Ohio: D'Orazio carries on Cuyahoga Heights football tradition

D’Orazio, a native of Avon Lake, Ohio, led the Redskins to an undefeated regular season and a Chagrin Valley Conference-Metro Division championship. Because of D’Orazio and an offense that outscored opponents 420-43 during the regular season, Cuyahoga Heights earned the No. 1 seed in Division V, Region 17. The Redskins host Apple Creek Waynedale on Friday night.

"Waynedale’s a pretty good team," D’Orazio said. "We watched some film on them. They’ve got a tradition there, too. They’ve been in the playoffs a countless number of years. They’ve got some big kids that can play. It’s going to be a good match-up, but if we come out and play our game, we should take care of business. We’re definitely not overlooking them, that’s for sure."

Regardless of being at home or away, a key to winning playoff games is taking care of the football; something D’Orazio has done a good job of this season.

"We’ve had it both ways where we’ve played at home, we’ve played on the road," Cuyahoga Heights coach Al Martin said. "The one thing when you’re playing at home is that you’re seeded higher and that’s always a good thing. Taking care of the ball is very important. He’s done a great job with that all year. He only had two interceptions this year. Last year, he only had one interception in the regular season. He’s really been patient this year. He knows eventually, he’ll have an opportunity to make a big play."

"There’s a big difference between your senior and sophomore seasons," D’Orazio said. "Even from your junior season to senior year, every game you just learn a little more. In every practice, you pick up something. Maturing and working hard at it, too, have really helped me a lot. Last year especially, the games we lost, we had a lot of turnovers. You learn from that and know you can’t do that anymore if you want to win every game and go to the state championship."

Cuyahoga Heights is talking about a state championship appearance based on its performance in last year’s postseason. Though the Redskins lost 27-7 to the eventual Division V state champion, Youngstown Ursuline at Youngstown State’s Stambaugh Stadium, they feel the experience showed them how to prepare like champions.

"We played them pretty tough and we knew they were obviously one of the best teams in the state for our division and a lot of other divisions, too," D’Orazio said. "It showed us we were one of the best teams in the state. We came into this season with pretty high expectations. We wanted to be 10-0. We wanted to be conference champs. We wanted to reach the state championship game and win a state championship. It’s kind of expected. We set really high goals coming into the season. It’s nice to reach your goals now."

Had it not been for a coaching change when Ben Malbasa took over for Dave McFarland at Elyria Catholic, D’Orazio may not be the quarterback of Cuyahoga Heights today. However, when the time came to make a decision about his future on the football field, D’Orazio followed his father’s advice.

"It was a hard decision to make to leave everything from your freshman year and go to a place you don’t know too much about," D’Orazio said. "I knew a little bit about it from him because he teaches there and I had grown up watching all their games. I was on the sidelines for their games being the water boy and whatnot. I knew what it had to offer. I didn’t know too many of the people there, especially the kids, but he told me to have faith. It wasn’t too hard. I knew he wouldn’t put me in a bad situation. It ended up being a good one, thankfully.

"Growing up on the sidelines and stuff, I got to see a lot of great players come through," he concluded. "That helped me learn a lot. Growing up in a family of football just teaches you everything you need to know, pretty much. It helps when you have a really good coaching staff, and coach Martin did a great job, especially my first year. I didn’t really know too much about their offense, and it’s a pretty complicated offense to learn the option and stuff. It was nice to split time because you knew you didn’t have all the responsibility on your shoulders. As a junior, I was ready to take on that role."