By Dean Eversole
Max Preps.com
The Ohio prep football season is storming toward week seven and that means it is time to talk playoffs.
Last year Hillard Davidson reminded everyone that nothing is guaranteed in sports, but Cincinnati St. Xavier is looking pretty impressive. The Bombers are the number one team in the Max Preps Top 25 poll, but some real challenges remain.
X will play St. Ignatius, St. Edwards, LaSalle and rival Cincinnati Moeller. All four teams currently have winning records and could be playoff teams. Should X finish the season at 10-0, it will clearly be the favorite in D-I.
As usual, Region 4 is loaded with St. Xavier, Colerain, and Moeller. A power from the past, Princeton, is currently having a revival in Region 4. The Vikings are 5-1 and could be on their way to a playoff appearance.
Looking to challenge St. Xavier and the Region 4 is Region 1 and the Cleveland area schools. Mentor, which lost to Davidson in the state title game last season, is currently sitting atop the region. St. Ignatius and St. Edwards are lurking at fourth and fifth place, but those two teams will meet later this year.
Region 3 produced last year's surprise champion in Hillard Davidson. This year, Hillard is on top again, but now it is Hillard Darby. After finishing last season at 6-4, the Panthers are looking to duplicate their cross-town rival and stun the state. The defending champs are in tenth place and are currently out of the playoffs.
The forgotten region is Region 2. Two traditional powers Massillon Washington and Canton McKinley are struggling and will be watching the playoffs in 2007. This means the region is wide open with Brunswick currently sitting number one.
Anyone that tells you they have Division II figured out is either lying or foolish. Every year, D-II is the mystery division with a low seed (Toledo Central Catholic and Piqua) winning the past two state titles; that could be the case in 2007.
Defending champion Piqua looks to be in good shape, sitting number two in Region 6. But it has four very tough games that could knock it out of the picture. Avon Lake, which dominated D-II early in the decade, is rolling at 6-0.
There is very little separation between the other teams making for an interesting playoff in D-II.
Like its big brother, D-III is also in flux, but mostly because Steubenville, last year's champion, and Kettering Alter, the runner up, are in D-IV. With the two powerhouse programs gone, Walsh Jesuit is looking to fill the void, sitting at 6-0. Rocky River, Northwest and Big Walnut are also 6-0 and should challenge Jesuit.
Of all the six divisions, perhaps none is more clear cut then D-IV. That is because of Youngstown Mooney. The Cardinals are rolling in 2007 and look like an unstoppable machine. They have taken on and beaten D-I Mentor and Gateway (PA), which would be a D-I school in Ohio. Mooney's closet game was the 21-10 win over Mentor and since that game it has not been challenged.
If there is going to be an upset, the candidates to pull it off include Kettering Alter. The Knights are dominating D-IV with a senior laden team. After Kettering, the odds decrease dramatically, but those looking to pull off an upset includes Steubenville and Oak Harbor.
