It’s hard to picture a more wide-open playing field than what we’re facing this football season in our area.
Last year, Avon entered very clearly as the team to beat, having come off a state-semifinal season and returning their All-Ohio quarterback among a host of other Division I college recruits, and after that, everyone pretty much knew where the best talent could be found across the county and beyond.
But this year there are a few more question marks than there have been in the past.
Yes, Avon is coming off yet another season in which it advanced to the D-II state semifinals, but graduated three-year starting quarterback, Ryan Maloy, as well as nine other starters including most of the offensive and defensive lines.
The Eagles aren’t the only team that lost a lot either.
Possibly the team hit hardest by graduation is Olmsted Falls, which lost 18 starters – all seniors, including All-Ohioans Jack Spellacy, Nick Vance, Sam Lofton and Trae Henderson – from a 2018 team that finished 8-3 and made the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Then there’s Columbia, which graduated one of the best football players in Ohio: Brandon Coleman, who took his talents to Kent State after graduation, and features only two seniors in its entire starting lineup this season.
Avon Lake, Bay, Clearview and Elyria Catholic round out the seven area teams to make the playoffs last season. All four lost crucial pieces to their lineups that will no doubt prove difficult to replace heading into Week 1.
With the disbanding of the Patriot Athletic Conference, the creation of the new Lorain County Conference and the shifting of local teams to different leagues in the area, the dynamic of the 2019 season is already intriguing with days to go before the season officially opens.
There are three teams with first-year coaches, too: Scott O’Donnell at Brookside, Devlin Culliver at Elyria and Dan LaRocco at Westlake, to add to the many new faces fans will see on the field this year.
It’s unusual to head into a season with so many unknowns and no clear front-runner, but that’s going to be what makes the 2019 season an exciting and memorable one.
