Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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  • Storming northward... Matthew Romanello, seated at center, is joined by family and school staff in the James Monroe High media center for a signi g ng ceremony on Thursday. From left, Savannah Horney, Carol Horney, Romanello, Sonny Horney and Justin Romanello. Standing, James Monroe principal Lisa Mustain, football coach Don Jackson and assistant football coach John Mustain. Not pictured: Nick Horney. Staff photo by Tom Bone

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February 6, 2012

Romanello to play next at Lake Erie

By TOM BONE Bluefield Daily Telegraph

LINDSIDE — There are big changes in the offing for James Monroe High School senior Matthew Romanello, and he’s looking forward to new adventures.

Some of those will take place starting this fall at Lake Erie College in the northeast Ohio town of Painesville, where the hard-nosed running back has just signed to play football for the Storm.

While he played in a pro-style offense as a captain for the Mavericks, earning all-state honors, the Storm relies on the spread triple-option.

Romanello said, “They said they felt they would have me at slot receiver-slash-wingback. They said that I fit that really well.”

“I’m kind of excited to try something new. I’ve been doing this offense the past four years. It worked for me some; some, it didn’t. ... Hopefully, they’ll give me the opportunity to prove what I can do.”

Now he will trade in the James Monroe purple and black color scheme for the green and white of the Storm.

Storm head coach Mark McNellie was quoted on the Lake Erie athletics website. “Matt is another multi-talented skill player that could line up in almost every position and make big plays.

“He possesses great vision and is outstanding broken field runner."

Perhaps keeping all options open, the website listed Romanello’s football position as “athlete.”

The program is beginning its fifth year and expects 41 letter-winners to return this fall. Lake Erie is an NCAA Division II school enrolling about 1,300 students and plays in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Romanello said his final choice was among Lake Erie, Butler and New York University at Albany.

“I visited them, and Lake Erie just stuck out the most,” he said. “Nice campus. But the main thing for me was the coaches, how they said they treated their players like they were their own family. That’s one of the main things I looked for.”

“A lot of the players I talked to up there said they loved it. They have a good thing going; they have a good football program.”

As it turns out, Romanello’s mother, Carol Horney, is from North Royalton, Ohio, in the same part of the Buckeye State at Lake Erie College.

She said when Matt was contacted by the Storm, “We were pretty surprised, but also pretty happy.” She said he will have “a fan base already built in.”

A bigger factor in the decision, she said, was that Lake Erie is “a fantastic private school,” with a student-faculty ratio of about 15 to 1.

Romanello’s father Sonny Horney said, “We felt like he would fit in better in a smaller classroom environment. The largest classes they have are about 35 students.”

He added, “I think everybody in the family was very impressed with the coaching staff. They started up the program about five years ago and it seems like their heart is 100 percent in it.”

He said the coaches are personally involved with carrying out the mandatory athletics study halls for their student-athletes.

Romanello said he began his research on Lake Erie online. “I Googled them,” he said.

“Everything I’m thinking of majoring in, they have, which played another huge factor in me making my decision to go there. To me, it was the right choice.”

He said he is considering a major in criminal justice, sports management or business. Romanello ran for 286 yards and six touchdowns in one game last season, a 61-43 win against PikeView, earning for the second year in a row the honor of Pocahontas Coal Association-Bluefield Daily Telegraph player of the week. He also threw for 62 yards and caught a pass for 13 yards in that standout game.

He was on the All Four Seasons Country 2011 team as a second team running back.

He made honorable mention in all-state balloting in 2010 and 2011. In his junior year, he rushed for 1,054 yards and caught 20 passes for the Mavericks.

Sonny Horney said that Romanello attended around 10 football camps both summers after his sophomore and junior years. He has “continued to work out very hard in the summer,” Horney said.

Horney said that as soon as James Monroe concluded its football season last fall, “he was back in the weight room and hitting it hard.”

Carol Horney said Lake Erie does not believe in holding players out for a “redshirt year.” She said, “Matthew needs to accept the responsibility that’s been laid upon him, and step up and be ready to play.”

Sonny Horney said, “We’re very excited. He has the opportunity to play, potentially, all four years. That depends on him learning the offense and that he gets into a groove right from the start.”

Romanello said about being a Maverick, “Playing for them was a huge factor in me being able to have this moment.”

“I’m definitely going to miss some of my teammates I played with this year. They’re going to be my friends for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t go back and change anything that happened this season.”

“But I’m ready to move on to something new, and meet new people, and try something new for once.”

— Contact Tom Bone

at tbone@bdtonline.com

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