PAC 2023

TopCat said:
Funny you would bring up '79 and the "fancy snap." That was my senior year of football. I graduated in 80. Anyway, what was funny about it was the last three weeks of the season, the coaching staff inserted a handful of new plays to shake things up including a play or two run out of the "newfangled and exotic" shotgun! We practiced those plays along with a screen and a draw (Which Manchester never ever ran in the past!). However, the only time we ever ran that shotgun play in an actual game (The second to the last game against Tusky Valley) we lined up and had a guy jump before the snap. It was never called again during that season. We also didn't run the screen or draw, either. When you said 79 and fancy snap I almost brought my iced tea through my nose because I laughed out loud.
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I remember practicing france's screen play. It took forever to set up- excessively long even for a screen. Tailback fakes a handoff, bounces off a lineman or two up front, bubbles back and out to the side only to catch a screen pass the QB couldnt hit. KOACH WOULD NEVER HAVE RUN THAT, EVER. It was a poor design and was sure points- for the other team. Im guessing he put it in there to get people off his back. The only excitement I got was the 'green special pass'. Running back takes off between tackle and tight end, runs down the middle of the field where the QB hits him with the ball. The one and only time we ran it (ran it in practice all the time), the QB got so excited that he launched it through the uprights 40 yards away! I watched it sail 10 yards in the air over my head. Never again did any exciting play get called from the sidelines in the late 90s.
 
SpeedSafety25 said:
I remember practicing france's screen play. It took forever to set up- excessively long even for a screen. Tailback fakes a handoff, bounces off a lineman or two up front, bubbles back and out to the side only to catch a screen pass the QB couldnt hit. KOACH WOULD NEVER HAVE RUN THAT, EVER. It was a poor design and was sure points- for the other team. Im guessing he put it in there to get people off his back. The only excitement I got was the 'green special pass'. Running back takes off between tackle and tight end, runs down the middle of the field where the QB hits him with the ball. The one and only time we ran it (ran it in practice all the time), the QB got so excited that he launched it through the uprights 40 yards away! I watched it sail 10 yards in the air over my head. Never again did any exciting play get called from the sidelines in the late 90s.
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Listen, nobody ever accused Koach of being a tactical mastermind but he sure was a hell of a leader and planner. I think that's lost on the people hiring coaches today at the high school level, everybody can win with X's and O's on paper but actually walking a team on to a field and getting them to come away victorious consistently is something very few can do
 
Alright TopCat and SpeedSafety25, sorry to burst your bubble on the screen pass, but I was on the field for probably the one and only time that it actually worked. In the 1978 season in a game at Rootstown, we had a third and long and pulled it off for about 15 yards and a first down. It's interesting to hear SS25's perspective as the running back. I was the short side tackle that had to keep my pass block for a three count, then release my block and float out to be the lead block downfield. It worked well that night!

As far as Koach goes, he kept it all simple, blocking and tackling.
 
7Diamond said:
Alright TopCat and SpeedSafety25, sorry to burst your bubble on the screen pass, but I was on the field for probably the one and only time that it actually worked. In the 1978 season in a game at Rootstown, we had a third and long and pulled it off for about 15 yards and a first down. It's interesting to hear SS25's perspective as the running back. I was the short side tackle that had to keep my pass block for a three count, then release my block and float out to be the lead block downfield. It worked well that night!

As far as Koach goes, he kept it all simple, blocking and tackling.
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Your memory is better than mine. That would have been my Junior year.
 
