Warren G. Harding 2024

17- Treymayne Warfield.jpeg


We are officially 17 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Treymayne "Tree" Warfield, who wore #17 during his playing days as a Raider.

In 2001, legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr. stepped into the booth and dropped his debut single, "Ya'll Must've Forgot." In the song, he reminded the world just how great he was over the course of his career, which he finished with an overall record of 66-10 across five weight classes.

Now, what if I asked you, "Who is Harding's single season record for catches in a season?" Most people would probably think that it was Mario Manningham, but his career-high 51 catches in his senior season of 2004 falls two shy of the mark. If I told you it was "Warfield," most , if not everybody, would probably assume that I was talking about Paul Warfield, a 1960 Harding alum who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a wide receiver in 1983. Well, he was actually a halfback at Harding in his day, not to mention that in back then, passing the ball wasn't much of a thing around these parts.

The truth is that Tree’s 53 catches in the 2002 season is the most ever by a player from Harding in a single year. Surprised? Well, maybe now, but if I would've asked you this question 20 years ago, it'd make perfect sense because back then, we all knew that Warfield was literally "Mr. Reliable." It's just so crazy how collectively, we don't protect the legacies of many of our former players. Everybody who puts on a Harding jersey, especially a wide receiver, should know exactly who Tree is.

On November 23, 2002, Harding trailed Massillon 14-7 late in the fourth quarter in the Division I state semi final. With the game on the line, then-senior quarterback Mike Kokal dropped back and found #17 Tree sliding on his back (as pictured) for a 17-yard touchdown with 0:17 remaining in regulation. The Raiders eventually prevailed 21-20 in overtime to advance to the 2002 Division I state championship game.

That clutch moment alone is a huge part of Harding history, but Tree's career was so much more than just making a single play. To this day, here's how his statistics stack up in Harding history...

-1st in catches (Season): 53 in 2002
-3rd in catches (Career): 79 from 2000-02
-4th in receiving yards (Career): 1,142 from 2000-02
-8th in receiving yards (season): 626 in 2002
-8th (tied) in touchdown catches (Career): 10 from 2000-02

After graduating from Harding in 2003, Tree continued his academic and athletic career at the University of Indiana on a track & field scholarship.
Unlike Roy Jones Jr., Tree won't remind us that many "forgot" about how great he was in his day. That's what I'm here for.
 
16- Alex Engram.jpeg


We are officially 16 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Alex Engram, who wore #16 during his lone season as a Raider.

For those of us that were around for Harding's run in the early 2000's, a time was definitely had. The slew of talented players roaming the halls at 860 Elm Rd. in Warren resulted in many victories, high national rankings, then-future college football players produced, etc. With the ensemble cast of Raiders that contributed to the success back then, there's very few who were considered irreplacable.

That said, quarterback Alex Engram was the exception to the rule. The crazy thing is that heading into the 2003 season, Harding was ranked as high as #4 in the nation ("Sporting News") as their class of 2004 was already considered to be loaded. While Engram's transfer into the school certainly helped that claim, I'm not sure that those sportswriters expected him to be quite as efficient as he was.

In Harding's first (controlled) scrimmage of the season, they showed Solon what all the hype was about as they outscored the Comets 84-6. In the 7-on-7 portion of the scrimmage, Engram was 11-of-20 passing for 252 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Harding would go on to win their first 11 games that season, which included road wins over Cardinal Mooney (21-19), Lakewood St. Edward (27-20 OT), Massillon (31-15) and Austintown Fitch (26-14). After opening the playoffs with a dominant 49-7 victory over Solon, they found themselves ranked as high as #2 in the nation before a 21-13 upset loss in the second round of the playoffs to St. Edward ended their season.

In 12 total games, Engram was 107-of-178 for 1,468 yards, threw 19 touchdown passes and just one interception. He also contributed with his legs as he carried the ball 79 times for 358 yards and another 3 touchdowns. As a team that year, Harding collectively ran the ball 409 times for 2,444 yards & 37 touchdowns, so technically, Engram wasn't asked to throw the ball that much. When he did, he was as precise as a quarterback could be at the high school level. He was voted a 2nd Team All-Division I selection by the Associated Press.

Hypothecally speaking, if Engram could've played in today's pass-happy style of offense, there's no telling what kind o numbers that he'd put up. If I was him though, I'd be more than happy about helping Harding's football program maintain the high standard of excellence that was greatly respected on a national level at the turn of the century.

