Three-Point Sance: Wahama Wears The Target With Pride

http://woub.org/2013/08/16/three-point-sance-wahama-wears-target-pride

Coming off of a state championship might present challenges to some teams in terms of motivation, but Mason County’s own, the Wahama White Falcons, are back on the grind. After going 10-0 in the regular season, and bulldozing their way through West Virginia’s finest in the Class A state tournament, Wahama defeated Madonna High School by a score of 43-42 to take the title, finishing at 14-0. Now Ed Cromley, in his 19th year at the helm of the team, is working his boys back into championship form.

1. Returning the Big Boys

The White Falcons lose some important pieces, The most glaring of which is First team All-TVC-Hocking Quarterback Trenton Gibbs. White Falcon fans don’t have too much to worry about, though, as transfer Hunter Bradley will step in at the quarterback position for Wahama after a Class AA first team all-state selection for Roane County in the 2012 season. A year ago, The White Falcons ran all over TVC-Hocking defenses, putting up 45.5 points per game in conference play. Wahama returns all five starting offensive linemen from a year ago, all of whom factor to see some time on the defensive line as well.

Colten Neal and Kane Roush (an All-State First Team selection after rushing for 1,803 yards and 30 touchdowns) will likely see a majority of the carries this year. With a primarily rushing offense (exemplified for example by when they rushed for 551 yards in the first round of the state playoffs versus Buffalo), there will be a mix of hard-nosed between the tackles rushing, and explosive plays turned in by a number of talented White Falcons.

2. A Stout Defense

After shutting down opposing offenses, the 2013 Wahama White Falcons defense comes back looking for more of the same. Allowing 15.6 points per game in conference play in the 2012 season continued an ongoing trend of lockdown defense in the Cromley era, and Coach isn’t changing a lot to maintain that. Zack Killingsworth will return to hold down the Wahama defensive line (while anchoring the offensive line as well). They don’t throw too many confusing looks at opposing offenses; they focus on the fundamentals that they work on, on a daily basis in practice.

3. Business as Usual

After achieving success since the early 2000’s (Wahama has consistently been a fixture in the West Virginia state football playoffs), winning is nothing new in Mason, West Virginia. It’s something locals have come to expect year in and year out. Wahama sent off six seniors after their state championship and returned 11 more to be the new leaders this season. Cromley was adamant that the team would not change much, and would make adjustments whenever they saw fit. In three years of TVC-Hocking play, Cromley’s bunch has yet to lose to a conference foe. 31 straight regular season victories isn’t usually something that comes about as a result of constant change. Really, there doesn’t seem to be much change in this Wahama program at all. It’s really just the same old Wahama team. And the sky is still the limit for the White Falcons.

Wahama opens its season at home and out of conference against Fayetteville (W.Va.) Friday Aug. 30.

Three-Point Stance: Fed Hock Rises To The Top

http://woub.org/2013/08/15/three-point-stance-fed-hock-rises-top

A year after their first winning season in recent memory the Federal Hocking Lancers are hungry. The Lancers produced a 6-4 record (5-3 in the TVC-Hocking) in the 2012 season. It was a step up for a perennially losing football school. Coach Phil Hoffman’s group narrowly missed the playoffs, with a strong chance of getting there before falling to the Eastern Eagles in Week 9. After going into the Eastern game with a 6-2 record and then falling two weeks in a row, it was a tough pill to swallow for the Lancers.

Now with two-a-days in full swing, the Lancers return 18 starters and have seen their numbers jump to 30 players. On top of that, the coaching staff has nine coaches (adding four in the offseason), which has helped players receive priceless instruction.

1. The Boys are Back

Among the nine returning starters on offense is much of the skill position talent for the Lancers, including halfback Peyton Seel, fullback Delbert Crum and receiver Alfie Nichols. Operating once again out of a Pistol-Spread offense, Crum and Seel look to eclipse their combined 717 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground from a year ago. Nichols gained 331 yards through the air in 2012 and will be a big fixture in the 2013 offense. With increased depth on the O-Line, this squad has the potential to put up some points in conference play.

2.  Defending the Castle

The Fed Hock defense stifled opponents in 2012, posting five games in which they held foes to seven points or less. With nine defensive starters returning, the Lancers figure to post school records on the defensive side of the ball. Crum held down the line as a defensive end on his way to First Team D-V All-Southeast District honors. Seel proved to be another two-way player who hauled in some hardware for his efforts, largely due to the fact that he gathered nearly 20 Quarterback sacks with easily over 100 tackles.

3. Hungry For More

Federal Hocking is focused on showing that last year was no fluke. They want another shot at the teams they lost to a year ago -- teams like Alexander (lost 22-21) and Eastern (lost 25-23). They also want to prove they belong on the same field as Trimble and Wahama after losing both games last season by a combined score of 65-14.

The Lancers have something to prove and they’ve practiced with hunger in their eyes. Seel in particular wants to do more than just make the playoffs. “I want to go there and win a playoff game,” he said. Something a Fed Hock team has never done.  Nichols was adamant as well. “These two-a-days are a lot harder than what we went through last year. We want to win the big ones.”

Coach Hoffman was confident about the possibility.

