By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

One of our most fun days of the year!

We were proud to host our 2025 High School Football Photoshoot at Windy Acres at Rufener’s Hilltop Farms in Suffield last Monday.

Eleven football players and 12 cheerleaders attended the photoshoot as part of the production of the 2025 Portage Sports High School Football Feature magazine.

The main football photo selected from the photoshoot will become the magazine cover and the cheer photo will be featured inside the magazine.

   • The football players who attended the photoshoot included:
Aurora’s Quincy John
Crestwood’s Wyatt Januska
Field’s Blake Dunderman
Kent Roosevelt’s Brock Catalucci
Mogadore’s Connor Lehner
Ravenna’s LaDarion Askew
Rootstown’s Braden Wright
Southeast’s Joe Sharish
Streetsboro’s Arthur Scott
Waterloo’s Brady Hakes
Windham’s Matt Kolaczek

   • The cheerleaders who attended included:
Aurora’s Katelyn Paczek
Crestwood’s Alexa Christopher
Field’s Morgan Barber
Garfield’s Alona Porter
Kent Roosevelt’s Lindsay Wills
Mogadore’s Brooke Mills
Ravenna’s Kaydence Sanders
Rootstown’s Olivia Pope
Southeast’s Jayda Walton
Streetsboro’s Nyjah Rangel
Waterloo’s Jaidynn Calac
Windham’s Tearra “TT” McCall

The football feature magazine is available for preorder right now!

The cost is $5 each and the magazine is expected to be available by late August.

Preorder by emailing Tom Nader at tomnader@portagesports.com

A special thank you to photographer Shannon Eldreth with Eldreth Photography for capturing all of Monday’s images and also to Windy Acres at Rufener’s Hilltop Far for hosting us.

NEDAB HONORS PORTAGE SPORTS OWNER TOM NADER

Tom Nader was honored last Monday night by the Northeast District Athletic Board, presenting the Portage Sports owner with the OHSAA Sportswriter of the Year Media Award.

The presentation was done at Progressive Field before the start of the Cleveland Guardians’ game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Streetsboro High School athletic director Randy Tevepaugh, who is also a NEDAB Board Member, announced and presented the award to Nader.

“I was honored and humbled to be selected for such a prestigious award,” Nader said. “What makes the award mean the most is that it means that the readers and supporters of Portage Sports are getting the daily content they all deserve.”

Nader launched Portage Sports on Aug. 1, 2022, after a 22-year career at the Record-Courier.

FRIDAY IS A BIRTHDAY

Portage Sports will turn 3 years old on Friday.

Thank you for all of the continued support from day one until now.

We enjoy every single day, and we have plans to keep growing our coverage for you.

RYAN STREEM MEMORIAL SOCCER

The Rootstown High School boys soccer program held its annual Ryan Streem Memorial Scholarship alumni soccer game last Sunday night at Robert C. Dunn Field.

The game serves as the primary fundraiser for the scholarship that is given in the name of Streem, who died in a automobile accident on Aug. 13, 2001, just before the start of his freshman year at Rootstown.

The fundraiser has now given out more than $60,000 in scholarships.

In the game, the team made up of “even” graduating years defeated the “odd” graduating years team 5-4.

CLOVERLEAF HIRES DEBORD AS BASEBALL COACH

Cloverleaf announced last week the hiring of Aaron DeBord as its new baseball head coach.

DeBord had spent the previous 11 seasons as the head coach at Stow High School before resigning in June, citing, “I have come to realize that the direction in which the (Stow) athletic program is heading no longer aligns with my personal values or vision for how student-athletes should be developed and supported as athletes, but more importantly as young men.”

DeBord, who is the Portage County Probate Court manager and bailiff, posted on X last week that he was “incredibly honored to announce that I’ve accepted the position as the new head baseball coach at Cloverleaf High Schoo. This is a tremendous opportunity, and I’m excited to begin working with the student-athletes, staff and the Cloverleaf community as we build something special together.”

SUBURBAN LEAGUE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY

The Suburban League hosted its football media day last Monday at Cuyahoga Falls High School.

Kent Roosevelt football representatives included Gavin Peeps, Jaiden Portis, Teddy Maccarone and Cyler Foreman.

Aurora football representatives included Luke Bonnette, Josh Harrell, Xavier Board and Grant Courtnage.

MOGADORE ALUMNI CHEER NIGHT

The Mogadore High School cheerleading program has announced that its annual Alumni Cheer Night will be held during Week 2 of the high school football season.

The Wildcats will host Canton Central Catholic on Friday, Aug. 29, at Mogadore Memorial Stadium. The theme of the night is “Black Out.”

It is the fifth year that the program has hosted its Alumni Cheer Night.

CRESTWOOD YOUTH BASEBALL/SOFTBALL FUNDRAISER

The Crestwood Youth Softball and Baseball organization will host a Cornhole Tournament as a fundraiser.

The event is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 10, and will be hosted at Corners Catering in Mantua (11845 S.R. 44).

Check in and registration is scheduled for 10 a.m., with the tournament scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

The cost is $50 per team and a 40-team max has been set. Registration can be done ahead of the event by texting 216-401-0250.

Cash prizes will be distributed to the champions, as well as for second- and third-place finishes.