The 'Longest' Yard of Monroeville football

Oct. 21—MONROEVILLE — Monroeville hosted St. Paul on Oct. 21 at Marsh Field in the annual battle of two proud Firelands Conference football programs.

This game has produced many great outcomes and memories over the years.

There are many traditions and familiar faces around the game. One of those is the Long family on the Monroeville sidelines.

And the family was honored recently as the "Monroeville 12th Man" prior to an Oct. 7 game vs. Western Reserve.

This is what was said during the event:

"The Long family has been a part of Monroeville's Friday nights for decades. Paul Long Sr. began helping on the chain gang in 1970 and his wife Maralyn sewed the vests that are still worn by the chain gang today. Once the tradition began, it continued to a second generation.

"Doug, Don, Greg, and Ted all helped with the chains, including over 40 years of Friday nights spent moving up and down the field for Doug. Kyle and Justin have added a third generation to the list of Longs who have continued to move the sticks at Marsh Field. Through the wins and losses, triumphs and heartbreaks that the Eagle Football Team has survived at Marsh Field, the Long family has been marching up and down the sidelines.

"They symbolize the goal of gaining 10 more yards, on and on as the Eagles fight down the field and the goal of drawing the line in the dirt that the Monroeville defense wants to protect. For the countless Friday nights as players and carrying the chains up and down the sideline, thank you Long family for being part of our Friday Night Tradition."

"It was a great honor," said Doug Long, a 1975 Monroeville High School graduate. "Most of us were down here. Bradley stepped in for Don (Doug's brother who passed away earlier this year).

"I've done this for over 40 years — since 1979," Doug Long continued. "I took one year off to get my knees replaced and now I just fill in when they need me."

Long is retired from the railroad and is assistant fire chief with the Huron River Joint Fire District.

The Long family is also currently is in its third generation with the fire department.

Dpug Long is proud of his community and school.

"My wife (Sue) and I were high school sweethearts," he said. "We started dating April 20, 1972. We went to EHOVE together and sat down together at lunch that day."

The whole crew will be there for Friday's game keeping a close eye on the action — 10 yards at a time.

Also at the Oct. 21 game against the Flyers, the late Donna Ott was recognized with the final 12th man recognition of the season.

A 1961 graduate, Ott and her husband, Linus, had three children who attended Monroeville High School.

Ott began her teaching career at the elementary in the late 1960s, and after the passing of Title IX in 1972, she went on to become the first volleyball and girls track and field coach in Monroeville history.

Ott later served as athletic director and was a fixture at nearly every sporting event, making Marsh Field and the West Street Gymnasium her second homes.

Ott was later instrumental in the startup of the Monroeville Community Athletic League, which permitted St. Joseph and Monroeville students to play sports together.

After her retirement in 1995, Ott remained passionate about youth sports and was a regular spectator at any of her 15 grandchildren's sporting events.

A 2015 inductee into the school's Hall of Fame, Ott died later that year after a 20-year battle with breast cancer. Though Ott did not see the Eagles volleyball program reach the state semifinals three times since 2015, on the day of her calling hours, the volleyball team won its first-ever regional championship.

The team then honored Ott by presenting a signed volleyball to her family.