By Ed Farrell
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
Sharon High’s storied football program annexed a milestone, though no Tigers touchdowns were tallied in its 600th triumph.
Sharon was sitting on 599 wins entering tonight’s tilt at Seneca; however Athletic Director Paul Torr was notified Thursday by Seneca school officials the Bobcats will forfeit because of injuries and illness. That may or may not prove fortuitous for the Tigers, who learned earlier this week they lost starting senior signal-caller Ronnie Howard for a minimum of 3 weeks to a lower leg stress fracture.
Tigers’ taskmaster Bob Fromm installed sophomore Jason Ondic to spell Howard. The forfeit buys Fromm another week of easing Ondic’s orientation into orchestrating the offense; the converse, though, is that taking reps against the scout team in practice does not simulate game-speed conditions.
The current Sharon situation brings to mind a similar scenario from the program’s halcyon days.
In 1995 — after sustaining several injuries, one of which incurred by starting quarterback Anthony Snowell — the Tigers took on Berwick for the PIAA Class AAA championship with freshman Jeff Valentino at the helm. According to Herald archives, Valentino played well in taking the Tigers to a double-overtime win over Belle Vernon in the state semifinals, before bowing to Berwick in the title tilt at Altoona’s Mansion Park Stadium.
Coming off an “Instant Classic” in last week’s win over Greenville (27-26), Howard had no sooner tossed a trio of TDs in that triumph then sustained the injury in a freak post-game accident. Foregoing the forfeit, Fromm will forge forward.
“We’ve moved on already,” the 6th-year Tigers’ taskmaster said. “We’ll evaluate how (Ondic) does and see if we need to make any adjustments ... ”
Fromm said Ondic has practiced well and played well at the junior varsity level, and the youngster also has taken a few snaps this year when Howard — a converted tailback by virtual of necessity at the season’s outset — periodically returned to tailback to give Sharon’s opponents a different look.
A former Sharon standout signal-caller, Fromm has worked with Ondic’s throwing mechanics, relating, “He’s not a ‘typical’ quarterback, but he’s improved every step of the way between this year and last year.”
Philosophically, Fromm forecasted, “Immediately, you have to figure out how you’re going to approach this. Either you step up — everybody on the team has to grab a little harder on the rope — or not. But it’s not just one person; the responsibility’s going to be put on everybody. Injuries are part of the game.
“ ... We’ll be fine,” Fromm continued. “We might have to change a few things, and without Ron we’ll be hamstrung a little bit. But that means there’ll be a little bit more pressure on that offensive line and a couple more guys in the backfield, maybe by committee.”
Tonight’s Games
Farrell (6-0, 8-0) at Conneaut Lake (0-7, 1-7), 7 p.m.
Is Farrell focused? Coach Jarrett Samuels’ Steelers are 2 steps removed from an undefeated regular season while maintaining momentum heading toward the playoffs. But first Farrell must take care of business against the first of back-to-back 1-win opponents.
Led by Danny Odem and Dion Eilam, Farrell is averaging 36.2 points and 343.7 yards per game, in spite of not boasting a 1,000-yard rusher. A Steelers’ stable of 6 backs ranges between 10 and 78 carries, 163 to 680 yards, and anywhere from 4.4 to 27.3 yards per carry. Conversely, the defense is yielding only 5.1 ppg. and 126.8 yards/game.
Since Conneaut Lake’s season-opening success over Saegertown (22-14), the Lakers have lost to Sharpsville, Conneaut Valley, Cambridge Springs, West Middlesex, Kennedy Catholic, Lakeview and Mercer by an aggregate 219-36 differential, 3 by shutout.
Mercer (4-2, 5-3) at West Middlesex (2-4, 3-5), 7
After dropping back-to-back season-opening games to undefeated Mercyhurst Prep and Farrell, the Mustangs have mounted wins in 5 of their last 6 games, losing only to Linesville during that span. Mercer amassed a margin of 211-34 in wins over Kennedy Catholic, Harborcreek Youth Services, Sharpsville, Conneaut Valley and Conneaut Lake, though those teams are a combined 10-30, with only the Blue Devils boasting a winning record.
Meanwhile, Middlesex may not make the postseason, but the Big Reds’ resolve surfaced in road setbacks to two of the district’s better single-A squads, Mercyhurst Prep and Linesville.
Although Mercer has mustered back-to-backs wins (48-20 last year; 24-0 in ’07), this decade the Big Reds have recorded 6 wins (42-0 in ’06; 26-20 in ’05; 18-0 in ’04; 35-15 in both ’01 and ’02, and 39-0 in ’00). Mercer also won back in ’03 (21-13).
