2011 ITCL Playoff Preview

Division 5 - Region 17 (Friday November 4th - 7:30pm kickoffs)

Springfield Tigers (8-2) VS Garaway Pirates (8-2) @ Garaway HS Football Field

Cuyahoga Hts. Redskins (9-1) VS Crestview Rebels (9-1) @ Crestview Rebel Stadium

The Crestview Rebels will host one of the premier games of the Division 5 first round playoffs as these two schools who have a rich tradition of playoff football will meet for the first time.  The Redskins finished the season with a 9-1 record, losing only to #1 seed Kirtland back in week #5 24-12, and winning the  Chagrin Valley-Metro Conference.  The Redskins are also no stranger to the ITCL as they defeating United last year in the first round of the playoffs.  They are coached by Al Martin, who has a very impressive  mark of 72-12 while at CH in eight seasons.

For Springfield fans, don't be late getting to this game, we really serious.  ITCL fans know how the Tigers like to pass the football, but Garaway is a carbon copy.  The footballs will be flying at this one, and if your late getting there, you may miss several scores as this could potentially be a real shoot-out.  The game will ultimaetly come down to who can play the best pass defense and take care of the football.

For Rebel fans, the Redskins run a pretty balanced attack with fullback (#32) Troy Janashak leading the way with 983 yards rushing on 139 carries and 22 TD's.  They also have contributions on the ground from quarterback (#13) Alex Zander with 76 carries, 367 yards and 6 TD's, (#10) slotback Jordan D'Orazio with 29 carries, 253 yards, and 3 TD's, and from (#36) fullback Andrew Schmaltz with 42 carries, 238 yards, and 2 TD's.      In the passing game, quarterback Alex Zander has completed 61 of 104 passes for 842 yards and just 5 TD's.  His leading targets are (#9) wide receiver Matt Logan with 20 receptions for 242 yards and 2 TD's, (#8) wide receiver Tim Surman with 13 catches for 176 yards, (#28) slot back D.J. Kleppel with 7 catches for 146 yards and a TD, and finally slot back Jordan D'Orazio with 10 receptions, 117 yards, and 1 TD.      But it is the Redskins tenacious defense that really stands out on this team.as they have only given up 70 points on the season.  They are lead by a trio of linebackers in (#80) Jason Kleppel with 59 tackles, Tim Surman with 50 tackles, and Troy Janashak with 50 tackles.  Strong safety Jordan D'Orazio is also a key figure on defense with 51 tackles.      Obviously the Redskins are a battle tested, and playoff tested team, they are a team with good speed and quickness, so it will be important that the Rebels bring their "A" game Friday night to Rebel Stadium.

The Pirates are led by Head Coach Jason Wallick, who has accumilated a 48-25 mark at Garaway in eight seasons at the school.  This year the Pirates finished in a shared first place tie for the Inter-Valley Conference with other playoff qualifiers in Malvern and Ridgewood.      Garaway, much like Springfield, runs a spread attack offense with jumior quarterback (#3) Tyler Walter leading the way.  He has completed 149 of 289 pass attempts for 2,476 yards, and 28 TD's.  He has also rushed the ball 74 times for 310 yards and 4 TD's.      The Pirates also spread the ball around to different recievers, but the leading targets include:  (#34) junior Duane Troyer with 48 catches for 799 yards and 5 TD's, (#17) senior Gabe Elmore with 41 receptions for 776 yards and 10 TD's, and (#48) junior Winston Mullet with 36 receptions for 469 yards and 6 TD's.      The Pirates don't run the ball a lot, but when they do the leading ball carriers include:  (#8) senior Eric Schie with 61 attempts for 385 yards and 6 TD's, and (#23) junior fullback Kellan Mutschelknaus with 42 carries for 182 yards and 5 TD's.      The Tigers and Pirates actually share a common oppnent this year with both teams playing Youngstown Christian.  The Tigers beat YCS 31-21, while the Pirates lost to them in week #6 41-6.  Direct comparisons can be misleading, but there is no doubt that this will be a highly competitive game.