2022 EBC

They have competed against each other in baseball, boys basketball, boys soccer, boys and girls lacross, track, cross country, and softball.
They have never played in football however, the only Federal League teams they have played are as follows Canton McKinley, Austintown-Fitch, Alliance, Boardman, Fairless, Louisville, Marlington, New Philadelphia, Canton South, Canton Timken, Wooster, and Hoover.
Interesting. Canfield and Lake needs to be a future matchup. Very similar physical football teams. Someone that has watched Lake and Canfield play several times that actually baffles me
 
Who has the toughest non-conference schedule?
Alliance
Lake, Niles McKinley, Bedford, Norwalk, and Canton Central Catholic
Carrollton
Manchester, Philo, St. Thomas Aquinas, Garaway, Kenmore-Garfield
Marlington
Coventry, Northwest, Ridgewood, Chaney, JFK
Minerva
East Liverpool, Crestwood, Beaver Local, Sandy Valley, Southeast
Salem
Crestview, Bever Local, East Liverpool, Canton Central Catholic, Padua Franciscan
West Branch
Canfield, Woodridge, Revere, Ridgewood, Howland
The best games out of all these OOC are:
Niles- Alliance (old classic rivals)
Marlington -JFK (playing a state champ contender, not Massillon)
Salem - Padua (Play a private school an hour away and hope you don't get your butt kicked)
West Branch -Canfield (2 of the better teams in Mahoning)
 
Interesting. Canfield and Lake needs to be a future matchup. Very similar physical football teams. Someone that has watched Lake and Canfield play several times that actually baffles me
Also, Perry- Canfield would be very interesting but your right lake -Canfield would be a classic battle.
 
Also, Perry- Canfield would be very interesting but your right lake -Canfield would be a classic battle.

Lake reminds me as Poland but in a bigger school form. It's interesting too that both were in the same playoff region for years and never crossed paths

Scrimmages start tomorrow!

Alliance @ Jackson 6pm
 
Lake reminds me as Poland but in a bigger school form. It's interesting too that both were in the same playoff region for years and never crossed paths

Scrimmages start tomorrow!

Alliance @ Jackson 6pm
Who knows what Poland is gonna be now with that weirdo at the helm. I can see them going away from smash mouth football sooner then later
 
I got

1. West Branch 9-1 loss to canfield
2. Salem 7-3
3. Alliance 7-3
4. Carrollton 6-4
5. Marlington 3-7
6. Minerva 1-9 win against crestwood


Alliance killing Hoover at the scrimmage 30-0
Marlington beats Niles 14-6 in their scrimmage
 
I got

1. West Branch 9-1 loss to canfield
2. Salem 7-3
3. Alliance 7-3
4. Carrollton 6-4
5. Marlington 3-7
6. Minerva 1-9 win against crestwood


Alliance killing Hoover at the scrimmage 30-0
Marlington beats Niles 14-6 in their scrimmage

Did Gardner suit up for Niles?
 
My brothers youngest kid plays for Minerva. He said that despite the winless (or almost winless) past few seasons, he really thinks that it feels a little different this year
Well they absolutely have a potential to keep the scores closer this year than they have in the past (no more 5 wide and kicking deep) but most of the conference is up this year and I just don't see Minerva being up to the task with anyone other than Marlington. I still think they're a few years off of being anything other than a bottom of the barrel team in the league
 
Your reasoning is not flawed.
This is only a 6 team league, 5 non league and marlington gives them a shot at a winning record.
I know their out of conference schedule isnt super impressive but expecting them to start out 5-0 is being pretty optimistic. I think realistically they have a shot against East Liverpool and maybe Sandy Valley but I wouldn't have them as the favorites in either game
 
If Minerva lost 28-0 to East Canton in a half. They will not win an EBC game this year. Best of the luck to lions and coach Speakman
 
I know their out of conference schedule isnt super impressive but expecting them to start out 5-0 is being pretty optimistic. I think realistically they have a shot against East Liverpool and maybe Sandy Valley but I wouldn't have them as the favorites in either game
It will be a struggle for a sophomore dominated line up to get wins in Friday nights-
 
I was thinking the same thing
A team that gave up over 50 ppg and scored 3 ppg last year is going to struggle to say the least. Minerva fans have to be patient because this season is going to be a very long season. Speakman was left with nothing. He has to start from scratch from strength training, player development and a system. The sophomore class has potential but it will be 2 to 3 years at least before they are consistently competitive. The middle school teams are very good so Speakman needs to focus on those grades and keep them playing and develop those kids. From what I have heard he is doing that.

