October 24, 201113 yr The LEL isn't going anywhere. Losing long time members Mentor and Shaker takes away from some of the tradition, especially Shaker. But it wasn't too long ago that the LEL gained Euclid and Bedford when the GCC broke up. Admiral King drops out and Warren G Harding comes in. I think that WGH's membership in the LEL is fluid. They're kind of a geographic oddball in the LEL and I think they'll move elsewhere if the right opportunity presents itself. Also, if the NOC loses another member or two (possible, for instance, if/when the Parma School District moves from three to two high schools), I suspect that Euclid and Cleveland Heights will be high on their list as replacements. Ultimately I think one of two things are going to happen with the LEL and it will depend on the NOC. First, the NOC breaks up and the schools move in three directions towards more geographically-based conferences. If that happens, a lot of the former LEL schools now in the NOC (plus Solon, Brush, Mayfield, etc.) may look to get back in the LEL or form a league with a lot of the current LEL schools. Second, the LEL will outright merge with the NOC, which will now become a four-division superconference. I kind of miss the days of the old LEL Lake with Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Euclid, Mentor, Lakewood, Elyria and one of the Parma high schools (I believe Valley Forge). That was a heck of a league. Elyria was not apart of the OLD LEL. They were apart of the GCC. LEL Shaker Heights Shaw Garfield Lakewood Parma Sr. Normandy Valley Forge The GCC Brush Mayfield Mentor Willougbhy South Eastlake North Euclid Bedford Maple Heights Lorain Lorain Admiral King Elyria I think I got everyone Too bad that Maple's undefeated season has to get tarnished next week. The giant is sleeping no longer As a Shaker Boy. I say Go Maple Hts! LOL
October 24, 201113 yr Here's my understanding of the Lake Erie League: The original LEL was Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Shaw, and...University School. U.S. dropped out pretty quickly and schools like Parma, Lakewood, and Euclid were soon added. Berea and Midpark were also in the league in the 30s or 40s. I think in the 1950s league membership stablized with Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Lakewood, Parma, Shaker Heights, and Shaw. Brush was also in the LEL at some point there, too. Lorain and/or Elyria may have been in the league for a bit during the postwar years, but not for an extended period of time. In the 1960s Garfield Heights and Valley Forge were added to get league membership up to 8. I think that Euclid left for a while before returning in the 1990s. I don't know much about the GCC, but I didn't think that there were Lorain County schools in the league. But I was talking about the old LEL Lake Division from the late 1990s-early 2000s. That consisted of Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid, Lakewood, Mentor, Shaker Heights, and Valley Forge. Shaker Heights was a dominant force back then.
October 24, 201113 yr "I went to the homecoming game this weekend and Heights looked real good. The lineman headed to Wisconsin (Dodson?) is as advertised and they have a stable of backs and recievers, not to mention a dual threat QB. They're extremely hard to slow down. Defefnse isn't too shabby either. With the exception of the Shaw and Euclid games, each one has pretty much been over by halftime. Next week is going to be a real test and should be a great game between two unbeaten teams. I'm hoping STO airs it." They should, for sure. It's the championship game for one of the area's major conferences, and in effect it's a playoff game. That's Maple's edge right there. Jeff Rotsky is great at turning moribund programs into contenders, there may be none better. But his teams sometimes lack discipline and focus. I believe he was 2-5 in the playoffs at Maple, and he never went past the second round. Todd Filtz is 9-1 in the playoffs, and while his teams occasionally have a sloppy game, they are all about discipline and focus. They seemed to be back last week, shutting out Bedford 22-0, and they've flat out eviscerated Shaw two years in a row. Plus there's the controversy about the Maple transfer being ruled ineligble a couple years ago, boosting the Mustangs to the playoffs and trashing Heights's season. "As a Shaker Boy. I say Go Maple Hts! LOL" WBITD when I "played", Shaker had a great team and we shall-we-say didn't. Except for one Friday afternoon early in the season when we thumped Shaker like 20-3. We were 1-9 that season, they were 9-1 and would have gone to states (then like 4 teams went statewide) if we hadn't done that. I've wondered since if we were that good that day, or they were that bad. My freshman year at Case, I was wearing a Maple football t-shirt in gym class when the teacher said "oh, you guys had a good season". I'm like "not exactly", it turned out the only game of ours he knew about was Shaker.
