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J-M, Sebring hope 3-0 starts lead to better finishes
By Curtis Pulliam
They’re the answers to one of the Mahoning Valley’s most infamous trivia questions:
Q. Name the only two teams in the tri-county area to have never made the playoffs?
A. Jackson-Milton and Sebring.
It has been 17 years since the Bluejays have been 3-0 to start the season. Under then-coach Dan Williams, the Bluejays finished 6-4 in 1997, but missed the playoffs.
The Bluejays think they have found the recipe for change.
“It’s a little bit different from years gone by,” Jackson-Milton coach Mark Assion said about the atmosphere surrounding his team. “They have a great focus, they have a great want to be good. They have given us everything we’ve asked for.”
The Bluejays were close to earning the first playoff berth in school history last season, when they went 6-4.
But they couldn’t overcome a season-opening 21-19 loss to Southington. The Bluejays led 17-7 at halftime before a power failure pushed the second half to the following morning. The Wildcats eventually earned a Division VII playoff berth.
“I swear, if the lights don’t go out and we are able to continue that game on Friday night, we probably walk out of there 1-0 last year,” Assion said. “Having to come back the next morning, we were ached and pained and bruised. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Assion said the Bluejays had a really talented group, led by Brennen Morrison, three years ago.
“Brennen Morrison may have been the most talented player to ever walk on the field for the Bluejays,” said Assion, who is in the sixth season of his second stint with the Bluejays. “Unfortunately for them, they beat each other up and were emotionally and physically not ready to play football games.”
The 2011 team won just three games.
Assion said that hasn’t been an issue for his current team.
“The seniors and junior groups take care of each other — it’s really bizarre,” Assion said. “I have not really seen it since I’ve been out here. It’s a group of kids that, if one of them is down, they are all going over and saying ‘Hey man, what can we do to help you out?’”
Assion saw an example of that togetherness against Windham.
Down 14-12 in the fourth quarter, Mark’s son Mike Assion took a late hit on a quarterback keeper.
“Our kids took that as a sign of disrespect,” Assion said. “I watched our kids kind of get motivated [after that]. It was like an internal complete sensation of being so angry that they had to come out and execute the rest of the way.”
Down most of the game, the Bluejays escaped with a 18-14 victory.
Anthony Italiano said cohesiveness is the key to success on Friday nights.
“It’s hard sometimes when bad plays happen not to get in each others’ faces,” Italiano said. “We have been able to pick each other up and that’s really uplifting for someone who does fumble or drop a pass so they don’t get into their own head.”
The close-knit Bluejays defeated Southington 39-0 in Week 1.
“We definitely avenged our loss but it doesn’t matter,” Assion said. “It’s another season. We can’t look at it avenging for last year’s team. We aren’t looking at the Southington game as the be-all, end-all of our season.”
In Week 2, the Bluejays rolled over Newton Falls 29-6.
Assion says his team doesn’t have only one player for teams to focus on as in years past.
In the three wins, one thing stands out for Assion.
“Consistency,” Assion said. “When we play consistent[ly] and do what we’re supposed to do, we are a tough team to stop.”
Mike Assion knows this is a great opportunity for the team.
“We are pumped up,” he said. “We know it’s a great start to our season. We just have to keep it going.”
The Bluejays, who have won seven of their last eight games spanning the last two seasons, travel to Springfield (2-1) tonight.
“We know that they are a very good team,” Mark Assion said. “They have an excellent coaching staff and players. We have to go out and execute and hopefully good things will happen.”
It’s been even longer since Sebring started a season 3-0 — 1991, when the Trojans won their first four games and finished 6-4.
But it’s been a struggle for them for most of the last 25 years. From 1985-90 Sebring lost 43 straight games, good for seventh all-time in Ohio high school football history.
In 1993, the Trojans went 6-4 but failed to make the postseason.
From 1998 to 2008, the Trojans went 4-96.
Sebring head coach Scott Springer, in his fourth season, said he’s lucky to be the coach of this team.
“I’m surprised football survived that long down here without something making a change,” he said. “Whether it was losing the program, or something. Obviously, I’m glad it didn’t.”
Springer says there was one big problem in the past.
“We have always had great effort and some talent down here,” Springer said. “But they just didn’t know how to put it together and finish games. They are learning how to win.”
Springer and his players follow a couple of formulas.
“FBC is coach [Jay] Brophy’s, that’s faith, belief and commitment,” said Springer, who took over for Brophy after the 2010 season. “I added my own, which is CHP, character, heart and passion. You bring those things to the table and football will be a fun game to play.”
Springer says the kids bought into those mottos and the results have been evident.
“You got to play for the name on front with pride,” Springer said. “It’s not about the name on the back of the jersey. That’s the concept they have accepted.”
This year’s senior class for Sebring is Springer’s first one with the school. The continuity helps.
“This is a special class,” said Springer, who is 14-29 in his tenure. “These guys are hard workers and they deserve to feel good about themselves. But they’re very humble. They know I won’t let them get too far ahead of themselves.”
Senior Chris Clemens is enjoying the Trojans’ success.
“It’s great,” Clemens said. “My freshman year, it was every other week win-lose, we could never keep stuff together. This is something we’ve never been able to do before.”
Senior Zane Twaddle says the bond he has with his teammates is crucial.
“If you don’t trust your brother on the field, you’re not going to go anywhere,” he said.
The Trojans opened the season by beating Windham, 38-6, before traveling to Southington for a 53-15 victory.
Last week, the Trojans got off to a slow start but remained poised and beat Malvern, 35-13.
“It’s been a long time coming — this didn’t happen overnight,” Springer said. “The kids have put a lot of effort and work in over the years.”
Sebring will employ what Springer calls a “swarming defense” and a “running offense” when it visits Lowellville (1-2) tonight.
“Jeff [Lowellville head coach Jeff D’Altorio] has done a great job with those kids down there,” Springer said. “Those kids are tough. They are a good football team.”
While making the playoffs is every team’s goal, it’s also one word the two coaches refuse to speak in the presence of their players.
“I don’t let them talk about that too much,” Springer said. “I know they do amongst themselves, but we [the coaches] just talk about the next week.”
Assion also doesn’t want his Bluejays to look too far ahead.
“Everybody wants to talk about the grandeur and the glow of possibly being in the playoffs, [but] we don’t even think about that,” Assion said. “We can’t afford to think about that. It would be a luxury we’ve never experienced.”