The 2009 Season in Review:
Another Great Year
    The fastest 11 weeks of my year just flew by this past fall.  The 2009 high school football season came and went like a Chrsitmas morning that was filled with anticipation and ending with fulfilled dreams and disappointments.  The fulfillment came in a great race for league championships in both Tiers, while it was disappointing to see our league teams lose in first and second round playoff games.  That is not a criticism of our teams, they faced potential state championship caliber opponents, and lost in close, hard fought battles.  That is especially true for the Crestview Rebels after losing to D V state champion Ursuline, and Western Reserve losing to D VI champion Norwalk St. Paul.   It was a season that was full of great games, some tremendous players, and a lot of excitement, surprises, and fun.
    The 2009 ITCL season saw repeat champions in both Tiers as the Crestview Rebels and McDonald Blue Devils both beat the odds and a lot of skepticism.  The Rebels captured they're first sole championship by having a tremendous year from agruably the best quarterback in the league with Carter Hill.  The Devils also sported one of the best athletes in the league in running back Nick Cupan, who lead all ITCL players in scoring.
     Just to add to the success that McDoanld had in 2009, the Devils captured a landmark record of 500 wins in their school history.  Couple that with the state final appearances in their history, and it is easy to see why the Devils are one of the premier programs in the ITCL.
     In the 2009 season we saw Western Reserve have a tremendous season, along with Columbiana, and East Palestine as all three would make playoff appearances following winning campaigns.  Reserve would see a new coach in Andy Hake take over for coach Kopachy, and never miss a beat.  Of course having a quaretrback like Shane Ewing never hurts either.  Columbiana would continue to be the smallest enrollment team in the Upper Tier, but yet they fought to the bitter end and finished second in the league.  And East Palestine would have their first winning season in several years and entertain their fans with a great quarterback in Shane Peterson.
     Mineral Ridge would finish the year as possibly the hottest team in the league and just miss the playoffs with a second place finish in the Upper Tier.  The Rams would be the only ITCL team to beat Crestview, and with a good group of juniors returning, coach Stevens can't wait for the 2010 season to start.
    Some other teams that had great seasons include the Lowellville Rockets, Springfield Tigers, United Eagles, and the Wellsville Tigers.  All four had .500 or better records, and provided the league with some big games.  Lowellville would win four of their last five and just miss the playoffs, while United would win four in a row to close the season and finish with a respectable 5-5 record.  Springfield and Wellsville would get off to a good start to the season, but a couple late season set-backs would eliminate both from any playoff hopes.  All four schools had outstanding players in Evan Filip, Josh McLaughlin, Jeremy Carter, and Jimmy Zubick, as they made 2009 memorable.
     Two schools who have tremendous history and tradition, but suffered some disappointments in 2009 included Leetonia and South Range.  Both teams suffered numerous injuries and played a lot of underclassmen in the 2009 campaign.  That could be bad news for the rest of the league next season, as both will be poised to get back to their accustomed winning ways.  And on a bright side, South Range recorded it's 300 program win in 2009, a remarkable acheivement in lieu of the short history of the school.
     The Southern Indians played the 2009 season with heavy hearts as the year began with the untimely passing of their head coach Dan Saling.  Although the final record may not have been impressive, the fact that this school pulled together and fought every week of the season is a testament to the character of their team.
     Jackson-Milton, Lisbon and Sebring all continued to try to re-build their respective programs as they entered the 2009 season.  The Blue Jays ended the year with two victories and matched last season's total, but they also came within a few plays of winning a couple more competive games.  The Trojans were able to finally get in the win column with a week 2 victory over Southington in coach Jay Brophy's first year with Sebring.  In the process the Trojans showed signs of improvement, and more competiveness.  Although Lisbon didn't get into the winning column, several coaches in the league pointed out that the Devils were fundamentally doing things correctly.  It may just be a matter of time before coach McElroy has the Devils being a major factor in the ITCL.
    Some memories that I will carry with me from this season include one of the hardest hits I have ever seen at the high school level when McDonald's Devin Bansberg crushed a would-be Wellsville receiver on a pass over the middle.  There was the amazing speed of the game early in the Columbiana-East Palestine contest, and of course there was the mud!!!  Mud at McDonald, at South Range, and especially at Mineral Ridge and Lowellville.  The rain in six of ten weeks only helped to add to all the mud that was a factor in many of the games this season.
     I enjoyed being able to finnaly watch the Sebring Trojans and see coach Brophy with his raspy-hoarse voice yelling encouragement at his players, and the big walking stick that he carries that would be intimidating if you didn't know him.  And seeing Lowellville's Bryan Schiraldi dominate a game from a defensive line position in a game against Wellsville are a couple examples of things I will carry away from this season.
     As far as coaches, it is always a pleasure to talk to the league coaches both during the week and after a hard fought game.  Coach Spaite is always the most entertaining coach to talk to, while coach Hake is maybe the most energetic.  But all of the coaches are very accommodating and proud of both they're programs and they're kids.
     The 2009 season was the fourth year since the ICL and TCL have merged the two respective leagues.  If the schools were looking for a more even playing field and competiveness, they have found it as the league continues to evolved and mature.  Next year it should once again thrill us with great games and great players.  We will see some terriffic players return in Carter Hill (Crestview), Dan Skiba (Mineral Ridge), Josh McLaughlin (United), and Bryan Schiraldi (Lowellville) just to name a few.  There are many, many more that could be included, and many more that we don't even know their names until the opening kickoffs in 2010.  Whatever the case, we have nine months to build the anticipation for kickoff 2010!