DeSales?

[8ballhustler]

Whats happening at DeSales or is Gahanna really loaded this year? There were alot eye opening scores the 1st week of play. Can't wait till week #2.

[cthelites]

I remember scrimmaging the Lions Frosh team 2 yrs ago(Jrs) and they were pretty dominant on the line.
Looks like they are dominant at the V level now.

I was shocked at this score!

[desalesfan]

Desales was absolutely destroyed up front. Their O line looked like a JV team playing Varsity. Is Gahanna that good or is Desales just that bad this year? Not sure.....probably a bit of both.

[dbarnian]

How did Warren Ball play for Desales?? Very surprised by this score.

[Hammerdrill]

meh, DeSales made the play offs last year with a 5-5 record.

[8ballhustler]

I expected Ball to have a breakout year this year. I was also wondering how he looked. Very surprising for a DeSales team. If this trend continues, I wonder if coach W. will be on the hot seat. There has been a steady decline the last couple of years. Maybe its just a down cycle they're going thru. They're aloud to have one. We're just not accustomed to seeing it happen. I'm sure it won't last long. It never does.

[desalesfan]

Warren Ball never had a chance. You could have had Eddie George back there and the results wouldn't have been much different.

He was hit behind the line of scrimmage almost every time he touched the ball.....and that's not an exaggeration.

[te88]

wasn't a good night for the Stallions, o an d line got beat BAD !!! , QB and RB's had no time or room to do anything. Tackling, pass coverage was also poor. Players need to look deep down and find some pride and heart and get back to work. If not it could be a very long year. To sum it up there was nothing posotive to come out of the night. Now some of this is also due to Gahanna, they have a very good team, and I would expect them to at least make the playoffs this year in R3

[HistoryBuff]

meh, DeSales made the play offs last year with a 5-5 record.

That is correct...but one of the big reasons they made the playoffs was their wins over D1 programs like Gahanna. Beating a D1 school and then having that D1 school beat other D1 schools greatly improves your point totals and that is why D3 DeSales got in at 5-5...wins over big schools.

The loss to Gahanna is big in the point total for playoffs. DeSales needs D1 points to counteract their losses later on.

[te88]

that's why the New Albany game has got even bigger

[NAdad]

that's why the New Albany game has got even bigger

Don't worry about us, we're just a little D2 school with country club boys who would rather be golfing.

[tcsoup]

Desales and Watterson this year are down for the Schedules that they have. Yes. However both teams have talent on their teams. And for their Division D3 they are very good teams. Problem is finding their way into the playoffs to prove it. I would bet there are only a handful of teams in D3 who would have as much talent as they do on a constant basis.
A D3 team in a rural area who has a schedule of all D3 teams if they had the talent of these 2 teams this year would probably have a dream season.

[stallion66]

did i read a preview right that desales has only 1 starter on the offensive line over 200 lbs. still think desales could win rest of their games except for michigan' st. marys. schedule is tough but down a little from past years.

[psycho43142]

did i read a preview right that desales has only 1 starter on the offensive line over 200 lbs. still think desales could win rest of their games except for michigan' st. marys. schedule is tough but down a little from past years.

I f they are going to win anything they will need to do something to get opposing defenses out of 10 men in the box or they might not win a game. It wouldn't have mattered if the O line was made of 300 pounders, they will never be able to block 10 guys. Watching Desales friday night reminded me of watching Watterson's one dimensional offense.

[0ldschool32]

Warren Ball never had a chance. You could have had Eddie George back there and the results wouldn't have been much different.

He was hit behind the line of scrimmage almost every time he touched the ball.....and that's not an exaggeration.

Warren Ball "looks" the part of being the next Maurice Clarett. The reality is he has never been anywhere close to being that sort of dominant player on the HS varsity field yet, let alone a college field as Clarett showed. His hype has way outdistanced his productivity by a long mile thus far in his career. I realize he has had some injuries here and there throughout his career, but that is also part of the game.

