Captain Kangaroo

Ringgold running back has something to prove By Paul Schofield TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, August 14, 2005 Ringgold football coach Russ Moore said if there is a WPIAL running back better than Robert Heller, he wants to meet him. The veteran Rams coach speaks highly of his star tailback and defensive back, who rushed for 1,545 yards and 14 touchdowns on a team that finished 3-7 a year ago. In Moore's opinion, he's the best tailback in the WPIAL. "He's going to play college football somewhere," Moore said. Heller, nicknamed 'Bean' by his father after college football analyst Beano Cook, has received interest from numerous Division I programs including Indiana, Akron, Kentucky, Pitt, West Virginia, Penn State, Central Florida and Miami (Ohio). His current favorites are Indiana and Akron. Although Ringgold, a merger of Donora and Monongahela high schools, only has one WPIAL football title, the school and district boasts its share of great athletes, including Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, former NFL players Scott Zolak, Fred Cox and Deacon Dan Towler and baseball players Ken Griffey Sr. and Stan Musial. Heller, 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, is a tough runner who wants to leave his own mark at the school by delivering punishment on the field. "I like to run between the tackles and lower my shoulder," said Heller, who calls himself a power runner with speed. "We're going to surprise some teams this year. It all depends on how much the offensive line improves." Moore said Heller has worked hard in the off-season to make himself stronger. "He's a leader," Moore said. "Hopefully, we'll take some pressure off him." Heller can bench press more than 300 pounds, and he has been timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40, according to Moore. He has rushed for more than 2,800 yards and has seven career interceptions, including four last year. Moore said the Rams offense can't be one-dimensional. To that end, he hopes fullback Phil Kevech and running back Kyle Law will get more carries, which should allow Heller more space. "We have to be able to throw the ball and use Bean as a decoy," Moore said. "He's going to get his share of carries, and we're hoping he'll be more productive." Heller should no trouble sharing. He played midget football in Finleyville with South Park's Connor Dixon and Tyler Scruggs and Baldwin defensive lineman Jason Pinkston. Dixon has verbally committed to Michigan State and Pinkston has said he is going to Pitt. "It was a lot of fun," Heller said. "They didn't have a midget league team to play on. We were pretty good." Heller has big goals of his own for his senior season. He and Kevech, one of his best friends, hope to lead Ringgold back into prominence. "Phil and I are the strongest players on the team," Heller said. "He's a great blocker and I like following him through the holes. He's just as big as some of the linemen on the team, but he's going to get his chance to run the ball." Ringgold opens the season at home against Moon on Aug. 26, but he is looking forward to other games on the schedule. "I can't wait to go against West Allegheny and Dorin Dickerson, and against TJ (Thomas Jefferson)," he said. "Hopefully, we'll give them a little better challenge." Heller is a three-sport athlete who plays basketball and is one of the top baseball players at the school. "If Bean would concentrate on one sport, he'd be even better at whatever he decided to play," Moore said.

Massive "Rise and Fall of Emmanuel Smith" article in the PD. First installment of a series. Seems like Emmanuel didn't like Bryan Hisher taking his PT? Find it at: www.cleveland.com

I think it is crippling. We lose Donaldson. He's one of the top 3 OL's we've got, and the most physical of the group. We're essentially trading the true Freshman year of a promising OL for his 5th year redshirt senior year. We'll see what happens, but it sucks to lose a key guy from a position where we're so very thin talent-wise.

Bingo, Zipboy wins!

Nate Robinson is here. He will not be eligible until 2006 thus he's not on the roster.

Iveljic picks Akron Having grown up in Bosnia, Germany and the United States playing soccer, Igor Iveljic never played football until last year. It looks like he will play football a while longer. Iveljic, a senior kicker at Mentor, has verbally committed to the University of Akron. He also considered Ball State and Toledo. Iveljic played soccer two years at Mentor until switching to football last year. He made two of six field-goal attempts, was 31-of-34 on extra points and had 11 touchbacks on kickoffs. He also will punt this season.

"Coach Jim Bollman of Ohio State wants to see tape of my first three games," said Proctor. "I'm committed to Akron but when Ohio State shows interest, I've got to listen." I'm committed to my wife...well...unless some hotter chick comes along. What aspect of the word "commitment" changed during the past 5 minutes? I must have missed something? Is this what Rivals.com calls a "soft-verbal?" Blech.