Just keep this in mind, under the old regime they had 1 quarterback on the roster since 2019 and he graduated last year. They had no real off season lifting program and ran a different offence every other week. We just want to see improvement and energy for step 1. I didn't see any scrimmages but hear they were physically overmatch against Malvern and East Canton. I will be shocked if they get a win but hoping for the best.
 
At least the lions started the game with emotion and played hard but were overmatched- they looked much better than any time last year. Still going to hard to get a win.
East Liverpool is the worst team on that schedule potentially, this may be a season where it's a small victory if they have a week where they don't get running clocked
 
After watching Alliance and Lake, Alliance is going to be a handful the rest of the season. The Alliance and West Branch matchup will be very fun to watch. As I’ve said before, don’t sleep on Carrollton. Salem had a disappointing showing. Hopefully it was just the week 1 jitters. I thought for sure Marlington would beat Coventry. Looking at their schedule, I don’t see where they get a win outside of Minerva. As for Minerva, keep playing hard and try to find any positives that you can.
 
After Week one :

West Branch in my eyes proved they are legit. Playing canfield and against Broc Lowdy a B1G commit showed something. West branch wins the league.

Alliance I fear that besides KVaughn Davis, Zurburgg, Kayden Davis the offense doesnt have much to offer. I see a 5-5 season

Salem I think is going to have a rough year. possibly a 5-5 or 4-6 season

Carrollton is a sleeper and going but i dont see them beating West Branch

Marlingtons only win will be minerva

And for the lions, I dont know it its the coaching or talent level but theres not much there. I give them credit for going out every week. Minerva just needs to focus on being a running school. Coach Scott, Coach Monk and Coach Rettig do great things for the runners and the success shows.


On to week 2. Lets hear those predictions


West Branch vs Woodridge
Alliance vs Niles
Carrollton vs Philo
Marlington vs Northwest
Salem vs Beaver Local
Minerva vs Crestwood
 
After Week one :

West Branch in my eyes proved they are legit. Playing canfield and against Broc Lowdy a B1G commit showed something. West branch wins the league.

Alliance I fear that besides KVaughn Davis, Zurburgg, Kayden Davis the offense doesnt have much to offer. I see a 5-5 season

Salem I think is going to have a rough year. possibly a 5-5 or 4-6 season

Carrollton is a sleeper and going but i dont see them beating West Branch

Marlingtons only win will be minerva

And for the lions, I dont know it its the coaching or talent level but theres not much there. I give them credit for going out every week. Minerva just needs to focus on being a running school. Coach Scott, Coach Monk and Coach Rettig do great things for the runners and the success shows.


On to week 2. Lets hear those predictions


West Branch vs Woodridge
Alliance vs Niles
Carrollton vs Philo
Marlington vs Northwest
Salem vs Beaver Local
Minerva vs Crestwood
Alliance has other weapons. #3, their slot is very good. If Alliance goes 5-5 with the amount of talent they have (D1 QB/RB) then I would be questioning coaching.
 
After Week one :

West Branch in my eyes proved they are legit. Playing canfield and against Broc Lowdy a B1G commit showed something. West branch wins the league.

Alliance I fear that besides KVaughn Davis, Zurburgg, Kayden Davis the offense doesnt have much to offer. I see a 5-5 season

Salem I think is going to have a rough year. possibly a 5-5 or 4-6 season

Carrollton is a sleeper and going but i dont see them beating West Branch

Marlingtons only win will be minerva

And for the lions, I dont know it its the coaching or talent level but theres not much there. I give them credit for going out every week. Minerva just needs to focus on being a running school. Coach Scott, Coach Monk and Coach Rettig do great things for the runners and the success shows.


