Maumee Girls Notch First NLL Victory On The Links; Boys Lose On A Tiebreaker
BY NATE LOWE – MIRROR SPORTS
Playing Valleywood Golf Club in Swanton for the first time last Tuesday, Maumee’s girls golf team recorded its first Northern Lakes League victory of the season against Springfield.
“I don’t think we were as focused as we could have been, but we’ll fix that,” said third-year coach Pam Reese, whose Panthers won by default due to Springfield’s inability to field a lineup of four golfers, an OHSAA requirement.
“Right now, we’ll take an NLL victory any way we can get it,” Reese said.
Emily Long, a 2010 honorable mention all-NLL selection, claimed medalist honors for the second time this season, bettering all golfers with a 9-hole score of 59.
“Emily continues to lead this squad,” Reese said. “Her best golf is still coming.”
Kendall Murphy and Courtney McIntire followed Long with scores of 61 and 62, respectively.
Jessica Scarbrough rounded out Maumee’s scoring, firing a 64, and Ashley Balcerzak finished with a 73.
“I’m most impressed with Kendall right now,” Reese said. “As a few of her teammates are slumping, she is starting to put all the parts of her game together and is closing the gap to the top of our team.
“Overall, it was a great day for us. The girls had to grind their way around the course, but they racked up a lot of NLL points, which count toward earning varsity letters. From here on out, the competition in the league gets tougher.”
Sarah Philippi paced the Blue Devils with a 66. Paige LaPoint shot an 80 and Kathryn Seeburger finished with an 86.
Boys Team
The Maumee boys were defeated by Central Catholic last Monday at Stone Oak Country Club. Both teams finished with a four-man score of 167, but Central edged Maumee by two shots on a fifth-man tiebreaker.
Sophomore Mitchell Kontak led the way for the Panthers, shooting a 38. Seniors Kurt Weber (42), Matt Haas (43) and Kevin Smith (44) also scored in the losing effort.
Note: Due to heavy rains last week, Thursday’s girls match with Perrysburg at Heather Downs Country Club was postponed.

Panthers Rout Waite To Open 2011 Gridiron Season
BY J. PATRICK EAKEN — MIRROR SPORTS
Returning all-league senior quarterback Jake Schneider is one reason Maumee fans are optimistic this season.
There was no letdown for Panthers followers in the season opener as their team delivered a 37-14 blow to non-conference foe Waite at Richard Kazmaier Stadium last Friday night.
Schneider threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 94 yards and one TD to lead the rout.
“I give a lot of credit to Maumee and definitely to Jake Schneider,” said Waite coach Gardner Howard. “He’s a three-year starter and when you take a team to the second round of the playoffs and you beat a team like Avon Lake (last year), you’re seasoned.
“There was nothing we could do to rattle him. I feel a little sympathy for those guys in the Northern Lakes League that have to face him. Good luck.”
Maumee put up a veteran offensive front, but Waite had good size on its side of the ball, too. Schneider was visibly feeling the pressure from a Waite blitz in the first half, having to escape sacks and scramble for yardage.
In the second half, though, Maumee’s veteran line gave the senior QB the time he needed to get the job done.
“They were giving us a little bit of difficulty,” said Maumee coach John Boles. “The first game you get a little bit different looks than what you are prepared for, so I think there was a period of a little bit of confusion with some people that got through and put pressure (on Schneider).
“I thought he (Schneider) got better as the game went on. His temptation is to do too much – he’s got to play within himself and our system. When he got a little bit more time, then he executed some good things.”
Maumee senior running back Brandon Phenix rushed for 114 yards and one touchdown.
“I was pretty happy with the way we ran the ball all night. That was good,” Boles said. “We ran the ball well and we mixed it up and did a number of different things.
“Defensively, at times we played real well and then (at other times) we got a little soft and let them have some third-down plays. Those are all things we have to clean up.”
As a team, Maumee’s offense amassed 436 total yards, averaging 6.8 per play, in steamrolling to 247 yards on the ground and 189 through the air. Waite had 271 total yards – 124 rushing and 147 passing.
It took the Panthers some time to get going, though, as they led just 9-0 at halftime –too close for comfort.
Not only was Waite’s blitz showing results, but the Indians also were having some success moving the football.
“I thought they (Waite) played hard and did a nice job in causing some problems here and there,” Boles said.
