Interesting trends, facts emanate from all-time area All-Ohio football compilation | Analysis

Jun. 23—There can never be enough awareness, access to or respect for history.

In that spirit, a list of every upper-level All-Ohio football honoree from current News-Herald coverage area schools has been compiled.

It yields an interesting look at trends and tradition for local gridiron programs and for our area as a whole.

Once the compiler's inclination returns, a similar effort is intended this summer for boys and girls basketball.

Before delving into the findings, some history and disclaimers:

—The All-Ohio high school football team began in 1933. While in the middle portion of the 20th century there was a separate All-Ohio list by United Press International, the one deemed the "official" version is from The Associated Press. The AP transferred selection responsibility to the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association in 2017.

—This study is focused on first-, second- and third-team honorees, as well as player and coach of the year selections. It does not include special or honorable mention due to volume and necessity. A task challenging as it is would frankly be too monumental also including the scores of special and honorable mentions, especially in the last 20 years with more divisions and expanded formats. The AP's list was all-encompassing regardless of division until 1958. A third-team level was introduced in 2009.

—In addition to current News-Herald coverage area schools, Ledgemont and Newbury, which were area schools until they closed, are included. The tabulation does not include former News-Herald coverage area schools such as Orange, or other neighboring schools that have never been in our coverage area.

—Villa Angela-St. Joseph and St. Joseph were compiled as one entity because its history is considered constant, but Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin and Cathedral Latin are not because their history has long been deemed separate.

—Compilation came from the annual All-Ohio lists in the Ohio High School Athletic Association history and records section. This was typically a photocopy of the list that appeared in newspapers statewide. As a result, the lists may not account for typos or inadvertent omissions in a given year. So while great care was given in perusing each year's available list and ensuring otherwise, it is possible this may be incomplete.

With all that noted, let's get into the findings:

—Counting every instance of a student-athlete being first, second or third team, as well as divisional athlete or coach of the years and Mr. Football plaudits, there have been 1,504 All-Ohio football honorees from current News-Herald coverage area schools.

—The All-Ohio list, as earlier stated, began in 1933. But the first area honoree didn't come until 1951, when Euclid defensive end Stan Intihar was selected on the second team.

Nicknamed "Captain Stan" and "Mighty, Mighty Man" in the 1952 Euclidian, the school's yearbook of the era, Intihar was a four-sport student-athlete.

"Directly responsible for the Panthers' three football wins was big Stan Intihar," the yearbook staff wrote. "Chosen captain by a unanimous vote, Stan combined his 6-feet, 5-inches with his natural adeptability at ball handling to advantage as illustrated by his repeatedly brilliant performance at left end. ... Euclid High shared in Captain Stan's well-deserved glory."

—The first football All-Ohioans from a Lake County school came in 1958, with Harvey workhorse running back John Mummey as a first-teamer and Mentor cornerback Duke Wellington as a second-teamer in Class AA and Fairport safety Wayne Walters as a second-teamer in Class A. The first from a Geauga County school was in 1965, when Berkshire defensive back Bill Hansel was a Class A first-team choice.

—There were only 16 All-Ohio honorees through all of the 1950s. Eight were from Benedictine, two each were from Brush, Euclid and Harvey and one apiece were from Fairport and Mentor.

—The program with the most overall selections, including player and coach of the year honors, is Kirtland with 143. The Hornets are followed by Benedictine (117), Mentor (97), Lake Catholic (95), Perry (83), Chardon (69), VASJ/St. Joseph (68), Kenston (64), Euclid (62) and Chagrin Falls (55) rounding out the top 10.

—Of the 1,504 All-Ohio selections, 689 have been first-teamers, players of the year, coaches of the year or Mr. Football recipients. Kirtland also has the most in that regard with 81, followed by Benedictine (61), Lake Catholic (57), Mentor (51), Perry (39) and Chardon (36).

—There are 12 programs locally that have had at least 50 upper-level All-Ohio selections and 13 that have had at least 20 first-team or statewide yearly honors.

—Counting a stretch during which statewide player honors were separated by lineman and back, not offensive and defensive, there have been 51 player of the year honorees and 38 coach of the year selections.

The first News-Herald coverage area statewide coach of the year in their division didn't come until 1986, when Fairport's Wally Kesling was recognized in Class A.

—Positional language and implementation has evolved — such as nose guard or defensive end specifics at times instead of a defensive-line umbrella. But counting a student-athlete for each of his selections, there have been 121 honorees at quarterback, 216 at running back, 170 ends, receivers or "athletes," 223 on the offensive line, 236 on the defensive line, 258 at linebacker, 183 at defensive back, 33 kickers and 27 punters.

—Of the 1,504 upper-level All-Ohio selections all-time from current News-Herald coverage area schools, 416 — or 27.7% — have come in the last six seasons, including all five of the most profilic years. In 2019, there were 83 All-Ohio honorees, by far the most in a single season. The most prolific year not in this millennium came in 1995, when there were 45.

—The only season after which there was no area All-Ohio honoree following Intihar breaking through for the first distinction was 1954.

—There are have been 15 football student-athletes all-time from current News-Herald coverage area schools — again, not including special or honorable mention — who have been three-time All-Ohioans on the first, second or third team. Five are from Kirtland's transcendent run of the last decade-plus: Canon Schroeder, George Prusock, Joey Torok, Mason Sullivan and Ryan Loncar. Wickliffe, with Chase Fortkamp and Isaac Pettway, is the only other News-Herald coverage area program with more than one in that category.

The others all-time are Beachwood's Dawann Gray, Benedictine's Joe Cigas, Chagrin Falls' Nick Dalessandro, Hawken's O.J. McDuffie, Kenston's Jack Porter, Lake Catholic's Joe Jurevicius, Ledgemont's Danny LaRosa and Perry's Jaylen Anderson.

Anderson likely would have become the only four-time football All-Ohioan in News-Herald coverage area lore if not for missing four games his sophomore season in 2018.

For those wondering, by the way: Robert Smith, of course, was a two-time Mr. Football for Euclid in 1988 and 1989. But he was not honored on the first, second or third team statewide as a freshman or sophomore. There were no Euclid honorees in 1986, and the Panthers' contingent in 1987 was offensive lineman Rich Delsanter as a Division I first-teamer and Tom Banc as D-I coach of the year. Same goes for Mentor's Mitch Trubisky and South's Kareem Hunt, who were each two-time D-I first-team recipients as juniors and seniors.