Kirtland put together a 10-0 regular season on its way to the Division VI state championship. Fairport put together a 10-0 regular season for the first time in program history and earned a D-VII Region 25 playoff bye. Not surprisingly in turn, both were rewarded handsomely as the D-VI and D-VII All- Ohio football teams were unveiled Dec. 8. Kirtland quarterback Jake LaVerde was named D-VI co-offensive player of the year, and Fairport’s John Nagle was named D-VII coach of the year. High school football: OPSWA Division VI-VII All-Ohio football teams In a regular season limited by injury, LaVerde accounted for 614 yards and eight touchdowns rushing and 435 yards passing to guide the prolific Hornets. The All-Ohio honors are gauged with regular-season statistics only. LaVerde was joined on the D-VI first team by six Kirtland teammates: RB John Silvestro, OL Lucci Cantini, K Marko Valentic, DLs Chase Gron and Ty Bledsoe and LB Zander Perko. Silvestro ran for 1,441 yards and 25 TDs and was named Northeast Lakes District offensive player of the year. Cantini graded out at 91%. Valentic was 47-for-48 on extra points and 6-for-6 on field goals. Gron recorded 52 tackles, 19 of which were for loss. Bledsoe had 40 tackles, with 10 TFLs, and six QB hurries. Perko logged 93 tackles with eight TFLs. News-Herald coverage area second-teamers in D-VI were Richmond Heights' Khyrell Moreland, Kirtland's Ryan Caimi, Jack Turk, Zach Freeburg, Cameron Treadwell and Sebastian Becker and Wickliffe's Davion Martin. Wickliffe's Elijah Fitch and Frankie Bucar and Kirtland's Andy Ridgeway garnered third-team plaudits. Fairport coach John Nagle was the winner of the 2025 Bob Ritley Award as The News-Herald's football coach of the year. (Submitted) Nagle took over the Skippers after Week 1 and led them to their aforementioned historic unbeaten campaign. Fairport got WR Yomar Castellano and DB Jan Castellano on the first team in D-VII. Yomar Castellano, the district OPOY, had 52 catches for 888 yards and 18 TDs, along with five two-point conversions. Jan Castellano, also a district DPOY, had 85 tackles, 10 for loss, and six interceptions. Fairport's D.J. Dambolena was a second-team LB, and Skippers QB Brady Lawson, OL Tyler McCloud and DL Cale Milliman were third-team selections in D-VII. The D-IV and D-V All-Ohio football team will be released Dec. 9, with D-II and D-III (Dec. 10) and D-I (Dec. 11) to follow. ...read more read less