Archive for September, 2011
Magical night, finish: Thome homers, Santana hits walk-off blast as Indians down Twins
CLEVELAND – Jim Thome is discovering he means even more to Cleveland than he realized. Stunned by the Indians’ pregame announcement of a plan to erect a statue at Progessive Field to honor their greatest slugger, Thome gave Cleveland fans one more memory. So did Carlos Santana, whose pinch-hit homer leading off the bottom of [...]
Thome enjoys his big night, but not sure what future holds
CLEVELAND – All the memories, some fresh and some forgotten, have been chasing Jim Thome around this season – maybe his final season. And as it nears the end, Thome knows his career may be ending, too. “You can’t play forever,” he said. On Friday night, Thome experienced another emotional moment in a season overflowing [...]
Back to the front: Browns’ Hardesty gets reps with first team with Hillis under the weather
BEREA – For the first time in his brief NFL career, Montario Hardesty worked exclusively with the Browns’ first-team offense at practice. There is a chance the second-year pro could find himself in the same role Sunday when Cleveland hosts the Miami Dolphins. Starting running back Peyton Hillis felt ill when he arrived at team [...]
Browns notes: Dawson closing in on another scoring milestone
BEREA – Veteran kicker Phil Dawson is on the verge of another Browns milestone. Dawson has scored 1,077 points since joining the team in 1999, putting him just three behind Don Cockroft for second place in franchise history. There is an excellent chance he will pass Cockroft on Sunday when Cleveland hosts the Miami Dolphins [...]
Ohio State still confident despite ugly loss at Miami
COLUMBUS - On message boards and call-in shows, you can hear the dread, the disappointment and the discouragement from Ohio State fans. A painful 24-6 loss at Miami last Saturday night has the Buckeyes faithful expecting the worst. Even though eight games remain on the schedule, and key suspended players will be returning soon, some [...]
Elyria Catholic picks Elyria grad to lead wrestling team
ELYRIA – A former Elyria High standout wrestler will now be guiding Elyria Catholic. Tony Filiaggi, a two-time district qualifier for the Pioneers who went on to wrestle four years at Baldwin-Wallace, was named the new Panthers coach Friday. Filiaggi also worked with Elyria coach Erik Burnett for 10 years in the Elyria youth wrestling [...]
H.S. Football: The Scores
AREA SCORES North Royalton 30, Elyria 14 Avon 27, Elyria Catholic 16 Midview 34, Rocky River 14 Firelands 20, Oberlin 0 Columbia 35, Buckeye 6 Black River 34, Fairview 14 Wellington 35, Clearview 12 Brooklyn 20, Keystone 14 North Ridgeville 40, Willard 0 Avon Lake 28, Midpark 0 Berea 26, Amherst 14 North Olmsted 21, [...]
H.S. Football: Elyria struggles, falls to North Royalton for 1st loss
NORTH ROYALTON – All the bad pasta and salad in the world couldn’t make Elyria’s football team feel any worse than it does today. The Pioneers rode home with a sick feeling after losing 30-14 to North Royalton in Northeast Ohio Conference play Friday night on the turf at Gibson Field. It was their first [...]
H.S. Football: Defense leads undefeated Avon past pesky EC
AVON – The Eagles needed a solid defensive effort, many heroes on offense and a lot of patience to finally put away pesky Elyria Catholic on Friday night. The Panthers kept finding ways to stay in the game – including a pair of blockbuster plays by junior Jordan Altpater – but finally fell off the [...]
H.S. Football: Rolling Midview gets first win at Rocky River
ROCKY RIVER – Midview made history Friday night. “We’ve never won on this field before tonight,” Bill Albright said after his Middies dominated Rocky River, 34-14. “I think that was important,” Albright added. “We came in here with a little bit of an attitude.” The Middies want to win on a lot of fields, and [...]
H.S. Football: Firelands blanks Oberlin, remains perfect
OBERLIN – Firelands continued building on its best start in more than two decades Friday, spoiling Homecoming for the neighboring Oberlin Phoenix 20-0 in a Patriot Athletic Conference crossover game. The Falcons (5-0, 2-0) dominated early behind the running of senior tailback Nick Deichler. Deichler carried the ball on the first seven plays, finally finding [...]
H.S. Football: North Ridgeville bounces back with big road win
WILLARD – North Ridgeville came back from its loss at Avon last week to get its act together and get the winning feeling back. The Rangers needed a long ride to get that feeling. And the ride was a half-hour longer than normal due to some bad directions given to the bus drivers. “We had [...]
