FoxSportsOhio to Webcast Orrville-Wooster Game

Found this out just the other night and wanted to share with all of you, especially the out-of-towners who can't see the game live tonight.

Fox Sports Ohio will be broadcasting the game live tonight on their website.  It's like a TV broadcast, but online instead of on TV.  They'll have a camera in the pressbox as well as sideline cameras.

The link is below, click play and you should be able to see the game as it happens.  Make sure your internet settings aren't blocking Flash Player or any other setting needed to broadcast the game.

http://www.foxsportsohio.com/pages/prepzone_streaming_north

As if this game can't get any bigger.

Wooster's WKVX will also be streaming the audio of the game.  Link for that broadcast is here.

Week 10 Preview: The Game - Orrville vs Wooster

Who: Wooster Generals (4-5, 2-4 in OCC) at Orrville Red Riders (6-3, 4-2 in OCC)
When: Saturday October 29, 2011, 7pm
Where: Red Rider Stadium

Series: Wooster leads 50-41-9 (Click here for detail)
Last Year: Orrville won 42-17
Last Week: Orrville beat Clear Fork 20-13, Wooster beat West Holmes 35-14

Coaches: Doug Davault is 48-21 in his 6th season for Orrville, he is 5-0 vs. Wooster. Mike McCreary is 69-62 in his 13th year for Wooster, he is 5-7 vs. Orrville.
TV/Radio: Game will be broadcast on WKVX AM 960 and will also stream at www.wqkt.com

All-Time Records: Wooster is 542-466-53 in their 111th season of football...while Orrville is 594-344-41 in 102 seasons of football. Thanks to Aaron Dorksen at the Daily Record for the Wooster info.

I think we all know the overlying theme to this game...backyard rivals, throw the records out the window, blah, blah, blah. Looking deeper, I believe this has the potential to be one of the better Orrville/Wooster games in recent memory, and local fans would expect nothing less from the 6th longest running rivalry in all of Ohio.

Red Rider Tradition..DEFINED

A distraction from Wooster Week, but I don't think anyone will mind. If you're from Orrville or an alumni of Orrville High School, or a student at OHS, this will make your day.

I received an email from a reader, thanking me for what I do on this site. I never get tired of that...but what this reader went on to say was one of the more impactful emails I've gotten on this site in quite a while...and I wanted to share with all of you.....

Crunching the Playoff Numbers

The unofficial computer points standings are out on the indispensable Joe Eitel's website..and the Orrville Red Riders are now officially in the playoffs for a 22nd time.

Here is the snapshot of Region 13 after 9 weeks, showing the Riders in 2nd place. So now that we can officially say "we're in," let's talk about who we might play in week 11. It's not mathematically certain, but it might as well be so I'll just say it....Orrville WILL host a week 11 home game regardless of the outcome against Wooster. Even if we received no 2nd level points from teams we've already beaten, I think we drop no further that 4th place, still earning us a week 11 home game.

2011 Week 9 Preview: Orrville Red Riders @ Clear Fork Colts

Who: Orrville Red Riders (5-3, 3-2 in the OCC) vs Clear Fork Colts (3-5, 2-3 in the OCC)
Where: "The Colt Corral" - Bellville, OH (Directions here)
When: Friday October 21st All-Time Series: Orrville leads 9 to 1. (Series Detail Here)

Last Year: Clear Fork beat Orrville 33-0 for their first ever win over the Riders
Last Week: Orrville beat Madison 20-17, Clear Fork lost to Ashland 49-14.
Coaches: Dave Carrol is 17-6 in his 3rd year and Colt head coach.  Doug Davault is 47-21 in his 6th season as Rider head coach.

Radio/TV:  None (that I know of..)
Region Standings: Orrville is 3rd in Region 13 and could lock up a home playoff game with a win.  Clear Fork is 12th in the stacked Region 14 and will need to win out and get help just to make it to week 11.

Football: Playoffs a 99% Certainty

According to statistics guru Drew Pastuer (http://www.fantastic50.net), the Orrville football team could actually lose their last two games and still have a 99% chance of making the OHSAA state playoffs. As of now, he says we have a 91% chance of hosting a home first-round game.

So it leads me to assume that a win over Clear Fork this Friday will lock up a first-round home playoff game regardless of the outcome of the Wooster game. Read below for more playoff talk, including my projections of where we'll end up in the region, and what team may be making the trip to Orrville in week 11.

Week 8 Preview + Fall Sports Update

***I'll do the update first, but read past the preview for some other interesting items of note.

Who: Orrville Red Riders (4-3, 2-2 in OCC) vs. Mansfield Madison Rams (6-1, 3-1)
Where: Ram Field - Mansfield (Directions Here)  
When: Friday October 14th, 7:00pm

All Time Series: Orrville leads 25-15-1.  Orrville has won 7 of the last 8 meetings dating back to 2003. (Click here for detail)

Last Meeting: 2010 (Orrville won 35-14)
Last Week: Orrville lost to Ashland 14-0, Madison beat Clear Fork 21-14

Coaches: Doug Davault is 46-21 and in his 6th year as Red Rider coach. Sean Conway is 8-9 in his 2nd year as Ram head coach.
Radio: Game will be broadcast live on WMFD out of Mansfield.  Click here for the live stream link.

