Medina High School football team overcomes player's mistake, stacked odds: Terry Pluto

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

MEDINA, Ohio — The trip to the cemetery was a few days after the news that rocked Medina High, a few days after star football player Justin Letts was suspended for what officials say was a violation of an undisclosed school rule during homecoming weekend.

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."

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."

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.

"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