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Buckeyes have many options in the backfield

The 38th annual Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic will be held today at Geneva College. Leading the festivities (from left) will be Ohio head coach Jim Tsilimos of Lisbon, Ohio game director Nick Haught, Pennsylvania game director Curt Agostinelli and Pennsylvania head coach Joe Lamenza of Blackhawk. Player introductions begin at 6:30 p.m. with the game set to kickoff at 7 p.m. (Photo by Patti Schaeffer)

One of the biggest strengths Ohio coach Jim Tsilimos can count on in tonight’s 38th annual Penn-Ohio Stateline Classic is his team’s versatility.

“We can do a number of different things with a lot of these guys,” Tsilimos said. “I like our chances with the kids we were able to select.”

The position where Ohio’s flexibility will be most on display is quarterback. Tsilimos said he plans to let Columbiana’s Mitch Davidson, Lisbon’s Colin Sweeney and East Liverpool’s Austin Mayfield share the signal-calling duties, with each running a distinctly different offense.

Davidson will handle the spread package similar to what he ran at Columbiana, while Sweeney will run the triple-option based attack he grew familiar with at Lisbon. Mayfield will be under center when Tsilimos chooses to use a stacked-I.

“We felt as a staff that we wanted to play to the talents of everyone,” Tsilimos said. On the first night of practice, Mitch told me that he hadn’t broken a huddle since seventh grade. We figured we would be better off doing what he was comfortable with.”

Tsilimos has no shortage of talent on hand. Davidson finished his career by throwing for 7,751 yards and 85 touchdowns. No other quarterback in Columbiana county history has come within 2,000 yards of that total. This season, he completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,636 yards and 19 touchdowns and ran for 875 yards and 13 touchdowns on 145 carries on his way to second-team Div. VI All-Ohio honors.

Sweeney aptly ran Lisbon’s option offense and finished with 473 rushing yards and nine touchdowns to go with 492 passing yards and 11 touchdowns. Mayfield, a second-team Div. IV All-Ohioan showcased his arm strength for the Potters this year by throwing for a single-season school record 1,714 yards to go with 432 rushing yards. He accounted for 19 total touchdowns.

“I’ve never coached a game where we have three different offenses ready to go so it will be interesting to see how we call it,” Tsilimos said. “It sounds kind of crazy, but I think this works best given the kids we have.”

Tsilimos said he also figures to rotate a lot of running back into the game with South Range’s Nathan Daniszewski, Lisbon’s Jason Thompson, Springfield’s Frankie Centofanti, Salem’s Cooper Bezeredi, Indian Creek’s Robert Coppa and Sebring’s Nate Martin all factoring in. Daniszewski, who South Range’s leading rusher with 964 yards and 11 touchdowns, was particularly impressive to Tsilimos, who said his combination of size and speed could play a big role in the game.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a fullback that big and that can move like he does,” Tsilimos said. “Cam Summers (Lisbon’s starting fullback) is a really quick kids, but I don’t know if he’s as big and thick as Nathan.”

Defensively, Tsilimos also expects to be solid across the board.

“In the secondary we’re going to have Robbie Best and Trent Stocker from Struthers at cornerback and Seth Morrow from South Range at strong safety,” Tsilimos said. “We should be pretty quick back there. Up front Trevor Kimmel (East Palestine) should help us out, he’s pretty tough. Taymer Graham from South Range is another good, tough kid who should make an impact.”

Above everything else, what has pleased Tsilimos the most is the commitment his players have shown and how well they’ve meshed with each other over the last two weeks.

“They’re all nice kids that are willing to work,” Tsilimos said. “They all seem to get along and they have trust in the coaching staff. “Overall, it’s been a very pleasent group to be around.”

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