#PACtion™ 2024

It's a sad day in Carrollton as one of Warrior Nation's heroes ran out of juice on April 10th (yesterday) and died at age 76.

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OJ's white bronco was always popular at the village's annual Christmas Parade.
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Rant coming.....so be prepared. 😂

I'm going all over the map on this like a Carrollton road game.

To begin....

Chocolate drizzle on popcorn is not my thing. Neither is hot honey on pizza....too gimmicky.

Youse want tuff popcorn get the Chicago mix of carmel, cheese and regular all in one bag or tin from Taste of Chicago (online orders available along with all the other Chicago classics.)

Someone with a better ability to get a small business loan than me and more time should do a Taste of 330 food business with online ordering. The sky is the limit with that.

Akron sauerkraut balls, Youngstown Brier Hill pizza, hot peppers & oil, Barberton chicken.....and much I'm not mentioning. Kraus's Pizza (Taste of Chicago sends a frozen deep dish pie so why can't we?).

Menches used to sell hamburg patties at Giant Eagle and I loved em.

Gold n Krisp chips. Big corporate Smuckers can get in on it. (Could Smuckers just buy the Cleveland baseball team....how are the books? It's gotta be better than the clown 🤡Dolans?)

Or Smuckers could be the owners of an expansion Cleveland MLS team because pro soccer is legit and Cleveland needs a team to battle their natural rivals the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnata. And also looking at YINZ with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

So much more in the food and sports world.

There's a Taste of Cincinnati which is great and a bit of marketing vision can connect the 330 classics to the people.

Or do a Taste of Ohio. Looking at you Tony Packos and many others. Dayton has a bunch of cool food like Esther Price chocolates. Steubenville pizza... pierogi...and much more. Buckeyes live everywhere.

The problem as I see it is we drop our pride when it isn't football and we allow Ohio to be run by clowns because we don't pay attention.

Too many Ohioans lack vision and pride in living here. We have our small world pride with PACtion™ but little else.

We apologize for being from Ohio (and we should not) and allow for the mediocrity from our own state instead of being proud to be from here.

An educated Buckeye population would run out the clowns running our state into the ground. I read today we're ranked #37 in economics. But Les Wexner makes bank. How is this cool? Much more I can say here....

North Carolina is a beautiful and great state but they shouldn't get all the economic growth.

It's like we just accept the losing with things not called football. Why?

Told ya it was a rant.
I will give you a break on this. Your post is written with so much conviction about this that it I am inclined to agree to disagree and we both keep our tuffness intact. 😂
 
Or Smuckers could be the owners of an expansion Cleveland MLS team because pro soccer is legit and Cleveland needs a team to battle their natural rivals the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnata. And also looking at YINZ with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
.
Soccer? You are into soccer? REALLY? I did not see that coming.

You love talking about tuffness. What is so tuff about soccer? That is the sport mommy puts lil Timmy in because she is afraid he will get hurt plays Foosball.

My dad is from Italy and grew up playing it and totally loves soccer. I find it to be painful to watch. Playing it is ok enough. Each their own, this is America after all.
 
Soccer? You are into soccer? REALLY? I did not see that coming.

You love talking about tuffness. What is so tuff about soccer? That is the sport mommy puts lil Timmy in because she is afraid he will get hurt plays Foosball.

My dad is from Italy and grew up playing it and totally loves soccer. I find it to be painful to watch. Playing it is ok enough. Each their own, this is America after all.
Any city not pursuing MLS is behind the times. I don't watch it but see the value in it.
 
Soccer? You are into soccer? REALLY? I did not see that coming.

You love talking about tuffness. What is so tuff about soccer? That is the sport mommy puts lil Timmy in because she is afraid he will get hurt plays Foosball.

