Penn State was the first Boise State, the original TCU. Its schedule was impugned for years as an independent. And rightfully so.

AP file photoFrom the time Joe Paterno took over the Nittany Lions to Penn State's entry into the Big Ten, they were the Boise State or Texas Christian of their day -- outsiders trying to crash the big boys' party in college football. Paterno's level of success as an independent -- and how it changed once he had to deal with a major-conference schedule -- is a cautionary tale for boosters of the Broncos or Horned Frogs' BCS chances this season, says Bill Livingston.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Penn State was the first Boise State, the original TCU.

Joe Paterno, now the face of the college football establishment with his 400 victories, used to be the coach of a good team that, critics contended, really didn't play anybody. The Nittany Lions would lay a scoreboard rebuttal on scoffers in their bowl game. Paterno, in fact, has won a record 24 bowl games.

Penn State then was like Boise and TCU now. The Broncos and Horned Frogs can beat absolutely anybody in one game. The problem is, the bowl game and an early-season intersectional game against a good, not great, opponent is the extent of their tests.

From 1966, when Paterno, now 83, became the head coach, until 1992, the Nittany Lions were an independent. In that time, they won two national championships, had four unbeaten, untied teams and five times lost only a single game.

They joined the Big Ten in 1993. Since then, they have had no national titles, one undefeated team, and a single one-loss team. They have won one Big Ten title outright and have shared two with Ohio State.

Because it is fashionable to knock the Big Ten, this is considered a serious blot on Paterno's record. But it is the strength of a league Penn State was at first expected to dominate that explains the Nittany Lions' downturn.

The dropoff also shows what would happen if Boise State or TCU played in the big boy conferences. Boise and TCU would be good, but not as good. The meat-grinder schedule would create roster attrition. The Statue of Liberty and hook-and-lateral plays that helped Boise win its epic Fiesta Bowl game over Oklahoma in 2007 would lose their element of surprise. It would be a much tougher road to the BCS Championship Game than merely tumbling the dominoes in their current conferences.

The Nittany Lions from 1966-92 regularly faced the six other Eastern schools -- Boston College, Pitt, Temple, Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia -- who were independents until the rise of the Big East and the subsequent conference realignments.

Jason Babyak / Associated PressThat Boise State or Texas Christian do well in bowl games against BCS conference opponents is not a surprise, says Bill Livingston. But that isn't the same as dealing with that level of competition every week.

Syracuse played in a crumbling wreck called Archbold Stadium, where coach Ben Schwartzwalder couldn't suit up Jim Brown anymore. Pitt was terrible until Johnny Majors arrived in the early 1970s. Temple was a punching bag for Hofstra, as comedian Bill Cosby, a former Owl player, hilariously recalled in a routine. Sam Huff had exhausted his eligibility at WVU. Rutgers was where David Stern and Jim Valvano went to school. BC would have won the Beanpot Classic -- if there had been one in football.

In Paterno's 27 years as coach of an independent, he was 112-14-1 against the Sad Six.

The Nittany Lions also played the service academies. By the 1970s, the Vietnam war and homefront opposition to it had devastated recruiting at Army and had hurt it at Navy and Air Force.

In those 27 years. Penn State was 18-2 against the academies.

The Nittany Lions also often played Maryland and North Carolina State in their regional schedules of the time. Maryland was only four hours away by car, and N.C. State could be reached by a short flight. Maryland won six conference championships and N.C. State won two in those 27 years, but the ACC was a basketball-first league then.

In those 27 years, Penn State was 12-2 against N.C. State and 22-0-1 against Maryland.

Against the two ACC schools, the three service academies, and the six traditional Eastern independents the Nittany Lions were a combined 164-18-2 (89.7 percent, counting ties as a half-win, half loss).

Against everyone else: 83-39-1 (67.9 percent). Clearly, a great measure of Paterno's record, not to mention much of his mystique, came against the creampuffs and eclairs of the effete East.

Boise State and TCU got little respect until the BCS instituted reforms in its ranking system in recent years. Just so, the Penn State program suffered as an independent. The Nittany Lions were 12-0 in 1973, John Cappelletti's Heisman Trophy year, and were ranked fifth in both polls.

Boise State and TCU stand at the threshold of the national championship game now. That is probably good for the game. A Big Ten observer, however, would like to see them play their way into it by winning out in a league in which Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State (with Nebraska waiting in the wings) present serious obstacles.

It's harder than it looks. Ask Paterno.

"College basketball is ruled by freshman phenoms and Jared Sullinger is the reason OSU is ranked so high in this preview. Hope he lives up to the hype." - goodtobalive

View full sizeChris Russell | Columbus Dispatch via APJared Sullinger (right) has Buckeyes fans excited for the possibilities this season.

In response to the story Big Ten to give Ohio State Buckeyes a first-rate test: 2010-11 men's basketball preview, cleveland.com reader goodtobalive has high hopes for the Buckeyes with their latest freshman. This reader writes,

"College basketball is ruled by freshman phenoms and Jared Sullinger is the reason OSU is ranked so high in this preview. Hope he lives up to the hype."

Mo Williams is embracing the Cavaliers' unity so fully that he told Byron Scott to keep him out of the fourth quarter of Tuesday's game against the Nets when he was shooting just 1-for-12.

View full sizeJoshua Gunter / The Plain DealerRamon Sessions forces the Nets' Anthony Morrow into a foul during this first-half drive Wednesday night.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With a little more than four minutes left in Tuesday's game at New Jersey, point guard Mo Williams left the game with his Cavaliers trailing. The starting point guard had contributed little for Cleveland, hitting just 1-of-12 attempts for two lonely points.

Williams saw his teammates surging, led by his backup and good friend, Ramon Sessions. He watched the Cavaliers take the lead on a Sessions 3-pointer and made a decision.

"Coach, let those guys play," Williams told Byron Scott.

And so Scott did. And he loved the reminder that one of the team's leaders has truly embraced the "All For One, One For All," slogan of the team.

"They were playing really well," Williams explained before Wednesday's rematch at The Q. "I was having an off night and [Sessions] did what backup guards are supposed to do. It was perfect. He came in and played really well, picked up a lot of slack.

"Obviously, if he would have struggled and not played so well, I would have had to go in and just work a little magic down the stretch."

Scott focused more on Williams' unselfishness than on his 8 percent shooting for one game.

"That to me shows that it's all about 'we' and not about 'me,'" Scott said. "That, coming from one of your leaders, one of your veteran guys, was very important."

It helps that Sessions and Williams are very close, stemming from time they played together in Milwaukee. The two often spend down time together in Cleveland, and Sessions has called Williams his best friend.

"Yeah, that does help," Williams admitted. "But at the same time, I would have done it anyway. That's just the way you're supposed to play the game."

Sessions had 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting in the Cavaliers' 93-91 victory, and he combined with fellow guards Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker for a fourth-quarter attack that secured the outcome.

For Williams, the final score was most important, and neither he nor Scott is worried about one off night.

"I haven't looked at an individual statistics sheet this year," Williams said. "I don't care about that. All I care about are wins and losses. Especially in the position we are, we're judged by wins. Nobody cares who leads us in scoring or how many assists you're averaging or trying to make the All-Star team. Doesn't really matter. All that matters is we get a win."

Fourth-quarter freshness: The Cavaliers have been winning the battle of the fourth quarter, and Scott will take the praise for the way he's focused on conditioning.

"Of course, I'll take all the credit in the world for that," Scott joked.

In five of seven games before Wednesday, the Cavaliers have outscored opponents 27.9 to 24.4 points. In three wins after starting the season 1-3, the Cavaliers have outscored opponents, 105-84.

