First-year Brookside coach Keith Grabowski is back in Lorain County, and his new job is certainly a hefty one. He takes over a Brookside program with few returning starters, only a handful of seniors and plenty of sophomores suiting up this season.
Grabowski, though, is eager, as he should be. Those few seniors he has aren’t crying or complaining about their situation. They’re embracing it.
Take lineman Paul Grattan, for example.
His senior year hinges on the fact Brookside will start at least eight sophomores. In the world of high school football, that can spell doom to a senior’s season. Grattan isn’t looking at it that way.
“I believe in a lot of these younger kids,” he said. “I saw them on J.V. They’re hard workers.”
Not only were the J.V. players solid, but the freshmen -- many of whom will start -- played on a freshman team that won the Patriot Athletic Conference.
Two of those sophomores are Jason Bodenski and Art Howell. Bodenski will lead a line backing crew with no starters back, while Howell will play in the secondary and serve as a running back. Howell also has some experience playing quarterback, but junior Rocky Radeff will be the starter.
For Grabowski, his new job at Brookside marks a return to Lorain County after one year with Brush. He left Amherst for the head coaching job at Ashtabula Lakeside, but teacher cutbacks forced Grabowski to look elsewhere. Before he was at Amherst, Grabowski coached at Fairview. That makes Brookside the smallest school he has coached.
Grabowski doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. He just intends to have his Cardinals play bigger than many expect.