My dad is from Italy and grew up playing it and totally loves soccer. I find it to be painful to watch. Playing it is ok enough. Each their own, this is America after all.
I would rather watch paint dry...or women's basketball....lol
 
PAC Game of the Year - 2005 | Tusky Valley (5-1, 3-0 PAC) at Manchester (6-0, 2-0 PAC) | Week 7 | October 7, 2005
This is the seventh in an ongoing series, highlighting the PAC Game of the Year in each season, from 1999 through 2023, which will lead up to the start of the 2024 high school football season. For a look back at prior summaries, click here for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
__________________________________________

The 2005 Principals Athletic Conference season dawned with change in the air. Coventry exited the conference for the second time at the end of the 2004 school year, and East Canton - a founding member of the PAC - also bolted. Both left for the Portage Trail Conference. The PAC welcomed newcomers Timken and Triway to round out the seven-team league.

As the season began, and if you've been reading along, you know that some things are constant. Well ... one thing, that is. The Manchester Panthers always seem to find a way to be celebrating around 10:00 PM on a Friday nights in the fall. Fifty times since the start of the 1996 campaign, the Panthers tightened their chin straps to take on all comers in the PAC. Fifty times they came out on top. In fact, only twice since the founding of the conference had Jim France's boys fallen short in a conference game. Manchester was 94-2 in PAC play dating back to 1989.

Triway had managed to defeat Manchester in a playoff game at the end of the 2003 season. So perhaps there might be an opportunity for some new competition. But any thought of the Titans ascendance was squelched in a convincing 27-6 Manchester road win in Week 6 of the 2005 season - the 52nd straight conference victory for the New Franklin faithful.

Death. Taxes. And Manchester with the W on Friday nights in the PAC.

The first week of October had been unseasonably warm. It was a true Indian Summer feel as the thermometer topped out in the upper 70's and low 80's all week. But a cold front came through overnight and the high temperature of 68° was recorded at midnight on Friday morning. Week 7 dawned with the temperatures falling, and it was a crisp fall night with a temperature of 55° for kickoff at James R. France Stadium.

The Panthers were 6-0. Undefeated again and the defense as stingy as ever with shutouts to open the season over Mogadore (45-0) and Independence (21-0). In the next four games, the Panthers yielded single scores in dominating Black River, Kenmore, Fairless and Triway by a combined 149-26.

Tusky Valley was the featured guest on this Friday evening, and they were riding a five-game winning streak - their longest such streak in four seasons, when the ended the 2001 regular season 9-1. That was a season where they fell one point short of perfection - the missed Saturday afternoon extra point from the backup kicker against these same Panthers. The season opened with a 21-0 setback against Canton South, but the Trojans bounced back with wins over Indian Valley, Garaway and three straight PAC wins over CVCA, Tuslaw and Timken.

Jimmy Carter had been President the last time Tusky Valley defeated Manchester. Back then, the season started after Labor Day and the Trojans stopped the Panthers 11-8 in a Week 8 game on October 29, 1977. There had been 17 meetings since the Carter administration. All Manchester victories. And despite the unblemished PAC record of the visitors, there was a sense of invincibility in New Franklin. And why not?

However, football players don't care what happened in the past. Successful football teams often know when they've got somethings special. It helps when you have seniors up front who can pave the way. And in this case, Trojans tackle Jake Miller (6-6, 325) and his fellow linemen - all 212 to 260 themselves - were up for a fight.

Tusky Valley struck first on a 1-yard dive from Kyle Albaugh after a Manchester fumble. The PAT was no good, and when Manchester's Phil Parton rumbled 72 yards on the next play from scrimmage, the early lead was short-lived. In the second quarter, the home team capped a 64-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Travis Gregory to Andre Smith, and the Panthers were in control, as they took a 14-6 lead into the locker room at the half. It was a night that seemed like so many others than preceded it.

Three thousand, six hundred twenty-six days. That is how long it had been since Coventry edged Manchester 15-12 in Week 10 in 1995.

The second half began, and it wasn't long and the Panthers - and the streak - were in trouble. Manchester fumbled on the second play of the third quarter and Tusky Valley's Matt Spillman recovered. Four plays later, Trojans quarterback Mike Kane hit Jake Patton on a 16-yard scoring strike, and after a successful two-point conversion, it was tied.

On the next play from scrimmage, Brandon Beitzel intercepted Gregory and darted to the endzone for a 35-yard Pick-6, and the Trojans took the lead, 20-14. (Again, the PAT failed.)

