10 Random Notes on the GCC

In honor of Mentor joining a new league in 2015, here are some thoughts, stats, schedules, and opinions on the Greater Cleveland Conference...

    

1) The Greater Cleveland Conference features seven schools (Mentor, Solon, Shaker Heights, Brunswick, Strongsville, Elyria, and Medina) from the now defunct Northeast Ohio Conference and one (Euclid) from the Lake Erie League. The original GCC ended in 1998 as the final members fled to start/join other leagues. Mentor (1967-1993) and Euclid (1950-1998) are the only members of the new GCC that were in the original. 

2) The league is mostly filled with teams from the big school division of the NOC. Many of these schools are considered too big or too successful to be included in leagues like the Western Reserve Conference, Suburban League, or Southwest Conference. For those reasons, the GCC teams all need each other and the league is a good fit. 

3) Over the past 10 seasons, Mentor and Solon lead all GCC teams with 8 playoff appearances. Here is how the rest of the league has fared since 2005: Brunswick (7 playoff appearances), Euclid (4), Elyria (3), Shaker Heights (2), Medina (2), and Strongsville (1). 

4) None of the GCC schools have won a state football championship. Three schools have been state runner-up: Mentor (2006, 2007, 2013), Solon (2000), and Brunswick (1995). 

5) Half of the GCC made the playoffs last year: Mentor, Solon, Brunswick, and Elyria. Mentor won two playoff games while the other three lost in the first round. 

6) There are some big name coaches in the league. Mentor's Steve Trivisonno (24 playoff wins, 6 regional titles) is one of the most accomplished coaches in all of Ohio. Solon's Jim McQuaide has been a longtime head coach with all kinds of success at his current school (10 playoff appearances in 12 years) as well as St Edward. Euclid's Jeff Rotsky has been a program changer at Chanel, Maple Heights, and Cleveland Heights. Larry Laird (Strongsville) has a brief, but strong reputation too. He helped turn around Medina to their fiest ever playoff win in 2010.  Elyria's Kevin Fell was inducted in the Ohio High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2008. Fell has coached at five different schools and gone to the playoffs with all of them. Jarvis Gibson (Shaker), Dan Sutherland (Medina), and Luke Beal (Brunswick) are the other league coaches.

7) Per the most recent figures, here is how each of the teams are ranked in enrollment (grades 9-11) by the OHSAA: Mentor (987 boys), Brunswick (896), Elyria (869), Medina (830), Euclid (791), Shaker (739), Strongsville (741), and Solon (647). 

8) All of the teams are in Division I, Region 1. With nearly half (16 out of 35) of the Region 1 teams making the playoffs, there is an excellent chance that at least three GCC teams will qualify. Whether or not four or five can qualify depends on how the GCC teams fare in non-league play. 

9) Ranking the non-league strength of  schedules for all eight teams (opponents coming off a 2014 playoff berth are underlined):

1. Mentor (Boardman, St Ignatius, @ St Xavier)
2. Brunswick (@ Highland, Fitch, Brecksville)
3. Strongsville (Avon, @Hudson, @ Brush)
4. Euclid (@ Glenville, Canada's South Collegiate, Willoughby South)
5. Medina (Lakewood, @ Kenston, Wadsworth)
6. Elyria (@ Avon Lake, @ Lorain, Shaw)
7. Solon (Aurora, @ Twinsburg, Canada's St Thomas Moore)
8. Shaker Heights (@University, Cleveland JFK, East Tech)

10) In recent years, Mentor has dominated the teams now in the GCC. The Cardinals are 21-0 against them since 2011. The average margin of victory is 30.4 points. Below is a breakdown of the recent history between Mentor and the seven other GCC programs:

Shaker Heights: Mentor has won 8 in a row over the Raiders.  The Cards won the last 6 LEL meetings (2005-2010) plus their two NOC games in 2013 and 2014.  Mentor's last loss to Shaker was an overtime game in 2004. 

Euclid: Mentor has won the last 7 meetings with the Panthers. The last Euclid victory was in 2007 against a soon-to-be state runner up Mentor team. Certainly one of the top regular season wins in Euclid's history.

Strongsville: Mentor has played Strongsville annually since 2006. Mentor is 8-2 since that series began. They lost the regular season game and playoff rematch in the 2008 season. That Strongsville team was among the most successful in program history.

Solon: Of all the teams listed, the Comets are clearly Mentor's rival. After Solon mostly dominated the first half of the series, Mentor has won 10 of the last 12 games with the Comets. Mentor has won all four playoff matchups (2002, 2006, 2007, 2011) between the two.

Brunswick: Since the two started playing in the NOC in 2011, Mentor won all five meetings. That included a playoff win in the 2013 season. Mentor also defeated Brunswick in the 2007 state semifinal.

Medina: Mentor played the Bees just twice (2011 and 2012) recently. The Cards won the two games by a combined 80 points. 

Elyria: These two haven't played since their LEL days. Mentor won the last meeting, which was in 2002.