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Schnurr Will Receive The Al Thomas Award
At The Medina County Sports HOF Banquet
6/5/2017 - By RICK NOLAND Gazette Assistant Sports Editor
Bill Schnurr doesn’t just live in Valley City. He’s a big part of Valley City, maybe even Mr. Valley City. From coaching youth baseball and softball to serving on the Buckeye Board of Education to announcing Buckeye High football games — for 33 years running — to being a current member of the Liverpool Township Zoning Board of Appeals and the Valley City Chamber of Commerce, Schnurr is nothing if not active and involved. Those longtime contributions are why the 64-year-old will receive the Al Thomas Award during the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame banquet, to be held June 15 at The Galaxy in Wadsworth.
“If you need anything, he’s there for you,” said 77-year-old Leo Sparr, who retired in 1995 after serving as Buckeye’s athletic director for 27 years. “He does things for organizations that are beyond the call of duty.”
A 1971 Buckeye graduate who earned three letters each in football, basketball and baseball, Schnurr and his wife of 42 years, Chris (Zacharias), also found time to raise four children — Billy, Brian, Laura and Jenny — and currently spend time doting on their six grandchildren, with a seventh on the way. Schnurr also still owns and operates Bill Schnurr Builders, a company that specializes in kitchen and bathroom remodeling and other household repairs.
On Friday nights in the late summer, though, he’s still behind the public address microphone at Edwin Steingass Field for Buckeye varsity football games, where for many years he personally bought the game ball that was raffled off at each home contest.
His motivation? “One person said to me one time in a youth league, ‘This is nothing but a clique,’” Schnurr said. “We were so strapped for people. You have to get involved. If there’s something you don’t like, then get involved and change it. “It’s like anything: ‘You shoulda done this, shoulda done that.’ Come get involved. There’s a lot of people to this day that still don’t do it. When I hear young people in their mid-30s with kids say, ‘I’ve gotta take my kids here, take them there,’ my first comment is, ‘Enjoy it while you can. They grow up quick.’”
Early days Schnurr, who grew up approximately 3 miles from the house he now lives in, attended St. Francis Xavier through the eighth grade, then went to Buckeye for high school. In football, he was a 6-foot, 185-pounder who played safety, wingback, punted and ran back punts and kicks for a team coached by Mike Lewis and led by quarterback/safety Al Kiene. “In my four years (of high school),” Schnurr recalled, “we never beat Highland.” In basketball, Schnurr was a three-year starting point guard for a Bucks team, coached by Sparr, that featured Kiene at shooting guard and Rich Stalnaker at forward.
“He was a hard worker,” Sparr said. “He’d do anything you asked. He was able to get the ball to guys who were inside scorers.” Baseball was Schnurr’s best sport, as he and Vic Feist were Buckeye’s star pitchers, with Schnurr also playing second base or shortstop for coach Bob Kramer, like Sparr a Medina County Sports Hall of Fame inductee. “I had some pretty good stuff,” said Schnurr, who estimated his fastball fell just short of 90 mph. “I could bring it.” In the summers, Schnurr played for a loaded Wadsworth American Legion team and caught the eye of Ohio State coaches, who invited him to try out for the freshman team. He began as a second baseman, but when a coach saw him throw he became a pitcher, only to partially tear his Achilles tendon while sliding into second base. “I thought the world was coming to an end,” Schnurr said. “And there was all this talk about the (Vietnam) draft coming up. I was down, but I figured life had to go on.”
Schnurr served in the army for two years — he was stationed in Germany — before returning to Valley City, where he’s been an active community member ever since. “He’s been valuable for quite a few years,” said current Buckeye AD Glen Reisner, who graduated from the school a year after Schnurr. “When I’ve needed him to fix things at the stadium, he’s donated his time. He’s always been willing to help out whenever he can. “He’s a great guy. I love Bill like a brother. It’s good to have people like that in the Buckeye district.”
Family matters - As much as Schnurr has always been involved in athletic and community endeavors in Valley City, his family has always come first. From oldest son Billy, who will turn 40 in October, to youngest daughter Jenny and now with their grandchildren, Bill and high school sweetheart Chris have always worked as a team. “She’s been with me every step of the way,” Schnurr said. “If I couldn’t get someone to coach in youth league, Chris took over a youth baseball team. She knows how to keep score, about moving a runner over, pitch counts, everything.”