October 24, 201113 yr Plus there's the controversy about the Maple transfer being ruled ineligble a couple years ago, boosting the Mustangs to the playoffs and trashing Heights's season. My understanding is that it was a clerical error that Heights missed, but someone (or people) at Maple knew about, but sat on until almost the end of the season. Had it been reported earlier, Heights would still have had a shot at the postseason. Also worth noting that the OHSAA went back and changed the rules so if the same thing happened today it would not result in forfeiture of games.
October 24, 201113 yr Plus there's the controversy about the Maple transfer being ruled ineligble a couple years ago, boosting the Mustangs to the playoffs and trashing Heights's season. My understanding is that it was a clerical error that Heights missed, but someone (or people) at Maple knew about, but sat on until almost the end of the season. Had it been reported earlier, Heights would still have had a shot at the postseason. Also worth noting that the OHSAA went back and changed the rules so if the same thing happened today it would not result in forfeiture of games. It was a kid from Maple Heights playing for Cleveland Heights, and my understanding is Maple reported it right after the game. There's some question about where the kid was actually living at the time.
October 24, 201113 yr I don't know much about the GCC, but I didn't think that there were Lorain County schools in the league. I don't recall there were either. I think Nordonia may have been a member for awhile. When I "played" it was Mentor, Eastlake North, Willoughby South, Euclid, Mayfield, Brush, Bedford, and Maple Heights.
October 24, 201113 yr Here's my understanding of the Lake Erie League: The original LEL was Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Shaw, and...University School. U.S. dropped out pretty quickly and schools like Parma, Lakewood, and Euclid were soon added. Berea and Midpark were also in the league in the 30s or 40s. I think in the 1950s league membership stablized with Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Lakewood, Parma, Shaker Heights, and Shaw. Brush was also in the LEL at some point there, too. Lorain and/or Elyria may have been in the league for a bit during the postwar years, but not for an extended period of time. In the 1960s Garfield Heights and Valley Forge were added to get league membership up to 8. I think that Euclid left for a while before returning in the 1990s. I don't know much about the GCC, but I didn't think that there were Lorain County schools in the league. But I was talking about the old LEL Lake Division from the late 1990s-early 2000s. That consisted of Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid, Lakewood, Mentor, Shaker Heights, and Valley Forge. Shaker Heights was a dominant force back then. I wasn't talking about the wikipedia version of the LEL, just from the 70's to today. IIRC, Euclid wasn't in the LEL until the GCC and LEL merged. When I was at Shaker in the 80's, what I listed above where the LEL members. Shaker a dominate force? When I was at Shaker we couldn't Heights at anything. We could have a losing season and the only thing that mattered was beating Heights or Shaw. Versus Heights in the Big Sports - Football, Basketball, Baseball and Track, we could win in Baseball. Football was a close, but Heights would somehow squeak out a win. Track, nobody could compete with Heights in the 80's, they had that crazy coach who would throw clip boards. My one and only year in track they beat us 120-12. My cousins, from Height and I got into an argument. It was so ugly.
October 24, 201113 yr Nordonia rings a bell, too. I think at one point the GCC had nine schools. Nordonia may have been in the GCC. I can't remember. Now that I think about it, Painesville Riverside may also have been in the GCC. I think one of the main reasons the GCC broke up was travel and having so many school spread over several counties.
October 24, 201113 yr Elyria was not apart of the OLD LEL. They were apart of the GCC. LEL Shaker Heights Shaw Garfield Lakewood Parma Sr. Normandy Valley Forge The GCC Brush Mayfield Mentor Willougbhy South Eastlake North Euclid Bedford Maple Heights Lorain Lorain Admiral King Elyria I think I got everyone Elyria was in the old LEL (which had two divisions, it was a huge conference). The GCC has been defunct for a while now. ERocc had the eight teams from the 80s correct. Nordonia joined when Mentor was booted (I believe the GCC told them they needed to split into two high schools or they were out since they were far bigger than any other school, there may have been a year or two where there was an overlap and the GCC had nine teams, but there was not at any time any schools west of Euclid/Brush/Maple Heights in the GCC). When the GCC disbanded, North and South formed the PAC with Madison, Riverside, and Chardon (Lakeside later joined, and now I believe University School and Geneva have joined). Euclid and I believe Maple Heights and Bedford as well joined the LEL. Mayfield, Brush, and Nordonia joined the WRC (which became the WRC North since it became a huge conference encompassing teams from as far north as Mayfield to as far south as Tallmadge). The CVC splitting apart at this time helped form these conferences as well, as it freed up Chardon (who formed the PAC), Solon, and Twinsburg (both of whom joined the WRC). The NOC was formed later. As far as the Cleveland Heights situation in 2009, it turned out the kid would have been OK to play for Cleveland Heights if an administrator had not forgotten to file a form with the state showing that he was in fact eligible to play for Cleveland Heights. Also, Clevelander17 is correct that it caused the OHSAA to change the rules such that this specific type of error will not cause the entire team to forfeit in the future.
