Five Mahoning Valley football teams open seasons tonight
By Brian Dzenis
There are no secrets between the Liberty and Struthers football teams.
The pair of schools are two of five teams getting an early start to the 2016 high school football season tonight. Liberty coach Chet Allen and Struthers coach Curt Kuntz were assistant coaches at Warren Harding and developed a strong friendship over the years. They know each other a little too well on the football field.
“There’s not a lot of secrets in football and when you’re coaching against one of your better friends. It’s like playing in the backyard with your brothers,” Kuntz said. “He knows my calls. I know his calls and it’s just going to be about who executes the best and doesn’t turn the ball over.
“It’s kind of nerve-wracking going into the game, because you aren’t going to surprise him with anything,” Kuntz said.
Both coaches said the most pressing questions about their teams heading into tonight involve the mental side of the game.
For Struthers, which took last year’s season-opener 34-7, the challenge is dealing with expectations. Specifically, the high expectations coming from having two-way star and Kent State commit in quarterback A.J. Musolino and a roster that’s heavy with experience.
“You can’t really think about expectations,” Musolino said. “Until you prove something, you’re not that good.”
For Liberty, Allen has the first-year coach jitters out of the way. He remembers Struthers spoiling his debut. Allen wants to see if his team lives up to its preseason talk.
“How mature are we? Have we grown since last week’s scrimmage? Are we truly all in or are we just talking about it?” Allen said. “Athletically, we’re as good as any team, but it’s time to be doers and not talkers.”
The Leopards’ game plan centers around slowing down the Struthers quarterback, Who is a threat with his arm and legs while also playing safety.
“I hope we keep the ball out of his hands as much as we can. We want to rattle him on defense and keep him guessing,” Allen said. “I just hope we can get to him. Hopefully, we can crack that big wall of humanity that they have, get some stops and make this a more fun game than we had last year.”
GIRARD AT NILES
Girard coach Pat Pearson didn’t expect a shootout against Niles last season, but a see-saw game ensued with the Red Devils coming out on top 50-41.
“Last year I thought the defense was coming to play and then it became about offense,” Pearson said. “I know [Niles is] talented on both sides of the ball this year. It’s going to take a great effort from our kids, whether we’re scoring points or getting stops.’”
It’ll be a matchup of two teams coming off sub-.500 seasons. The Red Dragons have an edge with experience, particularly at the skill positions with two-way senior quarterback Tyler Srbinovich, who accounted for 30 combined rushing and passing touchdowns in 2015. Girard goes to Niles with sophomore QB Mark Waid and a running game by committee of senior Kenny Walters, junior Anthony Backus and sophomore Jamil Bannister. The Indians are looking to have one of their young talents emerge as a big name in the area.
“We talked about it with our kids at our pre-game meetings. We’ve established a tradition at Girard and year-to-year,” Pearson said. “The jersey number and faces might change, but Girard kids step up and play and we want this group to step up and take their place and continue the tradition of Girard football.”
TUSCARAWAS CENTRAL CATHOLIC AT LISBON
Lisbon isn’t taking a team it beat 54-0 lightly. Blue Devils coach Jim Tsilimos said the 2015 result was the combination of the Saints losing their starting quarterback to an injury early in the game and then the Blue Devils didn’t turn the ball over while their opponent did.
“We’re not overconfident. We didn’t pick them because it’s an easy game,” Tsilimos said. “We picked them because they are good enough to beat us.”
Tsilimos likes playing the Saints because they play in a similar style to the team that won the ITCL White Tier, Columbiana.
“A team like that worries you, you blow a coverage or miss an assignment and it’s a touchdown,” Tsilimos said.
“There isn’t a team on our schedule that we can’t beat, but there’s a lot of teams on our schedule that can beat us. It depends on us and Tuscy Central is good enough to beat us.”