The senior football players at Manchester High are determined there will be no repeat of 2007.

“We’d never been 5-5,” senior center Joe Campbell said. “That’s horrible. We’ll be better this year.”

Absent from the playoffs the last two seasons with a combined mark of 12-8, these have been uncharacteristic years when measured against Manchester’s high standards.

MHS sponsored its first football team in 1941, and winning on the gridiron has been practically a birthright under revered coaches Swede Olsson (25 years) and Jim France (36 years).

In its first 16 years (1989-2004) in the Principals Athletic Conference (PAC-7), Manchester won 15 championships with a total of two league losses. The Panthers have lost seven PAC games in the last three seasons.

For 15 straight years (1991-2005), France’s teams qualified for the playoffs, including a state runner-up squad in 1997.

“If we don’t make it to the playoffs, we’ll be the first class in a long time (to graduate and) not make the playoffs,” Campbell said.

That will be a tough task in Division IV, Region 13, where powers Cardinal Mooney,

Steubenville, St. Vincent-St. Mary, and Canton Central Catholic reside.

A broken leg sidelined top running back Zac Kreakbaum and Manchester finished 2-4 in the PAC-7 (5-5 overall) last year. A gut-wrenching 7-3 home loss to CVCA brought down the curtain and ever since the Panthers have been plotting a return to form.

“A lot of us are really motivated this year to get back to where we’ve been,” senior tight end Craig Parsons said. “We’ve had a lot of people in the weight room, more than last year. Everybody has been excited for the season.”

There is a firm resolve to be better. “The attitude is changed. Everybody wants to be here,” Campbell said.

Kreakbaum, now a senior, and running backs Kory Hull, A.J. Hunter, and Craig Dougherty, will only be as good as their offensive line. Hull and Hunter are seniors. Dougherty is a junior.

Forming the middle of the line are three seniors: guards Kyle Duve and Dustin Seaver, and Campbell at center. Both tackles, Kyle Kelly and John Mitchen, are juniors. Parsons is the No. 1 tight end.

“We’re so much better compared to last year,” Campbell said when asked about the front wall.
Kreakbaum rushed for 27 touchdowns and more than 1,600 yards in 2006 as a sophomore. “Zac really hits the hole hard every time,” Parsons said. “He just needs space for a half a second and he’ll be there.”

Junior quarterback Steve King and senior wide receiver Tim Pfeiffer complete a strong group of returning offensive players. Kreakbaum’s defensive play was missed as well; however, this unit is expecting to pick up where it left off against CVCA.

“There is a little bit of pressure this year,” Parsons said. “We don’t want to graduate with a bad name to us. We want to be the (senior) class that starts it all over again.”
 
Volleyball Beau Ready To Help
Second-year Green High girls’ volleyball coach Alicia Knouff is going to have some high-powered help this season.

Her fiancé, Matt Mihelic, will be assisting the Bulldogs, after having guided the Archbishop Hoban boys to a state title in June. Mihelic was named Ohio Boys Scholastic Volleyball Coaches Association (OBSVCA) Division II Coach of the Year.

The Hoban Knights defeated Archbishop McNicholas 3-0 to clinch the state title and finish 24-4.
A four-year collegiate volleyball player at Edinboro University, Knouff assisted Mihelic during Hoban’s Dream Season. Now the roles are reversed.

“It gives me goose bumps,” she said. “Those boys had the heart for the sport. He had nine seniors and had coached them since they were freshmen. They grew in that program with him as the coach.”

Knouff is striving to get Green back into the first division of the Suburban League. The Bulldogs were 2-18 last fall.

“It’s going to be good to have Matt here with us. It could help,” said Knouff, trying for understatement. “He’s a fresh set of eyes. He’ll have a different opinion, which is great for us to hear. I’ll be focused more on the offensive side, and he’ll be focused more on the defensive side. It’s a good balance.

“He’s a lefty and I’m a righty, so he can take the lefties and work with them, and I can take the right-handers. It’s just a good balance for our coaching staff.”

Green’s varsity squad consists of five seniors, five juniors, and two sophomores. “There’s a lot of good team chemistry with them compared to last year and we’re more of a team than last year,” she said. “We aren’t the tallest girls in the league, so we’re looking to be a very defensive and scrappy team, along with just playing smart.”

This team is loaded with talented back-row players. Senior hitter Alyssa Nagy and junior defensive player Selana Reale were elected team captains. Sophomore left-hander Logan Pastor is the team’s best offensive threat. Junior Kelsey Corle is the No. 1 setter. “She is an athletic, great leader on the court and takes the team on her shoulders,” Knouff said.

Grid Notes
Ashland University head football coach Lee Owens on junior quarterback Billy Cundiff (Green): “His leadership skills have gone far beyond what they were. Plus, it may be a little bit easier for him this year. A year ago, he was competing for the job. Now it is his job. That great thing is I think this team is taking on his personality. This is just his junior year and he has a chance to really set some standards here at Ashland. Billy knows that, he realizes that. With the quarterbacks we’ve had in the past, they’ve really had their best years as juniors and seniors.”
Cundiff ranked fourth nationally among Division II passers in efficiency last season (167.6), with 16 touchdown throws against four interceptions. The Eagles were 8-2 a year ago, including a playoff berth. …

Word is that quarterback Kade Wagner (Green), a redshirt freshman, is No. 3 on the Akron Zips’ depth chart. Junior Chris Jacquemain is the starter, but vulnerable after a so-so season in 2007. Redshirt freshman Matt Rodgers is No. 2. …

Kenyon senior DT Andrew Henry (Coventry) lists at 5-11, 300 pounds. He had 14 tackles and one TFL last fall for the Lords.