By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Paisley Nader/Portage Sports

As a high-school senior student-athlete, they sometimes can forget the immediate impact that you have on the young eyes who are watching your every move.

And they are always watching a lot more than they think.

How hard they play.

How they respect their teammates, coaches, officials and opposing team.

How they listen intently, with disciplined eyes on whoever is speaking.

How they lead with words, by example or both.

And so much more.

And sometimes, a student-athlete can create a moment for someone else without really knowing it — by simply doing what is right.

Or simply by doing some genuinely good.

On Friday night, during the Streetsboro football team’s first-round playoff game agains West Geauga, Arthur Scott created one of those moments.

Scott, who has committed to play at the University of Wisconsin, missed his third straight game with a foot injury that he suffered during a Week 7 game at Streetsboro.

While on the sideline, Portage Sports photographer Paisley Nader captured a moment when a father took his young son over to speak to Scott.

A simple conversation that probably carried a lot more weight for the youngster.

These are the special moments that are part of a program’s culture. These are the special moments that sports can create without anyone ever remembering the final numbers on the scoreboard. These are the special moments that make sports great.

TITLE FOR AURORA CHEER

The Aurora High School cheerleaders captured the Suburban League Competition championship on Sunday.

LEAF CLEANUP IN KENT

The Kent Roosevelt ice hockey team opened its season on Saturday with the team’s first scrimmage of the season, but earlier this week the group was out in the community for their annual Leaf Cleanup Day.

ROOSEVELT FIELD HOCKEY WINS PRESTIGIOUS HONOR

The Kent Roosevelt girls field hockey team recently received the Sportsmanship Award from the Northeast Field Hockey Conference.

The Rough Riders were selected by the league’s coaches for the honor.

KENT YOUTH FOOTBALL WINS CROWN

The Kent youth varsity football team captured the Ohio Gridiron League championship on Saturday with a dominating 43-14 victory over Highland.

The game was hosted by Copley High School.

It is the team’s second straight league title and the group has posted a 29-1 overall record during the last three seasons (with the team’s only loss coming in the fourth-grade championship game).

Kent finished the season with the No. 1-ranked offense and No. 1-ranked defense.

WINDHAM YOUTH BASEBALL TITLE

The Windham Bombers 14U Select team won the Ohio Baseball Tournaments Fall Series 9 championship last weekend.

The Bombers went undefeated on the weekend, with victories over Minerva, North Canton and Stark County.

Saturday’s two games were at the Allerton Sports Complex, while Sunday’s two games were in Canton at the Thurman Munson Sports Zone.

In the team’s four victories, six different pitchers were used and, incredibly, they all combined to give up just four hits total. 

The team includes coach Mike Klem, Tripp Bregant, Aiden Burns, Aiden McGahee, Kyle Crisman, Dom Smith, Sam Klem, Dylan Smith, Mason Packman, coach DJ Gross, Jackson Gross, Sam DeLeon and coach Zack Burns. Not pictured is coach Jon Crisman.