Computer Points: Orrville sits 7th in Region 13, Madison is 10th in Region 6.

Week 7 Preview: Ashland Arrows at Orrville Red Riders

Who: Ashland Arrows (2-4, 2-1 in OCC) at Orrville Red Riders (4-2, 2-1)
When: Friday October 7th
Where: Red Rider Stadium (Ashland Fans: Click here for Directions)

Series: Ashland leads 12-8, there was 1 tie (Click Here for Detail)
Last Year: Ashland won 42-28
Last Week: Orrville beat West Holmes 28-21, Ashland beat Mansfield Senior 38-6

Radio/TV: WQKT 104.5 will boradcast the game on the radio and also at http://www.wqkt.com
Coaches: Orrville's Doug Davault is 46-20 in his 6th season, Ashland's Scott Valentine is77-33 in his 10th season with the Arrows

Computer Points:  Orrville sits 5th in Region 13 while Ashland sits 17th in Region 7.

Week 7 already? Really?? Unbelievable. Week 7 also means you can smell the playoffs right around the corner. It's fall, weather is cooler, leaves are falling, it just feels like football weather now.

It's also officially cruunch-time in Rider country. This is where the destiny of our team and many others across the state begins to take shape. The Riders simply control their own destiny...win out and win the OCC and host a first-round playoff game. It sounds so simple doesn't it? Unfortunately, there's 16 quarters (at least) of football in between us and raising an OCC title at midfield of Red Rider Stadium after a 7th straight win over Wooster. I'll guarantee nobody but me is looking past Ashland though.

From the OHSAA: Historical All-Ohio Lists

Saw this a few weeks ago on the OHSAA twitter account and just haven't had time to get it up until now.

This is quite the historical find. It's 3 things actually...first is an all-time list of boys basketball All-Ohio teams dating back to the 1938-39 season. Next is a list of girls basketball All-Ohio teams dating back to 1977-78 (first year as an OHSAA recognized sport). Lastly, it's a list of All-Ohio football teams going back to 1933.

Keep reading for the link and more on the first Orrville All-Ohioans.

The link is here. As it mentions, it was compiled by Associated Press member Rusty Miller and lots of thanks go his way for his diligence.

Some of the files are tough to read so make sure you zoom in as needed....but grab a cup of coffee and go back in time.

Being an Orrville-centric site, I wanted to see who the first Orrville athletes were to be name All-Ohio in each of the three sports....and I think I've found what I'm looking for.

1. First girls basketball All-Ohioan was Rhonda Winters who made 3rd team in the 1982-83 season.

2. First boys basketball All-Ohioan was Ron Snyder who was named Honorable Mention in the 1965-66 season.

3. First football All-Ohioan were Roy Lockett (tackle) and Tyrone Barnett (halfback) in 1960.

One warning on the validity of these....some of the data from past years show a first, second and third team plus special (or honorable) mention....while some years only showed a first & second team.

It is amazing to see how players from large metropolitan areas seemed to land on All-Ohio teams, while players in small towns were largely overlooked. In football especially....lots of players from Canton, Massillon, Mansfield and Cleveland for the first few decades of All-Ohio teams. I don't think a Wayne County player was even named All-Ohio in football until the mid 50's and he was from Wooster.

What is also noteworthy was how prestigious an All-Ohio honor was 50 years ago compared to how it is now. Back then it was a team of 11 in football and 5 in basketball. Now, several players at each position are chosen, and there are a 1st, 2nd and 3rd team PLUS honorable and special mention. It's just not as exclusive as it used to be. Not sure if that's good or bad, but the measuring stick has certainly changed.

I figured Bobby Knight would surely be our first All-Ohioan in basketball in 1957 when he averaged 24.3 points per game or in 1958 when he averaged 20.6 per game, but he's not there in either season. His Ohio State teammates Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek are both on the list.

Over the next few months, I'm going to compile lists of Orrville All-Ohioans in each of the three sports. I'll post to the 'Records & Champions' section of the site when they're completed.

Really like seeing the OHSAA continuing to the living history of their member schools. Lots of great athletes have got their start in Ohio and records, especially those prior to 1970, are difficult to come by. Great work by lots of people.

Happy reading!!

After Week 6...More Big Games to Come

Friday's 28-21 win over West Holmes was just gutsy. No other way around it. Riders made plays and stopped the Knights from doing the same. It was a game we had to have, and we got it. Give the kids and coaches credit for steadying the ship and to the seniors for speaking through their words and actions in what might have been a season-saving win (#592 in school history).

Let's talk about it all...but not until we look at the pictures from the game courtesy of Rod Dilyard. Rod does great work and is very dedicated to Orrville sports.