October 24, 201113 yr Elyria was not apart of the OLD LEL. They were apart of the GCC. LEL Shaker Heights Shaw Garfield Lakewood Parma Sr. Normandy Valley Forge The GCC Brush Mayfield Mentor Willougbhy South Eastlake North Euclid Bedford Maple Heights Lorain Lorain Admiral King Elyria I think I got everyone Elyria was in the old LEL (which had two divisions, it was a huge conference). The GCC has been defunct for a while now. ERocc had the eight teams from the 80s correct. Nordonia joined when Mentor was booted (I believe the GCC told them they needed to split into two high schools or they were out since they were far bigger than any other school, there may have been a year or two where there was an overlap and the GCC had nine teams, but there was not at any time any schools west of Euclid/Brush/Maple Heights in the GCC). When the GCC disbanded, North and South formed the PAC with Madison, Riverside, and Chardon (Lakeside later joined, and now I believe University School and Geneva have joined). Euclid and I believe Maple Heights and Bedford as well joined the LEL. Mayfield, Brush, and Nordonia joined the WRC (which became the WRC North since it became a huge conference encompassing teams from as far north as Mayfield to as far south as Tallmadge). The CVC splitting apart at this time helped form these conferences as well, as it freed up Chardon (who formed the PAC), Solon, and Twinsburg (both of whom joined the WRC). The NOC was formed later. The LEL and GCC didn't merge into the 90s. The changes you're speaking about happened over the last few years. I know IIRC, when the merger took place all schools from both leagues joined and the League was split into a Large and Small school divisions. Then schools again complained about the distance so the many left for other leagues. ETA: When I entered Byron Jr. High. I don't ever recall playing any GCC junior high schools in league games. It was only Roxboro, Wiley, Monticello, Woodbury and Warrensville. On occasion, some time Kirk. Ironically, Warrensville HS was an independent but their JH was in our league.
October 24, 201113 yr Here's my understanding of the Lake Erie League: The original LEL was Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Shaw, and...University School. U.S. dropped out pretty quickly and schools like Parma, Lakewood, and Euclid were soon added. Berea and Midpark were also in the league in the 30s or 40s. I think in the 1950s league membership stablized with Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Lakewood, Parma, Shaker Heights, and Shaw. Brush was also in the LEL at some point there, too. Lorain and/or Elyria may have been in the league for a bit during the postwar years, but not for an extended period of time. In the 1960s Garfield Heights and Valley Forge were added to get league membership up to 8. I think that Euclid left for a while before returning in the 1990s. I don't know much about the GCC, but I didn't think that there were Lorain County schools in the league. But I was talking about the old LEL Lake Division from the late 1990s-early 2000s. That consisted of Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid, Lakewood, Mentor, Shaker Heights, and Valley Forge. Shaker Heights was a dominant force back then. I wasn't talking about the wikipedia version of the LEL, just from the 70's to today. IIRC, Euclid wasn't in the LEL until the GCC and LEL merged. When I was at Shaker in the 80's, what I listed above where the LEL members. Shaker a dominate force? When I was at Shaker we couldn't Heights at anything. We could have a losing season and the only thing that mattered was beating Heights or Shaw. Versus Heights in the Big Sports - Football, Basketball, Baseball and Track, we could win in Baseball. Football was a close, but Heights would somehow squeak out a win. Track, nobody could compete with Heights in the 80's, they had that crazy coach who would throw clip boards. My one and only year in track they beat us 120-12. My cousins, from Height and I got into an argument. It was so ugly. My senior season was '79. Shaker had one really great player, Orlando (I forget his last name) who ended up at Ohio State and I think played some NFL ball. I recall that they were 9-1, so presumably they beat Heights and Shaw. We scrimmaged Heights every year and my senior there was a big fight during the scrimmage (pretty unheard of) that one of our WRs started. I ran into him about ten years later and he was coaching for Heights....go figure.