Nets coach Avery Johnson said his team was outplayed both mentally and physically in Tuesday's loss.

"We talked about from Day One, my main message to our guys in our meeting before training camp started is we will not lose one game this year because the other team is in better shape than us," Scott said. "I think it's been pretty obvious in the fourth quarter that we seem to be the fresher team.

"Just like I had to tell them one day in practice, there is a method to my madness, you just have to trust me and have faith in what I'm doing. You'll see it probably in March, but just trust me. And they have."

Quick dribbles: The Cavaliers had a quick turnaround at The Q to lay down the basketball court over the ice as the Monsters had a day game. ... The Cavaliers earned a 8.0 household rating in Cleveland-Akron on Tuesday night on Fox Sports Ohio, which means about 121,660 households were watching the New Jersey game.

How many passes will Braylon Edwards drop on Sunday?

APBraylon Edwards tells fans to get their popcorn for Sunday's game.

Braylon Edwards, like many Cleveland Browns fans, can't wait for him to return to Cleveland on Sunday when he arrives here with the New York Jets.

It will be Edwards' first time in Cleveland Browns Stadium since he was traded on Oct. 7, the morning after the nightclub incident when he punched a friend of LeBron James.

Edwards says in a New York Post article:

“I go in there and he told me that he traded me to the New York Jets and I couldn’t show how excited I was at the time, because I thought it would be unprofessional to do a dance in his office,” Edwards said yesterday. “When he told me that, I couldn’t get out of Berea [Ohio, where the Browns train] fast enough.” 

Edwards also says that his league-leading 18 drops in 2008 was just a bad year. Edwards has dropped only one pass this season. Will the drops return on Sunday?

PD columnist also expects Braylon Edwards to have a big game Sunday against his former team.

Associated PressBrowns fans saw plenty of dropped passes by Braylon Edwards during his time with the Browns, but PD columnist Bud Shaw expects Edwards to have a good game Sunday at Browns Stadium.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Welcome to today's edition of Starting Blocks TV, our Web video show about what's going on in Cleveland sports. Today's show is hosted by Branson Wright and Chuck Yarborough.

The Browns will see former teammate Braylon Edwards come to town with the New York Jets for Sunday's game at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Edwards built a legacy of dropping passes during his stay with the Browns. How many passes do you think he will drop during Sunday's game? Cast your vote in today's Starting Blocks poll.

Today's guest, Plain Dealer columnist Bud Shaw, says he thinks Edwards is going to have a big day against the Browns defense.

Bud also says that from what Colt McCoy showed in Sunday's win over New England, there's no reason to think he's not the team's starter for 2011. And Bud says that the Browns are still in the playoff hunt, even though there are a lot of teams above them in the NFL standings.

SBTV will be back Friday with Plain Dealer Browns reporter Tony Grossi answering fan questions from his weekly Hey, Tony! feature. In the meantime, don't forget to play our You-Pick-the-Winners Contest where you can outpick Branson and Chuck each week and earn an appearance on SBTV, a $25 gas card and a chance at a $250 gift card.

The Browns take on Eric Mangini's old team on Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Check out what The Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi and Mary Kay Cabot have to say about the matchup.

"I don't see many fans showing Brian Robiskie much unconditional love because he is a Buckeye. Most of us only care about the Buckeyes on Saturdays, not Sundays."

View full sizeThe fact that Braylon Edwards wore maize and gold had little to do with how fans treated him.

In response to the story Cleveland Browns' surge makes Braylon Edwards' delusions just amusing: Bud Shaw's Sports Spin, cleveland.com reader The Great Michael thinks Braylon Edwards' Michigan excuse is laughable. This reader writes,

"I don't see many fans showing Brian Robiskie much unconditional love because he is a Buckeye. Most of us only care about the Buckeyes on Saturdays, not Sundays. "

FAIRBORN, Ohio - Gilmour Academy, ranked No. 5 in the final coaches state volleyball poll, defeated previously unbeaten and top-ranked Tuscarawas Valley, 25-16, 25-15, 25-21, tonight in a Division III state semifinal. The Lancers (24-4) will vie for their first state title Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on the Wright State campus.

Brown recruit Brittany Link had 20 kills, 11 assists and three digs for Gilmour in its state semifinal match. - (Allison Carey / The Plain Dealer)

FAIRBORN, Ohio - Gilmour Academy, ranked No. 5 in the final coaches state volleyball poll, defeated previously unbeaten and top-ranked Tuscarawas Valley, 25-16, 25-15, 25-21, tonight in a Division III state semifinal.

The Lancers (24-4) will vie for their first state title Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on the Wright State campus.

Gilmour, which was paced by Brown recruit Brittany Link's 20 kills, 11 assists and three digs, will play the winner of tonight's other semifinal between No. 2-ranked Middletown Bishop Fenwick (26-1) and 17th-ranked Rockford Triway (22-5).

Tusky Valley bows out at 28-1.

"For anyone who thinks Penn State 'didn't play anybody' in its pre-Big Ten years, I would encourage you to look at the schedules they played in their '82 and '86 national title seasons. I would also point out that the Big Ten was Ohio State, Michigan and a bunch of cream puffs for a period of roughly 40 years." - tcfa

View full sizeMarvin Fong | The Plain DealerPenn State head coach Joe Paterno.

In response to the story In Joe Paterno's 400 wins, there are some lessons for BCS busters Boise State and TCU: Bill Livingston, cleveland.com reader tcfa thinks ripping on Joe Paterno's pre-Big Ten record is laughable. This reader writes,

"For anyone who thinks Penn State 'didn't play anybody' in its pre-Big Ten years, I would encourage you to look at the schedules they played in their '82 and '86 national title seasons. I would also point out that the Big Ten was Ohio State, Michigan and a bunch of cream puffs for a period of roughly 40 years."

Jake Delhomme says he and Seneca Wallace won't "rock the boat" if the Browns keep rookie Colt McCoy as their starting quarterback.

View full sizeChuck Crow / The Plain DealerBrowns QB Jake Delhomme, who hasn't played since aggravating an ankle injury Oct. 10 vs. Atlanta, says the team is doing the right thing in letting Colt McCoy remain the starter.

"We're not going to rock the boat, I'll tell you that much. Whatever's best for the team," Jake Delhomme said.

Two weeks ago, Seneca Wallace made the case that he should return as the starter when healthy. But after McCoy presided over the 34-14 win over New England -- his second in a row -- Wallace backed off.

"We're all trying to do the best thing for the team and win games," Wallace said. "Like I said, whoever's playing well [should] continue to be playing. You don't have to be switching it back and forth. The guy who's established and playing well, that should be the guy playing. Colt's playing well right now."

Delhomme spoke before taking the practice field for the first time since he aggravated his high ankle sprain Oct. 10 against Atlanta. He did it in relief of Wallace, who suffered his own high ankle sprain late in the first half of the same game. Wallace returned to the field for the first time Wednesday.

Coach Eric Mangini reiterated Thursday that there is no reason to declare a permanent starter until either Wallace or Delhomme is fully recovered. That is certainly not the case yet. Wallace might be available as McCoy's backup against the New York Jets. Delhomme isn't as close.

Thus Mangini would only say: "I think we're like every other week. We're heading in one direction."

Delhomme and McCoy have grown closer as the season has progressed. They often carpool to work. Delhomme said he's been "a sounding board" and not a coach for McCoy. He said he's proud of the way McCoy has played.

"We didn't get to see a lot of him in spring or training camp because Seneca and I did get the bulk of the reps," Delhomme said. "That's difficult for anyone. Because when you get in there you want to do well and you want to impress a little bit. It's one thing to be able to practice, but then to transfer over to the game, make some adjustments in the game and not have it be too big, it's something he's doing extremely well."