It was an upbringing not lost on their four children. “If he wasn’t able to do it, Mom was right there,” said son Brian, a 1999 Buckeye graduate who lettered in football, basketball and track and now lives in Westlake and serves as the director of finance for The Fremont Company. “Sports-wise, she was the head coach if my dad couldn’t do it. “He’s been a great role model, not only in shaping me as the individual I am today, but through the upbringing and everything else. He instilled core values to be a good person.” It extended to the point that when Brian took up the pole vault in high school, Schnurr made it a mission to learn about the event, all while not becoming pushy or interfering with coaches. “You talk about somebody trying to balance everything,” Brian said. “He did a great job. Four kids, right? He attended every sporting event and was totally committed and involved. On top of that, the community involvement, chamber of commerce, he was committed to family and community. “You learn hard work and those common values. I grew up seeing it, without realizing it at the time, and it shaped me as an individual and put me on the right path.” To Brian, there’s a simple explanation for his dad’s drive, determination and dedication to all things Buckeye and Valley City. “He wants to be the best at everything he takes on, whether it’s work related or personal matters,” the 36-year-old said. “He has that drive for self-improvement. That’s what we learned growing up. Once you commit to something, you see it through and you don’t quit.”
Volunteering If all of Schnurr’s activities, occupations and community endeavors were listed, another page might have to be added to this edition of the newspaper, so here are a few of the highlights: In 1976, he started Bill Schnurr Builders, a company he still owns and operates, though handing it off to oldest son Billy has started being discussed. After attending Kent State to fulfill requirements to be a vocational teacher, Schnurr taught carpentry classes at the Medina County Career Center for 14 years beginning in the late 1990s.
He served as vice president and president of what was then called the Valley City Youth League. He served as vice president and president of the Buckeye Athletic Booster Club. He was part of the Buckeye Board of Education from 1986-98, spent 10 years on the Medina County Career Center board and served as vice president and president of both. He is currently a member of the Liverpool Township Zoning Board of Appeals and Valley City Chamber of Commerce, the latter of which named him its person of the year in 1988.
“I assume he could be taken for granted by other people,” current Buckeye AD Reisner said, “but I don’t take him for granted. I appreciate everything he does. He’s dependable.” Despite all his involvement, Schnurr may be best known as the PA announcer at Buckeye football games, where since 1984 he’s combined the basics of down-distance-yardage with his own dry sense of humor. “I remember one game I got a call on the radio that a black Labrador had been found,” Schnurr said. “I announced it two or three times, then I announced, ‘This will be the last call for the black lab. If no one claims it, Patty Reisner (the AD’s wife) will raffle it off at the next game.’ People were laughing like hell. Everyone wanted that dog, but someone finally claimed it.”
It would be hard to find someone who has laughed longer, louder than Schnurr, who made it a point to share the Al Thomas Award with people like longtime Buckeye volunteers Craig and Janet Haneberg, Jerry Buddie, Greg Berger and Fred Kisiday.
The friendships he’s developed along the way, not to mention an occasional “thank you,” have made it all worth it. His relationship with Sparr, whom Schnurr has known for 50 years, is a classic case in point. When Sparr had a cervical spine injury in 1993, Schnurr stepped in and coached the Buckeye freshman boys basketball team. When Sparr had two hip surgeries shortly after retiring, Schnurr and his wife were on hand to bring him home from the hospital. When Sparr needed his house remodeled in 2003, Schnurr was there — and he’s been there doing minor repairs for free ever since. “He’s there any time you need anything,” Sparr said. “He’s always willing to help. He’s just a class person. He’s the type of citizen that would be considered the ideal community person, the type of person you’d want your daughter to marry. You couldn’t ask for a better friend.
High School FB: Buckeye Downs Rival Black River
In Highly Anticipated PACSD Match-Up
10/7/2017 - By ALBERT GRINDLE The Gazette
SULLIVAN TWP. - Picture-perfect fall weiather, a standing-room-only crowd and playoff-quality physicality made for an electric atmosphere as the archival Buckeye and Black River football teams hooked up for the 29th and most-anticipated time. The Bucks simply were a little bigger, stronger, faster and smarter Friday night, scoring four unanswered touchdowns in the heart of the game and leaving Art Stevenson Field with a 28-12 victory that extended their Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division winning streak to 20.
