VALLEY SPORTS HISTORY

2013

• Elijah Obade, the 2009 Charleroi graduate who went on to star on the Millersville basketball team, is headed overseas. Obade has signed a contract with the Basketball Levice to play professional basketball in the European league. His new team will compete against other teams from across Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Obade said, “I’m really excited. I wanted to play basketball overseas. I found a good agent with lots of oversea connections and he got to work. I actually had four or five offers to choose from.” My long term goal is to play professionally in the states but I will see where this takes me.

• As Tom Cameron looks forward to his fifth season coaching the Ringgold girls soccer team, he is optimistic about his team’s prospects. This is surprising considering that his lost eight starters to graduation and is facing stiff competition in a tough section 4-AAA. “We have a young team but that means the staff gets to teach more. I like to think I am a teacher without a teaching certificate. The goal is always to make the playoffs but we have to be realistic with how young we are. We will have to rely on our experienced players.”

2004

• Ernest “Mick” Williams opened the 2004 football season with a bang for Monessen High School. The first time Williams, a 6-1, 262-pound senior fullback, touched the football he threw a 57-yard touchdown pass on the game’s opening play against Charleroi at Memorial Stadium. Williams ran the ball only one time in the first half which saw the Greyhounds and Cougars deadlocked at 7. The second half was a different story with Williams running nine times for 185 yards and two touchdowns. In the end, coach Andy Pacak’s debut ended in a 28-14 win for his Greyhounds.

• Ringgold’s new football coach Russ Moore’s season and his introduction to 3A got off to a bad start as the Rams dropped their opener to Moon 29-6. The game was called with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter due to lightning strikes in the area. Moore said, “We knew Moon is a class program and a perennial contender. But we have to play teams like that sometimes to get to their level, and to get our program where we want it to be. There was a stretch where some bad things were starting to happen but our kids did a good job of keeping their heads up. We played some pretty good football before halftime.”

1994

• Sunday – no paper.