2015 Ohio Highschool Football Season

[The Gipper]

@hammertime said:

paper titles yes Massillon

Massillon has zero titles on the field.

Had they had playoffs then I suspect they would have dominated.

Are you like trying to be a Steeler fan like person by saying nothing counted before a certain date just because a different system was in place?

[ATENEARS]

Sorry, I've been busy this season and haven't had a chance to attend a lot of games.

I did however attend the Mentor @ St. X game in Cincinnati ... my observation, the Cincy programs are talented, and I never seen Mentor so lethargic before in many decades. Maybe it was the long bus trip (they stopped at OSU and toured the facilities along the way). Not sure why this was a Friday night game. I do know one thing, that it always appears that this travel across the State to play each others seems a HUGE disadvantage to the traveling team. Case in point: St. Ignatius beat St. X last Saturday.

It will be St, Ed's verse Cincinnati's best in the Finals, IMO. Ed's killed Moeller last week (49-17) and have wins over Elder as well.

Sorry if I am a Johnny come lately on some of these topics, but I live here in Berea and my kids attend the Berea Schools. Berea-Midpark Titans won't do anything in the playoffs until they start getting better competition on the regular schedule. They had ONE (yes one) D1 opponent on their schedule this season and it was Lakewood who is currently 0-9. I like many of the Big programs attitude of, "If we can't beat'em in the regular season than we don't deserve to be in the playoffs"

I feel bad for Ignatius. I hear that in inking a new deal to play at Byers field that they had to agree to play the other teams that share that stadium (Normandy, Valley Forge and Parma) who are a combined 4-23 at this stage in the season. That is hurting Iggy's chances of making the playoffs. If Berea-Midpark had Iggy's schedule they would be 3-5 and sitting home this post season.

Iggy may have to beat Ed's in order to make the playoffs.

Mentor is missing something this year. They are not that good, but remind me of OSU. They have talent but are just not clicking. Their schedule isn't "tough" but it is solid with opponents combining for a 48-41 record to-date. Wins over St. Ignatius (5-3), Euclid (7-2) are the highlight. A crushing blow-out to St. X (5-4) and a loss to Solon (7-2) pit them within mediocrisy. I don't expect much from them in the playoffs and possibly even a first round exit.

Don't count Ignatius out. I've seen Coach Kyle take a stumbling mediocre first-half of the season team and have them more than ready for the playoffs. It's why them and Mentor usually split wins/losses against each other when they face one another in the regular season and then again in the post season.

It may take Ignatius beating Eds in order for Moeller to get into the playoffs ... ouch.

My Sleeper pick to "make some noise" is EUCLID (as much as I hate to say that, as growing up in Mentor they were our hated rival). They were returning a huge amount of Seniors who now have another season under their belt. With losses only to Glenville & Mentor and a win over Solon, Strongsville, Elyria, Brunswick & Medina in consecutive weeks - they are fairly solid and could make a post season run and cause an upset. They are currently #4 in computer points.

Here is the standings at this hour for Region #1:

#1 St. Eds (Clinched #1 seed)

#2. Westerville Central

#3. Stow-Monroe Falls (hasn't played a D1 school yet this year)

#4. Euclid

#5. Mentor

#6. Olentangy

#7. GlenOak

#8. Olentangy Liberty

#9. Whitmer

#10. Solon

#11. Canton McKinley

#12. Start (Toledo)

The last 4 spots are up for grabs, with front runners being: Austintown Fitch, Berea-Midpark, and Elyria. Those with a fighting chance are Ignatius, Jackson, Lorain and Strongsville.

Here is the standings at this hour for Region #2:

#1. Colerain

#2. Hilliard Davidson

#3. Lancaster

#4. Huber Heights Wayne

#5. Gahanna-Lincoln

#6. Upper Arlington

#7. Mason

Controls own destiny: Elder, Pickerington Central, St. X, Fairfield, Hilliard Darby, Dpirngboro and Centerville. Others with a chance include: Lakota West, Reynoldsburg, Central Crossing, Moeller, Beavercreek and Dublin Coffman.