Reynolds (1-4, 1-7) at Greenville (2-3, 5-3), 7
Once one of the county’s most competitive rivalries, the Trojans have triumphed in 10 of the last 11 and 12 of the last 14 meetings.
And coming off a setback at Sharon, this is a game Greenville’s got to have to maintain its playoff aspirations, while also hoping for help from other sources.
But being the rivalry it is — not unlike those in the Shenango Valley — coach Jerry Pacifico’s Raiders, with nothing to lose, could play spoiler.
Grove City (3-0, 5-3) at Warren (1-2, 2-6), 7
Scoring a total of 10 points in back-to-back midseason setbacks to Greenville and Hickory may have been Grove City’s God-send. While winning those games may have been good for bragging rights, instead the Eagles erupted for back-to-back blowouts of Corry (40-14) and Meadville (31-13) en route to the region’s perch.
A win tonight will ease the Eagles into the playoffs armed with a region championship.
Kennedy Catholic (1-6, 1-7) at Lakeview (3-3, 5-3), 7
The Sailors’ successful bid for a berth in the postseason hinges on this outcome, and possibly a Week-10 meeting with Mercer.
After being KO’d by Kennedy 3 consecutive seasons, the Sailors have shut out the Golden Eagles (32-0, 56-0) the last 2 years.
Slippery Rock (2-3, 2-6) at Wilmington (5-1, 7-1), 7
This matchup determined the 2008 District 10 AA title. While Wilmington is outscoring (35.5 to 8.0) and outgaining (336.1 to 168.25) opponents, Slippery Rock has struggled in consecutive setbacks to Meadville (35-6) and Youngstown-Chaney (30-10) in the heartbreaking aftermath of an automobile accident involving a pair of players.
Previously, the Rockets rallied from 3 consecutive season-opening setbacks to register back-to-back shutouts (Reynolds, Titusville).
Brookfield (1-8) at Beaver Local (0-9), 7
Back-to-back wins could conclude the campaign for coach Randy Clark’s Warriors, who checked Champion (13-6) last week while Poland was pounding Beaver Local (40-6) in an All-American Conference Red Tier tilt. According to The Vindicator, Beaver Local was outgained 302-136 and tallied its lone TD in the final 2 minutes on a Jared Britt-to-Jarod Piri 6-yard pass play.
Saturday’s Games
Oil City (3-2, 6-2) at Hickory (4-1, 5-2), 7
The past 2 weeks have been feast or famine for coach Frank Antuono’s Hornets. Hickory was hoping its back-to-back benchmark wins at Wilmington (21-14) and over Grove City (14-3) would be a boost, but the Hornets were bombed at Greenville (41-0) before bouncing back by routing Reynolds (42-0) on the road.
Now it’s become a 2-game season for Antuono & Co. Win out and earn a playoff berth; falter, and run the risk of being bypassed by Oil City and/or Greenville.
The Oilers’ only losses occurred to Sharon (34-21) and Wilmington (37-7).
Last year in Venango County Hickory outscored Oil City, 42-38. A 25-point Oilers’ outburst in the 2nd stanza enabled them to build a 31-7 bulge at the break. But the Hornets stung Oil City with a 28-point 3rd period and outscored the Oilers 35-7 after intermission. A quartet of key components from that contest return.
Hickory’s ’Rico Jones and Oil City’s Ben Koyack spent the night trading TDs — Koyack on 22-, 30-, 14- and 8-yard tosses from quarterback Mark Kulinski, and Jones on 64-, 10- and 38-yard scoring strikes, while Ryan Hayes had 9- and 24-yard TD runs. The latter, in the 4th frame, proved decisive.
Kulinski connected on 19 of 25 pass attempts for 279 yards and the aforementioned 4 TDs, while Koyack caught 11 aerials for 193 yards. Jones accounted for 141 yards on 6 receptions and rushed 3 times for 40 yards, while Sam Hosey and Hayes had 81 and 65 yards rushing, respectively.
Linesville (5-1, 7-1) at Sharpsville (5-2, 6-2), 7
This has blossomed into an interesting rivalry, and it too, will serve as an appetizer for the playoffs, considering the programs’ past. Sharpsville won District 10 titles in ’04 (21-14) and ’99 (61-12) at Linesville’s expense, as well as playoff semifinals in ’97 (31-8) and ’86 (15-14).
Of more recent and relevant vintage, Sharpsville secured regular-season wins in ’04 (21-18), ’05 (31-7) and ’06 (41-6) before losing to the Lions last year (35-20) as well as ’07 (48-0). Last season Linesville’s Trevor Litwiler lent 153 yards rushing (25-yard TD) and 44 yards passing (plus 5 PAT kicks); in ’07 Litwiler tallied 2 short TD runs, but amassed only 101 total yards.
