PREP FOOTBALL
PREP FOOTBALL
Private schools have unfair advantage
Fanfare:
I am writing today to address one of the biggest travesties in our area high school sports — the unfair advantages enjoyed by parochial schools.
There is nothing better than picking up my dad and setting off to enjoy a Friday night high school football game.
We usually pick the game in our area that is most appealing and competitive and cheer our hearts out for the team of our choosing.
The playoffs should be the best time of the year for Ohio high school football.
Not by a long shot.
Most years you have area powerhouses that seem to think the playoffs are simply what happens when the regular season is over.
Teams like Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney. These teams get their pick of the finest players in the area. Even in good economic times the Youngstown area struggles, yet somehow all these great athletes from Youngstown can afford tuition to these private schools.
I do not begrudge these students the opportunity at a good education by questioning who is paying the tab.
Cardinal Mooney has made themselves regulars in the state championship football game for Division IV for the past few years. Anything short of a state championship in Division V for Ursuline this year would have been downright disappointing.
The Irish spent their season beating up on Division I, II, II and IV teams, going 10-0 before playing their Division V games in the playoffs. The only game they won by fewer than 10 points all year was against Mooney, which they won 10-7.
I love to watch our area teams who get that rare playoff berth. Watching the community rally around them and the school fill to the brim with school spirit really gets the blood pumping.
But when these teams do achieve playoff status, how can they compete? When Warring Harding gets trounced by Mooney and Ursuline during the regular season, how does a team like the LaBrae Vikings knock them off in the playoffs?
I was a member of the only two playoff teams in Champion football history in 1993 and 1994. In 1993 we went 10-0 and beat Poland in the first round of the playoffs. Our team was considered to be the best the Trumbull Athletic Conference had produced since the ’80s. We lost to Ursuline in round two, 26-0.
Public schools should have a separate playoff bracket. My nephew plays at LaBrae as an eighth-grader. His teams have won Pee Wee super bowls and went undefeated in junior high this year.
No doubt in my mind they will be a great team in high school. It is too bad that there will be a Cardinal Mooney team waiting for them when they reach the playoffs.
Robert Anthony Jr.
Warren
YSU FOOTBALL
More area players needed on roster
Fanfare:
I totally agree with the comments about it being time for a new YSU football coach. In eight years under Heacock, the Penguins have one playoff appearance and three losing seasons.
Maybe the Penguins should be called transfers. How many transfers are on this team, 15 or 20? To have a player there only two years, you’re always starting over rebuilding.
Why redshirt and wait your chance to play, only to see a transfer — who is not necessarily better — play?
Todd Rowan never had a fair chance to play even though he looked good during summer practices. Paul Corsaro was even worse to put ahead of a true freshman.
It’s great to see the blight removed next to Stambaugh Auditorium. I’d like to see indoor facilities built across from the stadium.
YSU’s goal should be to move to Division I, preferably Conference USA with Marshall. I am tired of so called I-AA football. Talk to Akron, Marshall etc. about moving up. Talk to Boise State, which was rated above Ohio State.
There is no excuse for not recruiting five or six local players every year. Family, friends and fans want to see more locals. Attendance will improve and performance too.
Mike Cholensky
Youngstown