The Panthers went three-and-out on the next drive, and the big O-Line took over. Five plays. Fifty-two yards. Spillman scored from the two and suddenly, that halftime lead had evaporated into a 26-14 third quarter deficit. For all intents and purposes, it was over. The game. The streak. All of it.

Manchester botched a snap on a punt in the fourth quarter, giving the Trojans another short field. They started from the 20 and Spillman recorded another two-yard run to make history. Tusky Valley defeated Manchester - at Manchester - 33-14.

It was the 100th win for Tusky Valley head coach Dale Martini, who was in his 13th year manning the Trojans' sideline. Biggest win in school history? "Biggest one for me," he said to reporter Fred Cay.

On the other side, Coach France said, "We just played terrible." He said some other things too. But after his Panthers gave the ball away five times, and that about sums it up. The Trojans pounded it 53 times for 205 yards on the ground, and they held Manchester to just 120 yards rushing on 29 carries - 72 of which came on the Partin first quarter run.

If you win the turnover battle and you win in the trenches, you generally win the game.

All streaks come to an end, and after ten years, it was Tusky Valley who earned the right to celebrate on the bus ride home to Zoarville. The Trojans didn't need a mythological horse on this night. They had a line full or horses that plowed a path to victory instead. They capitalized on Panthers miscues. And they got that elusive win that had eluded many before them.

The Postscript

The Trojans won out to finish 9-1 (6-0) and became only the second team (Indian Valley, 1993) other than Manchester to win a PAC championship. That earned them a home playoff game as the 2-seed in Division 4 Region 13, but they fell to Canton Central Catholic in the Regional Quarterfinal 28-14

Manchester also won out and finished the regular season 9-1 (5-1), and then hosted a home game as the 4-seed in Division 4 Region 13. They shutout Garrettsville 41-0 in the Regional Quarterfinal, but the season came to an end at Lake Blue Streaks Stadium in Week 12, when the Panthers were defeated 28-9 by top-seeded Cardinal Mooney (who had eliminated CVCA the week before). Mooney ultimately finished as Division 4 state runner-up, losing in the Championship Game to undefeated Coldwater.

Three PAC teams qualified for the playoffs, but 2005 will always be remembered as the year that Tusky Valley ascended to the top of the PAC.

Here are the ABJ stories from the day and week of the game:

ABJ_13OCT05_1.png

ABJ_13OCT05_2.png


Manchester-Tusky Valley_2005_Story.png

Box Score_1.png

Box Score_2.png
 
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PAC Game of the Year - 2005 | Tusky Valley (5-1, 3-0 PAC) at Manchester (6-0, 2-0 PAC) | Week 7 | October 7, 2005
This is the seventh in an ongoing series, highlighting the PAC Game of the Year in each season, from 1999 through 2023, which will lead up to the start of the 2024 high school football season. For a look back at prior summaries, click here for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
__________________________________________

The 2005 Principals Athletic Conference season dawned with change in the air. Coventry exited the conference for the second time at the end of the 2004 school year, and East Canton - a founding member of the PAC - also bolted. Both left for the Portage Trail Conference. The PAC welcomed newcomers Timken and Triway to round out the seven-team league.

As the season began, and if you've been reading along, you know that some things are constant. Well ... one thing, that is. The Manchester Panthers always seem to find a way to be celebrating around 10:00 PM on a Friday nights in the fall. Fifty times since the start of the 1996 campaign, the Panthers tightened their chin straps to take on all comers in the PAC. Fifty times they came out on top. In fact, only twice since the founding of the conference had Jim France's boys fallen short in a conference game. Manchester was 94-2 in PAC play dating back to 1989.

Triway had managed to defeat Manchester in a playoff game at the end of the 2003 season. So perhaps there might be an opportunity for some new competition. But any thought of the Titans ascendance was squelched in a convincing 27-6 Manchester road win in Week 6 of the 2005 season - the 52nd straight conference victory for the New Franklin faithful.

Death. Taxes. And Manchester with the W on Friday nights in the PAC.

The first week of October had been unseasonably warm. It was a true Indian Summer feel as the thermometer topped out in the upper 70's and low 80's all week. But a cold front came through overnight and the high temperature of 68° was recorded at midnight on Friday morning. Week 7 dawned with the temperatures falling, and it was a crisp fall night with a temperature of 55° for kickoff at James R. France Stadium.

