Paladin's Pigskin Picks -- Wk 14

[Chieftain]

State semi-finals and several good matches with a few stinkers thrown in. Last week went 18-6 in the Regional Finals, running the picks record for the season to 83-25. The match-ups --

D-I
Davidson - Wayne......Davidson is a terrific D team with 3 shut outs and 8 games of a TD or less. Wayne has a terrific QB in Miller who is Ohio St. bound. Pick is DAVIDSON.

St. Ed's - Whitmer.... stinker game. Eds should wipe the field with Whitmer. Both O & D are better than anything Whitmer has seen this season. ST. ED's

D-II
Uniontown Lake - Trotwood Madison..... toss up game. Lake is pretty balanced & tough. Trotwood is very athletic. Fewest mistakes win. The hunch is LAKE

Maple Hts.- Lake Catholic... great game. Maple has tons of speed & very athletic. Lake C. is a machine with lots of talent & one of best RBs in the state, Richie Sanders. LAKE CATHOLIC

D-III
Watterson - McNicholas..... good match-up. McNicholas will rely on a pass game while Watterson is more run oriented and has a good D. The pick is WATTERSON.

Buchtel - Marlington.... dangerous game. Marlington has a well rounded team but Buchtel is very athletic and lots of speed. Should be noted this is a possible upset game. While Marlington is a #1 seed and had played a good schedule, Buchtel whipped Massillon & Toledo C.C. and then kicked Mooney's butt. Marlington hasn't played anyone that good.Still the pick is MARLINGTON.

D-IV
Hartley - Alter. Should be a mismatch. Hartley won a weak region and Alter rolled thru tough competition. Could get ugly. The defending state champs are the pick -- ALTER

Chagrin Falls - Orrville...... Falls has tremendous speed and Orrville is full of athletes. I look for the Falls to have enough to get back to a rematch again with Alter. CHAGRIN FALLS

D-V
Fredericktown -Coldwater..... Freddies also won a weak region and Coldwater is still a MAC power. Besides, who would have the best shot at Ursuline? COLDWATER

Ursuline - Lima C.C....... Ursuline is a machine and a Top 5 team, any division. Lima is going to get crushed. In a blowout..... URSULINE

D-VI
Shadyside - Mogadore... another toss up game. Mogadore has played the better schedule and is a muscle team. Shadyside has more balance & skill. In a possible close one ,the hunch is MOGADORE

St. John - Lehman Catholic.... potential ugly game. St. John is THE MAC champ. Enough said. Lehman gets abused...... ST. JOHN

Don't be surprised if some of these games are blow-out scores. Even in the state semi-finals between supposedly good teams there are serious mismatches of weak-tough regions. I'm still looking at all my pre-postseason parochial picks for titles being alive and heads on favorites to win state championships ( St. Eds, MLC,Watterson,Alter,Ursuline & St. John).

[Sweet Pea]

you do know that you didn't go out on any limbs picking your state champs - don't you? Most of those teams were the overwhelming favorites from the beginnning of 2 a days! Alter - 2 time defending champ, Ursuline- maybe the best team in the whole state, St John- MAC champ and playing in the "minor league" division!!!
late
sweetpea
ps...I'll be rooting for any public school to take out the privates!

[Chieftain]

I wouldn't be so cute , sweetpea. I remember a Mooney team most said would walk away with a title and Coldwater put it to them. And its usually a split between parochials & publics for titles most years.

This year I recall NO ONE picking Alter in D-IV nor Watterson in D- III. Even D-I had no one picking St. Eds as Glenville and several others were mentioned. I picked all mine early and ONLY lately have others climbed on board. No one believed like I did that all parochials would win it all this year. Not even the computers were picking it that way....

And for what its worth, I've been beating the computer picks in the tournament.

[friday_nite_fan]

I'm just hoping noone jumps on this thread and hijacks it because Paladin used the words "weak region." Again Paladin, I like your picks and commentary but I have to disagree on one. I think Trotwood Madison gets past Lake and makes it to Massillon this year but then gets smacked by Mentor Lake Catholic. Other than that, I'm 100% with ya... And I was at the Coldwater-Mooney game in Massillon in 07, biggest upset I've ever seen in high school. When the Cavs blocked Mooney's extra point, that stadium erupted.