View full sizePDColt McCoy hasn't been spectacular, but has been solid as the starter and is avoiding mistakes.

Delhomme said he thought the light went on for McCoy in his second or third drive in the fourth preseason game against Chicago. That's when McCoy started playing without thinking, he said.

He was extremely impressed with McCoy's debut against Pittsburgh and said he's been progressing ever since.

"Against Pittsburgh, his first third down, to throw that corner route to Evan [Moore], to stand in there with pressure coming, eyes downfield, that was very big," Delhomme said. "If you're not excited about what he's done, then you're not watching what we're doing."

Delhomme said playing against Atlanta definitely set him back, but he doesn't regret going in. He said he never believed his season was over and surgery was not an option.

Reinforcement coming: Mangini admitted he'd like to spell running back Peyton Hillis more in games, especially with Hillis' hard-running style and possibly five games in inclement weather at the end of the schedule.

Mike Bell suffered a rib injury in the Patriots game after carrying six times for 7 yards. Bell has not been on the injury report this week.

Still, third back Thomas Clayton is getting more work on special teams this week, a precursor to a possible bigger load on offense.

"I feel I'm definitely improving weekly with the playbook and my skill level," Clayton said. "I think my style -- my quickness and slashing ability -- definitely complements [Hillis'] battering-ram style. Whenever my number's called, I'll be ready to go."

Comedy Central: Mangini critiqued Jets coach Rex Ryan's impersonation of his brother, Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

"I thought he could've studied a little more film of Rob," Mangini said. "He didn't have the pulling the pants up. There wasn't enough swearing. There was a lot of good stuff. The wig was a little bit off."

Mangini joined in the good-natured ribbing of his counterpart.

"Rex has done a nice job with his weight loss. I think everybody in New York is happy about that, except maybe Macy's losing one of their [Thanksgiving Day parade] floats."

Brownie points: Besides linebacker Marcus Benard, who spent Thursday in a hospital after collapsing in the locker room, defensive end Kenyon Coleman did not practice. . . . Safety Mike Adams returned after getting cleared by doctors. He suffered a "slight concussion" in the New England game. . . . If the Browns beat the Jets, it would mark the first time since 1989 the franchise has scored three consecutive wins against teams with winning records.

Videos and Plain Dealer game story. The Browns hadn't won a playoff game since 1969.

Richard Conway, The Plain Dealer Bernie Kosar, then age 23, led the Browns to a 23-20, two overtime playoff game win over the Jets in a 1986 season playoff game.

Cleveland, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns had not won 12 regular season games since
their days in the old All-America Football Conference in the late 1940s.

Despite being one of the NFL's elite teams from the year they entered the league, 1950,
into the early 1970s, Cleveland had never won 12 games during the regular season.

For one thing, the NFL played a 12-game schedule until 1961, and a 14-game slate
until 1978, when the current 16-game schedule was adopted.

Nobody was considering a 12-win season when the Browns lost two of their first three
games in 1986. They had been 8-8 in 1985, with veteran Gary Danielson the starting
quarterback until an injury pushed rookie Bernie Kosar of Youngstown Boardman High
School into the job. That team won the championship in a remarkably weak AFC Central
Division. Then, in a first-round playoff game at Miami, the Browns took a 21-3 lead
before losing, 24-21.

Going into 1986, the Browns had been 81-96 over the previous 12 seasons, and had
lost all three of their playoff games. They had not, in fact, won a postseason game since
their 38-14 rout of the Cowboys in Dallas on Dec. 28, 1969, and didn't own a home
playoff win since Dec. 21, 1968, when they upset Dallas, 31-20.

This season, though, would turn out special. The Browns won 11 of their final 13 games,
including breakthroughs such as the 27-24 win over the Steelers on Oct. 5, snapping a
15-game Browns losing streak in Pittsburgh; and dramatic outcomes such as
consecutive overtime wins at home: 37-31 over the Steelers on Nov. 23 and 13-10 over
the Houston Oilers on Nov. 30.

One little matter got in the way of the Browns getting to the Super Bowl: Quarterback
John Elway leading the Broncos on their famed -- or infamous -- 98-yard drive that
forced yet another overtime that ended with Denver's 23-20 win at Cleveland on
Sunday, Jan. 11, 1987 in the AFC Championship Game.

It's the memory of the contest eight days prior, on Saturday, Jan. 3, that Browns fans
prefer. The Central Division champion Browns against the New York Jets in a divisional
playoff game. New York had routed the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-15, in the previous week
in a wild card playoff.

The following videos of the Browns-Jets playoff game are from youtube.com. They go in order from, first, the game-ending drive, to last, the pre-game Browns' introductions. And, read
Plain Dealer reporter Tony Grossi's game story, which follows. That's found on The Plain Dealer's Browns historical database, which includes the PD stories on every Browns regular
season and playoff game in their history.

Note: In the Jets game, Kosar, then 23, set an NFL playoff game record for passing yards which still stands.

Video: From the NBC telecast, most of the Browns' game-winning drive in the second overtime, ending with Mark Moseley's 27-yard field goal:

Video: From the NBC telecast. The Browns, trailing 20-17, get the football on their own 32 with 53 seconds to go and drive to the Jets' 5. They tie the game on a 22-yard Mark Moseley field goal with seven seconds left:

Video: From the NBC telecast, Kevin Mack's 1-yard touchdown burst caps a 79-yard touchdown drive and the Browns cut the Jets' lead to 20-17 with 1:57 left in the fourth quarter:

Video: From the NBC telecast, Part I of the Browns' 79-yard drive that began with them trailing, 20-10, with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter:

Video: From the NBC telecast, the Browns go on a 98-yard drive (yes, 98) to tie the Jets, 7-7, on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Bernie Kosar to Herman Fontenot:

Video: From the NBC telecast, the pre-game introduction of the Browns starting offense:

Browns 23, New York Jets 20 (2 OT)

Cleveland Municipal Stadium

January 03, 1987

By Tony Grossi

Plain Dealer Reporter

The best and worst moments in Browns history unfolded in one exhilarating afternoon of football at the Stadium yesterday.

More than four hours after the game started, Cleveland had its first playoff victory in 18 years.

Down by 10 points to the New York Jets with 4:14 to go, the Browns rallied to tie at 20-20 with seven seconds left in regulation.

Then they overcame a missed field goal by Mark Moseley from 23 yards in the first overtime before the veteran kicker atoned with the game-winner from 27 yards 2:02 into a second extra period.

When the third-longest game in National Football League history had ended, the Browns emerged 23-20 victors over the gasping Jets, keeping their unforgettable season alive with record-setting performances on offense and defense.

The Browns, 13-4 after their sixth straight victory, will play host in the AFC Championship Game next Sunday to the winner of today's Denver-New England playoff semifinal. That is the last stop before the Super Bowl.

"I played nine years to get here," said tight end Ozzie Newsome, who hauled in six catches for 114 yards. "We will be ready."

"I think we all had an opportunity to experience one of the finest games in the history of this sport," effused coach Marty Schottenheimer. "I have never experienced or seen a comeback like that."

The furious rally was led by quarterback Bernie Kosar, who set playoff records with 33 completions in 64 attempts for 489 yards. Two uncharacteristic interceptions by Kosar in the fourth quarter set the stage for the climax.

With the Jets holding a 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter, Kosar, frustrated in the middle periods, finally moved the Browns to the Jets' two. But on third down, the 23-year-old passer forced a ball to Webster Slaughter, who was double-covered. New York defensive back Russell Carter stole the pass in the corner of the end zone.

