Ohio’s explosive offense may test Pennsylvania in Stateline prep all-star football contest
With a bevy of offensive weapons, including many players who made last year’s all-state team, look for Ohio to open things up when it meets Pennsylvania in the 45th annual Stateline Football Classic.
This year’s battle will be played Thursday night at 7 p.m. on the campus of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa.
The Buckeyes scored 30 points in last year’s game in Salem, but the Keystoners outscored Ohio 17-0 in the second half to win 47-30.
This season, the Buckeyes would like nothing better than to return the favor to Pennsylvania. Ohio head coach Dave Rach has plenty of offensive weapons in his attempt to do just that.
“They’ve opened it up a little bit more, just in terms of being able to line up structurally, which is nice,” said Rach. “There’s still no pressuring (on defense) and that kind of stuff, it’s pretty vanilla, so the offenses can kind of turn it loose.”
When the Buckeyes “turn it loose” they have a talented trio of signal-callers who can fill the air with footballs.
“We have Beau Alazaus (from West Branch), Luke Courtney (from United) and DeShawn Vaughn from Fitch will play some quarterback,” said the Buckeyes’ mentor. “We’re working with those three guys.”
Of course, the 6-6 Alazaus passed for 3,500 yards and 37 touchdowns last fall as the Warriors repeated as outright Eastern Buckeye Conference champions and went 11-2 while advancing to the third round of the postseason playoffs. Following last season, Alazaus was named an All-Ohio Division D4 first-team quarterback.
For Alazaus, it’s his last appearance as a quarterback. He will head off to Walsh University in August to play baseball as a pitcher for the Cavaliers. He recently helped lead the West Branch baseball team to the Division II state championship.
“I’m just going to be playing baseball at Walsh,” said Alazaus, who had a full-ride offer to play football at Lake Erie College but chose Walsh and his favorite sport, baseball.
However, he would like nothing better than to make a big splash in his final appearance as a football quarterback.
“It’s just exciting meeting a lot of new people and making some new connections,” said Alazaus. “I think it (the game) will be exciting. Obviously, we want to go out there and compete and we want to win — that’s our goal. We want to represent Ohio well.”
Meanwhile, Fitch’s Vaughn is another outstanding quarterback who earned Division II All-Ohio honorable mention honors last autumn.
“We have about seven or eight skill guys who will touch the ball quite a bit offensively and they’re from all over the area,” stated Rach.
The Buckeyes also have another outstanding offensive weapon in United’s Luke Courtney. Courtney will play quarterback but is also an outstanding placekicker. Last fall, Courtney repeated as a first-team Division VI All-Ohio kicker.
In the backfield, two players are expected to lead the Buckeyes’ ground attack.
“We’re working with (Willy) Torres from Boardman and Blake Ewert from South Range,” noted Rach. “It’s easy for Blake since a lot of it (the offense) is similar to what he’s done in high school (at South Range).”
Ewert was named a Division V All-Ohio first-team running back last fall.
West Branch head coach Tim Cooper, who serves as the team’s offensive coordinator, calls the plays in the Buckeyes’ version of the Air Raid offense.
“It’s coach Cooper’s offense, but a lot of it is familiar to Blake (Evert), which is nice,” added Rach. “Torres is playing some defense too, so I would think Blake will get the majority of the work at running back.”
The game is sponsored by the Quad County Coaches Association in Ohio and their MAC coaching counterparts from Western Pennsylvania.
Proceeds from the game will fund scholarships presented to schools from Ohio and Pennsylvania that are represented in the contest.