The Panthers were 6-0. Undefeated again and the defense as stingy as ever with shutouts to open the season over Mogadore (45-0) and Independence (21-0). In the next four games, the Panthers yielded single scores in dominating Black River, Kenmore, Fairless and Triway by a combined 149-26.

Tusky Valley was the featured guest on this Friday evening, and they were riding a five-game winning streak - their longest such streak in four seasons, when the ended the 2001 regular season 9-1. That was a season where they fell one point short of perfection - the missed Saturday afternoon extra point from the backup kicker against these same Panthers. The season opened with a 21-0 setback against Canton South, but the Trojans bounced back with wins over Indian Valley, Garaway and three straight PAC wins over CVCA, Tuslaw and Timken.

Jimmy Carter had been President the last time Tusky Valley defeated Manchester. Back then, the season started after Labor Day and the Trojans stopped the Panthers 11-8 in a Week 8 game on October 29, 1977. There had been 17 meetings since the Carter administration. All Manchester victories. And despite the unblemished PAC record of the visitors, there was a sense of invincibility in New Franklin. And why not?

However, football players don't care what happened in the past. Successful football teams often know when they've got somethings special. It helps when you have seniors up front who can pave the way. And in this case, Trojans tackle Jake Miller (6-6, 325) and his fellow linemen - all 212 to 260 themselves - were up for a fight.

Tusky Valley struck first on a 1-yard dive from Kyle Albaugh after a Manchester fumble. The PAT was no good, and when Manchester's Phil Parton rumbled 72 yards on the next play from scrimmage, the early lead was short-lived. In the second quarter, the home team capped a 64-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Travis Gregory to Andre Smith, and the Panthers were in control, as they took a 14-6 lead into the locker room at the half. It was a night that seemed like so many others than preceded it.

Three thousand, six hundred twenty-six days. That is how long it had been since Coventry edged Manchester 15-12 in Week 10 in 1995.

The second half began, and it wasn't long and the Panthers - and the streak - were in trouble. Manchester fumbled on the second play of the third quarter and Tusky Valley's Matt Spillman recovered. Four plays later, Trojans quarterback Mike Kane hit Jake Patton on a 16-yard scoring strike, and after a successful two-point conversion, it was tied.

On the next play from scrimmage, Brandon Beitzel intercepted Gregory and darted to the endzone for a 35-yard Pick-6, and the Trojans took the lead, 20-14. (Again, the PAT failed.)

The Panthers went three-and-out on the next drive, and the big O-Line took over. Five plays. Fifty-two yards. Spillman scored from the two and suddenly, that halftime lead had evaporated into a 26-14 third quarter deficit. For all intents and purposes, it was over. The game. The streak. All of it.

Manchester botched a snap on a punt in the fourth quarter, giving the Trojans another short field. They started from the 20 and Spillman recorded another two-yard run to make history. Tusky Valley defeated Manchester - at Manchester - 33-14.

It was the 100th win for Tusky Valley head coach Dale Martini, who was in his 13th year manning the Trojans' sideline. Biggest win in school history? "Biggest one for me," he said to reporter Fred Cay.

On the other side, Coach France said, "We just played terrible." He said some other things too. But after his Panthers gave the ball away five times, and that about sums it up. The Trojans pounded it 53 times for 205 yards on the ground, and they held Manchester to just 120 yards rushing on 29 carries - 72 of which came on the Partin first quarter run.

If you win the turnover battle and you win in the trenches, you generally win the game.

All streaks come to an end, and after ten years, it was Tusky Valley who earned the right to celebrate on the bus ride home to Zoarville. The Trojans didn't need a mythological horse on this night. They had a line full or horses that plowed a path to victory instead. They capitalized on Panthers miscues. And they got that elusive win that had eluded many before them.