No doubt the DeSales line is not amazing this year. However, RB's that are considered amongst the best in the nation at the HS level can create their own holes, make some tacklers miss, and outrun others. Seemingly most ever recruit OSU has signed at a skilled position that has come in over the last decade was a dominant player on the HS field who produced big numbers. As an OSU fan I hope Ball turns into the next Clarett, Beanie Wells, Antonio Pittman, or even Boom Herron. At the HS level thus far though I have never seen him produce like one would expect from that sort of player. Playing for a top team like DeSales makes it even more of an enigma why he has not. All of the excuses in the world do not change the reality of the situation.

Brionte Dunn last year was a highly marked man on a not so great team. Canton Glen Oak gave him the ball one game 50 times because they had little offense outside his own abilities. Dunn has produced at the level that I would expect a Warren Ball to produce at. Run over, run through, and do it over and over again throughout a HS game for an entire season. Carry the team on your shoulders.

I also think reality is setting in with the Coach Wiggins era. He got a ton of praise his first couple of years, but the reality is he was handed the keys to a program that was built for huge success by Bob Jacoby. That sort of situation is commonplace in sports where a program has an incredible foundation built, and the keys are turned over to a new coach and for the first few years there is great success. Then as the new coach puts his full dna on all aspects of the program you get to see what their real capabilities are all about. Many college coaches who had similar flashes of great glory early but turned ugly later were Randy Ayers, Larry Coker, Earle Bruce, Steve Fisher, and Lloyd Carr. I personally thought he had the talent the first few years to win State Championships. I am not surprised though as the Jacoby trained players and talent have graduated and now the sledding has become a whole lot tougher.

Hype over substance equals what one sees here with the situation at DeSales in recent times IMO.

The reverse is true at Gahanna. Coach Snoad has buckled up the chin straps, and over time built Gahanna back up after taking over when the foundation of the program was broken. While everyone was sleeping, Gahanna's ship passed by the DeSales ship as they were heading in opposite directions. At one time the excuses were that Gahanna had few linemen over 200 pounds. Funny how that has now changed.

Oh I am sure this will bring out the scornful rebukes from the DeSales faithful, but deep down you know it is true. If it is true that DeSales has so few linemen over 200 pounds whose fault is that? Maybe the era of recruiting all of the big name players into the school has also had a longer term affect for the anchor families with some possibly choosing other schools because of it?

The season is far from over though, and words on internet forums don't determine outcomes on the actual playing field. Lots of football left to be played. Watterson is reeling big time as well. St. Charles has the golden opportunity to step up this year with both DeSales and Watterson looking to not be as strong as usual, but the Cardinals lose to Canal Winchester. Not a good opening weekend for the big schools in the CCL. DeSales has lots of opportunity to right the ship, and win the CCL and get enough Computer points to make a deep playoff run. Something needs to change though from what happened last Friday night. Gut check time from the head coach on down to the practice players.

It is often said that teams make the most improvement from the first game to the second game. If Warren Ball is a legit top national running back then he should be the one to light up the team and tell them to get on his back. If Coach Wiggins is truly one of the top coaches in the state then you will see a marked turnaround this coming week that will get the ship headed back in the right direction.

[Fallen Timbers]

How many years has Coach Wiggins been the HC at Desales ?

[twelfthman]

Wow, a lot of angst for week one. I expect that Watterson, Desales, and St. Charles will all get better and do just fine. it is entertaining to see the comments go from preseason expectations to who is state contender in a week, and doom and gloom for the league. There is a lot of football and coaching and growth yet to occur this year. The CCL is an incredible experience, with talented players, coaches, and passionate fans. I get perspective when I learn that DIII State Champion Watterson quarterback Patrick Rhomburg (preferred walk on LB at MSU) is carpooling to Michigan State with Desales alumni lineman (slated as MSU starting center) Travis Jackson. Let's give the players (student athletes) and coaches a chance to grow, get better, and have a great season. GO CCL!

[tcsoup]

Warren Ball "looks" the part of being the next Maurice Clarett. The reality is he has never been anywhere close to being that sort of dominant player on the HS varsity field yet, let alone a college field as Clarett showed. His hype has way outdistanced his productivity by a long mile thus far in his career. I realize he has had some injuries here and there throughout his career, but that is also part of the game.

