2022 Akron City Series

It's coming together at 1040

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I'm not a football coach so take anything I say with lots of grains of salt. I hear they were missing some key players but they look like they are not afraid to be physical. I think the D line and linebackers are improved from last year and that seemed to bear out during the scrimmage. The O line has good size and hopefully that turns into good performances, they pass protected well in the scrimmage but still has some work to do as do all of their units. Their Sophomore QB has a lot of upside but needs to work on his consistency. They scrimmage Massillon this week, that should be really interesting.
Hubman, and brother Griff, I haven't posted in 6 years, but still follow Griffs. I watched video of middle school. Who is #19 the QB, and is he on 1040 team? How is it looking this year?
 
North will now play Fairport Harding, they were both scheduled to play teams (Collinwood, East tech) that had to cancel due to helmet shortages :(

Feel bad they were cheated out of a great opportunity to win a game.

How do you get within days of the first game and decide you don't have enough helmets? It's not like Collinwood has 100 kids out for the team.
 
Hubman, and brother Griff, I haven't posted in 6 years, but still follow Griffs. I watched video of middle school. Who is #19 the QB, and is he on 1040 team? How is it looking this year?
Welcome back!! Not sure who #19 might be, as for how the Griffs look, their lines seem solid waiting to see who steps up at the skill positions, also when key injured players return.
 
Good luck to Akron/Canton area teams this season. I live out of state but follow Akron City Series along with Hoban and St V.
I started kindergarten in fall of 1957. Vivid memories of East Oriental players coming into class rooms talking Fun vs Vandalism at Halloween. The physical size of those guys made an impression. Remember going to previews and early season double headers. The bands and crowds were so awesome to me. I hope kids today at that age feel the same as I did and support local teams as they grow up.
 
Welcome back!! Not sure who #19 might be, as for how the Griffs look, their lines seem solid waiting to see who steps up at the skill positions, also when key injured players return.

Welcome back!! Not sure who #19 might be, as for how the Griffs look, their lines seem solid waiting to see who steps up at the skill positions, also when key injured players return.
Brother Hubman, you and I had many conversations years ago about the Griffs schedule, and time have even changed more and they are now in D4. I don't know who the AD is now at Buchtel, but they need to understand that times have changed. We are no longer in D2 or 3, nor do we have the ability to keep playing such a strong schedule. We have no business playing some of the teams we play. From what I have been reading, North Canton lost a lot of players, but still we couldn't compete with them. I say all this because I don't think it is fair to the players. With the type of schedule they play year in and year out, it makes it really hard to make the playoffs. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw we were playing the lies of Cleveland St. Ignatius, or Benedictine, Chardon and so on. In order to get in the playoffs, they MUST beat at least 4 out of 5 city teams, and 2 out of 5 out of city games. How can you do that when the 5 out of city games are against really good teams and on the ROAD? Last night, a D4 team played a D6 team and won. They received 3.5 points. Last night the Griffs played a D2 team and lost. They received 0 points. Do you see my point? Sorry, just frustrated with the schedule. While listening to the game last night, it appears that the Griffs need to find a way to score. They also need a LOT of work on special teams and in the secondary. Two returns for over 70 yards and one score doesn't win many games! One man on offense killed them last night because they couldn't find a way to stop the pass. The kid I was talking about played on the middle school championship team last year and started at QB. I think his name was Hayden or Hurst? Something like that.
 
Koski was the star of that team. If I remember correctly, he scholarshipped to Iowa St. That was a very good Stow team, that won the Metro in 62 or 63. And yes, I am referring to Firestone Park. As I stated once before, Felix Latona, Central’s head coach lived next door, the Flossie’s were 3 doors down, and 2 doors the other way, was a kid named Jimmy Geraci. He QB’d a very good Hoban team that went 7-3 in 65, 9-1 in 66 losing only a 22-21 game to Struthers, and 7-1-2 in 1967. These were the glory days for Akron football. Great times, Great memories.
Must of been brutal neighborhood football games.
 
