No. 2 ranked Mount Union and No. 1 ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater will meet for a sixth consecutive season in the NCAA Division III National Championship game — the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl — on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 3:30 p.m. in Salem, Virginia. The game will be broadcast LIVE on television on ESPNU, ESPNU HD.

It will be the 14th Stagg Bowl visit for the Purple Raiders who have won the game 10 times including the 2005 (35-28), 2006 (35-16) and 2008 (31-26) games against Whitewater. Whitewater is making its sixth Stagg Bowl appearance and the Warhawks won two championships both over Mount Union in 2007 (31-21) and 2009 (38-28).

The Purple Raiders (14-0), won the Ohio Athletic Conference and its automatic bid into the playoffs. After completing its fifth straight undefeated regular season, the No. 2 ranked Purple Raiders are 12-0 overall after beating St. Lawrence, 49-0 in the first round and No. 18 ranked Delaware Valley 31-3 in the second round, Alfred (N.Y.) 37-7 in the quarterfinals and a 34-14 win over No. 14 ranked Bethel (Minn.) in the semifinals.

Wisconsin-Whitewater (14-0) earned an automatic bid by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) title. The Warhawks are making their ninth playoff appearance with a 27-6 record in NCAA post-season play. Whitewater defeated No. 24 Frankin (Ind.) 52-21 in the first round, No. 12 Trine (Ind.) 45-31 in the second round, then went on the road to beat No. 5 North Central (Ill.) 20-10 in the quarterfinals and No. 3 ranked Wesley (Del.) 27-7 in the semifinals.

This will be the seventh meeting between the schools with Mount Union holding a 5-2 edge in the series. The teams have met in each of the last five Stagg Bowls and also played a pair of regular season openers in 2002 and 2003 with Mount Union winning 44-21 in 2002 in Wisconsin and 40-17 in 2003 in Ohio. The Raiders are a combined 8-4 against WIAC teams (5-2 vs. UW-Whitewater, 2-2 vs. UW-LaCrosse and 1-0 vs. UW-Oshkosh).

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Admiral King graduate Cameron Bryant was named to the Ohio College Football All-Ohio Second Team Defense (FCS/Division II/NAIA teams) for his play at linebacker this season at Lake Erie College.

Bryant led the team with 73 tackles and one sack. He also had seven tackles for loss and led Lake Erie's defense in his junior season.

Lake Erie won three of its last four games, including a 48-45 win over Findlay, 30-15 over Ohio Dominican and 31-27 over Tiffin.

Last year as a sophomore, Bryant played in all 11 games as a reserve linebacker and on special teams, making 19 tackles. He even returned a kickoff for seven yards at West Liberty on Sept. 12 and recovered an onside kick attempt at Wesley on Nov. 7.

As a freshman, he played in nine games as a true freshman, making six total tackles, including three solo. He was also named team’s Scout Defensive Player of the Year.

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Amherst's Ryan Kish has eclipsed more than 200 tackles in his college career at Baldwin-Wallace.

Kish is just one of 15 Yellow Jackets to surpass that total. He currently has 247 career tackles.

Kish had seven tackles in Saturday's 38-0 win over Wilmington.

Baldwin-Wallace will travel to Muskingum this Saturday before hosting Mount Union on Nov. 6.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke threw four touchdown passes, leading Baldwin-Wallace to an Ohio Athletic Conference shutout over Wilmington College on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium.

O’Rourke completed 19 of 26 passes for 259 yards and the four TDs, and the Yellow Jacket offense outgained the Quakers, 433-145.

B-W opened the scoring at 4:40 mark of the first quarter when O’Rourke threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tiffin Columbian’s Aaron Hurd to cap a 6-play, 54-yard drive.

B-W increased its lead to 14-0 when O’Rourke threw a 28-yard TD pass to Devin Woods (Naples, Fla./ Golden Gate) on a ball that deflected off of a Wilmington players hands.

