Tag Archive for: Struthers

STRUTHERS VS. WEST BRANCH PREVIEW

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By Radar Pavlov

It’s going to be a big-time barn burner this Friday Night at Clinton Heacock Stadium in Beloit when Division IV Region 13 #1 Seed West Branch Warriors plays host to that region’s #8 Seed Struthers Wildcats in Ohio High School Athletics Association Football Division IV Region 13 Quarterfinals. The winner of Struthers-West Branch will move on to Division IV Region 13 Semifinals against the winner of the game between Akron Buchtel and Canal Fulton Northwest on Saturday, November 12.

Here is a scouting report on those 2 fine teams

Division IV Region 13 #8 Seed Struthers Wildcats (7-4)

Struthers has one of the most potent rushing offenses in the Mahoning Valley. Last Friday night in their first-round win over Ashtabula Edgewood, 49-16, the running tandem of senior quarterback Alex Grzyb aka “Grzyb the Great” and fellow senior running back Tyler Sanchez ran for a combined 266 rushing yards (Grzyb for 163 yards, Sanchez for 103 yards) while the Wildcats gained 486 yards of total offense.

They have a defense that can cause some havoc with some opponents offensive game plans, and last Friday Night was no exception when the Struthers defense created 4 Ashtabula Edgewood turnovers.

Struthers has won their last 6 games since beginning the 2022 season with a 1-4 mark, Their 4 losses came against teams who all made the playoffs, including the two teams that are still playing in Week 12 (Geneva and South Range).

A week ago, the ‘Cats won their first post-season game since 2013 (def. Lakeview, 14-3).

Struthers is making their fifth playoff appearance in the last seven years.

In John Bayuk’s third season, his Wildcats have more games (7) than the entire 2020 and 2021 (6) seasons combined.

Thru 11 Weeks (Struthers)

Scoring Offense: 33.9 Scoring Defense: 19.4

Division IV Region 13 #1 Seed West Branch Warriors (10-1)

West Branch has one of the most prolific offenses in the Valley in 2022.

With their win over Salem two weeks ago, West Branch clinched their third outright Eastern Buckeye Conference championship in a row. During a 3-year stretch (2020-22), the Warriors have accumulated a record of 31-4.

– Most wins in a three-year span at West Branch

1992-94 – 32 wins

2020-22 – 31 wins

1993-95 – 30 wins

1990-92 – 29 wins

West Branch has won 10 consecutive games since falling to Canfield in week one (35-31).

In their Week 11 win, West Branch crushed Mogadore Field, 52-20, behind a big day from Boston Mulinix (117 rushing yards) and Beau Alazaus (filling in for the injured Dru DeShields, 242 yards passing, 5 total touchdowns) among others.

West Branch has now compiled back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time since 1990-91 when coach Jim Laut’s teams won the Northeastern Buckeye Conference and advanced to the playoffs. Back then in 1990 and 1991, it would make a team to make the top 4 in any region in OHSAA Divisions I, II, III, IV, and V to qualify for the football playoffs.

Thru 11 Weeks (West Branch)

Scoring Offense: 45.9 Scoring Defense: 20.0

Keys to the Game

Alex Grzyb vs. Dru DeSheilds – Both are fine senior QB’s. Whoever makes the least mistakes will determine the winner.

Who Can Make the Big Plays? – Both schools are capable of the big play on both sides of the ball. Who can make enough big plays that will decide the game?

In The Zone – Both Struthers and West Branch are in the zone as in winning streaks: West Branch (10) and Struthers (6). One of these winning streaks will continue into Week 13 next week.

If you can’t be at Clinton Heacock Stadium in Beloit this Friday with kickoff time at 7 p.m., you can catch it LIVE on YSN Live Pay Per View, it costs you $9.99 during the OHSAA Football Playoffs. Air time for Struthers vs. West Branch on YSN Live is 6:50 p.m.

Catch me again for another On The Radar article on YSNLive.com.  I’m Radar Pavlov reporting.

