Orrville football coach Doug Davault said he was proud of the fact that his squad overcame adversity and was very physical in a 41-27 win over visiting Northwest in the season opener last week.

“We had a lot of guys step up,” Davault said. Davault mentioned several players including linebacker Mason Monheim, running back/linebacker Drew Brenner, lineman Trevor White, offensive lineman/linebacker Trevor Summers and wide receiver/defensive back Stewart Turner among others.

There are several talented high school quarterbacks in the area this season and Beacon Journal sports writers George Thomas, Jonas Fortune and Jim Isabella break them down. In this video, they talk about Kevin Richards of East, Purdue University commit Austin Appleby of North Canton Hoover, Jalen Washington of Twinsburg, Buffalo University commit Mason Schreck of Medina, Reid Worstel of GlenOak and Nick Wargo of Walsh Jesuit.

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Game: Lake at Green

Time:  7 p.m.

Beacon Journal sports writers George Thomas, Jonas Fortune and Jim Isabella preview the area’s top high school linebackers and defensive backs. They include "physical freak" Bri'onte Dunn of GlenOak, Patrick Boggs of Field, Tyrin Williams of Tallmadge and Aregeros Turner of Copley and Jon Miller of Perry.

As a reporter, I could do a long preview of Friday's football game with Cuyahoga Falls at Barberton.

Instead, let me do two things.

The high school football preview is available on Ohio.com Here is a quick link to the stories, videos and capsules.

Marla Ridenour wrote about LaTroy Lewis and Greg McMullen of Hoban. We have features on Buchtel's Jarrod Wilson, Field's Patrick Boggs, North Canton Hoover's Austin Appleby.

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Game: Buchtel Griffins at Massillion Tigers
Time: 7:30 p.m. at Paul Brown Tigers Stadium
Outlook:  Buchtel High School has to figure out how to replace 25 seniors from last year, including quarterbacks and wide receivers.  Look for a couple of interesting moves on Buchtel's side of the ball, including Powers moving Jarrod Wilson to the QB spot.
Coaches corner:
Buchtel’s Ricky Powers: “We’re young.  We’re still fast and we’re inexperienced.  We won’t know what we have until we step on the field tonight.”
The Tigers’ Jason Hall could not be reached via phone or email for comment.

Beacon Journal sports writers George Thomas and Jonas Fortune preview the area's top high school linebackers and defensive backs. They include Greg McMullen and LaTroy Lewis of Hoban and defensive end Antoine Miles and offensive lineman Xzavier McAllister of Canton McKinley.

The St. Vincent-St. Mary football team will travel to play in Cincinnati Saturday for the first time since 2004 as the Irish play Cincinnati Purcell Marian at 2 p.m. at Mariemont High School.

The Irish (7-5 in 2010 and a Division III regional semifinalist) return several key players to watch including senior quarterback Kevin Besser, senior running back/defensive back SaeVon Fitzgerald, senior defensive end Matt Perry, senior wide receiver/defensive back Tyler Bischof and senior lineman Matt Olszewski.

Medina outside hitter Ally Peters has reportedly made an oral commitment to play volleyball at Alabama-Birmingham, according to Cleveland.com.

Peters also reportedly considered Marist, Miami University, East Carolina, Texas State and Gardner-Webb, according to Cleveland.com.

Orrville senior linebacker Mason Monheim doesn’t have a timeline on making a college decision, Orrville football coach Doug Davault wrote in an email this morning.

Scout.com reported Monday that Monheim was getting closer to a decision.

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Highland High School senior outfielder Chad Sedio has orally committed to continue his academic and baseball careers at Miami University in Oxford.

Highland coach Jeff Rollyson said Sedio, 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, will receive a partial scholarship.

Beacon Journal sports writers George Thomas and Jim Isabella preview the area's top high school linebackers and defensive backs. They include Buchtel free safety Jarrod Wilson, Orrville linebacker Mason Monheim, Ben Gedeon of Hudson and Corey Paulino of Lake.

