5A Div. 1 champ Tyler Lee to battle Ohio's best Cincinati's Colerain High

[nutcrackin]

Colerain game may make ESPN 'You can call it Friday Night Lights, Ohio style'



Colerain game may make ESPN
'You can call it Friday Night Lights, Ohio style'

By Tom Groeschen
Enquirer staff writer



The Enquirer/Steven M. Herppich

Colerain High School football fans listens to coach Kerry Coombs during a rally for the school's football team for winning the state championship.


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The Colerain High School football team will play Tyler (Texas) powerhouse Robert E. Lee this coming season in Columbus, and the game might be televised nationally by the ESPN network.

The game, scheduled for Friday Sept. 9 (9 p.m.) at Columbus Crew Stadium, will pit the 2004 big-school champions from Ohio and Texas. Colerain (15-0 last year) is the reigning Ohio Division I champion, and Tyler Lee (12-3) won the Texas 5A, Division I title.

"We're flattered to be part of it," Colerain coach Kerry Coombs said. "When you talk about the tradition of Texas football and Ohio football, it doesn't get much better than this."

The Ohio High School Athletic Association has a regulation preventing live telecasts of Friday night football. Negotiations are under way for the OHSAA to grant a waiver and allow one of the ESPN networks (ESPN, ESPN2 or the new ESPNU) to telecast the game live.

"If we can get all the parameters squared away so that it's good for all high school sports, we certainly would like for it to happen," OHSAA commissioner Dan Ross said today.

Ross said football gate receipts are vital to non-revenue sports' athletic budgets. Ross said he would like to see any profits from a possible ESPN telecasts benefit more schools than just Colerain and Tyler Lee.

"We have to be careful about any precedents we set," Ross said. "If it's going to happen, I want it to be something that's good for all high school sports. Once you say yes, all of a sudden every Friday night you might have someone wanting to do live TV. We just have to make sure it's good for all our schools."

Ross said he received a written proposal from promoters last week and plans another meeting with the involved parties, perhaps next week.

Josh Krulewitz, ESPN director of media relations, confirmed that discussions have taken place regarding the game.

"Nothing is finalized or committed to at this point," Krulewitz said.

Krulewitz said the ESPN network has televised two prep football games. De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) played Evangel Christian (Shreveport, La.) on ESPN2 in 2003, and Texas teams Denton Ryan and Southlake Carroll met on ESPN2 in 2004, Krulewitz said.

The Columbus event officially is the inaugural "Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge" and is being promoted by Fahlgren Sports Marketing, a Central Ohio sports marketing firm.

The Colerain game will be the second of two games at 22,500-seat Crew Stadium that night. Columbus-area teams Westerville North and Westerville South will meet in the opener at 6 p.m.

Ohio State will play host to Texas the following night (Sept. 10, 8 p.m. on ABC-TV) at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Former OSU quarterback Herbstreit, an analyst on the popular ESPN GameDay college football show, helped originate the Ohio vs. Texas high school idea.

"You can call it Friday Night Lights, Ohio style," said Ken Halloy, vice president of the Fahlgren Sports Marketing promotional group. "We wanted to do something big and have the bragging rights, in this case Texas vs. Ohio."

Friday Night Lights is a well-known book about Texas prep football, with the book made into a movie last year.

Colerain finished No. 5 in the final USA Today ratings in 2004. Tyler Lee, which lost three games partially because of injuries, was not ranked nationally but won the Texas big-school title.

"It's a privilege for us to represent the state of Texas up there in Columbus, and to play a team with Colerain's great tradition," Tyler Lee coach Mike Owens said.

Tickets will be $15 in advance and $20 day of game, with more details to come.

The game will occur in the third week of the 2005 Ohio prep season.

For 2006, Halloy said Elder might be part of the Herbstreit/Columbus event. The Panthers -- Ohio Division I champion in both 2002 and '03 --might play the same weekend as the University of Cincinnati-Ohio State game, which is Sept. 16, 2006 in Columbus

"They might play a team from California, if we can arrange it," Halloy said. "Maybe Mission Viejo or another team."