WILDCATS WILL NOT BE STOPPED

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STRUTHERS OH- Both teams were back in the playoffs with a winning record and both teams looked to prove to one another just who can come out on top and make noise in Division four region 13.  For Struthers, this was the first winning season under coach John Bayuk, who had coached this team from a one and four record all the way to a six and four regular season finish.  For Edgewood, coach Olajuwon Cooper gave the Warriors their first winning season since 2012 and looked to pull off the upset at the Laddie J Fedor Fieldhouse.  Struthers and Edgewood have bet four times before with the Wildcats outlasting them (48-22, 30-7, 35-0, and 59-6).  

 

Struthers got on the first big play in which they recovered the opening kickoff.  Few plays later and star senior Alec Grzyb took the QB option into the endzone for a touchdown going up 7-0 early.  Next possession, it was Tyler Sanchez, part of the three headed backs in the backfield who took the handoff from Grzyb and went five yard making it 14-0.  Grzyb scored two more times in the first half.  The first took one play before he made a few men miss, going 78-yards to the endzone, and then in the second quarter from 54-yards out making it 27-0.  To end the half, the ground and puns game continued with Anthony Carter who after only one play shot up the middle for an 86-yard touchdown as the score was now 34-0 at the half.  

 

Coach Cooper and the Warriors were in desperate need for a second half turnaround and tried to make the biggest comeback.  Unfortunately that thought was short-lived.  Most of the second team came into the game, getting some playoff experience for when some of these players take the starting roles next year.  Sanchez scored for his final play of the night making it 41-0 and even the young Kendis Macleod made some noise scoring a touchdown late going up 49-0.  Junior Najier Howard would come into play at quarterback  to get reps at this time too. 

 

Edgewood scored two late touchdowns, preventing a shutout.  Senior quarterback Tony Hall would find Austin Zak twice, one in the back of the endzone from 14-yards and the second for a gain of 45.  It would not be enough to make the comeback as the Warriors, with their best season since 2012 under coach Cooper, finished off the season with a 6-5 record, falling against the Wildcats 49-14.  This team has a bright future where they look to make noise in 2023.  

 

Struthers Stats: 

Alec Grzyb: 2 of 2 for 48 yards passing 

 

8 rushes, 163 yards and three touchdowns 

 

Tyler Sanchez: 8 rushes for 103 yards and three touchdowns 

 

Anthony Carter: 5 rushes for 116 yards and a touchdown. 

 

Kendis Macleod: 12 rushes for 41 yards, one touchdown. 

 

Devin Braham: two rushes for 16 yards. 

 

Chaz Ekoniak: two receptions for 48 yards. 

 

Edgewood stats: 

Tony Hall: 21 of 37 for 207 yards and two touchdowns. 

 

Zeke Lucas: 12 rushes for 46 yards 

 

Christian Cunningham: four receptions for 41 yards. 

 

Austin Zall: three receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns.  

 

Jacob Ernst: three receptions for 28 yards.  

 

Up Next: 

9th seeded Edgewood finished their season with a 6-5 record in DIV region 13 and will look to build off that success for the 2023 season.  

 

8th seeded Struthers (7-4, 5-2 in NE8) will make the trip to Clinton Heacock Stadium to take on the number one seeded West Branch Warriors (10-1, 5-0 in Northeastern Buckeye).  

 

After the game, YSNs Ian O’Brien caught up with the winning coach John Bayuk about his first playoff victory, and the way they were able to capitalize early on for the victory.  

 

*contributed by YSNs Ian O’Brien*




GRZYB THE GREAT!

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STRUTHERS OH- The Struthers Wildcats have produced tons of talents in Mahoning county.  From Steve Belichick and John Gerak who played in the NFL, to A.J. Musolino and Robbie Best.  One player making his name known in the halls is senior running back, quarterback and receiver Alex Grzyb.  

 

Grzyb, a great student off the field and even a better athlete on the field, has been one of the stars on this Struthers team in 2022.  Early on, the season started with a one and four record.  Over the last five games however, Grzyb and the Wildcats have put on a clinic with five straight wins, two against NE8 conference rivals and the top teams in DIV region 13 in Jefferson and Girard.  

 

Grzyb is a two sport athlete in football and has also shown big promises on the baseball field in the past seasons.  This season, Grzyb has thrown for a touchdown with over 200 yards, has rushed for 888 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season and has had 246 receiving yards with five touchdowns as well as 88 yards on punt returns, returning one for a touchdown.  Some people can excel at one position, few can excel at two, even fewer can claim three. Grzyb’s goal is to take it one game at a time to lead the Wildcats to a State Championship once it’s all said and done.  The only state banner in the school’s gym is the 1978 girls basketball team.  But Grzyb looks to have two state banners of his own by the end of his career. 

