Well, Tim Warsinskey of the Plain Dealer gave his top five teams today and he has St. Ignatius 1., Solon 2.,St. Edward 3., Mentor 4., Cleveland Heights 5.
Evidently his list is most likely for top 5 Div.1, NE Ohio, at least that would be my guess. This is in his column this morning on page D2, titled "OHSAA getting on the right track", and is under "football talk" following the OHSAA part.
About St. Ignatius he says, "Twelve in '12? Wildcats try to make it an even dozen state titles while winning the 300th game for coach Chuck Kyle."
About Solon he says, "A deep team with a variety of weapons". ( What about the departed offensive and defensive lineman?)
About St. Edward he says, "Two great classes of lineman have graduated, but there might not be a faster team in the area."
About Mentor he says, "The Mitch Trubisky Show makes Mentor a football destination".
About Cleveland Heights he says, "All of the above have serious questions on defense. Cleveland Heights has answers."
I certainly do not disagree with anything he wrote, maybe just one item, andthat's just that I am concerned about Solon's lines. And replacing three defensive backs and a tackling machine middle linebacker. And I am pleased Tim put the Comets 2nd.
But I'm not sure I agree with that rating. Over the years, about 40 plus now, I have finally learned not to sell Solon short in pre-season predictions. But in all honesty, I have done so in a few past summers. Usually I was wrong, and this may be another time I will eat crow.
I hope so. Anyone out there care to share? GO COMETS!
Share about the rankings? Well, St Ignatius at No. 1 makes a lot of sense. After that, the other four teams he mentioned were a reasonable selection. All have their strengths and reasons to be perceived as a dangerous team, and all have some questions that need answered with new players stepping up. In the past, Solon has done a good job with the old mantra - "next man up." St Edward and St Ignatius have done so as well.
Share about the rankings? Well, St Ignatius at No. 1 makes a lot of sense. After that, the other four teams he mentioned were a reasonable selection. All have their strengths and reasons to be perceived as a dangerous team, and all have some questions that need answered with new players stepping up. In the past, Solon has done a good job with the old mantra - "next man up." St Edward and St Ignatius have done so as well.
I think Solon is going to be pretty good this year. There's enough talent back for one more strong season (I'm more worried about 2013). The Comets will be OK in the lines. From what I saw of young linemen like Ben Emery and Desmond Holmes, I believe they'll be good varsity players.
Some other players will emerge as standouts this year, like junior Brandon Byrd, who will start somewhere, either at QB or safety. I hope he wins the QB job, because that would free up Barksdale to play both safety and WR. Byrd is going to be a big-time star. His style of play is similar to Chris Humphrey's.
With Barksdale, Hicks, Crenshaw, Berry and Byrd, Solon will have as much speed and big-play ability as any team in the area.
Shiloh Smalls-Moore was underused last year but look for him to have a big senior season. He played DT as a soph and backed up at LB last year. I'd like to see him go back to DT, where his quickness would be a huge asset.
Solon vs. Mentor will be a great game this fall. It will go into overtime tied 63-63. May the better defense win.
Sure would be cool to see a Solon - LC game in the future. I remember a while back in the late Gibbons or early Lombardo era, LC traveled to Solon to scrimmage the Comets for like 3 or 4 years.
Well, you never know. LC's first two game this year are the teams Solon closes the regular season with.
Sure would be cool to see a Solon - LC game in the future. I remember a while back in the late Gibbons or early Lombardo era, LC traveled to Solon to scrimmage the Comets for like 3 or 4 years.
Well, you never know. LC's first two game are the teams Solon closes the season with.
That's right. Solon and Lake did scrimmage a decade or so ago. Too bad they didn't meet in the regular season. Byron vs. Lombardo. That would have been a great coaching matchup. And the teams were tough, too.
I think Solon is going to be pretty good this year. There's enough talent back for one more strong season (I'm more worried about 2013). The Comets will be OK in the lines. From what I saw of young linemen like Ben Emery and Desmond Holmes, I believe they'll be good varsity players.