Bring On Post Season Play!

[The Gipper]

Hoban and St. V may be the best teams around......each are D-III though.....but have beat up on their schedule of many D-1 schools.

And SVSM's only loss is to Hoban.

But, still 7 divisions are too many. I wouldn't mind if they went back to 3....or 4 at most.

[ATENEARS]

I don't have a problem with the Divisions, I just don't like how a lot of the bigger programs have jumped or been kicked from one league to another. Then there are the programs who are still playing teams from the leagues they use to be in and it just seems like by the time schools start fitting into where they belong it all changes again. Instead of classifying divisions, more effort should be in structuring leagues for long term competitiveness.

[The Gipper]

@atenears said:

I don't have a problem with the Divisions, I just don't like how a lot of the bigger programs have jumped or been kicked from one league to another. Then there are the programs who are still playing teams from the leagues they use to be in and it just seems like by the time schools start fitting into where they belong it all changes again. Instead of classifying divisions, more effort should be in structuring leagues for long term competitiveness.

Well, yep, that has happened with the league that the school my wife works at (and kids went to) is in. The Suburban League. Just this year, big changes have been made. Two schools, Green and Cloverleaf out.....and like 8 new schools in. Plus they went to a division format. Plus, they put Wadsworth in the division where all the schools are furthest away.....instead of being in the division with Barberton/Copley/Revere/Highland they are in with Stow/Aurora/Twinsburg/Brecksville/Nordonia.....ridiculous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suburban_League

[mohican]

@the-gipper said:

But, still 7 divisions are too many. I wouldn't mind if they went back to 3....or 4 at most.

Why is 7 divisions too many? OHSAA realized that school sizes across the board were declining and added the DIvision's 6 and 7, because of smaller and smaller schools.

And does 7 divisions take away from the other divisions? Really?

Returning to three or four divisions would be "fair" (I know, no such thing) if small rural schools had some kind of forced consolidation. Some of these Division 7 schools have class sizes of 30 to 40 kids (girls and boys) combined.

My school/my children's school might be faced with not having a team next year - When my son and his class graduates this year, there will be a whopping thirteen boys left from this years JV and Varsity programs. And the 8th grade had to be combined with the 7th grade squad this year so maybe five to eight kids that played junior high ball will play high school ball.

[The Gipper]

@mohican said:

Why is 7 divisions too many? OHSAA realized that school sizes across the board were declining and added the DIvision's 6 and 7, because of smaller and smaller schools.

And does 7 divisions take away from the other divisions? Really?

Returning to three or four divisions would be "fair" (I know, no such thing) if small rural schools had some kind of forced consolidation. Some of these Division 7 schools have class sizes of 30 to 40 kids (girls and boys) combined.

My school/my children's school might be faced with not having a team next year - When my son and his class graduates this year, there will be a whopping thirteen boys left from this years JV and Varsity programs. And the 8th grade had to be combined with the 7th grade squad this year so maybe five to eight kids that played junior high ball will play high school ball.

Having 7 divisions smacks to me of it being basically a "participation trophy" for those smaller schools. Like I said, I think 4 divisions would suffice.

But....of course....you know it is all about money. The OHSAA gets the money from the gate fees of all those games.

Sure, it then divvies it out to the schools....but it keeps a fair portion of it.

[ATENEARS]

Unofficial Ohio High School Football D1, Region 1 playoff seeds:

[ATENEARS]

Mentor losing to Elyria (6-4) and Berea-Midpark losing to Westlake (3-7) in Week #10 ... ouch!

My Playoff Bitch:

Stow (2nd Seed) & Berea-Midpark (#15 seed) play a full schedule against D2 schools and get in. Stow played only TWO D1 schools and they had a combined record of (3-17), meanwhile Berea-Midpark played ONE D1 School with a record of (1-9) ... these two (Berea-Midpark @ Stow) will face each other in Round #1, so one of them will advance to second round, meanwhile St. Ignatius who could beat 15 of the 16 teams in the playoffs, is left out because of their (hard) schedule.

