Barberton tops Copley to make Tony Gotto the winningest football coach in Magics history

COPLEY — Tony Gotto came back to Barberton High School in 2014 with a goal to make his alma mater a winner in football.

Gotto's initial Barberton team struggled, but the 2015 Magics squad compiled a winning season and victories have become commonplace under his guidance.

Barberton defeated host Copley 51-47 Friday night to make Gotto the winningest football coach in Magics history.

Gotto has a 72-34 coaching record at Barberton from 2014 to the present. He surpassed Rudy Sharkey, who posted a record of 71-36-2 as Barberton's football coach from 1972-1982. The Magics stadium is named after Sharkey.

"This is a really good honor," said Gotto, a 1992 Barberton graduate. "Obviously when it is all said and done and my coaching career is over, I will sit back and say, 'Man, I am the most winningest coach in Barberton football history.' But right now I just want to win football games, coach young kids and try to help them become men that are good people.

"... Seventy-two is awesome. I came to Barberton having never been a head coach before and I obviously had my own doubts. We started that first season out 0-5 and I went home and told my wife [Cerafina]: 'Maybe this isn't for me. I have never been 0-5 in my entire life in anything.'"

Gotto stayed the course and the Magics won three out of their last five games in 2014.

"We took off from there and have pretty much had a winning season ever since," Gotto said. "I am proud of all of these players and all of the players that I have coached. We have a lot of guys who have or are currently playing football at the college level."

Barberton (5-3, 4-1) is attempting to post its eighth winning season in Gotto's 10th season in charge.

"This is definitely a big-time win having everyone come out to support him and us," Barberton senior quarterback Dominic Wilson said. "He told us all week that this is not about him. The game is about us, too. He made us feel special tonight."

Since 2016, the Magics have advanced to the Division II playoffs six times and have won three Suburban League American Conference championships. That run includes the 2017 and 2018 SLAC championship teams that each went 10-0 in the regular season. The 2017 team finished 12-1 and the 2018 team went 10-1. The 2021 SLAC championship team went 10-2.

"Coach Gotto is a great coach," Barberton senior running back Xzavier Macon said. "I love him for everything that he does for us."

Wilson completed 10 of 12 passes for 181 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for a TD against Copley.

Macon totaled 28 carries for 226 yards and one touchdown, and caught a TD pass.

"I have had an amazing time with coach Gotto," Barberton senior wide receiver-defensive back Noah DeHart said. "Coming in and starting as a sophomore a little bit, I have worked my butt off to play. Coach Gotto is a lovable guy, and I love playing for him."

Barberton builds big lead, but Copley makes things interesting

Wilson and senior Angelo Harper connected on touchdowns passes of 32 yards and 31 yards in the first quarter, Macon ran for a 52-yard TD and senior Kamran Walton made three extra points to give Barberton a 21-0 lead.

Copley rallied behind junior quarterback Gabe Mansel and junior running back Tony Cox.

Mansel threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to junior Scooby Stanford and ran for a 3-yard TD, Cox ran for an 11-yard TD and senior Michael Luecke made three extra points to tie it at 21-21.

Wilson added a 15-yard TD pass to Macon and Mansel ran for a 15-yard TD to make it 28-28 at halftime.

"We came out tonight and we wanted to win this game for coach Gotto, but we also understood that this was their homecoming night, so we knew they were going to come out hot, too," said Barberton senior Kenny Larry, a contributor on offense, defense and special teams.

"We came out ahead 21-0 and then, I don't know, our motor kind of turned off a little bit. Halftime came and our coaches gave us a really good pep talk about how, 'Yeah, we are going to win this game.'"

Wilson ran for an 8-yard touchdown and threw a 30-yard TD pass to senior Robert Davis in the second half and Larry returned a kickoff 87 yards for a TD. Walton made an extra point and DeHart converted two two-point conversion runs after Copley was offsides on PAT attempts.

Copley (1-7, 1-4) refused to go quietly under first-year coach John Kromalic as Mansel threw two touchdowns passes to sophomore Andrew McKnight from 19 yards and 39 yards out, and Cox added 12-yard TD run.

Mansel finished with 174 rushing yards on 22 carries and completed 18 of 30 passes for 240 yards. Cox ran for 103 yards on 22 carries, McKnight had 90 receiving yards on six catches and Stanford had 90 receiving yards on seven catches.

"Congratulations to coach Gotto," Kromalic said. "That is a great accomplishment being the winningest coach at Barberton, who has a great history of football. For our kids, I said it and [the Akron Beacon Journal] quoted me after the Firestone game in Week 2, we just have to get better every week. We are starting a lot of young guys and they keep playing and they are doing an unbelievable job. ... These kids continue to believe and they continue to fight."

Tony Gotto enjoys success with the Barberton Magics

Gotto was a popular man on the field after the game, taking pictures with his players and his family.

"He gets on people's butts and he gets them where he wants them to be [on the football field]," Barberton senior offensive lineman Brayden Stefan said. "He knows that we have potential."

Stefan starts at left tackle. Senior Jayveonte Guice is the left guard, sophomore Blake Welch is the center, junior Romir Cody Jr. and senior Dylan Alati split snaps at right guard and senior Josef Burgan III is the right tackle.

Gotto started his football coaching career in 1999 as a middle school coach for two seasons at Tallmadge. He then worked under Joe Vassalotti at Tallmadge High School for more than a decade and spent one season at Kenmore under Jason Knapp before returning to Barberton.

Gotto has coached 17 different Barberton players who have earned All-Ohio honors in Division II since 2016. Barberton graduates Keye Thompson, Zane Ries, John Jackson and Roosevelt Andrews are two-time All-Ohioans.

Barberton graduates selected to one All-Ohio team under Gotto are Kobie Booker, Garrett Turnbaugh, Christian McCarroll, Kyree Young, Kionnie Dukes, Mike Carte, Gavin Krska, Kaeleb Vega, Ryan Watkins, Cameron Macon, Kaige Lowe, Trent Doerfler and Asim Lateef-Chenault.

"I have always looked up to coach Gotto," said Harper, who had four catches for 85 yards. "He is a great coach. ... He is always hard on you, but in the end in his heart he always wants you to be the best you can be. I really love coach Gotto."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Tony Gotto is the winningest football coach at Barberton High School