ELYRIA — They say tradition never graduates.
That theory will be tested at Elyria Catholic this year as the Panthers begin their quest to replace an awfully strong graduating class that went 8-3, tied for first in the North Coast Conference and made the playoffs a year ago.
Ben Malbasa guided EC to seven straight victories to open last year, his first at EC, and believes the pieces are there to not only duplicate that success but even exceed it.
“When you drive in to our school and you drive by our scoreboard,” Malbasa said, “you see three state titles and you see the spot where the fourth one is supposed to be. The reality is, I loved those guys last year – we had a good season – but we didn’t have a great season. We didn’t win a regional title. We didn’t play for a state title. While those guys had some phenomenal aspects to their season — they would tell you they were disappointed. They wanted more.
“The bar at EC is very high.”
Malbasa is anxious to get started.
“It doesn’t mean every class isn’t different,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you have to approach each season as a new season. Tradition doesn’t win us a game but what it does do is allow you to dream. It gives you the ability to think, ‘I can do something special.’”
Certainly his seniors have bought into the message.
“We need to play harder than (last year’s team),” said Zach Drews, EC’s 6-foot-2, 220-pound middle linebacker. “Everybody talks about them but it’s the class of ’09 now. Our defense will be good. Our offense will be explosive. I’m pretty anxious to get started. I just want to hit.”
“It’s our time,” Zach Poling said. “You hear about people not believing in our class but we don’t care about outside opinions as long as we believe in our team.
“You see those (All-Ohio) plaques on the wall in (the fieldhouse) and you just want to be on that wall and be part of that tradition.”
“All of us as seniors are excited,” said Craig Wiehe, one of the league’s fastest cornerbacks. “No one had high expectations of us ever since we were freshmen, but we want to step up and get a home playoff game.”
“I backed Cody (Shuster, EC’s all-star quarterback last year) the past two years and learned a lot from him,” said Vince Scarpelli. “We’ve got great tradition here — three state titles — now we’re going for it.”
“We had a lot more people showing up in the weight room,” said Tom O’Malley, a 6-1, 230-pound guard. “I think we’re ready to go. We got a lot stronger physically even though we lost a lot of good players. We have the inspiration to step up.”
Malbasa expects his offense to be just as productive as it was a year ago and he feels his defense can be better. He credits his defensive coordinator Mike Polevasik with the improvement expected defensively.
Then again, high expectations are nothing new for the Panthers.
“One of the things I love about being at Elyria Catholic is having that level of expectation,” Malbasa said. “I’ve been at some places where in the beginning we didn’t have those expectations and you had to help the young people believe it was possible. Here, they already know it’s possible.
“The other question is will we have the focus? Will we have the intensity to achieve what we want to achieve? Based on our seniors so far, I think we will.”
Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

ELYRIA CATHOLIC PANTHERS

CONFERENCE: North Coast
2007 RECORD: 8-3
COACH: Ben Malbasa, 2nd year (8-3)
RETURNING LETTERMEN: 25
RETURNING STARTERS: 7

BY THE NUMBERS
7 — straight wins to begin last season
6 — home games on this year’s schedule
13 — playoff appearances in school history with three state titles

FAST FACT
Elyria Catholic first installed lights in 1973 at K of C Field. Three years later, the Panthers won the first of three state titles.

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