Team

McDonald

Record	Div.	Conf.
8/2	Div. VI	Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference

By Steve Ruman

sports@vindy.com

McDONALD

To discover the secret behind one of Ohio’s most storied and successful football programs, perhaps it is best to take a look at what was perhaps its darkest moment.

The year was 1978, and Andy Golubic Jr. was in his first season of coaching the McDonald High football team. The Blue Devils were hoping to halt a streak of three consecutive non-winning seasons. Instead, Golubic’s troops logged an 0-9-1 record — the only winless campaign in school history.

A less stable program might have pulled the plug on Golubic, who was under added pressure because his own father had posted a 62-28-4 record while coaching at the school from 1945-57. A less patient fan base may have demanded immediate change. A less confident group of players may have thrown in the towel on their future.

However, moments after the final game of that ’78 season, one of Golubic’s players sternly ordered his teammates and coaches to huddle up in the locker room.

“At this point, I don’t know what the fans think of me, I don’t know what the players think of me,” Golubic said. “I just felt like I let down an entire community, and I was ready for the worst.”

Instead, a message was delivered which seemed to set a tone which continues to resonate today throughout the football program.

“The player very matter-of-factly says, ‘This is McDonald and this is not acceptable. We will never allow this to happen again,’” Golubic recalls. “To a man, it was understood what was expected from McDonald football, and it was understood what it took to achieve that level of success.

“I will never forget that moment, because it seemed to sum up everything that is McDonald. The commitment, the passion, the respect for the history of the program was all on display.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

The following season, Golubic led his troops to a 9-1 finish. One year later, the Blue Devils went 10-0. Golubic would go on to post a 124-40-3 record at the school.

Those who know the history of area football couldn’t have been surprised by McDonald’s quick turnaround. Stability, success and a commitment to excellence has been a trademark of the program since its inception in 1925.

When McDonald defeated Lowellville 49-0 last week, it secured at least a share of the Inter Tri-County League title — the 30th conference championship in program history. It also put the Blue Devils into the playoffs for the 15th time since 1983.

Tonight, McDonald (9-0, 6-0) closes out its regular season at Wellsville (7-2, 5-1). With a victory, the Blue Devils would record the school’s 15th unbeaten season. In its 88-year history (football wasn’t played for two years during World War II), McDonald has just 14 losing seasons.

McDonald owns an overall record of 548-242-32.

“The reason for the success can be traced back to the 1920s, when the program started,” Golubic said. “You had tough, hard-nosed kids who came from great families and who brought a tough mindset and a dedicated work ethic to the football field.

“Honestly, not much has changed about the village since those days. McDonald has the same type of families today as they did decades ago. Now you throw in the tradition factor, where kids want to live up to the past success. The stability within the program has been remarkable.”

Such stability extends beyond family and players. From a coaching standpoint, McDonald has set a standard which few Valley programs can match.

Since 1925, the Blue Devils have been guided by just 11 men. Golubic spent 16 years at the school during two stints. Brian Fedyski posted a 50-16 record during a six-year stretch (1991-1996) in between Golubic’s two tenures. Current coach Dan Williams, now in his 15th season, owns a 107-53 record at the school. That’s just four coaches in the past 37 years. By contrast, a handful of area schools have gone through 10 or more coaching changes in the same time frame.

“If you look at our roster, you’ll see a lot of the same last names that you would have seen playing here generations ago,” Williams said. “People graduate from here, and they want to stay here. That same type of pride for our town and our team that existed decades ago, it’s now instilled in the current generation.

“The community pride, it hasn’t changed. And each new batch of players that come through our program, they know the history and they want to make their own mark.”

Williams himself graduated from McDonald in 1988. He played for Golubic and quarterbacked the Blue Devils to 9-1 finishes in both his junior and senior years. Williams’ current staff includes four former McDonald players.

Like Golubic, Williams experienced but overcame a bumpy start to his career at his alma mater. McDonald went 9-3 in Williams’ first season. But then a four-year stretch resulted in three 5-5 campaigns and a 3-7 finish. In the 10 years since, the Devils are 80-27 with seven playoff appearances.

“Fans here expect success every year, so yeah you start to hear the criticism,” Williams said. “But having been around the program my whole life, I understood the frustration. Plus, I am my biggest critic. For me, the biggest pressure always comes from within.

“The bottom line is that the community always supports the program. There has never been a time when everyone here wasn’t 100 percent behind the players.”

Williams is also quick to point out that the athletic success in McDonald reaches far beyond the football program.

“You look at our sports program as a whole, and nearly every sport has succeeded on a consistent basis,” Williams said. “Again, that just speaks of the type of dedicated, hard-working families we have living in this village.”

As for the current success on the gridiron, it should come as no surprise that McDonald is winning in old-school fashion. While many area teams have turned to the spread formation and to an offense designed around the pass, the Blue Devils are relying on a playbook which might as well have been drawn up decades ago.

McDonald’s wing-T formation has given opponents fits this year. The trio of Jake Reckard, Caleb Dimery and Cameron Ifft have combined to rush for 2,294 yards and 36 touchdowns. And while the Blue Devils don’t go to the air often, when they do they have a reliable quarterback in Ben Carkido (32 of 67, 729 yards, 7 TDs).

McDonald is averaging 41 points.

“Our offense, we have a blast, because not a single one of us cares about individual stats,” Ifft said. “We’re all about getting the win no matter what it takes.”

In fact, when asked to describe the most memorable victory of the current campaign, Ifft pointed to the Devils’ 14-12 win at Western Reserve — a game he watched from the sidelines. Both Ifft and wide receiver Zack Conley were forced out of the game early on due to injuries.

“We’re both two-way starters, and that was a huge rival game against a great opponent,” Ifft said. “But everyone just stepped up and did what they had to do. That night, it was so tough to watch and not be a part of the game, but at the same time it showed me just how special this team is.”

Defensively, the Devils are allowing just 7.6 points per game. They haven’t given up any first-quarter points all year, and they have shut out their last three opponents.

“We take special pride in our defensive play,” Dimery said. “To shut out an opponent, that takes a complete team effort, so any time we can hold an opponent scoreless we feel like that’s an extra victory.”

Dimery said that while the Blue Devils have already secured a spot in the playoffs, tonight’s game is important “in terms of how we are remembered.” Like so many others associated with McDonald football, Dimery has an appreciation for the history of the program, and he wants to leave his mark in the history books.

“Going 10-0 would put us alongside the other undefeated teams, and that would be neat because it doesn’t happen that often,” Dimery said. “Years from now, the new group of McDonald players would look at 2014 and see what we accomplished, and their goal would be to match our accomplishments.”

Regardless of tonight’s outcome, the 2014 Blue Devils have already earned a spot in the record books of a program filled with decades of success.