Through generations, football ties the Mahoning Valley together

COMING SUNDAY, AUG. 19

HIGH SCHOOL

FOOTBALL

PREVIEW 2012

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A decade ago, when Dustin Livesay was weighing whether to play freshman football at Struthers, his doctor told him he was eventually going to have to get both knees replaced.

So, she gave him a choice. Skip football and get them replaced in 10 years, or play and get them replaced in five.

“My thought was, I’m going to need them replaced anyway, I might as well do something I love,” said Livesay. “It meant so much to me. High school football is almost like a brotherhood.”

Livesay only got to play one season before his struggles with lupus forced him to put away his pads. So, to stay close to the team, he picked up a camera.

“I wasn’t able to play so I was able to be on the sidelines every Friday night,” he said.

Livesay, who had both knees replaced his senior year in 2004, is now a journalism major at Youngstown State University and is hoping to eventually work as a photographer full-time. Several times a week, he takes pictures as a photography stringer for The Vindicator.

“Because I couldn’t play, it got me motivated to go into sports photography,” he said. “I guess in the long run, it got me where I am today.”

Football practices begin Monday and whether you’re a player, a parent, a fan — or a photographer — there’s a good chance you’ve got football in your blood. Today’s Coaches Corner will serve as an appetizer before our Aug. 19 Blitz preview, which will have rosters, stats and pictures of all your favorite teams.

And whether that team is aiming for a state title or just some wonderful memories, we’ll have it covered.

“Football just describes this area so well,” said Livesay, whose football photos will appear in this newspaper this fall. “It’s a tough contact sport and you get dirty and this area is all about the steel mills and working hard and getting dirty.

“I don’t know if that’s why this area loves football so much — or if that’s why it means so much — but I know people who graduated 50 years ago and go to every game. People here love football.”