 13 yards per carry.
• Most likely new 1,000-yard rusher: Wyoming's offense has produced a 1,000-yard rusher every year since 1994. The leading candidate to assume that mantle this year is 5-11, 215-pound junior tailback P.J. Pope, an outstanding athlete who ran for almost 800 yards in limited duty a year ago.
• Home of Bigfoot: Roger Bacon isn't known for its tradition of producing kickers, but you couldn't tell that by looking at the last three seasons. First there was all-state kicker B.J. Sanders, who once kicked a 60-yard field goal in high school and is now punting at Ohio State. Then last year, the Spartans replaced Sanders with then-junior Steve Brinkman, who made 7-of-10 field goals, including a long of 47 yards on his way to earning all-state honors. This preseason, Brinkman made his teammates happy one day by hitting a 53-yarder, giving them a reprieve on a practice-ending set of wind sprints.
• Lil' brother: It's been 11 years since Gary Rogers graduated as one of the best football players Indian Hill has ever produced. He went on to star at Vanderbilt and play six seasons in the Canadian Football League. This year, the Braves are once again relying on a Rogers — Gary's (much) younger brother, Grady, a 6-4, 185-pound starter at wideout, safety and placekicker. Grady caught 12 passes in Indian Hill's playoff season a year ago, but could be a much bigger factor as the offense switches to a shotgun alignment with a passing emphasis.
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