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Eagles flying high early in the season

HANOVERTON–The last time a United football team laid claim to a conference championship, current head coach D.J. Ogilvie was just two seasons into his first head coaching job and most of the players on the current roster weren’t even born yet.

Eighteen long years after United shared the old Tri-Conference League title with Lisbon in 1999, Ogilvie is back in his second stint with the school (after stops at Boardman and Lemon Bay Florida) and the Eagles have a team they think is capable of breaking the drought.

“We had one of our alumni Bill Prosko (class of 2008) come back and speak to the team last week,” Ogilvie said. “He said that his goal was always to put a banner up in the gym and he missed out on that. That would be a great thing for our kids to be able to come back when they are 40 or 50 years old and show their kids that they were part of a championship team. I would want that experience for any kid.”

The Eagles (3-1, 1-0 EOAC) threw their hat into the ring last week by racing out to a big early lead and holding on for a 40-27 victory over East Palestine–one of the main preseason favorites.

Coming into the season, United needed to replace 16 seniors from last season’s 6-4 team, but the Eagles were quietly confident that they had enough returning talent and up-and-coming players to compete.

“We lost a lot, but we had a lot of talented players coming up that were hungry to prove themselves,” junior quarterback/linebacker Bodey Kiko said. “I think we’ve filled the gaps and made the right adjustments.”

“I definitely knew that we had the talent to be a good team this year,” United senior running back Ethan Antram said. “It was just going to be a matter of us all getting on the same page and playing together as a team.”

That hasn’t been a problem so far, with the players citing a positive locker room atmosphere as one of the big keys to their strong start in Ogilvie’s first year back.

“Everything has been fun about this year,” senior linebacker/offensive lineman Brady Leyman said. “Everyone is giving a great effort and doing their job.”

“Coach Ogilvie has stressed effort and attitude more than anything else, those are the two things you can always control,” Antram said. “With a new coach, you never know how things are going to go. But knowing the success he had here at United and knowing that he’s run bigger programs before reassured me.”

The most gaping hole the Eagles faced coming into the year was along the offensive and defensive lines where they had no returning starters.

Those concerns have been eased after four games. The Eagles controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball Friday against the Bulldogs, outrushing east Palestine 298-130.

“Offensively we have three seniors that have played really well for us. Brendan Rose, Brady Leyman and Anthony DiBaggio have all stepped up,” Ogilvie said. “Defensively we’ve had a couple of seniors really step up too with Brendan Rose again and Kody Vint.”

The Eagles did have some talent back at the skill positions and have hung their hat so far on a multi-pronged spread rushing attack keyed by the backfield tandem Antram and Kiko. Sophomore Brutus Ogilvie has subbed in at quarterback in passing situations. Slotback Landon Baker and tailback Tyler Lippiatt have also chipped in.

“We all bring a little bit of everything,” Kiko said. “Lippiatt is probably the strongest runner we have, Antram is really quick and makes great cuts and Baker is gone when he gets open. I’m not the fastest guy, but I run hard.”

“I call Bodey the man-child because he’s so big and strong and runs so hard,” Ogilvie said. “He’s a load with the ball.”

United has already had to overcome some major adversity when senior slotback/cornerback Parker Hydrick, one of the best all-around players on the team, went down with a likely season-ending injury before the week two game against Salem.

Filling a void left by a player like that is never easy, but Ogilvie credited his team for showing poise.

“That was a tough week, it’s always hard when something like that happens during practice,” Ogilvie said. “Nick Rhodes and Gunner McIntosh have both stepped up to help fill the void after Parker went down. Both are great kids who work real hard and hustle. Parker was more of a kid that we moved around from slot to split end. So really now Gunner and Nick are the split ends and Brady Leyman has stepped up as the slot.”

The Eagles know that a long road remains ahead. Columbiana’s 1-3 record is deceiving thanks to a rugged non-conference schedule that featured three current unbeatens in Western Reserve, McDonald and Springfield. State-ranked Southern Local also looms as a formidable contender after a 4-0 start.

“We know Columbiana is very tough, so we had to re-focus pretty fast this week,” Leyman said. “They are faster than East Palestine. It’s going to take our best effort to win.”

“We have big goals for this season, but we have to take it one week at a time,” Antram said. “We took time Friday to enjoy the win but we had to come back the next day ready to focus on Columbiana. Last week’s win isn’t going to feel as great if we lose a big game the next week.”

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