http://www.hsconnect.com/page/content.detail/id/535878.htmlBig Red joins ECOL
By MIKE MATHISON, sports editor
POSTED: May 4, 2010
STEUBENVILLE - Big Red sports is heading north and west.
Steubenville was voted into the East Central Ohio League Monday and, according to ECOL commissioner John Neighbor, can begin play in the league in golf, cross country, swimming, wrestling, track, baseball and softball beginning in the fall.
The ECOL has a Scarlet and Gray division.
Big Red will be in the Scarlet division with Cambridge, Dover, Marietta, New Philadelphia and Zanesville. The Gray division includes Claymont, Coshocton, Meadowbrook, River View and Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans.
"They wanted to add a team into the big school division," said Big Red Athletic Director Fred Heatherington. "Somebody got in contact with me about joining the league. We talked about it and seemed interested in it, so we wrote a letter to apply into the league.
"This is primarily for the football schedule, but the schools in the league are also good in every other sport. This will help us in all sports."
Steubenville, which will remain a member of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference, will not begin league activity in football until the 2011-12 school year.
"I was a little surprised when I found out that Big Red might be interested in joining," said Neighbor. "But, I understand their problem from an AD's point of view. Since the OVAC has no mandatory scheduling, Fred is hunting 10 football games, 20 games for both the boys and girls basketball teams and 27 baseball and softball games.
"I understand Big Red plays only three Ohio schools in football this year. This will help everybody. I think this makes it a lot nicer for Steubenville.
"I have the football schedules about half worked out. I'll finish them in the morning. I have the schedules done in all sports through 2013-14. I built a bye into the baseball and softball schedules and Steubenville can slide into the byes.
"The biggest problem is basketball, since the schedules are already done. We'll have to see how that one works out."
The addition to the league gives Big Red five mandated football games a year and Heatherington and football coach Reno Saccoccia now only have to fill five dates instead of 10.
"I think this will really help Reno and myself out scheduling football games," said Heatherington. "Since we only play three Ohio teams this year (Akron Buchtel, Massillon and Ursuline), this league will give us five Ohio teams each year and we can still keep some teams on our schedule
"I think we're going to get good crowds at the football games. This league will be good for the fans and good for us. But, we have yet to see what it will do computer-point wise for us in football. The teams you play have to win.
"Our schedule the last 15 to 20 years has been great for us getting us good computer points and getting us ready for the playoffs. It's been a tough schedule to fill, but it has also helped us for the playoffs and with the computer points."
Neighbor said each school will have an opportunity to play a crossover football game within the league, but it will not be mandatory.
"Steubenville has already said they would not do that," said Neighbor. "But, we will still have rivalry games in those crossover games, like Coshocton and Cambridge, Meadowbrook and Cambridge and Claymont playing Dover and New Philly.
"I can see some really big crowds at some of these football games.
"Steubenville will not be participating in the junior high level sports and we have not talked about freshman sports either."
And, according to Neighbor, this is not all about sports, either.
"In the ECOL we have a band and choir concert, an academic challenge and cheerleading competition and Steubenville has been invited to participate in all of those."
Dover football coach Dan Ifft and New Philadelphia football coach Matt Dennison talked to the New Philadelphia Times Recorder about the addition of Big Red.
"It's great," said Ifft. "It makes us one of the premier leagues in the state. We'll all have to pick up our games. It's great for them and its great for us (Dover and the league)," added Ifft. "It's also great for the fans. We're looking forward to them coming in."
"We're real excited about this," said Dennison. "When you look at what will be the upper division of this league, four of the six teams were 9-1 last year. Our schedule will be a real meat grinder, but that's what we want.
"Every program in this division is going to have to step it up now. That puts a lot of pressure on us, but that's what we like."
Heatherington said there are still questions to be answered.
"We'll still have to see how everything will work out with all the sports," said Heatherington.
"We're treading new waters with this."
