Ohio: Black River football back on track

The Pirates started the season at 0-3, with home losses to Collins Western Reserve and West Salem Northwestern and a road setback against Akron Manchester. However, two weeks into Patriot Athletic Conference play, the Pirates are 2-0 with double-digit wins over Columbia and Oberlin.

At the midway point of the regular season, the combined record of those three non-conference opponents stands at 10-5, with two of those teams holding 4-1 marks.

"It’s all about improvement," said Young. "We stumbled there in the first three games and thought we could have won two of them. We had a chance, but we didn’t. We felt as a football team that we just had to take a look at ourselves and start to get better.

"I think we’re doing that," he added. "We’re working extra hard in practice. We’re doing the little things right and paying attention to the details. It’s starting to pay off for us. The kids are really starting to concentrate and they’re working hard with their conditioning."

Their 21-6 come-from-behind win over Oberlin was keyed in large part by the play of junior two-way standout Jacob O’Connor. O’Connor had two fourth-quarter interceptions and returned the second 30 yards for a touchdown. O’Connor also scored a 17-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter and kicked the extra point that gave Black River the lead for good.

"I just dropped back and read the quarterback’s eyes," said O’Connor. "He threw it right to me. I was in the right spot at the right time."

O’Connor accounted for 15 of Black River’s 21 points. He turned in a great performance after his first-quarter fumble led to Jaron Hicks’ rushing touchdown for Oberlin.

"We coughed the ball up way too much," said Young. "We’ve got to do a better job hanging on to it. It was a pretty resilient defense to come in and put a stop on them. We missed the option down on the goal line, but turned around and scored a defensive touchdown. The turnover ices the game. You get that done, it’s huge."

Junior running back Matt Joppeck was another key component of Black River’s win. One week after rushing for 235 yards against the Columbia Raiders, Joppeck gained 105 yards on 22 carries. Joppeck had a one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

"He’s a great running back," Young said. "Anybody that saw us the last couple years knows that kid’s a player. He ran for over 1,000 last year. Matt knows it’s between the tackles for him. He’s not the super-flashiest kid in the world, but he’s one of those kids that’s just difficult to bring down."

With Joppeck, O’Connor and Neil Jones holding onto the football and moving the chains effectively, the Pirates offense had possession for 17 of 24 minutes in the second half.

"They did a good job to control the tempo of the game with their offense," said Oberlin coach Dave McFarland. "After that first drive or two when we scored, we didn’t have the ball very much. It’s hard to get into a rhythm. They executed and we just didn’t get it done.

"I thought they were physical and came to play," McFarland added. "Our kids did a nice job of hitting them. Unfortunately, we had to play Buckeye and Black River back-to-back. We were right there and the ball didn’t bounce our way at the end of the game."

Black River travels to LaGrange Keystone on Friday, while Oberlin returns home to play an upstart Wellington team.

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2. North makes history: When The University of Akron opened InfoCision Stadium this fall, it did more than spark community interest in the Zips football team. It gave the local high schools an opportunity to play in a 30,000-seat stadium. The Akron North Vikings did not waste their chance. With their 26-8 win over Kenmore (0-5, 0-2 ACS), the Vikings (3-2, 1-1 ACS) became the first Akron City Series team to win a game in InfoCision Stadium.

3. Bowling Green gets big win: The Bowling Green Bobcats (1-4, 1-1 Northern Lakes League) were at the opposite end of the spectrum when compared to the Perrysburg Yellow Jackets (4-1, 1-1 NLL) prior to Friday night’s game. The same could not be said once the game was over. Nick Miller rushed for two touchdowns and was 13-of-23 for 151 yards passing in the Bobcats’ 12-7 win over Perrysburg. Derek Bath’s interception and subsequent return set up Miller’s winning score.

4. Bees protect hive: The Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees entered Saturday’s tri-match with Solon and Cloverleaf ranked No. 13 in Division I. After two straight-set wins, including a 25-23, 26-24 victory over eighth-ranked Cloverleaf, the Bees improved to 13-3 overall.

5. Elder rolls Ed’s: The Cincinnati Elder Panthers acted like the No. 4 squad in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 with a 38-14 road victory over St. Edward on Saturday night in Lakewood. Even with an entirely rebuilt offensive line from 2008 and a few new faces on the defensive line, Elder kept the Eagles off the scoreboard until a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Top performers:

* Elder quarterback Mark Miller went 25-of-27 for 312 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-14 victory over Lakewood St. Edward. All of Miller’s damage was done in the first three quarters.

* Dublin Coffman quarterback Cole Stoudt completed 18 passes in a 51-7 road win at Groveport. Of those 18 completions, five went for touchdowns, including three to receiver E.J. Williams.

* The Whitehouse Anthony Wayne offensive linemen cleared the way for 365 rushing yards in their 37-20 win over Maumee. Anthony Wayne’s Matt Green ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns behind the offensive linemen.

Looking ahead

* The Thursday night football game featuring Lake Catholic at Padua at 7 p.m. The Bruins are looking to rebound after their first loss of the season to Walsh Jesuit last Friday night at home. On the other hand, Lake Catholic is looking to get its defense back on track after giving up 42 points to Youngstown Cardinal Mooney.

* Copley’s home football game against the Wadsworth Grizzlies Friday night at 7. The Grizzlies are 5-0 and ranked fourth in Division I, Region II, while the Indians enter the contest at 4-1 and eighth in Division II, Region V. Both teams are tied for first in the Suburban League.

* Findlay at Lima Senior girls volleyball Tuesday evening. Findlay enters at 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the Greater Buckeye Conference, and Lima Senior is 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the GBC. Findlay won the first matchup between the two teams in straight sets.

Recruiting news

Verlon Reed, a 6-2, 185-pound quarterback from Marion Franklin, is considering eight different Division I colleges, including Ohio State and a handful of other Big Ten schools… East Cleveland Shaw receiver Tyrone Williams (6-5, 185) committed to Ohio State right after the beginning of the season… Glenville’s pipeline to Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision) football continued with James Gordon’s commitment to the University of Toledo. Gordon is a 6-2, 205-pound outside linebacker for the Tarblooders.

Missing long field goals usually means setting an opponent up first-and-10 with good field position. Over the last two weeks, I have seen teams attempt and miss long field goals. Instead of having the ball placed at the line of scrimmage from the kick or the spot of the ball when the field goal is attempted, the ball is being placed at the 20-yard line. The kicks have been ruled touchbacks. If you attempt a long field goal, the risk should be reflected in yardage. Instead, by missing a field goal and having it placed at the 20, the kick essentially acts as a punt and takes away the negative side of special teams.