B-W’s lead grew to 24-0 before halftime when O’Rourke threw his third TD pass of the game, this one a 23-yarder to junior Dan Turner (Youngstown/Ursuline).

O’Rourke tossed his career-high fourth TD pass to Westerville North’s Troy Van Meter, who caught a career-high nine passes for 113 yards.

North Ridgeville’s John McGraw led the running game with 59 yards in 11 attempts.

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Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke and Parma Senior’s Tim Miker each ran for more than 100 yards as Baldwin-Wallace defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Heidelberg University, 35-20 at Mayer Field in Tiffin on Saturday.

The win improves the Yellow Jackets to a perfect 3-0.

O’Rourke ran for a career-high 119 yards in 10 attempts and completed 3 of 12 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. Miker ran for 101 yards in 24 attempts with two TDs. Overall, B-W ran for 285 yards in 57 attempts compared to 114 for Heidelberg in 35 carries.

On a 1st-and-10 play, Heidelberg senior quarterback Andrew Miller was dropped for nine-yard loss by Elyria’s Sonny Hazelwood, fumbled the ball at the 25 yard line, and Amherst’s Ryan Kish picked up the loose ball and ran 23 yards for a TD.

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Avon’s Ryan O’Rourke was named this week’s Ohio Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in last Thursday’s 38-14 season-opening victory against The College of Wooster at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea.

O’Rourke, who transferred to B-W from NCAA Division III Slippery Rock University last winter, completed 9 of 13 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns in his first game as a Yellow Jacket. He threw TD passes of 40 yards to Keith Darbut on the first play of the game and 59 and 19 yards to Brett Jensen, who is also from Avon. O’Rourke and Jensen were both teammates at Avon and at Slippery Rock before both transferred to B-W last winter.

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Baldwin-Wallace College head football coach John Snell has completed his full-time offensive staff for the 2010 season by promoting Avon Lake native Keith Grabowski to offensive coordinator, while also adding Mark Jochum as the Yellow Jackets’ new offensive line coach.

Grabowski, 1992 graduate of B-W, enters his second season on the Yellow Jacket coaching staff. He served as quarterbacks coach during his first season in 2009.

"Keith has done a great job in our program with recruiting and working with our quarterbacks and offense," said Snell through a press release. "He understands our offense and has experience calling plays. He has worked very hard over the past year to help improve our program and he certainly deserves the opportunity to be our offensive coordinator."

"We had a great offseason and we worked hard at putting together a system that fits our personnel," said Grabowski. "Personally, I am grateful and excited about the opportunity to lead the offense. With all of the work we did in the offseason, it feels like a natural progression to be able to step in and keep things moving forward."

In 2009, Grabowski guided then senior quarterback Anthony Gardner, who turned in an All-Ohio Athletic Conference season before signing to play professionally in France. The Yellow Jacket offense ranked fourth in the OAC at 378.4 yards per game and sixth in scoring at 24.6 points per game.

Prior to coming to B-W, Grabowski made head coaching stops at Brookside, Brush and Ashtabula Lakeside. He also was at the helm at Amherst from 2004-07 and was named the 2004 Southwestern Conference Coach of the Year and Lorain County Co-Coach of the Year. Grabowski led the 2004 Comets to the second-best record in school history and the program’s second playoff victory all-time. Grabowski coached on the Amherst staff for three seasons before taking over in 2004 and ran the football program at Fairview High School from 2001-2003.

Area athletes on the roster for the upcoming season include: John McGraw (North Ridgeville), Ryan Kish (Amherst), Rudy Ackerman (Brookside), Dave Cantu (Amherst), Sonny Hazelwood (Elyria), Matthew Kiessling (Avon), Matt Lewis (Bay), Josh Oswald (Edison) and Mitch Tulk (Elyria).

courtesty of Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple

When Elyria senior Isaiah Byler put pen to paper on Wednesday, it completed a journey that a few years ago seemed unlikely. But several acts of kindness gave Byler an opportunity and he took full advantage by working hard and staying committed. The result was a Division I football scholarship to Bowling Green State University.

