Who are the favorites this year?
Let’s get some talk going. Best returning player(s) on each team. My quick insights, focusing on the offensive side of the ball:
Canton South: Rising junior QB Poochie Snyder is set to take his new league by storm. Moving over from the EBC, Snyder was a 2nd Team D4 All Stater as a sophomore. The Wildcats pummeled Northwest 34-7 a year ago in a non-conference game even put a 42-spot up on West Branch. They racked up 414 points a last year, averaging nearly 38 points a game. They have to be the favorite in Year 1 in the PAC.
Triway: Rising senior QB Zack Miller led the resurgence of the Titans a year ago, and he’s back. The shutout of CVCA raised eyebrows early a year ago. The only regular season blemish a hiccup against Manchester with an injury depleted squad if I recall. If the supporting cast is there, Triway has to be considered a front runner
Fairless: One-year wonder? Or can they sustain winning in Navarre? Hunter Campbell signed today with Marietta (congrats to him. The Pios are piling up talent the last couple of years!). Head coach AJ Sarbaugh had his name associated with the job at Stow and at least one other, if I recall, this off-season. Trying to strike while the iron is hot? Still, he remains at Fairless. How is the cupboard? Seems they should be OK as Carson Colucci is back at QB as a rising junior and he still has rising senior Brody Pomneo as a big target to throw to. Interesting scheduling quirk: Thanks to Covid, the Falcons seniors will make their first (and only) trip of their careers to CVCA in Week 6.
Manchester: The Panthers surprised everybody a year ago, getting back to basics, pounding the football and as a result, seemingly rising from the ashes in year 2 post JF. Now reports of 70 players out for football again in New Franklin! But they lost a pair of big All Conference O-Linemen and a bevy of running backs who were seniors. And Pappas, the QB graduated too. Who is waiting in the wings to fill the voids? Rising senior RB Jackson Dougherty would seem likely to take on featured payer status, but not sure about the surrounding cast.
Northwest: In a league with some very talented QBs, this is rising senior Braden Mick’s team. The Indians lost RB Jason Greenfield and two of four OL who had All Conference honors to graduation a year ago, but rising seniors Jimmy Cunningham and Isaac LaFay return to anchor the OL.
CVCA: Kyle Snider still ran for nearly 1,200 yards a year ago behind a patchwork OL, which struggled to replicate the OL strength of the three prior years, a line that paved the way for Snider and former Royals QB Michael Bevington to each run for 1700+ yards in 2020. Now a rising senior, Snider again should be featured, but the QB position may be in flux, based on reports earlier in the thread. Head Coach Nick Cook has his work cut out for him in year 2, but unlike a year ago, when he didn’t arrive in Ohio until June, the Royals head coach has a full off-season with his team.
Tuslaw: Rising senior Troy Harbeitner and fellow rising senior Tommy Snyder are the key returnees. But the Mustangs struggled a year ago, and the PAC would appear to be quite formidable again as the Mustangs look to avoid going winless in conference for a second straight year.
Orrville: The best thing about young teams is they get older and mature. The Red Riders managed two wins a year ago - against Tuslaw and Loudonville. But gone are the Redbirds. And the only returnee with conference honors is rising junior receiver Brady Marshall. Others will have to emerge - and they usually do.
Kickoff in 20 weeks. What say the rest of you? Chime in!