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Marlington junior running back Dymonte Thomas is on a national list of 2013 players to watch, according to MaxPreps.com. Thomas has scholarship offers from schools that include Michigan State, Michigan, UCLA, Tennessee, West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa and Notre Dame, according to ScoutingOhio.com.

Beacon Journal sports writers George Thomas and Jim Isabella preview the area's top high school wide receivers and tight ends. They include Ellet's Timonte Anderson, Firestone's Kevin Gladney, Buchtel's Elijah Bell and Medina's Ken Kaminski.

Twinsburg first-year football coach Joe Schiavone looks forward to taking over the Tigers. He said he has only asked for one thing.

"I told our offensive players I want them to be more efficient," said Schiavone, who has been the Tigers' defensive coordinator for several years after serving in the same role for Cleveland Benedictine.

The Buchtel Griffins are scheduled to kick-off the season against the Massillon Tigers Thursday night at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, but coach Ricky Powers and his staff have little idea what they’ll be facing when the teams play.

FoxSports Ohio
9/15 Marlington at Louisville
9/22  Glenoak at Canton McKinley
10/13 Warren Harding at Massillon

SportsTime Ohio
9/2   Massillon Perry at Canton Central Catholic
9/16  Chagrin Falls at Aurora
9/23  SVSM vs Hoban at InfoCision Stadium
10/14 Solon at Twinsburg

Walsh Jesuit can finally compete for a league championship in every sport.

The high school, which was founded in 1965, joined the North Coast League for this school year and will take part in the Blue Division against rival Archbishop Hoban.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors approved the divisional breakdowns for several fall sports, including football.

Thirteen area schools were affected in football.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Football Rules Committee met in Indianapolis from Jan. 21-23 and then announced a few rule changes.

The modification of the chop block rule was one of 11 rules changes recommended by the Football Rules Committee and approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

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Jake McBride, the talented junior golfer from Lake High school, is not going to play for the Blue Streaks this season according to published reports.

Instead, McBride  will concentrate this fall on playing in national events.

Walsh Jesuit football coach Gerry Rardin said he’s been encouraged by the Warriors’ practice this August.

Rardin said the first scrimmage with GlenOak was positive.

Medina free safety Benny Cunningham has verbally committed to play at Akron, according to the Medina Gazette and Medina athletics Twitter account.

Cunningham, who is 6 feet 2 and 190 pounds, had 11 solo tackles, 35 assists and an interception for Medina last season, according to The Gazette.

The Orrville football team is poised for another strong season after being a Division IV state semifinalist last season. Orrville coach Doug Davault said it was a tough first week of practice but his team is “hanging in there.”

Orrville has a road scrimmage against Minerva Saturday morning, followed by a home scrimmage against Louisville Aug. 19.

Medina senior quarterback Mason Schreck has reportedly made a verbal commitment to play at Buffalo, according to ScoutingOhio.com.

Schreck, who is 6 feet 5 and 212 pounds, also had an offer from Toledo.

- Hudson junior linebacker Ben Gedeon has reportedly added an offer from Boston College, according to ScoutingOhio.com.

Gedeon, who is 6 feet 2 and 220 pounds, also has offers from Michigan, Penn State and Tennessee. According to several online reports, Gedeon made an unofficial visit to Michigan recently.

Walsh Jesuit football coach Gerry Rardin likes his team’s mentality during the first week of official practice.

“I like the team’s focus on commitment and unity,” Rardin said.

Garfield football coach Bob Sax said Wednesday he’s been pleased with the progress the Rams have made during the first official week of practice.

“Things are going as good as they can until we get all the pads on and play real football,” Sax said.

- Cincinnati Princeton senior outside linebacker Daryan Martin has verbally committed to the University of Akron, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Martin, who is 6 feet 3 and 213 pounds, was offered by the Zips in June.

- Medina senior quarterback Mason Schreck has reportedly added an offer from Buffalo, according to ScoutingOhio.com.