SpeedSafety25 said:
I remember practicing france's screen play. It took forever to set up- excessively long even for a screen. Tailback fakes a handoff, bounces off a lineman or two up front, bubbles back and out to the side only to catch a screen pass the QB couldnt hit. KOACH WOULD NEVER HAVE RUN THAT, EVER. It was a poor design and was sure points- for the other team. Im guessing he put it in there to get people off his back. The only excitement I got was the 'green special pass'. Running back takes off between tackle and tight end, runs down the middle of the field where the QB hits him with the ball. The one and only time we ran it (ran it in practice all the time), the QB got so excited that he launched it through the uprights 40 yards away! I watched it sail 10 yards in the air over my head. Never again did any exciting play get called from the sidelines in the late 90s.
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Green Special Pass? Was that the old East 80 Green Pass? Here is some Panther ancient history that the "tuffs on the fence" may recall like it was yesterday. The history on that, though possibly a bit fuzzy, was in 1976 we were down by a score to Green at their place. 7Diamond may also recall, and I hope he would weigh in on this, but my understanding was that Mac, who was the D Coordinator noticed something and brought it to Koach's attention. Green ran an inside stack 6-2 D back then, and both LBs were cheating inside and one was always coming. Anyway, Mac spotted a weakness that could be exploited by sending the TB in motion. The play was drawn up in the dirt on the sideline. TB Billy Miller, who was very fast, motioned with the ball being snapped just as he cleared the tackle. He turned upfield and flew the middle completely uncovered. Billy caught the ball in stride and went in for the winning score. I don't remember how long a play it was, but it was long. We used that play for the next few years with some success, but that first time was the best. That was a fun memory.
 
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TopCat said:
Green Special Pass? Was that the old East 80 Green Pass? Here is some Panther ancient history that the "tuffs on the fence" may recall like it was yesterday. The history on that, though possibly a bit fuzzy, was in 1976 we were down by a score to Green at their place. 7Diamond may also recall, and I hope he would weigh in on this, but my understanding was that Mac, who was the D Coordinator noticed something and brought it to Koach's attention. Green ran an inside stack 6-2 D back then, and both LBs were cheating inside and one was always coming. Anyway, Mac spotted a weakness that could be exploited by sending the TB in motion. The play was drawn up in the dirt on the sideline. TB Billy Miller, who was very fast, motioned with the ball being snapped just as he cleared the tackle. He turned upfield and flew the middle completely uncovered. Billy caught the ball in stride and went in for the winning score. I don't remember how long a play it was, but it was long. We used that play for the next few years with some success, but that first time was the best. That was a fun memory.
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"Green Special Pass? Was that the old East 80 Green Pass?"
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In a tuff moment for his 11-3 playoff bound 1975 Bengals against the Steel Curtain at Riverfront Stadium.....as they pondered what play to send into QB Kenny Anderson......one could imagine the great Paul Brown asking his assistant koach Bill Walsh if he heard about "that East 80 Green pass" from Manchester High.

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Rich Kotite said:
In a tuff moment for his 11-3 playoff bound 1975 Bengals against the Steel Curtain at Riverfront Stadium.....as they pondered what play to send into QB Kenny Anderson......one could imagine the great Paul Brown asking his assistant koach Bill Walsh if he heard about "that East 80 Green pass" from Manchester High.

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If only Walsh had followed Koach's advice and instead of squandering his career on that West Coast Offense thing, he had employed the East 80 Green Pass as the centerpiece of his Panther Passing Pressure Offense. One of the great "what ifs" of football. Of course, he would have been a year too early in 1975.:ROFLMAO:
 
TopCat said:
Green Special Pass? Was that the old East 80 Green Pass? Here is some Panther ancient history that the "tuffs on the fence" may recall like it was yesterday. The history on that, though possibly a bit fuzzy, was in 1976 we were down by a score to Green at their place. 7Diamond may also recall, and I hope he would weigh in on this, but my understanding was that Mac, who was the D Coordinator noticed something and brought it to Koach's attention. Green ran an inside stack 6-2 D back then, and both LBs were cheating inside and one was always coming. Anyway, Mac spotted a weakness that could be exploited by sending the TB in motion. The play was drawn up in the dirt on the sideline. TB Billy Miller, who was very fast, motioned with the ball being snapped just as he cleared the tackle. He turned upfield and flew the middle completely uncovered. Billy caught the ball in stride and went in for the winning score. I don't remember how long a play it was, but it was long. We used that play for the next few years with some success, but that first time was the best. That was a fun memory.
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TopCat, your description is how I recall that also. Green loved to blitz those LBs and it could be hit or miss for them. I recall we won the 1977 game at our place in a similar fashion, they blitzed both LBs in the off tackle gaps and we ran a fullback (Blaine) quick hit right up the gut. He was a step faster than Bill, nobody touched him from about 50 yards out. Green was my favorite opponent - personally went 9-0 lifetime against them from 9 year old pee-wees on through my senior year.