 

On this edition of the player profile, YSNs Ian O’Brien sits down, discusses his football and baseball career, the family and their support and what to expect against Edgewood Friday.  The Wildcats will host Edgewood 7pm Friday and can be live streamed on YSN!!

 

*contributed by YSNs Ian O’Brien*

Presented By:

 

STRUTHERS FOOTBALL COACH’S CORNER (EP 3) WITH JOHN BAYUK

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STRUTHERS OH- The 2000s era to now has been up and down for the struthers wildcats. After the 1999 season where the team finished 7-5 under Gary Zetts, the team went 12 seasons without making the playoffs until Curt Kuntz second season with the team. After Kuntz left in 2019 to be on the coaching staff for the Miami Dolphins under then head coach Brian Flores, the team needed a new leader. Bring in John Bayuk, who was the defensive coordinator under Kuntz the last three seasons. He also coached for the Campbell Memorial Red Devils under his father/ Hall Of Fame coach Jeff Bayuk who is now the head coach at Warren JFK.

His first season was tough when he was appointed as just two months in, the season for the wildcats and all high school sports looked to have been in jeopardy after the lockdown of the pandemic in 2020. The season did continue as planned a little differently with their only being six games and everyone making the playoffs. In his first season, the Wildcats finished two and five, losing to Salem in the playoffs 34-19. The next season, the Wildcats finished 4-6, missing the new 16 seed playoffs. This year, looked to have been the same, until Bayuk and his talented group of kids won five straight and last week beating Poland 35-7, locking them into the playoffs with eighth seed.

On this coach’s corner, Ian O’Brien talks with coach John Bayuk about the season, the big win to lock them into the playoffs and what to expect against Edgewood this Friday. The 8th seed Wildcats (6-4) will host the 9th seed Edgewood Warriors (6-4) 7pm at Laddie J Fedor Field. You can catch the game on YSN under NE8 and Struthers.

*contributed by YSNs Ian O’Brien*

Presented By:

 

 

SCRAMBLING FOR STRUTHERS

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STRUTHERS, OH- From the fairway to the gridiron, Struthers standouts Chaz Ekoniak and Brady Clyde have set the expectation for area dual-sport student-athletes.

Ekoniak is a birdie machine on the links, owning local golf championships for the last few years and becoming one of the area’s most dangerous receivers on Friday nights.

For Brady Clyde, he drains the trenches on gameday, as well as drains big putts on the green for the Wildcat golf team.

What most people don’t realize or understand isn’t that these two are just ON the team, but are MAJOR contributors to the culture, leadership, and success of these teams.

We caught up with the dynamic duo to discuss what things have been like for them to “trUSt the climb” while being able to be great teammates, friends and student-athletes at the same time in this week’s YSN Player Profile: Scrambling for Struthers.

PRESENTED BY

STRUTHERS FOOTBALL COACH’S CORNER (EP 2) WITH JOHN BAYUK

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STRUTHERS OH- Do not look now, but The Struthers Wildcats have clawed their way back into the playoffs! Following a near-detrimental 1-4 start to the regular season that included two overtime losses, things were looking bleak for Struthers faithful. However, an emphatic 41-3 victory at home against Lakeview got The Cats right back on track. Collecting big conference wins against Jefferson, Niles and Girard in the weeks to follow, The Wildcats have now rattled off four straight wins to get themselves to 5-4 on the year.

More importantly, Struthers has clinched a playoff berth after the win against #2 ranked Girard in Region 13 at the time. Although in the playoffs, The Wildcats have an opportunity to host a game in Struthers, providing they can take care of business in Week 10. Their opponent? The Poland Bulldogs (5-4) coming off a spoiled senior night courtesy of The Jefferson Falcons. It will be a battle as old as the test of times its Cats vs. Dogs in Week 10 on YSN!

Get yourself ready with this YSN EXCLUSIVE interview with Struthers Football Head Coach John Bayuk as he stops by to chat with Ty on Running Point. Highlighting the season turnaround, the locker room discussions and the preparation for Poland. All that and more on this edition of Coaches Corner.

