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Valley all over D-I rosters
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HARDING CONNECTION: Ohio State running back Daniel Herron (2) pushes away Youngstown State defender Jarvis Richards during Saturday's game in Columbus.
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Mooney QB Alex Zordich gets caught behind the line of scrimmage and winces in pain as #15 Ursuline Dominique Coleand #53 Ursuline's Mike Herns bring him down hard in the third quarter
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Heacock
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OPEN LANE: Fitzgerald Toussaint of Liberty heads for a first-quarter touchdown during Friday's game against Niles. Blocking is Liberty's Quincy Harris (54), and trying to catch Toussaint is Niles' Anthony Ingram (23).
This area continues to be represented by a large delegation of players and coaches participating in big-time college football this year, with the outlook even brighter for bigger numbers next season and beyond.
This good news is thanks to better coaching and training techniques, more success stories, helpful networking and, in no small measure, to a more efficient recruiting process driven by the internet and various on-line scouting services.
The area will have at least 85 players and coaches listed on NCAA FBS and FCS teams this season, including 28 in the Mid-American Conference and 16 in the Big Ten.
This big number represents a nationwide trend, said Mark Porter of Canfield, founder and owner of scoutingohio.com. a scouting and recruiting Web site which attempts to connect the best players with college recriuiters.
Kent State of the MAC tops the list with eight players, including three starters: redshirt sophomore center Chris Anzevino (Warren Harding), junior right offensive tackle Pat Reedy (Austintown Fitch) and junior strong safety Dan Hartman (LaBrae).
The others are senior offensive lineman Dante Campbell (Harding), senior placekicker Will Kandray (Cardinal Mooney), sophomore quarterback Sal Battles (East), redshirt sophomore defensive back J.J. Pankewicz (Fitch) and sophomore defensive lineman Ishmaa’ily Kitchen (Mooney).
Campbell and Kitchen are back-ups at right guard and tackle, respectively, while Kandray is the third kicker and Battles the fourth quarterback. Pankewicz hasn’t made the depth chart as yet.
Akron and Toledo, both also from the MAC, list seven and six area players, respectively.
One of the Zips’ leaders is starting senior running back Alex Allen (Ursuline), while Akron also lists junior running back Nate Burney (Mooney), sophomore running back Nathan Cope (Hardin University and Howland), redshirt freshman linebacker Nate Schuler (Springfield), redshirt defensive back Jared Province (Warren JFK) and assistant coach Reno Ferri (Mooney).
Province is a potential starter. Schuler was injured all camp and just recently returned to practice.
Toledo has only two area players — junior right cornerback Desmond Marrow (Mooney) and junior tight end Jerome Jones (Ursuline and Cincinnati Harmony High. Jones is No. 3 on the depth chart and Marrow No. 4.
But the Rockets have assistant coaches, Steven Clinkscale (Chaney) and Jason Candle (Salem) and graduate assistant coach Tom Manning (Ursuline).
The other six area MAC representatives are at Bowling Green, Miami (Ohio), Ohio University and Ball State.
Bowling Green lists freshman defensive end Nick Tuminello (Boardman) and freshman defensive back Aunre’ Davis (Harding), both No. 3 on the depth chart; and graduate assistant coach Stan Watson (Fitch).
Miami (Ohio) has redshirt freshman defensive back Anthony Kokal (JFK) and redshirt freshman cornerback Jonathan Wells (Liberty).
Ohio University has one area player in redshirt sophomore cornerback Kenny Jackson (Liberty), while Ball State lists Sean Baker (Canfield) who was MAC freshman of the year last year.
Ohio State leads the area way in the Big Ten with four area personnel, including coach Jim Tressel (Youngstown State) and starting sophomore running back Dan Herron (Harding). The Buckeyes also have defensive coordinator Jim Heacock (West Branch) and quarterbacks coach Nick Siciliano (Fitch).
Three area players are on the Michigan team — redshirt junior placekicker Bryan Wright (Salem), freshman running back Fitzgerald Toussaint (Liberty) and freshman linebacker Isiah Bell (Liberty).
Penn State has three area representatives, including starting senior quarterback Darryl Clark (Ursuline). The others are sophomore running back Brandon Beachum (Ursuline), the No. 3 at tailback entering pre-season camp; and freshman middle linebacker Michael Zordich (Mooney), listed No. 3.
Michigan State has two area personnel in junior starting cornerback Chris L. Rucker (Harding) and defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi (Ursuline), son of former Youngstown State coach Bill Narduzzi.
Northwestern also shows two area connections with freshman defensive end Tyler Scott (Howland) and sophomore defensive end Vincent Brown (Lisbon).
Rounding out the Big Ten group are starting junior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (Campbell and Mooney) at Iowa, and junior linebacker John Humphrey (Liberty) at Purdue.
Also in Ohio, Cincinnati has two area players — Tomaz Hilton, redshirt sophomore linebacker from Rayen School, and Derek Wolfe, sophomore defensive lineman from Beaver Local.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame displays a rare brother combination in its secondary thanks to Kyle and Dan McCarthy, twin safeties from Mooney. Kyle is a senior strong safety while Dan is a sophomore free safety.
There also are five Mooney ties to Nebraska — coach Bo Pelini, assistants Carl Pelini and Tim Beck and redshirt freshman wide receiver Tim Marlowe, plus assistant coach Ross Watson (Fitch).
And Arizona retains two of the Stoops brothers — coach MIke Stoops and assistant Mark Stoops — while another Stoops brother, Bob Stoops, is the Oklahoma coach.
Other big-time area representatives are coach Mark Mangino (New Castle and YSU) at Kansas, junior defensive back Sidney Glover (Warren Harding) at West Virginia and junior linebacker Ryan Gillum (Liberty) at Syracuse.
XJohn Kovach writes about college athletics for The Vindicator. E-mail him at kovach@vindy.com.