SVSM Irish 2024 and 2025

BIG ED said:
A very early sneak preview of the Perry Panthers. 9 Starters back on offense, 8 on defense. Not overly big in the trenches, but quick. Offensively, QB is back as a third year starter, 6-3, good speed and a decent arm. I’m hearing there may be a little change in that more passing than the past few years. Especially with 2 receivers over 6-4. Defensively again not huge in the trenches, but quick and strong. Linebackers look to be the strength. One is a junior & a two year starter, as he started as a freshman. Two of the DB’s are back. I’m not much on predictions, and always wait until the scrimmages are over. Last year Perry lost their fastest player (a 10.89- 100 meters guy) senior RB with a slight hip fracture in the first scrimmage. He never played again until week 8. It definitely effected their offense and defense because he was also the starting free safety. So I’ll check out a few camp days this summer and give you a few updates going into August.
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Welcome back, Ed! Good luck to Perry this year.... (except week 2 - LOL!!)
 
I hope Coach Grant has the chin straps buckled up tight right from the get go this year. It won't be as easy as people may think, and that is how you want it.

2024 Schedule by the numbers

Combined 2023 record of 2024 opponents : 62-38 (62%)​
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Half (50%) of 2024 opponents had at least 7 regular season wins last year. 43-7 (86%)​
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2 of those opponents (Mansfield Sr & VASJ) reached the regional semifinal (3 playoff games).​
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3 of those opponents (Walsh, Ursuline & Harvest Prep) reached the regional final (4 playoff games).​
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Our record against those 5 teams? 1-4.

That is the beauty of high school sports. They are so cyclical. Each season everything starts anew. Plenty of room for improvement, but we need to have our own house in order first.
 
Brooksie said:
I hope Coach Grant has the chin straps buckled up tight right from the get go this year. It won't be as easy as people may think, and that is how you want it.

2024 Schedule by the numbers

Combined 2023 record of 2024 opponents : 62-38 (62%)​
​
Half (50%) of 2024 opponents had at least 7 regular season wins last year. 43-7 (86%)​
​
2 of those opponents (Mansfield Sr & VASJ) reached the regional semifinal (3 playoff games).​
​
3 of those opponents (Walsh, Ursuline & Harvest Prep) reached the regional final (4 playoff games).​
​
Our record against those 5 teams? 1-4.

That is the beauty of high school sports. They are so cyclical. Each season everything starts anew. Plenty of room for improvement, but we need to have our own house in order first.
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Great post and well said. Coach Grant doesn’t want it any other way. All the way back to his football, basketball and track days he is accustomed to playing the best teams out there. To be the best you have to play and beat the best. Thats why Hoban will be back on the schedule in 25. I’m hearing nothing but good things coming out of Green Street right now as it relates to the football team/program.
 
Well said, FF1.

There will be a massive difference in attitude from the fan base in 2024. So many times when you passed through the gates at Green Street last year, you had a feeling of dread - like "What new method are we going find tonight to blow this one?"..... The biggest crime in that was the kids bore the brunt of the blame and not where it should have been placed.

Fortunately, the change in leadership has eradicated this problem. I hope I speak for the majority of the fan base when I say I feel a renewed sense of hope and promise for 2024. I am hoping for a fast start to reinforce that feeling.
 
I heard a rumor. The Irish Freshman open the 2024 season by visiting Massillon Washington.
 
brian said:
While it would be great if it happens, a StVM vs. Hoban game being on the 2025 schedule as of today would be news to the administrators at Hoban.
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I find that hard to believe. He’s talked about it in multiple meetings/social gatherings . Coach Grant was even quoted in the PD article that was posted (post 887) indicating his desire to get Hoban back on the schedule.
 
Why would you think it is up to the St. V coach, if they play? He can say all he wants. It’s Hoban’s call at this point. St. V dropped them.
 
