Hey everyone! This is my column that’s running in the Akron Beacon Journal Friday, but it’s posted on Ohio.com now, as you can see. Thanks to everyone who submitted votes for their favorite high school nicknames. If there are other crazy nicknames from out of state, post them so we can all get some laughs. Thanks again!

BY DAVID LEE MORGAN JR.
Beacon Journal sportswriter

During the regular season, Revere boys cross country coach Dave Parry knew he would have a team that could compete for a league title.

At the same time, Parry was smart enough to know that the Suburban League was loaded with talented teams- Green and Wadsworth, to name a few.

All three teams battled for the league championship title Saturday afternoon at Goodyear Heights Metro Parks and it was Revere standing tall in the end as the Minutemen won the tile with 49 points.

“This has been our goal all season,” Parry said. “We knew if we weren’t training, they were and that drove us. If we took a day off or weren’t eating right, they were. We always kept that in the back of our minds.”

Revere also had its No. 4 runner who didn’t run today because of injury.

“We relied on a couple of other guys to step up and (today) showed that we have the depth and the heart to finish it off.”

Leading the way for Revere was Josh Sabo (3rd), Dave Povitsky (5th), Mike Lostosk (7th), Marc Salopek (12th) and Tim Moneypenny (22nd).

And an interesting note is that when Povitsky, who is a senior, was a freshman, the Minutemen were tied for last in the league championship.

The seniors have come a long way since then.

“We were pretty bad,” said Povitsky, who is a senior. “But we’ve been working hard all year long for this so the championship means a lot to us.”

Parry added: “This was quite a turnaround for my seniors.”

Meanwhile, the individual league champion was Green senior Kyle Wheeler, who finished with a time of 16:10.

And Wheeler’s “Aunt Kimmie” was impressed with her nephew.

After Wheeler won the Suburban League championship, his Aunt, along with his mother, Julie Wheeler, went sprinting towards Kyle.

“This is the first time I’ve seen him (run),” his Aunt said. “I have to start coming more often.”

Wheeler’s teammate and close friend- senior Dylan Papp- was the runnerup with a time of 16:31.

“This is the third year I came in second here but coming in second to this guy here…I have no problem with that,” Papp said, patting Wheeler on his back. “We’re always pushing each other.”

On the girls side, Wadsworth won the team title and sophomore Paige Szabat won the individual championship with a time of 19:20 and defended her championship from last year.

Szabat said last season was a major stepping stone into this season in her development.

“Last year was a learning year for me,” she said. “After the season, I knew I was going to have to train harder and it took all of last year to learn that.”

Szabat’s teammate, Nicole Cargill, finished second with a time of 19:40.

I covered Green’s 49-21 home loss to Wadsworth Friday and two things stood out- Wadsworth (5-0, 2-0 in the Suburban League) is loaded with outstanding offensive talent, and Green (0-5, 0-2) is, too.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Is he on some kind of medication?”

No I’m not, but I watched Green quarterback Kyle Majnaric, who was 14-of-20 for 189 yards and two touchdowns, make big plays.

I watched wide receiver Luke Davies, fullback Seth Curtis and tight end Kyle Resanovich (he scored on a 62-yard touchdown pass) make big catches.

And I watched running backs Devonte Sherman and Jovon Tate (he scored on a 2-yard touchdown) have big runs.

Green’s problem is stopping teams. As head coach Tom Stacy said, the defense has to improve. But he said he still believes in his team.

I have to admit, after watching them lose to Wadsworth, I STILL believe in the Bulldogs and I expect them to rebound at Highland (3-2, 1-1.)

Here’s my thoughts on high school football now that we are at the halfway point of the season.

*I was disappointed that only 2,500 people came out to the first City Series game at InfoCision Stadium at Summa Field, though North and Kenmore aren’t big schools. Still, I would bet that crowd was two or three times bigger than it might have been at the Rubber Bowl.

*I will say this after seeing North, Kenmore, Buchtel and Ellet – there is a lot of talent in the City Series. The key for the future of the football in Akron is to get more kids to come out for these teams. The other thing coaches need is for the players to get into better shape, though with a bad economy and kids from poorer families it is sometimes impossible for them to have the time to get to the weight room in the off-season. 

*Ricky Powers is doing a nice job rebuilding the Buchtel program, which was nearly destroyed by former Claude Brown because of his conviction involving a Buchtel female student. Powers, an alumni and former Michigan star running back, is trying to bring discipline to the program, teach younger volunteer coaches what needs to be done and get the community more involved.

*Circle the Week 8 game Oct. 16 in the River Division of the NOC with Twinsburg at Hudson will be for all the marbles – a division title and tons of computer points. Both schools are in Division I, Region 2; the Tigers are fifth and Hudson seventh, according to the JoeEitel.com website.

