Often, a rivalry can be either be centered around the tension of the two sides or the competitiveness shown on the field.
In the case of the Lorain-Elyria football rivalry, there is plenty of tension between two neighboring communities, but lately the Pioneers have had the best of the Titans.
On Aug. 25, Lorain aims for a different result in the latest edition of fierce rivalry, as it prepares to host Elyria at George Daniel Field.
“When you have two communities that are right next to each other. Obviously, the kids know each other really well. I have to say that this hasn’t been much of a rivalry since (this coaching staff) has been here,” Lorain coach Damion Creel said. “We want to turn it back into a rivalry, which means that we need to compete and come out on top. That is what we have been focusing on, turning it back into a rivalry.”
In the past two seasons, Lorain was shut out by Elyria twice in 2021 (37-0) and in 2022 (26-0). The Titans’ last win against Elyria was in 2019. They are motivated to prove themselves following a 35-7 Week 1 victory at Brush on Aug. 18.
Lorain football: Titans dominate line of scrimmage in win over Brush
"Recently, this hasn't been a rivalry," said Lorain offensive lineman Shane Ramey-Rowland. "We have kind of been getting pushed over, but we are no longer those little kids that got stuck on a football field. I think we are ready (for Elyria),"
Lorain remembers the 2021 and 2022 losses, as many of the returning starters played in both games.
"The rivalry feels very intense," said Lorain defensive lineman Cameron Sledge. "(The rivalry) goes both ways and it's going to be (in Lorain) and its going to be packed. There are going to be levels of intensity and aggressiveness,"
Titans running back Johnathan Salaman said practices leading up to the game have been intense, and he is confident in himself and his teammates.
"Offensively, it's about keep pounding the ball," he said. "My job is just to read my blocks, because my linemen are going to set me up, regardless of the play. It's about reading the blocks and going through the right hole."
Creel liked what he saw in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Defensive linemen such as Sledge got after the Brush quarterback last week and the offense's ground game resulted in all five of Lorain's touchdowns. Ramey-Rowland credits the practices against each other that makes them stronger.
"(The practices against the defense) makes us a ton better," he said. "When we go full-go against the scout team, I know that those guys (on defense) are still out there going to work because if they make a little mistake, they are back out there working. That fine-tuning is going to help the offense when we go against the defense and (vice-versa). It is iron sharpening iron every day."
Lorain is anticipating Elyria to stack the box, which is something that they saw multiple times in the Pioneers' Week 1 game against Princeton.
"At points, they had eight- to nine-man boxes," Ramey-Rowland said. "That is something that we haven't seen before, but they ran it a lot more than we had to deal with in the past. The run game and the pass game are going to have to work on cohesion."
Elyria saw a lot more changes from last year to this year, with the addition of Brian Fox to replace former coach Devlin Culliver and the graduation of star-studded seniors.
"The schemes are different (on offense compared to last year's team). With Coach Fox, their scheme is (run-pass option) based," Creel said. "They want to get the ball out of the quarterbacks arm and run a little bit more play action. They are physical and like to run power and counter. They wanted to punch you in the mouth. I'm pretty sure Elyria wants to run the ball too and run the same thing, but it's more RPO based from what we see from last year."
Elyria is in the process of finding itself, after a 41-7 loss to Princeton in Week 1. Upon observation, Creel thought the Pioneers had sound athletes that could potentially cause trouble.
"What Elyria does well is that they are very athletic and have some skill guys that are really good, but I don't think they have it all together (yet)," Creel said. "They are still searching of who they want to be fundamentally with Coach Fox."
Elyria football: Princeton loss shows Pioneers that more work needs to be done
Elyria at Lorain
What: Non-conference game
Where: George Daniel Field
When: 7 p.m., Aug. 25
Records: Lorain 1-0, Elyria 0-1
