[ad_1]
Andrew Grimm TOE THE LINE – Madonna’s Lennon Dietrch tries to stay within limits while making a catch against Mathews on Friday. The Blue Dons were the only team in the region to win last week, but will unfortunately be sidelined by COVID this week.
STEUBENVILLE – Fifty years ago this fall, Catholic Central fielded one of the best teams to ever grace the grill in the Ohio Valley.
The 1971 Crusaders finished undefeated (they were 10-0) and came away while taking out many opponents much bigger than them – both in size and in roster. They handed three schools their only loss of the season.
Coached by the late Tom Korab, Central finished the year first in the Associated Press and UPI Ohio Class AA polls and racked up the most computer points of any team in the state in the last year before the OHSAA put out set up a playoff system.
The whole team were honored by the school last week when they entered the Crusader Athletic Hall of Fame. A few players also took part in Saturday’s reunion parade.
“It is a great honor for our team to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, it is an honor for everyone who was on this team, from the biggest star to the Boy Scout team.” Mike Mehalik recently said in an interview with Andrew Grimm. “It’s the important part for me, it’s honoring a whole football team, not individuals.”
“For me there were no stars” Dave Tuttle added. “We played together as a unit, as a team. I had your back if you messed up, you had my back if I messed up. We played together, we jellied together.
The talented seniors of the 1971 squad began their core career going undefeated (7-0) and untied in the freshman. Many of them viewed college action as sophomores, which, believe it or not, was a rarity 50 years ago.
So how good was this team? Consider the following information from a story written by Mario Saggio and posted on Central Football’s website, www.steubenvillecentralcrusaders.com:
• The Crusaders of 1971 defeated eight class AAA opponents (remember these were the days before schools were divided into divisions), including perennial powers from three different states.
• Central handed six teams their initial loss of the season and outscored their opponents by a combined 253-26.
• Korab’s side have never lagged at any point in the season and have not allowed any points in the first or fourth quarter of a game. Central started the season with three straight shutouts and ended the campaign in a similar fashion. Between the two, he has never allowed more than eight points in a single game.
• Mehalik finished with 1,204 rushing yards and Tuttle added 1,066. Dave Mottis had 100 tackles and Tuttle 79.
• UPI named Mehalik and Tuttle state co-back of the year and Mottis was class AA lineman of the year. Korab was an easy pick as coach of the year.
• The AP placed Mehalik in their first offensive team and Mottis was a first team defensive choice.
• Mehalik moved to the University of Pittsburgh with Tom Perko. Tuttle attended
University of Kentucky kicker Emil Ros went to West Virginia, Mottis to Memphis
State and Paul Carapellotti in Furman.
• Perko, one of the many deceased team members, played in the Canadian Football League and for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL.
• The team remains the only unbeaten and unrelated team in CCHS football history.
Bob McCosky, who was Korab’s offensive coordinator in 1971, handed over the acceptance
speech on behalf of the 1971 team.
“Because we have this team attitude, we did not feel that a player should speak in front of
another,Said Ray Saccoccia. “Out of respect for our coaching staff and with coach Korab being
gone, that’s why we chose a coach.
Others who joined the Crusader Hall last week were Edmund Narewski, Class of 1967, Reno
DiCarlantonio, class of 1974, Terry Alessi, class of 1975 and Chris Delatore, class of 1984.
THANK YOU DON
Thanks to Madonna’s relentless 14-6 victory over Mathews, the week that was set aside for high school football teams in the Herald Star / Daily Times coverage area was not a total loss.
Santino Arlia threw for 291 yards and a touchdown as the Blue Dons improved to 4-0 (they’re now the only unbeaten in the area). Evan Quering, the region’s second-best receiver, shot 11 Arlia antennas for 161 yards. Michael Burdine caught Arlia’s scoring throw.
The victory erased the bridges for what would have been a huge Class A showdown with 3-0 Cameron at Jimmy Carey Stadium on Saturday, but it was announced on Monday that the game had been called off due to a COVID issue in the schedule. Blue Donations.
In this week’s West Virginia Class A power rankings, a Metro News article, Cameron is ranked sixth and Madonna seventh.
“It was not pretty” Madonna’s coach Dan Rovira said after the game. “We came out on top and that’s all that matters.
“We will improve. We have an extra day to work this week to try to improve things.
Cameron last played on September 10 when he knocked Frontier out of the undefeated ranks with a convincing 44-6 victory.
COSTLY TURNOVER
As Big Red’s Reno Saccoccia noted after his team’s loss to Dover, “Turnovers are killers”.
Big Red had the lead, momentum and football halfway through the second quarter before TC Molk of Dover made a leaping interception of a pass from Steubenville.
Three games later, Dover tied the game and caused a major change in momentum. The Crimson Tornadoes scored the goal as time ended in the first half on a 40-yard field goal from Lucas Lane.
“It was big” Dover coach Dan Ifft spoke about the basket. “We scored to gain momentum in
half time, then we got the ball back to start the second half and scored again.
Ifft also told Roger Metzger of the Dover Times Reporter “it was good to get a win even though
Steubenville entered the competition with a number of injuries and suffered a few more. ” Greenhouse
full-back / linebacker Brandon Kinney left the game after sustaining an injury while making an excellent
caught with a pass from Phaeton Hill in the second quarter.
Turnovers also played a major role in other Zone games over the weekend.
• Windham had a sixth pick from 70 yards in their 36-6 loss to Catholic Central.
• Beaver Local recovered an assist from Edison with 1:25 left to hold on to a 27-21 win.
• Martins Ferry turned an interception and fumble into goals before winning 38-7 over Weir High.
• Gates Mills Hawken recovered a Harrison Central fumble inside his own 5-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, then completed a 14-game winning practice for a 34-27 victory.
GOLDEN BOY
At the Big Red match in Dover, Hunter Armstrong, a Dover native and Olympic swimmer, was honored for his gold medal performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
A junior rising at Ohio State University, Armstrong swam backstroke in the medley relay qualifying series, helping the US team to finish seventh and advance to the final.
In the final, Team USA finished in 3:26:78, setting an Olympic and world record and winning the gold medal. Although Armstrong did not swim in the final relay, he won a gold medal for his efforts as a member of the team.
BEST STATISTICS
Run wild
• 211, Zane Kinsey, Toronto
• 137, Nathan Bertolino, Harrison Central, 3 TDs
• 108, Dylan Conley, Oak Glen
Gunslingers
• 291, Santino Arlia, Madonna, 27 out of 47, score
• 131, Phaeton Hill, Steubenville, 14 of 25
• 128, Landon Beatty, Oak Glen, 2 out of 4, score
• 117, Gage Cline, Edison 11 of 27, note
Team of hands
• 11, Evan Quering, Madonna, 161
• 6, Jacob Cusick, Edison, 53, affected
• 5, Michael Burdine, Madonna, 41, touchdown
• 5, Tyler Ialenti, Catholic Center, 59
• 5, Chase Littleton, Madonna, 25 years old
[ad_2]
Source link