The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mayfield and Kenston are making strides in early going
Business will not be as usual. At least that’s what Kenston and Mayfield stated with their play in Week 1 of the high school football season on Aug. 25.
Coming off an uncharacteristic 2-8 season, Kenston plastered host Streetsboro, 41-13, ruining the Rockets’ unveiling of their new stadium.
After finishing 4-6 last season, a rare sub-.500 season, Mayfield blanked tradition-rich Walsh Jesuit, 10-0, showing that the old-school Wildcats defense is alive and well.
Granted, there’s a lot of football left to be played. But Kenston coach Jeff Grubich and Mayfield coach Ross Bandiera are both pleased with the first steps their teams took to start the season.
“It was really good to see the kids have that excitement with a taste of success,” Grubich said. “We had a lot of kids pressed into varsity football last year as freshmen and sophomores. That’s tough to swallow when you’re playing in the WRC against the big boys and you’re starting as pups.
“It was a fun Friday night, finally.”
Bandiera felt the same way about his Wildcats’ performance against Walsh Jesuit.
“(Finishing 4-6) was something we really honed in on with the way we did our offseason. We held ourselves more accountable as players and coaches, and I think that really paid off on Friday night.”
Mayfield, long known as a hard-nosed, defensive-minded football team, never let Walsh Jesuit get inside the Wildcats’ 20 yard line.
Bandiera said all along he felt his defense would be a strength this season, with players such as sophomore Marco Tramontano and linebackers Speedy Feloz (a senior) and Joey Suchy (a sophomore) back. The addition of versatile junior linebacker Tyler Tiggs, who moved in from Huber Heights Wayne over the winter, makes the Mayfield defense that much more stingy.
“We’re young on defense, but we’re experienced at the same time,” Bandiera said.
Bandiera also credited senior quarterback Jake Dostal (20-for-25 yards passing, 200 yards) for his command of the offense.
At Kenston, Grubich knows all about being young and experienced at the same time. All the freshmen and sophomores he played last year are now experienced — and still underclassmen.
For instance, sophomore tailback Jack Porter ran for 172 yards and four touchdowns, sophomore QB Johnny Tomcufcik threw for 110 yards and a score — and a Kenston defense that starts eight underclassmen held Streetsboro relatively silent.
“They were opening a brand-new stadium, people were tailgating. It was a huge community event,” Grubich said of the Streetsboro atmosphere. “We pressed a little too hard at the start because we were just so amped up. But once we settled in we were fine.
“It was a good start for us. I tell ya, we just buried last season. Last season was last season. We said, ‘We are a championship program. We’re here to compete, win a conference championship and get a playoff berth.’ We cranked it up this offseason a little more than we had in the past.”
Attention coaches
Coaches are reminded to submit their game statistics after every game, win or lose. They can be emailed to scores@newsherald.com or faxed to 440-951-6731. Deadline for player of the week nominations is 8 p.m. on Mondays. Nominations can be made in the same way as scores are submitted.
Kampf can be reached via email at JKampf@NewsHerald.com, or on Twitter @NHPreps