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Monday, November 22, 2010

One blog post....Supersized. - Genoa Video, Stats, Thoughts, Awards, Basketball & Volleyball

Trying to combine everything into one post. Short week and family gatherings mean less time for blog reading/writing. This one and the game preview will be about all I have time for before Friday. I do want to send a HUGE thank you to all the readers/followers of the site. It's a broken record and I apologize for constantly repeating it, but I'm just blown away at the latest readership numbers.

Since the Monday of Wooster Week (October 25th) through this past Sunday (November 21st), there have been over 8,000 site visits and over 20,000 page views. That's roughly double the visitors & page views from the same time period last year.

November is already the biggest month in site history, and we still have at least one more week of football to go.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for all those who contribute ideas, suggestions, comments and even criticisms. All are a part of making this site special.

My fellow Rider fan and OrrViews colleague Ned Hostetler mentioned in his latest article that his drive to keep doing his historical looks-backs for OrrViews stemmed from all the positive comments he received, and the fact that people anticipate his next article.  I couldn't have put it any better. I've said before that I'd still run this site even if nobody read it, but it's nice to know that folks appreciate the site.

It's always been my drive to give you informative, accurate & even-handed content that represents the knowledge and passion that so many of you demonstrate. The fact that so many of you are faithful readers is terribly humbling. It didn't take me long to figure out that my words have impact, and I will continue to take that responsibility very seriously.

Enough about me....let's get to the good stuff.

Red Riders
Our young men are writing another chapter in the wonderful story that is Orrville Red Rider Football Tradition (RTR, if you will). Twenty-four teams in the entire state will hold practice this week, out of roughly 700. We're fortunate, dare I say blessed, and should relish in this opportunity that 40-some young men, their families & a staff of dedicated coaches have EARNED.

I love what I heard after the Genoa game.  The coaches and kids are happy to be regional champs, but nowhere near satisfied.  Only eight other teams in Orrville history have been this level of the playoffs, and only one other team has been this far since the state moved to a 15-week season.  This team is full of intelligent, respectful and athletic young men, it's been a fun team to cover both here and for OrrViews.

Genoa Video

Real neat stuff here. Three videos from WTOL out of Toledo from the Genoa game. Tried to embed the videos but they weren't showing up. I'll post links instead.

Video 1 - Highlights from the Genoa game.

Video 2 - Postgame comments from Genoa coach Mike Vicars. I know it's nitpicky, but you'd think after being held to 6 points (37 points below their season average), there'd be a little credit given to Orrville. Nope.

Video 3 - Maybe the coolest of the bunch. Genoa coach Vicars mic'd up on the sidelines during Friday night's game.

Lots of befuddlement from Coach Vic. I'm sure our athletes had nothing to do with that.  Love that last soundbite, too...."(run it) away from 88 (Max Pirman)!!"

Get ready for more media coverage this week, especially since we're playing a Cleveland area team.  Maybe even the ABJ will show up.  Stranger things have happened.

State Semifinals History
I got asked about our 9 final four appearances and where that ranks all-time among Ohio teams.  Here's what I found.  Totals include 2010.

1. Newark Catholic - 23 appearances
2. Cardinal Mooney - 15 appearances
3. Mogadore - 14 appearances
4. (tie)Versailles, Steubenville, Cincinnati Moeller, Cleveland St. Ignatius - 13 appearances
5. (tie) Ironton, Delphos St. John's - 11 appearances
6. (tie) Massillon, Columbus DeSales, Cleveland Benedictine - 10 appearances
7. (tie) Maria Stein Marion Local, St. Henry, Orrville, Canton McKinley, Coldwater - 9 appearances

So only 12 schools in Ohio have more final four appearances than Orrville.  Throw out the private schools, and we have the 6th most in Ohio history.  Pretty cool.

Of the 24 teams still standing, only one (Mogadore) has more playoff appearances (24) than Orrville (21).

Kyle QB
How about the season Kyle Lichti has had...his next 3 passing yards will give him 2,000 on the season.  Not bad for a sophomore.  If you assumed a 10% increase in yards each of the next two seasons, that would put him right around 6,600 yards, which would be within 625 yards of Tim Hiller's school record of 7,222 career passing yards.

That's way off in the distance though, just thought it warranted mentioning.  He's improved so much from week 1 to now, I'm excited to see him develop in the off season.

Tre Stats
While we're talking numbers, let's talk Tre.  I have him at 1,271 rushing yards on the season.  According to the Orrville Football Records found in the fall sports program, that puts him in 4th place all-time for single season rushing yards, sandwiched between Mark Griggs (1355) and Bob Houmard (1250).  Pretty good company.

His career total rushing yards stands at 2,430, which puts him 4th all-time between Dru (2,241) and Demarkus Robinson (2,497)

Northeast Inland District Honors
Congrats to the Riders who were named to the AP Northeast Inland All-District Team.  Special congrats to Mason Monheim who was named Div. 4 defensive player of the year and to Sam Reusser, Tre Simpson & Stewart Turner who were named to the first team.

Here's the entire list of D-4 honorees.  Orrville players highlighted in red.
Division IV
First team

OFFENSE
Ends—Sawyer Polen, Triway, 5-10, 175, sr.; Landon Smith, Girard, 6-0, 180, sr.
Linemen—Nick Humphries, Central Catholic, 6-3, 280, sr.; Sam Niehaus, CVCA, 6-5, 265, sr.; Eric Myers, Triway, 6-3, 230, sr.; Sam Reusser, Orrville, 6-1, 255, sr.; David Guidos, Campbell Memorial, 5-11, 235, sr.; Tony Matteo, Manchester, 6-4, 270, jr.
Quarterbacks—Derek Carmichael, Triway, 5-10, 170, sr.; Sebastian Neikirk, Garrettsville Garfield, 6-3, 169, jr.; Anthony Franco, Cortland Lakeview, 5-10, 180, jr.
Backs—Ja’les Hughes, Campbell Memorial, 5-10, 165, jr.; Alex Utley, CVCA, 5-9, 210, sr.; James Rasey, Warren Champion, 5-7, 185, sr.; Tre’ Simpson, Orrville, 6-0, 195, sr.