*Who would have thought Springfield would have four wins in five games and Green would be 0-5?  Bulldog coach Tom Stacy  is drawing a lot of fire both for having too tough a schedule and, obviously, the team’s record.

*It seems that the most balanced conference this year is the Suburban League, which few fans realize has for 20 years been putting as many, if not more, teams in the playoffs each season.

Besides the red hot Wadsworth team, Barberton, Cloverleaf, Copley, Revere and Highland have comparable talent, which makes this league so hard to predict. Only Tallmadge and Green seems out of both the league title and playoff contender.

Suddenly Friday’s gane with Wadsworth (5-0) at Copley (4-1) has a lot riding on it.

*How much will Walsh Jesuit be hurt by have this week off? Yes, the Warriors will get an average of their weekly points for this week, but they will lose their playing edge going into the Oct. 9 rivalry game witth visiting St. Vincent-St. Mary. Walsh is 3-2 and 1oth in Division II, Region 5.

Medina football coach Greg Reed saw his team make  a  quantum leap in its 30-0 shellacking of Brecksville.

“It’s funny when you run the ball, catch the ball, tackle and make plays,” he said with a laugh. “Seriously, we just executed very well.”

Reed cited improvement in the play of his quarterback.

“Danny Rymer did a nice job throwing the ball,” Reed said. The junior hit 10-of-15 passes for 120 yards and three touchdowns.

The Battling Bees coach also was pleased by his junior linebackers – Werner Ostmann, Aaron Wilson, and Taylor Bennett.

Reed said Medina needs to play extremely well if it wants to win the annual battle with visiting Wadsworth Friday night at Kenneth Dukes Stadium.

“We have to keep the ball away from their offense. This is (Wadsworth coach) Greg Dennison’s best offense he’s had,” Reed said.

Believe it or not, opening night is Friday, except for Twinsburg, which won Thursday night. Here are some thoughts from the coaches and some numbers to ponder…

Cuyahoga Falls (2-8)

Second-year coach Mike Miller wants his more experienced Black Tigers to show improvement this season.

“The biggest difference for us there is a lot more confidence and offensively the kids know the system. Everyone knows what to expect, from the players to the coaches,” Miller says. “The big thing is nerves for both teams. The kids will be jacked up on both sides, so the first half will be important.”

The Black Tigers had a good first half in their opener last year at Boardman, but the Spartans throttled them in the second half for a 43-0 win.

Friday Falls opens at Barberton, renewing an old rivalry. The squads have not faced each other since they played in 2004 in the Western Reserve Conference.

“The have two kids being offered scholarships to Ohio University, one of them is  that good quarterback Kyle Snyder. I think we are ready,” Miller says.

That was the  Magics last winning season (7-3). Barberton won that last meeting, 24-7.  The Magic lost their opener last year at Perry, 48-17.

Hudson (5-5) and Medina (4-6)

Hudson coach Tom Narducci has an easy way to look at a season opener.

“It is like going on a blind date – you don’t know what you are going to get until you get there,” the Explorer coach says.

Last year, the Explorers won the opener at Medina, 38-16. Both teams looked to be improved this year as they open Friday at Dante Lavelli Stadium. Hudson won its scrimmage playing a half and another series against Copley, 14-10.

“It was pretty vanilla. The good thing is we were down 10-0 and a returning players kept cool and helped us come back. But you never know. Medina’s j.v. team beat us the last two year, so that’s a concern,” Narducci says. ”We are pretty good health  except for our offensive tackle Tim Pallay might miss the game.”

Medina has some players banged up, two in the secondary. Having missed a lot of time in preseason, returning starters Jeremy Stich, a cornerback, and Brandon O’Connor, a safety, are not expected to play the entire game.

“They just have not gotten enough reps in practice because of their injuries,” says Medina coach Greg Reed.”Our starting inside linebacker Connor McBride is questionable.”

There is reason for optimism at the Hive. Seven starters return on defense and the Battling Bees won the half scrimmage against North Olmsted, 7-6.

Medina has long been the school no one understands why it struggles so much in football, being a school that has over 2,400 students. The Battling Bees lone playoff appearance was in 2006, their last winning season (7-3). That lone game was a 34-20 loss to then Pioneer Conference and now Valley Division rival Brunswick, 34-20.

Nordonia (7-4)

Al Huge’s first year at Nordonia after replacing Jason Hall, who replaced Keith Boedicker for one season before going to Massillon, was certainly successful. The Knights got off to a good start with a win over visiting Tallmadge (9-4, 5-2), 28-7. It’s Nordonia turn to travel to Thomas Rossiaky Field to face the Blue Devils, which since 2004, its first ever playoff appearance) has become a perennial playoff team. 

The coach came away from the Knights final sscrimmage with Highland in a good frame of mind, despite losing in the one half of actual scrimmage action 18-14.

“We played very well except for giving up a couple of touchdown in 1:05. It’s nothing we can’t clean up,” Huge says.

