Clinching big one no simple task

Sunday, August 20, 2006 No one factor makes a champion, but winning coaches have some ideas. By JOE SCALZO VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF On Nov. 19, 1999, early in the second half of the Division III regional final against Steubenville, Poland High quarterback Ben Bair walked to the line of scrimmage, where his wide receiver, Pete Modelski, caught his eye. The Bulldogs were trailing 14-3 at Austintown Fitch High stadium — "We were getting our heads caved in," said then-Poland coach Paul Hulea — and Hulea had called for a simple fade route. The play before, the Bulldogs had run a sweep toward Big Red cornerback Matt Ellis, who got tangled up in the tackle, tweaked his ankle and came up limping. Thing is, Hulea didn't know it. And neither did his coaches. Ellis stayed in the game — "It's the regional championship game," Hulea said, "if you're standing, you're playing" — but, for one play at least, Ellis was a step slow. Modelski, a senior split end known for his blazing speed, motioned to Bair that he wanted the ball. Bair hit him on the left sideline, Modelski gave Ellis a juke and, 62 yards later, it was a 14-10 game. "It was a lucky call," said Hulea. "With a good, clean ankle, that kid probably makes the tackle. "After the game, a lot of people came up to me and said, 'Great call. Did you see the kid limping?' And I was like, 'Yeah, I saw him.' But it was just luck. I had no idea." Poland went on to win, 23-21. Two weeks later, the Bulldogs became the first team in Ohio history to go 15-0, defeating Columbus Bishop Watterson in the state championship game. "Little things like that," Hulea said of the Modelski play, "are the things that make the difference." So how do you do it? Since the playoffs began in 1972, only nine schools in the Valley have won state titles. Mooney (which has five) and Warren Harding (two) are the only two to win more than one. No team has done it back-to-back. "It's not easy to win one," said Mooney coach P.J. Fecko, whose team won the Div. IV title in 2004 and finished runner-up last season. "The stars have gotta line up." And, according to Warren JFK coach Tony Napolet, whose Eagles won the Div. IV title in 1991, it's getting harder. "Teams are getting better," said Napolet. "In the last 10 years, the competition has been real keen. I mean real keen. It's really tough." Back to the Modelski play. In that instance, a number of factors worked in Poland's favor. Similarly, winning a state title — or even a regional final — isn't the result of one magic bullet. It's a combination of factors. "I used to have the formula," joked Tony Napolet. "But it's 15 years old. And I lost it." What are the factors? Well, obviously, there's a lot of them. But if you ask around, you'll hear certain things mentioned over and over again. And two get mentioned by everyone. "When you're talking about winning a state title, two things are obvious," said Warren Harding coach Thom McDaniels. "You have to have talent. And you have to have luck." You need a few other things, too. Chemistry Although there were some very good junior-dominated teams — Mooney's 1980 state championship team, which had standout juniors such as Bob Maggs (who went to Ohio State) and running back Steve Johnson (Michigan), is a good example — most championship teams are senior-dominated. "Senior leadership is very important at the high school level," said Fecko. "These are 17-, 16-, 15-year-old kids. And people don't realize how long of a season that really is. It's very easy to lose focus." Fecko's Cardinals have played 29 games over the past two years. (They played just nine regular season games in 2004.) That's more than any Division I college team. Even NFL teams, which play 16 regular season games, get a bye week. "When you hit about game 12 or 13, it really seems like you've been in season forever," Fecko said. "The seniors are the guys who keep it all together. It's their last season and they keep everyone focused." Another key is chemistry. Players don't have be best friends, but they can't be enemies. When Warren Harding and Warren Western Reserve consolidated prior to the 1990 season, many worried the prior rivalry between the schools would tear the team apart. It didn't happen, and Harding won a state title. Lisbon coach Jim Tsilimos won a title in 1994 — the only Columbiana County team to do so — and was able to integrate a few transfers from Southern due to a teacher's strike. "When we won it, there might be different cliques and groups outside the locker room, but they were close inside the locker room," said Tsilimos. "It was an easy group to coach." And, often, the belief in each other that gets built in August carries over to the tough times in November. "One of the biggest things is believing," said Fecko. "You've got to believe. I'm sure that if someone charted all the state champions, you'd see times when things didn't look so good. You're losing the game, the ball's not bouncing their way. Somewhere along the line, you don't panic. You get the job done and you win. "A lot of times, teams don't win because they don't believe they can, not because they're not good enough to do it." Balance State championship teams