No doubt the DeSales line is not amazing this year. However, RB's that are considered amongst the best in the nation at the HS level can create their own holes, make some tacklers miss, and outrun others. Seemingly most ever recruit OSU has signed at a skilled position that has come in over the last decade was a dominant player on the HS field who produced big numbers. As an OSU fan I hope Ball turns into the next Clarett, Beanie Wells, Antonio Pittman, or even Boom Herron. At the HS level thus far though I have never seen him produce like one would expect from that sort of player. Playing for a top team like DeSales makes it even more of an enigma why he has not. All of the excuses in the world do not change the reality of the situation.

Brionte Dunn last year was a highly marked man on a not so great team. Canton Glen Oak gave him the ball one game 50 times because they had little offense outside his own abilities. Dunn has produced at the level that I would expect a Warren Ball to produce at. Run over, run through, and do it over and over again throughout a HS game for an entire season. Carry the team on your shoulders.

I also think reality is setting in with the Coach Wiggins era. He got a ton of praise his first couple of years, but the reality is he was handed the keys to a program that was built for huge success by Bob Jacoby. That sort of situation is commonplace in sports where a program has an incredible foundation built, and the keys are turned over to a new coach and for the first few years there is great success. Then as the new coach puts his full dna on all aspects of the program you get to see what their real capabilities are all about. Many college coaches who had similar flashes of great glory early but turned ugly later were Randy Ayers, Larry Coker, Earle Bruce, Steve Fisher, and Lloyd Carr. I personally thought he had the talent the first few years to win State Championships. I am not surprised though as the Jacoby trained players and talent have graduated and now the sledding has become a whole lot tougher.

Hype over substance equals what one sees here with the situation at DeSales in recent times IMO.

The reverse is true at Gahanna. Coach Snoad has buckled up the chin straps, and over time built Gahanna back up after taking over when the foundation of the program was broken. While everyone was sleeping, Gahanna's ship passed by the DeSales ship as they were heading in opposite directions. At one time the excuses were that Gahanna had few linemen over 200 pounds. Funny how that has now changed.

Oh I am sure this will bring out the scornful rebukes from the DeSales faithful, but deep down you know it is true. If it is true that DeSales has so few linemen over 200 pounds whose fault is that? Maybe the era of recruiting all of the big name players into the school has also had a longer term affect for the anchor families with some possibly choosing other schools because of it?

The season is far from over though, and words on internet forums don't determine outcomes on the actual playing field. Lots of football left to be played. Watterson is reeling big time as well. St. Charles has the golden opportunity to step up this year with both DeSales and Watterson looking to not be as strong as usual, but the Cardinals lose to Canal Winchester. Not a good opening weekend for the big schools in the CCL. DeSales has lots of opportunity to right the ship, and win the CCL and get enough Computer points to make a deep playoff run. Something needs to change though from what happened last Friday night. Gut check time from the head coach on down to the practice players.

It is often said that teams make the most improvement from the first game to the second game. If Warren Ball is a legit top national running back then he should be the one to light up the team and tell them to get on his back. If Coach Wiggins is truly one of the top coaches in the state then you will see a marked turnaround this coming week that will get the ship headed back in the right direction.As a long time Desales supporter and a alum. Believe it or not I agree with 95% of what you have written.
The only thing you have gotten wrong you got it wrong 100%. The one paragraph where you had to spew the awful vile while using the recruiting bullcrap. Other than that it was a very thoughtful assesment of the last 2 Desales Football seasons up until this point. Congratulations on hitting the nail on the head.

[8ballhustler]

Boy!! Did I open a can of worms!!!

[lpw]

Gahanna was broken with Lanza making playoffs 8 or 9 times? 5-5 is considered a succesful year at Gahanna? One game makes you a contender or a loser for a season? tcsoup 95% ?

