Tag: Minerva Athletics

A Night to Remember: Minerva Football Earns 1st EBC Victory Since 2019 with a 7-0 Win over Marlington

Alliance, OH- Every team undergoes a rebuilding phase. For some, this period lasts a year or two. Others see the rebuild eclipse the half-decade mark. What if a rebuild sees a team go 4-96 across 10 years, leading into a new era? How do they rebuild? Zach Slates and the new look Minerva Lions have answered this question by improving to 5-3 on the year with a 7-0 victory over the Marlington Dukes.

“Minerva had a long tradition of smashmouth football, and it has been great to see it come back again,” remarked Minerva High School Athletic Director Garth Evans, “I am very excited for this school, town, and community to see success in football again.”

Minerva began the game with the football, but would proceed to fumble deep in Duke territory. After leading Marlington down inside the Minerva 35-yard line, Tyler Walder’s fourth-down scramble came up short, giving the rock right back to the Lions.

Minerva quarterback Kannon Kirkpatrick has been working on his passing all season, and it paid off in a big way on the ensuing drive. With 2nd down and 19 in front of him, Kirkpatrick found Owen Shick over the top for a massive first down inside the Dukes’ five-yard line. A few plays later, Skylar Lab would run to the corner of the endzone to sneak it in for the game’s lone touchdown with 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Both defenses proceeded to dominate the final three quarters. In total, the Lions’ defense stopped Marlington three separate times on fourth down. Still, a few players on both squads managed to put up solid numbers.

Looking at Marlington, both Blaize Horn and Caden Dine ran the ball effectively. Horn had 77 yards on 6 carries, while Dine had 45 yards on 8 attempts. In the air, Cole Jones had 46 yards on 5 receptions. Finally, Walder went 9/16 with 76 passing yards. Their big loss came in the form of Cameron Evanich, who suffered a season-ending arm injury during the Dukes’ loss at Carrollton.

As for the Lions, it was the running game that stole the show as expected. Breakout Sophomore Timmy Kirkpatrick ran the rock 24 times for 171 yards. Nate Linkous followed him up with 13 carries that resulted in 45 yards. K. Kirkpatrick went 2/2 passing with 44 yards.

Circling back to Evans, he made sure to give everyone credit when talking about this revival, as he said,

“Everyone involved has been a part of this rejuvenation in football. Students, staff, band, cheerleaders, players, and coaches because they all believe the team can win, and that’s been great to see.”

Up next for the mighty Lions–the Alliance Aviators. Despite losing 34-28 on the road at West Branch, A-Town is looking poised to host a playoff game in Region 9.

As for the Dukes, this loss sees them eliminated from playoff contention in Region 13. They are on the road in week 9 as they take on Salem.

No matter what happens for the Minerva Lions during the home stretch of their 2025 campaign, one thing is certain. This small Ohio town, divided amongst Stark, Carroll, and Columbiana counties, will not forget this special group. A group that helped change the future outlook for Friday Night Lights at Dr. Robert H Hines Stadium.

SmeeSports Player of the Game: Timmy Kirkpatrick

Watch Marlington Vs Minerva Football: https://www.youtube.com/live/DfwCmOX5JDc?si=qCubrRARVxxxBuLa

Marlington Volleyball Continues to Roll in EBC Play, Defeats Minerva in Straight Sets

Alliance, OH- Fresh off a state championship game appearance, the Marlington Dukes were always going to have a chip on their shoulder heading into 2025. With losses to Twinsburg (3-0) and Olmsted Falls (3-1), Marlington had plenty to prove in the Eastern Buckeye Conference. Tonight, they earned their first home win and third conference win with a 3-0 victory over Minerva.

In the first set, it was all Marlington. After taking a 4-0 lead, the Lions got back into the frame with two quick-fire points. However, a 5-0 run followed for the Dukes, which made it 9-2. Tiffany Oaks, the head coach for Minerva, called a time-out to talk things over. Minerva got some points on the board after the break, but Marlington continued to control the frame. In the end, the Dukes got the win 25-9.