At that point, who didn't recall the fateful Brian Sipe interception that ended the 1980 season. Today marks the sixth anniversary of that dark day in Cleveland sports history.

After the Browns' defense forced the Jets to punt, Kosar took over at the Cleveland 17. Incredibly, his first pass, intended for Herman Fontenot, was intercepted by Jerry Holmes. Kosar had not thrown an interception since November and never had tossed two on successive passes.

Many fans in the crowd of 78,106 fled to the exits, cursing another letdown.

Before the non-believers had made it out, Jets running back Freeman McNeil bounced off the middle of the Browns' defensive pile, and raced around the right corner for a 25-yard touchdown. It gave the Jets their 20-10 lead.

Kosar and the Browns took the field with 4:08 to play.

"Bernie comes into the huddle and says, 'We're going to take this game,' " said left tackle Paul Farren. "It's incredible the way he brought us together as a unit, one play at a time."

The play that started it all was an inexcusable roughing-the-passer penalty on Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau, long after a Kosar incompletion. Gastineau's mistake in judgment gave the Browns a first down at their 33.

Five completions - two to Reggie Langhorne, two to Brian Brennan and one to Curtis Dickey - moved the Browns to the one at the two-minute warning.

Kevin Mack plunged over guard Dan Fike for the touchdown, and Moseley's extra point made it 20-17, and gave the Browns hope.

Moseley's onside kick was recovered by the Jets at the Browns' 45, but the relentless Cleveland defense moved them three yards back in three plays and forced another punt.

The Browns took over at their 33 with :51 left. A pass interference penalty moved them to the Jets' 42. Kosar then lofted a pass to Slaughter, who picked it off the helmet of cornerback Carl Howard and fell to the five.

After an incompletion, Schottenheimer sent in Moseley. The 13-year veteran poked it through from 22 yards to send the game into overtime.

That's when the Cleveland defense, which sacked Jets' quarterbacks Pat Ryan and Ken O'Brien a playoff record-tying nine times, dug in.

"We just felt if we could keep getting the ball in Bernie's hands, we'd win," said Carl (Big Daddy) Hairston, who had nine tackles and three sacks.

The Jets won the overtime coin toss, but O'Brien, who replaced injured starter Ryan in the first half, could muster nothing.

From the Cleveland 26, Kosar marched the Browns to the Jets' five, covering the last 35 yards on a pass to Langhorne against a rare New York blitz.

Moseley was sent in again with 8:53 left in overtime. He missed the 23-yard attempt at the closed end, wide right.

"I barely hit it," Moseley recounted. "I was off balance, falling away."

The Jets were stopped on the next two possessions.

"This was the best our defense has ever played," Schottenheimer said. "They kept making plays when they had to in the third down situations."

The winning drive began at the Browns' 31 after Dave Jennings' playoff record 14th punt of the game. There was 2:38 left in the first overtime.

By then, the beleaguered Jets' defense was physically spent. The Jets had no fuel in their tanks.

"I didn't think they'd ever wear down, but they finally did," said center Mike Baab, who played the entire game with a sprained left knee.

Mack, gaining strength as the game approached the four-hour mark, ran for four yards and a first down to the Browns' 41, then banged ahead for eight yards to midfield two plays later. From the Jets' 42, Brennan broke up an errant pass that was nearly intercepted by the Jets' Howard.

"That was the biggest play of the game," Kosar said.

Given another life, the Browns' offensive line finally took the game in their huge hands. Fontenot ran for seven yards. Then Mack, on three successive, bullish carries, gained 26 to take the Browns to the Jets' nine. The Browns gained 45 of their total 75 rushing yards on the last series of the game.

The Jets called time to make Moseley think about his last miss.

"It was probably the worst thing they could do," said Moseley, who had son five games in overtime over his distinguished career. "I'm a good concentrator."

Moseley hammered the game-winner through the uprights at the devilish, open end of the Stadium.

The fans, who stood and roared the entire 17 minutes and two seconds of overtime, went berserk.

"Just before we said our prayer in the locker room, I told the players to listen," said Schottenheimer. "You could still hear the people cheering for us.

"This is a victory, a game, a moment all of us will remember the rest of our lives."

With a wink, Kosar whispered to a reporter, "Just another day at the office."

Sunday's game against the New York Jets, his former team, could be Eric Mangini's defining moment as Browns coach.

View full sizeJoshua Gunter / The Plain DealerStory lines are many as Browns coach Eric Mangini's former team, the New York Jets, comes to town for a game Sunday.

BEREA, Ohio — The watershed of every NFL coach's tenure is unscripted. It can come early, or late, or in the middle of his time with a team. Whenever it occurs, it changes the course of his time to come.

For Bill Belichick, it was an event -- the firing of Bernie Kosar in the middle of the 1993 season. For Marty Schottenheimer, it was a game -- a comeback win in Minnesota against all odds at a critical juncture of the 1986 season.

Sometimes you know the watershed is at hand and sometimes you don't.

Which brings us to Sunday's Browns game against the New York Jets. So many forces are colliding in this game that it quite possibly could go down as the defining moment of Eric Mangini's time as Browns coach. We may not realize it until further down the road.

But consider the following:

•The Jets gave Mangini his start as a head coach. They fired him after his third season blew up in a late-season collapse that was epic, even for a franchise known for that sort of thing.

•In his first season as Browns coach, Mangini orchestrated two major trades with the Jets that hand-delivered them franchise quarterback Mark Sanchez and deep receiving threat Braylon Edwards. In exchange, Mangini received draft picks and several Jets players he knew he could count on.

•Refreshed by replacement coach Rex Ryan, the Jets won five of their last six regular-season games last season and advanced to the AFC Championship Game. Jets players, media and fans -- including unofficial team mascot Fireman Ed Anzalone -- rejoiced that Mangini wasn't there to screw it up. They piled on as Mangini's new team staggered through a dismal 5-11 season.

•A week ago, Mangini's Browns knocked off the Jets' biggest division rival, New England, pushing the Jets back into first place.

•Now Ryan brings Mangini's former team to Cleveland. The current Jets have a sharp edge to them, honed by the brash Ryan, their playoff run and a summertime appearance on HBO's "Hard Knocks." Edwards has symbolized the difference in the teams by expressing his joy in being traded and talking down Cleveland.

"Our approach is the humble approach," said linebacker David Bowens, one of nine former Jets who rejoined Mangini in Cleveland. "We're not looking at our successive wins and thinking we're better than anybody. We have a lot of respect for this New York team. But we're going to identify how we're going to beat them and we're focusing on that this week."

Ryan's affable joking, mostly aimed at his brother, Rob, but also at Mangini, has lightened the mood considerably. Last week, in the buildup to the showdown with former mentor Belichick, there was tension in the air. This week, it has been nothing but levity.

While Ryan has kept everyone in stitches, Mangini made a profoundly favorable impression on the New York media with his own wit. They couldn't believe he had changed so much from the coach who was wound tight during the Jets' fateful breakdown in 2008.

"I know this may sound crazy, but some people actually think I have a good personality and a little funny," Mangini said to the New York media. "It's just letting more of that out. It's just being who I am.

"I wish I could give you one example, but it's less scripted for me. It's more [that] I know what I want to say. I know the points I want to get across. Not reading it as much as just feeling it and getting the same point across, but from the heart."

At the same time, Mangini has flawlessly fielded questions about such uncomfortable topics as his firing by the Jets, the trades that provided his former team two key pieces to its puzzle, and the perception that Browns team President Mike Holmgren might be considering returning to coaching if Mangini doesn't get the job done.

