The official EBC Football Thread

I would have loved it if the NBC adopted a two-tiered set up instead of dumping Louisville a few years ago.

bigger schools: Leps, Alliance, Marlington, Dover, New phila

smaller schools: South, Salem, WB, Carrollton, Minerva

The ECOL was scrambling at that time too, so Dover and Phila would have made sense. Maybe could have even added Central Catholic to the big division and Aquinas to the small. Possibly could have tried to convince northwest to come back, and/or added Sandy Valley to the small division, as their position in the IVC north never really made sense.

Probably was never realistic, but hypotheticals are fun. That being said, it was a great run in the NBC/EBC, but as a Wildcat supporter I am embracing the move and looking forward to new rivalries and traditions while hopefully keeping the old ones alive via non-conference play.
 
Maverick0425 said:
Wildcat:
I could see Minerva and South continuing the series. The schools are only 15 minutes apart.
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I agree, and am very hopeful the series continues in all sports. There’s been a lot of tradition and great battles between the two schools over the last 30 plus years.

While I’m on the tangent, a couple come to mind:

1987 football: Leon Powell leads Minerva to a 19-18 victory over Dave Arthur and the Wildcats. Both teams would make the 4-team D2 region 5 playoffs that year.

1990 hoops: Wildcats guard Rob Johnson (40 points) outguns Lions all-time leading scorer Chad Nigro (30 plus points) in a classic regular season battle at Minerva. The Cats would make it all the way to the state final four.

2002 hoops: Canton South wins the season rubber match in the district finals at the Canton Memorial Field House in a battle between the NBC co-champs. A Greg Kennedy three pointer from half court misses off the back iron at the buzzer as the Ronnie Bourquin and Jeremy Richards-led Cats prevail. Both regular season games were sell-outs with extra fans watching a live stream of the game in the hosting school’s cafeteria.

2007 baseball: CS upsets #1 seed Alliance and Minerva upsets #3 seed Louisville in the semis to set up this district title game at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium. The Cats prevail to win their 2nd district title in 3 years.
 
Wildcat:

Another old timer! That ‘87 matchup was epic. I recall in the ‘87 playoffs Minerva was upset by Chardon in OT at Mollenkopf. Minerva I think was caught looking ahead to Buchtel in that matchup. I don’t recall who South played in the first round?
 
Maverick0425 said:
Wildcat:

Another old timer! That ‘87 matchup was epic. I recall in the ‘87 playoffs Minerva was upset by Chardon in OT at Mollenkopf. Minerva I think was caught looking ahead to Buchtel in that matchup. I don’t recall who South played in the first round?
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I was at that Chardon game my nephew played on that Minerva squad. I would agree they were looking ahead.
 
TEAMEBC said:
This article paints a promising picture for the Branch this year. Time will tell.
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WB will need to do 2 things that they were not able to do last season, 1 being they have to protect their QB, and 2 they need to have a pulse ondefense and Be able to stop someone, I only seen them play twice lastyear but defensively they were not sound, so to me the returning starters is nice, but those starters returning need to be better
 
Starkcountylegend said:
Federal

American
McK. GlenOak, Jackson, Perry, Hoover

National
Green, Lake, Louisville, Marlington and Alliance

Built in one cross-over game: Hoover-Louisville, Glenoak-Marlington, McKinley-Green, Jackson-Alliance, and Perry-Lake



West Branch and Salem to the NE8

Minerva to the IVC

Carrollton, really can't find a league for them, maybe Buckeye 8
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I would think the IVC would want the package deal rather than 1 or the other. The same might be true of the Buckeye 8. Minerva and Carrollton's enrollment numbers are comparable to Claymont and Indian Valley.

This doesn't look too bad:
IVC Bigger (Boys, Girls)
Claymont 238, 202
Carrollton 225, 235
Indian Valley 222, 218
Minerva 239, 212
Ridgewood 165, 145
Sandy Valley 168, 168
Garaway 152, 136

IVC Smaller
Buckeye Trail 147, 121
East Canton 124, 101
Malvern 86, 68
Strasburg 76, 57
Tusky CC 43, 26
Newcomerstown 137, 110
Tusky Valley 144, 173

Non-football members
Hiland 113, 120
Conotton Valley 54, 48

All the bigger schools are either DIV or DV for football. All the smaller schools are either DVI or DVII for football. Despite only being 1 division apart, there isn't much that can be done about the enrollment disparity between Tusky CC, Strasburg, and Malvern, and the rest of the smaller school division. The downside here is you'd have 1 team in each division without a divisional opponent during each week of the league portion of the season. With the enrollment disparities, some cross-over matchups would not be in anyone's best interest.


