Ruman: Tough opening week for Mahoning teams

High school football coaches often suggest that the a team shows its biggest improvement between the first and second weeks of the season.

Coaches in the Youngstown area hope that is the case, as the season got off to a rough start for the majority of Mahoning County schools.

Collectively, the Mahoning County posted a 5-12 record in week one. That includes a 1-7 mark in games which involved a Mahoning County team pitted against a team from outside the Tri-County area. In those eight games, Mahoning County schools surrendered an average of 41.5 points.

Overall, 11 Mahoning County schools surrendered at least 30 points.

Columbiana County fared better, posting a 6-5 record, while Trumbull County schools went 10-6.

UNITED WE STAND

United coach Michael Demster had the backing of a legion of supporters last Friday when the Golden Eagles hosted Malvern. The game marked Demster’s initiation into the head coaching ranks.

Demster’s supporters had plenty of opportunities to cheer, as United cruised to a 30-0 victory.

“It was a very special occasion, because I was able to start my career in front of family and friends who have supported me throughout my career,” Demster said. “I had a lot of people who are close to my heart come from out of town, and that meant the world to me.”

A Stark County native, Demster played college ball at Mount Union, then spent a decade teaching and coaching mainly in North Carolina. Last year, he served as the defensive coordinator at Oak Glen (W. Va.)

“It was always a goal to return to coach in northeast Ohio,” Demster said. “The football, it was really good where I coached, but nothing beats the passion of Ohio high school football.”

While Demster admitted that his first-ever win as a head coach was “a moment to remember,” he said that any celebration was limited to the on-field water soaking he received from his players.

“They got me pretty good with a Gatorade bath after the game, but other than that I wanted to treat this as business as usual,” Demster said. “There are high expectations with this program, and this was just one game.”

“Our goal going into the night was to establish the running game. We did that almost to perfection, so I was happy in that regard. We did make some mistakes which we have to work on and correct.”

Among the seven area schools which changed coaches during the off-season, United was the only school to come away with a week 1 victory.

WEATHERING THE STORM

One area Week 1 game was affected by weather. The LaBrae-Valley Christian contest (played Saturday at Poland) was stopped for 46 minutes with 5:10 remaining in the second quarter due to lightning on two separate occasions.

While fans often believe that game officials are hasty in their decision to halt play, very specific guidelines are followed regarding weather delays. Terry Swauger, a game official and secretary of the Trumbull County Football Officials Association said that the Ohio High School Athletic Association has taken the guesswork out of weather-related incidents.

“Once you see lightning or hear thunder, the field is cleared and play is stopped for 30 minutes,” Swauger said. “If you see lightning or hear thunder again, the clock is re-started.”

Swauger noted that in years past, game officials were permitted to use a system which judged the possible severity of a storm by calculating the time between seeing a lightning flash and hearing its associated thunder.

“Today, there is no guesswork involved,” Swauger said. “Some people may think we err on the side of caution, but honestly this is the best system for all involved.”

“When it comes to the safety of players and everyone else out there on that field, there is no reason to take risks.”

If the suspension of a game becomes lengthy, it is up to on-site administrators from both schools to determine how long to wait out the storm, whether or not to rule the game official, or when and where to resume the contest the following day.

Curfew laws and travel time are some of the factors taken into account while determining whether a game remains in delay-mode, is postponed or is ruled complete. Swauger noted that in many instances, it’s logistically impossible for both schools to resume play the next day.

“Fortunately, we don’t run into this situation often, and when we do, common sense almost always prevails,” Swauger said.

CONFERENCE CLASH

Because both Niles and Poland belong to the Red and White tiers of the All American Conference, the Red Dragons and Bulldogs play nine conference games. Therefore, league play begins tonight for both schools when the two teams meet at Dave Pavlansky Field. Tonight’s winner will see its record go to 2-0, and will have a 1-0 mark in two different conference standings.

Hubbard looks to extend its regular-season winning streak to 24 games when it visits Girard. Columbiana and Crestview are split up in different divisions of the Inter-Tri County League, but the backyard rivalry will continue tonight. The Clippers are looking to snap a six-game losing streak to the Rebels. A possible computer points bonanza awaits the winner when Springfield hosts McDonald. Cardinal Mooney resumes its rivalry with Boardman when the two schools meet at what will be the first-ever game played at the newly-constructed Spartan Stadium.

Steve Ruman is a sports writer for The Vindicator. Email him at sports@vindy.com.