One thing that can't be forgotten about Koach was some of the assistants he had - Mac and Doc were two of the best D coordinators around. Mac gave birth to that 5-3 defense and Doc perfected it.

The thing that got Koach started was succeeding Swede Olsson, who coached about 25 years, retiring in 1970 with a winning percentage in the .650 range back in the Suburban League days. The key was all the guys that coached in the Manchester pee-wees played for Swede and taught all those kids the basics - blocking and tackling. Koach was smart enough to build on it and keep it going.

Is this enough football talk?

BTW, I had my first taste of Park Street Pizza about a month ago, very good, now #2 on my list. Guiseppe's is #1, no way that will ever be replaced.
 
7Diamond said:
TopCat, your description is how I recall that also. Green loved to blitz those LBs and it could be hit or miss for them. I recall we won the 1977 game at our place in a similar fashion, they blitzed both LBs in the off tackle gaps and we ran a fullback (Blaine) quick hit right up the gut. He was a step faster than Bill, nobody touched him from about 50 yards out. Green was my favorite opponent - personally went 9-0 lifetime against them from 9 year old pee-wees on through my senior year.

One thing that can't be forgotten about Koach was some of the assistants he had - Mac and Doc were two of the best D coordinators around. Mac gave birth to that 5-3 defense and Doc perfected it.

The thing that got Koach started was succeeding Swede Olsson, who coached about 25 years, retiring in 1970 with a winning percentage in the .650 range back in the Suburban League days. The key was all the guys that coached in the Manchester pee-wees played for Swede and taught all those kids the basics - blocking and tackling. Koach was smart enough to build on it and keep it going.

Is this enough football talk?

BTW, I had my first taste of Park Street Pizza about a month ago, very good, now #2 on my list. Guiseppe's is #1, no way that will ever be replaced.
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That gut play to Blaine was the compliment to the old Quick Pitch play we ran with the TB. I also remember him breaking a long TD run on that same play against West Holmes in either 77 or 78. The gut play depended on the LB or DT (It depended on the opponent's set) biting on the pitch fake. When I was on the JV team and running the opponent's D in practice, I used to get burned on it and the Quick Pitch all the time. It was hard to defend if you were a DT or LB because you were unblocked and it forced you to make a snap decision before you knew where the ball was going. Guess wrong and your were watching whichever back got the ball shrink as he ran off into the distance toward the end zone.

I bet the Paction minions never thought they'd get an inside look into the goings-on of ancient Panther history when they logged on. Speaking of ancient history and the East 80 Green Pass, we also used it to set up the winning FG against Orrville in 1979. We were down 8-6 at home with time running down. It put us inside their 20, and then after three running plays to put the ball into the middle of the field, Tom Markham came on to kick the game winner. That was probably the highlight of an injury-plagued year. At one point, over the course of four games, our entire starting backfield was on the sidelines with various injuries. We started the season 3-1 and finished 5-5.

Your pizza assessment is spot on, Guiseppe's will always be the gold standard all others are judged by.

As for opponents, I always had a tough time against Green, though we went 3-1 against them while I was in school. My favorite opponent during the four years I played was either Triway or Tusky Valley. For some reason, despite my mediocre football abilities, I always had good games against them. Who was everybody's else's favorite opponent to play against?
 
