NCL VOL 01 NO 01 082517 (PDF)

NORTH COAST LEAGUE GRIDIRON WEEKLY
A WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF NCL BLUE DIVISION FOOTBALL
August 24, 2017

KNIGHTS FACE SAINT IGNATIUS IN SEASON OPENER
The 2017 OHSAA football season opens this week and all six North Coast League Blue Division teams are in action.
Archbishop Hoban, the two-time defending state champion in Division III, is the only NCL team to open at home. The
Knights take on perennial Division I powerhouse Saint Ignatius Thursday night at Dowed Field in one of the marquee
match-ups in Ohio’s opening week of play.
Hoban (14-1) lost their second game of the 2016 season to Division I St. Edward (10-7), then ran the table the rest of
the way to repeat as state champions. They move up to Division II this year based on the competitive balance realignment—one of four NCL Blue Division teams to be moved up a division. Despite moving up a level, the Knights expect to compete again in 2017, with recent college committed players DE Daeshon Martin (Cincinnati), OT Nolan Rumler
(Michigan) and WR Nate Bauer (Toledo) leading the way.
The rest of the North Coast League’s Blue Division will begin play Friday night with
the remaining five teams testing themselves on the road.
Lake Catholic will face a Division I challenge of their own, traveling to Stow-Monroe
Falls to take on the Bulldogs—Regional semifinalists with a 10-2 record last season.
The NCL’s other 2016 playoff team, regional finalist Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin,
travels to Willoughby South to begin their hunt for a post-season spot in Division III
after making the grade in Division IV the last two years.
The Padua Franciscan Bruins will be at Woodridge to face a team that won their
first 11 games a year ago before having their season ended in overtime, 42-41, by
Perry.
Walsh Jesuit plays at Mayfield and Benedictine, 3-7 a year ago, hopes to kickstart a
rebound season with a win at Ursuline.
Hoban and Benedictine moving up to Division II puts four of the six NCL teams in
the same region (5). Parity has been the norm in the North Coast League in recent
history. Four different teams have won the league title in the last five years with
Benedictine (2014 & 2015) the only team to repeat in that time.

Archbishop Hoban celebrates the 2016
OHSAA Division III state title

Per usual, NCL teams will all play non-league games for the first half of the regular season, before closing out their
schedules out with five straight weeks of intra-league action.

NORTH COAST LEAGUE—BLUE DIVISION STANDINGS
FINAL 2016 STANDINGS

TEAM
Archbishop Hoban *
Lake Catholic
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin *
Benedictine
Padua Franciscan
Walsh Jesuit
* - made OHSAA playoffs

NCL
5-0
3-2
3-2
2-3
2-3
0-5

OVERALL
14-1
5-5
9-4
3-7
5-5
1-9

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24:
Saint Ignatius @ Hoban, 7:00 pm
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25:
Lake Catholic @ Stow-Munroe Falls, 7:00 pm
Benedictine @ Ursuline, 7:00 pm
Walsh Jesuit @ Mayfield, 7:00 pm
NDCL @ Willoughby South, 7:00 pm
Padua @ Woodridge, 7:00 pm

© HARRINGTON SPORTS MEDIA (216) 548-2345/HSPORTSMEDIA@HOTMAIL.COM

NORTH COAST LEAGUE—TEAM NOTES
BENEDICTINE BENGALS (2016: 3-7 overall, 2-3 North Coast League)
HEAD COACH: Carter Welo (2nd season, 3-7)

Division II
Region 5

The Benedictine Bengals begin Carter Welo’s second season at the helm looking to avenge a 33-32
double-OT loss against Ursuline in last year’s opener that got their season off on the wrong foot. It
was the first of six losses by a touchdown or less for the Bengals. A season-ending 28-0 loss against
Hoban was the only game the Bengals were not in right to the end...In the three seasons prior, Benedictine went 12-0 before losing in the 2015 Regional Final to Toledo Central Catholic, 31 -30 in
double OT. They won their last 12 games to take the 2014 state championship in Division IV and
they were a 2013 regional finalist.

ARCHBISHOP HOBAN KNIGHTS (2016: 14-1 overall, 5-0 North Coast League)
HEAD COACH: Tim Tyrrell (5th season, 39-11)

Division II
Region 5

Having dominated the Division III ranks for the past two years, Archbishop Hoban will move up to
Division II thanks to competitive balance re-alignment. The Knights, who defeated TrotwoodMadison 30-0 to repeat as state champs, play four of their first five games at home...senior WR Garrett Hauser averaged 33.2 yards per reception last season, with nine of his 30 catches going for
touchdowns. He will head to Navy next season...There are plenty of touches up for grabs this season with the graduation of Todd Sibley (Pitt), who rolled up 7,433 career yards for the Knights, and
QB Danny Clark, who guided Hoban to two state titles and is now at the University of Kentucky.