October 24, 201113 yr Elyria was in the old LEL (which had two divisions, it was a huge conference). The GCC has been defunct for a while now. ERocc had the eight teams from the 80s correct. Nordonia joined when Mentor was booted (I believe the GCC told them they needed to split into two high schools or they were out since they were far bigger than any other school, there may have been a year or two where there was an overlap and the GCC had nine teams, but there was not at any time any schools west of Euclid/Brush/Maple Heights in the GCC). When the GCC disbanded, North and South formed the PAC with Madison, Riverside, and Chardon (Lakeside later joined, and now I believe University School and Geneva have joined). Euclid and I believe Maple Heights and Bedford as well joined the LEL. Mayfield, Brush, and Nordonia joined the WRC (which became the WRC North since it became a huge conference encompassing teams from as far north as Mayfield to as far south as Tallmadge). The CVC splitting apart at this time helped form these conferences as well, as it freed up Chardon (who formed the PAC), Solon, and Twinsburg (both of whom joined the WRC). The NOC was formed later. I believe 1997 was the last year for the Greater Cleveland Conference (the rights to the name are currently owned by a former Maple Heights AD, for what it's worth). The reason I think that is we had a "reunion" game for football alumni that I could not go to because I was in Tulsa on business that weekend, and that would have been the year. IIRC, Mentor never left the conference. Every team except Mentor did, so the conference was defunct. Maple was rarely competitive in football so it's ironic that they were the first former GCC team to win a state title.
October 24, 201113 yr IIRC, Mentor never left the conference. Every team except Mentor did, so the conference was defunct. Mentor wasn't in the conference for a good part of the 90s (when Nordonia was), and it was still called the GCC then. Although it does sound familiar that they had to do something like all leave the conference and form a new one to remove Mentor. Maybe they called it the Greater Cleaveland Conference? :)
October 24, 201113 yr Elyria was not apart of the OLD LEL. They were apart of the GCC. LEL Shaker Heights Shaw Garfield Lakewood Parma Sr. Normandy Valley Forge The GCC Brush Mayfield Mentor Willougbhy South Eastlake North Euclid Bedford Maple Heights Lorain Lorain Admiral King Elyria I think I got everyone Elyria was in the old LEL (which had two divisions, it was a huge conference). The GCC has been defunct for a while now. ERocc had the eight teams from the 80s correct. Nordonia joined when Mentor was booted (I believe the GCC told them they needed to split into two high schools or they were out since they were far bigger than any other school, there may have been a year or two where there was an overlap and the GCC had nine teams, but there was not at any time any schools west of Euclid/Brush/Maple Heights in the GCC). When the GCC disbanded, North and South formed the PAC with Madison, Riverside, and Chardon (Lakeside later joined, and now I believe University School and Geneva have joined). Euclid and I believe Maple Heights and Bedford as well joined the LEL. Mayfield, Brush, and Nordonia joined the WRC (which became the WRC North since it became a huge conference encompassing teams from as far north as Mayfield to as far south as Tallmadge). The CVC splitting apart at this time helped form these conferences as well, as it freed up Chardon (who formed the PAC), Solon, and Twinsburg (both of whom joined the WRC). The NOC was formed later. The LEL and GCC didn't merge into the 90s. The changes you're speaking about happened over the last few years. I know IIRC, when the merger took place all schools from both leagues joined and the League was split into a Large and Small school divisions. Then schools again complained about the distance so the many left for other leagues. I'm not sure what you're thinking of because the GCC hasn't existed for almost 15 years and Willoughby South and Eastlake North have never been in the LEL. There was no merging of the GCC and the LEL. The GCC disbanded in the late 90s and the teams went to the conferences I mentioned (in the late 90s, not "over the last few years"). Or are you referring to "ancient times"? :) I know the GCC was an old conference, and I don't know anything about it before the 80s.
October 24, 201113 yr MTS - the track coach's name was Dick Mann (not joking) Yes! He was so mean. But he produced one hell of a Track legacy at Heights. Heights went 17 seasons before losing a dual meet or some crazy record. I remember at the Regional track meet, Heights had a botched hand-off, not that anyone else could tell. They won the relay, but he ran onto the track, started yelling at the runners (one of them FromHeightstoHarlem) and made them do laps/hand-offs in the middle of the field while the rest of the meet took place. We were like he's bananas! Then he yelled something like, "you're not going to lose this meet while im coach! DO NOT embarrass me!"