Huether hopes to continue junior success By Paul Schofield TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, August 9, 2005 No quarterback in the WPIAL Quad A classification had a better season than Penn-Trafford's Tyler Huether in 2004. He completed 127 of 209 passes for 2,209 yards and 21 touchdowns and helped lead the Warriors to a 7-3 season. So what can the senior do for an encore? "It's going to be hard to duplicate what I did last year, but I'm looking forward to the challenge," said Huether, who threw for 991 yards while splitting time with Mike Rasky during his sophomore season. Huether is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the WPIAL. The list of quarterbacks who are expected to receive Division I offers include Seneca Valley's Kevan Smith, South Park's Connor Dixon, Norwin's T.J. Salopek, Kiski Area's Mychal Skinner, Pine-Richland's Jake Long and South Fayette's Andrew DiDonato. Smith has given Pitt an oral commitment, and Dixon plans to attend Michigan State. Huether has one solid offer, from Temple, and a bunch of schools which have contacted him. They are Akron, Louisville, Cincinnati, Toledo, North Carolina State and Pitt. "I'd like to go to West Virginia, but it has seven quarterbacks on the roster," Huether said. Penn-Trafford coach Art Tragesser said he and his coaches knew early on that Huether was going to be special. "We watched him in junior high and saw he had a strong arm," Tragesser said. "Tyler did a nice job during his sophomore season. We didn't want to put him in right away, but we knew he could handle the job." Tragesser trusts his talented quarterback so much, that he allows him to change the play at the line of scrimmage. "That's one of my strengths," Huether said about changing the plays. "Coach Tragesser allows me to change to a better play." But what separates Huether from a lot of other high school quarterbacks is his accuracy. Wide receiver Tim Cortazzo said Huether makes it easy to make catches because he is so accurate. "Tyler throws a great ball," said Cortazzo, who was Huether's favorite target last season. "He's underrated as a quarterback." The junior caught 32 passes for 734 yards and nine touchdowns. Cortazzo said he and Huether have a great rapport. "It's like we have ESP," Cortazzo said. "It's a trust we've developed. Tyler is great at throwing to the openings in the defense." Huether said he likes being the leader of the team. But he knows we can't do it himself. Huether will be working behind a new offensive line and throwing to a new group of receivers this year. "We're not going to be the biggest team, but we'll be stronger and faster," Huether said. "I'm confident the new line will give me time to throw, and the new receivers will catch what I throw." Huether doesn't pattern himself after any NFL quarterback, but his favorite quarterback his Brett Favre. "I just like the way he plays the game," Huether said. "It's fun to watch him play and the way he rallies his team." Huether said his first game as sophomore is one of his most memorable games. He threw a touchdown pass to Matt Bache, which helped Penn-Trafford defeat rival Norwin. Last year, his special games were against Bethel Park and Woodland Hills. He had a Favre-like performance in rallying the Warriors to a victory against Bethel Park, and he led the Warriors to their first victory in school history against Woodland Hills. The only team to give Huether some problems was North Hills. Huether said they constantly changed defenses to try to confuse him. "They decided to drop eight players into coverage and blitz off the corner," Huether said. "They did a good job closing the windows in their defense. But I'm ready for that defense now since I've been through it."

Unlike Denver last season, not Hall of Fame game participants (Bears vs. Dolphins) utilized the Zips indoor training facility this year. Jason Taylor did not make any known stops on campus, but did provide a fair number of HOF game tickets at the athletic office. Would be nice if he dropped off a chunk of change towards the new stadium while he was at it! Also: Mike Grzeskowiak & Jared Smith will be grad assistants this year. The newly retired Dennis Basch will assist with film.

It would be nice for kids in the area that ARE quite OSU-material to pick UA. If Rick McFadden, Dennis Kennedy and Nick Dials came to Akron, why not a few local ones?

So we play both California-Pennsylvania AND Cal-Berkley? That's odd? Let me guess...road game, right?

I think Marshall and Toledo have consistently hung around the top 25 as frequently as any BCS school over the past several years. BG has been a regular as of late too.

He's excellent right now. If he's healthy, and not the best TE we've got during the next 3 years...then we're in REALLY good shape at TE.

If you think no Freshman will see time on the OL, you've been hanging with Josh Cribbs too long. Puff Puff.