DEFENSE
Linemen—Bryan Peters, Woodridge, 6-3, 242, sr.; John Guilford, Black River, 6-4, 190, sr.; Jordan Ressler, Tuslaw, 6-3, 185, sr.
Linebackers—Mason Monheim, Orrville, 6-1, 210, jr.; Mark Noble, Manchester, 6-2, 180, sr.; Brent Marshall, Garrettsville Garfield, 5-11, 233, sr.; Marcus Thompson, Woodridge, 5-11, 181, sr.; Josh Schumacher, Central Catholic, 6-1, 205, sr.; John Sikora, Campbell Memorial, 5-10, 210, sr.; Kyle Richey, Girard, 6-0, 210, sr.; Jon Sas, Black River, 6-3, 210, sr.
Backs—Jake O’Connor, Black River, 5-11, 165, sr.; Kyle Dougherty, Manchester, 6-0, 170, sr.; Richard Bledsoe, Campbell Memorial, 6-1, 180, sr.; Stewart Turner Jr., Orrville, 5-10, 175, jr.

Offensive player of the year: Ja’les Hughes, Campbell Memorial
Defensive player of the year: Mason Monheim, Orrville
Coach of the year: Mickey Sikora, Campbell Memorial

Honorable mention
Zach Zody, Triway; Cody Gessel, Triway; Kyle Maxwell, Triway; Matt Davis, Orrville; Cody Rice, Orrville; Max Pirman, Orrville; Drew Brenner, Orrville; Derek Graber, Orrville; Trevor White, Orrville; Matt Joppeck, Black River; Austin Jones, Black River; Travis Damron, Warren Champion; Stefan Elzy, Warren Champion; Stephen Yanovich, Newton Falls; Anthony Kline, Newton Falls; Dan Graziano, Girard; Brandon Hunkus, Girard; AJ Devore, Girard; Toma Leveto, Cortland Lakeview; Justin Misterka, Cortland Lakeview; Andre Elkins, Leavittsburg LaBrae; Matt Szorady, Leavittsburg LaBrae; Zack Miller, Leavittsburg LaBrae; Lester Hughes, Campbell Memorial; Rocco Pellegrino, Central Catholic; Devin Green, Central Catholic; Zach Ungashick, Central Catholic; Harrison Falconer, Central Catholic; Graham Burrow, Tuslaw; Mason Miller, Tuslaw; Damon Antoine, Woodridge; Sebastian Dodds, Woodridge; Jared Page, Woodridge; Keione Artice, Woodridge; Bob Bright, Garrettsville Garfield; Josh Lawrence, Garrettsville Garfield; Brandon Baumgardner, Garrettsville Garfield; Brennan Porter, Garrettsville Garfield; Nick Miller, Manchester; Tyler Masters, Manchester; Nick Peyakov, Manchester; Jake Miltner, Manchester; Cort Logan, Manchester; Nate Lynch, Manchester; Logan Talley CVCA; Matt Meadows, CVCA; Nathan Rosenberger, CVCA; Pete Meadows, CVCA; Brock Bales, CVCA; Charles Perdue, Young. Liberty.
Foundation game
I know we're still focused on football, but there will be a foundation scrimmage tonight at the high school between Orrville and Massillon.  The varsity girls take the floor first at 6pm, followed by the varsity boys at 7:30pm.  Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students..but if you bring 2 canned food items, admission is only $3 for adults and $2 for students.  All the cash proceeds benefits the Boys & Girls Club.  The food donations will benefit the Salvation Army food bank.

Time change for girls basketball
Two time changes for girls JV & varsity basketball.  The girls game this Saturday at Chippewa has been moved from 2:30pm to 6pm to allow fans to watch the Ohio St./Michigan football game.

Also, the December 2nd game at home versus Carrollton has been moved to Wednesday December 1st.

Visit the Orrville Booster Club site for all winter sports schedules.

College Volleyball
Congrats to 2010 Orrville grad and Eastern Michigan freshman Erin Short.  She was named to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman 1st Team

Congrats also to fellow 2010 Orrville grad Hannah Brenner.  Hannah was named the ACC Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. She was also named to the ACC All-Freshman team.

College Football
Congrats to 2007 Orrville grads Kyle Simmons and Josh Bowman and the rest of the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears.  Kyle threw for a TD and ran for two more in their 1st round NCAA Division 3 playoff win over Wittenberg.  They'll travel to the Chicago area this weekend for a matchup with North Central.

College Basketball
Lastly...believe it or not, we're already into college basketball season.  2010 Orrville grad Jake Bolyard is off to a hot start at the University of Northwestern Ohio.  He was named the "Most Outstanding Player" for his effort at this past weekend's Mose Hole Classic at the College of Wooster.  Jake led the Racers with 23 points in a win over Middletown-Miami. 

Brandon Short is a senior (already?) at Mt Vernon Nazarene and is tied for the team lead in points per game with 15.4 per contest.  Also leads the team in assists and steals.

That's all folks....game preview coming on Wednesday.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sam Reusser is also on the first team all district list as an offensive lineman.

Red Rider Sports Blog (Tim Snyder) said...

Thanks, I saw that but forgot to highlight him. Well deserved for him.