THE LOCKER ROOM

High school sports features from The Plain Dealer

Q: Hey, Tim: Hockey, hockey, hockey! Who do you see as the top teams in Northeast Ohio this year? Do the mighty Mentor Cardinals have a chance at repeating last year's run? -- Diana Ficarra, Hinckley

A: Hey, Diana: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Finally, a hockey question. Did you know I actually had to answer a cheerleading question this fall? In the name of Bob Whidden, thank goodness the real athletes are about to strap on the leather and knock one another around.

The top teams this year will be the usual suspects: Defending state champion St. Edward, St. Ignatius, Padua, University School and Gilmour. Mentor captured lightning in a bottle last year with goalie Nick Lyon, who graduated, so don't look for a repeat. But what Mentor taught us is good teams with a hot goalie can go far. It's difficult to predict, but fun to anticipate.

Q: Hey, Tim: What are your picks for the Division III state semifinals? Don't count Big Walnut out. They thrive as underdogs and have a great coach. Our boys were state champs last year, and I don't think we have been a favorite in any playoff game. "Big what? BIG NUT." -- Steve Chucta, Sunbury

A: Hey, Steve: How can anyone take Big Walnut lightly? It has had another amazing playoff run, especially considering its backfield was on the JV team in August. But with what Aurora brings in talent, execution and discipline, I'm picking the Greenmen. "Hey, what? HEY, TIM."

-- Tim

Boys Golf All Stars

The Plain Dealer's Boys Golf All-Star team

Girls Golf All Stars

Golfer of the Year: Kelly Krusoe, Walsh Jesuit: Practice won't make perfect in golf, but it does make you a better golfer -- as Plain Dealer Girls Golfer of the Year Kelly Krusoe will attest. Read more

The Plain Dealer's Girls Golf All-Star team

• Photo gallery version: Get full-size pics, download and share them

• Read their profiles and view previous players of the week

Photographs by Lisa DeJong, The Plain DealerStrongsville senior Kellen Pagel has completed 90 of 139 passes (64.7 percent) for 1,648 yards and 17 touchdowns.

IN THIS WEEK'S LOCKER ROOM

Oberlin's Thornton still haunted by the horror of lost family

Week 10 football preview capsules | McKinley-Massillon LIVE!

Football Insiders: Cuyahoga East, West | Lake-Geauga | Lorain-Medina | Summit-Portage

Difference Makers: Mansnerus | Kreakbaum | Sandidge | Fox

Volleyball Insider: Falcons turn it around

Hey, Tim! | Players of the Week | Off campus | Forums

Kellen Pagel, right, benefits from the experience of his father, former Browns quarterback Mike Pagel, shown wearing his 1978 varsity sweater from his high school in Arizona.

One, with a bearded Mike Pagel as a Cleveland Brown, makes him chuckle.

It's the other card Kellen prefers. Not because his dad was with the Indianapolis Colts, but, simply, it's the one Kellen's had longest and cherishes most.

"I have that one on the mirror in my room," says Kellen Pagel, Strongsville's splendid quarterback whose father played the same position for 12 NFL seasons, including five with the Browns.

"I usually look at it in the morning before I go to school. It makes me think I want to keep working hard."

If Melvin Burke Sr. ever decides to give up coaching girls basketball, he might want to consider coaching volleyball full time.

Burke, in his second season as Lutheran East's volleyball coach, had his Falcons close the season on Tuesday with a school-best 22-2 record after being defeated by Newbury in a Division IV district semifinal match. East posted a 12-10 mark a year ago.

"We got a late start last year because I was hired late," said Burke, also the Falcons girls basketball coach.

St. Edward coach Scott Niedzwiecki.

It would be a special game if both teams were winless.

But that's not the case. St. Ignatius and St. Edward meet at Byers Field in Parma on Saturday night. The Wildcats are 8-1 and have clinched a Division I playoff berth for the 21st straight season. St. Edward, 6-3, likely needs a win or a Solon loss to Strongsville tonight to qualify for big-school postseason play.

"It's a real fun game, the kind of game every team dreams of playing in," said St. Edward coach Scott Niedzwiecki.

It's quickie quiz time.

Today's question: Of the 30 schools that make up Region 9 in the Division III computer playoff race, which is the only one to make the playoffs in each of the previous four seasons?

Would you guess Walsh Jesuit? Hubbard? Benedictine? Cortland Lakeview? Lake Catholic?

You could -- and probably did -- but you'd be wrong.

The correct answer is Aurora, which clinched a playoff spot for the fourth straight year with its 35-6 victory over Orange last week. During that span, the Greenmen have compiled a 38-8 record.

Roadell Hickman, The Plain DealerAvon Lake running back Mike Mansnerus is a driving force in the Shoremen offense.

If Brecksville (6-3, 5-1) wins at Westlake, the Bees will share the title with either Avon Lake (7-2, 5-1) or Amherst (8-1, 5-1), who meet at Avon Lake tonight.

All the Comets have to do is stop Mike Mansnerus, who set the Shoremen's rushing record Oct. 10 in a come-from-behind 36-25 win over Berea. The junior tailback gained a single-game-best 369 yards on 23 carries (a 16-yard average) with four touchdowns, and also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Morissette. Mansnerus also ran for 306 yards on 41 carries in a 34-30 win over Midpark, and finished with 226 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-14 victory over Westlake last Friday.

Roadell Hickman, The Plain DealerSolon quarterback Jake Voigt (5) says teams can't bring as muchy pressure on the quarterback now the Comets' running game has improved.