Upon graduating from Harding, Engram began his collegiate football career at Western Michigan University before finishing out at Alabama State.
 
15- Mike Kokal.jpeg


We are officially 15 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Mike Kokal, who wore #15 during his playing days as a Raider.

In 2001, Harding outscored their opposition 547 (school record for points in a season) to 163 in 13 games, never trailed at halftime in any game, and only had four games that were decided by more than seven points. While the 2002 squad outscored their opposition 467 to 173 in 15 games, eight of those contests were decided by seven points or less. That included a 20-19 road victory over Boardman in double overtime and a 21-20 overtime victory over Massillon in the Division I state semi final in front of over 23,000 screaming fans at the old Akron Rubber Bowl.

Under the guidance of National High School Foootball Hall of Fame coach Thom McDaniels and his staff, Harding's entire rotation contributed heavily to those big victories. That said, the clutch moments from Kokal still stand out 22 years later. His 2,096 passing yards and 19 touchdowns in his career as a Raider both rank 5th in school history, which is impressive as is. That said, the way in which he acculated those numbers is something that those who watched him will never forget.

For starters, during the 2001 & 2002 seasons, Kokal rotated at quarterback with fellow classmate Mike Phillips , so both of them would've had even stronger numbers had they stood alone. That said, both brought elements to the table that led to a lot of success for the football program. In Kokal's case, three of his 10 touchdown passes in 2002 either tied the game or gave Harding the lead late in fourth of games. That doesn't include what many would argue was the most clutch play of his career...

In the second round of the playoffs against Lakewood St. Edward, Harding trailed 16-15 with 0:18 remaining in the 4th quarter. With the ball at their own 25-yard line and no timeouts to spare, Kokal dropped back and launched a 50-yard bomb across the middle of the field to then-sophomore Mario Manningham. After an injured St. Edward player haulted the game momentarily, Kokal spiked the ball to stop the clock, which led to then-junior kicker Joe Spain's 39-yard field goal that gave the Raiders a 18-16 lead with 0:05 left in regulation. The game eventually ended after then-junior defensive end Andre Boomer registered a quarterback sack at the St. Edward 26-yard line.

As I’ve illustrated, Harding's success back then under Coach McDaniels was the result of a total team effort across the board. When a player's name was called, he stepped up to the plate and delivered. Kokal was one of those guys who always made big time plays in big time situations.

Upon graduation, Kokal continued his academic & athletic career at Miami (OH) University. Despite dealing with injuries during his two years as a starter in 2006 and 2007, he'd go on to complete 278 of his passes for 3,173 yards and 15 touchdowns as a Redhawk.
 
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14- Clayton Waite.jpeg


We are officially 14 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Clayton Waite, who wore #14 during his playing days as a Panther.

If you took a poll asking who the greatest athlete in Harding history was, you'd get a pretty diverse set of answers. With all of the talent that has came through Warren, there's no right or wrong answer. Everybody's opinion is different and often times, the era in which a person grew up in holds a lot of weight.

For many representatives of "Generation X," the popular choice is Clayton Waite. To this day, his accomplishments in baseball, basketball, and football for Harding remain heavily discussed since his playing days in the late 80's. On the gridiron in particular, he was elite on both sides of the ball. As a quarterback, he completed 229 of his 451 career passes for 2,937 yards and 26 touchdowns. With the exception of being third in Harding history in touchdown passes, the remaining aforementioned totals all rank second in school history. Defensively, his 8 interceptions as a senior in 1988 is the third highest single-season total in school history.

The signature performance of Waite's football career came on October 14, 1988 against Massillon. In the week 7 contest, the senior was 18-of-33 for 182 yards, one touchdown pass, and two touchdown runs. Defensively, he hauled in three interceptions, including one at the Harding two-yard line, as the Panthers held off the Tigers 25-22. Following the game, Waite told then-veteran Tribune Chronicle reporter Guy Coviello...

"This is the biggest moment of my life. I don't care if I'm 65, old and sitting back in a chair. I won't forget it. I'll tell my grandchildren about it."

While Waite has yet to turn 65 years old, he's the one that gave people plenty to talk about. Even after all of these years.

Following his playing days at Harding, Waite originally accepted a football scholarship to the University of South Carolina. However, he also ended up suiting up for their men's basketball team as well. He finished out his collegiate football career as a defensive back at Kent State.
 
