Tag Archive for: State Champions

WORDS TO LIV BY

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CANFIELD, OH- Liv Meli, a senior volleyball player for South Range High School, sits down with DJ Yokley for an interview on YSN. Liv reflects on her four years of playing volleyball and how fast it has gone by. As a senior, she has taken on a leadership role on the team, emphasizing the importance of being a team player and bringing energy to the court.

When asked about where she learned confidence, Liv credits her parents for always encouraging her to be confident and put herself out there. Although she admits that she is not the loudest person, she tries her best to be confident. Liv’s sister, who is younger but has a big personality, has also been a role model for her in terms of confidence.

Liv discusses the importance of having fun during games and how it contributes to the team’s energy on the court. She mentions that when her teammates are there to support and uplift her, she can switch into a more assertive mode during games. Despite facing tough competition throughout the season, Liv sees it as a learning experience and believes that the team’s strong bond and Coach Iron’s support will contribute to their success.

Off the court, Liv shares a close bond with her sister, often going out for coffee or food together. She mentions their love for Starbucks and going to restaurants like Olive Garden. Liv expresses her gratitude for her family’s support, highlighting how they are always there for her through ups and downs.

When asked about one quality from each of her parents that she would like to adopt, Liv admires her mom’s caring nature and her dad’s confidence. She appreciates how her mom always tries to make everyone happy, while her dad encourages her to put herself out there and not worry about what others think.

Outside of volleyball, Liv enjoys shopping and often goes on spontaneous shopping trips with her sister. She mentions that she loves browsing both online and in physical stores, appreciating the experience of looking around.

Overall, Liv’s profile showcases her dedication, leadership, and the importance of having fun both on and off the volleyball court. With the support of her teammates, coach, and family, Liv has high hopes for the team’s success in the upcoming season.

 

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CANFIELD CROWNED CHAMPIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

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CANTON, OH- The Canfield Cardinals played on the big stage in the division three state championship game at Tom Benson Hall Of Fame Stadium. Canfield faced a very big Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs team that came in winning 14 straight games after a week one loss. Senior quarterback Broc Lowry led the Cardinals both on the ground and through the air with four touchdowns to guide the Cardinals to its first ever state championship, 35-14.

The Cardinals got on the board first with a 13 play, 57 yard drive capped off by a Lowry touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. The Cardinals would strike again late in the first half with a 7:03 drive, with Lowry scoring another rushing touchdown from three yards out to lead 14-0. The Bulldogs put together a game saving drive at the end of the second quarter, driving 64 yards down the field in just 2:42 to score there first TD on a 3 yard reception by Brodyn Bishop. The Bulldogs scored with :15 seconds left in the half to cut it down to 14-7.

Both teams would punt on there opening drives of the third quarter, but the Cardinals scored late in the third with Lowry’s third rushing touchdown to make it 21-7. The Canfield defense would force a quick punt late in the third quarter, to send the game into the final 12 minutes up 21-7. Canfield came out of the timeout with some trickery, Canfield wide receiver Paul Bindas received a hand off, then pitched it back to quarterback Broc Lowry who took it 69 yards down the sideline to the house.

The Bulldogs put together a drive to the Canfield 22 yard line, until defensive linemen Caden Kohout picked off the quarterback and took it all the way to the Bloom-Carroll 30 yard line. Canfield took advantage of the turnover with another touchdown, this time from Lowry to Dom Marzano to make it 35-7 with 6:06 left in the fourth. Bloom-Carroll would score one more time with a Chase Plantz one yard touchdown run to make it 35-14. The Cardinals took a knee on the next drive to win the programs first ever state championship by a final of 35-14.

Head Coach Mike Pavlansky has been the head football coach at Canfield for 22 years. Here are the emotions and thoughts of coach Pav after the state championship victory:

Broc Lowry led Canfield throwing for 95 yards and a touchdwon, while killing Bloom-Carroll on the ground with 24 rushes for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tailback Danny Inglis had 14 carries for 63 yards and 4 receptions for 43 yards. The Cardinals finished the season 14-1, and will go down in history as the first ever Canfield team to win a state championship.

BACK TO THE FUTURE; POLAND LOOKS FOR SIMILAR RESULT 20 YEARS LATER

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By Scott Mincher’

 

If you currently attend, previously attended and played for Poland Seminary high school, Or you’re just a fan of the football program excitement is palpable throughout the village of Poland Ohio in 2019. That’s because of the great stretch of football the Bulldogs are currently in the middle of, Most recently the 35-0 shellacking of Indian Creek as they continue their march toward what players, coaches, and fans hope ends with a state championship celebration. Speaking of Poland Seminary and state championship celebrations, It only seems to fit that if we’re talking about Poland bringing home another title to the area, We remember the scary good 1999 Bulldogs during the twentieth anniversary of that dominant title team. On December 3rd, 1999 Poland Seminary beat Bishop Watterson 20-13 for the state championship finishing the season at 15-0. Not only did they go undefeated, but they did so in style. That season if you include the playoffs, Poland outscored their opponents 350-102 starting with a 42-0 week 1 smashing of Springfield. The closest game they played that season was to the tune of a 23-21 victory over Steubenville in the playoffs. You can view the full 1999 schedule and game results via joeeitel.com As far as records and achievements go in connection with 1999 Bulldogs football, halfback Peter Perry As a senior caption of the football team was named the team’s offensive player of the year and was chosen first-team All-MAC and All Quad County. As a junior, Pete had 2,500 total yards on offense and was the team’s offensive player of the year. The 1999 football team finished the season with the state of Ohio’s first 15-0 record and the school’s first and only state championship. Peter was the MVP of the state title game. He was also picked First Team All Ohio and All-Northeast Ohio. He played his final high school game representing Poland at the Penn-Ohio All-Star game.

Pete was also a four-year letterman in track and field and was a member of the 199 track and field state championship team.  Additionally, Pete played on the Poland High School club hockey team for three years.

In August 2005, Pete graduated from Youngstown State University with a BSBA in international marketing. He worked for Ball Corporation as a sales representative while earning his MBA in international business from Keller Graduate School of Business. he also worked for Ardagh Group, an international packaging company, as a technical sales manager. Peter played running back for the Bulldogs from 1998-2001. He also holds individual records for All-Purpose Yards 5067 (1998/1999/2000 rushing attempts with 326 (1999) total points 144 (1999) 228 from (1998/1999/2000) Touchdowns scored with 24 in 1999 and 38 for his career during the (1998/1999/2000) seasons, and yards rushing with 2449 during the championship season and 4004 yards rushing for his career during the (1998/1999/2000) seasons.

The second and last character we at YSN thought would make for a vital and important piece to the story is the quarterback of the 1999 champion Bulldogs, Ben Bair. Ben achieved First Team All Ohio honors while throwing his way into the Poland high school football record books with 2,345 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes. In the years after Bair and Perry’s playing days, it’s been debated by writers covering that time of the glory days of Poland football as to which player was more of a key piece to that team’s championship puzzle. For more on this, read the Letter To The Editor posted on July 15th, 2010 on towncrieronline.com.

It’s always fun to play the hypothetical game and in this case, it does make me wonder if Poland’s 2019 head coach Ryan Williams sees any similarities to Peter Perry in current running back Josh Alessi who finished with 143 yards and three scores on 25 carries in the victory over Indian Creek. Or if it feels at all like 1999 with current quarterback Jack Fulton and his knack for big playmaking that Ben Bair made a common theme in 99?

This current collection of dogs still have a lot of work to do. But they seem very confident that the big bite in these dogs is back as they look to party like it’s 1999!

 

Video Copyright: YouTube