[nutcrackin]

Here is a link to Colerain High School athletics:
http://www.nwlsd.org/chs/athletics/index.asp

Here is a link to the "History of Colerain High School":
http://www.colerainalumni.com/history.asp

2004 (15-0) District 1 State Champions

Here's the Colerain Coaching Staff and their 2004 Varsity Roster:
Head Coach: Kerry Coombs
Assistant Coaches:
Rick Haynes, Offensive Coordinator
John Cook, Offensive Line
Chris Newton, Running Backs
Larry Pornoy, Wide Receivers
Ken Meibers, Tight Ends
Joe Smith, Offensive Line
Tom Bolden. Running Backs
Kevin Kidd, Running Backs
Gary Sams, Line Backers
Dan Scholz, Line Backers
Joe Ward, Defensive Backs
Justin Roden, Defensive Backs
Marty Baumhower, Line Backers
Scott Fortkamp, Defensive Line
Richie Jackson, Defensive Backs

Trainer: John Martini
Varsity Roster
1 Eugene Clifford DB SO 6'2" 180
2 Henry Lemons DB JR 5'10" 168
3 Brayden Coombs DB JR 6'1" 180
4 Brian Lainhart DB JR 6' 170
5 Whitney Tye LB SR 5'7" 156
6 Nicholas Price DB JR 5'10" 176
7 Dante Thompson LB JR 6'2" 175
9 Brian Edwards DB SR 5'9" 160
10 Matthew Schulte K JR 6'1" 175
11 Andrew Krieg DB JR 5'7" 165
12 Joseph Hines DB SO 5'6" 139
12 Brandon Weiss WR SR 5'8" 156
13 Dominick Goodman QB SR 6'1" 185
14 Antonio Strader WR JR 5'9" 138
15 Donnie Wavra OL SR 6' 150
16 John Pasquale QB SO 5'10" 140
17 Christopher Vetter QB SO 5'10" 150
18 Brad Schutte K SR 5'8" 165
19 Anthony Hopper DB SR 5'6" 146
20 Andrae Patterson RB SR 5'8" 170
21 Justin Spielman DB SR 5'8" 154
22 Dan Hayes WR SR 5'10" 175
23 Christopher Cameron DB JR 5'8" 186
24 Justin Moore DB SR 5'11" 175
25 Daniel Magness RB SR 6'1" 190
26 Kyle Lumpkin RB JR 5'9" 170
27 Terrence Sherrer FB JR 5'10" 190
28 Tyler Moeller LB JR 6' 185
29 Dwayne Curry RB SO 5'11" 160
30 Rico Booker WR JR 6'1" 176
30 Nicholas Wopperer WR SO 5'9" 122
31 Brandon Lainhart DB SO 5'11" 151
32 LeDominique Williams LB SR 6' 190
33 Cobrani Mixon LB JR 6'2" 206
34 Donaven Hall WR SR 5'11" 170
35 Mister Simpson FB SR 6' 195
36 Michael Scheidt LB JR 5'11" 178
36 Trenton Jouett DB SO 5;10: 168
37 Tirddill Byrd DL SR 5'11" 278
38 Willis Preston RB SO 6' 175
39 Kyle Dobkins DB JR 5'7" 136
39 Nate Williams LB SO 5'7" 183
40 Edward Hambrick WR SO 5'10" 130
40 Trammell Williams DB SO 5'9" 156
41 Paul Kroger DB JR 5'6" 131
41 Alex McIntyre WR SO 5'10" 135
42 Chad James LB JR 5'10" 188
43 Jason Brandt DB JR 5'9" 144
44 Matthew Murray DB SR 5'7" 135
45 Calvin Dixon DL SO 5'7" 182
46 Cordell Winbush LB JR 5'8" 150
47 Spencer Smith LB SO 6'1" 193
48 Joey Nicastro LB SO 5'8" 177
49 Terrill Byrd DL SR 6' 237
50 Andre Revels LB SR 6'1" 240
51 Dustin Liegibel LB SO 6' 175
52 Scott Schuster OL JR 6'1" 253
53 Brandon Wyatt OL JR 5'10" 254
54 Steve Borchers DL JR 6'2" 232
55 Ben Zeinner DL SR 6'2" 192
56 Steven Bays OL JR 6'1" 230
57 Bill Goetz OL JR 5'9" 212
58 Bryan Shelton OL SR 5'10" 224
59 Andy Arents DL JR 5'10" 200
59 Jeffrey Joecken OL SO 6'2" 287
60 Dexter Meier LB JR 5'8" 188
60 Joshua Krekeler OL SO 5'9" 222
61 Nicholas Hetzer OL SO 5'11" 195
62 David Edwards OL SO 6' 208
63 John Norman DL SR 6'4" 205
64 Pete Arlotta DL SO 5'9" 191
65 Steven Jennings DL SO 6' 190
66 Bradley Zoz OL SR 6'3" 290
67 Eric Rueger OL SR 5'11" 205
68 Robert Fox DL JR 6'1" 195
69 Eric Ornella OL JR 6'3" 278
70 Vince Forcellini OL SR 6' 220
70 Rob Byrne OL SO 6' 200
71 Jeff Lyons OL JR 5'10" 197
72 Rob Thompson DL JR 6' 213
73 Darnall Reid DL SR 5'8" 170
74 Mitchell Smith DL JR 5'11" 205
75 Jimmie Hughes DL JR 5'10" 226
76 Mark McIntosh DL JR 6' 218
77 Connor Smith OL JR 6'5" 280
78 Matt McCalla DL SO 5'10" 208
79 Tyler Jones OL SO 6' 213
80 Kenan Campbell WR JR 5'9" 146
81 John Hafer OL SR 6'1" 215
82 Jacob Watters OL SO 6'1" 193
83 Robert Cost WR SR 5'5" 125
84 Chris Gundrum WR JR 5'7" 146
85 Josh Foster WR SR 6' 158
86 Jeremy Hartmann OL SR 6'3" 184
87 Dan Kemen DB SO 5'9" 140
88 Anthony D'Agnillo DB JR 5'7" 133
89 Zachary Whyle RB SO 5'9" 156
90 Andrew Ahlert OL JR 6'1" 183
91 Jarad Foglesong DB SO 5'8" 148
92 Derick Tabar WR SO 6' 160
93 Shane Eberhard K SO 6' 169
94 Cameron Lozier LB SO 6' 184
95 Daniel (Skip) Jenkins DL JR 5'11" 279
96 Grant Rohlfer OL SO 6' 170
97 Kevin Johnson WR SO 5'9" 145
98 Kyle Johnson WR SO 5'11" 142
99 William Singleton WR SO 6'1" 150
99 Brad Thompson OL SO 5'11" 162