Two years ago the six-foot-five Byler weighed 330 pounds. His head coach Steve Hamilton told him for a D-I school to take him seriously as a prospect, he needed to slim down and increase his mobility.

A process that is easier said that done. Byler needed help. A chain of events unfolded that changed Byler’s life.

His youth pastor Josh Kirskey committed to pay for the first six weeks of Byler’s training with former NFL player LaCharles Bentley and Bentley agreed to cover the rest if Byler showed promise.

"It was a blessing," Byler said of Kirskey’s kind offer. "I wouldn’t have been able to pay for LeCharles’ camp. It was $1,000 for six weeks. He said that someone blessed him when he was young and he was paying it back."

Working with Bentley evolved Byler’s body and his game.

"No doubt. I still work four to five days with LeCharles," Byler said. "It has been a big blessing. It is unbelievable how much he has helped me. He gave me that diet that helped me lose 60-70 pounds. Now the weight is lost, he has me on another diet to convert fat to muscle. He helped me get a D-I scholarship and be All-Ohio."

Byler committed to Bowling Green in July and his signing yesterday made it official.

"I am excited to start a new chapter in my life," Byler said. "High school is almost over and I’m excited to play college ball."

Byler first met the Bowling Green coaches at Ohio State’s football camp. He made an unofficial visit and then an official one and he was hooked.

"I visited there and it was just a wonderful place," Byler said. "It is a very beautiful campus. There is a lot of history there as it is over 100 years old. It has some of the best programs in the country."

Byler was also impressed with the football program. Last season first year head coach Dave Clawson, previously Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, guided the Falcons to the Humitarian Bowl and a 7-6 record.

"The football facility is the best in the (Mid-American Conference)," Byler said. "I really like the new coaching staff. Coach Clawson is a great guy. I really like his personality. I grew up partly in the south in Tennessee so I relate to him. The football program is really on the rise with being in the Humanitarian Bowl. It is a pretty strong team. All of these are reasons I chose Bowling Green."

Byler credits all those who helped him earn this opportunity to play D-I football.

"It was a big circle of people helping me," Byler said. "Coach Hamilton for giving me time to work with LeCharles, Pastor Josh Kirskey paying for the camp, my parents helping out with gas money to get there and LeCharles working with me. Without them I would not be getting a D-I scholarship."

Courtesy of Zachary Dzurick

Who needs National Signing Day anyway?

Not Avon Lake offensive lineman and top recruit Christian Pace.

Pace has been enrolled at The University of Michigan for about a month now. The 6-foot-4 recruit graduated high school early so that he could get accustomed to college life and the demanding workouts that are required of Michigan players.

"I won’t be trying to learn all these new things all at once I’ll be here for awhile," he said.

Pace knew he was making a tough choice by enrolling early, likely missing out on prom and graduation with his class, but he had bigger fish to fry.

"I made sure that Christian understood that when he made this choice that he understood that he’d miss some of that stuff," said Avon Lake coach Dave Dlugosz, who has had his share of Division I recruits over the years. "He said, ‘Yea, I’m going to miss my friends and everything, but I’m ready to take that next step. I’m ready to go on to the next level now.’"

Pace is also taking on the bigger challenge of making a position change. A right tackle in high school, Pace’s lack of length — for a Big Ten lineman — made him better suited to be a center. But he’s taking the challenge in stride.

"It’s going to be an interesting transition with snapping and everything, but I’ll play wherever they want me to," Pace said. "The center makes all the line calls and reads the defense and gives the O-line all the calls it needs but other than that, I’m basically coming in fresh to the position."

The transition may be easier than it sounds though. Pace was the unquestioned leader of the line in his senior year and has the ability to see the whole field as a play develops.

"He finishes blocks really well, he’s also an intelligent football player," Dlugosz said.

"Christian understands concepts, when you tell him ‘we’re running this blocking scheme,’ he will be able to visualize who everybody is supposed to block and how he fits into that scheme. So he ends up being like a coach on the field. He understands those things really well."