"I think I'm a better person for it and a better coach for it," Mangini said of getting fired by the Jets.

On bypassing Sanchez in the 2009 draft and effectively gift-wrapping him to the Jets, Mangini said, "There are real pluses to both sides [of the trade] and at that point, making a decision on a quarterback, I don't think would have been the best route to go."

As for trading Edwards, the coach said, "From my perspective, you want everybody to just continue to push in the right direction." He added, almost inaudibly, that Edwards did that "for the most part."

"Those were gutsy moves," Bowens said, "but we also have confidence in what we have here."

Mangini's inner confidence has no doubt rubbed off on his team. Players doused Mangini with Gatorade after the grudge win over Belichick.

"You love to make your coach proud," said receiver Chansi Stuckey, who came in the Edwards trade. "You know the game last week meant a lot to him and you know the game this week means a lot to him."

A win over the Jets could mean more than revenge or retribution for Mangini. It could be his watershed as Browns coach.

Benard, who collapsed in locker room around noon, will undergo further evaluation on Friday.

View full sizeMarcus Benard

BEREA, Ohio — Browns linebacker Marcus Benard was released from an area hospital eight hours after collapsing in the locker room shortly before the team's Thursday practice session.

The Browns said in a statement that Benard would undergo further evaluation today.

Benard was sitting on a chair in front of his locker when he fell to the floor during the period open to media. Few witnessed the fall, but most everyone in the vicinity heard Benard hit the floor.

Linebacker Matt Roth immediately rushed to the trainer's room for medical help. Benard was on the floor with eyes open as trainers tended to him.

Only 20 minutes earlier, Benard seemed fine when interviewed by The Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot.

Benard was stable and alert while being taken to the hospital.

Benard, 25, is in his second year with the Browns. He leads the team with 4 1/2 sacks. His status for Sunday's game against the New York Jets is uncertain.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670

Medina High's football team shows its character by winning a playoff game for the first time in school history.

View full sizeMHSCoach Larry Laird was brought in to change the atmosphere of the football team in Medina ... and it's worked.

It also was a few days after Letts first called coach Larry Laird to confess what had happened -- and offered no excuses. And it was a few days after Letts stood in front of teammates and apologized for letting them and the entire school down.

It was a few days for Letts wondering how his teachers would view him. He's a student with a 4.3 grade-point average, a 28 on the ACT test and a member of the National Honor Society. Now, he had to spend a week suspended from school. There also would be five weeks -- half of his football season -- when he would be unable to play in games. Those were the standard punishments the school set.

It was a few days for the senior team captain to wonder if anything would ever be the same again, wondering if he blew his team's chances of making the state playoffs after its 5-0 start.

"I felt embarrassed and ashamed," said Letts, who administrators say had never been in any trouble before. Letts declined to detail the rule violation.

"Justin is as good as any leader we have," said Medina Athletic Director Jeff Harrison. "The whole school looks up to him. That's why this was so tough."

That's when Jeremy Stich asked Letts, "Are you going to the cemetery with me?"

Letts was relieved and honored to be asked to visit the grave of Rick Stich, the father of defensive back Jeremy Stich. Rick Stich died in April at age 49.

"He was such a great guy," said Letts.

Jeremy talks about how his father wasn't feeling well, went to the hospital and a few days later, he died.

"My father was paralyzed in a car accident [29 years ago] and had been in a wheelchair," said Jeremy Stich. "Sometimes, people like that don't realize how sick they really are."

Jeremy Stich bought his mom flowers to commemorate his parents' wedding anniversary the first year after his dad died.

Rick Stich was a zealous Medina booster, sitting in his wheelchair next to the tunnel during football games. He ran Galley Printing Co. in Brunswick. He was an upbeat guy, the kind coaches and players instantly felt was on their side. By sitting in that wheelchair and cheering at events, he gave this message without saying it: "You are blessed to be on your feet and able to play."

View full sizeMHSMedina's Justin Letts is attempting to find redemption after being suspended from the team for five games.

Nearly every week, Stich had been visiting his father's grave with teammates Aaron Wilson and Letts. This time, Stich went just with Letts. Stich had lost a father, but he wanted Letts to know he was still considered like a brother.

The message was clear not only from Stich, but also everyone on the team.

"We wanted Justin to know that we had his back," said star running back Jason Suggs. "One of our goals this season was to make the playoffs so Justin could get one more game back on the field."

They did just that. And then they upset top-seeded Canton McKinley last Saturday in the first round, advancing to Saturday's Division I, Region 2 semifinal against Toledo St. John's Jesuit at Huron. But the road wasn't easy.

Medina lacks a football tradition

Playoffs? Are you talking playoffs? In Medina?

Only once (2006) had the Bees ever made it. They lost in the first round. In the previous three seasons, they had been in a 4-6 rut. Over and over, 4-6 . . . 4-6 . . . 4-6.

"The word was Medina was soft, that they treated football like a country club sport," said Harrison, the athletic director in his second year. He hired Larry Laird -- a veteran assistant at Avon Lake -- to change that image.

Suddenly, the kind of power running football that would bring a smile to Browns coach Eric Mangini and bullish back Peyton Hillis arrived in Medina with the 5-0 start.

But losing the 5-11, 160-pound Letts for the final five games could change all that. He plays wide receiver. He plays defensive back. He kicks. He punts. He played some at quarterback when starter Mason Schreck was hurt for a few games.

"During those five weeks, Justin never missed a practice or a meeting," said Laird. "He was getting beat up on the scout team. He was practicing harder than ever, not knowing if he'd ever get a chance to play again. He's a senior. This was it for him."

Harrison said suspended athletes are allowed to keep practicing with the team.

"We don't want them off on an island," he said. "It's important to keep connected. But sometimes, kids quit. They don't want to practice when they can't play."

View full sizeMHSMedina running back Jason Suggs has 16 touchdowns and nearly 1,700 yards rushing this season.

The Bees went 2-2 in the first four games without Letts. They had to beat Brunswick in the final game of the regular season to make the playoffs. They had a 12-game losing streak against Brunswick. They had been hammered 36-6 by Solon the week before.

"In the past, we would have folded," said senior lineman Joe Hans. "But this is a different team."

The Bees, who usually wear green and white, took the field against Brunswick wearing gold jerseys, honoring Rick Stich. The money came from his memorial fund. Before kickoff, Jeremy Stich knelt near the end zone and pointed to the sky.

They won that game, 14-13.

Suggs was the running back who told Letts, "we had his back," and promised a playoff game. He delivered with a game-winning 46-yard run, showing the form that has enabled him to rush for 1,688 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.

"I love to play football, and I love to hit people," said Stich, a defensive back who says he's 5-8 and 153 pounds. (He's listed at 146 pounds).

Now, he would get a chance to play with Letts once more.

You want the playoffs? You got Canton McKinley

Two days after the Brunswick win, Medina drew Canton McKinley in the first round of the playoffs, facing the legendary team in its own Fawcett Stadium in the shadow of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It seemed before the Bees could even breathe, they were down 21-0. They looked smaller, slower and perhaps most disturbing to the Medina coaches and players -- weaker than the Bulldogs.

Then something happened.

View full sizeMHSMedina's Jeremy Stich.

"We scored a touchdown," said Hans. "Suddenly, they started barking at each other. We could feel it, we could beat them."

Suggs rushed for 180 yards on 38 carries. His backup, Laterian Brown, bolted for a 37-yard touchdown. Schreck completed six passes -- all to Letts. Letts caught a touchdown pass that tied the game, 28-28, in the third quarter, and he kicked what turned out to be the game-winning, 31-yard field goal with 10:31 to go. He also recovered his own on-side kick. The Medina players and coaches will tell you it was as much their character as talent that pulled out the 31-28 upset.

