FREMONT — The buses had just began to cool off after Columbia’s long ride to Don Paul Stadium when it was time to warm them up again. Hamler Patrick Henry scored a pair of touchdowns before the Raiders’ offense got on the field, and rolled to a 56-15 victory in Saturday night’s Division V, Region [...]
Midview QB Cody Callaway commits to Bowling Green
Cody Callaway knows something about big numbers. In 23 high school games, the Midview junior quarterback has thrown for 4,326 yards and 42 touchdowns. So it was no surprise Callaway had a long list of reasons why he chose Bowling Green to continue his football career. “I love the coaches, I love the school … [...]
Avon Lake lineman finds Northwestern a perfect fit
AVON LAKE — At 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds, Avon Lake junior two-way lineman Ben Oxley was having no problem attracting interest from Division I football programs. But along with his size and athleticism, the football, basketball and track and field athlete also happens to excel in the classroom, ranking among the top five students in [...]
H.S. Football: Avon’s defense dominates North Ridgeville
AVON – Avon didn’t let a little thing like an early interception return for a touchdown keep it from clearing a big hurdle on its quest to win the West Shore Conference and make the playoffs. The Eagles came back from that mistake to manhandled North Ridgeville 35-7 Friday night. Avon wouldn’t let the Rangers [...]
H.S. Football: Midview welcomes EC into WSC with rout
EATON TWP. – Midview passed well in the first half, ran well in the second half and played defense superbly throughout the evening. All that good stuff added up to the Middies giving new West Shore Conference member Elyria Catholic a rude welcome to the league Friday. Midview pounded the Panthers 34-7. “What we coaches [...]
H.S. Football: Clay Wright, defense’s big plays lead Wellington
COLUMBIA STATION – In a game that for a while looked as though neither offense would be stopped, Wellington’s defense made two plays that helped the Dukes turn a nail-biter into a runaway. After Columbia scored 28 first-quarter points Friday, the Dukes held the Raiders without another point until a final-minute touchdown. While Wellington’s defense [...]
Congrats to all the Student Athletes!
Rough finish can’t tarnish great season for Columbia
FREMONT — Columbia gave up 502 yards of total offense in the first half to seventh-seeded Hamler Patrick Henry. A week after quarterback Jay Banyasz gashed Archbold for 270 rushing yards, his offense was held to 282 by the tough Patriots defense. The numbers certainly reflected the Raiders’ 56-15 Division V, Region 18 semifinal loss [...]
Columbia fans sparked Raiders to succeed
FREMONT — Columbia head coach Jason Ward has always made it clear how much he appreciates all the fan support his team receives from the Columbia Station community. Last weekend, with playoff football coming to town for the first time ever, 900 presale tickets were snapped up by Columbia fans, which packed the home grandstand [...]
Avon defense forces key turnovers in win over Tornadoes
FREMONT — Statistically speaking, Tiffin Columbian appeared to dominate Friday night’s Division II, Region 6 semifinal with Avon at Harmon Field at Don Paul Stadium. The top-seeded Tornadoes had more rushing (170-69), passing (193-140) and total yards (363-209), and more than double the first downs (20-8) of the fourth-seeded Eagles. But the Eagles came up [...]
Avon’s regional opponents the same as 2011
FREMONT — It’s almost the mirror image of Avon’s 2011 run to the Division II, Region 6 title, except the order is in reverse. Last season, the top-seeded Eagles got past fourth-seed Toledo Central Catholic in the regional semifinal before knocking off seventh-seeded Tiffin Columbian in the regional championship. Both games were at Fremont Ross’ [...]
High school football: Senior duo’s attitude, skill a huge reason Avon’s offense is so dangerous
Avon football coach Mike Elder knows all about good offensive line play. After all, he was an offensive lineman in his playing days. So when he says this year’s Avon offensive line is one of the most physical and nasty he’s ever coached, believe him. And believe it when he says senior leaders Alex Kelly [...]
High school football: National recognition nice, but Raiders’ QB really just wants wins
As a football program, the Columbia Raiders take great pride in playing as a unit, with 11 players on the field working together toward a common goal. Last Saturday, in the Raiders’ 39-34 first-round playoff victory over Archbold, there were times when it looked as if Columbia was a bit out of sorts … in [...]
High school football: Columbia runs past Archbold as quarterback Jay Banyasz runs wild
COLUMBIA STATION — All season, Columbia’s “Green Swarm” defense had carried the Raiders to victory. Saturday night, however, the legs of junior quarterback Jay Banyasz made all the difference. Banyasz rushed 34 times for 271 yards and found the end zone four times as the Raiders overcame a halftime deficit to defeat Archbold 39-34 in [...]
High school football: Whitmer shuts down Shoremen
TOLEDO — Avon Lake has had plenty of nights when it’s won big football games and was the best team on the field. Saturday wasn’t one of those nights. Unbeaten Whitmer defeated the Shoremen 28-0 in a Division I, Region 2 quarterfinal game at Memorial Field with a stifling defense and a methodical offense that [...]
H.S. Football Playoffs: Avon picks up pace and victory, 28-11 over Perrysburg
AVON — Zack Torbert got the first interception of his varsity career Friday night, and he will likely have more before he graduates from Avon High School. If any of those pickoffs of the future is more memorable than the one he had in the fourth quarter against Perrysburg, it will have to be remarkably [...]