.jpg;w=960)
They’re going in as the underdog against the defending champs and the Superior Heights Steelhawks will have their work cut out for them when the senior high school football final kicks off on Friday night at Superior Heights.
Facing a high-powered Korah Colts offence, having their own offence on the field as long as possible is going to be a key for Superior Heights.
“We need to make sure that we hold onto the football and have some long drives,” said Superior Heights coach Paul Orazietti. “Korah’s offence is pretty explosive. They’ve got a great running game. They’ve got a great quarterback. The less time that we can put the ball in their hands, the more we can possess the football, the better opportunity we’re going to have to keep the game close.”
Limiting big plays will also be a factor for the Steelhawks.
“We know Korah is going to score,” Orazietti said. “We have to be able to slow down the scores. We have to make them earn the scores. We have to make them put together long drives. We can’t just give up the big plays. We’re trying to limit them as opposed to shutting them out.”
Orazietti added that on the offensive side of the ball, the Steelhawks will need to be “efficient with our offensive possessions and they’re not two-and-outs.”
“If the game is going to be competitive at all, we have to have the ball more than 50 per cent of the time,” Orazietti added.
Asked what the difference is going to be in the game, Korah coach Tom Annett said limiting big plays is going to be key for both teams.
“Special teams are going to be a big part of the game and turnovers too,” said Korah coach Tom Annett. “The team that protects the ball best and doesn’t give up big plays has the best chance of winning this one.”
For the Colts, the run game is something that could stand to be a difference-maker in the game.
“We ran the ball very well all year,” Annett said. “That’s a credit to our offensive line and we’ve got some great backs as well. We did a really good job there.”
On the flip side, Annett added that the Colts defence “did a good job stopping the run as well.”
Both coaches expressed excitement about being able to get the 2021 season going.
“From that standpoint, for guys to be able to go back out and play the game that they love and just participate in the social aspect of it, it’s been a win,” Orazietti said. “It’s been a huge win. It’s been a small return to normalcy that we’ve all been craving for. I’m really happy for the guys that they’ve been able to play.”
“We’re very grateful,” Annett said of being able to be back playing. “We’re so appreciative. You don’t realize how special it is to have a football season until it’s taken away from you. The whole culture of the school is difference, not just with no football, but no extracurriculars. When it came back this year, you could see the excitement on kids faces. Just the overall vibe around school was different. It’s like the way we remember it (before the pandemic). The kids aren’t taking anything for granted. They realize how lucky they are to play this game.”
After finishing the regular season with a 1-3, Superior Heights advanced thanks to a 27-9 win over St. Mary’s in semifinal action last Friday.
“Having the bye week (ahead of the semifinal) really helped. It allowed us to get a few more healthy guys into the lineup,” Orazietti said. “That was a big piece of it. You polish up the rough edges of your offence and you get a chance to watch more film with the guys and have a better understanding of what you’re looking at. We made some plays and scored in the red zone. Almost every time down (the field) we came away with points and we didn’t do that the game before against them and we had some big special teams plays against them as well.”
“They had a really good semifinal game (against St. Mary’s) and they’re getting some guys back from injury, so we’re expecting a really good game from them,” Annett said. “They do a great job as a staff too. They hit us with a bunch of trick plays the last time we played them, so we’re expecting some of that from them on special teams and on their offence as well.”
Both coaches agreed that the year off due to COVID last season was a challenge, especially early on in the season.
“The fundamental play across the league was far behind,” Annett said. “Simple things like fielding punts and the kicking game for all teams suffered from that year that we missed. Teams are catching up now. Things are starting to click now and be where they should be. It just took a little while to get going.”
Orazietti said he’s “never had such a challenging year at any level coaching.”
“It was really pronounced at our school because those kids not only lost a year of football, but they lost a year of training,” Orazietti added. “The training piece is so critical. Basically, for a year-and-a-half, all they basically did was sit in front of the TV and play Xbox. You go from being really seditary and inactive to one of the biggest collision sports there is.”
Orazietti said the Steelhawks suffered through a rash of injuries early in the season because of the situation.
“In my mind, those were all inactivity injuries,” he said. “It was difficult for us.”
Korah finished in top spot with a 4-0 record.
Kickoff for Friday's game is set for 7:30 p.m.
Earlier this week, award winners were announced for both junior and senior levels of high school football locally.
At the junior level, Nate Carter of St. Mary’s earned the Nick Farris Memorial Trophy as most outstanding player.
Spencer Headrick of Korah was named the winner of the Curtis Grandmont Trophy as most outstanding lineman.
Korah’s Eric Martone was named the Rushon Family Trophy winner as offensive player of the year.
Noah Boyer of St. Mary’s earned the Steeler Trophy for defensive player of the year.
At the senior level, Korah’s Michael Nicoletta was named the Alex Denman Memorial Trophy winner as most outstanding player.
The Rocky DiPietro Trophy for most outstanding receiver went to Lucas Pacione Superior Heights.
Dante Scaglione of Korah and Nick Carter of St. Mary’s shared the Steeler Trophy for defensive player of the year and Korah’s Ryan Barnes and Gabe Barkley of Superior Heights shared the Sault Sabercats Trophy as offensive player of the year.
All-stars at the senior level included Nicoletta, Barnes, Scaglione Ryan Duncan, Jacob Brown, Nathan Keranen, Gabe Weir, Caleb Plastino, and Owen Trecartin of Korah; Barkley, Pacione, Jamie Njari, Mitchell Kilby, Dean Breton, Kaiden Fisher, and Caden McLeod of Superior Heights; and Carter, Daniel Bumbaco, Christian Omollo, Jaiden Trudeau, and Nick Vecchio of St. Mary’s.