Chaney’s return highlights the opening weekend

Cowboy’s coach squares off with former boss

Staff report

When the 2019 high school football season kicks off tonight and Friday, there will be plenty of old and new mixing throughout the Mahoning Valley.

Nothing says new quite like the return of football at Chaney High School. For eight seasons, the Cowboys have not had a varsity football team.

Tonight that changes when Chaney hosts Cardinal Mooney at Rayen Stadium in the first game of the reborn Steel Valley Conference.

East and Ursuline are the other teams joining the SVC.

The pregame coin toss will feature a couple of Youngstown legends — Don Bucci, Mooney’s long-time athletic director and football coach, and Ed Matey, retired City Schools athletic director and former Chaney football coach.

Chaney is led by Chris Amill, once an assistant for Mooney head coach P.J. Fecko.

“Cardinal Mooney has always been a special place for me,” Amill said. “I went to school there, played there, graduated from there and was an assistant coach there for 16 seasons, so it will be a very emotional game.

Friday, Jon Elliot makes his debut as Fitch’s interim head coach. Elliot, the Falcons’ offensive coordinator for the past two seasons, has stepped in for Phil Annarella who died on June 8. Annarella was the Falcons’ head coach for 12 seasons.

Fitch travels to Erie for the season opener.

Canfield begins life as an independent with a rematch against Louisville, the Cardinals’ traditional opening opponent for many seasons.

Senior lineman Richie Hofus said the Cardinals, who went 9-1 last season, have targets on their backs.

“When you beat a team, obviously the more they want to come back [strong] for revenge,” Hofus said. “The goal is the same every week — go 1-0.”

Also new this season is the Northeast 8 conference. South Range, after two seasons as an independent, joins Poland, Struthers, Hubbard, Lakeview, Niles, Girard and Jefferson.

First, the Raiders will play Springfield, their archrivals for decades in competition in the Inter-County League and Inter-Tri County League.

The Raiders are coming off a 4-6 season while the Tigers were 9-1 but missed the postseason.

This fall, Springfield, McDonald and Western Reserve again look to be the superior teams in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference, one of the two leagues created after the demise of the ITCL in 2017.

“They just keep getting better and better,” Raiders quarterback Isaac Allegretto said of the Tigers.

Girard, the Division IV state runner-up last December, opens with a trip to East Palestine.

Dan Reardon has returned to Ursuline where he led three teams to state championships form 2009-11.

The Irish, 1-9 last fall and 6-24 in the past three seasons, will open on Friday against Cleveland Benedictine at Youngstown State University’s Stambaugh Stadium.

Warren Harding travels to Canton to play McKinley, Reardon’s former team.