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TopCat said:
I bet the Paction minions never thought they'd get an inside look into the goings-on of ancient Panther history when they logged on.
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And THIS ⬆️ is exactly why this thread is an anchor store in the Yappi mall. Football feedback & predicitions -> check. Random pop-culture references -> check. Food & eatery reviews -> check. Pro wrestling tie-ins -> check. Breaking down of plays, schemes & opponents -> check. Breaking down of plays, schemes & opponents from the Carter Administration -> CHECK!

Almost feel bad for the other folks on this site. They probably feel the same as I did when the Mrs took me to a vegetarian cookout . . . I was welcome, but I knew I didn't belong.
 
TopCat said:
Who was everybody's else's favorite opponent to play against?
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First off, I wasn't very good.
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(story of my high school career, LoL)

Secondly, we didn't have many wins my senior year (3-7). Third, we became independent that year and didn't have Orrville or West Holmes on the schedule. I'm still kinda bitter about that (and a few other things from that year). Anyway, I don't know if I really have a favorite team to play against. But I loved playing at Clear Fork. The field was down in the valley with the fog beginning to set in (not as bad as Fairless, though). Plus I got my first varsity tackle my junior year there on kickoff coverage - tackling the returner inside the 10 - and had a few TFL there the year prior.

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JV all-star!

After every football game my senior year, we seniors always stayed the night at one of our houses. Stayed up eating pizza and playing video games, then waking up early, heading in for film, eating frozen fruit cups, and watching the JV game from the sideline (home or away, went to all of them). I loved my teammates, and honestly those are by FAR my best memories from that fall season.

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Little did we know that our boys basketball team would make a run to the state finals just a few months later.

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I bet the #PACtion minions never thought they'd get an inside look into the goings-on of ancient Panther history when they logged on.
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This ancient Panther history is legendary and brings back memories of a Route 93 dotted with Sparkle Market, Cope Pharmacy and Captain Nemo's. This history is as ancient as the "Talk of Akron" theme song that plays non-stop on WNIR 100 FM, which I'm sure is a favorite radio station of Koach.

Who was everybody's else's favorite opponent to play against?
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Dalton. I never said my views or opinions were the majority at The Slaw but Dalton and Manchester were games to get ready for because they were neighboring (or nearby in the case of Manchester) opponents that you got "up" for no matter what sport. Sadly Northwest wasn't on the schedule at the time of my day due to some butt hurt adults pizzed about stadium vandalism at both Smilek and Kurtz Stadium in the late 1980's. Around 1987-88 if I recall.

Dalton? If you showed up with a basketball at the DHS outdoor courts, there were kids to play a game. Brewster? Hit or miss.

At least I (not speaking for anyone other than moi) just felt more familiar and more in common with Dalton. They were intelligent and wanted to win. They got our jokes. We both loved The Pizza Parlor #3 in Dalton and the Dari-Ette.

Fairless, no offense to them, seemed to be pushed harder by the adults as a rival back in my day and when adults "push" something on a kid many times it has a reverse outcome of what the adults want. It did with me. They could have personally handed me a blue cup and a banquet every week at the Brewster Moose.....Dalton was more relevant in my mind as a rival.

Again...at the time which is key....I remember telling friends that being rivals with Fairless was like being rivals with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers....we stunk and so did they. It was kind of a joke and it was heavily pushed by adults at the time and the administration in the early 90's.

And, again, I have nothing but well wishes for Fairless....my mother through some Fairless connected friends has helped with charity work there and my dad worked at the Brewster railroad before getting transferred north to Cleveland through the result of railroad mergers.

I think the same Tuslaw people who always push Fairless as the be-all, end-all rivalry for Tuslaw are the same people who want the Mustangs to join the IVC and sell the kids short about competing in #PACtion. You can have multiple rivals; many schools do.

Get Dalton back on the Mustang schedule and grow some GD stones like the gravel dug up at the gravel pit off Marshallville Street.

You can have multiple rivals!