H.S. Football: Columbia rolls up 490 yards to beat Buckeye
YORK TWP. – Despite a few hiccups along the way, the offensive juggernaut that is the Columbia football team rolled to a 35-6 Patriot Athletic Conference cross-division win over Buckeye on Friday. The Raiders (3-2, 1-1) piled up 490 yards total offense with the arm of senior quarterback John Banyasz and the legs of senior [...]
H.S. Football: Clay Wright a king for the red-hot Dukes
WELLINGTON – Wellington senior Clay Wright began his Friday evening by being crowned the 2011 Homecoming king. He ended it covered head-to-toe in mud, 13 carries, 128 yards and three touchdowns later. Wright and junior quarterback Dylan Weidrick helped the Dukes gain 339 yards on the ground through the quagmire of mud that was Wellington [...]
H.S. Football: Andrew Vaughn leads Black River to 5-0 start
FAIRVIEW PARK – Black River running back Andrew Vaughn had two runs that went for zero yards Friday night at Fairview. Those plays, however, are the only negative things you can say about the sophomore’s night. Vaughn scored four times and led the Pirates in both rushing and receiving as the team remained undefeated with [...]
H.S. Football: Keystone loses grip on first victory
LAGRANGE – Ryan Clement broke through the line and flew down the field, untouched. No Brooklyn defender was within 5 yards. Nothing could stop him. Except a slippery football. It popped out of his hands at the 15-yard line. The Hurricanes recovered and ultimately defeated Keystone 20-14. “My heart breaks for him for what happened, [...]
Revamped state Legislature districts unveiled
State Republicans on Friday unveiled maps that show proposed new districts for state representatives and state senators. The newly drawn districts, about which Democrats are expressing concerns about, are expected to be discussed by the Ohio Apportionment Board during a meeting Monday. The Republican-dominated board needs to redraw the districts by Oct. 5. In the [...]
Owner of vehicle in fatal collision is charged
ELYRIA — The owner of the 2004 Kia Optima that slammed into a car carrying the Tomasheski family in June, killing two people, has been charged with wrongful entrustment in Elyria Municipal Court. Nicole Balek, 37, is accused of lending the vehicle to her boyfriend, Gerald Wetherbee Jr., who investigators say was driving the car [...]
Crash kills Wellington man
GRAFTON TWP. — The father of a 1-year-old died Friday in a head-on collision on state Route 303 Friday evening. Ryan Poznako, 22, of Wellington, was headed westbound on state Route 303 between Vermont Street and Chamberlain Road when his Mazda Protege traveled left of center and collided with a Jeep Liberty at 3:22 p.m., [...]
Elyria officials report massive increase in recycling
ELYRIA — The advent of the city’s new automated trash collection system has nearly tripled recycling in the city, but city officials want to push the level of recycling among residents even higher to save the city more money. The prediction that the new system would make recycling easier for residents and increase the amount [...]
Schools unable to track down T-shirt wearers
Avon and North Ridgeville high schools were not able to identify who was responsible for the “mean spirited” shirts mocking 14-year-old Alex Sismour’s death seen at the Avon vs. North Ridgeville football game Sept. 16. Avon High School Principal Kristina Dobos Buller said students could not identify the individuals who wore the shirts saying something [...]
BLOTTER: Sept. 24, 2011
County sheriff Tuesday, Sept. 20 10:00 a.m. — 44700 block Bursley Road, Wellington, David Haught Jr., same address, charged with domestic violence. 2:47 p.m. — 36900 block W. Royalton Road, Eaton Township, a man reported a gun either missing or stolen about a month ago. Wednesday, Sept. 21 9:13 a.m. — 45100 block U.S. Route [...]
Wellington man killed in crash
A Wellington man was killed this afternoon in an accident on state Route 303 between Vermont and Chamberlain roads. The name of the 22-year-old will be released later. The man was driving a brown Mazda Protégé and heading west on Route 303. Troopers said he went left of center and collided with a dark blue [...]
Browns: Former coach Brian Daboll set to return with Dolphins
BEREA – A favorite punching bag of Browns fans is coming back to town. And he’s looking to deliver a blow to the collective midsection of the Dawg Pound. No one took more grief in recent memory than Brian Daboll, Cleveland’s offensive coordinator in 2009-10. His system was called prehistoric and his run-heavy play calling [...]
Browns (updated): RB Peyton Hillis sick, sent home; Joshua Cribbs misses practice
BEREA – Browns running back Peyton Hillis was ill when he arrived at the team facility this morning and the team sent him home, coach Pat Shurmur said. Hillis didn’t practice and was listed as questionable (50-50 chance he’ll play), but Shurmur said he expects him to play Sunday against the Dolphins. Hillis played all [...]