During the summer months, many escape to a beach or seek to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible while the weather is warm. While we look for a hot spot, our brains can’t but anticipate the autumn’s most exciting game– football.
In late August, high schools around the state will begin their journey through a season which will pit the area’s best against one another in the hot sun of the eighth month to the bitterly cold evenings of November. Before we gaze ahead, let’s look back at the 2010 season.
The Ursuline Irish captured their third consecutive state championship; a feat that only five other programs in the state of Ohio have been able to accomplish. Irish running back Akise Teague was honored by being named Mr. Ohio. Teague gained 492 all-purpose yards, a school record, against Lima Central Catholic in the State Semifinal. Ursuline dominated Coldwater in the title game, 51-21, at Canton Fawcett Stadium on December 4. During the Irish’s post-season run, UHS outscored their opponents 247-79.
Speaking of point differential, Sharpsville outscored their first seven opponents by a combined total score of 361-12. Only West Middlesex was able to put points on the board against the Blue Devil defense during those first seven weeks.
On September 17, Grove City tallied 91 points in their home opener against Franklin (91-12). The Eagles went undefeated during the regular season and won the Region 5 championship for the third straight year.
Mercer County rivals, Sharon and Farrell, both enjoyed success in 2010. The Tigers advanced in the Division II playoffs to the State Quarterfinals (lost to Forest Hills, 21-7). Sharon compiled a record of 11-3, while Farrell posted a 13-2 mark in Jarrett Samuel’s final year but came up short once again to Clairton in the Class A Western Finals, 48-8.
Fitch claimed sole possession of the Federal League Championship in 2010. Phil Annarella’s group won 10 games and advanced to the Regional Semifinals of Division I.
Jimmy Rasey ran for more yards than any other player in Trumbull County history. The former Southington Wildcat and Champion graduate starred at both programs to race for over 6,000 total rushing yards between the two schools.
Southern and United had never played a game past the tenth week until last season. First-year head coach Mike Skrinjar led the Indians to an 8-3 mark with one of the stingiest defenses in all of the area. Southern allowed just 12.5 points per game. Mike Ward returned to coach the Golden Eagles in 2010. United’s quarterback Josh McLaughlin was a Big-22 recipient as he threw for over 2,600 and ran for 1067 yards.
Campbell, under first-year head coach Mikey Sikora, won their first playoff game in twenty years when the Red Devils traveled to Purple Rider Stadium and took down Martins Ferry, 7-0, in the first round of the Division IV playoffs. Junior running back Ja-les Hughes gained 1601 yards on the ground last year.
McDonald advanced all the way to the Regional Final. This was the first time that the Blue Devils had won two post-season games in the same year.
With all of these great stories which have been written in the past year there will be so many more memories to come out of this fast approaching football season.
2010 Statistical LeadersPassing Leaders| Name | Class/School | COMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | TD/INT |
| 1. Josh McLaughlin | SR/United | 146 | 231 | 63.2 | 2627 | 23/11 |
| 2. Anthony Franco | JR/Lakeview, OH | 163 | 276 | 59.1 | 2359 | 15/11 |
| 3. Dan Graziano | JR/Girard | 106 | 193 | 54.9 | 1949 | 20/13 |
| 4. Jeff Clegg | JR/Western Reserve | 126 | 211 | 59.7 | 1754 | 19/3 |
| 5. Carter Hill | SR/Crestview | 112 | 173 | 64.7 | 1665 | 20/6 |
| 6. John Matarazzo | JR/New Castle | 109 | 206 | 52.9 | 1649 | 9/4 |
| 7. Mike Lopuchovsky | SR/Hubbard | 109 | 196 | 55.6 | 1563 | 15/6 |
| 8. Trent Toothman | SR/Salem | 100 | 172 | 58.1 | 1452 | 10/9 |
| 9. Paul Kempe | SR/Ursuline | 83 | 130 | 63.8 | 1417 | 9/5 |
| 10. Colin Reardon | JR/Poland | 126 | 213 | 59.2 | 1413 | 15/4 |
| 11. Lester Hughes | SR/Campbell | 103 | 196 | 52.6 | 1368 | 13/4 |
| 12. Tommy Kimbrough | SO/Struthers | 98 | 186 | 52.7 | 1283 | 7/14 |
