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| Stephan Sukola (at right) with Jordan Nicoll (10) and Austin Tarantino (photo by Max Surikov) |
In
the heart of Springboro, in a renovated historic home across from ‘The K,’ the
Sukola family opened a restaurant a few years ago that has now become a town
treasure.
“Heather’s Coffee and
Café” is the place to meet nice people and have a good time, which is evidenced
through the week. Owners John and Heather Sukola are good neighbors who strive
to make Springboro a better place to be.
When it’s not football
season, they have a special cook on weekends, their son Stephan. He’s a hard
worker who strongly recommends the club sandwich. It’s his specialty.
But Stephan doesn’t
have to work in the fall because he’s busy making a different kind of sandwich – sort
of a human body sandwich – as a member of Springboro’s football team.
On the football field,
Stephan has no intention of being a good neighbor who offers any kind of
pleasant experience for an opponent.
No,
no. On the football field, Stephan’s just a flat-out beast.
As a nose guard, he
plays in the heart of the Springboro defense. As the long snapper, he’s also at
the heart of the kicking game.
But with his spirit,
tenacity and intensity, he’s more than just a position player on a football
team. He’s what I call “The Heart of the Panthers.”
At 235 pounds, he may
not be the typical nose guard. Opposing linemen might start a game with a
smirk, thinking they can push Stephan around a little.
But reality sets in
quickly. Ain’t nobody pushing Stephan around. Nobody.
He’s an elite
weightlifter who keeps himself physically fit, which explains why he’d like to
be a personal trainer someday.
More than that, he
plays hard every second of every game, and that makes him practically lethal.
“I play every game
like it’s the Centerville game,” he says.
It shows. He’s right
there in the middle of just about every play, which puts him among the team
leaders in tackles.
And even if the play
doesn’t allow him to make a tackle, it’s because the opponent knew it needed to
stay away from him.
He’s one part pit bull
and another part leopard. What more can you ask of a senior captain?
“When you think of an
MVP, you usually think of someone who scores a lot of touchdowns,” head coach
Ryan Wilhite says. “But Stephan’s a huge impact player on our team.
“Not only does he
anchor the defense, but he’s a big player on our special teams,” he adds. “That
makes him a very valuable player for us.”
Like everyone else on
the team, he’s having a lot of fun this season. It’s fulfilling to do a job
well, and see the team win as a result. But what he loves the most is playing
with a bunch of guys he loves and hangs around with.
He looks forward to
finishing up this season in the same strong fashion it has started it. For
sure, he’ll do everything he can to make that happen. Only time will tell what's in store for sure for the Panthers.
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| Celebrating Springboro's 42-32 victory over Centerville. |
I suggest it offer a
new kind of club sandwich, one that only Stephan can make and in keeping with
his style of playing football.
It’ll be raw meat
pressed tightly between two slices of racy pumpernickel. Yeah, it’ll hit you
hard, just like Stephan.
Do yourself a favor. Don’t go in carrying a football.
This piece was published in the Springboro Sun, October 11, 2012.
For full coverage of all of Springboro 2012 season, see the Sun archives or join the Facebook page "The Heart of the Panthers."