“I’ll say it again,” Howard said. “I’ll walk out of here with my head high. My kids gave a great effort. It was 9-0 at halftime. I’m very proud of our effort and very proud of our coaching staff.”
Maumee figured out Waite’s defense and scored four touchdowns to put the game out of reach in the second half.
Just 1:32 in, Schneider completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to senior Dakota Windnagle, putting Maumee up 16-0 following senior Austin Rine’s successful conversion kick.
The touchdown was set up by a 33-yard run by Phenix and capped a six-play, 61-yard drive.
Rine’s followed a precedent set by his predecessor, now-graduated all-league kicker Jake Olman, by booting the ensuing kickoff into the end zone.
Waite managed to keep the game interesting, scoring on a 9-yard run by senior DeVonte Hughes less than five minutes later that capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive.
The Indians kickoff saw Phenix return the ball to the Waite 47-yard line. Three plays later, Windnagle scored his second TD – a 45-yard catch and run from Schneider, putting Maumee up 23-6.
Maumee added two more scores in the fourth quarter – the first on a 15-yard pass from Schneider to junior receiver Sean McGovern with 10:12 left in the game.
The TD capped a six-play, 68-yard drive highlighted by a 27-yard pass from Schneider to junior receiver Dominique King.
The final Maumee touchdown came after Waite failed to complete a pass on a fourth-and-10 at the Indians 37-yard line with 9:00 remaining.
On the next play, Phenix scampered for 17 yards. Then, after a fake handoff to junior running back Andrew Schultz misdirected the Waite defense, Schneider ran 20 yards untouched into the left side of the end zone.
Waite added the game’s final scoring piece – a 29-yard run by senior Kevin Carter followed by a two-point conversion pass from sophomore quarterback Johnny Douanglee to senior Earnest Sanders.
Rine opened the scoring by successfully booting a 25-yard field goal during Maumee’s first possession.
That capped a 10-play, 49-yard drive that started after Maumee forced Waite to punt on the Indians’ opening possession.
During the ensuing Panthers drive, Schneider threw a 27-yard completion to senior Eric Coe, followed by a 12-yard pass to McGovern, setting up a first down at the Waite 8-yard line. Three more plays netted minus-2 yards, setting up Rine’s field goal.
Maumee’s only first-half touchdown came after a Waite drive stalled on the Panthers 23. Phenix scored from a yard out, capping a 14-play, 77-yard drive.
The Panthers had 19 first downs (13 rushing, six passing) to Waite’s 14. On defense, McGovern and senior linebacker Jon Gratcl each had an interception for Maumee, while Waite junior Anjel Lerma had a pick on a deflected pass.
Windnagle was Schneider’s top receiver, catching three passes for 72 yards. McGovern had three catches for 47 yards, and King (33 yards), senior Eric Coe (27), junior Dillon Kline (10) and Phenix (no gain) each had one reception.
On the ground, King had one carry for 16 yards, Schultz three for 10 yards, junior Eddie Mader three for 7 yards, junior quarterback Steven Duby two for 5 yards and sophomore quarterback Jordan Spellis one for a yard.
“Maumee has a great program,” Howard said. “That’s why they go to the playoffs and compete for championships. They are where we want to be, but I’m very proud of my kids.”
For Waite, Douanglee completed 15-of-29 passes for 147 yards, including six to Hughes for 83 yards. Sophomore Jermaine Walker, Carter sophomore Kenny Hade, Lerma and senior Earnest Sanders also were targets.
On the ground, Carter had 17 carries for 76 yards, Douanglee eight for 22 yards, Hughes four for 18 yards and junior Cyrron Barringer four for 8 yards.
Maumee hosts a familiar foe in Rossford this Friday. For the first time in more than half a century, the Maumee-Rossford game will not be a Northern Lakes League contest.
Rossford left the NLL for the newly formed Northern Buckeye Conference this year, and Maumee will travel to its NLL replacement, Napoleon, on September 30.

Lady Panther Soccer Team Begins Season With Consecutive Shutouts
BY J. PATRICK EAKEN — MIRROR SPORTS
Sophomore goalkeeper Jacq Korsog is following in the footsteps of her predecessor on the Maumee soccer team, Bre Wojnarowski, who graduated last year.