LAKE CATHOLIC COUGARS (2016: 5-5 overall, 3-2 North Coast League)
HEAD COACH: Scott O’Donnell (4th season, 13-18)

Division II
Region 5

Lake Catholic won three of their final four games last season to finish at 5-5 and post a winning mark in
league play...Senior QB Jack Gibbons completed 52.9% of his passes last season (63-for-119) for 891
yards, four touchdowns, and a 118.5 quarterback rating...The Cougars will play two of their first four
games against Division I opponents, opening at Stow-Monroe Falls and hosting Cleveland Heights in
Week 4...Lake Catholic, which hopes to snap its post-season draught at five years, graduated their top
two rushers and four of their top five receivers. Gibbons (119 yards) is the top returning rusher while
classmate WR Nicholas Simcak’s 18 catches are the most among returning players.

ARCHBISHOP HOBAN REPEATS AS STATE CHAMPION
On December 3, 2016, The Archbishop Hoban Knights defeated Trotwood-Madison in front of 7,397 fans in Columbus
to win the school's second OHSAA Division III state football championship in as many years.
Hoban's 30-0 win was just the fifth shutout in OHSAA Division III state final history and came against a Rams team that
has made it to the state semifinal eight years in a row.
Joey Young
Senior QB Danny Clark led the Hoban attack by going 7-for-10 passing for 165 yards a pair of touchdown passes.
He hit
junior WR Garrett Hauser with a 60-yard touchdown pass that allowed the Knights to open up a 20-0 lead at halftime.
First Team all-state RB Todd Sibley, meanwhile, carried 17 times for 151 yards—49 coming on a touchdown run that
opened the scoring. He also had a 56-yard run early in the second half to set up a field goal.
Hoban’s defense picked off three passes—including two by sophomore DB Matt Salopek.
"It’s been a great season,” said Knights’ head coach
HOBAN’S 2017 CHAMPIONSHIP RUN
Tim Tyrrell. “It’s been an amazing run with a bunch
Howland
W, 37-0
of great guys and 23 seniors. Whatever the adversity
might have been — because we had a bunch of it
St. Vincent-St. Mary
W, 21-7
this year — they never gave up. They never lost
New Philadelphia
W, 34-3
sight of the ultimate goal, which the ultimate goal
St. Francis De Sales W, 23-14
was tonight. My hat goes off to our seniors, our juniors and the whole community that became a family
Trotwood-Madison
W, 30-0
over a 15-game period."
© HARRINGTON SPORTS MEDIA (216) 548-2345/HSPORTSMEDIA@HOTMAIL.COM

NORTH COAST LEAGUE—TEAM NOTES
NOTRE DAME-CATHERDRAL LATIN LIONS (2016: 9-4 overall, 3-2 North Coast League)
HEAD COACH: Andrew Mooney (3rd season, 16-8)

Division III
Region 9

Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin has qualified for the playoffs in each of head coach Andrew Mooney’s
first two seasons. The Lions have qualified three years in a row overall and went on a run all the way
to a regional final in 2016. Wins over Crestwood (28-27) and Cardinal Mooney (17-12) sent the Lions
to Week 13, where their season came to an end with a 22-9 loss at the hands of Perry...NDCL will try
to make it three-for-three while moving up from Division IV to Division III where they will play in Region 9...The Lions boast four All-Northeast Lakes District players back on defense: DL Chase Brown,
LB Manni Malone, LB Aidan MacDonald and DB Josh Peroni.

PADUA FRANCISCAN BRUINS (2016: 5-5 overall, 2-3 North Coast League)
HEAD COACH: Mike Polevacik (2nd season, 5-5)

Division III
Region 10

Padua Franciscan has not played in the post-season since 2010, but last year posted a .500 mark in Mike
Polevacik’s first season as head coach. A 34-10 win over Walsh in their September 30 NCL opener put
the Bruins at 4-2 overall and in the post-season conversation, but they dropped three of their last four to
finish on the outside looking in. While the season did not end the way Bruins fans would have liked, it
was still a big improvement over 2015, which saw Padua win just one game overall and go 0-5 in the
league for the second year in a row...Padua hopes to build on last year and has some key pieces back
beginning with 6’5” senior QB Kevin Peterson, who’s 111 completions and 16 TD passes led all NCL QBs.

