Red Rider;1301989 wrote:In speaking with a variety of coaches there is a lot of concern about the talent pool in all sports for the foreseeable future. The basketball team is expected to be shaky this year and I hear that there wont even be a freshman team. The baseball team might have 1-2 seasons to make a run, then it is death valley again.

...and for those saying the coach can't win without D-1 talent, please tell me when we have had a successful season over the past 25 years without a single D-1 level player on the field, because it is certainly rare that we don't have at least a few on the roster. Follow up that with naming 1 blue chip D1 player on this roster. It isn't the kids fault, it isn't the coaches' fault, we've just run out of talent here for awhile. It happens.

Remember this, we've won exactly one state title. A lot of teams tried before that title and a lot have tried since. Some teams had NFL level talent (Bolyard and Bradley in the 80's), some had major college talent ( too many to list), but didn't get it done. Jeez, with all the talent that existed in the 80's this group of critics would have been calling for Mo's head if he didn't have multiple state titles. It takes talent and some luck and right now we are out of both. Blame whoever you want.

A lot of truth in that post. Well said.

Last I heard (a few weeks ago) we will have a freshman team, but the Smith kid will be brought up to JV right away.

OQB;1302637 wrote:From what I've been hearing, the stadium is the envy of the MAC, it's just a shame the football team isn't that good. Hopefully Bowden can get it turned around.

Bes thing about the Zips this year is they have a liquor license. What other college stadium in America do you know of that serves beer at the games? Good move because if you are gonna watch bad football at least you can drink. ANd of course the other thing they have going for them is Ryne Ladrach. I go to all the Zips game and I do not remember him being that big at Orrville. He is like 6'5

Red Rider Nation;1302655 wrote:Bes thing about the Zips this year is they have a liquor license. What other college stadium in America do you know of that serves beer at the games? Good move because if you are gonna watch bad football at least you can drink. ANd of course the other thing they have going for them is Ryne Ladrach. I go to all the Zips game and I do not remember him being that big at Orrville. He is like 6'5

True....I'm sure that move was made so they can attract more to the stadium.

Ladrach was a good 6'5" in high school...he just wasn't the 260lbs he is now. I wish they would throw to him more, but he does an excellent job blocking. Saw him play Ohio State last year and he held his own against that front 7.

^^^ Thats a kid that was not utilized nearly enough while he was in high school IMO...not to mention that he did not play basketball his senior season as well.

Not sure if anyone posted this link on this thread, but here it is.

http://www.woostersports.com/2012/09/22/all-time-daily-record-area-football-record-holders/

RedRider1 keep the blog going. Our family that live out of the area like to read about Red Rider sports. Folks, this is Wooster week! Let's keep it positive and encourage our team and coaches. It would be great to see the stands full to cheer the team on. Our town is supposed to be a football town. Let's prove it. GO RIDERS ! BEAT Wooster !

OQB;1302733 wrote:Not sure if anyone posted this link on this thread, but here it is.

http://www.woostersports.com/2012/09/22/all-time-daily-record-area-football-record-holders/

Lots of Riders on the list. Thanks for sharing. More stat geekery.

Orrville Wooster should be played at the old Jr. High football field! I still got a scar from falling on a broken 40 oz bottle!!! Make em tough!

Go RIDERS!!

sanitizer;1302854 wrote:Orrville Wooster should be played at the old Jr. High football field! I still got a scar from falling on a broken 40 oz bottle!!! Make em tough!

Go RIDERS!!

Next time your in town...take a drive back by that field. Not much has changed other than the old apartments are no longer there. Still plenty of 40oz's back there though. LOL!

That field in late August was like a concrete parking lot. I think John Slayton slammed me on that when we scrimmaged you guys as 7th graders...Oh how I hated that field, but PLENTY of great memories made there!!!

Took this from another thread...enjoy!

