Bulldogs fall sports preview: Meet the championship contenders and ‘unleashed’ underclassmen

First-year Stow-Munroe Falls head football coach Martin Poder brings with him quite a resume covering his young head-coaching career.

And he’s coming “home.”

Poder spent the last four seasons as the head coach for Suburban League National Conference rival Brecksville-Broadview Heights. In his first season with the Bees, 2018, the team failed to win a single game in 10 tries, but the very next season Poder led Brecksville-Broadview Heights to the National Conference title and a Division II state playoff berth.

“We were the second-most improved team in the state of Ohio,” a proud Poder recalled. “Then, in 2020 we were one of the top five teams in Northeast Ohio and went far in the playoffs (Division II regional semifinals).”

Prior to his stint at Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Poder was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for Stow-Munroe Falls, so he is familiar with the environment in Bulldog country.

Unlike when he began at Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Poder is not starting from scratch at SMF. Last year under then-coach Tom Phillips, the Bulldogs finished 9-3 overall and won the National Conference title with a 5-1 record. They lost to perennial power Cleveland St. Ignatius in the second round of the Division I state playoffs.

The Bulldogs must replace several key players from last season’s league championship team, including quarterback Owen Bainbridge, now playing at Bowling Green; a pair of Second Team All-Ohioans in running back Xavier Preston and offensive lineman Mason Mennell; and Third Team All-Ohio offensive lineman Van Shyjka.

“We don’t have a lot of returning letterwinners, but we will have 25-27 seniors, and they’ve always been a very talented class, one of the better ones in the National Conference,” said Poder. “Outside of three or four guys who played as juniors, for a lot of them it will be their first Friday night major contributor experience.”

Offensively, Poder is looking for consistency and execution, especially inside opponents’ 30-yard line. Leading the way will be two seniors, running back Sal Romito and wide receiver Jabari Hopkins.

“Sal has good speed, but he’s very elusive in the open field,” Poder said. “He has good vision and is very athletic as well. Jabari is a first-year player for us. He runs track. He has natural ability and has the height and the speed. He has big hands and catches the ball. He’s probably our true deep threat.”

Defensively, the line and linebackers have the majority of experience, and Poder looks for those players to do very well against the run and getting to the quarterback.

“We want an aggressive, fundamentally sound defense that creates turnovers,” he said.

Seniors Teddy Gregory, a middle linebacker, and Hunter Shinsky, a tackle, look to cause havoc on defense. Gregory earned Second-Team All-Ohio honors a year ago.

“Teddy is our unquestioned leader,” said the coach. “He’s probably one of the top linebackers in all of Northeast Ohio. Hunter is probably one of the strongest kids in the entire school. You’re going to notice him in the hallways. He’s 6-foot-2 and 240 or 250 pounds. He’s very strong at the point of attack on the line of scrimmage.”

Poder said the seniors have led the way in making his return to the Bulldogs’ sideline a smooth one.

“We want uncommon players based off of George Washington Carver in which you can do the common things in life in an uncommon way and you can get the attention of the room,” he said. “I think the structure and the accountability and just the overall commitment … I couldn’t have asked for a better senior class in the first year coming back to a program.”

Other top returners for the Bulldogs include seniors Max Barnes (OL), Alex Barry (PK/LB), Nate Boozer (QB/HB), Brayden Gabele (WR), Damien Mapes (OL), Courtney Reynolds (DL), CJ Seckinger (LB), Donte Smith (RB) and Rider Spath (WR/CB); and juniors Mike Murtaugh (S), Ryan Rickleman (DL), Jack Smith (WR/QB) and Evan Walker (CB).

The Bulldogs are scheduled to kick off the season at 7 p.m. Aug. 19 at backyard rival Cuyahoga Falls in a National Conference clash.

Girls cross country

Repeating as National Conference champion and returning to the state meet are the two main things on sixth-year girls cross country head coach Aaron Morris’ wish list.

“We lost four main girls to graduation, so we’re not quite as deep as we were last year,” Morris said of his team that won the district championship and finished 10th at the Division I state meet. “We’re going to have to keep everybody healthy, but I think those are very attainable goals.”

The Bulldogs are pretty much set with the top five spots on the team, beginning with two juniors, Jayla Atkinson and Deena Ingrassia. Atkinson earned All-Ohio honors in 2021.

“Jayla has been to the state meet the last two years,” said Morris. “She’ll be our No. 1 runner for sure. Deena has made a big improvement, so she’s going to be one to really watch. I don’t think she’ll be too far behind Jayla.”

Two other runners who also look to be major contributors are senior Sydney Pitcovich and sophomore Ellie Brosch.

