Flavor of crowd seeps to sideline

Mooney vs Poland

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Mooney Vs. Poland

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Instead of the perch, try the pits.

During last week’s Mooney-Poland game at Fitch’s Falcon Stadium, my assignment was to capture the “flavor” of the game.

Sometimes, sitting in a pressbox far from the action doesn’t lend itself to that, so I decided to forgo the lofty for the lowly.

The evening started several hours before the actual kickoff, mostly due to the early arrival of the anticipated crowd of 10,000.

What initially caught my attention was a sign on the fence outside the south circle gate entrance, reading: “No dogs allowed.”

Since the Poland nickname is Bulldogs, I was hoping it wasn’t going to be construed as anything but a warning to pet owners.

Several TV trucks were already situated near the field and against the stadium, so I ambled over to sneak a peek at the equipment.

There were first news, second news and third news trucks laying down their cables and setting up poles and antennas. One guy, Mike Rosko, told me that it was the game-of-the-week. Because I assumed that Mike was a technician, I marveled at him, imagining that his head was full of electronic components, switches and LEDs that carry out the split-second functions necessary for a successful production.

Wasn’t I supposed to capture the flavor of the game?

Yes, so I walked over to one of the concession areas, where Mike Kurish and Kyle Comeau were busy in the southwest corner of the stadium.

“Usually, we don’t bother opening up, but we did for the extra traffic tonight,” they said of the small cement block building with a tent attached. The concessions are operated by the Fitch band parents group.

Kurish’s son, Jonathan, is a sophomore trombone player while Comeau’s brother, Brett, is a senior tuba player.

Before leaving, they asked me if I wanted to test some french fries before the gates opened.

After some hesitation, I obliged.

The Poland football team buses arrived at 5:40, dropping off players who were greeted by cheers from fans waiting outside the gates for the 5:45 opening.

First fans through the north gate near the west stands were Jeanie and Rich Patterson. They always arrive early, said Jeanie, a cousin of Poland head coach Mark Brungard. The Pattersons quickly situated themselves against the west stands pressbox at the 50-yard line.

Mooney arrived about 6:06 to hoots, hollers and the sound of rattling from coin-filled jugs.

“We have a long time until the game starts,” one non-partisan fan was heard saying, since kickoff wasn’t until 7:30. “Whose bright idea is this anyway?”

One guy sitting alone reading a newspaper was Carl Ress of Boardman, a 1962 graduate of Mooney.

“I like hometown sports,” said the 65-year-old Ress. “It’s refreshing because of the genuine enthusiasm.” Ress said he attended the first Ursuline-Mooney game in 1958.

“As old as I am, that still sticks with me. A lot of what I am and what I became started at Mooney,” said Ress, a Delphi retiree who served in Vietnam from 1969-70.

There was a touch of Greece in the stands when George Argeras climbed up the Poland-side bleachers. George’s son, Nick, was a senior player wearing jersey No. 20.

The game wasn’t without football players from other schools, including Springfield Local’s Dylon DeJane and Mike Semach, who said they were rooting for Poland, a community just a 100-yard football field distance from New Middletown. Semach was a junior center on Springfield’s team while DeJane was a senior LB/FB.

On the other side of the field, some Mooney boys were in the men’s room painting their faces and bodies.

Geoff Kubas, a junior who said he was part of the group of 10, was wearing a shirt that read: “We didn’t come to play, we came to win.”

High atop the east stands sat Dominic Santangelo of Niles along with his son, Brian.

“I enjoy watching good football and we have it here,” said Dominic, who said he was a coach at Niles under Tim Johnson and Bill Bohren.

Dominic Santangelo has operated the Western Reserve Flight Center at the regional airport for 30 years.

The Mooney side had its band of followers in Struthers High football players: sophomores Michael Shaffer and Bobby Milone and junior Ramon Aponte.

“We just came to watch the competition,” said Shaffer, a lineman for the Wildcats.

Once the players made their paper barrier-ripping entry and the national anthem played, the kickoff was set.

Coincidentally, the last time I stood on the sidelines during a game also involved Poland — when the Bulldogs played Thornville Sheridan in New Philadelphia in a regional semifinal en route to their Division III state title in 1999.

Being so close to the action has its advantages. Instead of a distant view of 22 uniformed bodies who perform on a colorfully painted artificial surface, the thud of pads, crack of helmets and mouthpiece-muted grunts make for a much more enjoyable 48 minutes.

On a warm and dry evening, I’ll take the sidelines over the pressbox.

The crowd, which eventually turned out to be 7,543, saw a good game.

I can’t recall much about the game, but I do remember the pregame.

Gotta love those fries guys.

XJohn Bassetti is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at bassetti@vindy.com.