The Postscript

The Trojans won out to finish 9-1 (6-0) and became only the second team (Indian Valley, 1993) other than Manchester to win a PAC championship. That earned them a home playoff game as the 2-seed in Division 4 Region 13, but they fell to Canton Central Catholic in the Regional Quarterfinal 28-14

Manchester also won out and finished the regular season 9-1 (5-1), and then hosted a home game as the 4-seed in Division 4 Region 13. They shutout Garrettsville 41-0 in the Regional Quarterfinal, but the season came to an end at Lake Blue Streaks Stadium in Week 12, when the Panthers were defeated 28-9 by top-seeded Cardinal Mooney (who had eliminated CVCA the week before). Mooney ultimately finished as Division 4 state runner-up, losing in the Championship Game to undefeated Coldwater.

Three PAC teams qualified for the playoffs, but 2005 will always be remembered as the year that Tusky Valley ascended to the top of the PAC.

Here are the ABJ stories from the day and week of the game:

View attachment 57249
View attachment 57250

View attachment 57243
View attachment 57251
View attachment 57252
Another great read...get the bad news out of the way...Lake lost to GlenOak 21 to 0 that night...was the worst team at the time for Jeff Durbin...went 3 and 7.

The game of Manchester vs Mooney at Lake I was there...helping in the box with our stat guy. Mooney had a player by the name of Nate Burney...he put on a show that night...scored 3 TD's...the first being memorable...he went 98 yards to score their first TD...you can see it below..click on it, it is timed up


What I find amazing is our field was in great shape for grass...normally by season end with football and soccer it was beat up
 
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Soccer? You are into soccer? REALLY? I did not see that coming.

You love talking about tuffness. What is so tuff about soccer? That is the sport mommy puts lil Timmy in because she is afraid he will get hurt plays Foosball.

My dad is from Italy and grew up playing it and totally loves soccer. I find it to be painful to watch. Playing it is ok enough. Each their own, this is America after all.
Why won't Pittsburgh or Cleveland go after an MLS expansion team? I say the mentality of the region is obsolete when it comes to sports. I don't watch soccer but I'd take free tickets to a Riverhounds game. I would not for the Buccos.
 
PAC Game of the Year - 2005 | Tusky Valley (5-1, 3-0 PAC) at Manchester (6-0, 2-0 PAC) | Week 7 | October 7, 2005
This is the seventh in an ongoing series, highlighting the PAC Game of the Year in each season, from 1999 through 2023, which will lead up to the start of the 2024 high school football season. For a look back at prior summaries, click here for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
__________________________________________

The 2005 Principals Athletic Conference season dawned with change in the air. Coventry exited the conference for the second time at the end of the 2004 school year, and East Canton - a founding member of the PAC - also bolted. Both left for the Portage Trail Conference. The PAC welcomed newcomers Timken and Triway to round out the seven-team league.

As the season began, and if you've been reading along, you know that some things are constant. Well ... one thing, that is. The Manchester Panthers always seem to find a way to be celebrating around 10:00 PM on a Friday nights in the fall. Fifty times since the start of the 1996 campaign, the Panthers tightened their chin straps to take on all comers in the PAC. Fifty times they came out on top. In fact, only twice since the founding of the conference had Jim France's boys fallen short in a conference game. Manchester was 94-2 in PAC play dating back to 1989.

Triway had managed to defeat Manchester in a playoff game at the end of the 2003 season. So perhaps there might be an opportunity for some new competition. But any thought of the Titans ascendance was squelched in a convincing 27-6 Manchester road win in Week 6 of the 2005 season - the 52nd straight conference victory for the New Franklin faithful.

Death. Taxes. And Manchester with the W on Friday nights in the PAC.

The first week of October had been unseasonably warm. It was a true Indian Summer feel as the thermometer topped out in the upper 70's and low 80's all week. But a cold front came through overnight and the high temperature of 68° was recorded at midnight on Friday morning. Week 7 dawned with the temperatures falling, and it was a crisp fall night with a temperature of 55° for kickoff at James R. France Stadium.

The Panthers were 6-0. Undefeated again and the defense as stingy as ever with shutouts to open the season over Mogadore (45-0) and Independence (21-0). In the next four games, the Panthers yielded single scores in dominating Black River, Kenmore, Fairless and Triway by a combined 149-26.

