South beats North 31-12; Schneider honored with lifetime award
By Adam Adkins
On a night celebrating legendary coach Mike Schneider, Austin Fudge and the South team came to play, winning the MVFCA White Allen Pigskin Classic 31-12 Friday evening at Northmont’s Good Samartian Field.
Fudge, formerly the quarterback of the Eaton Eagles, gave the South an 18-point-lead with a 44-yard strike to Brendan Cunningham early in the second half. That was his second of two touchdown passes, the first going to Brandon Walker for the first score of the game.
South head coach Ryan Wilhite enjoyed having Fudge.
“Man oh man can he play,” Wilhite said. “He’s got some nice wheels, he throws a nice ball. He’s very elusive, one of those guys when things break down that play is never over.”
After the final whistle, Fudge was named player of the game for his efforts.
“It’s been fun and there were a whole bunch of people here,” Fudge said. “We lit up the scoreboard a little bit. It was just a real good time overall.”
Jason Stinebaugh split time with Fudge, and also contributed a touchdown pass, his to Mike Tepe late in the first half. Running back Seth Millar reached the end zone on a 15-yard-run to start the fourth quarter, giving South the deciding score.
“It was definitely special,” Millar said of playing Friday evening. “Playing with these guys is an honor. They made everything real easy on me.”
The SWBL, GWOC and GCL were just a few of the conferences represented Friday evening.
“We got some representatives from the GWOC and other conferences but in this type of game, it doesn’t matter where they come from, these guys were all good players,” Wilhite said.
North quarterback Reed Florence threw two touchdown passes for North’s only scores, one of those a 50-yarder to Joe Webb.
The focus of the night however, was Schneider, who received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Miami Valley Football Coaches Association.
“I had a great time being a head coach for 22 years and I’m having a great time being an assistant coach,” Schneider said.
Schneider’s first head coaching job was from 1976 to 1980 at Miamisburg. He took the helm of an 0-10 program and in his first year was named the Southwestern Ohio Division I Coach of the Year. In 1981 he was hired on at Wayne, who the year prior to his arrival also went winless. Schneider won two more Coach of the Year awards while at Wayne and later coached at both Chaminade-Julienne and the Dayton Skyhawks before joining his son Lance’s staff at Northmont.
“Great way to spend a life,” Schneider said of his career.
Schneider looks back at the early years at Miamisburg and Wayne fondly.
“When you get kids that go 0-10 and they come back the next year, they’re playing football because they love the game,” Schneider said. “I just love working with kids that love the game and being around coaches that are dedicated. I’ve had a long career and I’ve had a lot of fun and I’m still having fun.”
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