Some other players will emerge as standouts this year, like junior Brandon Byrd, who will start somewhere, either at QB or safety. I hope he wins the QB job, because that would free up Barksdale to play both safety and WR. Byrd is going to be a big-time star. His style of play is similar to Chris Humphrey's.
With Barksdale, Hicks, Crenshaw, Berry and Byrd, Solon will have as much speed and big-play ability as any team in the area.
Shiloh Smalls-Moore was underused last year but look for him to have a big senior season. He played DT as a soph and backed up at LB last year. I'd like to see him go back to DT, where his quickness would be a huge asset.
Solon vs. Mentor will be a great game this fall. It will go into overtime tied 63-63. May the better defense win.
Well I agree with the skill-speed players hopefully having outstanding seasons, but very possibly only if they get the push and holes to run to at the line of scrimmage. And downfield blocking at times will certainly help too. And without the penaltys calling back yardage gained too often.
Our passing game? Will it be a sprint out offense, wildcat, QB's running for their lives, or will their be some fairly consistent pass protection, and also the quarterbacks passing ability rising to the completion percentage needed.
On defense, besides Ryan Pastor at defensive end, who is going to step up to replace Hoff, Hill, Stock, and Dunn? And at linebacker, we need to replace Nick Davidson, a tackling machine, Reggie Jagers, Aaron Penn, and in the defensive backfield Schwenke, Stuart, and Kresevic, and Restifo. Looks like it leaves Berry, and Hanna, and possibly Smalls-Moore at linebacker, and Hicks at corner, plugging in possibly Barksdale, Byrd,? and/or others in the back seven that lost wonderful talent.
Those first three games next season will certainly tell a lot.
Well, Tim Warsinskey of the Plain Dealer gave his top five teams today and he has St. Ignatius 1., Solon 2.,St. Edward 3., Mentor 4., Cleveland Heights 5.
Evidently his list is most likely for top 5 Div.1, NE Ohio, at least that would be my guess. This is in his column this morning on page D2, titled "OHSAA getting on the right track", and is under "football talk" following the OHSAA part.
About St. Ignatius he says, "Twelve in '12? Wildcats try to make it an even dozen state titles while winning the 300th game for coach Chuck Kyle."
About Solon he says, "A deep team with a variety of weapons". ( What about the departed offensive and defensive lineman?)
About St. Edward he says, "Two great classes of lineman have graduated, but there might not be a faster team in the area."
About Mentor he says, "The Mitch Trubisky Show makes Mentor a football destination".
About Cleveland Heights he says, "All of the above have serious questions on defense. Cleveland Heights has answers."
I certainly do not disagree with anything he wrote, maybe just one item, andthat's just that I am concerned about Solon's lines. And replacing three defensive backs and a tackling machine middle linebacker. And I am pleased Tim put the Comets 2nd.
But I'm not sure I agree with that rating. Over the years, about 40 plus now, I have finally learned not to sell Solon short in pre-season predictions. But in all honesty, I have done so in a few past summers. Usually I was wrong, and this may be another time I will eat crow.
I hope so. Anyone out there care to share? GO COMETS!
Wow Warsinsky is a genius....so let me get this straight he thinks Ignatius and Eds are good and the school with the QB every BCS school wanted is also pretty good. And in other news Warsinsky predicts Christmas will be on Dec 25th this year.
Going to John Carroll Stadium tonight to see the East-West All Star game. Solon has Tre Barksdale, Austin Stock, and Cory Stuart playing. I thought Nate Hoff was picked to play but he isn't listed on the roster. Later.
Well Cory played at safety, Tre at wideout, but Austin was not in uniform due to a hamstring injury. East won 35-19 helped by three touchdown passes by Shaker Hts. Red Raider QB Connor Hall. Some outstanding play by both squads, but also 3 or 4 players thrown out for fighting. Big crowd again, and beautiful weather.
