The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Firelands to reinvent itself in ’23
Firelands’ quest for a share of a Lorain County League crown last season was a double-overtime loss to Columbia in the regular season finale from becoming a reality.
Though key pieces from its previous success have moved on, Falcons’ coach Ryan O’Rouke plans to give it another go for the top of the LC8.
“The way that we approach (the season) is that (winning the LC8) is a goal every single year. For us, as coach-speak as it sounds, we are trying to focus on what we are doing in the moment,” O’Rourke said. “You don’t want high school kids veering their mind off. We are focusing on what we have (in front of us). We have some tremendous scrimmages coming up with some tremendous nonconference opponents. We have a long ways away until the Lorain County League.”
From the offense, the loss of the Falcons’ all-time leading rusher Weston Strader and Division III first-team All-Ohioan offensive linemen Shane Stickick is huge, but they will bring back a solid foundation to build from with three offensive linemen returning and quarterback Jimmy Aunspaw.
“We are going to do what our kids are good at,” O’Rourke said. “We have an experienced quarterback coming back, experienced receivers will come and help. As far as replacing a kid like (Strader), you can never do that. You can never say that you are going to replace a Weston Strader. For us, it’s about how can we use the talent that we have on our team to reinvent those stats (Strader put up).”
On July 10, Firelands got valuable reps against Lorain, Elyria Catholic and Toledo Waite in a 7-on-7 at George Daniel Field, which gave them a chance to work on its passing game.
“I feel like they have progressed really well,” O’Rourke said. “The way that we treat 7-on-7s so far this summer, we are going to try and run the stuff that we would run in a game, keeping the same personnel on the field. The same goes for (defensive) coverages. For what we’ve seen this summer, we are seeing tremendous competition for the last couple of hours. It is really good to see.”
The backfield will see mostly new faces. However, fullback Josh Kovach returns for his senior season. He rushed for 229 yards, off of 36 carries (6.4 yards per carry) and six touchdowns.
As a complementing throwing option for the Firelands’ run-first offense, Aunspaw threw 10 touchdowns to three interceptions, completed 68 percent of his passes for 915 yards.
“I know last year, it was my left tackle (Noah Angle’s) first year as a starter. He did really good. I don’t have to worry about anything coming from the blindside,” Aunspaw said.
Firelands (7-4, 6-2 in LC8) will return an experienced defense, with around half of the defense coming back. That unit includes Division III third-team AllOhioan Logan Galligan on the defensive line in a new 3-4 base scheme.
Galligan was one of, if not the best, pass rushers in the LC8 with 9.5 sacks. Despite being undersized, he has a high motor.
“The best thing about (Galligan) is that he is an undersized kid that is going to have a serious attitude on the football field,” O’Rourke said. “It is almost to a point where you have to tell him to tone it down a little bit at times. He has an exceptional motor. He is a kid that I think other
players will feed off of what he does.”
Firelands also made its return to Division IV, after they spent its first year in Division III for the first time in O’Rouke’s career. He has grown familiar with Division IV Region 14 and knows that it is known as one of the toughest regions to go up against for mid-size Ohio football programs.
“(Going back to Division IV) wasn’t really something that we worried about too much,” he said. “We have been in Region 14 all my other years. We know that it is incredibly competitive, since there has been some new additions that make it even more competitive. There is really nothing new when it comes to our attitude, when it comes towards the playoffs.”
The Falcons made the Division III Region 10 postseason, as a 14th seed and were knocked out with a 63-35 loss to third seed Clyde in the first round.
Firelands will open up its season on the road against Edison (6-5 in 2022). They will play Vermilion in the Stillman Cup in Week 2 and will follow up with Polan Seminary to tune up for the LC8 schedule that will start with Columbia.
“I am always really excited (for the 2023 season),” O’Rourke said. “For me, it’s always getting that break in the winter and you reassess your passion. I am very excited coming back for this season with the type of kids that we have.”