Other interesting facts...
The Football program made tremendous strides beginning in 1974 under the direction of Ben Hubbard. The 1975 team won the league title for the first time since 1967 with a 9 – 1 record. At the time, there was only one team that qualified for the state playoffs and Moeller was a dynasty under the direction of Gerry Faust. From the middle 1970s to the middle 1980s, Colerain Football was one of the strongest programs in Greater Cincinnati. Colerain made the playoffs for the first time in 1994 under the direction of Kerry Coombs and have been one of the strongest programs year in and year out the state ever since.

Colerain High School Fun Facts
*Over 22,000 students have graduated from Colerain High School
*10% of Alumni will marry someone from Colerain High School
*35% of Alumni will settle in the immediate area that feeds Colerain High School
*50% of Alumni will remain in the greater Cincinnati area.
*58% of graduates attend a four-year college or university
*24% of graduates attend a two-year college.
*14% of graduates seek employment immediately following graduation
* 2% of graduates enter the military
* 2% of graduates are undecided

[big daddy russ]

Connor Smith is supposed to be one of the top OL in the nation.

[RBARKER]

Ohio is going down

[VWG]

I think Colerain is a good opponent, although getting Elder or St. Xavier would have been my choice.
Private schools in Ohio compete with the public schools and carry some really good programs, especially in the Cincinnati area where Colerain is located.
St. X, Elder, and the tradition rich Moeller High are three of the big private schools in the Cincy area.