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I didn’t meet Clayton the person until college and we used to work out together at Lake Hall. I sure hope my dude is doing well these days. Man, hard to believe it’s been 35 years.
 
Scipio said:
Worn by the athlete with the single greatest individual performance I’ve seen in all my decades of watching HS football.
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He was a man amongst boys that night at Kent State Dix Stadium. One heck of a performance it was! I was there that night also.
 
13- Maurice Clarett.jpeg


We are officially 13 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Maurice Clarett, who wore #13 during his junior & senior seasons as a Raider.

One of the most dominant forces to ever step foot in Mollenkopf Stadium, Clarett wasted very little time making his mark as a Raider. In the 1999 season opener against Cleveland Benedictine, he scored on a 46-yard touchdown run with 5:43remaining in the first quarter. That was just a meer sign of things to come as he not only finished the game with 19 carries for 156 yards and four touchdowns, but he also hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Luke Stookie as the Raiders rolled to a 36-13 victory over the Bengals. Clarett went on to finish his sophomore season with 153 carries for 975 yards and 18 total touchdowns.

Despite missing four games in his junior season of 2000, Clarett continued to shine on the field for the Raiders. He finished the campaign 929 rushing yards and 7 scores on 129 carries. Included in that effort was his second career output of over 200 rushing yards against Austintown Fitch, where he had previously played varsity as a freshman. While his new career high of 237 rushing yards was quite the performance, he put the entire state on notice in week 9 when Cincinnati Elder visited Mollenkopf. He finished the contest with 34 carries for 170 yards and two touchdowns as the Raiders held off the heavily favored Panthers 24-19.

While Harding didn't qualify for the postseason in 2000, that wasn't going to be an issue in Clarett's senior year. He opened up with a brief, but effective outing against Cleveland South as he finished with 228 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns on just six carries while also returning two punt for touchdowns in the Raiders' commanding 76-0 victory to start the season. That effort set the table for what would eventually add up to the following in Harding's 13-game season...

-225 carries for 2,249 yards & 30 touchdowns
-23 catches for 349 yards & 4 touchdowns
-4 punt returns for touchdowns

As a result of his stellar all-around efforts, Clarett was not only as he the recipient of Ohio's Mr. Football Award, but he was also named the USA Today's Offensive Player of the Year. While he looked excellent all season long, the icing on the cake came in Harding's second round playoff matchup over a previously-undefeated Lakewood St. Edward team. On the evening of November 10, 2001, Clarett sent shockwaves throughout the entire state as he plowed his way to 411 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 31 carries as the Raiders tamed the Eagles 42-26.

Today, over two decades after playing in 28 of a possible 33 games for Harding, Clarett's numbers still rank among the best in school history...
(^- tied with Lynn Bowden; $- tied with Demond Hymes)

-Most Games with 100+ Rushing Yards (Career): 21^
-Most Games with 300+ Rushing Yards (Career): 1$^
-Most Games with 400+ Rushing Yards (Career): 1
-Most Rushing Yards (Game): 411 vs. Lakewood St. Edward on 11/10/2001
-2nd in Games with 200+ Rushing Yards (Career): 7
-2nd in Carries (Career): 507
-2nd in Rushing Yards (Season): 2,249 in 2001
-2nd in Rushing Yards (Career): 4,153 from 1999-2001
-2nd in Rushing Touchdowns (Season): 30
-2nd in Rushing Touchdowns (Career): 53
-2nd Longest Touchdown Run In History: 97 yards vs. Boardman on 11/03/2001
-2nd Longest Touchdown In History: 97 yards vs. Boardman on 11/03/2001

In January of 2002, Clarett enrolled early at Ohio State for the winter semester so that he could participate in workouts with the football team. As the entire country would soon find out, he would go on to make the most of the extra offseason work as he was named the starting tailback for the season. Apparently, becoming the first Buckeye freshman to start at the position since 1943 wasn't enough as he began his collegiate career with 21 carries for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns in Ohio State's 45-21 victory.

While he finished his freshman year with 222 carries for 1,237 yards and 18 total touchdowns, it's been argued that his best play of the season wasn't a carry, but a third quarter strip of the University of Miami's Sean Taylor during the 2003 NCAA National Championship Game. After intercepting a pass from Craig Krenzel, Taylor made it 28 yards downfield before Clarett stole the ball back and saved the possession fo the Buckeyes, who would eventually cash in on a 44-yard field goal by kicker Mike Nugent. Ohio State needed that plus double overtime to eventually knock off the Hurricanes 31-24 in a thriller.