WALSH JESUIT WARRIORS (2016: 1-9 overall, 0-5 North Coast League)
HEAD COACH: Scott Beigie (3rd season, 4-16)

Division II
Region 5

Walsh Jesuit’s lone victory in 2016 came at home against St. Francis (NY), 23-21, on September 16.
The Warriors will travel to Buffalo for a re-match in Week 4. Walsh lost their final six games, including all five NCL contests...Senior QB Zach Weitman will attempt to take over for graduated brother
Alex, who took the majority of the snaps last year...WR Tommy Cummings is back after leading the
team in receptions (23) and receiving yards (320) as a sophomore a year ago...Cummings also returned five kickoffs for 182 yards (36.4)...Four of Walsh’s top five tacklers graduated with senior LB
Dom Frisone (40 solo tackles) the lone returner. The Warriors will play three of their five league
games on the road this year, beginning September 29 at Padua Franciscan.

NORTH COAST LEAGUE ALUMNI BIO—MICHAEL J. DEL MEDICO
Michael J. Del Medico, a 1973 Archbishop Hoban graduate, is a former director of advancement and athletics for the school who now serves as vice president of advancement and planning.
Del Medico headed up the “This is Hoban” capital campaign from 2013-2015, raising
$6.6 million for construction of a center for spiritual formation, a health and fitness center and increasing the endowment for the school.
Included in that effort was The Hoban Health and Fitness Center—a $2.5 million, 20,000
-square-foot project that included an 11,000-square-foot addition overlooking the football stadium.
Del Medico served on Hoban’s Board of Directors for five years, including board chairman for three. He previously was an attorney and managing partner with the Scanlon
Group in Akron for 30 years.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1977 and a juris doctorate
from the University of Dayton in 1980.

© HARRINGTON SPORTS MEDIA (216) 548-2345/HSPORTSMEDIA@HOTMAIL.COM

JACK
GIBBONS

AUBREY
WARD

TODD
SIBLEY

FINAL 2016 NCL PASSING LEADERS (by yards/all games)
PLAYER
Danny Clark
Kevin Peterson
Jack Gibbons
Levi Pokersnik
Nick Demchuk
Alex Weitman
Joey Stanzi

SCHOOL
Hoban
Padua
Lake Catholic
Benedictine
Benedictine
Walsh Jesuit
Lake Catholic

COMP
107
111
63
34
61
73
17

ATT
193
178
119
76
118
166
42

PCT
55.4%
62.4%
52.9%
44.7%
51.7%
44.0%
40.5%

YARDS
2035
1377
891
469
719
761
132

TD
13
16
4
5
4
4
1

INT
10
6
5
1
4
9
4

RATING
155.9
150.3
118.5
115.7
107.3
79.6
55.7

FINAL 2016 NCL RUSHING LEADERS (by yards/all games)
PLAYER
Todd Sibley
Josh Corbin
Trent Cramer
DeCavilon Reese
Brandon Mounts
William Collier
Charles Forbes
Levi Pokersnik
D Blanchard
Brian Robinson

SCHOOL
Archbishop Hoban
Lake Catholic
Padua Franciscan
Benedictine
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin
Archbishop Hoban
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin
Benedictine
Walsh Jesuit
Lake Catholic

ATT
261
192
252
171
177
78
130
78
85
45

YARDS
1,869
1,090
1,086
1,057
789
570
536
486
317
287

AVG
7.2
5.7
4.3
6.2
4.5
7.3
4.1
6.2
3.7
6.4

TD
19
12
6
13
7
4
1

FINAL 2016 NCL RECEIVING LEADERS (by receptions/all games)
PLAYER
Alex Ludwick
Aubrey Ward
Darrius Alston
Tyler Kelley
Garrett Hauser
Blake Bishop
Brad Hall
Tommy Cummings
Michael Williams
Nate Bauer

SCHOOL
Padua Franciscan
Benedictine
Lake Catholic
Padua Franciscan
Archbishop Hoban
Archbishop Hoban
Padua Franciscan
Walsh Jesuit
Benedictine
Archbishop Hoban

REC
46
29
28
27
27
24
24
23
23
20

YDS
774
347
479
247
896
281
296
320
309
289

AVG
16.8
12.0
17.1
9.1
33.2
11.7
12.3
13.9
13.4
14.5

TD
10
3
4
3
8
0
4
1
3
3

© HARRINGTON SPORTS MEDIA (216) 548-2345/HSPORTSMEDIA@HOTMAIL.COM