PG West: Kasparek relaxes as starter at Akron Thursday, August 04, 2005 By Rich Emert, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette This summer has been less stressful for Kris Kasparek. It has nothing to do with doing well in the class he was taking at the University of Akron. The reason Kasparek has been able to relax more is he hasn't had to worry about his place on the Zips depth chart. He enters training camp as the starter at tight end. "Just knowing you've got a starting job going in makes it easier," said Kasparek, a New Brighton High School graduate. "When you're not the starter and you have a little injury that's bothering you, you don't say anything and keep going because you don't what the coaches thinking you don't want to play. "When you're the starter and you've got something, the coaches will let you to take a little time off because they know what you can do. You don't stop trying hard or anything like that, it's just a different way you're looked at." A redshirt sophomore, Kasparek moved into the starting lineup midway through last season. He ended up starting 6 of 11 games and catching 11 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown. His first start was against Middle Tennessee State and he hauled in a 40-yard pass. "What happened is, I hurt my leg in camp last year and that's set me back a little bit," Kasparek said. "Before that, I was in the running for the starting spot." When he finally did get an opportunity to play on the first team he didn't drop the ball. What makes Kasparek effective is his knowledge of the plays. He said that's what got him noticed. "The best and fastest way to get on the field is to know the plays. If the coaches have confidence that you know what you're supposed to do they'll give you a chance," he said. "I studied hard to know all the plays and I think that came through in practice." It doesn't hurt that Kasparek has the size, -- he stands 6 feet 8 and weighs 268 pounds -- speed and soft hands coaches love in a tight end. A big target, he had two catches that went for 30 yards in a 35-23 victory against Ball State. His score came on a 2-yard toss against Central Florida. This season he hopes to see the football come his way more often and has been working out with former Steel Valley High School quarterback Luke Getsy. A transfer from Pitt, Getsy is in the running to be Akron's starter. "It's all of matter of the quarterback having faith in you," Kasparek said. "If he knows you're going to catch the ball he's going to throw it to you more often." The toughest part of the transition from high school star -- Kasparek was a three-year starter at tight end and defensive end at New Brighton -- to college player was learning how to block. He said he struggled with that in his red-shirt season in 2003. "It was hard because of the technique you need to learn," he said. "In high school, I was 225 or 230 and I could pretty much handle everybody, plus it was just block the guy in front of you. "But here, you're dealing with defensive ends or linebackers who are super-quick." The game is much quicker at the Division I-A level. Kasparek said things that used to happen in five seconds in high school now happen in less than two. "That's why it's important to know the plays," he said. "If you don't and are unsure and hesitate, that's it." Akron players are encouraged to set goals for themselves at the end of spring ball. Last year, one of Kasparek's was to be able to start as a redshirt freshman and be a part of the game plan. This year, he wants to be an All-Mid-American Conference player and grade out on blocking assignments at 80 percent or better each game. Of course, there are also team goals. In a preseason coaches poll, Akron, which was 6-5 last year, was picked to finish in a fourth-place tie with Can't State in the MAC East behind Bowling Green, Miami and Ohio. Akron opened at Penn State last year and will play at Purdue Sept. 10. "Playing in front of a big crowd at Purdue ... it should be exciting," Kasparek said. "I think we're going to surprise some people this season." He is looking forward to building on what he did last year in six games as a starter. He hopes it will lead to bigger and better things. "You always want to take things to the next level," he said. "I've always had getting to the NFL as a goal."

Just an FYI.

My friend had great things to say regarding Jacquemaine too. However, he felt Jackson had a leg up at this time. Since both are a week away from the first practice of their 4-5 years @ Akron, I guess it is a bit early to hand any "QB of the Future" awards out just yet. Sufficive to say: We're in better shape than the early Uhlenake/Washington/Gromek days. Regarding the OL...I tend to agree with you. I have heard we have three OL's that are pretty solid (Donaldson being the best). Three that are "ok". And four that really will need to make a dramatic improvement over the next 4 weeks if they want to hold off the Freshmen. I'm sure JD would like to red shirt the entire 2005 class...what coach doesn't? But some of our holes appear too big to afford keeping quality Freshman off the field.

