High school, college football are back

A few thoughts from the week in sports ...

Summer break will clearly be over for anyone connected with high school football come Monday, including our Daily Record sports reporters who have been enjoying the bulk of our allotted vacation time.

Monday is the first day the OHSAA permits official football practices, also commonly referred to as two-a-days, and as usual there won't be a lot of time for teams to get ready.

Players will get acclimated for a few days before wearing full pads on Friday and starting full contact Saturday. Starting as early as Aug. 13, teams will have scrimmages. It will all lead up to the opening Friday night on Aug. 30.

Our DR sports team is looking forward to previewing the football season, as well as all the other fall sports, and will be out in full force throughout the area this month. Of course, the new wrinkle this season will be the addition of a seventh division for the playoffs.

Here's a four-down look at the top local high school football storylines I'm interested in following as the season goes along:

n First down -- I've thoroughly enjoyed reporting on the Ohio Cardinal Conference football teams since they started playing in 2003 -- and more specifically following how locals Orrville, West Holmes and Wooster fare in the league.

The Knights (11-2, 6-1) tied with Madison (10-2, 6-1) and Mansfield Senior (8-3, 6-1) for their first OCC title last season and advanced all the way to the Div. III regional finals. West Holmes returns senior Layne Perone after he rushed for a school-record 2,090 yards and 34 touchdowns last season, but will have a new quarterback and other key holes to fill.

The Generals (3-7, 2-5) will look to throw early and often with junior Cam Daugherty back after passing for a school record 2,241 yards and 23 TDs, but they'll have to replace several key receivers and improve on defense after yielding a league-high 30.5 points a game.

Orrville (1-9, 0-7) had an outstanding run of three straight playoff seasons and numerous Div. I college signees until falling on hard times last fall. The Red Riders have the area's top tradition with 22 playoff trips, but will have just 33 players in grades 10-12 when practice starts Monday. Seniors Joel Zook (RB-S) and Trevor Summers (TE-LB) look primed for big seasons, while talented sophomore Luke Smith is slated to be the new quarterback.

n Second down -- Will Norwayne be able to make it three straight championships in the Wayne County Athletic League and continue its postseason success?

The Bobcats (13-1, 7-0) were one of the highest scoring teams in state history as they outscored opponents 707-160 last year en route to reaching the Div. IV Final Four. That came on the heels of a 14-1 state championship season in which they were co-champs in the WCAL.

Norwayne certainly has several All-Ohio caliber performers back, but how well newcomers mesh will ultimately determine how far the team goes.

The Bobcats' senior Div. I recruits Kaleb Harris (WR-DB-LB) and Trevahn Beery (WR-DB), who are committed to Cincinnati and Bowling Green, respectively, are big-time playmakers. Junior quarterback Joe Dreher is back after setting area records for yards passing (3,860) and TDs (41), but the Bobcats will have to find a new featured running back after record-setting Jon Zimmerly graduated and several new wide receivers and linemen to replace still more graduates. We keep hearing about the tremendous offseason work put in by Zack Weinman, who's dropped enough weight to move from the defensive line to linebacker and is expected to make a big impact.

Northwestern (8-3, 6-1) will be looked at by most, including myself, as the top challenger as it returns the talented quarterback-running back duo of Malachi Nolletti and Tyler Smith.

Hillsdale (7-4, 5-2) also made a playoff run and has 6-7 Marshall recruit Ryan Bee (TE-DE) and RB Corbin Mager (school-record 1,574 yards rushing, 18 TDs) back to lead the way. I'm looking for Dalton (4-6, 3-4) to continue to make strides and you can never count out Smithville (5-5, 4-3). Rittman (2-8, 2-5) has a rare Div. I recruit in WR-DB Blake Dennis (committed to Akron), and will battle with Chippewa (1-9, 1-6) and Waynedale (0-10, 0-7) to move up the WCAL ladder.

n Third down -- The spread offense has taken the nation by storm in recent years and coaches at Norwayne, Triway and Wooster have had great success the last few seasons using it locally.

It will certainly be interesting to see what kind of years Dreher, Daugherty and Triway junior Parker Carmichael (2,745 yards, 30 TDs) have coming off excellent seasons a year ago. It will also be fun to see the "Air Titan" attack unleashed on the new ProGrass turf at Jack Miller Field.