Brother Hubman, you and I had many conversations years ago about the Griffs schedule, and time have even changed more and they are now in D4. I don't know who the AD is now at Buchtel, but they need to understand that times have changed. We are no longer in D2 or 3, nor do we have the ability to keep playing such a strong schedule. We have no business playing some of the teams we play. From what I have been reading, North Canton lost a lot of players, but still we couldn't compete with them. I say all this because I don't think it is fair to the players. With the type of schedule they play year in and year out, it makes it really hard to make the playoffs. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw we were playing the lies of Cleveland St. Ignatius, or Benedictine, Chardon and so on. In order to get in the playoffs, they MUST beat at least 4 out of 5 city teams, and 2 out of 5 out of city games. How can you do that when the 5 out of city games are against really good teams and on the ROAD? Last night, a D4 team played a D6 team and won. They received 3.5 points. Last night the Griffs played a D2 team and lost. They received 0 points. Do you see my point? Sorry, just frustrated with the schedule. While listening to the game last night, it appears that the Griffs need to find a way to score. They also need a LOT of work on special teams and in the secondary. Two returns for over 70 yards and one score doesn't win many games! One man on offense killed them last night because they couldn't find a way to stop the pass. The kid I was talking about played on the middle school championship team last year and started at QB. I think his name was Hayden or Hurst? Something like that.
Over the last 10 years I think the Griffs have had 4 AD's , Mrs. Hume, Mrs. Powers, Coach Nuge and now Bryan Williams. The schedule though as with most of the sports at Buchtel is really in the hands of the Head Coach of each sport. For years suburban teams have avoided playing Buchtel like the plague, not sure why the still do, it's not like we have been world beaters lately. Barberton was on the schedule one year but Covid knocked that out, Woodridge was on the schedule once, but other than those two I can't think of a Summit county team that will even take our phone calls.

Our offensive players seemed to be really nervous in the first half, I think every key player had at least one drop or fumble. They have some work to do but I am optimistic.
 
Brother Hubman, you and I had many conversations years ago about the Griffs schedule, and time have even changed more and they are now in D4. I don't know who the AD is now at Buchtel, but they need to understand that times have changed. We are no longer in D2 or 3, nor do we have the ability to keep playing such a strong schedule. We have no business playing some of the teams we play. From what I have been reading, North Canton lost a lot of players, but still we couldn't compete with them. I say all this because I don't think it is fair to the players. With the type of schedule they play year in and year out, it makes it really hard to make the playoffs. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw we were playing the lies of Cleveland St. Ignatius, or Benedictine, Chardon and so on. In order to get in the playoffs, they MUST beat at least 4 out of 5 city teams, and 2 out of 5 out of city games. How can you do that when the 5 out of city games are against really good teams and on the ROAD? Last night, a D4 team played a D6 team and won. They received 3.5 points. Last night the Griffs played a D2 team and lost. They received 0 points. Do you see my point? Sorry, just frustrated with the schedule. While listening to the game last night, it appears that the Griffs need to find a way to score. They also need a LOT of work on special teams and in the secondary. Two returns for over 70 yards and one score doesn't win many games! One man on offense killed them last night because they couldn't find a way to stop the pass. The kid I was talking about played on the middle school championship team last year and started at QB. I think his name was Hayden or Hurst? Something like that.
They play 2 non league games against bigger schools in Hoover and N Canton the rest of these games are against smaller schools or city schools. The schedule has been this way for years and will continue to be this way for the foreseeable future. You see the same thing is starting to happen with East and once was the case with Garfield. Teams aren't blowing up the phone lines to play a decent city team. In most cases it doesn't make sense to pay a team to come to your field that doens't travel well and has a chance to beat you. Also to be honest with you just like smaller colleges financially it makes sense to play these games. If you only knew how favorable those contracts were with St. Eds they actually paid Buchtel to host a game. Hard to turn down certain contracts when your financially constrained.
 
How many lanes is that track?
LOL, you actually can't see the track in those pictures, because it is on the outside of the bleachers. Yes the track (if you want to call it that is pretty much cinders and grass at this point) was built outside of the bleachers.
 
LOL, you actually can't see the track in those pictures, because it is on the outside of the bleachers. Yes the track (if you want to call it that is pretty much cinders and grass at this point) was built outside of the bleachers.
Sort of like Chagrin Falls but 1000 times worse. Would have been nice to have seen a track and field facility upgrade to something useable for the kids and coaches. Wouldn't you have loved to have been in those meetings way back when! Every time I think of it, I go to this in my head.
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Sort of like Chagrin Falls but 1000 times worse. Would have been nice to have seen a track and field facility upgrade to something useable for the kids and coaches. Wouldn't you have loved to have been in those meetings way back when! Every time I think of it, I go to this in my head.
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Wow!!! That is so on point, I can't tell you how hard I just laughed at that.
Hey why do we need a workable track at Buchtel, it's not like we have some kind of tradition in the sport save for the multiple state titles and state runner up trophies won by the Boys and Girls track teams, other than that who would even use it. It's not like the building is in the middle of a neighborhood with a community that needs more exercise or is prone to diseases due to lack of exercise. Look you got me started :)
 
City Series athletics will never be what they once were.
The leadership doesn't value athletics, the school board is a clown show and the city AD appears to only be interested tweeting at games and collecting a paycheck.
Thankfully my kids are grown, if I had an athlete in the district today we'd be looking elsewhere.
 
