In the blink of an eye, Lorain football went through a youth movement and is now a veteran team.
The first two years of head coach Damion Creel’s tenure were tough on the Titans, finishing 1-9 and 3-7. However, the 2021 team that finished 1-9 was full of sophomores at the time. Now in 2023, they’re seniors, and this is an old team now. The struggles of the past two seasons were about making it to this point.
“They’ve been developing the leadership since the winter time and offseason,” Creel said of this year’s senior group. “We have a large number of seniors returning, we return four out of five starters on the offensive line, our tailback, our receivers. It’s important for them because we’ve been through the process of stacking days. Now is the year where we hope things turn around and the kids play and feel the success that they deserve.”
In 2021, Creel said that his one-win team should have only had one win. Last year with a 3-7 record, he feels like they let a couple of games slip away by not knowing how to win. Lorain already improved last year, and it looks to take that next step and do it again this year.
Stacking days and building a foundation are what the program has been about for the past two years. With that being said, the expectations are different now. The Titans feel good about the talent and experience on the team, so after building a culture, wins are supposed to come next.
“They have to make plays, that’s what it boils down to,” Creel said. “For us to be successful, we have to put it on film. Our kids have to execute, they’ve been in the same offensive system for three years, same defensive scheme, same coaches. Everything is there, the table is set, it’s just time for us to eat.”
Lorain’s seniors have seen a lot of downs in their careers as young players and want to change the narrative surrounding Lorain football. After not getting a season in 2020 as freshmen, they had to sink or swim right away on the varsity as sophomores.
They took their lumps, but they swam. Finally, it’s their team now, and all they’ve ever wanted to do is eat.
“We just need to stay consistent throughout the whole game,” senior running back John Salamon said. “Even if we have a bad play, just stay levelheaded. We need to keep playing every quarter, every game. We all started off as sophomores, so we’ve never had our fair opportunity. We had to learn our own way since then and we’re improving.”
Salamon will be the focal point of Lorain’s offense as a run-first team again this season. Retaining players is always a good thing, especially mostly an entire unit like an offensive line. Lorain has that luxury, but even more than that, it’s just different when you’re a run-first team.
With four returning linemen in left tackle Shane Ramey-Roland, left guard Evan Hricovec, center Tyler Fogo and junior right tackle Isaiah Ray, there’s a lot of chemistry that has been built over time. Julius Manning III is a senior who is the only new starting lineman at right guard, but he was a defensive starter a year ago.
When the wins came last season, there was a formula to success. Salamon got his touches before and he will again. When he and his linemen are seeing the same thing, it can be a scary sight.
“Just the other day at practice, it was a perfect scenario. I was pulling through the hole and I just felt his hand on my back,” Hricovec said. “He knew where I was going, he knew where he was going. It just worked, touchdown. That’s the relationship that we have and I love it.”
That relationship built over time also has the linemen wanting to do their jobs even more. Protecting Salamon and seeing him run and run is all the motivation that these guys need in the trenches.
“The best part of the game is when I see John Salamon breaking free,” Ramey-Roland said. “I’d do anything for John Salamon, he’s the guy on the field that makes me want to bring it.”
Lorain is expected to start eight seniors on offense and six on defense, and they’ve worked to get to this point. Talent and experience are important things, but having motivation just adds fuel to the fire. The Titans have been getting after it since March, and the season is finally here. They might’ve been down the past couple years, but they’re not out.
“We didn’t really do good the past two seasons, so everybody is counting us out,” Manning III said. “It really makes us want to work hard every day and put our all into the game so that they can’t.”
