The matchup that many in northeast Ohio have been craving comes at 7 p.m. Saturday at Byers Field in Parma when
Glenville (Cleveland) faces
St. Edward (Lakewood).
While the Tarblooders have been members of the Xcellent 25 High School Football Rankings presented by the Army National Guard all season and are 15th this week, the Eagles haven't won a playoff game since 2006 and are in the midst of a breakout season after going 4-6 last fall. St. Edward is 14th in this week's national rankings, and both teams are 11-0.
Glenville, which is the second seed in Division I, Region 1, dominated Harding (Warren) 41-6 last Saturday behind the play-making abilities of quarterback
Cardale Jones. He left the game late in the first half with an injury, but not before completing 10 of 15 passes for 183 yards.
Shane Wynn had a 32-yard rushing touchdown and added a 69-yard punt return for a score.
"I think (Jones) has a hip-pointer, but he should be ready to go (this) week," coach Ted Ginn Sr. told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The Eagles had a more difficult time in their playoff opener, beating Mentor 35-21 last Saturday. They've developed a reputation for their ground game and huge offensive line which features a pair of college recruits in junior
Kyle Kalis (Ohio State) and senior
Geoff Mogus (Northwestern). Running backs Terrell Bates (122 yards) and Reggie Terrell (98 yards) helped the Eagles rush for 305 yards, and quarterback Kevin Burke added 85 yards rushing and was 13-for-17 passing for 151 yards.
"We had to get back to running the ball, getting what we call those 8- and 9-yard chunks," St. Edward coach Rick Finotti told the Plain Dealer. "The X-factor in that is (Burke). He can run and throw the ball equally."
The other matchup in Region 1 also has its share of intrigue.
Solon, the top seed, will face
Austintown-Fitch (Youngstown) on Saturday at Mollenkopf Stadium in Warren. The Comets are 11-0 after beating Brecksville-Broadview Heights 31-7 while the Falcons take a 10-1 mark into the matchup after edging South (Willoughby) 42-35 in overtime.
Click here to view MaxPreps' Ohio football playoff brackets.2. Undefeated Eagles go down: New Albany, which posted its first undefeated regular season and was making its first playoff appearance since 2006, lost to visiting seventh-seeded
Tri-Valley (Dresden) 30-27 in double-overtime last Friday.
Eagles kicker Jimmy Gammill missed a 34-yard field goal on his team's second-overtime possession. Scotties kicker
Matt Amicone then made a 21-yard field goal to give his team the victory.
Tri-Valley (Dresden) will play
Lake (Uniontown) in a regional semifinal Friday at New Philadelphia.
3. Watterson beats DeSales again: The
Bishop Watterson (Columbus) football team needed an 11-yard touchdown run from quarterback
Patrick Rhomberg with 26 seconds remaining to beat Central Catholic League rival St. Francis DeSales (Columbus) 14-7 in a Division III, Region 10 quarterfinal last Saturday. The Eagles also beat the Stallions 31-7 during the regular season.
"I can't explain how good it feels to finally get past DeSales in the playoffs," said senior running back and linebacker
Ray Cook, whose team lost to the Stallions in each of the last two postseasons. "It feels so good to send them out for once."
4. Sandusky surprises Avon: The Avon football team earned the No. 1 seed for the Division II, Region 6 playoffs after posting a perfect regular season but lost to
Sandusky 42-35 last Friday in one of the more stunning events of the night. Sandusky, which improved to 7-4 and will play fifth-seeded and undefeated
Maple Heights in a semifinal Friday at Avon Lake, led 35-14 by halftime. Running back Cordney Strickland ran for three touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter to break a 35-all tie.
5. Region 2 games go down to wire: In the Division I, Region 2 playoffs,
Medina edged McKinley (Canton) 31-28,
St. John's Jesuit (Toledo) beat Fremont Ross 45-35,
Twinsburg defeated Southview (Sylvania) 24-21 and
Whitmer (Toledo) downed Washington (Massillon) 28-24 last Saturday. Twinsburg, the seventh seed, and Medina, seeded eighth, both won on the road.
COMING THIS WEEK
Pickerington Central vs. Westerville South football, 7 p.m. Saturday: After flattening Troy 24-8 last Saturday, Central (Pickerington) will be faced with stopping South senior running back
Jayshon Jackson in a Division I, Region 3 semifinal Saturday. Jackson rushed for three touchdowns and 310 yards on 42 carries during a 28-14 win last Saturday over Coffman (Dublin).
RECRUITING NEWSNorth (Pickerington) senior defensive lineman Darien Bryant is planning to visit North Carolina and Hawaii over the coming weeks. He visited Nebraska earlier this month. Bryant, who has 14 scholarship offers, finished with 18 catches at tight end and 10 tackles for losses and seven sacks on defense. … Walnut Ridge (Columbus) senior tight end and defensive lineman
Austin Traylor is expected to take an official visit to Arizona this weekend and likely will attend the Wildcats' game against visiting USC. Traylor finished with 31 catches for 639 yards (20.6 average) and had 16 tackles for losses and 10 sacks.
BRIEFLYJarvis Gibson has resigned as football coach at St. Peter Chanel (Bedford) after two seasons, according to the Plain Dealer. The Firebirds went 6-12 under Gibson.
Jarrod Ulrey covers Central and Northern Ohio for MaxPreps.com. He covers prep sports for ThisWeekSPORTS.com
and can be reached at julrey@thisweeknews.com.