In 2005, Clarett was selected with the 101st pick of the NFL Draft by the Denver Brncos. He'd eventually go on to play two seasons with the Omaha Nighthawks in the now-defunct United Football League.
 
Worm02 said:
View attachment 62844

We are officially 14 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Clayton Waite, who wore #14 during his playing days as a Panther.

If you took a poll asking who the greatest athlete in Harding history was, you'd get a pretty diverse set of answers. With all of the talent that has came through Warren, there's no right or wrong answer. Everybody's opinion is different and often times, the era in which a person grew up in holds a lot of weight.

For many representatives of "Generation X," the popular choice is Clayton Waite. To this day, his accomplishments in baseball, basketball, and football for Harding remain heavily discussed since his playing days in the late 80's. On the gridiron in particular, he was elite on both sides of the ball. As a quarterback, he completed 229 of his 451 career passes for 2,937 yards and 26 touchdowns. With the exception of being third in Harding history in touchdown passes, the remaining aforementioned totals all rank second in school history. Defensively, his 8 interceptions as a senior in 1988 is the third highest single-season total in school history.

The signature performance of Waite's football career came on October 14, 1988 against Massillon. In the week 7 contest, the senior was 18-of-33 for 182 yards, one touchdown pass, and two touchdown runs. Defensively, he hauled in three interceptions, including one at the Harding two-yard line, as the Panthers held off the Tigers 25-22. Following the game, Waite told then-veteran Tribune Chronicle reporter Guy Coviello...

"This is the biggest moment of my life. I don't care if I'm 65, old and sitting back in a chair. I won't forget it. I'll tell my grandchildren about it."

While Waite has yet to turn 65 years old, he's the one that gave people plenty to talk about. Even after all of these years.

Following his playing days at Harding, Waite originally accepted a football scholarship to the University of South Carolina. However, he also ended up suiting up for their men's basketball team as well. He finished out his collegiate football career as a defensive back at Kent State.
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I still say that last TD in the 88 game was BS. Fumbled at the one. Ledwell recovered it. And we won't even talk about the refs that game. Nick probably promised a lifetime supply of Greek chicken. LOL!
 
IMG_7154.jpeg


We are officially 12 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Anthony Hoke, who wore #12 during his junior & senior seasons as a Raider.

Despite Harding's powerful 2001 football team (11-2) coming up short in the third round of the playoffs against Cleveland St. Ignatius, plenty of excitement remained in the air in Warren moving forward as numerous juniors on that team (the class of 2003) had a strong presence. Prescott Burgess was considered a consensus top 10 prospect in the entire country, Mike Phillips was already a two-year starter at quarterback who also hauled in three interceptions at cornerback, Treymayne Warfield was tied for the team lead with four touchdown catches, two of Robbie Massucci’s team-leading four interceptions were returned for touchdowns, etc. We could go on and on, but the Raiders were well equipped with guys who could keep the momentum going for the near future.

In Harding's 2002 football season, another set of juniors (the class of 2004) started to take a big jump in their production levels. One of them was Anthony Hoke. In the aforementioned 2001 season, he hauled in one catch for 15 yards on offense and registered two sacks on defense. As a junior, he had six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, but his longest leap came from the defensive end position. On November 16, 2002 alone, he set Harding's all-time single-game record with four sacks in the Raiders' 14-7 third round playoff victory over Mentor. Speaking of "records," he finished the year with 26 tackles for a loss and 18.5 sacks, both all-time school highs for a season, in the Raiders' 14-1 state runner up campaign.

With Hoke returning as a senior for the 2003 season, Harding entered the preseason ranked as high as #4 in the entire country by national publications (Sporting News). For that season, Hoke recorded 7.5 sacks and three fumble recoveries as Harding would go on to be ranked as high as #2 in the country (Sporting News). In addition to his First Team All-Ohio honors, his efforts awarded him the 2003 OHSAA Division I Co-Defensive Player of the Year (along with Thaddeus Carter of North Canton Hoover High School).

Individually, Hoke's 28.0 career sacks remains a Harding record. Collectively, the school's class of 2004 finished with a varsity football record of 36-4, which set a new record for the most wins in a three-year span. As a tight end, he hauled in 10 catches for 138 yards and one touchdown in his high school career.