“Sydney was a big part of our state run last year,” Morris said. “She stepped up really big at the state meet, was a big part of why we were 10th overall. She’s a hard worker.

“Ellie made big strides last year. She wasn’t part of our top seven but has made a really big push to be on varsity this year. She’s worked really hard and has gotten herself into a solid fourth spot for us.”

Filing the No. 5 position will likely be senior Lily Baker.

The Bulldogs open the season at 9 a.m. Aug. 27 at the Kenston Frank Gibas Invitational.

Boys cross country

Backyard rival Hudson stood in the way of the SMF boys cross country team capturing the National Conference championship last season. The Bulldogs finished second to the Explorers.

“We’re gaining on Hudson,” fifth-year head coach J.K. LeSeure said. “We have just about everybody back. We have a lot of good seniors, we have some good depth. Our top three guys all ran in the 16:10-16:20 range last year as juniors, so they should be knocking on the door of sub-16:00 times. We’re well positioned to compete for the conference championship, so we’re hoping to make a big postseason run. I think we have a pretty good shot of getting to state.”

The top four positions are pretty much set for the Bulldogs with seniors Micah Bentley, Zach Shawala and Connor Scarberry and sophomore Gavin Rossman.

“Micah is the reigning conference champion,” said LeSeure. “We’re looking for that again this year. He’s going to have to earn it. He was our one guy who got to regionals last year. Zach is a speed guy. He’s a little bit better on short stuff in track. He’s the school indoor record holder in the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters in track.

“Connor has one speed that he goes the whole race. He’s a very consistent runner. He manages his race well. If he gets into traffic in a big race, that doesn’t bother him. He finds his way through and is there at the end when you need him. Gavin is a little bit green. He had a freak injury in the second or third meet last year, so we didn’t see him for most of the season. He was able to come back and help us in the postseason. He’s young and is still trying to figure it out.”

The Bulldogs are scheduled to begin the season at 9 a.m. Aug. 27 at the Kenston Frank Gibas Invitational.

Boys soccer

The boys soccer team lost about 14 seniors to graduation from last year’s squad that finished 6-3-9 and lost in a shootout to Hudson in the district semifinals. However, 23rd-year head coach Kyle Kosmala is not too worried about finding replacements.

“We have a large junior class, and a lot of them saw action last year,” he said. “We have two of our central midfielders back, and they are the backbone of the team.”

Those two players are juniors Carson Boyd and Reece Raymond-Smith.

“Carson is our physical presence on the field. He kind of dictates the pace of the game for us,” said Kosmala. “Last year he had a really big defensive role, but this season we need to get him into more of an offensive role. Reece is just a great athlete. Each year, his game has progressed more and more.”

Two central defenders who should contribute big time are senior Keith McNary and junior Davis Broghammer.

“Keith came on strong toward the end of last season,” Kosmala said. “Pretty much for three years we put him in a lot of offensive positions, but this year he’s the anchor to our defense. He blossomed a lot in the offseason.

“Davis came on strong last year in the middle of the season. He started out on JV last year and then just played his way up. We look forward to him having more of a veteran presence this season.”

According to the coach, winning the National Conference is always the team goal.

“It’s a difficult conference, but if we take care of business we’ll be there at the end,” he said. “We usually put ourselves in contention in the final week or two of the season, and we need to do that again this season.”

The Bulldogs open the season at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at home against Massillon Jackson.

Girls soccer

The girls soccer team has already lost two starters for the year to injury, and the season hasn’t even started.

“Our team is very talented, but we don’t have a lot of depth,” fifth-year head coach Jim Dudones said. “Injuries are part of the game, and if we can stay away from any more of that, I think we’ll have a very good season.”

Dudones lost several seniors to graduation from last year’s team that finished 10-6-3 and lost to Solon in the district semifinals.

Leading the way for the Bulldogs will be senior midfielder Kailey Hobart and senior wingback Grace Beck.

“Kailey is a very aggressive, attacking player,” said Dudones. “She creates chances to score in every game, even against excellent opponents. She’s an excellent decision-maker, a very smart player, is very fast and is a good leader.

“Grace is extremely fit and an extremely aggressive, attacking defender. She has an incredible work ethic.”

Three juniors who look to be major contributors are forward Paityn Marino, wing Mallory Fischer and central midfielder Corinne Casenhiser.

“Paityn is a very versatile attacker, very powerful, extremely fast and a lethal goal-scorer. She’s the one you better be watching out for,” Dudones said. “Mallory is a beast athlete, extremely physical and very versatile. She’s going to win a lot of aerial battles for us when the ball is in the air. She’s fearless. Corinne is a very good decision-maker. She creates a lot of chances for us to score.”

The Bulldogs are scheduled to open the season at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at Louisville.

