[1. St. Edward (2-0)]

Not a good week for the Buckeye state (at least at the high school level). In the top 3 OOS matchups, Ohio went 0-3 with one completely embarrassing loss by Hoban on the road at Archbishop Spalding. In the other two big games Ohio fared well, but got nipped at the buzzer with TCC surrendering a large lead against Cass Tech and Moeller falling to Mt. Carmel as time expired. Per usual, St. Edward carried the torch well and blew out Delbarton but, admittedly, Delbarton is not on par with the other Jersey giants. Still, the Eagles have looked pretty good in the first two weeks and with some of the other so-so performances this week, make the leap up to #1.

1. St. Edward (2-0) (previously #6, beat Delbarton (NJ) 48-28): This one was over at halftime with the Eagles opening up a 41-7 lead and a running clock to start to start the second half. Lombardo took the reigns off QB Jonny Evanchick this week after playing a relatively conservative game against Pick North in week one. The result was a 3 TD performance on a near perfect 7-8 passing for 118 yards, almost  entirely in the first half. Junior Langston Lucas spelled him in the second half and thew a TD pass as well. But the real star of the show was senior Toledo WR commit Zack Hackleman whose 214 all-purpose yards included a 99 yard kick return for a TD in addition to two more receiving. The defense, while breaking in several new players, has been stout in the early going. Three Delbarton second half TD's were surrendered by the backups. I was optimistic about this team pre-season, but wanted to see how the new signal caller and defense looked. So far, so good. Can they survive the schedule ahead with games against Glenville, Massillon, Moeller and Hoban? Can't look ahead with a really athletic Huber Heights Wayne team up next on 9/5.

2. Archbishop Moeller (1-1) (previously #2, lost to Mt. Carmel (IL) 43-42): Keeping Moeller in the two spot as there is no shame in going to the wire against a really good Mt. Carmel squad.  Both teams were really airing it out. Moeller broke the 35-35 late in the fourth with Ponatoski's 5th TD pass of the afternoon, but MC still had time. A near game-icing INT was dropped by Moeller, and to add insult to injury, the player kicked the ball and drew an unsportsmanlike flag. MC scored a few plays later and converted the 2-point conversion. Kudos to Mt. Carmel for coming out to Ohio and going for the win. Moeller will host Trinity (KY) on 9/5.

3. St. Xavier (2-0) (previously #3, beat Centerville 20-7): The stingy X defense holds its opponent to 7 points for the second week in a row, but I was hoping to see the offense be more productive. Still, this a championship caliber defense. Bombers go on the road this week to face Cathedral (IN) on 9/5.

4. Glenville (2-0) (previously #4, beat Olentangy Liberty 13-7): Not surprised the Glenville D held O Lib to 7, but surprised that their offense could only muster 13 points. The Tarblooders have explosive athletes at all the skill positions and looked really good against Massillon last week. Not sure what the story was here, but there may have been a bit of a hangover after the big week one win. Big showdown with Avon this weekend on 9/5.

5. Massillon (1-1) (previously #5, beat GlenOak 44-10): As expected, the Tigers made short work of an overmatched GlenOak team. Interesting matchup this week as they play host to Rabun Gap (GA). RG is 0-2 but they played Grayson very close in week one and lost by one to Baylor (TN) this past week. No doubt they will bring a level of speed and athleticism that many Ohio teams don't often see.

6. Archbishop Hoban (1-1) (previously #1, lost to Archbishop Spalding 58-28): The Knights laid a real egg on the road in Maryland. They gave an undefeated Spalding their best game of the year last year, but still fell at home. I guess we'll see if Spalding is still the top team in Maryland again, but to lose that bad with the talent Hoban has is almost inexcusable. Head coach Time Tyrell continues to underperform in the X's and O's department despite being a great recruiter who continually brings in high profile transfers. He brought in an out-of-state QB and RB this year, both D1 commits, to bolster his already loaded roster and still gets boat-raced. I can't drop them much lower than this as their talent should still see them go deep in a D2 field that is not as strong as last year.

7. Anderson (2-0) (previously #8, beat West Clermont 49-7): Anderson likely won't be challenged much until about week 5 or so when they face Kings. Really wish they would have gone outside the box in the non-conference schedule to take on one of the GCL teams. They have the talent to do it. 9/5 at Little Miami.

8. Walsh Jesuit (2-0) (previously #9, beat Springfield 30-6): Walsh has looked impressive so far, particularly on the defensive side. They broke through last year to beat Hoban in the regular season only to lose to them in the playoffs. Their road to the state championship will likely go through Hoban again. 9/5 vs. Football North (ON).

9. Pickerington Central (2-0) (previously #10, beat Wayne 38-28): Looking like the best team in a deep central Ohio field at the moment. This week should tell us a lot more as they take on rival Pick North on 9/5.

10. Bishop Watterson (2-0) (previously #7, beat Middletown (DE) 14-13): Dropped Watterson down this week as they squeak by a Delaware team. I don't care how good they may be for a Delaware team, if you're a top team in Ohio you should beat them more convincingly. Rest of Watterson's schedule is kind of pedestrian. Last year's group was dominant against a similar schedule, and if this year's Watterson is to remain in the top ten they will need to put up similar results. 9/5 @ Westerville North

Others: Olentangy Orange, Lakota West, Olentangy, TCC, Pick North, Avon, Ursuline, Upper Arlington, La Salle, Elder, Mentor, Highland, Princeton, Springboro, Wadsworth, Wayne

Top ten games this week, featuring 5 OOS matchups:

Pick Central @ Pick North
Moeller v. Trinity (KY)
Massillon v. Rabun Gap (GA)
St. Edward v. Wayne
Glenville @ Avon
St. X @ Cathedral (IN)
Hoban v. Detroit King (MI)
Elder @ Springboro
Olentangy Orange v. Olentangy
TCC v. DCC (MI)

Top ten games this week, featuring 5 OOS matchups:

Pick Central @ Pick North
Moeller v. Trinity (KY)
Massillon v. Rabun Gap (GA)
St. Edward v. Wayne
Glenville @ Avon
St. X @ Cathedral (IN)
Hoban v. Detroit King (MI)
Elder @ Springboro
Olentangy Orange v. Olentangy
TCC v. DCC (MI)

Nice slate of games. We will see who is who.

But it gets better weeks coming

Who is Bishop Watterson?
Never heard of that school in Ohio.

Not a real convincing win over a Delaware team.

Who is Bishop Watterson?
Never heard of that school in Ohio.

Not a real convincing win over a Delaware team.

Private school out of Columbus. Reigning D3 champions from last year.  Good size/talent for a smaller division Ohio school. Quarterbacked by Drew Bellisari (son/nephew of former Ohio State standouts Greg Bellisari and Steve Bellisari). Agree that the win over Middletown (DE) was less than impressive. I dropped them this week because of that. Don't play the toughest schedule either (no D1 Columbus publics), so unless they dominate the rest of their opponents, I probably won't keep them in the top 10. I think I had them 5th in my final rankings last year after a pretty dominant regular season and playoff run, including knocking off TCC in the final.