Opponent Preview: Elyria (Week 10)

Week 10

Who: Elyria Pioneers (1-9 in 2017) 

What: Greater Cleveland Conference game

Where: Jerome T Osborne Stadium

When: October 27th at 7:00pm

Opposing Coach: Sean Arno (2nd season at Elyria)

History: Mentor and Elyria were in the LEL together in the late 90's and early 2000's. After a 13 year absence of playing, the two met up as GCC members in 2015. Elyria beat Mentor at home (27-24) that season. The Cards won the past two games against the Pioneers, including a 55-6 win last season. 

Looking Back...
Nearly three years removed from one of the biggest wins in program history, Elyria has been on a down spiral ever since. After making the playoffs in three consecutive seasons from 2013-2015, Elyria has fallen on hard times. The Pioneers are just 4-17 since that Week 10 win over Mentor in 2015. Last season was Coach Arno's first, and it ended with just one win. Two-year starting QB Dontae Beckett, WR Deviian Williams, OL Johnanthony Lowery, and RB Tristan Arno are among the nine starters that graduated on offense. 

Schedule...
The Pioneers have finished tied for last in the GCC the past two seasons. Five of Elyria's six GCC losses were by at least 26 points. Finding wins in the league has been and will continue to be a challenge. The GCC is as strong as ever with Mentor/Euclid looking like Region 1 contenders and Solon/Strongsville looking like probable playoff teams. Medina returns the majority of their starters from a team that beat Elyria last season, 41-24. The non-conference slate will be difficult. Lake Erie League favorites, Lorain (8-2 in 2017) and Bedford (9-1), have some of the most talented players in the area. Both were playoff teams a season ago. Elyria opens with Avon Lake, a tradition-rich program that also had a winning season in 2017. 

2018 Elyria Outlook...
Elyria had only one playoff appearance in 40 seasons before former coach Kevin Fell guided the Pioneers to unprecedented success in his six years as coach: five straight winning seasons (2011-2015), three playoff appearances, and a 2013 league title. Elyria has to climb out of the basement of the GCC now in order to approach where the program was under Fell. It won't be easy coming off a tough season, graduating most of the offense, and taking on another tough schedule. Receiver Aaron Frost is one of the potential breakout players on offense that returns. The other returning starter on offense is lineman Nick Arno, son of the coach.

Defensively, Elyria returns seven starters. They will need that side of the ball to keep the team in games as a mostly new offense grows together.  Early games against Lorain and Bedford will be very challenging. An 0-3 start in non-conference play is expected with the kind of season Elyria had last year and the probable playoff teams that they start the season with. The game against Shaker Heights, the one team Elyria beat last season, will likely decide who will finish at the bottom of the league. This should be the kind of Week 10 game where Mentor can hopefully get off to a big lead and rest their starters in the second half in preparation for a hopeful playoff run. 

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