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| Wednesday, July 16 |
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| Coach of the Week presented by ESPN.com By Mark Podolski SchoolSports.com | |||
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Chuck Kyle -- St. Ignatius High (Ohio), Football The big games never cease for the St. Ignatius High (Ohio) football program. Seemingly every week, the Wildcats face tough opponent after tough opponent. Still, head coach Chuck Kyle and Co. continue to rack up the big victories. Last Friday (Sept. 29) was no different. St. Ignatius, the state's No. 1-ranked team in Division I and No. 8-ranked team in the SchoolSports.com National Football Top 25, played the Massillon Washington High (Ohio) Tigers in a game Massillon viewed as one of the biggest in the school's history. But the Wildcats calmly handled the pressure, beating the nation's 20th-ranked team, 36-21, in front of 17,342 people at Paul Brown Stadium. It's no wonder Kyle is considered one of the nation's top high school football coaches. St. Ignatius has won eight of the last 12 Division I state titles and was crowned national champion by USA TODAY in 1989, 1993 and 1995. "I can't think about anything like that," says Kyle when asked where he ranks among the country's top high school coaches. "I don't know how you measure something like that." Instead, Kyle is more concerned about state championship No. 9. The Wildcats look well on their way. The 49-year-old coach owns a sparkling 178-29-1 career record at St. Ignatius, a school his peers thought was a high school football wasteland when he first arrived. "When I was first hired, everyone told me I could never win," says Kyle. "They said it's an academic school, like Northwestern or Stanford," he adds. "But I've always believed a human being can be academically strong and athletically strong." The Wildcats were that and more against Massillon. Quarterback Nate Szep came off the bench in relief of injured Bryan Panteck and sparked a comeback with a 73-yard touchdown pass to Matt Miller in the third quarter. Running back John van der Oord ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns in the win. St. Ignatius looks to improve to 7-0 this Saturday (Oct. 7) against Canton McKinley High (Ohio).
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
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