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Aug. 21—Opening night is exciting for any football team.
But Thursday’s Ashtabula County season opener between Conneaut and Grand Valley will be an event the entire Orwell community can be excited about.
GV High School will celebrate the recent completion of a new turf field. A ceremony will take place at 6:15 p.m., and game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“We’re expecting a big crowd,” Mustangs coach Clint Nims said.
As far as the players who will actually play on the new field, both coaches say their kids are more than eager to try it out.
“They’re pumped,” Nims said. “We’ve only been able to practice on it the last two days. The kids are excited about it. They talk about how fast they feel on it … how bouncy they feel. They’re in love with it.”
The visiting team is excited as well, but Spartans coach Rocco Dobran said what’s more important is understanding how excited the Mustang players are going to be.
“We told our guys that they’re gonna come out excited and ready to fire on all cylinders,” he said. “It’s exciting for their program and our guys know they are going to be excited. It should be a great atmosphere and anytime you play in a great atmosphere, it’s a lot of fun.”
It should be a lot of fun, but for the coaches there is also a lot to find out about their football teams.
The Mustangs are looking to improve on a 2-8 season from a year ago which included a 20-0 loss at Conneaut, while the Spartans are looking to build on a 5-6 campaign.
GV senior quarterback Sammy Goforth returns, along with classmate Andrew Soltis, the team’s leading rusher. In addition, the Mustangs have several returning linemen and players on defense.
Nims said his team has not really worked on anything new, but has focused on doing the basics better.
“There were two things we said we needed to work on,” Nims said. “One would be being tougher, and the other would be being more disciplined. We’ve seen a big improvement in those areas so far.”
On the other side of the ball, Conneaut also has a lot of experience in the trenches, but will runs out several new players at skilled positions.
Junior Colby Stiltner will make his varsity debut at quarterback. The Spartans also have a new set of running backs in junior Carrick Dobran and sophomores Isaiah Boles and Devin Fogle.
It all starts up front, though. Seniors Dylan Philip, Gavin Nesbitt and Jaydon Anderson will anchor a big and experienced offensive line.
“We don’t have a lot of returning starters, but the core of guys we do have back are the guys upfront,” Rocco Dobran said. “The big guys up front are kind of leading the way and when the young guys are playing, they’re hungry, they’re excited. Obviously the negative is lack of experience and the learning curve. But they’re definitely excited to play.”