Football330 said:
Why would you think it is up to the St. V coach, if they play? He can say all he wants. It’s Hoban’s call at this point. St. V dropped them.
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You’re right and I would hope Hoban would say they would like to get the game/rivalry back on the schedule….just as the Irish did the when Hoban (TK) dropped them in basketball during the LBJ years
 
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Football Fan 1 said:
I find that hard to believe. He’s talked about it in multiple meetings/social gatherings . Coach Grant was even quoted in the PD article that was posted (post 887) indicating his desire to get Hoban back on the schedule.
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It’s the truth at this point. The game is not scheduled. I truly hope it gets done, but Coach Grant saying in the PD he’d “love nothing more” than playing Hoban and the game actually being scheduled are two different things.
 
brian said:
It’s the truth at this point. The game is not scheduled. I truly hope it gets done, but Coach Grant saying in the PD he’d “love nothing more” than playing Hoban and the game actually being scheduled are two different things.
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I also heard that Hoban-SVSM isn’t a done deal for 2025. Not yet anyway.
 
We've been led to believe that St. V choose to stop the series because of the antics of Hoban's strength coach and NOT because of Hoban's recent dominance. If true, the game should already be back on the schedule. Guess we'll see.
 
John Lee Pettimore said:
We've been led to believe that St. V choose to stop the series because of the antics of Hoban's strength coach and NOT because of Hoban's recent dominance. If true, the game should already be back on the schedule. Guess we'll see.
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And no one believes that. I believe Grant will do everything in his power to get that game started back ASAP. The Akron Holy War is an amazing game.
 
John Lee Pettimore said:
No one believes that the game was stopped due to the antics of the strength coach? What do they believe the reason was?
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That St. V couldn’t compete with Hoban on the field or in the recruiting battles and the St. V administration felt Hoban was running a “different” type of program. Or at least that’s what I’ve read. In your opinion do you feel St. V would have renewed the series if they had the Grant, Campbell, Booker, Jr. teams of the early 2010’s?
 
Tarblooder_Rocketgrad said:
That St. V couldn’t compete with Hoban on the field or in the recruiting battles and the St. V administration felt Hoban was running a “different” type of program. Or at least that’s what I’ve read. In your opinion do you feel St. V would have renewed the series if they had the Grant, Campbell, Booker, Jr. teams of the early 2010’s?
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Thank you. That's exactly why they didn't renew. When it first happened people tried to persuade us that it was because of the way Hoban's strength coach acted a fool but everyone knows the real reason. If everything was exactly the same but St. V had won the last 3 there's no way the stop the series.
 
John Lee Pettimore said:
Thank you. That's exactly why they didn't renew. When it first happened people tried to persuade us that it was because of the way Hoban's strength coach acted a fool but everyone knows the real reason. If everything was exactly the same but St. V had won the last 3 there's no way the stop the series.
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It sucks because that’s a great game. You guys have won quite a few in a row vs. the rival and there was a time when they went on a nice run. I’m assuming and I have a feeling it’s a great assumption that neither school even considered not playing. Same goes for St. Edward and St. Ignatius.
 
John Lee Pettimore said:
Thank you. That's exactly why they didn't renew. When it first happened people tried to persuade us that it was because of the way Hoban's strength coach acted a fool but everyone knows the real reason. If everything was exactly the same but St. V had won the last 3 there's no way the stop the series.
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The real question is why STVM stopped playing Massillon.
 
xhscoach said:
The real question is why STVM stopped playing Massillon.
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We never shied away from Massillon we just need to rebuild again to compete with Massillon and the only logical way of doing that we have to put Hoban on the schedule and beat Hoban. if we beat Hoban players will come that's how kids always made their decisions.
 
the X'S &O'S can only get you so far and it won't beat teams like Massillon and Hoban we found that out really quickly in Bobby Nickol's Tenure and even coach Cistone 2nd year. Hopefully Coach Grant understands that and brings back the Winning Irish football that's consistent and competitive
 
xhscoach said:
The real question is why STVM stopped playing Massillon.
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I will chime in with this.....

Back when that series was halted, only 8 teams per region made the playoffs. A loss during your season was much more punitive to your playoff chances than it is now.

There was not then - and still is the case - no component in the point formula for strength of schedule. A loss to a really tough team is just a loss. You lose the potential 1st level points for that week - and the opportunity to gain any second level points the rest of the season. It makes climbing up the playoff hill seem like a trip up Mt. Everest.

With only 8 teams per region, it was much more advantageous to play a lesser opponent that you could accumulate more points. Many schools did this. This didn't prepare you for a deep playoff run - but it got you an invitation to the party.

As it worked out in past years, losing to Massillon and Hoban put the Irish squarely behind the eight ball to have to basically win out the rest of the way just to make the playoffs. This has been alleviated with the regional fields being expanded to 16 teams.
 
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