While the banter between the schools throughout the week reinforced decades-old animosity, respect was the only worthy word in the postgame after an old-school dogfight. “I’m just exhilarated because that was probably the hardest game I’ve ever played in my whole life,” Buckeye right guard/inside linebacker Turner Mitchell said. “We just went out there, we put the pedal to the metal and we just rocked. We went 100 percent on each and every play and gave our everything. “(The Pirates) were really good opponents. They came at you. They didn’t back down even when they were down. I pull my hat off to them, for sure.” The feeling was mutual.
“It was great, it was great,” said Black River inside linebacker Alex Vormelker, who had four tackles for loss and two other stops at the line of scrimmage. “I love grind-it-out, head-knocking football games. Always will. That’s what you live to play for.” With both teams known for ball-control offenses and hard-hitting defenses, most understood whichever team made the least amount mistakes was going to win, and momentum flipped for good with 1:22 remaining in the first half and Buckeye (7-0, 2-0) holding a precarious 7-6 lead.
Black River (6-1, 1-1) lined up for the 13th play of a drive that had reached the Bucks 14-yard line. A sweep left was called for wingback Riley Gibbs (12 carries, 45 yards), and as the senior attempted to cut right, Mitchell stripped the ball and recovered on the 17. The play was a two-score swing, as Buckeye ran out the clock before needing just two plays — a 22-yard sweep by Dominic Monaco (13 carries, 59 yards, TD) and a 36-yard swing pass to Justin Canedy — and 53 seconds to go up 14-6 early in the third period.
A three-and-out by Black River followed, and a 21-yard score by quarterback Adam Fauver (16 carries, 64 yards, 2 TDs; 5-for-7, 94 yards, TD) pushed the ante to 21-6. Considering Black River’s longest gain on 24 second-half plays was 12 yards, a comeback was unlikely. “I saw the play a bunch of times. It was just an outside sweep,” Mitchell said of his fumble recovery. “I ran forward and straight through the hole. (Gibbs) tried juking me and I just slapped my arms down. The ball came out and I just dove on it and tried to hold on. I was so pumped.” Buckeye lineman Dom Kriz then delivered the dagger, picking off a fullback screen designed for Jacob Campbell (28 carries, 136 yards, TD) and rumbling 10 yards to the Black River 20.
Fauver scored six plays later with 11:55 to play and the game was effectively over. The Pirates’ final score came when Riley Bartolic hit Travis Sexton (11 carries, 58 yards) in the flat for 12 yards on fourth-and-goal with 5:25 remaining. Black River recovered the ensuing kick, but the ball failed to travel the necessary 10 yards. “Second half, we realized if we did what our coaches told us to do, we’d stop them like that,” Kriz said. “Once we came out with that mentality, we shut them down. “(My blocker) let me off the hook earlier than usual, and I knew a screen kind of thing was coming. I dropped back a little bit and (Bartolic) threw. It was right there.”
The first half was a slugfest, as Campbell and Monaco traded short TDs — the latter was set up by a Jonathon Neel punt return to the Black River 18 — with a blocked extra point the difference. Buckeye began the night using an extra linebacker, and the Pirates promptly picked apart the 3-5 alignment with a 13-play, 60-yard scoring drive that burned the first 6:02. The Bucks re-inserted rotating strong safeties Collin Graham and Evan Tesar five plays in and did a significantly better job of containing outside, as Gibbs and Sexton combined for just 16 carries for 59 yards the rest of the night. Buckeye still had issues stopping the bruising Campbell, who had arguably the best game of his career, but never allowed the Pirates to hit a big play.
Offensively, Buckeye was efficient save for a 55-yard TD by Canedy that was negated due to holding. Only two of its 37 rushing attempts went for more than 13 yards, but Fauver threw for first downs on third-and-11, third-and-14, second-and-19 and fourth-and-4, with two of them coming on the third-quarter drive that put Buckeye up 21-6. A date with undefeated, state-ranked Firelands (7-0, 2-0) at Edwin Steingass Field is on deck for the Bucks. “Honestly, this was something we were working for all week,” Kriz said. “We know they’re a very good football team. They run a difficult offense to stop. It feels great that we came out here and were able to get the win.