Let's just move on to the Championship, St Edwards takes Region-1 without breaking a sweat. My guess is that Ed's will face Westerville Central or Euclid face them in the semi's.

I hate to make such predictions against my Mentor Cardinals, but I'm not sure they get past Glen Oak in Round #1 ... at least it is at Mentor where they have been nearly flawless for a decade ... errr ... until last Friday against Elyria.

[The Gipper]

@atenears said:

Mentor losing to Elyria (6-4) and Berea-Midpark losing to Westlake (3-7) in Week #10 ... ouch!

My Playoff Bitch:

Stow (2nd Seed) & Berea-Midpark (#15 seed) play a full schedule against D2 schools and get in. Stow played only TWO D1 schools and they had a combined record of (3-17), meanwhile Berea-Midpark played ONE D1 School with a record of (1-9) ... these two (Berea-Midpark @ Stow) will face each other in Round #1, so one of them will advance to second round, meanwhile St. Ignatius who could beat 15 of the 16 teams in the playoffs, is left out because of their (hard) schedule.

Let's just move on to the Championship, St Edwards takes Region-1 without breaking a sweat. My guess is that Ed's will face Westerville Central or Euclid face them in the semi's.

I hate to make such predictions against my Mentor Cardinals, but I'm not sure they get past Glen Oak in Round #1 ... at least it is at Mentor where they have been nearly flawless for a decade ... errr ... until last Friday against Elyria.

Stow may beat them all. That is my point about the divisions. Your complaint is that Stow plays mostly D-2 schools as their league is made of mostly D-2 schools. I say that there is a sliver of difference between a D-2 school and a D-1 school.

And no one told Ignatius they had to play a "hard" schedule. Maybe they should just play a schedule consisting of the other parochial schools around NE Ohio. What would be wrong with that?

[The Gipper]

Here are the largest public High schools in Ohio:

https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-high-schools/largest-enrollment/s/ohio/

[hammertime]

Stow is last years Hudson.

Was really surprised Berea lost to Westlake, there is word of some internal issues in Berea...

St Edward is the favorite but everyone is dangerous in the playoffs. St. Edward vs. Wayne in the title game. Colerain is a very good team but like Wayne they haven't stepped out of there comfort zone a lot, as far as opponents go.

As far as scheduling for a St. Ig. or St. Edward teams will not schedule them. The playoff system does not reward you for losing to good teams. Props to Mentor for adding eds and st x though in the next couple years.

[The Gipper]

But, for purposes of the OHSAA, the following school have the highest enrollment of males:

1. Mason HS: 1350

2. St. Xavier: 1217

3. St. Ignatius: 1170

4. Fairfield: 1104

5. Centerville: 1071

6. Canton McKinley & Timken: 1056 (not sure why they are combined)

7. Lakota East: 989

8. Mentor: 960

9. Hamilton: 950

10. Cincinnati Oak Hills 932

.....Strongsville 931

11. Beavercreek 923

12. Kettering Fairmount 889

13. Gahanna Lincoln: 868

14. Brunswick: 859

.....Huber Heights Wayne 857

15. Berea-Midpark: 845

16. Lakota West: 834

17. Reynoldsburg: 827

18. Toledo Whitmer: 804

19. Medina: 798

20. Springfield: 777

21. Elyria: 769

22. Grove City: 760

23. Olentangy Liberty: 757

.....Pickerington North: 757

24. Colerain: 741

.....Hilliard Davidson 734

.....Middletown 734

25. Dublin Coffman: 730

26. St. Edward: 721

27. Shaker Hts.: 720

28. Euclid: 719

29. Rhodes: 717

30. Lancaster: 715

.....Jackson: 713

31. Stow: 709

32. GlenOak: 702

32. Cin. Sycamore: 702

33. Milford: 701

Maybe any school with over 700 male students should have a separate division. I know that the divisions go much further down than that....as where I live, Wadsworth, there are 569 male students.

Now, why should a school that size be competing in the same division with schools that are 1300...1200...1100..1000 strong?

