“It’s a battle,” defensive coordinator Devin Spitzer said.
Perhaps “Risk” explains some of Shawnee’s gambles during its run to the Division III state championship game. Going for it on fourth down from your own 29-yard line, as the Braves did early in their 56-42 victory over Elida last Friday, is sort of like trying to seize Alaska from Kamchatka.
This Friday, all the coaches will end their longest journey together, an epic 15-week gridiron vacation. For every one of them, the game against Youngstown Cardinal Mooney at Fawcett Stadium in Canton will represent the pinnacle of their coaching careers.
Even that is an understatement. There’s no doubt this is the biggest football game involving a Clark County team since Catholic Central played in the state title game on Nov. 29, 1991.
Speaking to the players earlier this week, Shawnee head coach Rick Meeks mentioned this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He said he has been coaching for 16 years and that Spitzer has been at it for 15. Linebackers coach Joe Vanuch spoke up, saying he has been coaching for 37 years.
Neither Meeks, nor Vanuch, or any of the 11 coaches have ever been on the sideline for a state title game.
“It’s a combination of great kids and great coaches,” Spitzer said. “Everyone here has a role.”
Offensive coordinator Matt Warrington has been at Shawnee for 15 years. He said he’s the one holdover from the staff of Jack O’Rourke, Meek’s predecessor.
“There are no egos on this staff,” Warrington said. “We’re all willing to tell each other off and listen to each other and not make it a big deal.”
No one has been at Shawnee longer, and in more capacities, than running backs coach Kelly Frost. His fellow coaches said he coached at every level of Shawnee football — varsity, JV, junior high, peewee — over the last 25 years.
The newest member of the staff, on the other hand, is wide receivers coach Shawn Jarzab. He and Meeks were both featured on the cover of the News-Sun’s football preview section in 2003. They were both first-year head coaches — Meeks at Shawnee and Jarzab at Northwestern.
Jarzab resigned at Northwestern after the 2008 season and joined Shawnee’s staff in 2009, bringing his son Brad, then a sophomore and now the star senior quarterback, with him.
“I welcomed the opportunity to come over here,” Jarzab said. “I knew a lot of the staff members before I came over. I knew Rick and Devin and Joe. I knew it was a fantastic staff. They welcomed me with open arms. God willing, as long as Rick is going to have me, I’m going to be here.”
Some of the coaches’ connections go beyond Shawnee. Spitzer’s coach when he played at Southeastern High School was Dave Driskill, now a fellow Shawnee assistant.
“He does an outstanding job,” Spitzer said. “He’s a details guy. He’s a humble guy. We’ve been together a long time. We battle, but we’re on the same page.”
None of the coaches would be here if not for Vanuch. As principal at Shawnee from 1999-2004, he helped hire Meeks and Spitzer.
“If that’s part of my legacy, then those two things are pretty good,” Vanuch said, “along with the kids we’ve helped.”
This is Vanuch’s eighth year with the program and also his last.
“This is my swan song,” he said. “I’m done after this year. I’m going to give my time to my wife.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or David.Jablonski @coxinc.com.
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