Quote:
Originally Posted by EastSide
 JOE REED
Dispatch
TRUE:
Rossford Boys 215+
Big Walnut Boys 350+
Yeah we lose some kids in our area to the Catholic Schools but that is the way it is nationwide. |
Losing him seemed to rub a lot of Rossford people the wrong way. Rossford is predominantly Catholic, and does lose a quite a few kids to the parochial schools in Toledo, but Kleeberger isn't Catholic. His father was on the school board and his brother is the drummer in a Christian rock band that sued the school district after they were told they couldn't play at an in-school assembly. The lawsuit was a huge deal locally, especially when another school board member's son's band was allowed to play. That particular member is from a prominent Catholic family in town.
The irony and intrigue over Kleeberger transferring to a Catholic school after the much publicized lawsuit still hasn't died down.
It's unfortunate, as the family was well-liked and respected in town and still has children in the school system. In the end, you can't blame the kid for wanting to play on a team that was coming off the DII state title and featured an Ohio State-bound Dane Sanzenbacher at WR.
In a round-about way, Kleeberger's probably responsible for Rossford's playoff berth this year, as Coach Werbylo scrapped the spread in favor of the winged-t. The Rossford defense benefited greatly from the emphasis on the running game, as the no-huddle spread was largely ineffective over the years and left the defense on the field for the majority of the game.