Former Orrville coach is effective

Mo Tipton gave a pre-game speech that buoyed the Red Raiders toward a victory.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
As inspirational locker room speeches go, Mo Tipton's has to rank as a major success.
The larger-than-life former Orrville coach stunned the Red Riders when he walked in just before the kickoff of their showdown with Wooster for Wayne County supremacy.
"I had never brought someone in to talk to a team before the game," coach Bill McMillan said. "I just thought it might give us a little extra lift. I guess it worked."
The Riders had nine sacks for 66 yards in losses while Orrville QB Kyle Simmons threw three TD passes in a 21-14 win, ending Wooster's five-year win streak in the rivalry.
Tipton, Orrville's coach from 1965 to 1988, emphatically told the Riders that they would win.
"We were definitely motivated for this one," said defensive end Tony McMorrow, who had 3 1/2 sacks. "I was ready to go out and knock somebody's head off. He told us we were going to win and we went out and did it."
Season of firsts
Zanesville West Muskingum won its first Muskingum Valley League title since 1981; Caldwell went from 3-7 a year ago to 7-3 and its first playoff berth under first-year coach Chad Coffman; T.J. Blanton became the first Sandusky St. Mary QB to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 1,000 yards in a season; Lance Sinn ran for 232 yards as Haviland Wayne Trace completed its first 10-0 season with a 46-7 win over Hicksville; Canton McKinley coach Brian Cross ran his record against rival Massillon Washington to 3-0, the first time that's happened since 1934 when Jimmy Aiken's Bulldogs topped Paul Brown's Tigers for the third straight season.
More firsts
Ottawa-Glandorf beat Defiance 28-7 to win its first outright Western Buckeye League title and second championship in its 39 years in the league; Erik Chapin became the first Celina QB to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 1,000 yards in a season in an 18-16 win over Wapakoneta; Springboro completed its first undefeated season since 1982.
And even more
Newark qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1975; Grandview Heights reached the playoffs for the first time since 1987; in only its second year of existence, Dublin Jerome improved from 2-8 to 6-4 and will make its first postseason trip; Cincinnati Elder finished with its first losing record (4-6) since 1986; and Cincinnati Indian Hill beat Purcell Marian 35-0 to go 10-0 for the first time in 35 years.
Eraser men
Zack George and Brian Yarnell shattered records as the No.1-ranked Hamler Patrick Henry completed a 10-0 season and won its 29th straight regular-season game, 54-20 over Wauseon. George completed 16-of-24 passes and set school records for yards passing in a game (365), TD passes in a season (28) and in a career (61). Yarnell caught eight passes for a school-record 233 yards.
Real estatements
Kevin Call of Logan rushed for 265 yards on 23 carries and two TDs in a 48-7 win over Vincent Warren; and with the game tied at 14, Coldwater's Ross Homan took the kickoff 59 yards to put Coldwater at the Delphos St. John's 21 and then scored four plays later on a 9-yard run. The next series, Homan had a 16-yard TD run. The next series, Homan broke off a 91-yard run to cap a 35-21 win. Game, set, match.
D-lightful
Medina Buckeye outscored its opponents 371-33 and had five shutouts this season; buoyed by a 16-0 victory over previously unbeaten New Albany, Newark Licking Valley ended up 10-0 and closed with four shutouts; and Dane Pfister tied a school record with four interceptions in Hamilton Badin's 38-0 victory over Cincinnati Shroder Paideia.
Noteworthy
Columbus Brookhaven's 6-foot-6, 225-pound tight end Jeff Cumberland has caught just 24 passes, but he's averaging 30.5 yards per catch and 13 have gone for TDs; Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy QB Doug Browne threw for 317 yards and three TDs in a 35-9 win over Mariemont; Antoine Moore rushed for 232 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries and Derek Ball completed 8-of-9 passes for 201 yards and two TDs as Fairfield beat Hamilton 49-14 to earn a playoff spot; and Tad Kilburn and Tyler Osterman combined for 18-of-25 passing for 314 yards and two TDs as Lemon-Monroe (9-1) -- which was 2-8 a year ago -- beat Trenton Edgewood 32-25 to end a 10-game losing streak against the Cougars and clinch their first winning season in 11 years.
Trading places
Amelia snapped a 30-game losing streak by beating Cincinnati Walnut Hills 12-0. The Barons had last won on Oct. 18, 2002.
"We played with all our hearts and left everything on the field," Amelia LB Zach Sheppard said, tears of joy streaming down his face. "It's the greatest thing I've ever felt, to finally win in the last game of our careers."
Amelia's losing streak was tied for the 14th longest in the Ohio record book. Incidentally, Walnut Hills -- whose only wins the past two years were over Amelia -- now has a 16-game losing streak of its own.