{"id":106861,"date":"2018-09-10T03:06:15","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T08:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=106861"},"modified":"2018-09-09T19:54:46","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T00:54:46","slug":"monday-mailbag-september-10-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2018\/09\/10\/monday-mailbag-september-10-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Mailbag: September 10, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s Monday Mailbag centers around the Student Athlete of the Week, Van Wert football, area high school football, Ohio State and the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n

Q: Why can\u2019t parents send in nominations for your Student Athlete of the Week award? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: While parents are proud of their children\u2019s academic and athletic endeavors (and they certainly should be), I believe coaches and athletic directors have a more objective view. I might add that local coaches and ADs have done a great job submitting nominations since the award was introduced last year.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Is Van Wert\u2019s football season over now? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Certainly not. The Cougars have faced two teams that may be playing for the WBL championship in Week No. 10. There are some big challenges left on the schedule (starting with Ottawa-Glandorf this Friday), but the season is far from over. Hang in there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Are the Buckeyes for real? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: They’re pretty good, but we\u2019ll find out more when Ohio State plays Texas Christian in Arlington Saturday night. The Horned Frogs are much better than OSU\u2019s first two opponents.<\/em><\/p>\n

How will OSU play on the road for the first time this season? What will Dwayne Haskins look like when a team applies constant pressure? How will interim coach Ryan Day do in prime time in front of a nationwide audience?<\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll find out the answers to those questions and more this Saturday.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Scott, what is your impression of area high school football so far? Name withheld upon request.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: For the most part, it\u2019s going like I thought it would.<\/em><\/p>\n

As far as Van Wert, I was hoping they would sneak out of Wapakoneta with a win, but the Redskins may be a bit better than people thought. St. Marys showed why they\u2019re the defending Western Buckeye League champions.<\/em><\/p>\n

As far as the rest of the WBL, I think Defiance is much better than last year, and Kenton\u2019s margin of victory over Celina in Week No. 2 surprised me. Ottawa-Glandorf appears to be solid again, and look for Shawnee to bounce back.<\/em><\/p>\n

With no disrepect to Parkway, Hicksville or Wayne Trace, I expected Crestview to be 3-0 heading into NWC play. It\u2019s no secret the key game is September 28 at Spencerville, but the Knights have Bluffton and improved Columbus Grove before then.<\/em><\/p>\n

Antwerp (3-0) is off to a great start, Wayne Trace has a chance to get back on track this Friday against Tinora, and I think Paulding has improved, although it doesn\u2019t show in the win-loss column.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure if there are any true surprises in the MAC so far, but there are plenty of games left to be played.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Are you really a Cleveland Browns fan? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: It\u2019s not always easy but It\u2019s true \u2013 I\u2019m a Cleveland Browns fan, always have been and always will be. Maybe I\u2019m a glutton for punishment.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m still not sure what to say about Sunday\u2019s game against Pittsburgh. On one hand it\u2019s not a loss, but then again, they probably should have won since the Steelers turned the ball over six times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, Steelers fans will argue that they shouldn\u2019t have blown a two touchdown lead in the fourth quarter.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unless there\u2019s a quick turnaround, I don\u2019t see head coach Hue Jackson making it to the end of the season.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you have a question for the next Monday Mailbag, email it to sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor This week\u2019s Monday Mailbag centers around the Student Athlete of the Week, Van Wert football, area high school football, Ohio State and the Cleveland Browns. Q: Why can\u2019t parents send in nominations for your Student Athlete of the Week award? Name withheld upon request A: While parents are proud of their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 17:11:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106861\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}