Minerva definitely had some good teams, won 30 regular season games in a row from 87-89. Had a couple of really good teams later in the 90s and we were always competitive. There were still some really bad teams in the confernence then. There we some consistentely really good teams but as the same time the bad ones were pretty bad.
The Official 2021 EBC football thread
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NEOsportsfan09
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In my opinion, from the West Branch teams I've seen in playoffs, I think the 2007 team was better than last year's team. This might sound crazy, but the 2007 team might have been better than this year's West Branch team as well.
BelowTheLine
Well-known member
Was that the team with Rycraft (sp?)
BelowTheLine
Well-known member
My father in law graduated from West Branch in 72 and always brags about how he made the first tackle in the new stadium LOL. He always talks about how tough West Branch's schedule used to be back in his day.
NEOsportsfan09
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I just remembered that West Branch 2007 team because I saw them against Canton South, John Glenn, and Licking Valley that season. A friend graduated from there and I went to the playoff games with him. I wasn't sure on names so I just asked him. He said that Rycraft was early 1999/2000 and 2007 was Steve McNeely at QB.
Maverick0425
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Minerva had playoff appearances following the ‘87, ‘89 & ‘91 seasons. Before that the ‘85-‘86 teams were very good. So between ‘89 and ‘91 Minerva won or garnered a share of two out of the first three NBC titles (after the league was formed). Before that In the late 60s-mid 70s Minerva had a handful of excellent teams that were among the best in Ohio in AA. This was back when there were only 3 classifications and a total of only 12 teams made the playoffs across all of Ohio. The ‘69 team is considered by some to be the best team in Minerva history. The ‘72 team was a special teams disaster at Louisville from a shot at a state title. And the ‘74 team also blew the game against Louisville and a shot at the playoffs. Tom Walters was the coach.
All throughout the 90s Minerva, Louisville and West Branch (and Ak Springfield) fielded excellent teams. Minerva had 2 teams in the late 90s that were loaded with talent. Pretty sure one of those teams just missed the playoffs but both those teams were state title contenders. Molen was the coach part of the 80s and into the 90s.
Truly sad to see what has happened to the Minerva program.
That’s a cool story. West Branch had some good teams. He probably played for Jim Laut during his first stint at WB. He was there for 2 or 3 years in the early 70s and came back about 10 years later.
As someone that was on the 94 team with relative on the 21 team I will say this.
Offense of 21 is better than 94.
21 rb much better
21 wr core better
qb equal just really different. 94 qb just a stud, picture the 21 rb with arm of 21 qb.
94 defense much more solid than 21.
They were just studs and didn't give up any plays!
Both were doubt whole season. Going to say both very doubted through the season and very similar season. Not many close games. But here are fact both 10-0 both went into ot against Salem. Most games a blow out. Watch the 94 game against Big Red
This team has a shot to win it all. If they dont its because of of defense. Only the 98 team is close to these two.
Side note this team is way better than 20 team. They actually have a true qb now. Playing as a team now with good coaching BTW Harris was on staff in 94 and brining back the Laut way to WB.
It’s crazy in 2019 Minerva went to West Branch and a familiar name to WB football ran all over us and won the game. 2020 Minerva had just about everyone back and we handled them easily. I think you had good players and the coaching was suspect. You had the same back and he was huge and fast and didn’t get the ball. A truly baffling game plan.. this year was one of the worst team I ever saw. Hopefully a new coach can bring back some tradition. It’s always fun to play good Minerva teams..
BelowTheLine
Well-known member
The doubted part is so true. Barely anybody gave West Branch a chance to win at Louisville that year.
BelowTheLine
Well-known member
Yes he did.
I have seen every team since the early 70s and played in the 70s. DeShields reminds me of the 3 all Ohio quarterbacks of the 70s. All true quarterbacks- I think the QB of the 94 team could have been all state at any position - just a great, tough football player.
I do think the overall team speed may have been better in 94.
And Steubenville was supposed to be the best team in the state- all divisions
Last year certainly was disappointing, we thought we had a good team. We knew this year would be a struggle. West Branch games were always hard hitting games!!
Maverick0425
Active member
I recall before the ‘94 season it was Minerva and Louisville getting most of the attention. Both teams returned a ton. West Branch was not expected to be as good as they turned out to be.
The ‘94 Minerva/Louisville game was one of the best football games I’ve ever attended. I believe Louisville won the game by a TD but it was back and forth the entire game. Minerva had Jeff Wallace on that team who was selected in the MLB draft coming out of high school.
Maverick0425
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There was size, speed and athleticism on that Minerva team but they looked poorly coached. The skill players were excellent but the line simply did not block and the defense was porous.
BelowTheLine
Well-known member
All we can do is hope we get the right coach to turn this thing around.
BelowTheLine
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Leon Powell and Fankhauser (sp?) were beasts.
So was Croston before and Ford after.
NEOsportsfan09
Active member
Thank you for your insight. Where would you put the 2007 team? I'm curious because the games I saw them play, and then looking at how the teams did that they lost to that year(two of the three ended up being D3 and D4 state runner-ups), I thought that was an impressive team. Just didn't know where it compared to others in the past 20 years, including this year's team. I think not being able to see this team in person(streaming YSN) and seeing 2007 a few times in person, I may not be able to accurately compare how good this 2021 team might really be this season to what I've seen in the past.
I will say this though about this coaching staff. The OC for West Branch has been someone that my West Branch friends have raved about in conversations with them. If you're Minerva, do you at least reach out and see if there's any interest there? From the posters on here, it sounds like Minerva needs a young, creative head coach that will want to build the program up.
