Madison, shown in a scrimmage against Harvey on Aug. 10, debuts in the CVC Lake Division this fall. (Barry Booher - For The News-Herald)
The distinct clanking of metal echoed through the weight room at Madison High School on Aug. 1.
Just outside the weight-training facility, Blue Streaks assistant coach Harry Deligianis barked encouragement to another group of players pushing weighted-down sleds across a hot, black-topped parking lot.
There’s a different energy among the Madison football team this month. A big reason for that energy is the return of so many players from last year’s squad that finished a disappointing 2-8. Players are bent on improving on a recent run that has seen the football program win only three of its past 20 games.
But another thing that has the Madison football team ramped up for the coming season is a new conference. Starting this fall, the Blue Streaks will be competing in the Chagrin Valley Conference, having exited from their previous home in the Western Reserve Conference.
The move, Coach Mike Gilligan said, gives his program — and all the Madison programs for that matter — a better chance to compete against schools of similar size and demographics compared to the larger-schooled WRC.
“The demographic explosion and growth of the Painesville and Concord that Riverside has had, their student-body is probably double of ours,” Gilligan said. “Chardon is Chardon. Those two schools are state qualifiers and state-champion (material). Kenston is up there and Mayfield is really solid.
“It’s not that we’re going into a league that isn’t good in football. It’s really good in football. We’re just playing schools that are closer to our size and against kids that are more like our kids.”
Madison’s move to the CVC is just one of a handful of moves that area conferences are experiencing this fall. In addition to Madison, the CVC is also welcoming Conneaut and Jefferson.
The Greater Cleveland Conference is adding Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights this season.
Word is the WRC is continuing to scour Northeastern Ohio for possible fits to expand, but that league will enter this season with only six teams after Brush departed last year and Madison this year.
The changes will continue in coming years as the CVC braces for Grand Valley’s departure to the Northeast Athletic Conference and the GCC slides back to seven schools when Solon departs.
But as far as this year is concerned, Madison’s move is the headliner, breaking up a marriage it has had with Riverside, North, Mayfield, South and Chardon since all but the Wildcats helped form the Premier Athletic Conference back in 1998.
Now Madison joins a CVC Lake Division along with Geneva, Lakeside, Jefferson, Conneaut and Edgewood — a division that bears a striking resemblance to the defunct Northeastern Conference that once included Ashtabula City and Ashtabula Harbor (which consolidated to form Lakeside), Geneva, Riverside, Conneaut, Edgewood, Jefferson, St. John and Harvey.
“We have coaches on our staff that definitely know about what (the NEC) is,” Gilligan said. “Harry Deligianis played at City and we have our two Geneva guys — John Mirabell and Jim Chiaccherio. They know the NEC well. It’s going to be fun to regenerate some of those rivalries.”
In the WRC, Madison (male enrollment figure of 329 this season) was one of the smallest schools in football. Riverside (582), North (513), Mayfield (463), South (451) and Chardon (376) all boast larger enrollments, while Kenston (298) is slightly smaller.
In the CVC Lake, only Lakeside (392) is larger than Madison, followed by Geneva (305).
Could Madison go from the bottom of the WRC to a CVC Lake title?
“Our goal is always to do that,” Gilligan said. “Hopefully we do. Our focus is to get better every day. Nothing else matters now. Hopefully, at the end of the year, we are in the mix.”
Mentor comes into the 2023 campaign with the youngest team it has fielded in quite some time. The Cardinals will start sophomores in at least three key positions — offensive tackles Jojo LoDuca and Landry Blede, as well as receiver Justin Hodge. Granted all three already have a Division I college football offer from Miami, Ohio. Nevertheless, it’s a young team in a rugged conference that got that much tougher with the addition of Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights.
Mentor opens with a challenging non-conference slate of Massillon Jackson, St. Ignatius and Riverside before the GCC openers against Medina and Cleveland Heights.
“When you look at the talent and ability (of the schedule), you’re gonna be battle-tested by time you get to the playoffs,” Mentor coach Matt Gray said. “There’s not one easy week in the GCC. There’s great talent, great coaches and great teams. You’ve got to compete at a high level each and every week or you’re going home with a loss.
“We’ve got to be ready to roll. Inexperience won’t be used as an excuse.”
The influx of Jefferson — a Division IV state final four entry last year — and Conneaut, along with Madison, has pushed Kirtland back to the CVC’s Valley Division after the Hornets competed in the larger-school CVC Chagrin the past few years.
Kirtland hasn’t lost a league game since Oct. 21, 2016, when Cuyahoga Heights topped the Hornets, 21-0. Since then, Coach Tiger LaVerde’s crew has won 48 straight games against teams from the CVC.
Kirtland, widely regarded as the favorite to win the Division VI state title, opens the season against state-ranked Dalton, followed by four opponents from other divisions of the CVC — Lutheran West, Perry, Trinity and Cuyahoga Heights — before CVC Valley play begins.
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