October 24, 201113 yr The streak was at 118 straight dual meet victories by the year I graduated (we also won states that year). I think they lost a dual meet to Mentor the following year which ended the streak. Coach Mann "retired" (more like was forced to retire) that year, IIRC, and the girls coach (Holland) took over and is still in charge. The story you recall reminds me of our 4x400 relay team being DQ'd at the LEL championship meet my senior year when our third leg, who had a significant lead, stopped to pose for a picture before making his last turn. I thought Coach Mann was going to have a stroke he was so pissed at the runner. FWIW, I played in the LEL in the mid to late 1990's and it was before the GCC teams merged. IIRC, the teams were: Heights Shaker Shaw Mentor Garfield Hts Normandy Valley Forge Lakewood Elyria Elyria was new to the league and had just consolidated their two high schools which was supposed to result in a 'super team' my senoir year. But we upset them on opening weekend. Back then, Shaker and Shaw were the two most dominating football programs in the division IMO. I only beat each of those teams 1 out of the 3 times I played them in varsity. Shaker had a great coach (Sedmak?) and athletes (Nate Clements, Archie Griffin Jr, some lineman I can't think of that went on to play at OSU I believe). Thankfully, Bedford (with Chris Chambers and Lee Evans) and Euclid (with Tony Fisher) were not yet in our league.
October 28, 201113 yr Rumor has it Maple Heights QB DaJunn Graham has been suspended for the Cleveland Heights game. This has to make CH the favorite, though not prohibitively so.
October 28, 201113 yr Maybe Rotsky made a phone call ;) LOL! A few years ago, Rotsky told the middle school coaches not to play a certain kid who he didn't like (personally). The kid ended up going to Glenville. He came back to Maple for his junior year. You may have heard of him, his name is Shaq Washington.
October 28, 201113 yr Kareem Hunt, the Jr. running back at Willoughby South, is the real deal. Yeah, I thought he was going to be something special when I watched him play last year (what an offense that was). I just saw he put up video game numbers last night.
October 28, 201113 yr ... in the slop. 485 yards. He had 300 in the 1st half. Best Cle area RB since Robert Smith? (I'm not counting Wells or Clarrett, because they played in Akron and Warren, respectively)
October 28, 201113 yr Best Cle area RB since Robert Smith? I'll have to wait and see what he does next year, but it looks like he very well may be.
October 28, 201113 yr We had a kid at Maple named Devonte Ransom who was seriously underrated because of Shaq Washington. He had 210 yards one game....in seven carries. If he ever decides he wants to sufficiently hit the books, he'll make a mark in college. Last I heard he was at a junior college in Erie.
October 28, 201113 yr FWIW, I played in the LEL in the mid to late 1990's and it was before the GCC teams merged. IIRC, the teams were: Heights Shaker Shaw Mentor Garfield Hts Normandy Valley Forge Lakewood Elyria Elyria was new to the league and had just consolidated their two high schools which was supposed to result in a 'super team' my senoir year. But we upset them on opening weekend. I don't think this is right. I'm fairly certain that Elyria didn't join the LEL until 1997. They played in a league with Admiral King and other Lorain County schools (of various sizes) before that. Heights and Elyria did however play a few times before the Panthers joined the LEL.
October 28, 201113 yr Elyria joined in 1996, the year Elyria and Elyria West merged. Trust me, I was on the field for their first game and probably still have the PD cover story from the day after. Euclid did not join until after I had graduated.
October 28, 201113 yr I'm shocked the Heights Vs. Maple game isnt getting more play. The CH family members are all smack talking and ready for a win. Take me back to the 80s
October 28, 201113 yr I'm shocked the Heights Vs. Maple game isnt getting more play. The CH family members are all smack talking and ready for a win. Take me back to the 80s I doubt they will get far in the playoffs, win or lose tonight. Jeff Rotsky has several 9-1 seasons and one 10-0 at Maple, but he was 2-5 in the playoffs and never got past the second round. You need a disciplined and well conditioned team at that level.