ShootNation
Well-known member
Minerva is going to be bad for years to come. No coach with any real prospects of a head coach job is going to want to touch that job. The best shot Minerva has is a lifelong Minerva coach is enthusiastic enough about the program to stick out the next three or so years of struggles and can keep the younger classes playing with a quality scheme and system so by the time the team would have enough depth to be competitive the pieces are in place to win some games
I hate to agree with you on this topic but I do. You hit the nail on the head! Next year's team will possibly be worse than this year's team. We need to bring in a coach that will keep this year's freshman, 8th grade and 7th grade playing. Not only playng but developing as individuals and a team. And the new coach needs to get kids back out that quit in those grades. Minerva may have a chance to be a little competitive in the 2023 season and that is a stretch.
A complete overhaul is needed and it needs to be done the right way with the right leader.
BelowTheLine
Well-known member
So honest question that I have no idea what the answer is.
Does the current Minerva leadership care that the football programs is struggling so badly? By that I mean the BOE, the superintendent, etc?
I know it seems crazy but some admins just really don't care. Any sense on if the Minerva admin is committed to fixing the problems?
Yes- everyone you mentioned cares, or at least seems to care. The community is all in for sure. We have some very successful programs so the Minerva kids are dedicated and the families care as a whole.That tells me that football can be competitive. To be brutally honest - We probably hired the worst possible candidate 3 years ago. He looked the part and I guess he interviewed well. He had no community involvement, no interaction with the local media, was a terrible motivator. Stuck with and offense that was easy and did not put the time and effort in to be innovative. Things that really shocked me when I heard them - he never gave a pregame peptalk, he didn’t have a back up quarterback, he did not show up to the ebc awards nomination meeting. his teams were never prepared. We now lose kids to other schools and other sports at Minerva, he took over a program with 40 game losing streak and left it worse than when he took it over. He is probably a nice enough guy but most people recognize Molen before they would Hundley. And he coached over 20 years ago.
The good news is that this reversible. It won’t happen overnight, it will take the right coach and a little patience. We do have a football community- just drive by a youth game- the stands are full and they have great numbers. As long as they don’t hire and old buddy or the easy internal hire. Get the right guy!
To be honest I don't know, i moved away in 2002 and returned in 2014 so dont know anything about them. Other than they didn't get deep in playoffs. As far as the Minerva thing, i do believe that the oc for Wb has a son that is back up qb on them thats only a sophomore so doubt he is even thinking about leaving there. But i maybe wrong
A_football_parent
New member
Being a parent, not mentioning name because I dont think it matters. There are parents that care, the Community does care. Coach Hundley might not have been the coach everyone was hoping for. And we all have opinions on that. I created this account to say. I think there does NOT need to overhaul on the coaching staff. in my opinion there is some young coaches on staff, they might early 30s that should be looked at or kept on staff. I believe that assistant coaches try to believe in what his being taught by the head coach to have hope for a good season. There is only so much you can do, while not being fired or not asked back by the head coach. We talk about getting rid of all the coaches, but its like any other job if you dont follow your bosses order then you will get fired.
I watched coaches this past season coach with everything they had trying to keep the boys motivated, They didn't stop coaching when being down late in the game. They was pushing the kids to keep fighting.
There are a few coaches on staff I would like to see as head coach, call me crazy but I seen how the kids interacted with them and i seen the respect they are for them.
You might say no easy internal hire, but i dont think its an easy internal hire. Kids will play for coaches they respect.
Also to the 2 coaches working with the team right now THANK YOU! my son has never been pushed this hard and all he does is come home and talk about it.
There are coaches that care, we do have some very good young assistant coaches. This year’s team was severely over matched, probably will be the same next year. I don’t think Hundley is a bad coach, but I don’t think he is the right guy for the situation we are in- I do agree with minfan, we do need a significant change but that can be done with the staff that we have. We do not need an entire new staff, in fact, whoever gets this job will be pleased with the coaches, facilities and community support. The program needs a change in culture not necessarily a change in people.
Minerva needs an energetic coach that needs to keep kids playing. This coach doesn’t necessarily need to be from outside of Minerva. I think we have plenty of intriguing possibilities within the school.
That is great to hear that some of the boys are working hard!!
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Great news about your son and others working out and preparing for next season. We do have a lot of good coaches who care about the program and the kids. Some of the coaches were very good players here at Minerva and we need them. I am not questioning that. However, we need somebody leading the program who is willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the work. I am not talkiing about just the work involved at the varsity level. We need someone who will willing to develop relationships with the community and make Minvera football what it was a decade ago. We need somebody who pays attention to the youth program and middle school program, we need somebody who is willing to talk to the media and talk up the program and the kids in the program. I challenge you to find a single quote from our previous coach in our local paper. And then look at what the cross country, soccer and golf articles. Those coaches are willing to take the time to highlight their programs and kids, It is not a coincidene that they are successful. Our football players and assistant coaches worked very hard and played every Friday night knowing they were outmanned. I have nothing but respect for each and every one of them. They desereve a leader who is willing to put in all of the work to make the program respected again.
The head coaching job at MInerva is not a terrible job as many have said. We have incredible community support, good coaches in the district and some very good athletes walking the halls. This thing can be turned around but it's going to take the right leader. This is not only a coaching job but a sales job too.
ShootNation
Well-known member
It's not bad because the community or facilities are bad, it's a bad job because the chances of success in the first 3 years are incredibly slim. A young coach with any real prospects of being a head coach is not going to want to take that job and have a 2-28 record hanging in their resume for the rest of their career actively making it harder for them to get another head coaching job somewhere else. Your only real options are an older coach who is on their final stop of their career who still has something to prove or hiring an unqualified younger coach with a bunch of enthusiasm about the program and living with the growing pains of that hire. That's about it
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