The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Tough slates await Lorain, Avon, Elyria
When looking over 2020 high school football schedules, there are interesting local things of note.
Football season is growing near as we are just over two months away from the official start of the season.
When looking over this year’s high school football schedules, there are some interesting things to take note of.
• Avon opens its season against three successful programs. Week 1, the Eagles travel to rival Avon Lake and in Weeks 2 and 3, they host
Lorain and Glenville, respectively.
“Our nonconference schedule this year ... (we play) to teams that historically have been in the playoffs,” Elder said. “There are some unknowns with Lorain, they have a new coach, but I know that coach (Dave) McFarland had done a great job with them. They were in the regional finals just two years ago, I believe. Last year we played them and they were very athletic and gave us all we wanted.
“Glenville with Coach (Ted) Ginn, he’s a legendary and hall of fame coach,” Elder said. “The track record that they’ve had with athletes that not only played at the college level, but the NFL level. That speaks volumes for the type of athletes that come through there and the quality of that program.”
The Eagles have a tough task ahead of them. However, Elder and his players aren’t known for shying away from big moments.
“We’re well aware that if we don’t prepare well in July and August, we’re looking at three games right out of the gate that could go the other way,” Elder said. “But we’re excited about that, too, because our kids want to play good teams and great competition. We’re getting that this year for sure Weeks 1, 2 and 3.”
After Week 3, the Eagles’ remaining games come against Southwestern Conference opponents. Avon finishes its season against tough conference opponents in Olmsted Falls (Week 9) and Amherst (Week 10). Elder knows how important conference games are and knows that his team can’t take those games lightly.
“The league we are in is a very competitive league,” Elder said. “Week in and week out, everyone knows you have to come ready to play or else people can beat you. We have coaches in our league that work really hard year round and there’s a lot of talent in our league.”
• First-year coach James Boyeas and his Lorain Titans open their season against two tough opponents in Brunswick and Avon, Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.
“There’s no doubt we’re going to get tested,” Boyeas said. “They are both great programs (with) great coaches, they have a history of winning and they’ve done a lot of that lately. Since Day 1, we’ve talked about wanting to beat Brunswick and we want to win the LEL. Step one is taking care of business at home against Brunswick and after that,
we’ll start worrying about Avon. But there’s no doubt that that’s going to be a killer test.”
Lorain plays Elyria Week 3 and after that, the Titans open conference play at home against Bedford. Boyeas is making sure his team approaches their schedule one game at a time.
“We’ll take it one week at a time,” Boyeas said. “When we get into conference play, there’s a lot of talent, a lot of good teams and some really good coaching. Within the league, we’ll be tested every week. It’s just a matter of us focusing on taking care of the things we need to do and make sure that we don’t give any wins away. If someone is going to beat us, they’re going to have to earn it and outplay us for that win.”
Outside of Brunswick, Boyeas named some other games on Lorain’s schedule that stick out to him.
“I’m excited about the challenge of Week 2 to go and play Avon,” Boyeas said. “Week 3 with Elyria is a team that’s right in Lorain County and is right down the street from us. That’s one that we have to take care of. When we get into conference play, we can’t take anyone lightly. If there’s one that stands out, we’d have to go with last year’s (league) champs in Cleveland Heights. They have a lot of good players returning.”
• You’d be hard pressed to find an area team with a tougher schedule than Elyria. Devlin Culliver’s Pioneers will have their hands full this season, playing tough teams such as Mentor, Avon Lake, Solon, Lorain, Medina and Brunswick among others. The Pioneers also compete in the rugged Greater Cleveland Conference.