Southview’s football players huddled in the film room Saturday morning to watch the tape of their Friday night road game against Sandusky.
Coach Todd Auvil and his staff began pointing out the Saints’ missed assignments, broken coverages, failed execution of plays and the senseless penalties.
“I heard one of the kids in the back say, ‘Didn’t we win?’” Auvil said. “I said, ‘Yeah … now don’t you want to win another?’”
The 14-12 season-opening victory over the Blue Streaks snapped a
31-game losing streak, gave the Saints players the first win of their high school careers and gave Auvil his first coaching victory since taking over the program a year ago. It was Southview’s first victory since a 13-7 win over Bedford on Oct. 23, 2004.
“The one thing we focused on this year was putting the streak behind us,” Auvil said. “We went in there and went right after Sandusky … and got the job done.
“The big difference between last year’s team and this year’s team is that every one of the players believes in the things we are telling them.”
Auvil and his assistant coaches were telling the players how important the Week 1 matchup would be and how much weight would be lifted off their shoulders if the Saints could come away with a win.
“Coach was riding us all summer,” said junior tailback Aaron Serrano, who scored both touchdowns in the win. “Oh-and-31, every day. He wasn’t going to let us forget.”
Now Auvil doesn’t plan to let his players forget how it feels to be victorious on the football field and how it was they accomplished the feat.
“We ran the first practice on Monday like we would any other Monday practice,” Auvil said. “I’ve got to keep them focused. It felt really good to get that win because we knew we were free of that burden. But it’s done now, and we have to get back to work.”
That didn’t stop the players, especially the seniors, from enjoying the win on their own time.
“It was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time,” senior linebacker Nick Avalos said. “It used to be tough walking into school on Monday mornings with all our classmates looking down on us. It was nice being able to walk into classes with our heads held high.”
The victory wasn’t shocking. Southview had played the Blue Streaks tough the past three seasons, including leading most of the last year’s game before lightning postponed it and Sandusky rallied for a 15-12 win the next morning.
“That was a huge hit for us,” Auvil said. “I talked about it for 365 days after that game. What would our season have looked like last year if we had beat Sandusky in that first game?”
Now he’ll find out. It starts tonight at home against Elyria Catholic, a Division IV playoff team that pounded Southview 42-7 last season.
“Yeah, they spanked us,” Auvil said. “They were a senior-heavy team that had been playing together for three years. I’m hoping it will be a bit more competitive this time around.
“We played the second-hardest schedule in Lorain County last season. There were only two teams on our schedule that didn’t finish at least 6-4.”
Auvil said he would have liked to snap the losing skid at home, but there was still a huge crowd of Southview supporters in Sandusky to witness the team’s big win.
“My wife was sitting up in the stands and said as the last three seconds ticked off the clock, everyone started flipping open their cell phones to call their friends, and people were blowing their car horns as they left the parking lot,” Auvil said.
“A lot of people called me and texted me that night and on Saturday,” said junior quarterback Ricky Earl, who ran in the 2-point conversion that was the difference in the game. “My uncle Tommy, who’s an Elyria High grad, had said we weren’t going to get it done … and he called to apologize.”
It’s obvious Auvil and his players like the winning feeling, and it’s even more obvious that they want to experience it again.
“We don’t want to win just one game, our goal is to win every game,” senior wide receiver Josh Biber said. “That’s why Coach keeps telling us, ‘Let’s start a new streak.’”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Devan Martin, Oberlin

YEAR: Junior
HEIGHT: 5-10
WEIGHT: 190
POSITION: RB/OLB
LAST WEEK: Martin ran for 347 yards — sixth-best in Lorain County history — and four TDs in the Phoenix’s
36-14 victory over Sts. John & Paul last weekend. Martin had scoring runs of 14, 91, 5 and 11 yards.
OTHER SPORTS: Wrestling
PARENTS: Carolyn and Darrel Martin
BIO: Martin recently joined the group Youth for Youth, which is a program where kids help other kids out. The organization allows kids to meet and talk about common issues and hold fundraisers to benefit the school. He also likes to stay active by playing other sports, including basketball and backyard football, and lifting, both at the school and home, and likes to relax by playing
X-box and computer games.
FUTURE PLANS: Martin wants to play football in college and plans to major in physical therapy. His favorite school is Michigan State — he accompanied Phoenix tackle Hugh Thornton to the Spartans campus on Thornton’s recruiting visit.

Mike Mansnerus, Avon Lake

YEAR: Junior
HEIGHT: 6-0
WEIGHT: 170
POSITION: RB/CB
LAST WEEK: Mansnerus rushed for 183 yards and four touchdowns in the Shoremen’s 38-26 victory over Maple Heights. With Avon Lake trailing 20-17 in the third quarter, Mansnerus broke off scoring runs of 48, 36 and 13 yards to put the game away.
OTHER SPORTS: Track
PARENTS: Anne and Roger Mansnerus
BIO: Mansnerus enjoys lifting weights at Competitive Edge gym, where he works out with trainer Tom Carder — an
All-Ohio player at Avon Lake and standout linebacker at Ohio University. He’s also a member of Young Life, a kids group that meets to talk about Jesus, and went to a Midwest summer camp at Timberwolf Lake in Lake City, Mich. He also enjoys going to the movies and playing video games with his friends.
FUTURE PLANS: Mansnerus has hopes of playing college football, but if that doesn’t pan out he wants to go to business school at BGSU or Ohio State.
 

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