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One of the area’s best stories of the young football season is in Bridgeport. The Bulldogs – who for several years have been working dilligently to get their program back up from some seriously lean years – are 3-0 and playing as well as anyone around.
Coach Rudy Vavrock – a Bulldog alumnus himself – has worked on getting this program to the level of respectability since he took over in 2003 and it’s been a steady work in progress. Bridgeport’s got the makings of something special so far in 2008.
The Bulldogs’ offense has been sharp, scoring 50, 34 and 41 points in wins over St. John, Clay-Battelle and Conotton Valley, respectively.
“We’ve been able to spread the ball around,” Vavrock said during a phone interview. “We’ve got a lot of team speed and we’re making teams defend the entire field. We threw the ball a little bit more this past week and our offensive line has done a great job.”
Whenever a team is successful on offense, it always seems to start in the trenches and the Bulldogs are no different. Most teams can find fast players who run and catch and a kid capable of throwing the ball. But finding guys able and willing to do yeoman’s work in the trenches is a different story.
“Those guys up front have done a nice job of opening holes for us to be successful,” Vavrock confirmed.
The line is anchored by Nate Maleski, Sean West, Dillon Lipperman, Curt Smelley, Mike Dalto and Cameron Baker.
The Bulldogs’ defense – with West and Maleski again leading the way – has been sound. The Bulldogs are giving up just under 10 points a game and much of that number has come against the second-unit when the game’s out of hand.
“We’ve done a nice job of getting to the ball and using our speed (defensively),” Vavrock relayed. “Having two defensive tackles like Maleski and West is a nice luxury.”
Bridgeport will get its first true test of the season this week when it hosts Zanesville Rosecrans in a 1:30 p.m. kickoff at Perkins Field inside Bill Jobko Stadium.
“Rosecrans is 3-0 and they run the ball really well,” Vavrock offered. “They are sound on both sides of the ball, and we’ll have to control both lines of scrimmage like we’ve been able to do. We’ve also got to be balanced offensively.”
UNION LOCAL SOARING
The Union Local Jets are good and the Ohio Valley is figuring it out a little more each week. The Jets – who finished 9-1 last season, but lost all-Ohioan Zach Gust to graduation – got off to a good start with wins over Meadowbrook and Shenandoah.
They opened a lot of eyes during those games and showed the valley that for the second straight season they’ve got one of – if not – the most explosive player in the area in senior quarterback Jordan Barbina. However, many pundits were waiting to officially corinate this Jets’ squad until they played their game with St. Clairsville, which had won 12 in a row coming in.
The Red Devils’ defense came after Barbina and got to him some Friday night, but it still wasn’t enough. Barbina was once again a one-man wrecking crew. He and classmate Kyle Blackman hooked up on a pair of early touchdown passes and the Jets’ defense came up with a big safety and Barbina scooped and scored after a Red Devils’ fumble en route to a 28-14 victory.
Union Local’s going to be tough to stop until someone can fully contain Barbina, but with the way he’s got it going, it’s quite a challenge to contain him. The thing about Barbina is he can get you in a full complement of ways. He can run by you, throw the deep and short ball and then he’s a ball hawk defensively.
By no means are we short-changing the other players and their talents, but we don’t think it’s a stretch to say it’s gotten to the point for Union Local that it comes down to this rationale: How Barbina goes, determines how the Jets go.
Union Local remains in Buckeye 8 play this week travelling to Wintersville to meet Indian Creek.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE REBOUND
It’s been since Week 10 of the 2006 season that St. Clairsville has had to come to practice after a loss. The Red Devils – as we talked about above – were dealt a 28-14 setback by the Union Local Jets.
The Red Devils will face another rival this week when Bellaire comes calling with its 1-2 mark. The Red Devils hadn’t beaten the Big Reds in 15 some odd seasons prior to last year’s thumping at Nelson Field. However, this Red Devils’ team will have to rebound from defeat.
Something tells me they’ll be fine once they get to work in preparing for the Big Reds. The Devils struggled in the first half before pulling away from Edison in week one and then had a four-quarter slobberknocker with Buckeye Local, which they eventually prevailed in.
The Red Devils have a lot of talent and one of the most important factors they expect to win. There would have been St. C. teams in years’ past, which would have a tough time of coming back from a defeat, but this group of St. C. players has tasted a lot of success and they have a capable coaching staff, which will correct mistakes and move on from this past weekend’s defeat. There’s a lot of season left.
TEACHER GETS THE PUPIL AGAIN
It appeared for nearly three quarters that 2008 was the first time Harrison Central head coach Justin Kropka knocked off his mentor Dave Bruney and the Purple Riders.
However, Ferry had other ideas. The Purple Riders went back to their game and that’s running the football with Jeremy Murray who definitely knows a thing or two about racking up rushing yards.
Murray – who’s shifted to quarterback this season – had his number called on several occassions during the second half of Friday’s game in Cadiz, which the Purple Riders rallied from a 20-7 deficit to win 26-20 in overtime. Murray finished with close to 160 yards on 25 carries and scored three times.
While the Purple Riders are now feeling real good at 2-1, the Huskies must pick themselves up at 2-1 and get back to work going on the road to meet Shenandoah.