I was able to gather some information regarding the Summer Zips last week. Here are some of the notes I thought were interesting. If all goes well, I hope to get similar updates weekly/bi-weekly throughout the remainder of the season: Zips Blips As posted by a few others on the board, Dennis Basch is officially done. Too bad, because he was one of the nicest guys on the team. Getsy is looking good at QB, and Jabari is doing very well in his full time WR role. Freshman recruit Jay Sharps is about 80% back from a leg injury suffered at the end of his HS season. Red shirting looks probable, but who knows…maybe he’s got Nick Dials’ apparent recovery speed? The incumbent OL’s will be given every opportunity to maintain their spots in the 2-deep. But if one (or more) should falter, expect Elliot Bates to be the first true freshman lineman to get a shot at some PT…and I have to believe we’ll see him. Josh Kiner, Terriko Marshall and Zack Anderson are not yet on campus (as of the last week in July). All other incoming freshman are in Akron. Kiner and Anderson had some all star game commitments. Not sure what the story is with Marshall, but all three are expected to be ready in August. In fact, all eligible freshman recruits listed on signing day are expected to be in camp. Al-Teric Balaam is on campus. The hubbub regarding his courtship by Iowa can officially stop! The summer workout performance of Allen, Alphonse, Poindexter, Jackson, DeScott and several others’s have drawn rave reviews. The recruiting class appears to be as good as advertised. The incoming frosh who’s been most impressive? Carlton Jackson. He’s spending a lot of time in the film room, in addition to working out very hard this summer (he’s been on campus all summer). Has a great attitude…really appears like he’s going to be a special player. Recruit Kevin Garner has been described as “unstoppable” and could turn out to be the star if this recruiting class. Unfortunately, as has been reported by ZFF, we’ll need to wait until next season to see him as he needs to fulfill his academic requirements. As mentioned by “Inthezone,” Brandon Anderson and Devanso Tate will dramatically upgrade our DB situation this year. Both have looked great this summer and are working hard. Paris McNeil continues to be an enigma. Great physical ability, but it isn’t transferring to greatness on the field. We’ll see if he improves on his last year’s performance, or struggles again. Despite playing DL in the Pennsylvania East/West All Star game, recruit Merce Poindexter is slated to be groomed as a TE for the Zips. Next year’s (2006) defensive line, on-paper, appears to be unbelievable: Garner, Hight, Nate Robinson and the Buchtel DL that Pitt pulled it offer from (name escapes me at the moment) are MAJOR talents. Unbelievable if, of course, all are eligible. Rumors of yet 3rd “impact” defensive transfer on campus are circulating, but no further information is available. The football Gods seemingly smiled on the Zips last season when they signed Kevin Grant and Brion Stokes after their frenetic 6-week recruiting window last year. Grant was offered by both BGSU and Cincinnati after his verbal commitment to the Zips but held firm on his word. Stokes was heavily recruited by 1-AA schools, but didn’t really have any 1-A offers. Those “in-the-know,” rave about Stokes’ “safety speed in a linebacker’s body” and both he and Grant are expected to be big-time difference makers this year.

We'll see what we can do about it. Sorry for the problems.

Man am I happy it wasn't "Jimmy Conyers (left)"!

Jabari listed as #2 behind Montgomery? Only because there was only space to list 2 WR's, I sure. Wonder if we'll run many 3 or 4 wr sets this year? Crouch...then 9 other guys with a handful of games under their belt. If I were Ferguson, I wouldn't expect to be holding a clip board and wearing a ball cap this season. Luke gonna get beat up. Dennis Basch is listed as a #2 TE. Ringer is #2 behind Biggs. I watched the Marshall tape the other night. I forgot what a key role Ringer played in the second half. It will be interesting to see what he does with his senior year. Looks like the fullback spot is up for grabs, as McDaniel and Spaulding are #1, #2 and neither have played a game at the position. Bank on Tuzze to be #1 by year's end. Mark Groza listed as #2 "bandit?" I'll be shocked if that lasts beyond the second week in August. Overall, I like our LB's. Rover looks good, with Mackey and McNeil. FS scares me. Elie/Dixon/Brown. Hope someone steps up. I can't believe it is possible that I'd miss Fuller...but I might. Corner/Pace/Henry/Tate are four solid corners. Best since the Vincent/Greene/Lyons group of the early 90's. If our DL's could generate ANY sort of pass rush, we could see a lot of INT's this fall. Can our thin, inexperienced 2-deep front 3 generate a pass rush? To be honest...I don't see it happening. I gotta expect there will be a lot of changes in the two deep over the next 5 weeks. Fun reading, regardless.

I agree. Especially with Wood coming off the ACL rehab. If Foust isn't any good, I can always refurbish and modify my "Oust Faust" banner (circa. 1990) and use it at the JAR! It's a win/win!

That's why people come here for their most up-to-date Zips information instead of "basketballtimes.com"

No. His last game was December 8th, 2004. He'll be eligible after the fall semester ends.

I see the OL being the biggest concern. One guy in the group has seen significant PT in a Zips uniform. The rest are all unproven. The DL is probably the second biggest concern. However, we improve by replacing LeFall with just about anyone and Gonzales and White are solid. QB is the next biggest concern. Is Getsy any good? Who knows...he hasn't takes more than 5 game snaps in the past 3 years combined. If he gets hurt, can you win games with Ferguson?