Tusky Valley was the featured guest on this Friday evening, and they were riding a five-game winning streak - their longest such streak in four seasons, when the ended the 2001 regular season 9-1. That was a season where they fell one point short of perfection - the missed Saturday afternoon extra point from the backup kicker against these same Panthers. The season opened with a 21-0 setback against Canton South, but the Trojans bounced back with wins over Indian Valley, Garaway and three straight PAC wins over CVCA, Tuslaw and Timken.

Jimmy Carter had been President the last time Tusky Valley defeated Manchester. Back then, the season started after Labor Day and the Trojans stopped the Panthers 11-8 in a Week 8 game on October 29, 1977. There had been 17 meetings since the Carter administration. All Manchester victories. And despite the unblemished PAC record of the visitors, there was a sense of invincibility in New Franklin. And why not?

However, football players don't care what happened in the past. Successful football teams often know when they've got somethings special. It helps when you have seniors up front who can pave the way. And in this case, Trojans tackle Jake Miller (6-6, 325) and his fellow linemen - all 212 to 260 themselves - were up for a fight.

Tusky Valley struck first on a 1-yard dive from Kyle Albaugh after a Manchester fumble. The PAT was no good, and when Manchester's Phil Parton rumbled 72 yards on the next play from scrimmage, the early lead was short-lived. In the second quarter, the home team capped a 64-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Travis Gregory to Andre Smith, and the Panthers were in control, as they took a 14-6 lead into the locker room at the half. It was a night that seemed like so many others than preceded it.

Three thousand, six hundred twenty-six days. That is how long it had been since Coventry edged Manchester 15-12 in Week 10 in 1995.

The second half began, and it wasn't long and the Panthers - and the streak - were in trouble. Manchester fumbled on the second play of the third quarter and Tusky Valley's Matt Spillman recovered. Four plays later, Trojans quarterback Mike Kane hit Jake Patton on a 16-yard scoring strike, and after a successful two-point conversion, it was tied.

On the next play from scrimmage, Brandon Beitzel intercepted Gregory and darted to the endzone for a 35-yard Pick-6, and the Trojans took the lead, 20-14. (Again, the PAT failed.)

The Panthers went three-and-out on the next drive, and the big O-Line took over. Five plays. Fifty-two yards. Spillman scored from the two and suddenly, that halftime lead had evaporated into a 26-14 third quarter deficit. For all intents and purposes, it was over. The game. The streak. All of it.

Manchester botched a snap on a punt in the fourth quarter, giving the Trojans another short field. They started from the 20 and Spillman recorded another two-yard run to make history. Tusky Valley defeated Manchester - at Manchester - 33-14.

It was the 100th win for Tusky Valley head coach Dale Martini, who was in his 13th year manning the Trojans' sideline. Biggest win in school history? "Biggest one for me," he said to reporter Fred Cay.

On the other side, Coach France said, "We just played terrible." He said some other things too. But after his Panthers gave the ball away five times, and that about sums it up. The Trojans pounded it 53 times for 205 yards on the ground, and they held Manchester to just 120 yards rushing on 29 carries - 72 of which came on the Partin first quarter run.

If you win the turnover battle and you win in the trenches, you generally win the game.

All streaks come to an end, and after ten years, it was Tusky Valley who earned the right to celebrate on the bus ride home to Zoarville. The Trojans didn't need a mythological horse on this night. They had a line full or horses that plowed a path to victory instead. They capitalized on Panthers miscues. And they got that elusive win that had eluded many before them.

The Postscript

The Trojans won out to finish 9-1 (6-0) and became only the second team (Indian Valley, 1993) other than Manchester to win a PAC championship. That earned them a home playoff game as the 2-seed in Division 4 Region 13, but they fell to Canton Central Catholic in the Regional Quarterfinal 28-14

Manchester also won out and finished the regular season 9-1 (5-1), and then hosted a home game as the 4-seed in Division 4 Region 13. They shutout Garrettsville 41-0 in the Regional Quarterfinal, but the season came to an end at Lake Blue Streaks Stadium in Week 12, when the Panthers were defeated 28-9 by top-seeded Cardinal Mooney (who had eliminated CVCA the week before). Mooney ultimately finished as Division 4 state runner-up, losing in the Championship Game to undefeated Coldwater.

