SALEM — The wide array of talent among the area leaves for some tough decisions whether a school will have more than one representative and for some being that lone selection is an honor to be selected for the Ohio All-Stars.

“Being the only one chosen has made me definitely step up to represent Southern Local,” Southern Local running back Will Grodhaus said. “We definitely had a few other guys from Southern that could’ve played and performed here. It’s been an honor to represent my school.”

For 10 players on the Ohio All-Stars that is the case as they are the lone representative from their school.

“I’ve been playing against these guys forever so it’s great to finally become teammates,” Grodhaus said. “We all want to work hard and do good in the game.”

For some this will be their last stand on the football field but for others they will be heading to the next level.

“It’ll be great to play for my school and people from the community that come out to watch,” Leetonia’s Logan Olenik said. “This is a great environment to be in before going to play football on the next level in the fall.”

Olenik will continue his football career at Westminster College in the fall.

For some it has been a balance between preparation for the game and college football in the fall

West Branch’s T.J. DeShields, who will be a preferred walk-on at the University of Akron, has been practicing with Akron in the morning and the Ohio All-Stars in the evenings.

“It’s been a good balance,” DeShields said. “I enjoy coming here at night and practicing in full pads because at Akron it’s only lifting and 7-on-7 drills. It has really kept me focused going between the two.

“West Branch is a big football community and I’m proud to be able to represent it.”

DeShields will be sharing the quarterbacking duties with neighboring rival in Salem’s Mitch Davidson.

“We put the rivalry aside,” DeShields said. “We all have a common goal on this team.”

Rivals playing together is a common theme but it also a chance for old teammates to play together once again.

Lisbon’s Cam Summers has attended both United and Lisbon in his high school years.

“I use to go to my rival school and the guys on the team I’m already close with,” Summers said. “They work hard and it’s been cool to play on the same team as them again.”

United will be represented by Josh Good and Toby Richmond.

“Meeting new kids is definitely a great thing to ready you for college,” Summers said.

Rivals aside the lone representatives have come together as a team with a common goal of defeating a Pennsylvania team in a game with a long standing tradition.

“You get to see how all the other teams and players have been practicing,” Olenik said. “The terminology has been different than usual but Coach (Dan) Yeagley has been a great teacher here.”

Game notes

≤ The Ohio coach in 2017 was Lisbon’s Jim Tsilimos, who retired this past season but gave Summers advice going into Thursday’s contest.

“He told me to always go hard in this game and have a good time,” Summers said.

≤ Summers will be attending Malone University to play baseball.

≤ Other lone representatives for Ohio include Wellsville’s Ryan Miller, East Liverpool’s Michael Loy, Western Reserve’s Ryan Musch, Edison’s Seth Cade and Toronto’s Luke Fogle and Steubenville Catholic Central’s Geno DiBiase.

≤ Loy was not at Monday’s practice due to illness.