Dlugosz isn’t alone in that opinion, either.

"I’ve had coaches tell me that (Pace’s highlight tape) is the best they’ve ever seen, bar none, coaches throughout the country," he said.

Rivals had Pace listed as the No. 5 center recruit in the country. Scout.com has him at No. 11. He also received offers from Colorado, Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State, Northwestern and could have even joined teammate Dan Schneider at Pittsburgh.

But in the end, he chose the Wolverines from as many as 25 scholarship offers.
Pace said he was impressed with the whole coaching staff for the Wolverines, namely line coach Greg Frey. His final three choices were Northwestern, Stanford and Michigan, which reflected Pace’s desire to get a top-notch education.

Michigan coach Rich Rodrgiguez likes what Pace brings to the table.

"Christian’s very athletic, a hard-nosed kid, and he played at a good program," Rodriguez said on Wednesday.

Of course, being from Northeast Ohio, which is known to some as "Columbus North," Pace has taken some good-natured ribbing from friends and even his coaches for his choice of college, which is the biggest rival to The Ohio State University.

But Pace didn’t grow up as much of a Buckeye fan. He liked the Oklahoma Sooners.
"No real reason, I just liked them," Pace said. "I would pull for Ohio State in games, but now, well — not anymore."

By playing college football, Pace is carrying on a family tradition and a Shoremen tradition. Pace’s older brother, Ian played at Fordham University and is now a graduate assistant on the coaching staff of Bowling Green State University.

"He helped me so much," Pace said. "He just instilled in me the hard work characteristic."

Pace is the third Shoreman to play in the Big Ten in the last 5 years. Before him were Trey Stross (Iowa) and Andrew Means (Indiana).

"I’m honored that I got the opportunity to represent Avon Lake at the next level. It’s great because it draws attention to Avon Lake and it’s good for upcoming players," Pace said. "Our past teams that Trey and Andrew were on were really solid teams that played in two state championship games and that really drew attention to our program, and the more I can help getting Avon Lake noticed is good."

Courtesy of Colin Wilson

National signing day couldn’t come fast enough for Elyria Catholic standout Josh Russ.

Last year, Russ verbally committed to the University of Cincinnati after a stellar junior season; where he was selected first team All-Ohio. Russ caught 35 passes for 691 yards and six touchdowns.

Russ, like many other athletes, officially signed his letter of intent on Wednesday, Feb. 3 to play football at UC.

“It’s kind of unreal to be honest,” Russ said. “I never thought I’d get to this level, but a lot of people have helped me to get where I’m at. They helped me with school and helped prepared me to be a better football player.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my family and former coaches and Elyria Catholic.”

This past season, Russ was selected again as first team All-Ohio. Offensively, he had 33 catches for 561 yards and six touchdowns. Russ also played defensive end and had 40 tackles (14 for loss), three sacks, six pass break-ups and two forced fumbles.

Russ said he chose UC because they were the first team who believed in him, but things got a little complicated when Brian Kelly, the coach who recruited him, signed a five-year deal to coach at the University of Notre Dame on Dec. 10.

Russ said he was lost at that point and didn’t know what was going to happen.

“To be honest I was really nervous in the beginning when it all happened,” Russ said. “I’ve never been through this, or knew anybody that was, so I was really nervous. I didn’t know what was going to happen, if I was going to lose my scholarship, or what.”

With his future uncertain, the Bearcats new head coach Butch Jones and his coaching staff contacted Russ a couple days later to assure him that he would he would not lose his scholarship.

“They have something great to build on what coach Kelly left behind,” Russ said. “I think they’ll do good with it and I’m happy with the new coaching staff.”

Russ will join a Bearcat’s program that has catapulted themselves into one of the top programs in the nation.

The Bearcats have won back-to-back Big East championships and have participated in two consecutive Bowl Championship Series games. In 2008, the Bearcats were 11-3 and earned a birth in the FedEx Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech. Last season, they won 12 straight games and earned a berth in the All State Sugar Bowl, before losing to Florida.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Russ said the team wants him to play outside linebacker, but he will more than likely red-shirt his freshman year.