I know it’s hard to deal with the cold, wet, and nasty last game of the regular season. It seems like it has been this way for the last 4 or 5 years. It almost seems as a right of passage. We as observers can wine and moan about the seating and parking situation, maybe we didn’t like the play called in a given situation or the way the Coach manages the clock.
But we as observers have forgotten how time passes when we are on the field on a Friday night under the lights.
Time has a way of slowing to a snail’s pace while you are waiting to fire off the ball on offense on a two count. You hear everything and yet you hear nothing. Each beat of your heart, though rapid enough seems minutes apart as you watch your breath steam through your face mask.
After what seems an eternity the Centers arms tense up and the ball starts to move toward the quarterback’s awaiting hands.
One tenth of a second later the explosion starts. The Lineman fire forward, mud flies as their feet try to purchase a little traction.
At two tenths of a second the ball reaches the QB’s hands as he is taking his first step backwards towards the halfback.
At three tenths of a second contact begins on the line of scrimmage. Not a lot of contact yet, mostly hands coming up to the Defensive Lineman’s shoulder pads. A still picture of this moment would look like a weird dance of sorts beginning to take place.
Five tenths of a second and we have contact! Pads crunching, young men grunting, full bodied contact. The QB has now taken two steps back and is approaching the halfback. Meanwhile, the defensive end has blown by the Tight end and heading toward the deep backfield.
Six tenths of a second and the line of scrimmage is in a full scale war. A Linebacker is moving toward a gap created by a pulling guard . The pulling Guard is now behind the right tackle and heading toward the defensive end. The QB is raising the football with his arms toward an apparent hand off to the halfback.
At one second flat the quarterback has faked a handoff to the halfback. The pulling guard is about to make contact with the defensive end and the line backer occupies the space left by the pulling guard.
Yes this was cumbersome (yet entertaining) to type all this down in sequence, but I felt it was needed to illustrate what goes on every snap of the football.
Twenty two young men moving at once in an odd sort of ballet. Four officials vying for position to observe the play to make sure that no team has an unfair advantage.
Well over one hundred team mates and coaches on both sides of the field cheering encouragement .
Thousands of people in the stands waiting in anticipation for the play to unfold.(several hundred students milling around behind the bleachers in an odd social event that could care lees about the outcome of the game and only want to know what the final score is so the can report it to their parents after the game) School teachers, volunteers at the concessions, police, and paramedics all are at the game and yet every body at one time or another forgets about what is really important about this “The Last” football game of the regular season.
For many of these young men, each snap may be the last time they will ever explode off of the snap.

For many of the parents, it will be their last time at a High School football game.
For many of the players IT IS THE LAST GAME.
So tonight as you are sitting in the stands and complaining about the cold, remember that there are kids that walked on that field tonight that are walking off that football field for the last time. Regardless off the outcome of the game, take the time to applaud all the young men that lifted weights all summer, survived two a days in 90 degree weather and came home and did homework until midnight after practice. After all, Isn’t this game about the fine young men that did all of the work anyway?

I see Chase Hoobler back on the depth chart for Indiana Hoosiers as they travel to Champaign this Saturday. Good to see Chase back in good health. Not sure if there has ever been two former Red Riders opposing one another in a B1G game before. I'll try to get a pic of the two of them. Lotta RTR in this one.

5knots;1303047 wrote:I see Chase Hoobler back on the depth chart for Indiana Hoosiers as they travel to Champaign this Saturday. Good to see Chase back in good health. Not sure if there has ever been two former Red Riders opposing one another in a B1G game before. I'll try to get a pic of the two of them. Lotta RTR in this one.

Thats cool for the whole area not just Orrville

5knots;1303047 wrote:I see Chase Hoobler back on the depth chart for Indiana Hoosiers as they travel to Champaign this Saturday. Good to see Chase back in good health. Not sure if there has ever been two former Red Riders opposing one another in a B1G game before. I'll try to get a pic of the two of them. Lotta RTR in this one.

Step dad said this was really frustrating for him as he felt fine just had an issue with a nerve in his neck/shoulder.

A pic of 2 of the arguably 4 best LB's in Red Rider history, in their college gear would be awesome.

Got a request in to a local photographer to keep an eye on their meeting post game. If I know the two of them...it ain't happening pre game. Hahaha.

RedRider1;1303071 wrote:Step dad said this was really frustrating for him as he felt fine just had an issue with a nerve in his neck/shoulder.

A pic of 2 of the arguably 4 best LB's in Red Rider history, in their college gear would be awesome.

Just curious who would your picks for other two be ? Can't argue with Chase and mason.

The other 2 names at the top of my list are Jack Leeder & Jason Haley. We've had plenty of good linebackers, but those 4 stand out to me. All 4 went D-1.

I second the Jack Leeder and Jason Haley I would not want to put those 4 in any order...

Yeah...those 4 weren't bad!

