High school football: Mitchell Young returns with Mapleton to Black River

SULLIVAN TWP. — Wearing the still-unfamiliar colors of Mapleton red and blue, Mitchell Young tried to bottle the emotions of returning to Art Stevenson Field on Thursday afternoon. The son of Black River all-time wins leader Al Young is one of the youngest head coaches in Ohio at 23 years old. While he's prepared his entire life for this moment, the distractions of familiar places and faces, including some with torn allegiances, were everywhere. In plain sight was the fieldhouse Mitchell's father helped build in the early 1990s, their second home for nearly two decades. The weight room inside is named in Al's honor, complete with a large banner of the Youngs and the rest of the 2018 Pirates running onto the field before Al's final game. As if that weren't enough, on the other sideline was Black River coach Kyle Clark, the big-brother figure in Mitchell's life who he half-jokingly/half-seriously called his "best friend" growing up. The two don't see each other much these days due to work schedules, Clark's busy family of five and, of course, coaching football at rival schools — Clark tried to recruit Young to his staff after Young's Bluffton University playing career ended — but they smiled after going to war in a simulated half that the Pirates won 13-6. Big brother got the better of little brother this time. "That was pretty cool," a chuckling Clark said. "It's different and something you've never experienced before. Of course. I've known these guys for a long, long time and I got to run that (wing-T) offense back in the day, so it was reminiscent of the good ol' days." "A roller coaster," Young added. "Obviously, let's start at this place. This is everything I've known since I was a kid, and it was definitely a little weird walking in and going to the other sideline, but it's football and it gets lined up still. We've got a great group, and to be the leader for these guys is what means the most to me. "Moving on to Kyle, I love the guy. I hate coaching against him, but we're sportsmen. I have a lot of respect for Kyle, and I think it's coming for me, at least. Shoot, that was my best friend as a kid, you know?" To understand their relationship, Clark already was a sophomore in high school working for Young's grandfather, Jim, on the family farm in Spencer Township when Mitchell and even-feistier twin sister Morgan entered the world on Jan. 26, 2001. Clark soon was tasked with babysitting, and the first night became memorable when Mitchell vomited popcorn all over his shoulder. As time grew on, they worked fields, stacked hay or straw in the barn, fished, ran traps and hunted together while largely forgetting the 14-year age gap and dramatic physical difference between the imposing 6-foot-3 Clark and mini-Hulk 5-9 Young. A legendary family story involves 7-year-old Mitchell showing Clark how to accurately fire a .22 caliber rifle while squirrel hunting — naturally after making a smart-aleck comment — though the details of whether Mitchell actually connected remain fuzzy. "I was sawed-off, like 7 years old," Young recalled. "There's Kyle trying to shoot this squirrel and I was like, 'Dude, you can't hit it. Just give me the gun.' He's looking at me — remember, I'm 7 years old — and was like, 'Just shut up!'" Flash forward a decade and Clark was defensive coordinator under Al Young when Mitchell starred for three seasons. The highlight was a dynamite 2017 team that smashed records and banged heads en route to reaching the Division V regional finals, one year before Young was a third-team All-Ohio lineman while unbelievably playing multiple games on a broken leg. The Clark family also was on hand when Mitchell and Al gave away Morgan's hand at her wedding on July 14, so, yeah, Thursday was a wee bit awkward. "Coaching against each other now, it's an experience, to say the least," a grinning Mitchell Young said. "Overall, great dude, great program. I hope down the road we can continue to scrimmage each other." The scrimmage was a classic tale of two quarters, as fired-up Mapleton rattled Black River with the deception-heavy wing-T made famous locally by Al Young, who's now Mitchell's offensive coordinator. The Pirates had no idea where the ball was on multiple plays, and a fourth-down fade pass set up a short touchdown run that was followed by a Black River three-and-out. Momentum flipped in a hurry, as the Pirates soon dominated the line of scrimmage with veteran lines led by three-year starters Owen Chapman, Ryan Graves and Lukas Steinbrenner. Mapleton had eight rushes for 40 yards on its opening possession, but the next 17 attempts netted 27 yards. The Black River offense regrouped, too, once bruising running back Jayce Hopek (5 carries, 44 yards, TD) became established. New quarterback Zane Bungard scrambled like a mad man en route to six carries for 72 yards and a 4-yard score while also completing 4-of-7 passes for 54 yards, mainly by working on quick wide receiver screens that will function as a pseudo outside run game this season. How the scrimmage played out was largely expected considering Black River's bigger, stronger and more experienced lines — Mapleton started five freshmen on defense — but Clark was pleased with how his team, which expects to qualify for the D-VI playoffs, woke up after a nightmarish start. "I'm glad we were able to calm down and start winning the line of scrimmage," he said. "I thought we ran the ball real well and controlled things there toward the end. We just need to start faster, but it was great to see the way they reacted." The coaching staffs mostly comprised of former Black River players spread across five decades caught up for old time's sake afterward. Each side was complementary of the other and understanding that the Pirates are a stable, successful program and Mapleton has not won a Firelands Conference title since 1991. Black River will be rooting for the Mounties from afar as Young looks to transform the program into the same physical, no-holds-barred one that made the Pirates wildly successful under his father. In that respect, no Medina County school takes care of its own like Black River. Few know that better than Clark and Young, who in their own country-style, blue-collar, sarcastic ways, are still two peas on pod. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.