October 28, 201113 yr I'm shocked the Heights Vs. Maple game isnt getting more play. The CH family members are all smack talking and ready for a win. Take me back to the 80s I doubt they will get far in the playoffs, win or lose tonight. Jeff Rotsky has several 9-1 seasons and one 10-0 at Maple, but he was 2-5 in the playoffs and never got past the second round. You need a disciplined and well conditioned team at that level. I could care less. Its just weird that two undefeated teams this late in the season are getting no love. I guess when you aren't SI or SE, you get lost in the shuffle.
October 28, 201113 yr MH will be CH's first playoff caliber challenge. For better or worse, most of their games have essentially been over by halftime. But I will say, fwiw, this is the best conditioned and disciplined team Heights has had that I have seen play. Just like players, coaches improve as well over the years. From watching practices and the games, Rotsky is on their a$$es non stop if someone doesn't cover their assignment. Last week, in the midst of a shutout and just after scoring a TD, he chewed out one of the players. That type of accountability has alway been missing at Heights. They always had the athletes, as displayed through success in basketball and track, but they never had a great football "program" due to lack of discipline and accountability.
October 28, 201113 yr MH will be CH's first playoff caliber challenge. For better or worse, most of their games have essentially been over by halftime. But I will say, fwiw, this is the best conditioned and disciplined team Heights has had that I have seen play. Just like players, coaches improve as well over the years. From watching practices and the games, Rotsky is on their a$$es non stop if someone doesn't cover their assignment. Last week, in the midst of a shutout and just after scoring a TD, he chewed out one of the players. That type of accountability has alway been missing at Heights. They always had the athletes, as displayed through success in basketball and track, but they never had a great football "program" due to lack of discipline and accountability. From my cousins' mouths, Heights football program was always the step child to the track program. Not the other way around as it is at most HS and Colleges/Universities.
October 28, 201113 yr I'm shocked the Heights Vs. Maple game isnt getting more play. The CH family members are all smack talking and ready for a win. Take me back to the 80s I doubt they will get far in the playoffs, win or lose tonight. Jeff Rotsky has several 9-1 seasons and one 10-0 at Maple, but he was 2-5 in the playoffs and never got past the second round. You need a disciplined and well conditioned team at that level. I could care less. Its just weird that two undefeated teams this late in the season are getting no love. I guess when you aren't SI or SE, you get lost in the shuffle. It's one of the great ironies of area high school sports that St. Ed supplanted Maple Heights as the state's premier wrestling program, yet Maple Heights won a state championship in football before St. Ed did (albeit by 24 hours). Oh, something to watch for: I would not be surprised to see Jeremy Graves, who will be joining Shaq Washington as a UC WR next year, take some snaps tonight.
October 28, 201113 yr I'm shocked the Heights Vs. Maple game isnt getting more play. The CH family members are all smack talking and ready for a win. Take me back to the 80s I doubt they will get far in the playoffs, win or lose tonight. Jeff Rotsky has several 9-1 seasons and one 10-0 at Maple, but he was 2-5 in the playoffs and never got past the second round. You need a disciplined and well conditioned team at that level. I could care less. Its just weird that two undefeated teams this late in the season are getting no love. I guess when you aren't SI or SE, you get lost in the shuffle. It's one of the great ironies of area high school sports that St. Ed supplanted Maple Heights as the state's premier wrestling program, yet Maple Heights won a state championship in football before St. Ed did (albeit by 24 hours). Supplanted? Has SE been a wrestling power since the 1970s?
October 28, 201113 yr I'm shocked the Heights Vs. Maple game isnt getting more play. The CH family members are all smack talking and ready for a win. Take me back to the 80s I doubt they will get far in the playoffs, win or lose tonight. Jeff Rotsky has several 9-1 seasons and one 10-0 at Maple, but he was 2-5 in the playoffs and never got past the second round. You need a disciplined and well conditioned team at that level. I could care less. Its just weird that two undefeated teams this late in the season are getting no love. I guess when you aren't SI or SE, you get lost in the shuffle. It's one of the great ironies of area high school sports that St. Ed supplanted Maple Heights as the state's premier wrestling program, yet Maple Heights won a state championship in football before St. Ed did (albeit by 24 hours). Supplanted? Has SE been a wrestling power since the 1970s? Yep, and the main one. They won their first state title in 1978 and have been first or second pretty much every year since.