Laird does not have an ideal setup at Medina. He still lives and teaches at Avon Lake, then drives 45 minutes to Medina to coach the football team. He took this job knowing that each kid had to pay $660 to play, meaning some athletes may consider it too expensive. It was a district that had laid off 90 teachers, so there was no job for him.

Furthermore, he was inheriting a coaching staff where three men had applied for the job that was given to Laird -- meaning the new coach had to blend his approach into coaches from the old regime.

They made it work. Just as they made it work when Letts was suspended. Having character doesn't mean perfection. It really shows in times of adversity.

This is a team with 17 seniors, most having played together since the seventh grade. It's a team where star running back Suggs has a 3.8 GPA and is considering Columbia. It's a team where lineman Hans has a 3.6 GPA and plans to attend Brigham Young to study economics. Leading tackler Taylor Bennett has a 3.8 GPA. Co-Captain Bo Graf is a 3.5 student. Stich has a 3.1 GPA.

"A lot of these guys are smarter than I am," said Laird. "But I don't tell them that."

As for those special gold jerseys, they will be worn only one game a year. They will not only honor the late Rick Stich, but also this team that has made so much Medina football history.

To reach Terry Pluto: terrypluto2003@yahoo.com, 216-999-4674

With Mo Williams injured again and Jamario Moon not performing well at small forward, the Cavaliers by default might have to employ a three-guard lineup more often.

View full sizeChuck Myers / MCTCavaliers coach Byron Scott, right, says guard Anthony Parker has a good understanding of the team's offensive and defensive philosophies.

The good news is that the Cavaliers have done this before. Already, the veteran point guard has missed all but one preseason game because of injury and family issues, and then missed three regular season games while Scott cautiously protected the strained right groin Williams suffered just before the start of training camp.

Williams said after suffering the newest injury Wednesday night against New Jersey that he hoped to heal in time for Saturday's game against Indiana. But when Williams had the same injury to his other leg, he missed about three weeks of training camp.

Which brings the Cavaliers to the good news/bad news category. The good news is that Scott has come to rely on a three-guard rotation late in games, sticking with a combination of Daniel Gibson, Anthony Parker and Ramon Sessions to out-quick and out-hustle opponents with the Princeton offense. It worked in three straight victories, but faltered in the second of a back-to-back series with the Nets when Cleveland simply ran out of steam. Still, the Cavaliers have become versatile learning to play without Williams, and Scott likes Parker's play there, in particular.

"Anthony has a real, real good idea of what we're doing," Scott said. "He understands exactly what we're doing on both ends of the floor."

The bad news is that the three-guard lineup has almost become a necessity because starting small forward Jamario Moon is still struggling to find his role in the lineup and on the team.

View full sizePDJamario Moon has been struggling in the Cavs' Princeton offense.

Moon didn't exactly win the position convincingly, as neither Jawad Williams nor Joey Graham stepped up to swipe the role away. In eight starts, Moon's 40-percent shooting is the lowest of his career while his 28.1 minutes per game is the highest since he began playing in the NBA four years ago.

But more telling, according to 82games.com, he's minus-10.3 over those eight games, the second-worst plus-minus average on the team. That means that opponents have scored an average of 10.3 points more than the Cavaliers when he's on the floor.

Which, of course, means that defensively, where the Cavaliers count on Moon the most, he has been slipping hardest. And while Scott admits that Moon is still grappling to learn his system, he also maintains he's not ready to give up on the gregarious swingman.

"I'm getting what I want right now," Scott said. "I think there's going to come a time later in the season when I feel he fully understands everything we're doing and we'll be able to get more out of him. I think for the most part on the defensive end, he's been doing a pretty good job. Offensively, he's had shots he's just missing right now. [But] right now, I'm getting what I want."

More injuries: The Cavaliers were at full strength for one full game -- at New Jersey on Tuesday -- before injuries hit the team again. In addition to Williams' groin injury, Anderson Varejao suffered bruised ribs in Wednesday's game against the Nets. Varejao retreated to the locker room briefly in the first half, and returned wearing a compression shirt beneath his jersey. He still played 35 minutes, scoring eight points, but grabbing a season-low five rebounds in the loss.

Varejao will be re-evaluated after practice today.''

"I know anytime the ribs are a little bruised up, it affects your breathing a little," Scott said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jvalade@plaind.com, 216-999-4654

On the court, James is still trying to find his way with the Miami Heat, but off the court he's looking for his footing as well.

View full sizeHector Gabino / El Nuevo Herald via MCTLeBron James' reputation has been going in the wrong direction since his infamous "decision" in July. After initially remaining defiant when he was criticized, James is beginning to show signs of contrition.

MIAMI — It is long way from an outright apology, but four months after his well-chronicled decision, LeBron James is offering some contrition.

On the court, James is still attempting to find his way with the Miami Heat. His minutes are down and so are his statistics. He's playing point guard more than small forward. He's not the leading scorer and he's not the captain; both those mantles belong to teammate Dwyane Wade.

All of that is understandable and expected. But there are some uncharted matters he's dealing with as well.

Those challenges come off of the court, where James is also looking for his footing. It is in these times, at least while under the glare of the spotlight that searches for him relentlessly, James is the most subdued he has been since he was a rookie attempting to fit in with the veterans.

James seems to have begun a subtle process of reaching out to his fans and his ex-fans. There was no news release and no television special but also no missing the shift.

The most salient moment came nearly two weeks ago when James admitted that his handling of his departure from the Cavaliers was a mistake.

"If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different," James said. "There's always going to be a misunderstanding. I don't know what I would [have done], but I definitely would have changed it."

Those comments got a lot of reaction and seemed like they were a bit of declaration, but actually it was just the next step in a trend.

James has been expressing pieces of regret -- not at his choice to sign with the Heat, but the process he and his self-dubbed "team" used -- over the last month.

Whether it is believed or not likely depends on the audience, but James has also attempted to get the message out that the summer did not play out the way he thought it would.

"At that time I didn't think it would be the last time I would wear a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform," James said of the night the Cavs were eliminated in Boston last May. "It was disappointing. I never thought in the back of my mind that I would be somewhere else."

That statement 'is a departure from back in the summer when he was giving interviews and issuing Tweets that were sniping at people in Cleveland and detractors.

Much of it has been shown in James' attempts to make public the backlash he suffered over the summer following his infamous July 8 television show.

During training camp, James began revealing some hateful and racist messages that were being sent to him via Twitter. He said he wanted to show people the kind of hatred he was dealing with daily.

Then James released a commercial for his new Nike shoe that also focused on answering detractors. Not with anger but with a plea wrapped in the form of "what should I do."

"None of [the scenes] were jokes, I wasn't in a joking mood," James said of the much spoofed Nike ad. "I just wanted to get it out. . . . It was me just hearing a lot of people saying some of the things I've done -- have I ruined what I've done over the years?"

If nothing else, James' admits that what he has heard and read has had an effect on him.''

With his return to Cleveland less than a month away, there may be more of these actions from James. Not that anything he could say, directly or indirectly, could save him the grief he's expected to get.

"I'm happy I made the decision to come to Miami," James said. "It is an exciting new start for me."

Broad, running near where she grew up, placed first among 301 runners in her age group at the event that had some 45,000 runners overall.

Photo courtesy of Barb BroadRyan Hall, one of the country's top marathoners, and Barb Broad at the Marathon Expo.

Barb Broad readied herself for the start of Sunday’s New York City Marathon, looked around and couldn’t help but remember.

But only for a moment. She had a grueling 26.2-mile course ahead of her.