*Contributed By YSN’s Ty Bartell

Presented By:

WEST BRANCH WAVES BY WILDCATS

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BELOIT OH- The Lady Warriors soccer team made quick work of the Struthers Wildcats on a cold Wednesday night rolling to a 10-0 victory in an OHSAA Sectional Final.  West Branch is now 13-0-3 on the season.

The Warriors scored nine first half goals and tacked on one more in the second half in the victory.  Earning the shutout in goal was the combination of Zoe Sanders and Hayden Mesler.

West Branch had contributions from a number of players including six different goal scorers.  Leading the way were Chloe Dennison and Daphne Snyder who each had hat tricks for the Green and White.  Also scoring were Lauren Gossett, Makenna Lins, Sophia Gregory, and Kennedy Berger.

Lins, Gregory, and Gossett each also had assists while Bri Thomas contributed an assist as well.

With the win the Warriors move on to the District Semifinals and will play host to EBC rival seventh seeded Alliance at 6 PM on Monday October 24th.  Tickets will only be available via the OHSAA.  See the main page for more information when they are available.

*Contributed By Ryan Wolf at wbathletics.org

WILDCATS POUNCE ON GIRARD

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GIRARD OH- Week 9 of the high school football season provided what might have been the game of the year in the Northeast 8 Conference between the No. 2 ranked Girard Indians and the climbing No. 16 ranked Struthers Wildcats.

These two run first teams left it all on the gridiron Friday night, but it was the Wildcats who had the last cheer in the contest. Struthers led by the Week 7 Big Dog of the Valley Alec Grzyb would march down the field six times to score the football against a stout Girard defense.

Both defenses earned a stop on the first drive of the night, but each would give up a touchdown on the second drive. Grzyb missed the extra point however and the Wildcats would trail in the first quarter 7-6 for quite some time. That was until Grzyb, Anthony Carter, Tyler Sanchez, and Najier Howard would head down the field once more to grab another touchdown and a 2-point conversion to tie the game after the Indians had found the endzone a few drives earlier on a Stephen Sims touchdown. They went to halftime all tied up at 14-a-piece.

Out of the gate in the second half Girard attempted an onside kick that would go out of bounds after making it past the first line of the Struthers return unit. Struthers with the ball at the fifty-yard line would take it straight to the endzone and earn their first lead of the night on an 11-yard Anthony Carter run. They would attempt to throw on the 2-point conversion and would not make it so they led 20-14.

Girard found the endzone twice via Stephen Sims in the first half, but they forced to make a quarterback change in the second half as Sims did not see any action. Sophomore quarterback Dominick Tollone took the reigns of the Indians offense and would quickly answer the score of the Wildcats finding the solemnly used tight end in Jake Doby on a long touchdown pass to tie the game. They would retake the lead thanks to the extra-point and then on the ensuing kickoff they would try and kick the ball high and short in another attempt to get the ball back to their red-hot offense. It was unsuccessful and once more the Wildcats would be setup with good field position in the second half. Struthers found a rhythm once again behind the legs of Grzyb and Carter as they marched down the field and Najier Howard connected with Alec Grzyb for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Yet again the Wildcats failed a 2-point conversion, and the score was 26-21.

Going into the fourth quarter it was still a close game, but momentum was clear in the corner of the cats as they earned two unanswered touchdowns and began to pull away from the Indians temporarily before Dominick Tollone found Bobby Alejars for a touchdown. Girard would make the extra point to close the deficit back down to a one score game 34-28. Struthers offense was humming in the second half of this game as once more they would drive down the field for their fourth second half touchdown as Devin Braham had one carry all night long and it turned out to be a forty plus yard touchdown run to put the game back to two possessions after Chaz Ekoniak would make a spectacular catch in the endzone on the two-point conversion.

Girard still had just over six minutes to score twice in the fourth quarter. Their offense began the drive after the Struthers touchdown very well as Michael Palmer had two big runs that put the Indians on the plus side of the fifty. However, Struthers defense came to play on this drive as they held up the Indians on third down near the forty-yard line and forced Girard into a fourth and one. The Indians then decided on fourth and one to throw a fly route towards the endzone instead of running the football and it would come down on the turf incomplete. Struthers would take control of the ball and run the clock out to win the game.

