LET’S TALK FOOTBALL

HARD NUMBERS, EASY NOTES

By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer

Friday night, July 17, 2015

BRECKSVILLE – We have turned the corner. It is mid-July and we can now safely say that it is football season. Somewhere Bees defensive coordinator John Shirilla is smiling. He has been counting down the days since just after Christmas. Offensive coordinator Tom Tupa is in his element, coaching up his quarterbacks and wide outs as only he can. And, as for the main man? Head coach Jason Black has already started camping out in his office, a scant 50 yards behind the Bee Hive’s north end zone.

Things will only ramp-up from here.

Two-a-days, formerly known as double-sessions – at least they were back in the day – begin two weeks from tomorrow. If players are ten minutes early that means they are already five minutes late, according to Coach Black Time.

Last night this corner dove inside Division II, Region 3, the region that Brecksville-Broadview Heights will compete in once again this season. This evening we will break down the classifications, regions and  enrollments of the ten teams on Brecksville’s 2015 regular season schedule.

Ranked from the largest enrollments to the smallest.

 

SUBURBAN LEAGUE SCHOOLS:

Stow-Munroe Falls … Division I, Region 1 … 739 boys.

Cuyahoga Falls ….. Division I, Region 1 … 661 boys.

North Royalton … Division I, Region 1 … 627 boys.

Wadsworth … Division II, Region 4 … 584 boys.

Hudson … Division II, Region 3 … 578 boys.

BBHHS … Division II, Region 3 … 520 boys.

Twinsburg … Division II, Region 3 … 490 boys.

Nordonia … Division II, Region 3 … 472 boys.

 

NON-LEAGUE OPPONENTS:

Brunswick … Division I, Region 1 … 896 boys.

Garfield Heights … Division II, Region 3 … 573 boys.

Padua Franciscan … Division IV, Region 11 … 263 boys.

 

NOTEWORTHY:

Hudson and Wadsworth slipped from Division I to Division II this year. Padua dropped down a notch from D-3 to D-4. On a personal note, I’m starting to like the way the Suburban League looks on paper.

 

MORE NOTES AND A FEW QUOTES:

The new turf at Community Stadium is drawing rave reviews. Aside from the spectacular red and gold trimming on the bright emerald green carpet the goalposts have taken on a big-league appearance. They have been painted the same neon green color as the NFL’s goalposts. Red streamers have been applied to the tops to show wind direction. “The new turf looks amazing. I like the neon goal posts,” a Bees football mom wrote in an email earlier this week.

Another fan emailed some time ago on an entirely different subject. “No doubt the Suburban League schedule will be tough. I will be excited to see how the Bees transition,” he wrote. “But at first glance it looks like the Bees have a tale of two schedules. The first five strike me as games they should win. But boy, once October hits there will be some battles for the Bees. Nordonia, Wadsworth, Stow and Hudson down the stretch! And that doesn’t even mention North Royalton, a rivalry game.”

Benedictine, the state champion in Division IV last year, inches up into Division III this season. The Bees will compete in a 7-on-7 passing scrimmage at Benedictine this coming Wednesday. Strongsville and another squad round out the field. First pass is at 6:00 on the Bengals practice field which is located behind the school on Martin Luther King Drive. John Ellis is the new Dean of Men and head baseball coach at Benedictine.

Padua, the Bees opening night opponent, will scrimmage at North Royalton Saturday, August 15th. And Friday, August 21st the Bruins host Mayfield. Padua’s regular season schedule is a bear. Following the game at Beeville Tony Shumans’ club opens its home slate by hosting longtime rival Holy Name in week two. And then it really becomes challenging.

Garfield Heights, whom Brecksville plays on the road in week two, has the luxury of having its first four games at home. Holy Name, BBHHS, Mayfield and Lorain all visit the cozy confines of Blaugrund Field to start the season. By mid-September the natural grass surface may show a little wear and tear.

Medina is looking for a new athletic director since Jeff Harrison will, in all likelihood, be promoted to the position of high school principal. This line was on the Medina City School District’s website (www.medinabees.org) on or before July 11th: ” (Jeff Harrison) … will be recommended to the Board of Education to become the next high school principal.”

Harrison spent the last six years as the Bees athletic director. He was only the sixth full-time AD in school history.

Elsewhere … Former Cleveland Browns legend Bernie Kosar (Boardman) met with the Lakewood football team this past week. North Ridgeville’s star running back and Ohio State recruit Demario McCall turned 18 today. The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) was founded in 1907.

Out Joplin way … it appears the Eagles have a new coach this year. According to the teams website Curtis Jasper replaces Chris Shields. Shields led the flock for four years. Joplin went 6-4 last season. The Eagles are members of the Ozark Conference and play in the state of Missouri’s big school division, Class 6. Home games are played at Dewey Combs Athletic Complex at Junge Field. The stadium opened in 1933 and has undergone several renovations over the decades. The way the ballpark appears today on the website is very impressive.

Closer to home … The Bees record board panels have been updated and there will be some new additions to the locker room walls as well. The Southwestern Conference awards and others have been consolidated into larger panels with photos. New motivational sayings accompany the professional photographs taken by Scott Warren of Bald Monkey Photography.

On the worldwide web … you are reading post number 150 since the Bees new football website went live on opening day of 2013. And this old scribe is humbled by the 100th follower on Twitter. The account was opened a little over a week ago.

 

See You At The Bee Hive!

To contact: Ddipa67834@aol.com.

Follow on Twitter @Beevillesports.

Follow the Lady Bees volleyball team on-line at: beesvolleyball.com.

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