And that's my spicy take on all of that.
 
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First I have to jump leagues again...now the Senate League...loved beating East Canton...and the way this thread is going we will be back to suspension helmets with the little U on the front of it...lol...the pump up the volume, pump up the volume air helmets (there is a song in there somewhere..lol) were just starting to show up...lol
 
Rich Kotite said:
This ancient Panther history is legendary and brings back memories of a Route 93 dotted with Sparkle Market, Cope Pharmacy and Captain Nemo's. This history is as ancient as the "Talk of Akron" theme song that plays non-stop on WNIR 100 FM, which I'm sure is a favorite radio station of Koach.



Dalton. I never said my views or opinions were the majority at The Slaw but Dalton and Manchester were games to get ready for because they were neighboring (or nearby in the case of Manchester) opponents that you got "up" for no matter what sport. Sadly Northwest wasn't on the schedule at the time of my day due to some butt hurt adults pizzed about stadium vandalism at both Smilek and Kurtz Stadium in the late 1980's. Around 1987-88 if I recall.

Dalton? If you showed up with a basketball at the DHS outdoor courts, there were kids to play a game. Brewster? Hit or miss.

We just felt more familiar and more in common with Dalton. They were intelligent and wanted to win. They got our jokes. We both loved The Pizza Parlor #3 in Dalton and the Dari-Ette.

Fairless, no offense to them, seemed to be pushed harder by the adults as a rival back in my day and when adults "push" something on a kid many times it has a reverse outcome of what the adults want. It did with me. They could have personally handed me a blue cup and a banquet every week at the Brewster Moose.....Dalton was more relevant in my mind as a rival.

Again...at the time which is key....I remember telling friends that being rivals with Fairless was like being rivals with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers....we stunk and so did they. It was kind of a joke and it was heavily pushed by adults at the time. Fairless saying Tuslaw was a farm school was a joke, too, as much of Tuslaw was more suburban than people realize and it was more suburban and less Appalachian than Fairless back then and today.

And, again, I have nothing but well wishes for Fairless....my mother through some Fairless connected friends has helped with charity work there and my dad worked at the Brewster railroad before getting transferred north to Cleveland through the result of railroad mergers.

I think the same Tuslaw people who always push Fairless as the be-all, end-all rivalry for Tuslaw are the same people who want the Mustangs to join the IVC and sell the kids short about competing in #PACtion.

Get Dalton back on the Mustang schedule and grow some GD stones like the gravel dug up at the gravel pit off Marshallville Street.

And that's my spicy take on all of that.
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Appreciate the history lesson there. Was unaware that Tuslaw-Fairless was a forced rivalry to an extent. From a football perspective, Tuslaw did not lose to Fairless the entire time that I was in school K-12. I did not personally play football, but that game at times felt like it was viewed as "we can't let this be the year we lose to them". Tuslaw was often heavily favored during that time and Fairless would typically only have a handful of wins and it would be their Super Bowl. This would often lead to Tuslaw playing tight and Fairless playing aggressive and pulling out all of the stops. Mixed in with the typical week 10 weather and it made for a number of games that were closer than they probably should have been. At least from my perspective it almost felt like more of a relief to win that game at times.

I think that 16 year win streak by Tuslaw probably intensified the rivalry a little bit as Fairless was desperate to get a win and Tuslaw to an extent began to look down at Fairless during that time. Now that the pendulum has swung the other direction, I do think most Tuslaw people would say Fairless is the team they are looking forward to beating the most whenever the Mustangs can get things turned around.

Dalton was a fun rival because you knew it would be a physical game with a large crowd and nobody could really take control in the series for a long time. I don't think I have talked to one person who has agreed with the decision to take them off the schedule. Manchester was always fun because at the time they were the premier program in the league and most times was the true measuring stick game for the season.
 
krs1 said:
Northwest Kyler Miraglia heading to Hoover for his senior seasonView attachment 41487
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One week Dalton goes D7....the next my hometown team loses one of it's best players/kids. Yeeeeesh this is disappointing. He's such a great kid, almost every weekend he helped out by reffing at our youth flag football games...all the youth kids know Kyler and look up to him....he's going to be missed a lot more than just on Friday nights!

