It wasn’t a huge surprise when the Cameron County school board voted not to renew the contract of head football coach Mark Morelli for the 2013 season.
Morelli’s tenure, which included a 12-19 record in three seasons, was met with mostly mixed reviews.
Morelli is somewhat of a polarizing figure, with his no-nonsene apporach not always resonating with current players and parents.
I’m not here to pass judgement on whether Morelli deserved to be let go or not. His record at Cameron County was not good, but it should be pointed out that it’s difficult to maintain a high-level of success at small schools in District 9 EVERY YEAR. He was 8-4 in 2010 before back-to-back to two win campaigns.
I’ll say this — the Cameron County board will have a hard time finding someone with more experience than Morelli.
It’s not as if the CC board is a stranger to these coaching searches, however. Whoever takes over in 2013 will be the fifth different head coach since 2002. That stretch includes a pair of District 9 Class A championship game appearences — including an 18-8 win over Clarion in the 2008 title game.
What many of these schools fail to realize is that they aren’t going to have 9-win seasons every year. Too often, they are way to quick to pull the trigger on firing a coach. They have to realize this isn’t the NFL or even college. It’s difficult to build or maintain success when you have coaching turnovers every three years.
Girls Basketball
Scores: Port Allegany 52, Oswayo Valley 15; Cameron County 37, Coudersport 34; Austin 44, Smethport 40; Otto-Eldred 56, Northern Potter 24
Notes: – Port Allegany is now the only North Tier League unbeaten.
– Cameron County got 16 points from Brooke Dunsmore, arguably the best guard in the NTL, knocking Coudy from the ranks of the NTL unbeaten.
– Sophomore Melody Young scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in O-E’s win.
– Hannah Glover (14 points, 12 rebounds) had another solid game in helping Austin beat Smethport.
WRESTLING
Scores: Cameron County 52, Bradford 15; Port Allegany 50, Kane 16; Smethport 60, Coudersport 18
– Karl Lightner (Smethport) kept his perfect individual record intact.