Of course, each of those quarterbacks would tell you it takes a team effort to throw for as many yards and scores as they did in 2012. Each of their teams also has key graduates who will need to be replaced to keep the balls flying through the air the way they did.

n Fourth down -- What teams and individuals will step up and play the best defense?

The definition of what "good defense" has changed some as I reported in a column last year because of how tough spread offenses can be to stop. Rather than look at points a game allowed, sometimes the mark of a great defense comes down more to getting stops at key times.

Despite its fast-break offense, Norwayne still led the area in allowing just 11.4 points a game. The next best playoff run came from West Holmes, which used more of a ball-control approach, but not surprisingly was also one of the area's best with 17.5 points allowed.

WHAT'S IN A 40-TIME? -- Area football teams have either already done strength and speed testing, or will do it this week.

When the subject of 40-yard dash times comes up, it can almost always start an argument among diehard fans.

"No way did (so and so) run that fast," fans have been heard to say after hearing blazing times. "Who timed him?"

I talked to Norwayne coach Joe Harbour about 40 times this week and he said his school tries to get as accurate readings as possible during its testing day, but knows even then the results are a little bit subjective.

Beery was clocked at a blazing 4.34 time in the 40, while Harris was right behind in 4.39 at a Monday combine put on by trainers from HealthPoint in Wooster.

"The trainers we had at our school used a hand-timer on first movement at the start, which activated a laser timer at the finish line," Harbour said. "And there was a slight tailwind at their back.

"Fast guys in the NFL run a 4.3 with no tailwind," Harbour added. "We hear and see lots of high school prospects listed as running 4.3s and most of the high school guys did that in similar, or less than 100 percent pure ways, just like Kaleb and Trevahn did Monday. In the end, they are really fast to run 4.3 in any circumstances."

COLLEGE CAMPS OPEN -- This is also an exciting time for college football fans, with Ohio State opening camp today and other colleges getting back to work at all levels at some point this month.

It's great to see the Buckeyes ranked No. 2 in the nation in the preseason coaches poll behind defending national champion Alabama -- and Ohio State could very feasibly reach the title game.

The Buckeyes don't have nearly as tough a schedule in the Big Ten to face as the Crimson Tide and the rest of the SEC contenders.

However, Ohio State will need to take care of plenty of business itself, most importantly replacing seven starters on defense.

Offense shouldn't be a problem with preseason Heisman Trophy candidate Braxton Miller at quarterback back to lead a unit that averaged a whopping 37.2 points a game.

n It will be fun to once again follow Illinois sophomore linebacker Mason Monheim from Orrville. After an early season injury to a fellow linebacker opened the door for Monheim to play as a true freshman, all the 6-foot-1, 230-pounder did was lead the Illini and all Big Ten freshmen with 86 tackles.

Among the numerous accolades Monheim received were second-team freshman All-American on Phil Steele's team, first-team All-Big Ten freshman from ESPN and fourth-team All-Big Ten preseason entering 2013.

As well as Monheim played, though, the Illini were just 2-10 (0-8 Big Ten) last season. Second-year coach Tim Beckman and his staff will be on the hot seat to turn things around this year.

n It was sad to hear that another former Orrville linebacking great, Chase Hoobler, has been sidelined again by injury.

Multiple newspapers that cover the Indiana Hoosiers reported this week that the junior has a stress fracture in his foot and will miss a significant part of the season.

Hoobler was an All-Big Ten Freshman Team honoree after playing in all 12 games in 2011, but was limited to six games last year after dealing with injury problems.

"That's going to shut him down," Hoosiers head coach Kevin Wilson told the Indiana Daily Student. "We feel for him, he's one of our better players. ... He's kind of got that unfortunate karma going against him. He's a great kid."

n Two other former Orrville players are vying for time in the Div. I ranks, with red-shirt sophomore Max Pirman (TE-LB) trying to crack the lineup at Nebraska and red-shirt freshman Stewart Turner, Jr. (WR-DB) at Ball State.

Aaron Dorksen's weekly look at local, state and national sports appears on Sundays in The Daily Record. Dorksen can be reached at 330-287-1621 or adorksen@the-daily-record.com. Follow him on Twitter at @adorksenTDR.

Source: http://www.the-daily-record.com/local%20sports/2013/08/04/high-school-college-football-are-back

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