As for the rest of the EBC, West Branch (255, 251) and Salem (243, 235) might be able to find a home in the Mahoning Valley. Alliance and Marlington could be the hardest to move. Both have challenges that would make it difficult for them to both fit in an existing league. Alliance has enrollment (363 boys, 318 girls) but has struggled mightily in girls' sports in recent years. Marlington is considerably smaller (266 boys, 248 girls), so where Alliance might be interested in an arrangement with more DII schools, Marlington may not. Conversely, Marlington could have an easier time finding an arrangement with smaller schools than Alliance would.

Incidentally, Louisville's numbers are 340 boys, 350 girls, but those may change in a few years. IIRC, Louisville's school levy failure in April was going to force the elimination of MS sports. Their HS enrollment would obviously take a hit if a large number of MS kids leave to play sports elsewhere and don't return for HS.

UPDATE: Talked to some people with MS kids at Louisville who said MS sports will remain but will carry a pay-to-play fee. Nevertheless, there could be a small effect on Louisville's HS teams down the road. Time will tell.

Enrollments of various other schools in the vicinity of the EBC or whose current league situations are precarious:
Howland 330, 340
Canfield 321, 335
Southeast 192, 196
Rootstown 159, 120
Mogadore 105, 102
East Liverpool 231, 196
Beaver Local 214, 223
Crestview 149, 154
South Range (they found a good home in the NE8, but...) 156, 150
Canton CC 133, 109
St. Thomas Aquinas 64, 52 (the numbers that will be taken this Oct. should be much higher)
The enrollment range in the EOAC is from 73 to 143 boys (Leetonia on the small to United on the large) and 72 to 140 girls (Valley Christian on the small to East Palestine on the large)
 
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Why can't schools look at conferences as 1 for football and join another for all other sports. This will help match up schools together a lot easier. This would remove the disadvantage schools have with enrollment size and allow schools to come together and keep local rivals and keep travel at a minimum. There are ways to get this to work if schools could be a little open minded to something other than a 1 size fits all leagues that are not there.
 
Mr. Slippery said:
I would think the IVC would want the package deal rather than 1 or the other. The same might true of the Buckeye 8. Minerva and Carrollton's enrollment numbers are comparable to Claymont and Indian Valley.

This doesn't look too bad:
IVC Bigger (Boys, Girls)
Claymont 238, 202
Carrollton 225, 235
Indian Valley 222, 218
Minerva 239, 212
Ridgewood 165, 145
Sandy Valley 168, 168
Garaway 152, 136

IVC Smaller
Buckeye Trail 147, 121
East Canton 124, 101
Malvern 86, 68
Strasburg 76, 57
Tusky CC 43, 26
Newcomerstown 137, 110
Tusky Valley 144, 173

Non-football members
Hiland 113, 120
Conotton Valley 54, 48

All the bigger schools are either DIV or DV for football. All the smaller schools are either DVI or DVII for football. Despite only being 1 division apart, there isn't much that can be done about the enrollment disparity between Tusky CC, Strasburg, and Malvern, and the rest of the smaller school division. The downside here is you'd have 1 team in each division without a divisional opponent during each week of the league portion of the season. With the enrollment disparities, some cross-over matchups would not be in anyone's best interest.


As for the rest of the EBC, West Branch (255, 251) and Salem (243, 235) might be able to find a home in the Mahoning Valley. Alliance and Marlington could be the hardest to move. Both have challenges that would make it difficult for them to both fit in an existing league. Alliance has enrollment (363 boys, 318 girls) but has struggled mightily in girls' sports in recent years. Marlington is considerably smaller (266 boys, 248 girls), so where Alliance might be interested in an arrangement with more DII schools, Marlington may not. Conversely, Marlington could have an easier time finding an arrangement with smaller schools than Alliance would.

Incidentally, Louisville's numbers are 340 boys, 350 girls, but those may change in a few years. IIRC, Louisville's school levy failure in April was going to force the elimination of MS sports. Their HS enrollment would obviously take a hit if a large number of MS kids leave to play sports elsewhere and don't return for HS.

