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Seniors’ last time around

Featured on the cover of the Morning Journal’s 2017 Football Preview in today's paper are players from schools in the new Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference. Seniors representing their schools in the EOAC are (from left) Toronto’s Luke Fogle, United’s Nate Mikell, Lisbon’s Cam Summers, East Palestine’s Branden Kemp, Wellsville’s Ryan Miller, Southern Local’s Will Grodhaus, Leetonia’s Derrick Grossen and Columbiana’s Zach Witherow. (Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer)

Another high school football season kicks off tonight with most of the players watching.

Columbiana travels to Western Reserve at 7 p.m. today in the only Thursday opener in the area.

“I like being the first guy out of the shoot,” Columbiana coach Bob Spaite said. ” We had the summer to prepare. I like playing early like this because everyone is kind of ready to get rolling.”

“We’re used to playing Friday,” Columbiana senior linebacker Zach Witherow said. “School started Wednesday. It’s going to be different.”

Columbiana and Western Reserve have had some memorable clashes. Columbiana won 63-52 last year and and 44-37 the year before.

“We’ve had two shootouts in a row,” Spaite said. “The last couple of years we’ve pulled off a couple of upsets. They were great games for fans to watch. Both of them came down to the end.”

Western Reserve returns seven starters both offensively and defensively, while Columbiana has only three starters back on each side of the ball.

“Western Reserve is one of those big rival schools,” Witherow said. “It’s going to be tough, but I think we’ll be all right.

“We lost a lot of starters, so we’re all young. As long as we work as a team and work together, I feel like the season is going to turn out great.”

No matter what, the Clippers will have to go to school Friday morning.

“On Friday it’s going to be different because we’re going to have films,” Witherow said. “It’s going to be different going to school and having the game over with.”

This will be the last season opener for the seniors.

“That’s kind of hit me hard,” Lisbon running back Cam Summers said. “I’m just trying to keep calm. People say high school goes fast. It goes pretty fast.”

“I think about it a lot,” United quarterback Nate Mikell said. “Since I was little, I’ve been playing football and that’s all I’ve been thinking about. It’s our last season and it’s weird.”

“Being a senior, I’m just trying to be a leader and help the team out,” said East Palestine receiver Branden Kemp, who leads the Bulldogs into Friday’s game at Salem. “It’s going to be a fun year.”

“You’ve got to set the pace, be a role model,” Witherow said. “It’s a big step from last year.”

Lisbon, coming off consecutive 9-2 seasons, celebrated its first league title since 1999 last season. The Blue Devils will travel to Malvern on Friday.

“I feel different. I’ve become more of a leader this year,” Summers said. “We lost some good talent, but we still have a good team. Our team is solid. The line is fast still and we’ve got some big kids. Everything is going good so far.”

United has an experienced class of 15 seniors heading into Friday’s home opener against Minerva.

“We’ve had two bad seasons and with that bigger class of seniors, we’re experienced and people expect us to do a lot better this year,” Mikell said. “It’s more pressure on us as seniors.”

Southern Local also opens at home on Friday night against Bridgeport.

“I felt like last year we got down on ourselves and had trouble picking ourselves back up,” Southern Local running back Will Grodhaus said. “I feel this year we’re going to be a lot more dominant and ready to make some noise.

“You feel like this is your time. It’s your last chance, you’ve got to make it happen.”

Leetonia entertains Lowellville in the Bears’ opener Friday.

“It’s the same preparation as last year, just 10 less games to play my whole career,” Leetonia senior receiver Derrick Grossen said. “So I’m going to make it a good one.”

Being a senior means growing up.

“It doesn’t seem like I’ve changed since my freshman year, but I’m a senior,” Grossen said. “More kids look up to me now since I’m a senior and expect me to do more.”

After this weekend, there will be only nine regular-season games left in the high school careers of the current seniors.

“It’s starting to hit me more and more,” Wellsville senior lineman Ryan Miller said. “It’s almost over.”

“Working hard all year round, you build relationships with some of the guys that you’ll never forget,” Grodhaus said.

“I’ll be sad to see it end,” Grossen said.

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