Mapleton is making its second appearance in school history in the regional semis as they meet Warren JFK in a second round game in division seven Saturday night Canton Central Catholic’s Lowell Klinefelter Stadium.

The Mounties (8-3) knocked off Youngstown Valley Christian School (47-28) in a regional quarterfinal on Saturday at home.

Coach Robert Mahaney felt their quick start was important to their success. “Getting off to a fast start is exactly what we talked to them about all week. We saw something on tape and we tried an onside kick to start the game and we executed that. We have to ball offensively and we do a great job to go up 7-0. They fumbled on their first possession and we took two plays to score and got up 14-0. Had a great three and out on defense and got another great job drive to go up 21-0. It made them a little more one dimensional being behind. It really just helped us and gave us a lot of momentum. We were able to use the home crowd to really help our kids. Just a great night for Mapleton football,” said Mahaney.

The Eagles kind of never went away and Mahaney says they can’t afford to turn the ball over this week. “They had some really good athletes. They had guys making plays until there were zeros on the clock. It is a credit to them and their coaching staff that they fought all of the way to the end. We had some turnovers and some things and every time it looked like we were going to pull away we kind of made a mistake to let them hang around. Obviously, we can’t afford to make any mistakes going into week 12,” he said.

The last time the Mounties were in a regional semifinal it was 2014 and they played and lost to league foe Norwalk St. Paul. Meanwhile, for JFK (6-5) this is the 23 rd time they have been in the postseason. They have won two state titles, the last being in 2016, and they have reached the final four seven times. They beat Windam (35-12) in a first round game last week.

Mahaney says there is a big difference between them and the JFK Eagles in terms of playoff experience. “Part of this team won a state championship in 2016, so they know what it means to win playoff games week in and week out and win the whole thing. They have a lot experience and the coaching staff knows how to do that. I know they are 6-5, but they play in a good conference and they play a lot of good catholic schools up there in that league,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They do a good job of competing and they are big up front and they have some really good athletes that they get the football to, so we are going to need a great effort. It is only the second time in school history we have advanced to the second round, so it is a little bit of difference in the experience. We have to hope we can continue to carry the momentum we have right now.”

Mahaney says they are going to try and run the football and they are going to do it from different formations. “Offensively they find ways to run the football. They have three, four really good backs that they get the ball to. They do a good job of finding different formations with different wrinkles every week to try and find ways to run the ball. Defensively they are a 4-4 and they fly around and get to the football. They are big up front on that side and play really good coverage. We just have to execute offensively. With their offense as good as it is we have make sure to take care of the football and execute,” said Mahaney.

Published 11/06/18

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Mapleton, the runner-up in the Firelands Conference, plays host to Youngstown Valley Christian School Saturday night in a first round game in division seven.

The Mounties beat Western Reserve (41-13) and New London (40-0) in their last two Firelands Conference games and coach Robert Mahaney says their defense was particularly good. “If we look at those last two games against New London and Western Reserve. Western Reserve was a pretty good football team that lost a lot of close games defensively through those eight quarters we didn’t give up a touchdown. Western Reserve returned two kickoffs on us for touchdowns. So, if we can kind of keep building off that momentum defensively. Then offensively, we executed pretty well both games. It rained pretty hard and that limited some of our passing options at times, but were still able to run the ball and pass the ball when we needed to. Being affective in those games helps us get ready for this Saturday,” said Mahaney.

Mapleton (7-3) entertains Valley Christian (5-5) in a first round game. The Eagles come in on a four game losing skid, including a (24-18) setback to Crestwood last week. This is their fourth playoff appearance, including last year.

Mahaney says the Eagles have some playmakers in the skilled positions. “We got the film of them on Sunday morning and they are really athletic. They have a safety and slot receiver that is very good, getting some division one looks and some division two looks for sure. The quarterback is a good athlete, we have to do everything to contain him. Their running back runs really hard, he runs through a lot tackles and if he gets into the open field he is really hard to bring down. They are really big up front too offensively and defensively, they have some big linemen,” he said.

Mahaney adds this is a team that has played a solid schedule. “They play in a good conference. You look at their losses against Mogadore, Rootstown and Gilmour Academy, those are tough teams that they lost to and even the other two were against division four and division five teams. They have confidence and they are going to come out ready to play,” he said.