“You’re thinking about your growing up there,” said Pepper Pike’s Broad, a 60-year-old grandmother and cancer survivor who won her age group at one of the world’s most storied races. “All of the good times. Yankee Stadium not far away. So much more.

“It’s a challenging but wonderful event. The energy picks you up. I did better than I thought I would, and I think it was because of that adrenaline.”

Broad was born in Brooklyn, and lived in Sheepshead Bay from ages 9 to 22. Her home there was about a 10-minute car drive from where the marathon starts, at the 4,260-foot long, double suspension Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that connects Staten Island and Brooklyn.

Broad finished her run in three hours, 19 minutes and 51 seconds, or 7:38 per mile, to claim first place among 301 female runners in her 60-64 age group. That’s a remarkable pace on a course that winds through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and into upper Manhattan to the rolling hills where it ends in Central Park.

More than 45,000 runners competed on the sunny day with temperatures in the 40s. A continuing debate is how many spectators the event draws. Objective estimates are that hundreds of thousands watch the runners at some point during the marathon.

There’s gospel singing from some in the crowd along the way, and every year, a high school band shows up to play the theme music from “Rocky.”

The atmosphere is inspiring, and so is Broad’s story.

Broad has run four New York City Marathons, the first in 1995. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2003.

“We took care of it and I couldn’t wait to get back to running,” she says. “I’ve been even healthier since then. Running is a big part of my life.”

Broad, who has also finished first in her age group at the Boston Marathon, is a speech-language pathologist at the Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities. She and her husband, Arthur, have two married daughters, a daughter in high school and three grandchildren.

Broad has in-laws living in Queens and her brother, Richard, lives in Brooklyn. She and Richard shared a pasta dinner the night before the marathon.

Photo courtesy of Maureen Glasper (Left to right) Local runners Jennifer Kuhel, Milena Sterio, Lita Laven and Maureen Glasper, along with Heather Weingart (not pictured) are all mothers and accomplished marathoners.

There’s more “family” in Broad’s life: her teammates in the Southeast Running Club in Solon, and their coach, Glenn Andrews, a former standout sprinter at Kent State.

Running with Broad are Nicole Camp, Elizabeth Hansen, Susan Bohanski and M.J. Starr.

“We’re like family,” Broad says. “The funny thing is that Elizabeth, who’s 29, and Nicole, 25, have a combined age younger than me!

“We’re all very supportive of each other. We motivate each other. If somebody doesn’t have a good day, we lift each other up. I just love them.”

Broad’s teammates, all accomplished in their own right, didn’t run in New York.

Several others from the area did, however.

Katie McGregor, 33, of Willoughby South High School and the University of Michigan, finished 11th among all females with a time of 2:31.01. She clinched the 2010 USA Running Circuit championship, keyed by wins at 15K, 25K and 10-mile USA Championship road races.

Other women from the area who ran impressive NYC Marathons include Maureen Glasper, 38, Heather Weingart, 37, Milena Sterio, 33, and Jennifer Kuhel, 35 — all from Shaker Heights — and University Heights’ Lita Laven, 35.

All five are mothers, and all have qualified for next April’s Boston Marathon. 
 
 
 

Peyton Hillis likes to run through stuff and break stuff and show off his brute strength whenever possible. He always has. And Cleveland Browns fans love the young running back for all his bruising ways.  

Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerThese two Atlanta Falcons got an up-close look at the hard-charging running style of Peyton Hillis and, like most defenders, they were worse off for it.

He already had sprouted to his current height of 6-foot-1, was already a sturdy 220 pounds and already had a bit of a reputation as a somewhat brawny brute. So he and a buddy drove a big ol' pickup truck out to the street where the girl happened to live, attached a rope to the front of the truck and slung it around Hillis' waist.

And he pulled.

"I guess because he can," laughed Kenny Smith, Hillis' high school football coach.

Hillis ran up and down the street all day long, tugging the massive truck behind him in what he told everyone was merely his newest workout. But he also happened to win the heart of the understandably impressed girl and solidify his place in strongman lore -- at least in the middle-Arkansas town of about 40,000 people. It wasn't long before the story spread from house to house, and Conway children tried the same maneuver with go-karts, dragging them down streets to gain strength.

And to be like Hillis, the local high school football star.

Thus, the legend of Hillis began. The 24-year-old Browns running back is the kind of bulging-muscle, perpetually black-and-blue player who merely has to play his run-into-people style of game to win the hearts of all of working-class Cleveland. But he's also got the aw-shucks, humble, country attitude to go with his punishing game, and seems to add new chapters to his stories of legendary strength and power every time he steps on the field.

This week, it was a page-turner in which he was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week after Hillis dragged along and plowed over the New England Patriots for a career-high 184 yards Sunday. That was the kind of performance that caused Hillis to thank the Lord, as the deeply religious player is wont to do, and shrug his shoulders.

"My dad really raised us to be tough when we were little," Hillis explained. "That style of play has always been part of my game. I never really strayed away from that. I think it's helped me out at every level I've played at."

Breaking tackles and furniture

Doug Hillis still talks about how he kept the local furniture repairman in business when his youngest son was living at home.

Peyton simply had a knack for breaking beds, doors, walls, expensive armoires and whatever else was in his path. He and his older brother, Kyle, would wrestle for fun whenever they didn't happen to be playing football or baseball outside. They would wrestle in enormous family matches on holidays. And something always ended up shattered and splintered when they were done.

"The furniture man in Conway really liked me," Doug Hillis said. "I made a living for him."

Doug Hillis admits, too, that he's partly to blame for the destruction Peyton and Kyle caused on the family furniture.

"I just always was a type that rassled with my boys all the time," he said.

He taught both his sons how to play baseball and football, even naming Peyton after legendary running back Walter Payton. They grew up on a cotton and soybean farm before moving to Conway, where Hillis' mother, Carrie, opened daycare centers. Both before and after that, every day brought a new adventure in riding horses, hunting for hogs or enduring one of Doug's toughness drills.

When Peyton was a tot, his dad would put his young son in the corner of the house and zing tennis balls in his direction -- hard. Doug Hillis swears that helped Peyton's hand-eye coordination so much that he became a standout third baseman in high school, and Kyle was good enough to play baseball in college. In another game Doug played with his sons, he would hurl a football at them as hard as he could while they tried to catch it. Each time they completed a successful catch, they would move 5 yards closer to their dad.

"There was a lot of tough love in the family," Peyton Hillis said. "If you get in a fight, just wipe your nose off and keep walking. It's not a big deal. I think it's really benefited me not only in football but in life."

By the time Peyton got to high school, he was primed to be a star in the fullback-oriented, wing-T offense.

"He likes to rough and tumble; the more physical the game, the more he thrived on that," said Smith, his high school coach.

Hillis had two favorite plays in high school -- and neither involved him carrying the ball.

The first was a sweep to the team's speedy running back, where Hillis would be the lead blocker on cornerbacks. The other was another running play where he was assigned to block linebackers.

"He would demolish them, he would blow them up," Smith said. "He wasn't showboating, but he really enjoyed it. He flew in there and blocked linebackers and blew them up."

He also managed to be good enough to rush for 2,631 yards and 29 touchdowns, and win the Landers Award given to the top high school football player in Arkansas.

And he won the Hillis family honors for most destruction to the household.

"It was a constant terror," Doug Hillis said. "He tore up more furniture than anybody I've ever seen."

Getting limited by Razorbacks' backs

No one talks about Hillis' time at the University of Arkansas much, if only because it was the time when Hillis didn't add many chapters to his legend. Hillis was a fullback for two pretty decent running backs, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Both are also in the NFL, and McFadden was runner-up in Heisman Trophy voting in 2006 and 2007.