Having his team in the pressure cooker is nothing new for Solon coach Jim McQuaide. In 2003, McQuaide's first season with the Solon, his Comets began the season 0-3 and had to win out to qualify for the Division I playoffs. Not only did they capture the Western Reserve Conference North Division title, but they earned a postseason berth.

Entering Week 10, this year's Comets are ninth in the Division I, Region 1 computer standings. The top eight teams advance to postseason play.

A win at Strongsville tonight would give the Comets a share of the Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division championship, but more importantly, improve their chances of not sitting home during the first week of the playoffs.

St. Vincent-St. Mary athletic director

The lowdown: A graduate of University School and Bowling Green, he was hired at SVSM last summer after working six years as an assistant athletic director and as a freshman and junior varsity coach in three sports at University School. Jalwan, 30, grew up in University Heights but now lives in Brunswick with his wife, Sarah.

What attracted you to SVSM? "Even being from the Cleveland area I was aware of SVSM's tradition of excellence. I have always been a strong believer in Catholic education."

Seems to be a lot going on there on North Maple Street: "It is really an exciting time. We just broke ground on a new student center that will consist of a full-sized gymnasium with two basketball courts, a wrestling room, a fitness center, locker rooms and athletic department offices."

How did you get interested in athletic administration? "Tom Callow was the longtime athletic director at University School and got me interested in the field when I was a student there. Then, after I graduated from BG I worked under Ron Grant for six years. It doesn't get any better than that. Both of those men have had a big influence on me and my career choice."

Your impression of the SVSM vs. Archbishop Hoban rivalry? "To be honest, I wasn't prepared for it. It is one of the most intense rivalries I've ever dealt with. I don't think it's a stretch to say that it rivals the BGSU-Toledo rivalry. I would be hard-pressed to find something comparable on the high school level."

The drama of Week 10 goes well beyond the dozens of teams fighting for playoff berths this weekend.

Far away from the spotlight, 16 hearty boys dressed in white, orange and black will try to cap Newbury's season with its first victory.

The fact the 0-9 Black Knights will line up for a 10th game tonight at Fairport Harbor (1-8) is a victory in itself.

"It's rough going out there every week, knowing you have to play every play, every series," said senior tight end-safety Ray Chapman, who has not missed a down. "Everybody tries to practice as hard as they can to get ready for the game.

Q: Hey, Tim: Why don't you include cheerleading on the cleveland.com high school sports page? We are not officially recognized as a sport in this state, but several teams have exemplary athletes that deserve recognition. Many cheer teams participate in competitions at local, state, regional and national levels. Listing their standings at these events would do a lot to support this type of school involvement, commitment and athleticism. -- Heather Ambrus, Mentor

A: Hey, Heather: For the vast majority of schools in Ohio, cheerleading is considered an extracurricular activity, not a sport.

There are a few schools that take cheerleading very seriously and their squads attend competitions, where the participants need to be disciplined and athletic to succeed. Does that make it a sport? Heck, Sports Illustrated has covered chess matches like they were the World Series, and they give Olympic gold medals to curlers, so why not cheerleading? If there's a winner and a loser, some sweat and maybe a few tears shed along the way, I'm all in.

It beats watching golf.

Who is Northeast Ohio's best high school football player? You make the call every week in The Plain Dealer's seasonlong contest at cleveland.com/gridironhero.

Here's how they did in Week 9:

Adam Bellamy, Aurora: Entering the final regular-season game, the OSU recruit has made 24 solo tackles and assisted on 18 others. He also has five sacks, six quarterback hurries and eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage. He also is blocking at a 91.5 percent efficiency. In last week's 35-6 victory over Orange, he had three solos, three assists, one tackle behind the line and one quarterback hurry, while blocking at 93 percent.

Cody Hayes Mayfield: Collected nine tackles, including three for a loss and had 2½ sacks. He scored on a 2-yard run, caught a 2-point conversion pass, blocked at 92 percent efficiency and had two pancake blocks during Friday's 28-0 victory over host Nordonia. Hayes has 81 tackles on the season, including five for a loss, 9½ quarterback sacks, five quarterback hurries and three deflected passes. On offense, he has gained 52 yards with a rushing touchdown while blocking at 91 percent efficiency with 13 pancake blocks.

Chris Snook, Highland: The West Virginia recruit, who rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-14 win over visiting Copley, has now gained 1,183 yards and scored a dozen touchdowns this season for the undefeated Hornets, who clinched the Suburban League crown.

Vote at cleveland.com/gridironhero.

Highland players expected a dogfight against host Wadsworth last Friday, where the Hornets clinched a share of the Suburban League crown by nipping the Grizzlies, 24-21 on a last-second, 10-yard slant pass from senior quarterback Nick Knerem to senior wide receiver Kyle Callari.

"It was their senior night and we knew they'd be fired up," said Knerem, who atoned for a third-quarter interception by Wadsworth junior linebacker Joe Wenger that led to a Grizzlies touchdown and cut the Hornets' lead to 17-14. "That was a battle, probably the most pressure I've felt all year and the greatest moment in my career so far."

Senior tight end/linebacker Tyler Houska said he felt the momentum shift after Callari fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the Hornets' 30-yard line late in the third quarter, even though the Grizzlies didn't capitalize on the turnover.

"October surprise" is a term most commonly heard in presidential politics. It's when something unexpected suddenly changes the race.

In high school football this fall, the October surprise is Lake Catholic.

The Cougars, 0-4 in September, suddenly are in the hunt for a league championship with a pair of October victories. They are 2-1 in the North Coast League's Blue Division after beating Holy Name and Hoban on the road. They're back on the road tonight against rival Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, also 2-1 in the Blue Division.