Set two started with plenty of back-and-forth play. The Lions kept Marlington within three or four points for the most part. However, the Dukes began to pull away as a timeout was called with the score sitting at 13-6. Minerva made things interesting after the break as they got within three. However, the pedigree of the Dukes showed as they sealed the set 25-17.

Just like the prior set, the Lions held Marlington at bay early. After going down, the Dukes took a narrow lead. The narrow 9-8 lead widened quick as Minerva called time with the score sitting at 15-8. This remained par for the course as Marlington cruised to a 25-12 victory, sealing the 3-0 win overall.

After the game, Danica Sarchione said,

“We worked really hard this Summer. We knew we lost some seniors, but this is a really good rebuilding year, and tonight we really proved ourselves.”

Sarchione is one of the biggest returners from last season. As a junior in 2025, Sarchione looks to be a two-year captain for the Dukes. In this match, she chipped in 7 kills along with 6 aces, 1 assist, 10 digs, and two blocks. Additionally, Marlington scored on 16 of her 18 services. Only Justine Doringo had more serves leading to points, but a lower total serve point percentage.

Looking into the priorly mentioned former seniors, Claire Battershell (Tiffin), Layne Graffice (YSU), and Jacsyn Hilliard headlined the class. However, the statsheet looked very similar to last season.

“Hey, these stats are very similar to last year,” remarked head coach Stephanie Tortola regarding what was said on the bench after the game.

The energy was the same from last year; just a few new faces were introduced. Senior setter Cali Young echoed this as she proclaimed,

“We have a good youth program at Marlington. A lot of the girls who were coming up freshman year have made an impact.”

Giana Bogunovich echoed the sentiment as she said,

“I feel like our energy and our determination just shows in everything we do.”

Bogunovich led the team with 17 kills. She also provided one assist and seven digs. Young also provided a spark, earning a total of 28 assists.

The Dukes, now 4-2 on the year, head to Salem on Thursday as they hunt for a seventh consecutive undefeated EBC season in a row. As for Minerva, they travel to Alliance again, but to take on the Aviators. The latter will be streamed live on the SmeeSports YouTube channel.

SmeeSports Player of the Game: Danica Sarchione

Link to Rewatch Marlington Vs Minerva Volleyball: https://www.youtube.com/live/bx6QRqcwC5k?si=lO7CTC0oRfEuu-m2

Link to Watch Alliance Vs Minerva Volleyball: https://www.youtube.com/live/8MfuNvVqKDo?si=8jHWb6udk289eigv

SmeeSports to Begin Streaming Select Minerva High School Games Starting in the Fall of 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Minerva, OH – SmeeSports LLC is pleased to announce that we will begin broadcasting select Minerva High School sporting events on the SmeeSports YouTube channel this Fall.

We began to consider this expansion back in April while covering Minerva Vs Alliance baseball. That was not our first time covering Minerva, as we saw the Lions numerous times throughout our coverage of Alliance and Marlington athletics (which will continue into 2025). Given this prior connection, the decision was easy when the opportunity to expand presented itself. While we do not have a clear-cut schedule, the plan is to cover a few football games with plenty of volleyball and soccer added on to round out the fall. We are open to suggestions as to which games we should cover for Minerva. Message us on our social media pages if you have a suggestion/recommendation on a game we should broadcast.

Going to the business side of this expansion, we are in search of broadcast sponsors. Without sponsors, the number of games we can do will be limited. Minerva has a lot of great businesses that support athletics in the city. We are calling on them to become sponsors of SmeeSports. With broadcast packages starting at a base rate of $10 per game, it is a great way to promote your business without breaking the bank. To learn more about our sponsorship opportunities, contact us under the contact tab on this website or email Nathan Smee at nsmee00@gmail.com.

To wrap up this release, we want to thank Minerva’s Athletic Director, Garth Evans, for helping make this a reality. We are excited to work with him to showcase the best of Minerva athletics. This year has been a great year of growth for SmeeSports LLC. We are happy that our next piece of growth brings Minerva into the SmeeSports family.

It is time to Unleash the Beast!