Hillis, meanwhile, endured a freshman season where he suffered a broken bone in his back and a junior season where he played with a painful calcium deposit in his thigh. His sophomore season, he talked of moving to linebacker for more opportunities to play.

"It taught him how to be patient," Doug Hillis said. "It taught him to be a better person. At that time, it was killing him. He knew he could play, and he knew if given the shot, he could make the most of it. He just got covered up with the other two players. He liked them very much; it was just a fact that knowing what you can do and not being able to do it . . . it just killed him."

His limited playing time and production led to him being selected by Denver in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

"That was the Lord's way of telling me to calm down, I guess," Hillis said. "I had a real good high school career and then I went to college and I had two really good backs in front of me. I feel like I've overcome a lot of adversity in college. A lot of people said I couldn't do stuff. I feel like I can do it and prove it to them now."

Hogs and hands and hustling

People everywhere still talk about how Peyton Hillis has been known to wrestle wild hogs. He swears that's not the case, that he only hunts wild hogs in Arkansas with his family, as he did during the Browns' bye week. But Doug Hillis explained that there's some wrestling of the 400-pound creatures involved when they're cornered against trees and you need to tie them up to transport them to another location.

"It's pretty dangerous," Doug Hillis admitted.

It takes enormous physical strength, good hands and pretty good quickness to snag the hogs.

Which, by chance, is also what Hillis uses daily with the Browns as a running back. In his first season since a trade from Denver brought him to Cleveland, the 6-1, 250-pound running back has for the first time since high school found a steady position and a coach who believes in him.

"I avoid him in the hallways," Browns coach Eric Mangini joked earlier this season. "I don't want to dislocate my shoulder."

Hillis has gone from a sometime-fullback to a full-time tailback who enjoys running through people -- or hurdling over them, if necessary -- more than he does darting around them.

"It's just the way I've always played," Hillis shrugged.

So far, Hillis has rushed for 644 yards and seven touchdowns. He's also showed versatility in catching 30 passes, including one for a touchdown.

It is, even his family admits, more than they imagined possible from their humble, hard-working son.

"I always thought Peyton could play pro football and thought he could be good at it," Doug Hillis said. "But putting up numbers like 144 against Baltimore and 184 against New England . . . that's what's blowing my mind. In Peyton's mind, he can do it all, he can do everything. Peyton has the will to do anything."

That includes playing multiple positions. He threw the ball to quarterback Colt McCoy in a trick play against New Orleans, and Hillis contends there's more arm strength where that came from.

"I wish they'd just give me a chance," Hillis sighed in mock agony. "That ain't working out, though."

TWINSBURG, Ohio — It was difficult not to view Friday night's Division VI regional semifinal in terms of David and Goliath. After all, it was big, bad Mogadore, with its three state titles and 23 playoffs appearances --including 12 in a row -- taking on Ledgemont, which won its first playoff game a week ago.

TWINSBURG, Ohio — It was difficult not to view Friday night's Division VI regional semifinal in terms of David and Goliath.

After all, it was big, bad Mogadore, with its three state titles and 23 playoffs appearances --including 12 in a row -- taking on Ledgemont, which won its first playoff game a week ago.

But when it was all said and done, it was just two evenly matched teams that played their guts out, with Mogadore holding on for a 17-12 victory at Twinsburg High School. The outcome was in doubt with a minute to go, when the Wildcats got a first down on fourth-and-1 from the Ledgemont 41.

"Who would have thought we'd give Mogadore a run for their money?" Ledgemont coach Joe LaRosa said. "It's been an incredible ride for us."

It was a very physical game, as Ledgemont lost two players to injury--sophomore linebacker Kyle LaRosa broke a rib in the third quarter and senior tight end Derek Cantrell was carted off in the fourth quarter with a suspected neck injury, but he was back on the sideline when the game ended.

"That's a very good team," Mogadore coach Matt Adorni said of the Redskins. "They played very hard and they were very physical."

The 12-0 Wildcats were clinging to a 7-6 lead at the half, having been outgained, 178-103. But things started to turn in the third quarter, as Mogadore began flexing its muscles with its power ground attack, putting together a 10-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard run by Kodey Chance, who scored both Mogadore TDs.

"That's Mogadore football," said senior Jake McAvinew, who teamed with Chance and Gary Strain to form a three-headed running attack. "We just line up and run over people."

In the meantime, Mogadore also shut down Ledgemont's vaunted offense, which gained only 32 yards in the second half. Tailback Dan LaRosa, who entered the game with more than 1,400 yards in 11 games, was held to 65 yards on 16 carries.

"Our defense did a great job, especially in the second half," Adorni said. "They did some things to us early, but then we settled down and buckled down."

Things got interesting late in the game, as LaRosa returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown with 3:09 to play, making it 17-12. LaRosa also scored on a 55-yard screen pass from Shane Ritts in the second quarter.

"That punt was supposed to go out of bounds," Adorni said. "But I can't get too mad [at punter/kicker Alex Roebken]. That field goal he made was very important."

Not only did Roebken hit a 35-yard field goal midway through the final quarter, but he also recovered Ledgemont's onside kick with 3:04 to play, getting absolutely leveled in the process.

MASSILLON, Ohio — Tallmadge's football team picked the wrong time to play the role of excavators. Facing the possibility of reaching the Division II, Region 5 finals for the second time in three years, the Blue Devils dug themselves a hole no backhoe could find its way out of on Friday.

MASSILLON, Ohio — Tallmadge's football team picked the wrong time to play the role of excavators.

Facing the possibility of reaching the Division II, Region 5 finals for the second time in three years, the Blue Devils dug themselves a hole no backhoe could find its way out of on Friday.

With little room for error against a potent Ashland offense, top-seeded Tallmadge committed three turnovers in the first 18 minutes and the Arrows took advantage in what eventually became a 49-7 win at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

Those gaffes gave Ashland (10-2) a 35-0 lead midway through the second quarter in a game the Blue Devils would just as soon forget.

"It's very difficult to come back when you make mistakes like that," said Tallmadge coach Joe Vassalotti, whose Blue Devils finished 11-1. "You can't give them a short field and momentum like that."

For their efforts, the Arrows will play second-seeded Lake Catholic next Friday at a site to be announced Sunday.

Last year, Ashland faced the Cougars in an all-time classic before losing, 45-42, in the regional finals.

By halftime, the Arrows had a 42-point lead and were already looking to Week 13.

Save for the final drive where Ashland took a knee to close out the second quarter, the Arrows scored on every one of its first-half possessions.

Ashland racked up 488 yards of offense -- 404 of those yards coming in the first half.

First-team All-Ohio quarterback and Brown recruit Marcus Fuller was 14-of-18 for 243 yards and three touchdowns in a three-quarter performance. Chris Thomas touched the ball six times and scored four times to finish with 159 yards rushing.

"[Thomas] is one of the best playmakers I've ever seen in my life," Tallmadge linebacker Steve McAninch said. "They're big up front. They capitalized on plays. They're a great football team."

Tallmadge avoided the shutout when Anthony Gotto found Andrew Bonnette on a 14-yard fade pattern with 6:04 remaining.

While the game didn't end the way the Blue Devils (11-1) wanted, they shocked many prognosticators this season by running the table in the regular season and winning the Suburban League.

That's something players like McAninch will take with them.

"We just couldn't come back from those hard hits," the senior said. "This season, with the experts predicting us to go 2-8, to go undefeated and get into the second round of the playoffs, I can't put into words what this season meant to me.

"It was an amazing experience. I'm glad to say I was a part of it."