St. Edward, Whitmer to meet for spot in Ohio football title game

The St. Edward (Lakewood) football team had little trouble in beating the best of Cleveland this postseason.

In addition to winning by more than three touchdowns over back-to-back previously undefeated opponents, the Eagles have averaged 39.6 points during the playoffs and are 13-0 a season after winning just four games.

Coming off a 42-14 victory last Saturday over Solon in the Division I, Region 1 championship game in Parma's Byers Field, St. Edward now must beat an upstart to keep its hopes of winning its first state title alive.

Whitmer (Toledo) defeated St. John's Jesuit (Toledo) 14-10 last Saturday in the Region 2 final in Bowling Green State's Perry Stadium to capture its fourth regional championship, but it never has won a game at the state level.

The Eagles, who moved from seventh to fourth in this week's Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings presented by the Army National Guard, will meet the Panthers at 7 p.m. Saturday in Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

St. Edward (Lakewood) led 35-0 by halftime last Saturday. Running back Terrell Bates rushed for 90 yards in the first half and finished with 24 carries for 103 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way.

"The one thing we haven't been doing too well is starting real fast in some of these games," Eagles coach Rick Finotti told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "We started fast (against Solon)."

Among the matchups will be St. Edward's highly touted offensive line against a Whitmer defensive line which also has earned its share of college looks. The Eagles' offensive line features a pair of college recruits in Geoff Mogus (Northwestern) and Kyle Kalis (Ohio State), as well as Tyler Orlosky.

Whitmer (Toledo) senior defensive lineman Kenny Hayes also has verbally committed to Ohio State, while defensive lineman Chris Wormley has offers from four Big Ten schools including Ohio State.

Running back Jody Webb has rushed for more than 1,500 yards and quarterback Alex Palicki has thrown for more than 1,600 yards to lead the offense for Whitmer, which is 12-1.

"I believe we have the greatest team in Whitmer history," Panthers coach Joe Palka told the Toledo Blade.

The winner plays Davidson (Hilliard) or Wayne (Huber Heights) for the championship at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 in Canton Fawcett Stadium.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Ohio football playoff brackets.

DAVIDSON POWERS PAST TIGERS
Defending Division I state-champion Hilliard Davidson beat Central (Pickerington) 13-6 last Saturday in the Region 3 final at Upper Arlington.

By halftime, the Wildcats led 13-0 and had held the Tigers to 1 yard of offense. Central had been 25th in the previous week's Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings presented by the Army National Guard.

CHAGRIN FALLS DEFENDS TITLE
Chagrin Falls' hopes of a state-title rematch against Archbishop Alter (Kettering) remain alive after the Tigers beat Manchester (Akron) 37-14 last Friday in the Division IV, Region 13 final at Macedonia Nordonia.

MOGADORE MAKES STATE AGAIN
Playing in its 24th postseason including its 12th in a row, Mogadore beat McDonald 28-14 last Friday in the Division VI, Region 21 final at Twinsburg to improve to 13-0.

Senior Jake McAvinew finished with 164 yards and one touchdown and had four sacks on defense for the Wildcats, who were second in the final state poll. Mogadore is looking for its first state title since 2002.

WATTERSON EDGES COLUMBIAN
Bishop Watterson (Columbus) got a gutsy performance from its quarterback and strong defense to beat Columbian (Tiffin) 18-7 in the Division III, Region 10 final in Ohio Wesleyan's Selby Stadium last Saturday. Quarterback Patrick Rhomberg played despite being hindered by a right foot injury and threw for 113 yards and one touchdown.

URSULINE DOMINATES KIRTLAND
Two-time defending state-champion Ursuline (Youngstown) improved to 13-0 by bombing Kirtland 48-0 last Saturday at Aurora. The Irish, who whipped Norwayne (Creston) 42-0 in a regional semifinal Nov. 14 and are 13-0, outgained Kirtland 635-158.

TOP PERFORMERS
* Timmy Porter, Chagrin Falls football: During a 37-14 victory last Friday over Manchester (Akron), Porter completed 12 of 16 passes for 312 yards with two touchdowns.

* Noah Key, Hartley: During a 26-20 victory over Ironton last Friday in the Division IV, Region 15 final, the senior running back rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns.

* Wes Wilson, Lake (Uniontown) football: Wilson returned two interceptions for touchdowns to lead his team to a 42-14 victory over Big Walnut (Sunbury) in the Division II, Region 7 championship game last Friday at Ashland University.

FOOTBALL COMING THIS WEEK
* Davidson vs. Wayne (Huber Heights), Saturday in Dayton Welcome Stadium: Wayne (Huber Heights) is 10-3 overall entering its matchup with 13-0 Davidson (Hilliard), but it has won all but one game in which quarterback Braxton Miller has played the entire game. The Ohio State recruit has thrown for more than 2,000 yards and has more than 40 combined rushing and passing touchdowns. The Wildcats, meanwhile, do it by controlling the clock with the triple-option and playing hard-nosed defense.

"(Miller's) not the No. 1-rated quarterback in the country by a lot of people for no reason," Davidson coach Brian White said. "He's the total package, but for them to get out of the region, they have to be more than just Braxton Miller. We use the same formula no matter who we play. We're going to do our best to run the football and maintain time of possession."

Video of Braxton Miller

* Lake Catholic (Mentor) vs. Maple Heights, Friday in Solon's Stewart Field: In a rematch of last year's state semifinal won by Maple Heights 21-17, Lake Catholic will face the Mustangs in a Division II state semifinal. Maple Heights' backfield duo of Shaquille Washington and DeVonte Ransom has combined for more than 50 touchdowns. Running back Richie Sanders has 31 touchdowns for the Cougars.

* Buchtel (Akron) vs. Marlington (Alliance), football (Saturday in Canton's Fawcett Stadium): Buchtel blew out Mooney (Youngstown) 35-10 last Saturday to improve to 10-3 and set up the Division III state semifinal matchup against the state's No. 1-ranked team, Marlington. The Dukes improved to 13-0 with a 35-23 victory over Dover last Saturday in Fawcett Stadium.

RECRUITING NEWS
St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron) senior Doran Grant has decided to take official visits to Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Grant played quarterback, wide receiver and running back this season and is being recruited at defensive back.

BRIEFLY
Three central Ohio football teams will have new coaches next season. Ted Wierzbicki from Bradley (Hilliard), Anthony Thornton from Brookhaven (Columbus) and Steve Evans from Reynoldsburg all recently submitted their resignations, according to ThisWeekSPORTS.com and The Columbus Dispatch.

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.