43
HIGH HONORS
Photo
Western Reserve quarterback Jeff Clegg, who has guided the Blue Devils to the Division VI regional championship game, is among six Valley football standouts to be named as a player of the year on The Associated Press All-Northeast Ohio Inland District football team.
Clegg, Graziano, Hughes, Curry, Love, Green are Players of Year
By Rob Todor
Quarterback Jeff Clegg, who has guided Western Reserve to the Division VI regional championship game, has been named the Offensive Player of the Year on The Associated Press All-Northeast Ohio Inland District football team.
Clegg was one of six players from the area selected as player of the year.
Also in Div. VI, Youngstown Christian’s Kaevon Green was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Sweeping the Div. V honors were Ja’les Hughes of Campbell Memorial, who was named Offensive Player of the Year, and Jesse Curry of Ursuline, who was Defensive Player of the Year.
In Div. IV, Girard quarterback Dan Graziano was named Offensive Player of the Year, and in Div. III, Courtney Love of Cardinal Mooney was selected Defensive Player of the Year.
Additionally, three men were named Coach of the Year — Nick Cochran of Girard, Paul Cusick of Crestview and Brian Marrow of Youngstown Christian.
Clegg (6-foot-1, 182 pounds, senior) led Western Reserve to a perfect 10-0 season and the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two championship.
He passed for 1,389 yards, completing 95 of 153 attempts. He threw 24 touchdown passes against just four interceptions.
Green (6-3, 210, junior) led Youngstown Christian to a 9-1 record.
Green had 131/2 sacks this season and 31 solo tackles overall with four tackles for loss. He caused three fumbles and recovered two, returning one for a touchdown.
Marrow, the YCS coach, turned around the Eagles’ fortunes this season, from 1-9 to 9-1 and the first postseason berth in school history.
Hughes (5-10, 170, senior) led the Red Devils to a 7-3 record. He rushed for 1,650 yards and scored 22 touchdowns.
Curry (5-10, 205, senior) was a standout on an Ursuline team that finished 4-6 against an extremely difficult schedule.
Curry finished as the school’s leading career tackler (390) and also holds the single-season record (150), set in 2010. He also rushed this season for 1,461 yards.
Cusick guided Crestview to the ITCL Tier One championship and a berth in the Div. V regional championship game. He has a 13-year record of 102-41 at Crestview.
Graziano (5-10, 170, senior) was a dual threat for Girard, leading the Indians to a 9-1 record and the All-American Conference Blue Tier co-championship.
Graziano rushed for 1,573 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 8.6 yards per attempt.
He also passed for 1,427 yards, completing 75 of 130 passes. Graziano threw for 19 touchdowns and had no interceptions.
Cochran, a former All-NEO player of the year, led the Indians to the regional championship game this season. He is 17-5 in two seasons as Girard coach.
Love (6-2, 225, junior) led Cardinal Mooney to a 6-3 record and a berth in tonight’s regional championship game.
During the regular season, Love had 140 tackles, including seven sacks and 15 tackles for loss.
He also had six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, two interceptions and one defensive touchdown.
The All-Ohio teams and Mr. Football will be announced the week preceding the state finals.