As far as the move itself - it's interesting and I don't know the logistics of it, to my knowledge they have not moved....not sure what the transfer rules are going to look like for him....Also - he's a really good running back, and maybe he's trying to get more exposure playing for a bigger school and playing in the Federal League...however, I'm just not sure that exposure is going to make a difference for the next level. He's really small - probably 5'7" 165-170 lbs. He's great in limited space and playing between the tackles but he lacks the burst to break the big one. I've never seen him score on a TD run longer than probably 30 yards. If he's getting run down from behind in PAC7 games...he's definitely getting run down against Fed opponents.

I don't mean for this to sound like sour grapes, or that I'm dogging on him....again, he's such a great kid and one heck of a football player and we will miss him dearly at Northwest. You're certainly no slouch with 1600 yards rushing and 22 TDs last season!!! Wish him nothing but the best!
 
Enough with Manchester history, let's look at what's being built now.

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New high school being built behind the current high school. Tallest walls are the gym. Will be a two story building, completed for August, 2024 occupancy. Softball field to the left in the photo.

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New stadium under construction. Nimisila Road to the right, Renninger Road to the left. Current elementary school in upper left to be torn down, current high school in upper right to be renovated as elementary school. Stadium will open for soccer in August, 2023 and football in 2024. Home bleachers will on the north side, visitors on the south next to Nimisila Road. The hope was to build a baseball field where the old elementary stands, inflation has put that on hold and may end up cancelling it.

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Here's an update from the school's website:

Athletic Facilities

At the future stadium site, the field has been taken down to subgrade, leveled and rolled. The old drainage system has been removed and replaced with new. In addition, an underground water retention system has been installed under what would be the home sidelines of the projected turf field. At this time, three-fourths of the storm structures and associated piping has been installed. These structures encircle the exterior of the track. Beaver Construction has begun excavating, forming, and pouring the interior concrete curb of the track. The electrician is installing electric conduit throughout the stadium site. The light pole bases will be installed the week of May 1st. The concrete work will continue in preparation for the stone sub-base for the installation of the turf. Please be reminded that bleachers are a long lead time item and we knew well in advance that these will not be here until much later after the field and track are installed.
 
7Diamond said:
Enough with Manchester history, let's look at what's being built now.

View attachment 41585
New high school being built behind the current high school. Tallest walls are the gym. Will be a two story building, completed for August, 2024 occupancy. Softball field to the left in the photo.

View attachment 41586

View attachment 41587
New stadium under construction. Nimisila Road to the right, Renninger Road to the left. Current elementary school in upper left to be torn down, current high school in upper right to be renovated as elementary school. Stadium will open for soccer in August, 2023 and football in 2024. Home bleachers will on the north side, visitors on the south next to Nimisila Road. The hope was to build a baseball field where the old elementary stands, inflation has put that on hold and may end up cancelling it.

View attachment 41588

Here's an update from the school's website:

Athletic Facilities

At the future stadium site, the field has been taken down to subgrade, leveled and rolled. The old drainage system has been removed and replaced with new. In addition, an underground water retention system has been installed under what would be the home sidelines of the projected turf field. At this time, three-fourths of the storm structures and associated piping has been installed. These structures encircle the exterior of the track. Beaver Construction has begun excavating, forming, and pouring the interior concrete curb of the track. The electrician is installing electric conduit throughout the stadium site. The light pole bases will be installed the week of May 1st. The concrete work will continue in preparation for the stone sub-base for the installation of the turf. Please be reminded that bleachers are a long lead time item and we knew well in advance that these will not be here until much later after the field and track are installed.
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I would put some serious money there's no chance that school is done by August 2024
 
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