A review and some observations of the three games I attended last week:
THURSDAY NIGHT-Fairport at Harvey. The 54-21 victory for Harvey is what one might expect from a matchup of a Division 2 team and a Division 6 team, notwithstanding the long, storied rivalry between these two that dates back to 1921. The Red Raiders simply controlled the line of scrimmage and had way too much speed for the Skippers. Harvey's leader and star is clearly junior QB Kaleb Coffee, although he has some help in DeVante Ward, Jerome Becks, and Jaren Young. The defense is still a question mark for this team. My sense is that the Red Raiders will not score 54 points in their next three games COMBINED. I can see them struggling next week against Kirtland, but I could be wrong if they're able to break a few big plays on offense with their speed. Fairport will be all right once they start to play teams their own size. They 've got a few good players-Kyle Burchett, Brian Griffith, Ryan Greenwood, and Tyson Lautanen come to mind. How about Hali Butler? Two interceptions make her the early area leader.
FRIDAY NIGHT-Riverside at Perry. The Perry PROGRAM is what won this one. New good kids stepping up to replace graduated good kids, following the proven formula of success the Pirates have enjoyed year after year. The Pirates have an easy one this week at Lakeside, but after that comes a huge matchup with archrival Madison. Riverside took another step forward as a program, but are still a notch below Perry on the Lake County ladder. 27-20 is sure a lot better than 49-14. It will be interesting to see how they do against West Geauga this week. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the Beavers can pull the upset.
SATURDAY NIGHT-Boardman at Benedictine. Early in the second quarter, when Benedictine trailed 21-3, I was wondering why the Bengals would schedule a D1 potential playoff team as their opener after having had 5 straight losing seasons. Then new coach Ben Malbasa's "Air Benny" attack took off, and the Bengals got back into the game and then took the lead with 3 straight touchdowns in the middle quarters. Benedictine certainly has the athletes for a wide-open offense. Bengals aren't very big, and that could hurt them with the schedule they play. Also, the defense has struggled in recent seasons and did again for a quarter plus on Saturday. To their credit, the defense did rebound and play well enough for most of the rest of the game. The most striking thing when looking at Benedictine's roster: 46 players in grades 10-12, 36 ninth graders. The future could be very bright for the Bengals. As for Boardman, they are a very talented team with big linemen, quick backs, and tall and fast receivers that will win a lot of games this year. They're the type of team that just might end up facing Mentor in November, being in Region 1.
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