There are some elements that Valley Christian shows that the Mounties have seen before, according to Mahaney. “They are a spread team. I guess for us the most similar would be South Central. They have some good slot receivers like South Central does. They are a little faster than South Central on film. They have a lot of really good team speed, they fly around,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Size wise a Hillsdale that we played earlier would be a good comparison. You take their size and some the athletes that we played later. There is no direct team that they are exactly like, but definitely some looks that we are used to seeing, so we just have to do what we can, keep the ball in front of us, limit their big plays and hopefully execute on offense and defense.”

Mapleton enjoys the home field advantage and Mahaney hopes that is a plus for them. “You look at our region if we weren’t hosting we are probably traveling over an hour and half. To be at home and making them travel to us is an advantage for us. It is our second home playoff game in our history, the last one was in ’14. Hopefully, the community will come out and support us and our kids are excited,” he said.

Published 10/31/18

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Mapleton has already earned a playoff spot in division seven, but they have a chance to be home if they beat Western Reserve on Friday night in Firelands Conference action.

Last week, the Mounties got back on a winning track with a (40-0) win over New London in conference play.

Coach Robert Mahaney says they were able to put some things together. “We had some injuries. A kid went out for us defensively against Plymouth and being able to get that guy back for us defensively and kind of getting back to what we were doing before the injury. That was obviously a big thing for us. Then just get some confidence back because we have to get that going against Western because they are a really good football team despite what their record says. They could easily be 4-2 in our conference right now,” said Mahaney.

Mapleton (6-3,4-2) plays at home against Western Reserve (2-7,2-4) on Friday night. Conference champion Norwalk St. Paul flattened the Roughriders (49-0) last week.

Yes, they only have two wins, but Mahaney believes Western has done a lot of good things this year. “They are definitely a run first team. Against South Central they missed an extra point that would have tied that game up late and against Crestview they had an onside kick that if they got, and they probably should have got, they are sitting at 4-2. A lot of that is because they run the ball so successfully. Their tailback runs really, really hard and we have to go everything in our power to bring him down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are going to line up and do a lot of different formations to try and get you in different places and tough positions and we have to do everything we can to try and stop their run. Their quarterback will make some plays when he needs to.”

Mahaney says they need to be ready to play because the Mounties still a lot of play for on Friday night. “We talked to our kids. First of all, Western is a really good football team, second of all it is a chance for us to finish second in the conference by ourselves, third of all it is senior night for our seniors, and fourthly if we win it gives us some momentum going into week 11. If we win we have a good chance to host in the playoffs. There are a lot of things that we need to play for this week. We need to stay up and make sure we have the energy we need to get a win on Friday,’ said Mahaney.

Published 10/23/18

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A loss to Norwalk St. Paul knocked Mapleton out of a share of first place in the Firelands Conference, but there are still three games to play and a lot for the Mounties to accomplish.

The Mounties took the early lead, but a four score third quarter by the Flyers proved to be the difference in their (49-27) win over Mapleton.

Coach Robert Mahaney was very pleased with the heart that is team showed last Friday. “We were able to score first. That is what we wanted to do and put some pressure on them and their offense. At halftime it was 14-13 them and we were right in the ballgame. They came out in their first drive and we made them drive the field with a 12-play drive. Then after that things went bad. We had a blocked punt, a punt return all of the way down to the 40-yard line, a turnover on downs, and the next thing you know we are down 28 at the end of the third quarter. The good thing about our team is we kept fighting,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “We cut it to a two score lead and then they scored late to make it a three touchdown differential. We have a lot to take away from this game and a lot to learn. I am proud of how the kids fought until the end.”

Mapleton is now in a share of second place with South Central a game behind St. Paul with three to play. Mahaney says they can not dwell on last week, they have to look forward. “We can’t let this one loss define us. It was our first loss in conference and there is a lot more season to play. If we do what we should do and the points fall the way they should fall then we have a shot to make the playoffs and hopefully get in there and win some games, but we have to learn from this experience. We just can’t not let the one loss define us,” he said.

Mapleton right now stands second in their division seven computer region. The top eight teams make the postseason, with top four getting a first round home game.

Mapleton (5-2,3-1) is at home for Plymouth (3-4,1-3) for a Firelands Conference game on Friday night. The Big Red got their first conference win last week when they beat winless New London (35-6) on Friday.

Of course, Plymouth runs the double wing, double tight offense that can run up the rushing yards, but Mahaney says they are pretty good on defense too. “It is very different. Mark (Genders) does a good job of teaching physicality over there. At the line it becomes a rugby scrum and if you can’t step up and stop the run it is going to be a long night for you. Obviously, St. Paul ran the ball at us and we have to do some things defensively to sure that up, especially going into a team that going to run the ball right at you again. They do a good job defensively too. It is not just they have that offense, they are pretty good on defense as well,” said Mahaney.

