www.mercercountysports.com

********SHENANGO VALLEY ALUMNI FOOTBALL GAMES UPDATE*********

There are now 100 former Shenango Valley High School football players that have pre-registered to put the pads on for a final time on July 31, 2010.

The first confirmed game is Hubbard versus Brookfield. All other games are subject to change as it appears Kennedy and Wilmington (surprisingly) will not have enough players to field a team.

Former players have 12 days left to pre-register to play at www.alumnifootballusa.com. Deadline to pre-register is Saturday, July 17th-- the same day as the team meeting scheduled for noon at Legends in Hermitage.

Prospective players can call me at 724.456.3000 for more information.

that's encouraging news. Sounds like a fun event.

************SHENANGO VALLEY ALUMNI FOOTBALL GAMES UPDATE*************

Brookfield will host Hubbard under the lights in a full-contact alumni football game on Saturday, July 31st. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30pm. Approximately 65 alums from these two schools are signed up to play in this event.

There is still 4 days left to register for any of the alumni games at www.alumnifootballusa.com. Other potential matchups include:

Sharpsville versus West Middlesex
Hickory versus Greenville
Farrell versus Sharon

For an alumni team to participate, they must have 20-25 players on roster by the team meeting at Legends Sports Bar in Hermitage by Saturday, July 17th. For more information, call 724.456.3000.

************SHENANGO VALLEY ALUMNI FOOTBALL GAMES UPDATE**********

In addition to Brookfield hosting Hubbard on Saturday, July 31 (kickoff 730pm), there has been a late addition to the game schedule. The opening game with a preliminary kickoff time of 530pm will feature alumni of various Shenango Valley schools. Hickory/Farrell/Sharpsville have merged to form one veteran-laden squad. The other squad consists of guys from Sharon/West Middlesex/Reynolds. Who says consolidation won't work around here? This game was negotiated over pizza at Legends in 20 minutes.

The last day to sign up to play in this game is Tuesday, July 20th-- which is the first full practice for both squads.

The next practice for the Sharon/West Middlesex/Reynolds/Greenville team is scheduled for Tuesday 730pm at the kite field in Buhl Park. Interested players should register at www.alumnifootballusa.com or call me at 724.456.3000.

The next practice for the Hickory/Farrell/Sharpsville team is scheduled for Tuesday 730pm at Shelter #2 in Buhl Park. Interested players should register at www.alumnifootballusa.com or call me at 724.456.3000.

So its the HickFarrvilles versus the ShaWMidReyvilles? When do they play again?

Nice article today in The Herald on the alumni football games (page 1 sports section). Article also includes the rosters for the Hubbard-Brookfield game, which will be updated prior to kickoff.

11 days until kickoff!

2 days until kickoff...

Saturday July 31, 2010

530pm kickoff: Shenango Valley All Star Game. Hickory/Farrell/Sharpsville v. Sharon/West Middlesex/Reynolds. Game features a lot of talent and 6-7 guys that are around/over the age of 40. Should be interesting. Among those playing for Hickory/Farrell is Ryan and Brad Hayes along with their FATHER Cedric Hayes.

730pm kickoff: Hubbard v. Brookfield. The host Warriors have had a tough week of camp, losing rb Steve Rotunno to an achilles tear and shutdown corner Ian Simmons to a broken ankle. They are hoping their luck changes reliving the dream under the lights at Brookfield Stadium.

Them two guys are not living any dream, probably a nightmare. Achilles injuries if surgery is needed is a 13 month rehab and a broken ankle is usually 6-8 weeks before everything is normal again. Too bad they got hurt and wont be able to play.

I worked the Monongahela Valley alumni games last night at Joe Montana Stadium at Ringgold High School. There was a capacity crowd of about 2200 on hand to see two games. The opener saw Charleroi beat Monessen 18-8. Charleroi's qb Dumm was game mvp. Ringgold beat the much younger Belle Vernon squad 26-8 in the nightcap. BV committed at least 5 turnovers. Hermitage chiropractor Ward Stillwagon was on the Ringgold roster.

Game day atmosphere was great. Players were all grateful for another opportunity to play and all stayed relatively healthy.

Typically, it takes 120+ days to plan/organize alumni events. These games, along with the Shenango Valley games, were done in a 35 day window. Tonight's kickoff times:

530pm Hickory/Farrell/Sharpsville v. Sharon/West Middlesex
730pm Hubbard v. Brookfield

I went to the game last night. I just stayed for the Mercer County game. It was really fun to watch. The purple jerseys were questionable. Nice mixture of old and young guys. Despites some turnovers it was a pretty well played game. JJ Wilson from Farrell had some great runs and throws.

