Glenville out of Salem’s way
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COLUMBUS - The Salem football team is prepping for a new opponent in the state playoffs.
The Division III, Region 9 bracket opened up after defending state champion Cleveland Glenville was removed from the playoffs by the Ohio High School Athletic Association late Thursday afternoon.
“We were really looking for the opportunity to play them and shock the world, but I’m sure I will get over that,” Salem coach Ron Johnson said.
The OHSAA said the Glenville Tarblooders were removed from the playoffs as part of an ongoing investigation into Cleveland Metropolitan School District inaccurately assigning student participation opportunities to Glenville.
The OHSAA said issues stem from students who attend Ginn Academy, which is a non-member magnet school that does not offer sports and is under the control of Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Students who attend Ginn Academy can only participate in athletics at the Cleveland Metro school that is closest to their residence.
Glenville's first-round opponent, 12th-seed Hunting Valley University School (6-4) will advance to the second round game at fourth-seeded Salem (8-2) next Friday, Nov. 6.
“We had four games broke down on (Glenville) and already started a game plan,” Johnson said. “We weren’t sure it would be them, but it was highly, highly likely.”
Salem lost to Glenville, 49-0, in the second round last year.
Glenville won three state titles in the last four seasons and also won the state championship in track and field in June.
Now the Quakers turn their full attention to the University School Preppers.
“We have a common opponent with Howland and have a little bit of film on them,” Johnson said.
Both teams lost at Howland this month with the Quakers falling 28-14 on Sept. 9 and University School falling 31-21 on Sept. 23.
The Preppers feature a balanced attack with 1,320-yard runner Aaron Kim and 600-yard passers Nico Morelli and Carson Panteck.
“Now we’ll see how it goes,” Johnson said.
Salem is 4-2 against teams with winning records and University School is 2-4.
“We spent the whole week working on fundamentals with the younger players,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to heal up a bit.”
Salem got out to a 7-0 start before losing two of its last three games when injuries to key starters piled up.
Senior Brandon Kana, the leading rusher, had his foot stepped on and has been out with a bone bruise.
Sophomore left tackle Colt Stockman broke a bone in his foot and senior left guard Elijah Fridette tore his ACL.
“Our other guys stepped up and played well,” Johnson said.
He said Fridette plans on playing with a brace in the playoffs.
“(Senior defensive lineman) Conner White has done that since Week 2,” Johnson said. “He’s doing a tremendous job.”
In October of 2018, the OHSAA said Glenville was also removed from the football playoffs for the same infractions, along with being fined $5,000 and placed on probation through 2021.
"Recently we discovered several irregularities with students going to Ginn Academy and playing football at Glenville, which led us to conduct an audit of the participation opportunities for all fall sports student-athletes at Glenville High School," OHSAA executive director Doug Ute said. "This week we confirmed that many players on Glenville's football team should have been playing at other schools this season. It will take some time to examine all the information and determine the extent of the violations this season and potentially in previous seasons for all schools and teams within Cleveland Metro."
There is not an exact timetable on the full scope of the investigation and additional penalties. The OHSAA thanked Cleveland Metro, Glenville and Ginn Academy for their cooperation thus far.