Field hockey

First-year head coach McDaniel Palma has declared the word “unleashed” as the theme of this season’s field hockey team.

“That word defines that we’re not going to worry about what happened in the past few years,” said Palma, the Bulldogs’ junior varsity coach the last two seasons. “We’re kind of detaching that from who we are now, so a lot of it is just rebuilding.

“There’s been a lot of different leadership regarding the head coaches. Every season, there’s been a new head coach. I’ve watched them come and go. Something these girls really need is consistency.”

Last season, the Bulldogs lost in the second round of the state playoffs.

“We did better than we did in the past,” Palma said, “but we lost some great senior leadership as 15 girls graduated.”

According to Palma, the culture surrounding the program must be changed.

“That’s what this season is going to be about,” she said. “Last year, skill-wise the culture was great, but team-wise and relationship-wise it was kind of trickier. I think this year the culture is going to be a little bit better. The girls have incredible attitudes, and I think they all are just going to step into their skills in a very mature way of just rising up to the occasion.”

Pacing the Bulldogs will be seniors Bri Kerekes, a midfielder, and Anna Brzuski, a defender.

“Bri is very, very consistent with going to the ball. She’s a great sprinter, she has a lot of endurance,” said the coach. “She just is someone who is very reliable on the field. Anna is one of our strongest players, and that’s because she’s proven herself over and over again to be one of the best defenders on our team. She always has her stick down, she’s always defending the goal, and she’s always communicating with the other defenders.”

Three juniors – forward Aubrey Bottger, midfielder Mari Sarafian and forward Maddie Byerly – will be key cogs to the team’s success.

“Aubrey has been one of our main scorers the past few years,” Palma said. “Mari went from a very tentative player to a really strong player, especially offensively. She has great speed and endurance. Maddie is a silent player, a silent leader, but she’s one of our strongest players because she puts in the work. She’s always looking to her teammates in order to advance the ball up the field.”

The Bulldogs begin the season at 5 p.m. Aug. 22 at Rocky River Magnificat.

Volleyball

The middle will be where it’s at this season for the volleyball team.

Middle hitters Delaney Ramsey, a senior, and Gianna Cella, a junior, will be the keys to the success of the volleyball team.

“You’ll see a lot come from our middle hitters,” third-year head coach Sara Snyder said. “We’re going to be a hard team to block because we have a lot of hitting options. We call Delaney a spring because she has this bounce to her, and then she just gets up and puts the ball away. She’s not the tallest player, but she can jump. She’s quick on her feet, too.

“Gianna is coming back from an ACL tear in a club match two springs ago. She sat out last season. She got cleared to play right after last season ended, and she jumped right back into it and started playing club and has pushed herself to the max. She’s a smart player and is very vocal on the court. She goes above and beyond to help her teammates out.”

Two seniors who look to be key performers this fall are right-side hitter Callie Dietrich and libero Maggie Ruggles.

“Callie is one of those girls who’s super hard to read,” said Snyder. “When her approach is on, she gets up and puts the ball down whether it’s line or cross. She really makes the blockers have a hard time adjusting to her.

“Maggie picks up everything, has a great eye for the ball. She reads well and covers the court well. She’s also our outgoing leader on the court. She’s constantly talking, constantly picking other players up if they’re down, always celebrating, always has a smile on her face.”

The team is looking to improve from last year’s squad that finished right around the .500 mark.

“We lost six seniors to graduation, but we return several starters,” Snyder said. “We’re in a super tough conference, but every team could be beatable. I feel like it’s pretty even across the board. It’s going to be anyone’s game. I’m very excited for this season.”

The Bulldogs are scheduled to start the season at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at home against Suburban League crossover rival Tallmadge.

Girls tennis

It was a rough season last year for the girls tennis team. The Bulldogs did not win many matches and went winless in the National Conference.

“We graduated a number of players. We have a young team,” 20th-year head coach Brian Banas said. “We want to compete a little bit better than we did last year. We feel like we have some players who put some work in during the offseason.

“We’re in a tough conference. We’re certainly looking for improvement in the conference. I don’t know how many wins that will translate to.”

Senior McKenna Hoffstetter and junior Leah Bentley are competing for the No. 1 singles spot.

“McKenna is more of an all-court player. She can play the net a little bit,” said Banas. “Leah is more of a ground stroker with a good, solid backhand.”

Third singles is still up for grabs between several players.

Juniors Mikayla Witner and Claire Goetz likely will make up the No. 1 doubles team. Sophomore Jenna Obert looks to partner with one of a handful of players for the other doubles spot.

The Bulldogs will open the season at 1 p.m. Aug. 10 at home against conference rival Cuyahoga Falls.