[te88]

TC is basing his comments on what he sees and what he has seen over the years, It isn't really the fact that DeSales lost it was the way they lost. If changes in personnel or mindset are not changed quickly I could see the Stallions at 0 -5 or 1-4 going into the St. Charles game. The talent is there to win 2 or 3 of the next 4 games. I believe the coaches and players can make it happen.

[woody1951]

Gahanna is not that good this year. DeSales just had a bad game.

[OldschoolGA]

Warren Ball "looks" the part of being the next Maurice Clarett. The reality is he has never been anywhere close to being that sort of dominant player on the HS varsity field yet, let alone a college field as Clarett showed. His hype has way outdistanced his productivity by a long mile thus far in his career. I realize he has had some injuries here and there throughout his career, but that is also part of the game.

No doubt the DeSales line is not amazing this year. However, RB's that are considered amongst the best in the nation at the HS level can create their own holes, make some tacklers miss, and outrun others. Seemingly most ever recruit OSU has signed at a skilled position that has come in over the last decade was a dominant player on the HS field who produced big numbers. As an OSU fan I hope Ball turns into the next Clarett, Beanie Wells, Antonio Pittman, or even Boom Herron. At the HS level thus far though I have never seen him produce like one would expect from that sort of player. Playing for a top team like DeSales makes it even more of an enigma why he has not. All of the excuses in the world do not change the reality of the situation.

Brionte Dunn last year was a highly marked man on a not so great team. Canton Glen Oak gave him the ball one game 50 times because they had little offense outside his own abilities. Dunn has produced at the level that I would expect a Warren Ball to produce at. Run over, run through, and do it over and over again throughout a HS game for an entire season. Carry the team on your shoulders.

I also think reality is setting in with the Coach Wiggins era. He got a ton of praise his first couple of years, but the reality is he was handed the keys to a program that was built for huge success by Bob Jacoby. That sort of situation is commonplace in sports where a program has an incredible foundation built, and the keys are turned over to a new coach and for the first few years there is great success. Then as the new coach puts his full dna on all aspects of the program you get to see what their real capabilities are all about. Many college coaches who had similar flashes of great glory early but turned ugly later were Randy Ayers, Larry Coker, Earle Bruce, Steve Fisher, and Lloyd Carr. I personally thought he had the talent the first few years to win State Championships. I am not surprised though as the Jacoby trained players and talent have graduated and now the sledding has become a whole lot tougher.

Hype over substance equals what one sees here with the situation at DeSales in recent times IMO.

The reverse is true at Gahanna. Coach Snoad has buckled up the chin straps, and over time built Gahanna back up after taking over when the foundation of the program was broken. While everyone was sleeping, Gahanna's ship passed by the DeSales ship as they were heading in opposite directions. At one time the excuses were that Gahanna had few linemen over 200 pounds. Funny how that has now changed.

Oh I am sure this will bring out the scornful rebukes from the DeSales faithful, but deep down you know it is true. If it is true that DeSales has so few linemen over 200 pounds whose fault is that? Maybe the era of recruiting all of the big name players into the school has also had a longer term affect for the anchor families with some possibly choosing other schools because of it?

The season is far from over though, and words on internet forums don't determine outcomes on the actual playing field. Lots of football left to be played. Watterson is reeling big time as well. St. Charles has the golden opportunity to step up this year with both DeSales and Watterson looking to not be as strong as usual, but the Cardinals lose to Canal Winchester. Not a good opening weekend for the big schools in the CCL. DeSales has lots of opportunity to right the ship, and win the CCL and get enough Computer points to make a deep playoff run. Something needs to change though from what happened last Friday night. Gut check time from the head coach on down to the practice players.

It is often said that teams make the most improvement from the first game to the second game. If Warren Ball is a legit top national running back then he should be the one to light up the team and tell them to get on his back. If Coach Wiggins is truly one of the top coaches in the state then you will see a marked turnaround this coming week that will get the ship headed back in the right direction.

I don't know anything about DeSales, but they seemed much, much smaller than their normal teams. As for Snoad fixing a broken foundation. What are you looking at. They haven't had a winning season in 3 straight years. Under Lanza they went to the playoffs amost every year. Get some facts.