In 2004, Hoke began his collegiate football career at the University of Cincinnati. Despite being an undersized 6'1, 225-pound defensive end, he continued to raid opposing offensive backfields. So much so, he was named the 2004 Conference USA Freshman & Newcomer of the Year. In 2007, he set the Bearcats' all-time single-season mark with 13 sacks to help lead them to their first 10-win season ever. He finished the season as a 1st Team All-Big East selection.

In 2008, Hoke signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafed free agent. After a brief stint with them, he'd go on to play for the Hamilton Tiger Cats (2009) and British Columbia Lions (2011) of the Canadian Football League. He'd go on to take home home All-Arena Football honors for the Green Bay Blizzard (2009) and Cleveland Gladiators (2011), hwho he helped lead to an Eastern Division championship. He also played in the AFL for The Chicago Rush (2013) and the Pittsburgh Power (2014).
 
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I was wondering why Harding used 4 different QBs yesterday in their scrimmage against Steubenville. None of them had much of a chance to get anything done against the Big Red. The pass rush was pretty stiff.

First QB looked like about 6'5" or 6'6". He certainly could see the field.

Best of luck to Warren Harding this year.

Roll Red Roll!!!
 
YTOWN said:
I for one was happy to see Mr. Herron graduate from Harding. He gave the Cardinals fits. I remember his performance in that 2005 Mooney game. That was a wild game, it looked like Harding might win 50-0 the way it started. Not only did Boom have a huge night running the ball but Mooney's Nate Burney and Derrell Johnson each rushed for 250 yards and the Cardinals came back from a 19-0 deficit to win 36-19. To my knowledge that is still the largest deficit Mooney has ever come back from to win a game. Mr. Herron was a great one at Harding and beyond.
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That Mooney backfield was special. If I’m remembering right, the speed was outrageous. Didn’t that starting backfield win the state 4 x 100 relay.
 
Worm02 said:
View attachment 62844

We are officially 14 days away from Warren G. Harding’s 2024 football season opener against Canton McKinley!

Today’s “legend of the day” is Clayton Waite, who wore #14 during his playing days as a Panther.

If you took a poll asking who the greatest athlete in Harding history was, you'd get a pretty diverse set of answers. With all of the talent that has came through Warren, there's no right or wrong answer. Everybody's opinion is different and often times, the era in which a person grew up in holds a lot of weight.

For many representatives of "Generation X," the popular choice is Clayton Waite. To this day, his accomplishments in baseball, basketball, and football for Harding remain heavily discussed since his playing days in the late 80's. On the gridiron in particular, he was elite on both sides of the ball. As a quarterback, he completed 229 of his 451 career passes for 2,937 yards and 26 touchdowns. With the exception of being third in Harding history in touchdown passes, the remaining aforementioned totals all rank second in school history. Defensively, his 8 interceptions as a senior in 1988 is the third highest single-season total in school history.

The signature performance of Waite's football career came on October 14, 1988 against Massillon. In the week 7 contest, the senior was 18-of-33 for 182 yards, one touchdown pass, and two touchdown runs. Defensively, he hauled in three interceptions, including one at the Harding two-yard line, as the Panthers held off the Tigers 25-22. Following the game, Waite told then-veteran Tribune Chronicle reporter Guy Coviello...

"This is the biggest moment of my life. I don't care if I'm 65, old and sitting back in a chair. I won't forget it. I'll tell my grandchildren about it."

While Waite has yet to turn 65 years old, he's the one that gave people plenty to talk about. Even after all of these years.

Following his playing days at Harding, Waite originally accepted a football scholarship to the University of South Carolina. However, he also ended up suiting up for their men's basketball team as well. He finished out his collegiate football career as a defensive back at Kent State.
Click to expand...
His Harding team gave The Big Red our only regular season loss 21-12. Steubenville made the D2 final losing to Buchtel 26-14.
 
ferflog said:
I was wondering why Harding used 4 different QBs yesterday in their scrimmage against Steubenville. None of them had much of a chance to get anything done against the Big Red. The pass rush was pretty stiff.

First QB looked like about 6'5" or 6'6". He certainly could see the field.

Best of luck to Warren Harding this year.

Roll Red Roll!!!
Click to expand...

Yeah Harding didn’t show anything yesterday. That said, it was nice to see them go up against Big Red’s physicality.

The Steubenville fans that I met were extremely nice & welcoming. Hopefully, yesterday will prove to be a big step towards a regular season matchup in the future.
 
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