are diverse on offense and defense and at least competent on special teams. "In high school, you obviously have to run the ball," said Hulea. "But you also have to be able to throw a bit. And defensively, you've got to be able to blitz along with your base stuff. You've got to play man and zone. The teams get better each week in the playoffs, and you've gotta be able to adjust." One of Poland's playoff opponents in 1999 was Orrville, which was the defending state champ and relied on quarterback Justin Zwick. Watterson was more of a run-oriented team. Poland beat both. "We were able to adjust defensively because our personnel was so diverse," Hulea said. McDaniels, who won a Division I state title with Canton McKinley in 1997, has always emphasized balance on offense. Even when he had Maurice Clarett in his backfield in 2001, he had two future Division I college players alternating at quarterback in Mike Kokal (now a QB at Miami, Ohio) and Mike Phillips (now a DB at Pitt). Not every championship team throws the ball — Don Bucci's Mooney teams rarely passed and Cincinnati Colerain threw just two times in a 50-10 victory over McKinley in the Div. I state final two years ago — but one-dimensional teams are the exception. Finally, you can't overlook special teams. Teams that can't take advantage of scoring opportunities (which require a decent kicker and good kick returners) and make it more difficult for other teams to score (which requires a decent punter and good kick coverage), aren't going to last long. "I think you've got to be above average in all phases," said McDaniels. "If you've got a significant weakness in one of those areas, it's going to prevent you from winning state championships." Health Canfield running back Angelo Babbaro got injured in last year's state final. If he had played the whole game, the Cardinals might have won. Same with Mooney quarterback Derrell Johnson, who injured his ankle in the state semifinal and missed the title game. "It's a cliche, but you've got to stay healthy," said Hulea. "You're going to have injuries. Whether or not you can overcome them depends on how good your backups are." In 1999, Hulea got a little lucky in this area. Midway through the season, one of the Bulldogs' starting linebackers got hurt. Sophomore Lou Davanzo stepped in for a handful of games and the Bulldogs kept winning. Two years later, Davanzo became an All-Ohio linebacker. Napolet knows the flip side of that. Running back Tom Paolucci, who was a junior on JFK's 1991 championship team, got injured just before the 1992 state championship game. "He couldn't run to his right that game," said Napolet, "and he didn't play in the secondary." Did it make a difference? Well, the Eagles lost 17-16. You decide. Luck In the 2001 Division I regional final between Warren Harding and Cleveland St. Ignatius, the Wildcats caught the game's biggest break. Ignatius was trailing 33-27 with six minutes remaining and the Wildcats faced fourth-and-10 on the Raiders' 36-yard-line. Ignatius quarterback Nick Szep hit running back Carter Welo for a 9-yard gain, but Welo was immediately wrapped up by Harding defensive back Prescott Burgess. Burgess forced a fumble, but Welo recovered it 6 yards later. The Wildcats scored three plays later and hung on to win, 40-33. "There's an example where maybe we needed a little bit of luck and we didn't get it on that particular play," said McDaniels. "It doesn't take much in a one-touchdown game." "The ball has to bounce your way," added Fecko. "I don't know if I'd call it luck, and I don't know if the breaks don't come because you're working so hard. But you've gotta have a couple breaks." Talent Obviously, not every team has a chance to win every year. "I agree with that statement, although I'm not going to get into the logistics of why," said Hulea, chuckling. McKinley's 1997 team also won a mythical USA Today national title and a big reason was talent. McDaniels had three future NFL players on his roster: RB/DB Mike Doss (Colts), DE Kenny Peterson (Packers) and FB/LB Jamar Martin (Saints). Ursuline's 2000 state title team had 11 players go on to play Div. I college football and many others played at lower levels. And, clearly, no program in the area's history has had as much talent as Cardinal Mooney, whose first championship team boasted arguably the best player in the area's history: Ted Bell. Not every team in the area has the talent to win a state title every year. The key is to be realistic. And when you get the opportunity, you've got to take advantage. "Once a team makes the playoffs, winning a title has gotta be your total focus," said Fecko. "Anything else is a disappointment. I don't know how else to put it." Fecko's been on both sides. He's coached a state championship team, a state runner-up and even a team that went 0-10. "When you win one, there's nothing else like it," he said. "It's a great, great feeling. But falling short is not good, I can tell you that. "It's very taxing and very hard, but in the long run, if you win it, it's all worth it. Look at all the great teams and coaches and players from this area. Very few won a state title. It's a very difficult thing to do and that's what makes it so exciting." scalzo@vindy.com