[0ldschool32]

I don't know anything about DeSales, but they seemed much, much smaller than their normal teams. As for Snoad fixing a broken foundation. What are you looking at. They haven't had a winning season in 3 straight years. Under Lanza they went to the playoffs amost every year. Get some facts.

I remember the final Lanza years where folks were complaining that more talent was walking the halls than on the playing field. There were comments that there were few lineman over 200 pounds, and that is why Gahanna could no longer line up with the other top OCC schools.

The truth is Gahanna should be an absolute powerhouse because they have only one school which allows them to have an enrollment larger than all of the other OCC schools. Additionally, Gahanna consists of a diverse suburb which is perfect for building an absolute powerhouse.

I would compare this dialogue to Earle Bruce, John Cooper, and Jim Tressel as far as on field accomplishments go. Some were happy with Earle when he went 9-3 the vast majority of time. I would compare Lanza' era to an Earle type of era. The reality of the Earle era was the best days were the first years when he took over from Woody and the foundation was really strong. In Earle's final year it was very evident that the foundation was broken, and even though there was only that final season blight it could be seen by those who were paying attention that there were serious issues going forward. Cooper came in and the talent base was way down, and the foundation was absolutely broken. One could look at Earle's record and say he had success over time, but that would be to ignore the trend which was clearly sliding downward. Cooper did a good job of recruiting and building the program back up but his nemesis was beating Michigan. Tressel came in and took it up a few more notches and made it evident that OSU had the recruiting and talent base to compete for national championships every year.

Gahanna is a similar situation to OSU in that the school district has the base to build a program that can compete for a state championship every year. Getting to the playoffs should not be an acceptable goal. There are advantages that Gahanna has that no other OCC school has in Central Ohio. With Gahanna only having one school it has been inexcusable that getting to the playoffs is seen as meeting or exceeding the goals.

I don't remember the last time where a Gahanna team lined up and dominated a quality program such as DeSales in the trenches. When Snoad took over the program it was much like when Cooper took over from Earle. The base foundation was broken. Gahanna had no ability to line up with any decent program and dominate in the trenches. Give credit where credit is due. The trend has clearly changed. No longer is the excuse for Gahanna that they have no size and no decent linemen in the school. When I used to hear that I did not accept it in the final Lanza years, and I would not accept that now. Fixing something that was broken like that can take a few years. Whereas Wiggins was rolling due to taking over a program that was rolling under Bob Jacoby, the opposite could be said in the final years under the previous coach at Gahanna.

There are many more games to be played this year by Gahanna so it is too early to say the Lions are back, but dominating DeSales in the trenches is a good start to the season. Only a few years ago DeSales was mopping the field up with Gahanna.

[HistoryBuff]

I don't know anything about DeSales, but they seemed much, much smaller than their normal teams. As for Snoad fixing a broken foundation. What are you looking at. They haven't had a winning season in 3 straight years. Under Lanza they went to the playoffs amost every year. Get some facts.

You seem to be missing the facts yourself. Snoad came in and built his program from the ground up. That drastic an approach is always going to lead to some tough years.

This years Seniors were Freshmen during Snoad's first year. For the first time, it can be said that all of the players at Gahanna have come up through Snoad's program. I always believe that it takes 2-3 years for a coach to develop a program. Did Gahanna Coaches Marshall, Staib or Campolo take their programs to the State Final Four in their first couple years? Nope, but they have all been there. I will even bet that Ed Rarey had some lean years when he first started coaching...although no many people are around who remember his first few years.

After two weeks of great wins, it appears that Snoad really does have his program in place.

[wwjd]

Congrats to coach Snoad. He has done a great job and things are looking good. However, he did not take over a broken program. The program had a 23-27 record for the 5 years before Lanza got there and they were in the regional semi-finals 4 out of the last 6 years that he was there. Three of their playoff appearances were in his last three years. I would hardly call that taking over a broken program. I have been around Gahanna athletics for a long, long time, and around many of the past coaches in all of their sports as an avid fan. I do think that GREAT things lie ahead for the football program. However, how about we just stay in the present and not debate over the past?