Opponent Preview: Shaker Heights (Week 8)

Week 8

Who: Shaker Heights Raiders (5-5 in 2018)

What: GCC Game

Where: Russell Rupp Stadium

When: October 19th at 2:00pm

Opposing Coach: Alex Nicholson (1st season at Shaker)

History: Mentor and Shaker have been in two leagues together over the years. The Cards lead the series 15-7 that dates back to the LEL days. Mentor has won eleven in a row in the series. Shaker's last win against Mentor was in 2004. 

Looking Back...
The Raiders had a much improved season last year (5-5 overall, 3-4 GCC), which unexpectedly became former coach Jarvis Gibson's last. They began the season 5-1 before closing the season on a four game losing streak to the GCC playoff teams. The biggest wins on the season were against Benedictine and Medina. Mentor beat the Raiders pretty easily at home in Week 7, 45-6. LB Kenai Cooper was the lone Raider on 1st Team All-District. Nasir Rashid (Air Force) and RB Rasheen Ali were 2nd Team. All three were seniors. 

Schedule...
Of all the teams in the GCC, Shaker has one of the tougher non-conference schedules. Benedictine, a traditional power, was a team the Raiders managed to beat in 2018. But the Bengals will be a challenge. Garfield Heights, undefeated in 2018, is new to the schedule. Longtime local rival Cleveland Heights, 7-3 last season, returns to the football schedule for the first time in several years. Shaker always has their hands full in the league. In the first three years of playing in the GCC, Shaker had total of four league victories. Last year showed some promise with three league wins. In 2018, the GCC looks to pretty strong once again. On paper, this is a very challenging schedule for the Raiders. 

2019 Shaker Outlook...
One of the biggest changes for Shaker this year will be a new coach for the first time since 2011. Nicholson inherits a challenging schedule in what will be Shaker's final season as a member of the Greater Cleveland Conference. The Raiders agreed to return to the Lake Erie League beginning in 2020-21. The Raiders graduated their two best playmakers on defense (LB's Cooper/Rashid), their offensive MVP (Ali), and starting QB (Will Schinabeck) from a season ago. 

On offense, look out for RB Victor Ford Jr to effectively step into the starting role. Ford showed his playmaking ability last season on offense and defense. WR Avery Dunn (6'4, 215) has a few DI offers from MAC schools. Nick Ferguson (6'4, 290) leads the offensive line. He has an offer from Toledo, with likely more to come. Defensively, DB Cameron Jones is a three year starter and was honorable mention All-District in 2018. LB DreShawn Carter is also a three year starter. If Nicholson can get the most out of his players, the Raiders should be able to compete to win some league games. Matching or surpassing their five wins from 2018 will be incredibly difficult. 


Next Preview: Euclid (Week 9)