Terrick McKenney from Bedford was fabulous with two interceptions, one for a TD and the other with one hand, but I believe he got into it with the West safety Morgan, and both were thrown out after the penalty's in the 3rd quarter. The running back from Cleveland Central Catholic,Kahari Dickson, may have been the best player on the field last night. And he is going to St. Francis? Do they have a football team?
I would have posted this last night but left my rosters at the game.
Solon's cornerback, receiver, kick returner, Darian Hicks signs with Michigan State University joining teammate Tre Barksdale. Reported in Cleveland Plain Dealer today, Friday, June 21.
Not surprising. Best of luck to Darian. Especially @ Solon this season.
Nice article on Darian Hicks in yesterdays Chagrin Solon Sun newspaper. Mainly about his commitment to Michigan State, and that he might be playing cornerback early on up there in East Lansing. Also about his career so far @ Solon, and, of course his upcoming senior year.
Still no buzz on this thread, most likely will heat up during 7 on 7's, and then practice and scrimmage's in August.
My kids just completed the Solon Comet Football Camp. It was for the younger guys. I would just like to share what a class act it was. The coaches were hands on and very enthusiastic the entire week. A number of players were there to help out and the kids really thought that was cool. The student athletes were extremely patient with the kids and as a parent I was impressed and very grateful. A sincere thanks to everyone who made this camp possible. We will be back next year!
Solon will doubtless have a good year; how good they end up being depends in large part on what kind of lines they have and on how effective they are on offense.
The team will be talented this year however I am waiting to see what kind of gameplan the team has on offense. I would like to see the Comets put their guys on offense in positions where they can excel and develop into stars; by that I mean pick out the go-to plays, the go-to players, figure out individual strengths on the team like what side of the line the RB's are best at running behind. Solon has depth at RB however I would like to see them stick with a featured back and get some of the other guys comfortable playing other positions so we can feature a team dangerous at multiple positions and on defense in the secondary.
I am confident in the team's ability to be up to the task on defense. Guys need to take the time left in the summer to get in shape, stay hungry and be ready to begin the season in top form; this is a year in which the teams that put the greatest amount of time during the summer will stand out. There have been teams such as Glenville, St Eds and Ignatius that have periodically had such talented teams that they were able to overwhelm their opposition however this year the door is open for less heralded teams to emerge as the Region 1 Champ.
Looking ahead, I would like to see the coaches set a standard that is achieved year over year in terms of player and team development that isn't measured by wins and losses. It all goes back to the fundamentals of the team on the offensive and defensive lines, establishing player roles, making different players skills work in the most effective way possible, and putting it to work on the field. This strategy will help the Comets take the next big step forward in terms of the program's stature.
... this is a year in which the teams that put the greatest amount of time during the summer will stand out. There have been teams such as Glenville, St Eds and Ignatius that have periodically had such talented teams that they were able to overwhelm their opposition however this year the door is open for less heralded teams to emerge as the Region 1 champ.
This is a nice sentiment, but I don't think this a down year at all in Region I.
Fine post Thunderstruck. Dots the I's, and cross's the T's all right. I agree about the player usage and schemes but I'm still worried about the D-line. And yes, we certainly have to excel in weights, speed, and strength conditioning this year and onward.
We have the speed and skill kids, but it all has to be put together as you posted. Offense, defense, special teams, kicking game.
And pass offense? Um boy, 7 on 7's will be interesting.
Div. 1 Region 1 is a freaking bear. Year in, year out.
This is a nice sentiment, but I don't think this a down year at all in Region I.
I don't believe that Thunderstruck claimed it was a down year. I know you're feeling your oats, given St. Ignatius' championship last year. And I'm sure the Cats are this year's preseason favorite. But I believe that several teams are good enough to win the region. That will make it tougher for St. Ignatius to repeat.
Is Solon good enough to win the region? Yes, if the lines develop into solid units. I believe they will.
Linear Mode