Enrollments of various other schools in the vicinity of the EBC or whose current league situations are precarious:
Howland 330, 340
Canfield 321, 335
Southeast 192, 196
Rootstown 159, 120
Mogadore 105, 102
East Liverpool 231, 196
Beaver Local 214, 223
Crestview 149, 154
South Range (they found a good home in the NE8, but...) 156, 150
Canton CC 133, 109
St. Thomas Aquinas 64, 52 (the numbers that will be taken this Oct. should be much higher)
The enrollment range in the EOAC is from 73 to 143 boys (Leetonia to United) and 72 to 140 girls (Valley Christian to East Palestine)
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Wb will look for easiest conf. Trust me i graduated from there in the 90s. Back then we were actually good and didn't care who we played.
The whole school coaches students staff went soft. Yes i have kids there but fact are facts once they couldn't win it all every year they cried to get teams removed. Ex. Louisville. In 94 we didn't care.
Now they'd rather play a sebring or united. So they can win. Whole school us a joke that's why they cant win a election passed for more money. Everyone in community feels same or has moved out. Hopefully school closes soon.
 
Whynot103 said:
Wb will look for easiest conf. Trust me i graduated from there in the 90s. Back then we were actually good and didn't care who we played.
The whole school coaches students staff went soft. Yes i have kids there but fact are facts once they couldn't win it all every year they cried to get teams removed. Ex. Louisville. In 94 we didn't care.
Re Now they'd rather play a sebring or united. So they can win. Whole school us a joke that's why they cant win a election passed for more money. Everyone in community feels same or has moved out. Hopefully school closes soon.
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Let me get this straight, you have kids at WB but hate on it and the student athletes every chance you get? You hope the school closes? If that is the case why the heck do your kids still go there? Based on past posts you seem to follow the football and wrestling program but do not support either one. Typical keyboard warrior.
 
Local Wrestler said:
Let me get this straight, you have kids at WB but hate on it and the student athletes every chance you get? You hope the school closes? If that is the case why the heck do your kids still go there? Based on past posts you seem to follow the football and wrestling program but do not support either one. Typical keyboard warrior.
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If i had my way they wouldnt go there. Yea real keyboard warrior. Lmao pm ill give u my cintact and we will see
 
Whynot103 said:
Wb will look for easiest conf. Trust me i graduated from there in the 90s. Back then we were actually good and didn't care who we played.
The whole school coaches students staff went soft. Yes i have kids there but fact are facts once they couldn't win it all every year they cried to get teams removed. Ex. Louisville. In 94 we didn't care.
Now they'd rather play a sebring or united. So they can win. Whole school us a joke that's why they cant win a election passed for more money. Everyone in community feels same or has moved out. Hopefully school closes soon.
Click to expand...
They did play a pretty good ooc schedule last year
 
Whynot103 said:
Wb will look for easiest conf. Trust me i graduated from there in the 90s. Back then we were actually good and didn't care who we played.
The whole school coaches students staff went soft. Yes i have kids there but fact are facts once they couldn't win it all every year they cried to get teams removed. Ex. Louisville. In 94 we didn't care.
Now they'd rather play a sebring or united. So they can win. Whole school us a joke that's why they cant win a election passed for more money. Everyone in community feels same or has moved out. Hopefully school closes soon.
Click to expand...
Rather funny , obviously you don’t even realize that you Just said that every opponent WB plays is poor quality! I’m guessing a few to many beers last night and a killer headache this morning! ????
 
TEAMEBC said:
I would agree with you Buckeye, Adding Howland this season I feel has WB playing one of the toughest Ooc schedules in the EBC
1. Woodridge
2. Girard
3. Struthers
4. Howland.
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That's a solid non league schedule. How many wins do you see for the warriors this year?
 
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The Infidel said:
That's a solid non league schedule. How many wins do you for the warriors this year?
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I could give a projection , But instead I think I”ll just say that this 2021 group of seniors are the most talented , wining and athletic group of kids WB has ever had . They are multi sport athletes with success across the board. Again they have to buy into the new coach and last year they simply didn’t. I heard the coaching staff assignments Have been rearranged and progress is looking promising.
 
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TEAMEBC said:
Rather funny , obviously you don’t even realize that you Just said that every opponent WB plays is poor quality! I’m guessing a few to many beers last night and a killer headache this morning! ????
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Thats not at all what im saying. What im saying is wb will cry and do whatever to get a school out of league if they are consistently beaten by them. Why is louisville out?? Because Wb threw a fit until they got them out. Now they are pushing to get Alliance out? Why? Sorry i come from old school of playing against better comp makes you better. Not run from them
 
TEAMEBC said:
I would agree with you Buckeye, Adding Howland this season I feel has WB playing one of the toughest Ooc schedules in the EBC
1. Woodridge
2. Girard
3. Struthers
4. Howland.
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That’s a very tough 4 game stretch for anyone, struthers and Howland will be tough, I don’t see WB losing to girard this year, and you never know about Woodridge, usually very solid tho
 
Buckeye Elite said:
That’s a very tough 4 game stretch for anyone, struthers and Howland will be tough, I don’t see WB losing to girard this year, and you never know about Woodridge, usually very solid tho
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I don’t see them losing to Girard either. It will be tougher with Dota on their sidelines ,being he know our kids and it will be at WB this year. I’m sure he would like nothing more than to leave with a victory. Struthers will be one of our toughest games . I hear my nephew saying that is the team their wanting to beat badly, so I’ll give WB a 60/40 chance of pulling that one off.
 
