Bellaire replacing heavy graduation losses

August 25, 2020

BELLAIRE — Finding a way to replace graduation losses is simply part of life when coaching at the high school level. But, when it’s 21 players, many of whom were key cogs on both sides of the ball, avoiding a significant rebuild can be a challenge. Mark Spigarelli enters his fifth season as the head coach at Bellaire facing that exact scenario, but because of what’s come before them, he doesn’t believe a major rebuild is in store for his 2020 Big Reds, who open at home Saturday against River. “That was a special group of kids, who did everything we asked of them,” ...

Bridgeport boasts experienced youth

August 25, 2020

BRIDGEPORT — Expectations are high as Bridgeport enters season three under head coach Fred Ray. The Bulldogs have plenty of offensive talent back from a 1-9 campaign, but stopping the opponent and injuries are still concerns. The Bulldogs have only have two seniors on the 2020 roster, those being Jon Bugaj (5-9, 180) and Christian Waterman (5-7, 150). “We’ve got a lot of kids that were thrown into the fire to say and they are two of them,” Ray said of his roster. “The freshmen and sophomores are now sophomores and juniors, so we’ve got a lot of game experience. However, ...

Area coaches have had to adjust early

August 25, 2020

Coaches in all sports seem to come and go, but in the local football coaching ranks this season, they all decided to come back. Of course, the 2020 had more question marks and more realignment than any time in the past. With schools dealing with COVID-19 and players and coaches working earnestly hoping to get the season in, local football will take on a whole new look. On the sidelines, though, nothing is changing. In Steubenville, the Big Red had an unusual 6-4 finish despite again qualifying for the playoffs. Head coach Reno Saccoccia will entering his 38th season at the helm of Big ...

Caldwell bids to rebound from two-win season

August 25, 2020

CALDWELL - Coming off a 2-8 season and entering his fifth season on the sidelines at Caldwell, Head Coach Grant Gaydos has plenty of enthusiasm for the 2020 season having lost just one starter from last season. The biggest problem that Gaydos and the Redskins face heading into the season is putting a six-game schedule together with most of the team’s they were slated to face this season playing just conference games. “The fact that we are not in a conference out this way really hurts our ability to schedule with most teams opting to play only conference opponents,” Gaydos said. ...

Buckeye boasts increased expectations

August 25, 2020

YORKVILLE — Many people often wonder how much planning goes into a season and what the chances are that everything will be covered in the planning. Well, planning for the 2020 fall season has gone off the rails. Buckeye Local football coach Roger Herbert is also the school’s baseball coach. Last spring would have been his first on the Panther diamond, but COVID-19 wiped that out. As this fall’s football season closed in, Herbert wasn’t quite sure if that was going to happen. COVID lingered on, but Herbert continued to prepare. “Despite everything that was going, the coaches ...

Harrison Central wants to start fast

August 25, 2020

CADIZ — Getting off to a fast start is a key element to a team enjoying success. Harrison Central hasn’t had that luxury in Anthony Hayes’ first two seasons as head coach. The Huskies have dropped their first three games in each campaign, leading to identical 4-6 finishes. Hayes, a veteran assistant and graduate of Cadiz, is highly confident that his 2020 squad can achieve that in the abbreviated schedule mandated by the Ohio High School Athletic Association a few weeks back. “We’re trying to get off to a quicker start. Slow starts to begin the year have been a problem for ...