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Leetonia rings in a new era

LEETONIA–Those living in the area surrounding Leetonia High School last Friday night may have heard an unfamiliar sound coming from the football field.

Upon returning home after snapping their 15-game losing streak with a 21-14 win at Lowellville, the Bears (accompanied by the band, cheerleaders and some parents) made their way over to the field and proudly rang the school’s victory bell, which hadn’t been used since Leetonia’s last home victory over Collinwood on September 11, 2015–when the current Leetonia seniors were just freshmen.

“That was really special, we hadn’t done it for away games before,” Leetonia senior running back/defensive back Roman Ferry said. “I had some friends that said they could hear it all the way from Washingtonville.”

“I assured the kids it would still work, I put some WD-40 on it,” Leetonia first-year coach Paul Hulea laughed. “It was a very nice moment, I was happy for them.”

“It was a terrific atmosphere,” Leetonia senior wide receiver/defensive back Alex Waterbeck said. “It was nice to see how much that meant to everyone.”

The previous four years have been bumpy ones for the Leetonia program.

Prior to Friday’s win, the Bears last victory was also at Lowellville on September 23, 2016. Coming into this season they had lost 44 of their last 47 games and 31 straight conference games.

However, when Hulea took the reins in January –bringing with him a 115-46 career record and the 1999 Div. III state championship with Poland — he wanted no part of dwelling on past baggage.

“I don’t think I brought the streak up once in the offseason,” Hulea said. “If I had been a part of the streak, I would have talked about it, but I wasn’t here then. From my standpoint, I just wanted our kids to play hard and improve every day. Usually when you play hard, good things happen.”

“We knew other people were talking about the streak, but it’s not something we really talked about as a team,” senior quarterback/defensive back Brock Simpson said. “Our focus was always about trying to get better as a team every day. Everything else would take care of itself.”

That’s not to say there wasn’t some measure of relief after the clock hit 0:00 Friday.

“My first thought after the game was that the streak was over,” Ferry (who came up with the game-clinching interception) said. “I came off the field, saw my parents and I could see how much it meant to them. Not only them, but the community as well. There were a lot of people waiting outside our locker room for us. It was a special feeling.”

When he took over the program, Hulea knew he had a tough task ahead of him, but told the team that if they trusted him, progress would start to show.

“We’re starting this program literally over from ground zero, it’s been a real process,” Hulea said. “A good program is built on positive work habits and we’re starting to buy into those. My senior captains have been huge. They immediately jumped on board and haven’t questioned a thing we’ve said. Sometimes when you’re a new coach, the older guys don’t buy in, but these guys have. The losing streak probably helped with some of that, because what was going on wasn’t working.”

“I hadn’t really heard of coach Hulea before he got hired,” Waterbeck said. “But once I started lifting with him, I got to know him better and got to see how he runs a program. He knows what he is talking about. He’s really added to the energy around here.”

As the season drew near, Simpson said the change in the program was hard not to notice.

“The biggest change around here has definitely been the attitude,” Simpson said. “Coach Hulea brings knowledge, an attitude and a sense of confidence to the game that we feed off of.”

With the 15-game losing streak now history, the Bears focus is squarely on moving forward.

“We’ve always had bigger plans than just ending the losing streak,” Ferry said. “Coach Hulea has gotten it into our heads not to be satisfied with just one win. We have a lot more that we can achieve.”

They will try to snap their 13-game home losing streak this Friday against Mathews (0-1) and will attempt to tackle their 31-game conference losing streak when EOAC play ramps up in two weeks.

“Winning definitely makes us more motivated and more hungry to keep moving forward,” Simpson said.

Notes

¯Roman Ferry’s uncle J.R. Ferry (a Leetonia graduate) played against Hulea when he coached at Crestview in the early ’90s.

“My uncle said he definitely turned that program around when he got there,” Ferry said. “I was ecstatic when we hired him because that’s exactly what our program needed.”

¯Where does Friday’s game rank in Hulea’s coaching career?

“I’ve been asked that question a lot, but I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about it,” Hulea said. “I’m pretty quick to turn the page. That was then and this is now. It’s time for us to move on and get ready for Mathews.”

¯The last time Leetonia won a season-opener was 2011 when the Bears defeated Lisbon 12-10.

¯The last time the Bears sat above .500 was 2013 when they found themselves 2-1 after three weeks.

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