Wojnarowski is now playing soccer at Indiana Tech University in Fort Wayne.
What is Korsog doing? She has already pulled off two shutouts as the Panthers defeated two Western Buckeye League schools to start the season 2-0.
Granted, Korsog did not necessarily have to work very hard for either because her defense did its job.
Korsog needed five saves in a 5-0 victory over Elida last Wednesday and did not have to make any saves in a 1-0 home win over Ottawa-Glandorf (O-G) on Saturday.
In the second half of the Elida match, Maumee junior goalkeeper Anna Schell contributed to the shutout.
“The defense is holding together,” said Maumee coach Steve Kikolski. “As long as we can stay healthy. We’re not real deep, but the ones we have are good players.”
Maumee 1, O-G 0
Junior midfielder Abbi O’Hair sent a perfect lead pass to sophomore forward Olivia Dameron, who successfully took advantage of a clear shot at the net, scoring with 25:41 remaining in the first half.
Dameron never guessed when she scored that it would stand as the winning goal.
“Kara passed it to the outside and Abbi ran across, and I just switched the field and came inside and Abbi crossed it and I shot it,” Dameron said. “I didn’t think I was going to make it. I was just going to push it out and I just got lucky.”
Nevertheless, that was all Maumee needed to give an athletic O-G team its first loss of the season after the Titans opened with two wins.
“We battled today. That’s a pretty quality team and we hung tough,” Kilkoski said. “We had a lot of injuries in the back (defense) and we kept having to rotate people in. We needed all 18 players today and they did it. They have a lot of athletes over there (at O-G).”
Maumee had 10 shots at goal, and nine saves were successfully made by Titan sophomore goalkeeper Megan Hoehn.
It was a physical game played mostly at midfield with only two corner kicks, both taken by Maumee.
“We didn’t have a whole lot inside the box there,” Kikolski said. “We needed one more pass and we needed to go to the far post.”
The Maumee defense was led by Al Korsog, who had 20 steals. Senior midfielder and co-captain Julia Maruop had 19 and senior defender and co-captain Eliza Theaker had 11.
The taller Titans, who looked like a basketball team, had the luxury of 22 free kicks to Maumee’s eight, but it wasn’t enough to push them over the top.
The third co-captain, senior midfielder Kaimyn Paszko, who had a hand in pushing the ball forward to O’Hair before her assist on the lone goal, led Maumee with three shots on goal.
Also getting shots on target, but not scoring, were junior midfielder Mauro, O’Hair, Bailee Patterson, senior forward Megan Gabel and sophomore midfielder Maddy Woolford. Woolford had five shots, with two on goal.
MHS 5, Elida 0
The Panthers rout started with two first-half goals and then picked up speed with three more in the second half during the season opener last Wednesday at Kazmaier Stadium.
“The first half we were pretty tentative,” Kikolski said. “We scored a goal with about two-and-a-half minutes left in the first half to make it 2-0 and that really opened it up for us. The second half we played a lot better.”
Paszko, who was second-team all-state and tied the school record with 20 goals last season, sent a pass to Dameron, who headed the ball into goal just 1:07 into the match.
The score stayed 1-0 for more than 36 minutes, but with 2:32 remaining in the first half a pass from Mauro to O’Hair resulted in the junior midfielder putting her left foot on the ball and sending it to the right lower goal to put Maumee up 2-0.
It took 11:43 of second-half action, but Maumee got goal No. 3 when O’Hair scored her second straight goal, this time from a shot sent by Patterson that rebounded off the Elida goalkeeper.
Again, there was a dry spell, this time lasting more than 23 minutes, but the Panthers scored twice in the final six minutes to put the game on ice.
Only 5:14 remained when Paszko got her first goal of the season on a shot from a pass from Dameron. In the match’s waning minutes, Theaker scored on a penalty kick.
As a team, Maumee had 27 steals, 27 headers and four assists and took 19 shots at Elida’s net. O’Hair and Paszko each took five shots, Dameron had three, and Korsog, Gabel, Theaker and junior midfielder Emma Serfozo each took one.
Defenders Theaker and Mauro each had six steals, while senior midfielder Lillian Rodriguez-Steen and junior defender Kara Bottles had three apiece. Korsog and O’Hair led the team with four headers each and Dameron and Theaker each had three.