Give the area its due. Northeast Ohio has become a football factory.

After a strong showing in football signings last year, the area sparkled again during Wednesday’s national signing day as 13 high school seniors signed letters of intent to play college football — eight of them for Division I programs.

“We live in a great area for football,” Elyria Catholic coach Ben Malbasa said. “We don’t realize just how lucky we are on all fronts. I think we have a great talent pool and we have some very good coaches to work with the young people.”

The Panthers are sending 6-foot-5, 220-pound defensive end Josh Russ to Cincinnati — a program that has finished in the top 15 and played in BCS bowls the past two seasons.

The other Division I signees are Avon Lake’s Dan Schneider (Pittsburgh) and Christian Pace (Michigan), Clearview’s Anthony Hitchens (Iowa), Elyria’s Isaiah Byler (Bowling Green) and North Olmsted’s Matthew Rotheram (Pittsburgh).

Two area residents who attend schools outside the area also signed with D-I programs as Cuyahoga Heights’ Zach D’Orazio, an Avon Lake resident, signed with Akron and St. Ignatius’ Jake Ryan, who lives in Westlake, signed with Michigan.

“It’s kind of unreal to be honest,” Russ said after signing his letter. “I never really thought I’d get to this level, but a lot of people helped me get to where I’m at. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my family, my former coaches and Elyria Catholic.”

Help seemed to be the theme among this year’s crop of top players.

Byler was inspired by Elyria coach Steve Hamilton to drop weight after his junior season, then helped by former Cleveland Browns center LeCharles Bentley in slimming down. He now hopes his journey can help the younger players behind him.

“It’s really exciting to know we’re going to be part of Elyria High’s history,” said Byler, who signed his letter with teammates Trynell Davis and Cameron Koepp, both of whom signed with Findlay. “We put in a lot of hard work as a team, and the three of us obviously get to sign with colleges and it’s a great feeling to get to go somewhere and further our education and football careers.”

Schneider took it a step further, giving credit to the area itself for his accomplishments.

“I’ve had a great opportunity to learn from some of the best players in the Greater Cleveland area for a long time,” he said. “Copying most of them got me to where I am now, so I’m just thankful to have the opportunity to work with so many of them.”

The Shoremen regularly churn out top football talent, and Dave Dlugosz said they all make being a coach a satisfying job.

“One of the greatest rewards you get from coaching is watching kids develop from a freshman to a senior,” Dlugosz said. “Those are two of the best leaders we’ve ever had here and they left a pretty good trail for our younger kids to follow — a trail of success.

“It’s like watching every one of your children succeed.”

Hamilton has seen four Elyria High players go to Division I schools over the past five years. He agreed with Dlugosz’s assessment.

“One of the things I said when I got the head coaching job was that I wanted to turn these boys into men,” Hamilton said. “Our goal is to get them to college so they have a choice in life. We don’t want them walking the streets, we want them getting degrees and making great decisions with their lives.”

That future starts with one very big decision … picking a college when many come calling.

“I visited lots of colleges and Cincinnati just stood out to me,” said Russ, who signed his letter with teammate Jared Schuster, a Notre Dame College signee. “I was hoping out of all the colleges, they would be the one that I would get an offer from. They were the first ones to see potential in me and I knew I wanted to go there.”

Not that those decisions won’t have minor consequences. Pace, who enrolled early and is already at Michigan, and Ryan will probably take some ribbing from family and friends who are Ohio State fans, and Schneider is already prepared for his time in enemy territory.

“I won’t let being in Pittsburgh corrupt my feelings … I’m a Browns fan until I die,” Schneider said. “I know I’m going to be around Steelers fans all the time. I’m not going to do anything stupid, that’s for sure.”

2010 college signings

• AMHERST — Alex Obbey (boys soccer), University of Louisville; Cody Balko (football), Notre Dame College.
• AVON — Kenzie Berkheimer (volleyball), Malone University.
• AVON LAKE — Dan Schneider (football), University of Pittsburgh; Christian Pace (football), University of Michigan; Tani Lopez (girls soccer), Ashland University; Lindsey Nock (girls basketball), Denison University.
• CLEARVIEW — Anthony Hitchens (football), University of Iowa.
• CUYAHOGA HEIGHTS — Zach D’Orazio (Avon Lake)(football), University of Akron.
• ELYRIA — Isaiah Byler (football), Bowling Green State University; Trynell Davis (football), University of Findlay; Cameron Koepp (football), University of Findlay; Brittany Perrott (volleyball), Notre Dame College.
• ELYRIA CATHOLIC — Josh Russ (football), University of Cincinnati; Jared Schuster (football), Notre Dame College.
• MAGNIFICAT — Abby Fisher (Avon)(cross country), Xavier University; Clare Fisher (Avon) (cross country), Xavier University.
• NORTH OLMSTED — Matthew Rotheram (football), University of Pittsburgh.
• OLMSTED FALLS — Taylor Ballard (girls soccer), University of Akron.
• SOUTHVIEW — Aaron Serrano (football), Slippery Rock University.
• ST. EDWARD — Anthony Salupo (Westlake)(wrestling), Lehigh University; Stetson Allie (Olmsted Falls)(baseball), University of North Carolina.
• ST. IGNATIUS — Jacob Ryan (Westlake)(football), University of Michigan; Kyle Kmiecik (Avon)(golf), University of Mississippi; Alec King (Westlake)(boys soccer), Loyola University Chicago.
• UNIVERSITY SCHOOL — Brad Wukie (Elyria)(wrestling), University of Pennsylvania.
• VERMILION — Katelyn Peterson (girls soccer), Ashland University.
• WESTLAKE — Nick Lawrence (Wellington), Purdue University; Natalie Bechtel (girls soccer), Ohio University; A.J. Suever (girls soccer), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Lucia Marinucci (girls soccer), Lake Erie College.

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

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