Princeton 31, Moeller 14 late in 4th

West Orange 27, Hoban 24 late in 4th

Crazy West O beat Hoban. I didnt see that coming. They are an annual top 50-75 team here. I didn't think they had the pieces to beat a power private from OH. The humidity must have done them in. August heat in FL is brutal.

Princeton 31, Moeller 14 late in 4th

Well, shit. That's disappointing.

Thursday finals:

Avon 22, Ignatius 21
Princeton 31, Moeller 24
West Orange (FL) 28, Hoban 24

Crazy West O beat Hoban. I didnt see that coming. They are an annual top 50-75 team here. I didn't think they had the pieces to beat a power private from OH. The humidity must have done them in. August heat in FL is brutal.

Can't say if that played a factor as I was just getting updates and couldn't watch, but West Orange definitely put a rally together in the 4th quarter. But as I said before, Hoban is not a great road team in these matchups. And I'm sure they're missing the Feister brothers on that team right now. For the past few years Tim Tyrell has ridden Brayton Feister like a bull. No creativity to his offense.

[Massillon v. Glenville (8/21)]

I've been too busy to do a deep dive and come up with a pre-season power poll, but it's pretty safe to assume most of "household name" programs will once again lead the pack. There have been plenty of off-season moves and notable transfers, with Massillon looking like the biggest beneficiary.  In addition to the already talented roster they bring back from last year, they have added the Feister brothers from Hoban, OT Micah Walker from Nordonia, and TE DaShun Williams from Euclid. Massillon looks like the frontrunner in the Buckeye state this year in a loaded D2 that now includes Bishop Watterson and TCC after the new enrollment and competitive balance numbers were updated.

As usual, there are a number of early season matches among the state's best that will sort out the early pecking order. Week one includes:

Massillon v. Glenville (8/21) - two loaded rosters squaring off Friday night in Tigertown. Glenville won an OT thriller last year in week one en route to their third DIV title in the past 4 years. The OHSAA is still waiting on enrollment numbers from Glenville to determine their divisional placement after the Cleveland Metro School District merged them with Collinwood High School this year, so we'll have to see it's enough to bump them up a division or two and put them in a pretty stacked D2.  Regardless, they have as talented a roster as any team in the state and we'll see if they are up for the task against Massillon this year who has revenge on their minds. Early scrimmage reports were indicating the Tigers are clicking on all cylinders.

Moeller @ Princeton (8/20) - This classic Cincinnati rivalry is set to take place at Paycor Stadium tonight. Moeller took it to them last year, but Princeton has had several roster additions that make them arguably the most talented team on paper in R4. Moeller will be replacing Mr. Ohio QB Matt Ponatoski who was taken in the MLB draft, but they return perhaps the best (and biggest) OL in the state with all five guys holding D1 offers, a stud RB in Juice Glover-Brown, and WR Jayden Davis. Whoever wins this game will have the catbird seat in R4 in the early going.

Avon v. St. Ignatius (8/20) - Reigning D2 champion Avon resumes their three-peat bid against a new-look Wildcats team at Cleveland Browns Stadium tonight. They have to replace a lot of talent from last years team but they have established themselves as a perennial contender. Ignatius finally moved on from Franzinger after winning three games in the past three years (inexcusable for a program of their stature) and is hoping to be much improved under Tom Kaufmann. They should have a reliable and speedy receiving corp headlined by Texas A&M commit Trey Haddad, but it remains to be seen if they can put it all together in Kaufmann's first year.

Hoban @ West Orange (FL) (8/20) - the Knights lost two of their best players in Brayton (Oregon commit) and Brydon Feister to Massillon, but will still have one of the most talented teams in the state. They oddly open up tonight down in Florida against a West Orange team that went a couple rounds in the 7A playoffs last year before falling to Venice. Not sure what the outlook on West Orange is this year, but Hoban is notoriously bad in out-of-state road games.

St. Edward v. Olentangy Liberty (8/21) - the Eagles are replacing their record setting RB and WR, but return a very good offensive line and some key defenders. They will once again be considered the favorites to come out of R1, but may take a few knocks in the regular season with a very daunting schedule. Liberty is considered to be on the short list of R3 contenders and have been perennial contenders in a Columbus area that has taken the past two D1 championships. Columbus teams don't often go on the road, and that could play a factor in this game.

Other games:

Anderson v. Trinity (KY)
St. X v. Lakota West
Walsh Jesuit v. Highland
TCC v. Trotwood-Madison
Mentor v. Olmsted Falls
Canton McKinley v. Warren Harding
Springfield v. Winton Woods
Gahanna Lincoln v. Pick Central
Olentangy Orange v. Olentangy Berlin
Bishop Watterson v. Anthony Wayne
Big Walnut v. Hilliard Bradley

 

Always enjoy your writeups ...

Can't say if that played a factor as I was just getting updates and couldn't watch, but West Orange definitely put a rally together in the 4th quarter. But as I said before, Hoban is not a great road team in these matchups. And I'm sure they're missing the Feister brothers on that team right now. For the past few years Tim Tyrell has ridden Brayton Feister like a bull. No creativity to his offense.

The Florida team was #71 MaxPreps in all of Florida last year.      all of Florida, by God!

I just hope Hoban doesn't win state .

Last year when Spruce Creek beat the Ohio team Gaybob813 mentioned it 313 times on 3 different forums because the Ohio team won state.

That's a fact!

The gay bastard is a snake, believe it,

The Florida team was #71 MaxPreps in all of Florida last year.      all of Florida, by God!

I just hope Hoban doesn't win state .

Last year when Spruce Creek beat the Ohio team Gaybob813 mentioned it 313 times on 3 different forums because the Ohio team won state.

That's a fact!

The gay bastard is a snake, believe it,

If you want them to believe something realistic, believe the fact that FL 71st ranked West Orange will have a better OOS win than all of Louisiana this entire year!

Bet on it!!!

The Florida team was #71 MaxPreps in all of Florida last year.      all of Florida, by God!

I just hope Hoban doesn't win state .

Last year when Spruce Creek beat the Ohio team Gaybob813 mentioned it 313 times on 3 different forums because the Ohio team won state.

That's a fact!

The gay bastard is a snake, believe it,

And for the record, I only mentioned Spruce Creek beating Avon because that made Ohio the 17th different state that a Florida team beat a state champion from in the last 15 years.

Thursday finals:

Avon 22, Ignatius 21
Princeton 31, Moeller 24
West Orange (FL) 28, Hoban 24

Wow!!  Changing of the guard?

Early in the year to see if the guard is actually changing

Ohio week 1 finals:

Avon 22, St. Ignatius 21
West Orange (FL) 28, Hoban 24
Princeton 31, Moeller 24
Massillon 31, Glenville 18
St. Edward 15, O-Liberty 12
Lakota West 20, St. X 7
Elder 35, Middletown 3
Gahanna-Lincoln 35, Pick Central 3
O-Berlin 21, O-Orange 6
Upper Arlington 40, Olentangy 7
Pick North 31, Troy 14
Springfield 14, Winton Woods 13 (OT)
Canton McKinley 33, WGH 0
Mentor 38, Olmsted Falls 17
Walsh Jesuit 34, Highland 0
Wadsworth 28, Cleveland Heights 6
Perkins 44, VASJ 41 (2OT)
TCC 27, Trotwood-Madison 9
Trinity (KY) 59, Anderson 13 
LaSalle 30, Colerain 21
Bishop Watterson 35, Anthony Wayne 0
Big Walnut 32, Hilliard Bradley 7