Both matt and rob played for Purdue
Yeah my cousin played with both of them in the late 90s
Seems like a weekly occurrence, but please don't let @Stizostedion upset anyone. He is not associated with Kirtland in any way/shape/form. He just likes to get on the forums when his home health provider is out of the room and get folks riled up.
Coach Schriner sounds a lot like Coach Yeagley of South Range. Fantastic people to play for & been at the helm for 25+ years. He will have Ottawa-Glandorf more than ready for this matchup.
I don't think they're afraid, and I am not saying that the coaches are saying I wish we didn't have to play this team. I'm saying it like an example. I don't know that's the right word. If Kirtland could choose a team to play, it would not be this one. I know Kirtland has been in tough games and come out on top. I know they have taken all comers. I'm just saying I don't think this is a good matchup for them. I get that they like to be tested, and they may or may not be tested Saturday night, but having watched OG a little and watching some video on Kirtland, I think OG matches up really well with them. When I saw video of South Range and watched a couple of their games on YSN, I knew they didn't have a chance against Kirtland. Kirtland was too big for South Range. OG is not like that. They come at you and pound and throw. Their defensive line is big and fast and will be hard to push around. They resemble Kirtland. Now Kirtland may be better coached, and they have clearly been to this stage more than OG, but I do think OG will match up with them. It should be a good game.
If you didn’t think SR had a chance against Kirtland then would you please let us know the upcoming PowerBall #s? SR returned 90% of the team that scored 35 on Hornets last year & Kirtland graduated majority of the points they scored in that game. Majority of us that saw the game last year expected if anyone in NE Ohio had a shot it was them.
I hear what your saying and I just know the outlook of Kirtland and how they approach the next game of who ever they have to play to advance. I could put it to you the same way. Would OG choose to play Kirtland in anything but a state championship game? If you think they match up well with Kirtland I get that. OG is having a great season and made the final 4. I just don't think Kirtland's coaches or players are thinking if they could choose somebody else they would. Kirtland knows if you want to be the best then you play the best. The 4 best teams in D5 are playing Saturday night and I think Kirtland would want play any of the other 3 in any order to win a state title. Coaches from all over D5 and D6 have said until you play Kirtland, you can't really understand how good they are from just film study.
I was thinking about this game today as I agree with your earlier post that it almost felt like a running clock. I did expect a much closer game for the exact reasons you stated above. I’m thinking what happened based on observation is that Kirtland changed their defensive approach as compared to last years game and decided to focus their defense on taking away the SR passing game (which is the one of if not the best in D5). Kirtland typically uses their 3 defensive linemen to occupy the opponent’s OL and create gaps. Then the 4 LBs blitz the gaps to stop the run and pressure the QB, leaving their secondary on an island to stop the pass. With the number of quality receivers as SR had, Kirtland dropped their LBs into coverage which is very uncommon for their defense. I could be wrong but I think it caught SR off guard and they never adjusted to get their passing game going
I think in 2020 against SR we did take a good lead at one point and got into a more prevent type of defense. Their passing game was great but the QB runs really helped them. Their 2nd score last week was pretty much the QB with 2 great long runs and one of those was for the touchdown.
Honestly this game was kind of over at the half. If the hornets punch that drive in where they fumbled I think inside the 15 it’s 28-7 at the half. But luckily we held them off before the half and were able to get some points in the 3rd quarter. Then the Kirtland machine did what it does. I just think if the hornets don’t fumble and cash in it’s a totally different second half to start. But I loved the way they finished the game. Clock killers lol
Tony Fisher was a RB from some school called Euclid during his day lol. I had a buddy that went to school with him. Pretty sure he played at ND
That’s where the hornets just play fundamental football. Kirtland dares opponents to stop them. They play their own game at their own will. I love what Tiger has done to the program and Kirtland has my respect. I’m a used to be east sider lol. I’m in Avon now and follow the program my kids went to. But I’ve got family in Kirtland and will always follow the hornets. Hell i played against hornets when I was at ledgemont as a kid lol
Congrats to both !
Very well deserved for both!
Does anyone know why they renamed the award the Tony Fisher award? I tried looking it up last week but couldn’t find anything
I've only ever known this award as the Tony Fisher award, what was it previously and when did they change the name, certainly not in the last 10 years
Yup, Played with the Green Bay Packers.
LOL.. Im a out of stater myself. I played in a couple of games against Ledgemont for Kirtland back in the 80's. One of them was the hottest day ever. Over a 100 degrees on the field. It took 2 weeks to recover from it.
I think it happen sometime in the 2000's? Not sure why. It used to be called The News-Herald player of the year award. It was different then. They had it for offense and defense. For the first 15 years it was just 2 guys who would win, 1 for offense and 1 for defense. In 1985 they went to 2 categories, AAA for one, AA-A for the other. They did this I believe all the way up to the late 90's maybe? I know this because I was the first one to win it for Kirtland for defense in 1985. I know if it was by todays standards I wouldn't of won it. The award has change quite bit over the years. Now there is just one player named regardless of school size and there is a watch list through out the season with weekly updates. Nice ceremony at the Hooley House out in Mentor. If you see the history of the players of the award that goes back to 1970 you would be amazed. There is a Heisman Trophy winner. Guys who played on Super Bowl Teams. A lot of guys who went to OSU that were stand outs and other BIG 10 schools who were All Americans.
It was called The News-Herald Player of the Year Award. If you see my post above this one I kind of got some info.
I went to school with Desmond Howard (Heisman & Super Bowl MVP), not sure if he ever won it as Northeast Ohio back then had the greatest collection of RBs I have ever seen in high school at the same time (Desmond Howard at St. Joe’s, Robert Smith at Euclid, and O.J. McDuffie at Hawken)
It was called The News-Herald Player of the Year Award. If you see my post above this one I kind of got some info.
Oh Desmond did win it I think in 1988. Remember Elvis Grebach (I know my spelling is off) played for the 49ers after Steve Young. Eric Smith and a few others. I played against OJ McDuffie. He was a couple of years under me but was always through out his high school years an amazing back. That's why I have kept track of the award. Not for myself but for the names of the guys who took it to the ultimate level of the sport. There are so many names that any football fan would recognize on that list.