On to week 2. Lets hear those predictions


West Branch vs Woodridge
Alliance vs Niles
Carrollton vs Philo
Marlington vs Northwest
Salem vs Beaver Local
Minerva vs Crestwood
West Branch jumps out early and wins handily
Alliance picks up a win in a fairly close game
I'm not going to pretend I know anything about Philo
Northwest cruises
Salem gets the offense ironed out and returns to form with a big win
Minerva....
 
After Week one :

West Branch in my eyes proved they are legit. Playing canfield and against Broc Lowdy a B1G commit showed something. West branch wins the league.

Alliance I fear that besides KVaughn Davis, Zurburgg, Kayden Davis the offense doesnt have much to offer. I see a 5-5 season

Salem I think is going to have a rough year. possibly a 5-5 or 4-6 season

Carrollton is a sleeper and going but i dont see them beating West Branch

Marlingtons only win will be minerva

And for the lions, I dont know it its the coaching or talent level but theres not much there. I give them credit for going out every week. Minerva just needs to focus on being a running school. Coach Scott, Coach Monk and Coach Rettig do great things for the runners and the success shows.


On to week 2. Lets hear those predictions


West Branch vs Woodridge
Alliance vs Niles
Carrollton vs Philo
Marlington vs Northwest
Salem vs Beaver Local
Minerva vs Crestwood
EBC improves from last week and goes 3-3
WB rebounds with big 34-14 win
Alliance going against a much improved Niles team and falls at Niles in another close game between these old rivals 28- 19
Carrollton easy win 24-7
Northwest wins this one 21-14 over Marlington
Salem beats Beaver Local this year 35-7
Crestwood wins big 42-7
 
EBC improves from last week and goes 3-3
WB rebounds with big 34-14 win
Alliance going against a much improved Niles team and falls at Niles in another close game between these old rivals 28- 19
Carrollton easy win 24-7
Northwest wins this one 21-14 over Marlington
Salem beats Beaver Local this year 35-7
Crestwood wins big 42-7
I think alliance gets Niles this week and crestwood is very down as well I don’t see it being 42-7. Salem and BL will be very tight, they returned their entire team basically and it wasn’t a bad game last year
 
Week 2 of the EBS match ups

Alliance vs Niles - I got Alliance winning this with a close game 28-24

Salem vs Beaver Local - I got Beaver Local winning this 35-24. I went to the Salem - Crestview game. I think Johnson got use to having Exline at WR, The connection with his WRs isnt there. The Oline didnt look good either.

Marlington vs Northwest - I got Northwest winning by 21 or even 30. Marlington dont got much over there. Their head coach got hired late so going to take a little while to get it rolling over there.

West Branch vs Woodridge - West Branch wins by a landslide. West Branch is the best team in the league. Dru will be POY and Tim Copper will be COY.

Minerva vs Crestwood. I think Speakman and his lions get their first win of the season. crestview is down this year. I would say this is a 13-10 game.
 
After watching the Alliance Lake game Friday night at Kehres Stadium I feel like Alliance is slightly improved but not where they should be.

Offensively I don’t understand why Kayden Davis only had 10 rushing attempts when he is a YSU commit. There has got to be a balance between him and Zurbrugg carrying the load. I understand that Lake outmatched our OLine and running the ball would be difficult. But we have to find ways to get him the ball more

Defensively I don’t understand what Abueteen is doing in a 4 man front. Alliance won 3 league titles playing the 3-4 defense. I understand losing Nino Hill to McKinley hurt us but don’t understand the scheme switch entirely. Biggest issue I saw was a lack thereof of tackling. Lots and lots of missed tackles.

Special teams was a disaster! Kick off return needs addressed, and both kickoff and punt teams need work.

Alliance has struggled with Niles in the last couple of matchups will be really interesting to see what happens. I have not been to Bo Rein stadium in about 20 years
 
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