City Series athletics will never be what they once were.
The leadership doesn't value athletics, the school board is a clown show and the city AD appears to only be interested tweeting at games and collecting a paycheck.
Thankfully my kids are grown, if I had an athlete in the district today we'd be looking elsewhere.
The glory days of the City Series unfortunately went the way of the Akron Rubber industry...
 
garydaddy1 mentioned on the East-Dover thread that the East QB threw for 415 yards against Jackson. Anyone with info on the kid?
 
garydaddy1 mentioned on the East-Dover thread that the East QB threw for 415 yards against Jackson. Anyone with info on the kid?
Justin Cox is the East QB. Had a strong junior season in 2021 after transferring to East from Hoban (where he spent his first two seasons). Cox threw for over 2,000 yards and 25 scores as a junior and was invited to the Elite 11 Regional Competition in the spring of '22.
 
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City Series athletics will never be what they once were.
The leadership doesn't value athletics, the school board is a clown show and the city AD appears to only be interested tweeting at games and collecting a paycheck.
Thankfully my kids are grown, if I had an athlete in the district today we'd be looking elsewhere.
The City AD office do what they can but they are trying to climb out of a hole that took decades to dig. Athletic facilities in APS must have went at least 4 decades without any type of substantial capital improvements. When given the opportunity to improve the experience for student athletes, (especially when it doesn't involve $$$), they have been more than open to those changes in several sports. Actually as I think about it since Vass and Linger showed up APS has gotten new modern scoreboards in every high school gym and the football stadiums at Ellet and Buchtel (not sure about Kenmore). New Bleachers at Ellet and Buchtel and now turf at both Ellet and Buchtel. Yes we are still way behind most of our neighbors when it comes to our facilities, but like I said when your trying to climb out of a hole of 40 years of neglect it's not going to happen overnight. Let's hope they keep going and resurface the track at Ellet and get an all weather track on the west side of Akron, maybe lights at Buchtel!
 
The City AD office do what they can but they are trying to climb out of a hole that took decades to dig. Athletic facilities in APS must have went at least 4 decades without any type of substantial capital improvements. When given the opportunity to improve the experience for student athletes, (especially when it doesn't involve $$$), they have been more than open to those changes in several sports. Actually as I think about it since Vass and Linger showed up APS has gotten new modern scoreboards in every high school gym and the football stadiums at Ellet and Buchtel (not sure about Kenmore). New Bleachers at Ellet and Buchtel and now turf at both Ellet and Buchtel. Yes we are still way behind most of our neighbors when it comes to our facilities, but like I said when your trying to climb out of a hole of 40 years of neglect it's not going to happen overnight. Let's hope they keep going and resurface the track at Ellet and get an all weather track on the west side of Akron, maybe lights at Buchtel!
Well said. I think the current AD office is doing strong work given 40 years of people like Joe Howard running a rudderless ship and the fact that they have had a board that doesn't value athletics and gives them the bare minimum.
 
garydaddy1 mentioned on the East-Dover thread that the East QB threw for 415 yards against Jackson. Anyone with info on the kid?
Strong arm, smart kid on the field and in the classroom, finished last season 101/185 with 2,011 Passing and 25 Total TDs. Committed recently to D2 Wayne State, but I wouldnt be surprised if some MAC schools come calling and that recruitment opens up. Unlike a lot of city qbs that I have seen in years past, he stays steady in the pocket and wants to throw instead of scrambling and he lets the play develop downfield. Very good game manager and someone that is rare at the QB spot in the City. He finished week 1 going 17-27 throwing 4tds and 1 int for a total of 415 yards along with at least 15-20 yards on the ground as well.
 
Well, if we are talking about past Athletic Directors n Akron, let's not forget about Mike Buckner. The man spent more hours on the golf course than doing anything else other than slaughtering the English language. If one looks up "Collection of a pay check until Retirement" on Google, Mike Buckner would probably be close to the top right behind Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, CHuck Schumer, and the rest of the old- (rear end) people in Congress!
 
Justin Cox is the East QB. Had a strong junior season in 2021 after transferring to East from Hoban (where he spent his first two seasons). Cox threw for over 2,000 yards and 25 scores as a junior and was invited to the Elite 11 Regional Competition in the spring of '22.
Strong arm, smart kid on the field and in the classroom, finished last season 101/185 with 2,011 Passing and 25 Total TDs. Committed recently to D2 Wayne State, but I wouldnt be surprised if some MAC schools come calling and that recruitment opens up. Unlike a lot of city qbs that I have seen in years past, he stays steady in the pocket and wants to throw instead of scrambling and he lets the play develop downfield. Very good game manager and someone that is rare at the QB spot in the City. He finished week 1 going 17-27 throwing 4tds and 1 int for a total of 415 yards along with at least 15-20 yards on the ground as well.

That's a dimension to the East offense that could really put them on a different level than years prior.
 
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