Coldwater sophomore Braxton Taylor ran for 63 yards and this first half touchdown in the Cavaliers’ win over Valley View. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Impressive youth seeing varsity action for the first time marked the opening week of high school sports. While at the next level, speculation over the next head football coach at Ohio State…even before the first ‘Script Ohio’.
Here’s what I witnessed last week, the first for OHSAA competition in area high schools for the 2024-’25 school year.
One, the number of impressive young athletes in volleyball and football capable of making an immediate impact. And actually, even a couple of freshmen.
At New Bremen and Fort Loramie, yes…the programs are anchored by outstanding senior leaders like Melina Schrader (New Bremen) and Jenna Barhorst (Loramie). But both Diana Kramer and John Rodgers have rotations with youth waiting, ready to play when their name is called. And yes, both have fertile feeding systems at work from the fifth grade up. Proof…that if you build it, they will come.
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In football, I was struck by the contributions of a Coldwater sophomore named Braxton Taylor on opening night, who ran for 63 yards in Friday’s win over Valley View, scored his first varsity touchdown on a twelve yard run, and prompted coach Chip Otten to later say, “We had a bunch of guys touch the ball tonight, and some guys that we weren’t quite sure whether they were Friday Night lights guys, yet. But they really showed up tonight.”
Two, I continue to be impressed with the competitive quality of young athletes who have been schooled in the importance of playing to win. This, in the face of cultural pushback demanding inclusion and the now-familiar phrase that winning should be secondary to how you play the game. Well, last week the motivation was to simply finish first – win – as it should be.
Sportsmanship? Absolutely.
“But you play to win the game,” says ESPN football analyst, and former coach, Herm Edwards.
Three, if you question whether intrinsic good is still present with people in today’s world, you might have been impressed with the number of Valley View players, coaches, and fans that showed up last Friday night wearing name and number of Cale Wenning, who had passed away 24 hours prior due to head injuries sustained in a biking accident. What impressed me most was the sincerity. No window dressing, these were people who understood – whose pain was as evident as those wearing orange and black.
“I can’t imagine what it must be like for his family,” said a Valley View mom, wearing her son’s football photo button on her shirt.
Valley View head coach Matt King said this, just moments after his team had had it handed to them in a 38-0 drubbing. “Tonight was a terrible situation, and I can’t imagine what it must be like for the community. These are tight-knit people and I can’t imagine what they’re going through.”
Before he ever mentioned the fact of football, or 38-0, Matt King genuinely cared for the hearts of the people in Coldwater. And he added, “There really isn’t much football to talk about.”
I will forever have a soft spot for Matt King…and you can tell him I said so.
We’re still six days out from Ohio State playing its first football game with Akron on Saturday, and already I saw fake news on Facebook and Twitter over the weekend about who the next coach of the Buckeyes will be if Ryan Day loses more than one game, doesn’t go deep in the championship playoffs, and doesn’t beat Michigan. Even, I say, before the first Script Ohio!
Someone posted: “Day’s future appears increasingly contingent on his ability to conquer arch-rival Michigan and make a substantial run in the playoffs.”
Consider this. Day’s record at Ohio State is 45-6, and he’s considered one of the three best recruiters in the nation. But, “Day’s record and three consecutive losses to Michigan has intensified scrutiny and dissatisfaction among fans and alumni.”
Editor and publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
And the headline to this post was…The Next Head Football Coach At Ohio State Could Be Nick Saban!
Saban would probably be the last to know.
The website was called Fanrecap.com, and if you absolutely can’t resist you can be the next victim of an internet troll, like the others out there that make you click and then have your computer go into the never-never land of mal-ware.
It does make you question…is there really anything online you can believe? They call it entertainment, while someone adds you to their list of suckers.
Go to YouTube and watch one of those ‘tragic death’ posts for Tom Selleck, or Clint Eastwood, both very much alive, and neither will die penniless.
You may even see me someday. Kind of alive…and very much penniless!
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