“We’re really, really pushing these kids to another level, to believe in themselves,” he said. “I think we have the athleticism, even though we only have around 30 kids on our roster, to really make a big push this year throughout the season, and hopefully we’re playing in November.”

The folks of Stewart may be in for a treat with their Lancers this upcoming season. In each of the first six weeks of 2013 schedule, Federal Hocking takes on a squad that posted a losing record a year ago, preparing it for a loaded second half that includes Eastern, Trimble and Wahama. Hoffman’s squad is hungry and it’s chomping at the bit for Friday nights.

Fed Hock’s 2013 campaign begins with a rematch of last saeson’s one-point loss to Alexander, Thursday, Aug. 29 in Albany.

2013 MAC Soccer Season Preview: Central Michigan

http://www.hustlebelt.com/cmu/2013/8/14/4614676/2013-central-michigan-soccer-preview

Coming off the first At-Large NCAA Soccer tournament bid in MAC history, the Central Michigan Chippewas will be playing with heavy hearts. This season will be a rough go at it for the Chippewas after losing one of their own in a car crash earlier this month. Sophomore Josie Seebeck passed away after sustaining injuries in a car accident. Two other players were also involved in the car accident.

On top of tragedy, Central Michigan is adjusting to life under new coach Peter McGahey, who took over after Neil Stafford took a job with Cincinnati in the offseason.

McGahey comes in with a career 74-21-13 record, all while at Minnesota State.

The Chippewas have to push through and find a way to reach the success they had last year, minus seven starters, as well as Seebeck. After a 15-7-1 season (and a second place MAC finish with a 10-2 record) expectations will continue to be high.

On a team losing a great deal of experience, junior goalkeeper Grace Labrecque returns, having played in 17 matches over the last two years. She will replace Stefanie Turner, a mainstay in the Central Michigan net over the last four years. Laura Gosse also heads into her junior season with many reasons to be optimistic. With five goals a year ago (and with 17 points contributed over the last two seasons) she is the Chippewas highest returning goal scorer from 2012.

Jennifer Gassman will be one of six returning seniors and her leadership will be critical in determining where this team goes. The Senior forward sits in a tie for 10th in school history in career goals with 10, and has seen her shots on goal percentage go up each year in Mount Pleasant. With all of this, Gassman is poised for a break out final year.

Returning in the midfield are senior Tory Kinniard, and Sophomore Christen Chiesa, the sophomore from Pittsburgh, contributed enough to be named to the All-MAC Freshman team. Senior Kaely Schlosser also returns in the midfield, having recorded eight points in 2012.

Estee Outcalt looks to head the defense, a smart player in her own (an Academic All-MAC a year ago). She will be joined by a committee of mostly young players looking to earn some minutes in the back of the Central Michigan defense.

The Chippewas won’t make it easy on themselves as far as scheduling goes. Out of conference foes include Detroit, and Dayton at home, while crunched in between those matches are a stretch of six road matches against the likes of West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Washington, Ohio State, and Indiana. And in the next to last week of the season, they will take on conference foes and defending MAC champions, the Miami RedHawks on the road, on October 25th.

Three-Point Stance: South Gallia Builds on Late Success

http://woub.org/2013/08/14/three-point-stance-south-gallia-builds-late-success

The South Gallia Rebels’ 2012 season saw them lose their first eight games but finish strong with two wins, a possible sign of things to come in Crown City.

Here are three things to know about the 2013 South Gallia Rebels

1. Carrying Momentum Over on Offense

In Week 9 of the 2012 season, an 0-8 Rebels squad won its final conference game against Waterford, 20-14. A week later, Ethan Spurlock ran for 196 yards on 21 carries to propel the Rebels to a 34-14 win over Manchester in their final game of the season. Spurlock went on to earn All-TVC-Hocking recognition. South Gallia looks to replicate the success it had in its last two contests and play that type of ball in the upcoming season. If it can do so, it could greatly improve upon the 13.6 points per game it recorded a year ago.

Coach Jason Peck’s squad will continue to pound the football between the tackles and around the end. Senior right guard Mikey Wheeler, who plays a big role as a leader on the offensive line, will open up holes for returning runners Spurlock and Jacob White.

2. Picking it Up on Defense

Even after jumping from 19 players to 30, the Rebels will play multiple players on both sides of the ball, with several talented players starting on the defense. The Rebels do in fact need to find a way to retain the effort they gave in the last two weeks a year ago. The defense turned it its two best performances of the season, giving up just 14 points both weeks. Before those games, the Rebels had surrendered on average 44.4 points per game. Peck hopes to get the defense turned around to showcase more efforts like the last two.

3. Hard Work Pays Off

Peck talked about how excited he was for the players and the offseason habits that they’ve brought into the new season.

“(We have) 15 kids benching now 200 pounds at least, and seven over 260,” he said. “All kinds of strong squatters and deadlifters. Everyone is faster. That’s our strength and what we put our bread and butter on.”

White, a leader in the weight room who earned a spot on the all-TVC-Hocking team last year as a Linebacker and fullback, exemplifies this increased strength with the work he has put in, as he is far and away one of strongest players on the team. It is this attitude and dedication that could propel the team forward in the TVC-Hocking.

South Gallia kicks off the 2013 season at East High School on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m.