It was a great football game in Cadiz Friday with everyone on the edge of their seats in one of the most exciting fourth quarters we’ve seen in quite sometime. We’ve said in this space before, it’s for games and matchups like that that went a long way in making the formation of the Buckeye 8 conference a no-brain decision.
SNAKE-BIT
The consolation prize of being the best 0-3 team around is something that Jay Circosta doesn’t want to hear. His Seminoles have very rarely tasted a losing season or even a mediocre season, which makes the fact that this year’s team is winless with nearly a third of the season in the hopper even more difficult to understand.
It’s especially hard to fathom when you look at how the Seminoles have reached this point. It’s definitely not like this team is getting hammered every week and is totally overmatched. They lost in overtime, then coughed up a two-score lead in the second half and had River on the ropes before two late interception returns for touchdowns allowed the scoreboard to get out of hand.
The fact of the matter is the combined record for Monroe’s first three opponents is 8-1, and the road gets no easier this week as 3-0 Caldwell visits Woodsfield.
Something tells me that the Seminoles are going to right this ship quickly because Circosta won’t settle for anything less. The whole season is definitely not lost, but the Seminoles don’t have much time to waste to rectify their problems. After facing the aforementioned Redskins this week, the remainder of the Seminoles’ schedule features teams that are currently 2-15, making this week’s game with Caldwell even more important.
STRANGE SEASONS
We touched on Monroe Central’s early-season struggles, well the Seminoles aren’t alone in the category of being 0-3 and not being used to it.
The Barnesville Shamrocks have struggled mightly for three consecutive weeks and will battle re-building Buckeye Trail this week in the Land of the Pumpkin with one teams bound to get off the schneid. Steubenville Catholic is also 0-3 for the first time in as long as we can remember.
This just goes to prove that high school sports run in cylces in the Ohio Valley. Some cycles run longer than others, we’ll grant you, but two years ago Barnesville was undefeated, last year Trail was undefeated and three years ago Steubenville Catholic played for the Division VI state championship.
LOOKING TO STAY PERFECT
As the season moves into its fourth week, another boatload of interesting games are on tap around the Ohio Valley. Wheeling Central goes after a 3-0 start, but it won’t be easy when it visits Fleming Field in Shadyside.
Buffalo St. Joe comes to Harding Stadium, trying to end the Big Red’s 53-game regular-season winning streak. St. Joe is 0-1 on the season after losing to Erie Cathedral Prep last week.
Beallsville – which hasn’t lost a regular season game in its last 23 tries – will play host to Bishop Donahue Friday in Monroe County. River leaves Monroe County trying to attain its fourth victory. The Pilots and their stingy defense will trek up Route 7 to Toronto to meet the Red Knights.
Wheeling Park aims for a 3-0 start when it hosts Buckeye Local Friday night at Wheeling Island Stadium.
SCHEDULE KUDOS
Nice to see schools moving games to the afternoon this Saturday to accomodate fans wishing to view the Ohio State-USC game, which is ticketed for 8 p.m. Admitting that your fans would like to watch the premier college football game of the season is not a dent to anyone’s ego. Bridgeport – which traditionally plays a lot of its home games on Saturday evening – was one of the first ones to move once they realized the date. Athletic director Doug Tush and head coach Rudy Vavrock deserve to be complimented for making this switch early. There’s no harm in playing in a game in the daytime on a Saturday.
That leads me to another question however. It seems like when you get in your car and drive north of Buckeye Local, the new trend with high school game times is a 7 p.m. start. What a fabulous idea. Hopefully, that’s not a trend and it comes a tradition and one that catches fire all over the OVAC. I am a bit bias to the 7 p.m. start because of the nature of this business, but I am guessing that most fans are extremely receptive to the idea as well.
GIVE GOODY A BREAK
It’s safe to say Cambridge head coach Rick Goodrich needs a hug. His Bobcats came into the season with high expectations and rightfully so. However, the schedule-maker in Guernsey County wasn’t too kind to the former Bridgeport Bulldog. The Bobcats – who already must contend with the rigors of the East Central Ohio League during their conference schedule – played non-league games against Parma Heights Holy Name, Marietta, Newark Licking Valley and then this week must meet Maple Heights.
What did Goodrich do to deserve this? Holy Name is built on tradition, Licking Valley features future Ohio State Buckeye Storm Klein and Maple Heights is seemingly always good, too. Throw in Dover, Coshocton and New Philadelphia to come and the Bobcats are facing one of the toughest schedules around.
Now, I understand Cambridge is a solid member of the ECOL, but can’t it come east and play some games in the OVAC. The OVAC is good football and will provide you the competition needed to get ready for the ECOL and the Division III Region 11 tournament if you’re fortunate enough to get there. I am also not naive enough to think that Cambridge hasn’t made any efforts to schedule some teams in this part of the valley, but lining up against that kind of competition weekly would probably make most re-think the schedule slightly.
PICK PARADE
This writer had a rough week in the Pick Parade and had to eat a lot of crow from a variety of different people. Oh well, that’s okay because that means we’re being read and taken seriously. And it’s all in good fun.
Anyway, T-L Staffer Kim North regained his Week 1 lead courtesy of a 12-1 week. No one in the pool missed two games and seven of us missed three, meaning it was a little trickier week than most.
The Advertiser of the Week was a pair of pickers. Bruce and Andy Poe of McGhee Office Supply finished 8-5.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com