MOGADORE: The last name Pollock is well known in Mogadore.
Tom Pollock helped Mogadore win the 1979 Class A state championship against Covington as a player at the old Akron Rubber Bowl.
His brother, Scott Pollock, guided the Wildcats to two Division VI championship wins as a coach in 1996 over St. Henry at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and in 2002 over Dola Hardin Northern at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium.
Now, Mogadore features Tom’s son, senior Zeddie Pollock, a quarterback, kicker and punter for a 13-1 Wildcats team that will meet the 12-2 Fort Recovery Indians in the Division VII state championship at 3 p.m. Friday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
“It is awesome to be able to reach the state championship game,” Zeddie Pollock said on Monday. “It has been our goal the past couple of years, but we just hadn’t got there. This year we definitely felt like we were going to be able to achieve our goal, and we have gotten there. We have the one step left to win it all.”
Mogadore will try to do so at Ohio State’s massive Ohio Stadium.
“It is almost like you want to pull the Gene Hackman in Hoosiers and take a tape measure and show the kids it is still a 120-yard field and it will come down to 11-on-11,” Mogadore coach Matt Adorni joked on Monday.
Adorni said he admires Zeddie Pollock’s versatility.
“Zeddie is a lot like the [Midwest Athletic Conference] kids that I have so much respect for,” Adorni said. “They play multiple sports. They still, out there in MAC country, play two and three sports. Zeddie is that kind of kid. He comes from a family like that. His father Tom played on our 1979 state championship team. He played tight end, safety, kicked field goals and punted. Zeddie is that type of kid too. He is a throwback.”
Zeddie learned to play football from his father, Tom, and his uncles, Scott and Ross. Zeddie’s cousins, Kyle and Kevin, are current assistant coaches.
Junior linebacker-running back Austin Williams is another key Mogadore player.
“We are a senior laden team and he is really one of the leaders on the field as a junior,” Adorni said. “We lost a very good running back [senior Nate Alexander to injury] … and Austin has really stepped up and gotten more carries. He is truly a throwback kid.”
Williams said team camaraderie has been a key to Mogadore’s success.
“All of the juniors, sophomores and freshmen love the seniors,” Williams said. “The turning point of the season came after the loss in Week 3 [at Elyria Catholic]. … We turned the ball over a lot, and we knew that if we were going to make it to the state championship we had to come together as a team and not turn the ball over as much. That is what has happened. That Week 6 win over Crestwood [at home] was huge.”
Senior running back-defensive back Luke Cramer is playing at Mogadore just like several of his family members have. Senior running back-linebacker Josh Tompkins said his father, two brothers and two uncles played at Mogadore, too.
“Any game in the playoffs could be your last game, and to win these playoff games has been special,” Tompkins said. “Everybody in town is close with each other, and all of the kids you play with you have known since you were little.”
Senior defensive end Collin Kelly wears the Mogadore kelly green and white uniforms just like his father, two uncles and two cousins have.
“The majority of the team is seniors this year and we have been playing together since [youth] flag football,” Kelly said. “We know how to work together as a team. Every class is close on this team, seniors, juniors and the one key sophomore Paul Skye is my cousin. He plays linebacker.”
The connections continue with several players, including seniors Nate Confere, Andrew Barker, Kyle Callihan and Gavin Chew and junior Andrew Popa, who have had family play football at Mogadore.
“We just keep on doing the little things right and we have one goal, which is to win a state championship,” said Confere, a starter on the offensive and defensive line.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.