Published 10/08/18

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Mapleton is tied with Norwalk St. Paul for first place in the Firelands Conference and they play each other at Whitney Field in Norwalk on Friday night.

The winner gets a leg up in the conference standings. St. Paul has a 42 game conference winning streak. Mapleton has not beaten the Flyers in 22 years.

The Mounties remained in a share of the lead when they knocked off South Central (28-12) last week in Greenwich.

They did so by outscoring South Central (21-0) in the second half. Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a much better job executing in the second half of the game. “South Central had been playing very well. There is a reason they were (5-0) and ranked the state AP poll. Coach Fickiesen has done a great job and they have a lot of playmakers. Their quarterback Evan (Legg) does a great job getting the ball to places. We made some mistakes in the first half and it cost us offensively. We played pretty well defensively other than a couple of deep balls over the top to Lamoreaux, who is a really good receiver. We let him get on top a couple of times on us because we were too aggressive. The second half we settled down defensively and made some big plays in the third quarter to take the lead. What I was really proud of was at the end of the game we had the ball inside our 20-yard line and drove 88 yards. We had some injuries and we had two freshmen make big plays for us to help us win the game,” said Mahaney.

Mapleton (5-1,3-0) takes a five game winning streak to Norwalk to face the Flyers. St. Paul (5-1,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, beat Crestview (42-6) last Saturday.

Mahaney says the Flyers do a lot of good things on offense. “Obviously, you can tell that they are very well coached. Coach Livengood has done an exceptional job since he has been with that program. It is just another one of his really good football teams. They run the ball really well. They have two really good running backs that they get the football to a lot. The (Noah) Good kid and the (Cam) Caizzo kid are both really good. They just do a really good job of running downhill and falling forward all of the time. Honestly, I think the (Jake) Griffin kid is a really, really good quarterback. He is very accurate with his passes and moves well in the pocket. What they do is the get you with the run, run, run and then they are going to beat you over the top with the deep ball and he is really accurate with it,” said Mahaney.

St. Paul has not lost a Firelands Conference game since 2012 and Mahaney says they can not get off the bus questioning themselves. “You have to have confidence going into the game and compete with them. I think there have been a lot teams and a lot of situations over the years that know who they are playing and how good St. Paul is and kind of back down before they get off the bus. That is something we really have to preach to our kids you have to go to their stadium, where they lose not very many times over the years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “So, we have to do everything our power to walk out of there with a win. It is going to take everybody believing and staying the course and doing everything we can to break that 42 game conference win streak. We haven’t beaten them since 1995. So, we have a lot things going against us. We have to do everything in our power to just compete with them on Friday.”

Published 10/05/18

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Mapleton and South Central share the Firelands Conference lead with Norwalk St. Paul and they meet on Friday night outside of Greenwich in a crucial matchup in conference play.

The Mounties (4-1,2-0) have won four straight, meanwhile, South Central (5-0,2-0) is unbeaten in five games for the first time since 1963. Mapleton is second in its computer region, South Central is fourth in its, both in division seven.

Mapleton downed Crestview (21-13) last week in game that was stopped for more than an hour because of lightning.

Coach Robert Mahaney says they got off to a really good start on offense, but it was the defense that won them the game. “We came out firing really well offensively with a big drive to start the game. We were able to score twice in the second quarter. We kind of jumped out and executed some things. We had that lightning delay that sort of slowed down our momentum and we lost a little bit of focus to be honest. We were able to come out and compete defensively for sure. It was great again to see us compete defensively and win the game down the stretch that way,” said Mahaney.

South Central rallied with two fourth quarter scores to beat Monroeville (33-20) last week.

Mahaney says the Trojans have a lot of guys that can go the distance. “They have a lot of playmakers. Coach Fickiesen is doing a good job of spreading things out and getting the ball to them. Evan Legg at quarterback does a really good job making reads and getting ball out. He has two really good receivers in Cristiano Murphy and David Lamoreaux. They are both really, really good receivers. Definitely the best two we are going to play all year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You throw that on the top of the schemes they are doing. Their running back is a good running back too, they just have a lot of playmakers. Defensively, they just fly around. They are really aggressive and get to their gaps really quick. They make you make mistakes.”

South Central ran and threw for more than 200 yards each last week. Legg completed 16 of 34 passes for 209 yards. Murphy and Lamoreaux both caught TD passes.