Three PAC teams qualified for the playoffs, but 2005 will always be remembered as the year that Tusky Valley ascended to the top of the PAC.

Here are the ABJ stories from the day and week of the game:

View attachment 57249
View attachment 57250

View attachment 57243
View attachment 57251
View attachment 57252
This is writing with conviction.

@cuyahogacuse with a strong Dick MacPherson effort in writing as always.

The TV Trojans were truly a group of Mineral City and New Cumberland tuffs back then. Bolivar has some tuffness; their Giant Eagle is like walking back in time to 1998.

Wilkshire Hills is kinda iffy, however, and Zoar has history as a weirdo Communist settlement so the he*l with Zoar, they're not tuff.

 
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When Tusky Valley is "on", they're really on and when they're not good, they're really not good.

Dale Martini was a hell of a coach.

Although it's a smidge outdated, here's a little history from the Route 212 crew:


---

When I looked up Dale Martini, I had to chuckle at his LinkedIn page. If you catch the reason why, you can be an editor:

Screenshot_20240411-182204-535.png
 
When Tusky Valley is "on", they're really on and when they're not good, they're really not good.

Dale Martini was a hell of a coach.

Although it's a smidge outdated, here's a little history from the Route 212 crew:


---

When I looked up Dale Martini, I had to chuckle at his LinkedIn page. If you catch the reason why, you can be an editor:

View attachment 57259









ed·u·ca·tor.......now that is funny...lol
 
This is writing with conviction.

The Trojans were truly a group of Mineral City and New Cumberland tuffs back then. Bolivar has some tuffness; their Giant Eagle is like walking back in time to 1998.

Wilkshire Hills is kinda iffy, however, and Zoar has history as a weirdo Communist settlement so the he*l with Zoar, they're not tuff.

Zoar Golf Course is a tuff course but fun...Wilkshire when not under water it is a fun course also..lol....when finished always go to the19th hole... Vaughn's...right next to the Giant Eagle!
 
Zoar Golf Course is a tuff course but fun...Wilkshire when not under water it is a fun course also..lol....when finished always go to the19th hole... Vaughn's...right next to the Giant Eagle!
I played Wilkshire and Zoar. I played Zoar when I was more experienced in "goff" and enjoyed that more. I thought Wilkshire was gonna close and become a wildlife center or something? I'm not up on that news.

Also because BSO caught the error on Dale Martini's LinkedIn page he will become editor of the Hartville Hub weekly paper.*

*Fictional weekly newspaper

---

I still believe weekly newspapers can do OK financially especially in communities where high school sports matter. The weekly papers need to be supported by social media.

The daily papers stink and deserve to go the way of Howard Johnson's restaurants. Too corporate, too political.

No one cares what Charita Goshay thinks. I mean...no one.
 
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I played Wilkshire and Zoar. I played Zoar when I was more experienced in "goff" and enjoyed that more. I thought Wilkshire was gonna close and become a wildlife center or something? I'm not up on that news.

Also because BSO caught the error on Dale Martini's LinkedIn page he will become editor of the Hartville Hub weekly paper.*

*Fictional weekly newspaper
Zoar is a fun course, like it better then Wilkshire. Wilkshire tried to go the route of being designated a wildlife area but the township trustees wouldn't let them.....so it was sold and the people who bought it want to keep it a golf course
 
Another great read...get the bad news out of the way...Lake lost to GlenOak 21 to 0 that night...was the worst team at the time for Jeff Durbin...went 3 and 7.

The game of Manchester vs Mooney at Lake I was there...helping in the box with our stat guy. Mooney had a player by the name of Nate Burney...he put on a show that night...scored 3 TD's...the first being memorable...he went 99 yards to score their first TD...you can see it below..click on it, it is timed up


What I find amazing is our field was in great shape for grass...normally by season end with football and soccer it was beat up
Your field was in good shape due to sod farms east of Hartville.
 
When Tusky Valley is "on", they're really on and when they're not good, they're really not good.

Dale Martini was a hell of a coach.
What is the saying? It's always hard to replace a legend? The linked Tusky Valley web site shows Martini to be the winningest coach in Trojans history (106-59-1). He had another 14 victories in three years at Claymont prior to arriving at Tusky Valley from 1989-1991.