Were there a lot of other folks out to watch the game?

Yea, it was packed. I couldnt tell you how many, but by the time the second gme started, both sides were full. Plus the people standing outside the fence on the road. They didnt want to pay to get in.

Anyone have scores from the games Saturday?

JJ is still a beast. I didnt go to the game, but from what i heard from people hes still the best QB around. Probably one of the best QB's athletically in the past 25 years in mercer county.

The Farrell/Hickory/Sharpsville squad won the opener by a couple of scores. JJ has a cannon & was playing with a bad shoulder--was named offensive mvp. Lokey Howell made a couple of unbelievable plays. DT Osborne had a pick-6, which was the most entertaining play of the game that I caught. Their experienced line was solid w/Clary, Osborne, Beader, Galati, McMillan and Sim Harrison.

Hubbard won the 2nd game, 34-0. Brookfield played well early, but a couple 2nd quarter turnovers ended any chance of a competitive game. Matthew Smith took some snaps for Hubbard and played a little safety...probably as heavy as JaMarcus Russell. Cinicola had an unbelievable run. DT Toth had a pick and Silvidi stood out for Hubbard. Brookfield's line play was pretty good w/ guys like Nate Sample and Brian Gideon protecting qb Hartman in the first half.

We received a lot of support from the community, especially considering it was the first event. Total attendance was about 1600. Next year I hope to bring in Hickory's band to inflate the numbers

Special thanks to Brookfield Coach Randy Clark for all his efforts. He is an asset to that community. Also appreciative of the work of all the team captains: Todd Clary, Josh Brown, Tim Hanna, and Paul Toth/Glenn Silvidi. We also received a lot of attention and excellent coverage from our local media: Bob Greenburg and Lynn Saternow. We also received a lot of support from our primary sponsor, Sharon Regional Sports Medicine. Jim McNeil had a massive team of medical professionals on both sidelines.

Finally, thanks to the Devil's Advocate for allowing me to post repeatedly on his forum, for taking gameday photos, and giving my wife a ride home so I could clean the stadium

My intent is to schedule multiple games next year on the same weekend. Anyone interested in forming a team and being part of this awesome experience can call me at 724.456.3000. Our website is www.alumnifootballusa.com.

Anyone else see the irony that makes them the perfect sponsor? Heck, two referrals just from practice camp.

None of us is getting any younger...

Alumnifootballusa,
Went to the game and found it extremely entertaining. Must be quite an undertaking to do this. I was pleasantly surprised to see the turnout in the stands.
Was fortunate enough to sit next to some guy that was really taking it seriously. He, at times, was more entertaining to watch than the players.
Thanks for bringing this to the Shenango Valley.
Hopefully, next year more players will step forward to "show their stuff".

We should have had a Pick'em for this!

alumnifootballusa, first off thank you for a fun night for my wife, my son, and myself. I had a blast!!!! These were not the prettiest football games I have seen nor were they the ugliest. It was good clean(for the most part) fun.

Now on to the posts that I can address after talking to some of those involved, FB the gent with the Achilles injury had surgery on Wednesday and he said he was in for 12-13 WEEKS of rehab not months. JJ looked pretty good and I think I can say that I am one of the few that can say that the last two times I saw him on the football field a lineman scored a touchdown.

I have some pictures up

http://www.mercercountysports.com/Galle ... p?album=93

I do apologize for not having a large amount of the second game but I had some technical difficulties with my camera. (bent hotshoe)

YouDee it was nice to see you in action also. Use the photo I sent you wisely.

alumnifootballusa you can feel free to post on this forum about some of the other subjects as well. I hope that I did not talk your wife's ears off on the ride home. I have been known to talk the ears off of a field of corn when I get started. Hope this does become an annual event and that maybe we can have all the local schools participating.

i meant 12-13 months until like full recovery, back to full strength, that kinda thing. IDK maybe i am wrong, but just going by what i learned in kinesiology class. Guess it differs for each person.

Heck yes!

I'm bummed not enough Wilmington players signed up.

Since everyone including myself enjoyed the event a few weekends ago, I plan on organizing full-contact alumni football games twice a year in PA/OH. The next time I will be renting the equipment truck from www.alumnifootballusa.com will be December 3-12 for games in Beaver or Butler County. Also plan to be back in August 2011.

All it takes for any school to participate is 25 willing players (able is optional). I'll take care of everything else, including the opponent if necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH5npL8g6c0

The Shenango Valley contingent game.