| 13. David Buzzacco | SR/South Range | 76 | 162 | 46.9 | 1275 | 11/9 |
| 14. Matthias Tayala | SR/McDonald | 55 | 116 | 47.4 | 1140 | 13/4 |
| 15. Ryan Pollifrone | JR/Boardman | 82 | 145 | 56.6 | 1090 | 6/10 |
| 16. Bryce Baker | SR/Warren JFK | 92 | 178 | 51.7 | 1062 | 5/13 |
| 17. Austin Barbato | JR/Columbiana | 76 | 123 | 61.8 | 1061 | 5/4 |
| 18. Jeremy Jancso | SO/West Middlesex | 76 | 144 | 52.8 | 1045 | 8/7 |
| 19. Mikhail Seawood | SR/Harding | 65 | 122 | 53.3 | 1038 | 10/2 |
| 20. Zack Bailey | JR/Niles | 92 | 202 | 45.5 | 1007 | 6/12 |
Rushing Leaders| Rushing Leaders | Class/School | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD |
| 1. Akise Teague | SR/Ursuline | 229 | 2492 | 10.8 | 36 |
| 2. De'Veon Smith | SO/Howland | 217 | 1670 | 7.6 | 20 |
| 3. Marlon Pegues | SR/Hickory | 224 | 1649 | 7.4 | 18 |
| 4. Dan Skiba | SR/Mineral Ridge | 152 | 1647 | 10.8 | 25 |
| 5. Ja-les Hughes | JR/Campbell | 231 | 1601 | 6.9 | 17 |
| 6. Marc Martell | SR/Sharon | 224 | 1566 | 7.0 | 18 |
| 7. Jimmy Rasey | SR/Champion | 245 | 1449 | 5.9 | 21 |
| 8. Sutton Whiting | SR/Wilmington | 158 | 1438 | 9.1 | 21 |
| 9. Alex Patterson | SR/Lakeview, PA | 198 | 1407 | 7.1 | 9 |
| 10. Kevin Brodie | SR/Farrell | 127 | 1405 | 11.1 | 20 |
| 11. Trent Toothman | SR/Salem | 167 | 1293 | 7.7 | 20 |
| 12. Joe Hess | JR/Mercer | 140 | 1261 | 9.0 | 11 |
| 13. Demond Hymes | SR/Harding | 159 | 1209 | 7.6 | 16 |
| 14. Devan Miller | SR/Leetonia | 155 | 1158 | 7.5 | 10 |
| 15. Marcus Llewellyn | SR/Sharpsville | 123 | 1127 | 9.2 | 15 |
| 16. Carter Hill | SR/Crestview | 184 | 1104 | 6.0 | 13 |
| 17. Austin Barbato | JR/Columbiana | 168 | 1099 | 6.5 | 8 |
| 18. Demitrious Davis | JR/Fitch | 158 | 1091 | 6.9 | 19 |
| 19. Mike Black | SR/Greenville | 143 | 1083 | 7.6 | 10 |
| 20. Josh McLaughlin | SR/United | 189 | 1065 | 5.6 | 12 |
Receiving Leaders| Receiving Leaders | Class/School | REC | YDS | AVG | TD |
| 1. Ryan Powell | SR/United | 65 | 1248 | 19.2 | 14 |
| 2. Dayne Hamoond | JR/Boardman | 53 | 689 | 13.0 | 7 |
| 3. Darius Patton | SR/Poland | 49 | 800 | 16.3 | 12 |
| 4. Riley Sheptock | SR/Western Reserve | 47 | 737 | 15.6 | 6 |
| 5. Zach Penick | JR/Salem | 43 | 600 | 13.9 | 3 |
| 6. Carl Broadbent | SR/Warren JFK | 41 | 568 | 13.9 | 4 |
| 7. Toma Leveto | SR/Lakeview, OH | 38 | 720 | 19.0 | 8 |
| 8. Landon Smith | SR/Girard | 37 | 928 | 25.1 | 12 |
| 9. Akise Teague | SR/Ursuline | 35 | 842 | 24.1 | 8 |
| T-10. Richard Bledsoe | SR/Campbell | 34 | 562 | 15.0 | 6 |
| T-10. Danny Duvall | SR/Hubbard | 34 | 480 | 14.1 | 5 |
| T-10. Kevin McDonald | SR/Struthers | 34 | 446 | 13.1 | 2 |
| 13. Phillip Arsufi | SR/South Range | 32 | 629 | 19.7 | 6 |
| T-14. Marcus Carter | JR/New Castle | 31 | 570 | 18.4 | 4 |
| T-14. Elijah Henderson | SO/Lakeview, OH | 31 | 533 | 17.2 | 2 |
Defensive Leaders| Tackle Leaders | Class/School | Tackles |
| 1. Justin Yuran | SR/Sharon | 190.0 |
| 2. Jared Knopp | JR/East Palestine | 164.0 |
| 3. Jesse Curry | JR/Ursuline | 143.5 |
| 4. Mike Lopuchovsky | SR/Hubbard | 132.0 |
| 5. Jamar Whitman | SR/Farrell | 130.0 |
| 6. Dan Popio | JR/Boardman | 129.0 |
| 7. Kyle Richey | SR/Girard | 127.0 |
| 8. Trevor Smith | JR/Ursuline | 120.5 |
| T-9. Zack Miller | JR/LaBrae | 113.0 |
| T-9. John Sikora | SR/Campbell | 113.0 |
| Interception Leaders | Class/School | INT |
| 1. Kevin Brodie | SR/Farrell | 9 |
| T-2. Kenny Pozega | JR/Howland | 7 |
| T-2. Lucas Reddick | SR/Lakeview, PA | 7 |
| T-4. Josh McLaughlin | SR/United | 5 |
| T-4. Darius Patton | SR/Poland | 5 |
| QB Sack Leaders | Class/School | QB Sacks |
| 1. Keil'n Thurston | SR/Ursuline | 17.0 |
| 2. Tony Osborne | JR/Howland | 13.5 |
| T-3. C.J. Collins | JR/Crestview | 9.0 |
| T-3. Derrick Riehl | JR/Crestview | 9.0 |
| T-5. Dante DeLorenzo | SR/Canfield | 8.0 |
| T-5. Tom Marnejon | SR/Crestview | 8.0 |
| T-5. Dylan Taylor | SO/Lakeview, PA | 8.0 |
Special thanks to each program which submitted their statistics. The stats above were turned in by the team's statistician, head coach, athletic director, or in the case of the All-American Conference, Joe Mogulich. Various teams submitted stats which included post-season results while others sent in their regular season statistics.