Elyria Catholic coach Ben Malbasa said he was honored to have coached Russ for three years.

“I’ve been very fortunate to coach someone as committed as he is,” Malbasa said. “He was always committed when he first stepped on to the field, but he continued to work at becoming a better all-around football player.”

Malbasa added that he knew Russ had the potential to be an elite player early in his career.

“I remember his second game of his sophomore season against Southview,” Malbasa said. “After that game I went back and watched the film and he made some plays where he caught guys from behind that impressed me. At that point I realized we had a special player.”

One thing that stood out for Malbasa about Russ was the fact he never got overwhelmed with the whole recruiting process. Malbasa said he was very impressed the way Russ made a decision very early and stuck with it.

“I didn’t really have to give him any advice,” Malbasa said. “I was there for him if needed some, but he’s a very privileged kid. He has a great family structure around him and his parents are very involved with him, which helped him a lot.”

Russ was not the only Panther to sign on Wednesday, as teammate Jared Schuster signed a letter of intent to play at Notre Dame College in South Euclid.

Schuster was first team All-Ohio as a junior, and second team All-Ohio this past season. He was also Lorain County offensive lineman of the year.

“I want to thank everyone for getting me here, because without them I wouldn’t be where I’m at,” Schuster said. “The experience is unreal, but it feels good.”

Courtesy of Anthony Rios

Avon Lake's Trey Stross didn't exactly have the game he wanted individually, but as for his team - it was everything they wanted.

Stross caught one pass for nine yards, which helped seal a 24-14 victory Tuesday night and No. 10 Iowa solved Georgia Tech’s explosive triple option and Lake Catholic's Ricky Stanzi threw two early touchdown passes in the coldest Orange Bowl ever.

Temperature at kickoff was 49 degrees, and Tech’s offense was slow to warm up. The ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets averaged 35 points during the regular season, but their only score in the first three quarters came on Jerrard Tarrant’s 40-yard interception return.

The Hawkeyes (11-2) earned their first Bowl Championship Series bowl win, matched the school record for victories and could claim their highest final ranking since finishing No. 3 in 1960.

The Yellow Jackets were first in the nation in time of possession, second in rushing and 11th in scoring at 35 points per game. But they sputtered against an Iowa defense that held four bowl-bound teams to 10 points or less during the regular season.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Ryan Kish was named to the 2009 OhioCollegeFootball.com Division III All-Ohio team last week for his superb play as a linebacker this season at Baldwin-Wallace.

Kish, who was also an All-Ohio Athletic Conference selection this fall, led the Yellow Jackets with 90 tackles, including four for loss.

He also had seven quarterback hurries. His season-high was 21 tackles in the season finale at Capital University.

In his three years at B-W, Kish has 190 tackles in 26 games played.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

North Ridgeville's John McGraw scored his fifth touchdown of the season, but then went down with an injury in a 21-17 loss to 13th ranked Otterbein on Saturday.

For the season, McGraw has 249 yards on 55 carries (4.4 yards per carry).

Stay tuned for more details on McGraw.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Mount Union’s Pierre Garcon continues to impress, catching one of Peyton Manning’s four touchdown passes, as the Indianapolis Colts blasted the Arizona Cardinals 31-10 Sunday night.

The Colts' quarterback completed 24 of 35 for 379 yards with one interception. His 53-yard TD pass to Garcon gave the Colts a 21-3 halftime lead.

Garcon finished with three catches for 64 yards.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Avon Lake's Trey Stross nabbed four passes for 69 yards in Iowa's convincing 35-3 win over Iowa State on Saturday.

Iowa has now won two straight in the series and five of the last seven.

Stross and the Hawkeyes are off to a 2-0 start and have won six in a row dating back to last November. They'll host Pac-10 foe Arizona this Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa's defense forced six turnovers - five interceptions and a fumble.

swalker@MorningJournal.com