The Knight are quite healthy with one exception. Defensive lineman Aaron Highberger has missed a lot of preseason action because of mono.

Tallmadge under coach Joe Vassalotti who grew up in the city, won the Suburban League from ‘04 to ‘07, reaching the playoff each of those seasons in addition to last year, despite a 3-3 start. The Blue Devils are in rebuilding mode after graduating virtually the entire team.

Stow (4-6)

 The Bulldogs won their season opener against Kenmore (3-7), 31-0.  This year should be a much tougher challenge, as Stow opens at Wadsworth (5-5), which normally is good for 2-1 or 3-0 starts its three independent games each year. The Grizzlies started 2008 season with a 35-19 win over Wooster (6-4). The bolstered opening game as part of a long term strategy. 

“In 2007,  we had  7-3 record, but that was only good to finish 10th in our region. Beating a team with a good record can be the difference between being third in a region or making the playoffs at all,” says Bulldog coach Marty Tinkler. “For me, openers are always an unknown. You always want to be in control and since we have not played Wadsworth before you have to rely on the two tapes of the scrimmages we saw.”

The Bulldogs are in pretty good health with one exception – senior tailback Jordan Markulis hurt his hamstring and will likely not play in the opener. 

Wadsworth senior OL Ben Buzzelli (6-4, 298) reportedly tells ESPN.com that he likes Akron and Ohio State.

“Ohio State is my favorite,” he reportedly told the Web site. “At their camp they said if I play really well, after the first two games they would think about offering me.”

Wadsworth High School sophomore-to-be Kagan Squire and Aurora High School senior-to-be Ty Mitch each won a national championship at the at the USA Cadet and Junior Freestyle & Greco-Roman Championships in Fargo, N.D. this past weekend.

Squire went undefeated in all 10 matches winning the Cadet National crown at 119 pounds. He earned All-American honors for the second consecutive year after placing third at 105 last year. Squire placed third in the Division I state tournament this past year for the Grizzlies at 112 with a record of 44-7.

Mitch, a two-time Division II state champion at Aurora, won the Junior Freestyle division at 119 pounds.

Squire led five Wadsworth High School wrestlers that ventured to Fargo to compete from July 18-25 as members of the Ohio Cadet and Junior National team.

All five Grizzlies won at least one match. Wadsworth sophomore-to-be Nick Tavanello earned All-American status for the first time as national runner up at 215. Tavanello also placed third in the state meet for the Grizzlies this past year at 215 with a record of 42-7.

Wadsworth junior-to-be Sheldon Brandenburg, who just missed All-American status for the second year in a row, went 3-2 in Freestyle and 0-2 in Greco Roman. Junior-to-be Alfredo Gray (1-2) and senior-to-be Brad Squire (1-2) rounded out the list of the Wadsworth participants.

Overall, the Ohio Cadet Freestyle team placed third as a team and the Ohio Junior Freestyle team placed tenth.

Ohio had three individual national champions: Kagan Squire, Ty Mitch and recent Brecksville graduate Jeremy Johnson (285).

Crestwood’s Paige Nemec was named a Junior Women’s All-Americans after placing third at 124).

Area senior football standouts Anthony Schrock and Chase Hoobler have each orally committed to play football on scholarship at the University of Akron.

The duo confirmed the committments today (Monday) by telephone and both said the UA coaching staff, the UA facilities and closeness to home were major factors in joining the 2010 recruiting class.

Schrock is a 6-foot-3 and 200-pound receiver at Wadsworth High School. He said he also had scholarship offers from Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan.

Hoobler is a 6-foot-3 1/2 and 225-pound linebacker at Orrville High School. He said he also had scholarship offers from Boston College, Indiana, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Ohio, Kent State, Toledo and Marshall.

Hoobler said he orally committed on Thursday July 23 and Schrock said he orally committed on Friday July 24.

Please check out the Akron Beacon Journal and ohio.com for a story about Schrock and Hoobler that is scheduled for Tuesday’s sports section. The story will feature comments from each player, statistics and thoughts from Wadsworth coach Greg Dennison and Orrville coach Doug Davault.

Scott Callaghan has resigned as boys basketball coach at Copley High School after one season.

Callaghan coached Copley to a 12-10 record in 2008-09 but remained a teacher at Wadsworth, which is also a member of the Suburban League.

Indians Athletic Director Dana Addis said Callaghan told him working at different schools and traveling back and forth was a strain.

‘‘It was more taxing than either of us thought it would be,’’ Addis said. ‘‘It was 100 percent Scott’s decision to leave. We were happy with the job he did.’’

At Wadsworth, Callaghan previously had been a head coach of both the boys and girls basketball teams.
Addis said he will begin accepting applications for the position next week.

To apply, write to Addis at Copley High School, 3807 Ridgewood Road, Copley, Ohio 44321-1630.