Ohio State commit Miller prepares for TV spotlight with Wayne football

Wayne QB to play in two nationally-televised games to open the season; McMahon travels to Singapore to play volleyball; Molock reportedly down with ACL injury.

By Mike Dyer

Aug 16, 2010, 11:27am

Wayne coach Jay Minton was finally able to catch up with his e-mails during the middle of last week.

When you have Braxton Miller on your team – the nation's most highly-rated quarterback – it's understandable; the demands on your time increase threefold.

With Miller’s highly-publicized verbal commitment to Ohio State this summer, Minton’s program was put in the national spotlight in June. That spotlight will continue early this season with nationally-televised games the first two weeks.

Wayne High's Braxton Miller.

Photo by Tom Lemming

Wayne plays Archbishop Moeller in the season opener Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. at Cincinnati St. Xavier in a game televised live on a national cable network. The same network will televise the Week 2 matchup Sept. 5 against McKinley at 3:30 p.m. at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

The Warriors are certainly looking forward to the season. Wayne was scheduled to play host Lakota West and Chaminade-Julienne in its first scrimmage Saturday morning.

"I really like our team this year," Minton said. "We have some great experience combined with what hopefully will be great leadership through a great senior class."

Miller, who is rated the nation's No. 8 player in the 2011 class by the MaxPreps.com Top 100, threw for 938 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Miller, 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, rushed for 401 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Senior running backs Anthone Taylor and Seth Stuart return for the Warriors as well.

Three young receivers in Armani Miller (no relation to Braxton), Marshall Peterson and Marcus Bonner complement the offense. "All three should have a great season," Minton said.

The defense returns three defensive backs with Division I offers and experience. Those players include senior safeties Tre Moore and Trey Thomas as well as cornerback Michael Bonner. Moore, who is 6 foot and 185 pounds, has offers from Buffalo, Toledo and Akron. Bonner, who is 5-11 and 175, has offers from Buffalo and Youngstown State.

Minton is also optimistic about his defensive linemen.

"Our front seven is the quickest that we have had here in a long time, so they could be really exciting," Minton said.

 2. St. Xavier names starting quarterback: Senior Nick Albers is expected to be named the Bombers’ starting quarterback, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. St. X had several candidates in the preseason, but Albers emerged before the team's first scrimmage. Albers succeeds 2010 graduate Luke Massa, who is now at Notre Dame. St. X opens the season Aug. 29 against visiting Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) at 3 p.m. in a nationally-televised game.

3. Volleyball player travels to Singapore: Lakota West volleyball standout Liz McMahon has left for Singapore to represent the United States in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, according to the Pulse Journal. The event is scheduled for Aug. 14-26, according to the publication. McMahon, a middle hitter, is one of the nation's top players in the 2011 class. She has verbally committed to play college volleyball at Illinois.

4. Molock reportedly suffers knee injury: Dublin Coffman junior point guard Kyle Molock reportedly suffered an ACL injury to his left knee recently, according to several media outlets, including the Columbus Dispatch. Molock, who is verbally committed to Purdue, reportedly suffered the injury in an AAU tournament in California, according to the Dispatch. "Everyone rehabs at a different pace, so the possibility remains that he might make it back for a tournament game or two in February or March," Dublin Coffman coach Jamey Collins told the publication earlier this month. "That's a long shot, though. Nobody's going to take a chance on rushing him back into action if he's not ready."

5. Clark schedules official visits: Finneytown senior lineman Donavon Clark is scheduled to make official visits to Tennessee on Sept. 11, Michigan State on Sept. 18 and Cincinnati on Sept. 25. Clark, who is 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds, has offers that include UC, Marshall, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Tennessee, Kentucky, Memphis, Bowling Green, University of Southern California, North Carolina State, Louisville, Syracuse, Miami University, Kent State, Minnesota, Ohio University, West Virginia, Duke, Buffalo, Indiana and Ball State.

This week
FAVC Boys’ Golf Shootout, Monday: Several Fort Ancient Valley Conference teams and individuals will compete at 9 a.m. at Weatherwax Golf Course in Middletown. Names to watch include Wilmington's Kyle Miller, Turpin's Anthony Parnigoni, Kings' Jake Wade, Little Miami's Drew Graham and Harrison's Johnny Vidal.

Mother of Mercy at Ursuline Academy girls’ tennis, 4 p.m. Thursday: These two Girls' Greater Cincinnati League Scarlet Division teams compete in their first matches of the season in suburban Cincinnati. Ursuline returns top singles player Komal Safdar, who was the Division I state runner-up last season. She has verbally committed to play at Syracuse.

Moeller at Colerain football scrimmage, 7 p.m. Friday: This could be a preview of a postseason game in November. Possibly the most hyped scrimmage of the preseason, both teams will use this as a tuneup before the regular season begins next week. Colerain returns 14 starters, including senior Tyler Williams, who is the expected quarterback. Senior linebacker Jarrett Grace is verbally committed to Notre Dame. Moeller is led by senior defensive end Jesse Hayes, who is considering Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Florida State and Nebraska.

Recruiting news
Fairmont senior pitcher Alex Lilley has verbally committed to the University of Cincinnati, according to the Dayton Daily News. Lilley was 7-4 with 93 strikeouts and a 1.19 ERA last season, according to the publication. … Reading senior pitcher Andrew Lacinak – the Cincinnati Hills League player of the year this past spring – has verbally committed to play at Bowling Green. He also considered Miami (Ohio), Toledo and Cleveland State. He had a 7-1 record with 78 strikeouts last season. … Mount Notre Dame senior defender Melissa Dewitt has verbally committed to play soccer at Dayton. She is a two-year starter for the Cougars.

Random thoughts
Andy Deimling has been named the new Anderson boys’ soccer coach. A 1988 Anderson gradate, Deimling played four years at Western Kentucky and has coached at Thomas More College among other locations. … Former University of Dayton guard Darnell Hoskins has been named the new boys’ basketball coach at Thurgood Marshall, according to the Dayton Daily News. Hoskins coached at Springfield for one season, according to the publication. … Dublin Coffman junior wrestler Ryan Murdock (119 pounds) recently won a gold medal at the AAU Junior Olympics, according to the Dispatch.

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