“Trust the climb” has been the motto all year for this Wildcats unit and the climb has them now in a tie for second place of the NE8 and in the playoff race thanks to their win against a top seeded Girard Indians. They now have a winning record for the first time since their week one win against Aquinas as their record pushes out to (5-4) overall and (4-2) in conference play.

Girard now loses their third game of the season falling to (6-3) overall and (3-3) in the conference. They have already clinched a birth in the OHSAA playoffs but their seeding may take a dive for the second straight week following the loss. They will try and right the ship next week back home against Niles. The Wildcats will again defend home field next week in a battle for second place of the conference against the Poland Bulldogs.

*Contributed By YSN’s Alek Koberna

SPRINGFIELD SENIORS HAVE VICTORIOUS NIGHT

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NEW MIDDLETOWN OH- Senior nights are a part of every season. Programs take the time to honor players that have given 4 years to their program. Springfield had 6 seniors to honor on Wednesday night. They honored them with a sweep over Struthers.

Baelyn Brungard led the Tigers offense with 9 kills on the night.  She was one kill away from a double double, she finished with 15 assists, she also had 7 digs.  Jameka Brungard finished with 6 kills, and 3 blocks.  Sami McKim led the team in digs with 26.  Jacey Mullen also had double digit digs with 14.

Springfield finishes the regular season with a record of 12-10. They are the 7 seed in the upcoming Division IV district tournament, and they’ll open their run on Tuesday hosting Newton Falls.

WILDCATS CREATE PROBLEMS FOR NILES

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NILES OH- Playoffs are on the horizon and for these teams a win can save your season, but a loss can make you go packing. Niles needs just two wins in order to make the playoffs, while a Struthers win could get them some more points and get a lock in. That action took place at Bo Rein Stadium, the Eastwood Mall Field on Friday as the Jim Parry led Niles McKinley Red Dragons (2-5) hosted the NE8 conference rivals John Bayuk and Struthers Wildcats (3-4). Niles has a record against Struthers in the 2000s with it being 10-8 but would that happen Friday?

A few keys in this game was also some returning players for the Red Dragons in Matt Keeley making his return for a second week while Antuan Gardner was wearing a cast but would play both sides of the ball. Gardner did not play for the last six games before opening week against Howland.

The start of the first quarter was a defensive struggle for both teams up until the end of the first where Struthers got two touchdowns. The first was an Alec Grzyb five yard run making it 7-0. On the ensuing kickoff, the Red Dragons talented receiver in Nathan Coots had a nice return but fumbled the ball as it was recovered by Struthers. One play later, Tyler Sanchez took it up the middle 61-yards for the score making it 13-0 after the missed PAT.

In the second half, Struthers extended their lead, taking a play from the 2017-18 super bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Wildcats used a Philly special with Grzyb and Robert Carcelli making it 20-0.

Many thought that would be it but it wouldn’t. Niles got the offense rolling with quarterback Anthony Budak finding chemistry with Coots. Which led to Coots scoring six yards out making it 20-6. Niles then recovered a Keyshon Talley onside kick which led to Budak finding Jamari White in the back of the endzone in tight coverage making it 20-13.

However, Struthers turned up the jets. Instead of running the clock, Jason Dukes off a play action found Grzyb as both switched places. The play worked to perfection resulting in a touchdown making it 27-13. Niles drove down the field but a few run plays with Gardner and a missed fourth down conversion ended up being the game as Struthers saved their playoff hopes with a 27-13 victory.

Stats
Struthers:

Grzyb: 6-8 72 yards passing. 14 carries for 76 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Sanchez 13 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Niles:

Gardner: 23 carries for 85 yards

Coots: seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown.

Next
Niles (2-6) will have to win their next two matchups, the first being against the Hubbard Eagles (5-3) (2-3 in NE8) at Hubbard next week.

Struthers (4-4) will host Girard (6-2) (3-2) in the NE8 and can be locked in fully with a win next week.

After the game, Ian O’Brien caught up with coach John Bayuk and quarterback Alec Grzyb about the game and what to expect next week.

*contributed by YSNs Ian O’Brien*