Dick Angle named coach for North-South Classic

February 6, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Howland’s Dick Angle got one of the biggest honors of his coaching career when he was named head coach of the North team in the annual North-South All-Star Classic in April.

When asked how he got picked, Angle chuckled and said, “Probably because I’m old.”

Two Howland players — lineman Cody Reeseman and kicker Chris McClearn — will join five other Valley players for this year’s game, which will be played April 22 at Ohio Stadium. It is the longest-running high school football all-star game in the United States.

Ursuline running back Akise Teague, Ursuline lineman Zach Conlan, Warren Harding running back Demond Hymes, Poland wideout Darius Patton and Campbell linebacker John Sikora will also be on the team, while Sikora’s father, Mickey, will be an assistant on Angle’s staff.

“I think we’ve got a great group of area kids,” said Angle. “They do a great job for our area and hopefully we can do the same thing in the game and come home with a victory.”

Angle, who is 246-164-3 in his career with Howland and Ursuline, was nominated for the post by the coaches in his region, then selected by a committee representing all the northeast Ohio regions.

“It’s a pretty big honor,” he said. “I don’t know how many other coaches from our area have been selected. I think Don Bucci [from Cardinal Mooney] and Bill Bohren [now at LaBrae] but that might be it.

“It’s pretty special.”

Angle was an assistant for the North team in 1984, helping the squad win 35-10. While winning takes a back seat to giving the players a good experience, Angle said he’s not going down there to lose.

“The pride is always there,” he said. “You always want to win but you want to make sure the kids have a great time.

“Winning is just frosting on the cake. We’re certainly not going to drive off a bridge if we don’t.”

Angle has led his teams to 11 playoff appearances, mainly with a bruising running game and a strong defense. All-star games, however, are heavy on passing and low on defense.

Is he going to be able to handle it?

“Yeah, it’s made for the offense,” he said. “You have to throw it at least 40-45 percent of the time and they’ll let you know if you’re not.

“But we’ve got a couple great quarterbacks, and this is obviously a different situation [than the regular season]. I’m looking forward to it.”