By Dean Eversole
MaxPreps.com
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Around the Gridiron
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Attend a Steubenville football game and it is likely you will hear, "Roll Big Red, Roll."
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Well, the Big Red are doing just that as they now sit at 6-0 on the season with a 41-14 win over Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary Friday night. That is now 21 games in a row and the Big Red sit on the verge of their fourth-straight undefeated regular season, needing just four more wins.
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Cleveland St. Ignatius continues their march toward the playoffs. The Wildcats rolled over Massillon, 30-16, improving to 6-0 on the season. But the Cats are about to run the gauntlet to end the season. The Wildcats play Lakewood St. Edward (5-1) in week eight and finish the year with Cincinnati St. Xavier in week nine.
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The magic of the Irish is associated with that team from South Bend, but Ohio has its' own version of a magical Irish team in Toledo Central Catholic. Last season, the Irish won the Division II title in an unlikely run and they are at it again in 2006. The Irish are 6-0 with four of the six wins being won by eight points or less.
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As always there were a number of stunning individual performances around the state, but one tops them all this week. Cambridge senior running back Stephen Ford carried the ball an amazing 64 times for over 400 yards in his team's 41-35 win over Dover Friday night.
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Trotwood-Madison's all-everything Dominik Britt compiled a career night both in the air and on the ground, but his team fell in overtime to Piqua. The Rams' quarterback tossed three touchdowns and racked up 377 yards through the air. He added 146 yards and another score with his legs.ÿ
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Volleyball
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It was the state's No. 1-rated Division IV team against the No. 2 Division III program as Marion Local welcomed in Versailles in a Midwest Athletic Conference showdown.
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Marion, sitting a top the AP poll in Division IV came into the contest with just one defeat, while Versailles entered with a perfect record, having not even lost a single game in 15 matches. Add in the fact they were both undefeated in conference and what you got was a packed gym and a state final environment for a regular season match.
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When the dust settled it was Versailles coming out on top in five games 26-17, 25-22, 21-25, 16-25, and 15-11. The Tigers are now in control of their own destiny in the conference.
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Speaking of Division III and Versailles, they make up half of what could be a clash of the titans come tournament time. Anna, the No. 1 team in Division III, is also undefeated and it appears somewhere along the tournament trail these two will clash.
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The two teams have been No. 1 and 2 the entire season in almost every poll. Located within 30 miles of each other, the two schools share a number of common opponents, but don't face off in the regular season. With them both downing highly-rated opponents, it appears they are playing a game of "top this if you can," with neither blinking at this point. Eventually, this could all be settled with a trip to the state semifinal at stake.