Mahaney says they must be solid tacklers or there are going to be big plays. “They are trying to get the ball out into space with their playmakers. If you can make that first tackle you will be successful defensively, but if you can’t make that first tackle you are going to struggle because they definitely have some guys that can get some yards after the catch. So, we have to do everything in our power to make that first tackle,” he said.

Mapleton has one of the best small school quarterbacks in the region in senior Logan Pharmer.

Mahaney says they would like to possess the ball a little, but they are not going to abandon their pass game. “At this point in the season it is week six and we are in the back half now. I think each team has their identity and I think we have to do what we do. There is a reason we are 4-1. There is a reason they are 5-0. I think we have to stick to our guns. Hopefully we come out Friday night and play just a little better than them. They are a good football team, so we are going to need everything we have to beat them,” said Mahaney.

Published 9/25/18

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Mapleton has put together a three game winning streak heading into week five of the high school football season.

They play at Crestview on Friday night in a Firelands Conference game.

Last week, they buried Monroeville (42-22) in their conference opener.

Coach Robert Mahaney says did a lot of good things on both sides of the football. “That was our game plan going in defensively was to try and slow down their run. They have two really good backs. I thought we did a good job containing them, keeping their gains minimal and making them snap the ball a lot. When you can do that it puts a lot of pressure on them to execute every play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We got them behind the sticks a couple of times with penalties and some turnovers too. I thought we executed very well defensively. Offensively we talked on Friday our quarterback has been in a lot of games for us and been very good, but he had a total of six touchdowns, ran for over 100, threw for over 300. He just played a very good game for us to get that win.”

Logan Pharmer is a senior and an All-Ohio quarterback for the Mounties.

Crestview (2-2,1-0) scored in the final minutes of the game last week to beat Western Reserve (26-19) in Firelands Conference action.

Mahaney says the Cougars have athletes and have the ability to make plays. “Dan (Mager) does a really good job over there. They do a lot of different formations. They try and attack you defensively. They put the athletes that they have in position to make plays. They have some big kids up front defensively and offensively and they do a good job with that. They have always been a program in our conference that has been towards the top, so they are always going to come out and compete,” said Mahaney.

Crestview has completed some big passes this year, but they like to focus on running the ball. Mahaney says they have to contain the Cougars run game on Friday night. “I think their offense is designed to run more than it is to pass. If you watch the film you will see that. So, I think we need to do what we can to stop the run and put them in passing situation that they feel a little uncomfortable with. I think if we can do that we will have a pretty good game defensively,” he said.

Published 9/18/18

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Mapleton hosts Monroeville in a key early season in the Firelands Conference on Friday night.

It will feature a match up between Mapleton’s pass game, led by All-Ohio quarterback Logan Pharmer, and Monroeville’s powerful run game.

Last week, it was the Mapleton (2-1) defense that rose to occasion as the Mounties downed Rittman (21-11) in a non-conference game.

Coach Robert Mahaney says it was kind of nice to have to win the game with defense in the fourth quarter. “It has obviously been our emphasis these last two weeks getting a better defensively. Just flying around and getting to the football. It was really good last week. We left a lot of points out there on the field offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I think it was a great confidence building for us defensively to be able to grind out a win like that and make defensive plays at the end of the game to win a game. I think that just has to help us as we get ready for conference play.”

Mapleton has put up a lot of points over the last couple of seasons. Mahaney says they always have that potential. “We still had like 450 yards of offense and only scored 21 points. We left some points out on the field. We have to do a better job in the red zone. We had a couple of turnovers on downs, an interception that we threw just trying to force something. We should have scored a lot more points, but we have the potential and as long as we execute and don’t hurt ourselves we are going to be pretty good there,” he said.

Monroeville (2-1) lost to talented Tiffin Calvert (59-27) in their opener, but like the Mounties have won two straight, beating Sandusky St. Mary’s (28-16) and Margaretta (46-16) in weeks two and three.

Mahaney says they have an outstanding running game. “You look at the week one Calvert game when they beat Monroeville, hen they beat Danville week two and they beat St. Paul. Obviously, Calvert is a really good football team. Monroeville moved the ball on them. They were able to run for a lot of yards. They have two really good backs that have played well through the first three games. The Ruffing kid is a really fast kid and then the Rogers kid is more just a bigger back. They do a great job of lightning and thunder, a real fast kid and a big kid. They are a good football team. We have to be ready up front. We have to be ready to match their physicality and be ready to stop the run,” said Mahaney.

Published 9/14/18

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