I will say this. I have been an outcast on this site for some time but honestly I do feel for the parents of the seniors this week as this is the last time they will see their son put on that Orrville uniform and walk on and off the field together. I put myself in their shoes and i cant imagine the hurt they feel. THis year it just didnt go how any of us wanted it to but I do agree these kids kept working hard throughout. I know I am stealing this from a movie but for most of you seniors it's 48 minutes till the rest of your lives. This is your last chance to go out and put on that uniform and play this game for whatever reason you do. If you go out and give it all you have and play to the best of your ability no matter what that scoreboard says you cant lose. Again from a movie but it is true. nobody is asking you to do more then 100% of what you can. It has been a fun ride with these seniors and good luck to all of you in your futures. Last week i got on youtube looking for a video from our state championship game and there wasnt one. What I did pull up was the 1994 state championship and watched the last clip as we lost. I saw "Old Rider" at the end of the game with his helmet off and shaking his head. He realized he just played his last game for Orrville and came up just a bit short. I appreciate guys like that that played this game and put their ass on the line for this community. He wasnt happy that day and i am sure he thinks about that a lot but he gave it all he had that day. I know this game Saturday is no state championship but it is all you have right now and put it all out there for yourself, your community, and for the people who wore that uniform before you. Go Riders!!!

Yeah, I would agree that those four players had it all, size speed and a nose for the football. I use to go to the second chance room on purpose to watch film of Leeder and Haley (a certain coach at that time ran the second chance room and knew I would get sent on purpose to watch). I remember on one film Leader broke into the open field and had a clear path to the end zone, instead of just jetting in for the score, he looked for the safety and ran towards and over him!!! Oh yeah!!! When I watched Haley play LB, he was seriously a blur on the film once he read where the ball was going and he got there with bad intensions!!! When we played Madison they had two running backs with D1 offers and we held them to single digit numbers for the game. I have heard people to this day say that was the one of the hardest hitting high school football games they had ever seen. I only say this because we didn't have any of our LB go D1 that year, but they were animals. Loren Burkey was a good one as well, I NEVER saw him get put on his heels in a game or on film and he went to Toledo. If he hadn't been hurt his senior year that team would have fared MUCH better. I played with and knew a lot of guys that may not have had all the gifts of others but still put up some really good numbers. That is what I have always LOVED about high school football; in many cases you really can be successful if you have the will to do so and a good nose for the ball. God given ability is also a HUGE help but give me a kid with "some" athleticism and a serious desire to inflict harm in a hurry on the opponent and I would take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday! Orrville has always seemed to have some good LB's, they have always had awesome coaches leading the way from the LB standpoint.

I would agree with those 4 for sure though, STUDS!!!!

Red Rider Nation;1303347 wrote:I will say this. I have been an outcast on this site for some time but honestly I do feel for the parents of the seniors this week as this is the last time they will see their son put on that Orrville uniform and walk on and off the field together. I put myself in their shoes and i cant imagine the hurt they feel. THis year it just didnt go how any of us wanted it to but I do agree these kids kept working hard throughout. I know I am stealing this from a movie but for most of you seniors it's 48 minutes till the rest of your lives. This is your last chance to go out and put on that uniform and play this game for whatever reason you do. If you go out and give it all you have and play to the best of your ability no matter what that scoreboard says you cant lose. Again from a movie but it is true. nobody is asking you to do more then 100% of what you can. It has been a fun ride with these seniors and good luck to all of you in your futures. Last week i got on youtube looking for a video from our state championship game and there wasnt one. What I did pull up was the 1994 state championship and watched the last clip as we lost. I saw "Old Rider" at the end of the game with his helmet off and shaking his head. He realized he just played his last game for Orrville and came up just a bit short. I appreciate guys like that that played this game and put their ass on the line for this community. He wasnt happy that day and i am sure he thinks about that a lot but he gave it all he had that day. I know this game Saturday is no state championship but it is all you have right now and put it all out there for yourself, your community, and for the people who wore that uniform before you. Go Riders!!!

Well said RRN. And you're no outcast...just a guy with an opinion like the rest of us.

Endings in life stink...but there's a new beginning waiting for us in every single instance...even in death, there's a new beginning waiting for us.

If these seniors look back on their life in 50 years and can say that a 8 or 9 loss football season when they were seniors in high school was the worst thing that's ever happened to them, they'll count their blessings.

I didn't like seeing those seniors take that last walk up and down their homefield last Friday...felt for the kids & the parents. Hoping this group can walk off the field Saturday night with a smile on their face and a positive memory from their senior year. The least we can do as fans is show up & support them until the clock reads 0:00.

When the Orrville program rebounds and is back to their normal winning ways, I hope the idiots stirring the pot don't have the audacity to come on here and act like they supported this coach/program the entire time.

CCRolly;1303492 wrote:When the Orrville program rebounds and is back to their normal winning ways, I hope the idiots stirring the pot don't have the audacity to come on here and act like they supported this coach/program the entire time.

Well said, and I agree.

CCRolly-those "idiots" absolutly will do that.

I have not watched nearly the amount of Red Rider football as most of the other posters on here have, but I did watch them quite a bit in the mid to late 90's. The state championship team had Thad Tillison at linebacker. Where does he rank amongst the all time Orrville linebacker greats?