TEAMEBC said:
I could give a projection , But instead I think I”ll just say that this 2021 group of seniors are the most talented , wining and athletic group
Click to expand...
TEAMEBC said:
I could give a projection , But instead I think I”ll just say that this 2021 group of seniors are the most talented , wining and athletic group of kids WB has ever had .
Click to expand...

you must be young. Clearly you didn’t see 95, 02,08.

if they were the most talented group WB has ever had, then they would have been better than 2-8 last year. I’m sorry I couldn’t help but laugh
 
The Infidel said:
you must be young. Clearly you didn’t see 95, 02,08.

if they were the most talented group WB has ever had, then they would have been better than 2-8 last year. I’m sorry I couldn’t help but laugh
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Let me clarify. The 2021 class has the most combined wins dating back to their elementary days. Pretty sure another WB poster should be able to confirm. Oh they were far better than 2-8. Did you see the coaching staff debacle and for gods sake the DC was like Joe Biden is today.
 
TEAMEBC said:
Let me clarify. The 2021 class has the most combined wins dating back to their elementary days. Pretty sure another WB poster should be able to confirm. Oh they were far better than 2-8. Did you see the coaching staff debacle and for gods sake the DC was like Joe Biden is today.
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You are what your record is. Elementary, middle school and even freshman/JV level doesn’t always add up to varsity wins. Kids are funny man, puberty hits and bodies/athleticism changes. Does coaching matter? Yes absolutely, but at the end of the day TALENT trumps coaching any day of the week in high school football. According to your statement it sounds like WB issues isn’t an X and O problem but more of a developmental problem of their athletes.

I watched West Branch vs Salem last year and Salem was running circles around WB last year. Only kids that had speed was the QB and McKiever (spelling). Salem had much more team speed and was the reason they won big.

I’m not anti West Branch, I’ve seen plenty of good teams come out of Beloit. But calling a junior class apart of a 2-8 team the most talented group ever to come through a school that has a tradition of winning and state championship under their belt is the most asinine comment you can make.

good luck to the warriors this season. I’ll be pulling for them
 
TEAMEBC said:
I don’t see them losing to Girard either. It will be tougher with Dota on their sidelines ,being he know our kids and it will be at WB this year. I’m sure he would like nothing more than to leave with a victory. Struthers will be one of our toughest games . I hear my nephew saying that is the team their wanting to beat badly, so I’ll give WB a 60/40 chance of pulling that one off.
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I’m sure that is a game they really want to win after what happened last year, but I don’t think they have the speed or the athletes to keep up with struthers, they literally have all of their speed back from last year, and Hall didn’t play Qb until week 5, when struthers completely transformed their offense and was putting up huge numbers with all the speed
In the backfield
 
Bull GreenDog said:
Unrealistic, but I'd like to see this allignment

New Phila, Dover, Louisville, Lake, Green,

Jackson, Perry, GlenOak, McKinley, Hoover

Marlington, West Branch, Salem, Minerva, Alliance
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add CCC to top, Massillon to middle, and Carrollton to bottom, 18, 3 sets of 6. makes too much sense, so you are right won't happen
 
ShootNation said:
So the EBC as a whole joins this why?
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you are correct, why? 8 is what we all know to be "ideal" for a league. But 6 can survive and have 5 non league games for first 5 which is doable. The EBC could very well sit with 6 and be just fine.
The Minerva/Carrollton to IVC won't ever happen, as long as Ridgewood and Garaway have a say - the travel for those two would be tough pill to swallow.
safe bet EBC stays at 6, until they get some interested schools
 
bootleg said:
add CCC to top, Massillon to middle, and Carrollton to bottom, 18, 3 sets of 6. makes too much sense, so you are right won't happen
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Massillon is a non-starter to be added, but I agree with your other two teams being added. Outside of McKinley and GlenOak, the rest of the FED is against adding Massillon and the circus that comes with adding them. There isn't a league in NE Ohio that would take Massillon, they have tried to join a few leagues and are always rejected.
 
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