He stepped down after his 16th season at Tusky Valley following the 2008 season and was replaced by Curtis Love. I found this gem from a 2009 Tuslaw-Tusky Valley preview from The Independent:
"Martini, after a lengthy tenure as the head coach, stepped down after last season, opening the door for former Trojan defensive coordinator Curtis Love to step into the role, and has the Trojans off to a 1-3 start to the season. Love has changed things up a bit both offensively and defensively. On offense, Tusky Valley has gone away from its traditional wing-T in favor of a more wide-open spread attack. Love said the Trojans are still trying to maintain some of the fundamentals of the wing-T, but are working to bring more of the passing game to the offense."

What's the saying? You don't fix what ain't broke? Love lasted six years and went 19-41, including 0-10 in his final year. He never won more than four games in a season, and was replaced in 2015 by George Zagales. The latter had some semblance of success going .500 in his first year, but finished 13-19 in 3+ seasons and coached his last game for the Trojans at Fairless in Week 2 of 2018, when a postgame tirade resulted in his immediate ouster. Zagales was eventually replaced in 2019 by Greg Dickerhoof, who stepped down a month ago after winning just ten games (10-41) in five years, leaving the Trojans again searching for a new head coach.

To @Rich Kotite's point, the Trojans have been "not good" now for more than a generation.
 
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When Tusky Valley is "on", they're really on and when they're not good, they're really not good.

Dale Martini was a hell of a coach.

Although it's a smidge outdated, here's a little history from the Route 212 crew:


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When I looked up Dale Martini, I had to chuckle at his LinkedIn page. If you catch the reason why, you can be an editor:

View attachment 57259
Larry Foltz was also a great coach for them...they were in the Senate League from 1967 to 1973....they were always right behind Lake in the standings...he took TV to the first ever playoffs in 1972...for a small league the Senate had two teams make the playoffs that year...TV lost to Marion Pleasant..which had an iconic year that year...Marion Pleasant won the class A football title and then they won the class A basketball title
 
What is the saying? It's always hard to replace a legend? The linked Tusky Valley web site shows Martini to be the winningest coach in Trojans history (106-59-1). He had another 14 victories in three years at Claymont prior to arriving at Tusky Valley from 1989-1991.

He stepped down after his 16th season at Tusky Valley following the 2008 season and was replaced by Curtis Love. I found this gem from a 2009 Tuslaw-Tusky Valley preview from The Independent:


What's the saying? You don't fix what ain't broke? Love lasted six years and went 19-41, including 0-10 in his final year. He never won more than four games in a season, and was replaced in 2015 by George Zagales. The latter had some semblance of success going .500 in his first year, but finished 13-19 in 3+ seasons and coached his last game for the Trojans at Fairless in Week 2 of 2018, when a postgame tirade resulted in his immediate ouster. Zagales was eventually replaced in 2019 by Greg Dickerhoof, who stepped down a month ago after winning just ten games (10-41) in five years, leaving the Trojans again searching for a new head coach.

To @Rich Kotite's point, the Trojans have been "not good" now for more than a generation.
When it comes to the area of knowledge concerning local high school football Rich Kotite is a wealth of info....loving sports and having a school library that had all the local papers he could read when in school, then going out and working local football broadcasts, and a father that sounded like another wealth of info...Rich has forgotten more info then some people ever acquire. The thing with Rich is he can talk numerous schools and their history.....where as I can only really talk history of one school....Rich is basically a sports party waiting to happen...lol
 
Why won't Pittsburgh or Cleveland go after an MLS expansion team? I say the mentality of the region is obsolete when it comes to sports. I don't watch soccer but I'd take free tickets to a Riverhounds game. I would not for the Buccos.
The USA is the greatest country on God's green earth, but make no mistake there are many ill's we face. A great many of those ill's we recognize but we cannot pinpoint when it started. But I can pinpoint when this country started to go soft and that was the 1994 World Cup that was played in the USA.

Tuffness was put on notice that day as we allowed the European Socialist sport to gain traction that it did have in our tuff land.
 
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