Note: I had to edit because I missed some....but I didn't want to renumber everything....so I just inserted using.....

[The Gipper]

@hammertime said:

Stow is last years Hudson.

Was really surprised Berea lost to Westlake, there is word of some internal issues in Berea...

St Edward is the favorite but everyone is dangerous in the playoffs. St. Edward vs. Wayne in the title game. Colerain is a very good team but like Wayne they haven't stepped out of there comfort zone a lot, as far as opponents go.

As far as scheduling for a St. Ig. or St. Edward teams will not schedule them. The playoff system does not reward you for losing to good teams. Props to Mentor for adding eds and st x though in the next couple years.

I am not sure they should be given any great props......they are merely scheduling the other teams in the state that are in the Top 10 in enrollment as they are (see above).....and as they should do.

[mohican]

@the-gipper said:

Having 7 divisions smacks to me of it being basically a "participation trophy" for those smaller schools. Like I said, I think 4 divisions would suffice.

But....of course....you know it is all about money. The OHSAA gets the money from the gate fees of all those games.

Sure, it then divvies it out to the schools....but it keeps a fair portion of it.

just curious - do you ever watch any games in the smaller divisions? Or is this a view from afar?

[mohican]

I often hear the argument that private schools should have their own playoff system separate from public schools.

[The Gipper]

@mohican said:

just curious - do you ever watch any games in the smaller divisions? Or is this a view from afar?

I don't go to any really. I see what's on TV sometimes.

What's the point?

Here are the way the schools are broken down, enrollment wise for each division:

Division Enrollment Schools

I 581 and more 72

II 361 to 580 107

III 257 to 360 107

IV 186 to 256 107

V 144 to 185 107

VI 100 to 143 107

VII 99 and less 109

Total Teams 716

I don't think there should be a change in the big schools.....but I think that the lower 6 divisions could be scaled down to at least 4...perhaps even 3, which would put about 150 or 200 schools in each division.

These divisions with 107 schools bring 32 each into the playoffs.

That is 29.9% of the schools in a division that make the playoffs....too many.

Compare:

Div. 1 (FBS) college football allows 3.12% of teams in its playoff. 4 out of 128

Div. 1-AA (FCS) allows 19.2% of teams in its playoffs. 24 out of 125

Div. II allows 16.47% of teams in its playoff. 28 out of 170

Div. III allow 12.9% of its schools in its playoff. 32 out of 247

As far as I am concerned, these Ohio HS division could scale back to a 16 team bracket....which would put 15% in, not 30%. Then you have to accomplish some kind of something to get in. They are literally letting teams in the playoff with a .500 or below record. Again...the idea must be to give as many as possible participation trophies. Or to just make money.

[ATENEARS]

#1 St. Eds vs #5 Euclid

As I stated on Oct 27th, "My Sleeper pick to make some noise is EUCLID" and I'm going to stick with it. St. Eds isn't firing on all cylinders for some reason and Euclid seems to be peaking. This should be a great match-up.

#2 Stow vs #3 Olentangy

I will concede that you guys were right about Stow being last seasons Hudson. I'll finally give Stow a little credit in ousting Solon. Anyone know anything about Stow's next opponent, Olentangy (11-1)?

I will add though that Stow got about as easy of a trip through the playoffs as anyone would get (Berea-Midpark, Solon, Olentangy). Whereas Hudson last year was awarded playing the #16th seeded team (Perry) after finishing with the #1 seed, but then faced St. Ignatius & Mentor before getting stopped by the eventual State Champion St. Ed's.

[hammertime]

nice call on Euclid

Rotsky is the coach there and as usual has baggage involving paperwork etc..... he gets his team motivated though.

Looking at St Edwards schedule says plenty about them....Olentangy I think will advance to play Ed's

[hammertime]

Div 1

3 public schools remain.(gipper be damned)

St. Edward vs. Stow Region 1

Colerain vs. Wayne Region 2

All but Stow are ranked top 25 nationally.

Ohio has great highschool football and not just in Div 1 lots of great matchups next week.