October 28, 201113 yr MH will be CH's first playoff caliber challenge. For better or worse, most of their games have essentially been over by halftime. But I will say, fwiw, this is the best conditioned and disciplined team Heights has had that I have seen play. Just like players, coaches improve as well over the years. From watching practices and the games, Rotsky is on their a$$es non stop if someone doesn't cover their assignment. Last week, in the midst of a shutout and just after scoring a TD, he chewed out one of the players. That type of accountability has alway been missing at Heights. They always had the athletes, as displayed through success in basketball and track, but they never had a great football "program" due to lack of discipline and accountability. From my cousins' mouths, Heights football program was always the step child to the track program. Not the other way around as it is at most HS and Colleges/Universities. Football and track never really conflicted. Sure, the track program was superior, but many of us played both. It was the basketball program which always made football take a back seat. The coach wouldn't let, or at least highly discouraged, his players playing football. I've always said that Theo Dixon passed up on a great opportunity to be great at football in order to be a very good basketball player. He played 4 football games his junior year and was getting letters from all the major programs. But he ended up not playing his senior year and wound up at CSU on a basketball scholly.... and then Europe.... and then as a bailiff at the Cleveland Municipal Court.
October 28, 201113 yr MH will be CH's first playoff caliber challenge. For better or worse, most of their games have essentially been over by halftime. But I will say, fwiw, this is the best conditioned and disciplined team Heights has had that I have seen play. Just like players, coaches improve as well over the years. From watching practices and the games, Rotsky is on their a$$es non stop if someone doesn't cover their assignment. Last week, in the midst of a shutout and just after scoring a TD, he chewed out one of the players. That type of accountability has alway been missing at Heights. They always had the athletes, as displayed through success in basketball and track, but they never had a great football "program" due to lack of discipline and accountability. From my cousins' mouths, Heights football program was always the step child to the track program. Not the other way around as it is at most HS and Colleges/Universities. Football and track never really conflicted. Sure, the track program was superior, but many of us played both. It was the basketball program which always made football take a back seat. The coach wouldn't let, or at least highly discouraged, his players playing football. I've always said that Theo Dixon passed up on a great opportunity to be great at football in order to be a very good basketball player. He played 4 football games his junior year and was getting letters from all the major programs. But he ended up not playing his senior year and wound up at CSU on a basketball scholly.... and then Europe.... and then as a bailiff at the Cleveland Municipal Court. You're right. Neither of my cousins played football, they had to run cross country. I kind of thought it was weird that more than half of Heights basketball team was on the cross country team. Wow, that crazy track coach had a lot of power. Ironically, the Heights basketball coach with the track teams HJ & PV coach.
October 28, 201113 yr Football and track never really conflicted. Sure, the track program was superior, but many of us played both. It was the basketball program which always made football take a back seat. The coach wouldn't let, or at least highly discouraged, his players playing football. I've always said that Theo Dixon passed up on a great opportunity to be great at football in order to be a very good basketball player. He played 4 football games his junior year and was getting letters from all the major programs. But he ended up not playing his senior year and wound up at CSU on a basketball scholly.... and then Europe.... and then as a bailiff at the Cleveland Municipal Court. There was a guy named Sam Ware who played JV football my sophomore year and averaged about 12 yards a carry, but preferred to be a good basketball player (a starter, but not a superstar or anything). While most of the bigger wrestlers also played football, a few opted out to focus on wrestling.
October 28, 201113 yr Off yappi: "#4 will start at QB tonight. That is a fact. Someone started a rumor." I really think Maple has this.
October 28, 201113 yr Elyria joined in 1996, the year Elyria and Elyria West merged. Trust me, I was on the field for their first game and probably still have the PD cover story from the day after. Euclid did not join until after I had graduated. Were you there in 1997? Just curious. Anyways, you're wrong on Elyria. I think the confusion comes from the fact that Heights and Elyria played in 1996. http://web.archive.org/web/20000301130212/http://www.sunnews.com/ Also, your list of 1996 LEL members is missing Warrensville Heights and Parma.
October 29, 201113 yr Heights beats Maple 20-12 to win the LEL crown and likely host a first round playoff game next week. Way to go Tigers!
October 29, 201113 yr It is going to be interesting to see who they are mathced up against. Beating Maple Hts will give them a bunch of computer points and either Eds or Iggy is going to take on a loss. Mentor lost, but I think their #1 seed is locked. I listened to the game on KNR while watching Game 7 of the WS. The defense settled in after Maple bashed them early. Same thing happened in the Shaw and Euclid games. But they stepped it up and kept Maple out of the end zone after their first two drives. Field conditions probably favored Hts. Their depth at RB offers them options regardless of what they play on and they can always run behind Dodson if all else fails. Maple Heights not having a kicking game, even for extra points, is really not excusable. The punting game is terrible as well. It's such a shame given how good their other two units are. It doesn't take that much effort to teach a halfway decent athlete to kick a PAT. ^^Ah, now I remember. We played Elyria in fall of 1996 for the first time. What threw me off is the big lead up to that game because (a) Elyria and Elyria West had just merged and (b) they were coming to "take over the LEL". The PD had them in their preseason top 5, iirc. I guess it was that they were "coming".... next year.
October 29, 201113 yr Looks like Heights will be hosting Boardman (from out Youngstown way). I think that South will host the loser of the Holy War (the winner gets to play/host Solon). Cleveland JFK will come calling on Mentor. The big question about Heights' first-round matchup is whether they'll play the game at Hosford Stadium or move it to a turf field, most likely Bedford.
October 31, 201113 yr Actually, CH will have to play St. Eds since St. Ignatius passed them up to take the 2nd spot (and will play Boardman). Willoughby South will play Solon. I'd really like to see CH fare well, but I just don't see that happening.
October 31, 201113 yr It is going to be interesting to see who they are mathced up against. Beating Maple Hts will give them a bunch of computer points and either Eds or Iggy is going to take on a loss. Mentor lost, but I think their #1 seed is locked. I listened to the game on KNR while watching Game 7 of the WS. The defense settled in after Maple bashed them early. Same thing happened in the Shaw and Euclid games. But they stepped it up and kept Maple out of the end zone after their first two drives. Field conditions probably favored Hts. Their depth at RB offers them options regardless of what they play on and they can always run behind Dodson if all else fails. Maple Heights not having a kicking game, even for extra points, is really not excusable. The punting game is terrible as well. It's such a shame given how good their other two units are. It doesn't take that much effort to teach a halfway decent athlete to kick a PAT. ^^Ah, now I remember. We played Elyria in fall of 1996 for the first time. What threw me off is the big lead up to that game because (a) Elyria and Elyria West had just merged and (b) they were coming to "take over the LEL". The PD had them in their preseason top 5, iirc. I guess it was that they were "coming".... next year. They've never had a kicking game, not even last year when they won every game or the year before when they made the state finals. I've half-kiddingly told Todd they need to find an exchange student from some soccer-playing country. The Eds - Heights game will be interesting. Maple played Eds about the second year Rotsky was coach. They hung with them the first half, got beat the second. If he can even keep this close, I'd say he's gotten past the discipline issue. Maple plays Shaw, who they expected to give them a good game the first time around but beat by 30 points.
October 31, 201113 yr Actually, CH will have to play St. Eds since St. Ignatius passed them up to take the 2nd spot (and will play Boardman). Willoughby South will play Solon. I'd really like to see CH fare well, but I just don't see that happening. Yeah when I wrote that the stat geeks on Yappi were saying that there was a 99% chance of Heights playing Boardman. Obviously some things changed and Heights is going to have their hands full with a big, talented, well-coached St. Edward squad. I knew that if they made the playoffs they were going to have a tough matchup regardless, so what the heck, they've got nothing to lose here, hopefully they can go out there and give the Eagles all they can handle!
November 1, 201113 yr Its Region 1. JFK is probably the only team that would be an easy matchup for anyone. Imagine how tough the region would be if it wasn't a down year (relatively speaking) for Glenville
November 1, 201113 yr They say Ted Ginn isn't all that great of an in-game coach. But it certainly seems like the year he misses some games for health reasons, Glenville has an off year. I'd still rather have Chuck Kyle, Rick Finotti, or Todd Filtz while the game is underway. But Ginn clearly makes a difference during the season as well as when kids are deciding when/if to play.
November 1, 201113 yr Its Region 1. JFK is probably the only team that would be an easy matchup for anyone. Imagine how tough the region would be if it wasn't a down year (relatively speaking) for Glenville True, but I would feel much better about Heights' chances if they were playing Boardman. I mean heck, even my alma mater beat Boardman. ;) FYI, the Heights-Eds game will be on SportsTime Ohio on Saturday night at 7pm.
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