[Chieftain]

Fan --you may have a point. But heres the facts --

Trotwood played 6 D-I, 3 D-II and a D-III and played some real stinkers (Sidney, Beavercreek, Xenia ). Lake played 9 D-I and a D-III (Bishop Watterson) and is the only D-II team in the Federal League, a ball-buster. Trotwood is very athletic but also undisciplined at times. Lake is a disciplined group and beat the Fed Champ (Fitch) and the runner-up they tied with ( Canton McKinley). Lake has a balanced O and good D. Trotwood got handled by Wayne & Springfield. Certainly Trotwood is formidable. For this, a game viewed as close, I chose the team that has been more disciplined to edge another which wasn't always that way. May not happen, but you have to pick with some sense of evaluation and compare the schedules to get a feeling of ability and performance.

And to be truthful, Trotwood is an unproven recruiter of players, bringing in kids from the City League as well as other suburbs there. Their coach is very much disliked. The players show alot of showboating on the field , a sure sign of being undisciplined and in a tight game I always give an edge to the more disciplined team. Hope you are wrong,

[loganlocos]

Paladin -

Had a couple of differences with you last week and we split them.

This week we see eye to eye across the board. And I definitely agree that some blow outs are to be had in these 12 games.

[friday_nite_fan]

Also Paladin, doesn't a potential Coldwater-Ursuline matchup sort of have the feel of the 07 Coldwater-Mooney game?? A parochial and absolute machine meeting up with a public school they should bomb. I wonder if the Cavs would have it in them to pull it off twice. What do you think?

[Chieftain]

Locos-- I wish I had picked Davidson rather than Pick Central, but it looked good on paper.

Fan -- you have another point. But seeing Ursuline play, I don't think anyone in the division beats them. Coldwater isn't as talented this year as the year they beat Mooney. They were the MAC Champs then. Not this year. You do want to see the game this year however. Akise Teague of Ursuline is fun to watch . Kempe is a very able QB and the D scheme they throw up is very good. Coldwater was able to shut down a Mooney team that ran the Stacked I and used the belly series as it main weapon -- handoff to FB or QB keeps and goes outside on the option . Ursuline is a Spread O team and Teague lines up as a RB, WR, or as the Wildcat. Mooney rarely threw & when they did , weren't very good. Ursuline is an excellent pass team. No comparasion.

[BBallin fool]

I Watched Trotwood vs Kings game !!! can Trotwood beat Lake??? good question.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

looks to me as it may be all parochial
1 lakewood st. ed's
2 mentor lake catholic
3 columbus bishop watterson
4 kettering archbishop alter
5 youngstown ursiline
6 delphos st. john's

oh wise paladin, how do public schools compete with these powerhouses.

[BBallin fool]

Ursuline is very strong.

[BBallin fool]

I seen ST Edward play Solon!!! imo who can stop them??? but this is high school football. who knows?

[friday_nite_fan]

You do want to see the game this year however. Akise Teague of Ursuline is fun to watch.

Oh trust me, I'll be there. I've had my state finals tix since August. It's something I look forward to every year.

[Chieftain]

I'll see the games this year in the comfort of my recliner watching it on the big screen in a nice warm home.

My last game in the tournament outdoors was when Warren Harding was edged by Cincinnati Elder in a freezing ,windy, driving snow storm blizzard in Canton, cheering the Raiders on. Since then, the TV is too good to pass up.

[ironman02]

My last game in the tournament outdoors was when Warren Harding was edged by Cincinnati Elder in a freezing ,windy, driving snow storm blizzard in Canton, cheering the Raiders on. Since then, the TV is too good to pass up.

That was pretty miserable to sit in. It seemed like there was at least a couple inches of snow accumulation during the game. Harding made a furious comeback in the 4th quarter, though, that made things interesting and took my mind off the weather. I've been back to the state championships once since that year, and while it's a lot of fun, I agree with Paladin. It's much easier to sit in front of the TV.

By the way, nice job on the picks. I think there are a couple that could go either way, but I agree for the most part. Should be an interesting last two weeks of the high school football season.

[FANOSPORTS]

This will be the first year I haven't been to the finals in a long, long time. I'm rebelling in my own way against the OHSAA and their way of doing things (playoff locations, ticket prices, etc). They won't get my money this year and I'll be doing the couch thing also, we'll see how it works out.

[Mercerville Monster]

looks to me as it may be all parochial
1 lakewood st. ed's
2 mentor lake catholic
3 columbus bishop watterson
4 kettering archbishop alter
5 youngstown ursiline
6 delphos st. john's

oh wise paladin, how do public schools compete with these powerhouses.

That's an easy answer, they don't!!!

[footballfanatic1]

no they can't....it's no secret how they do it it's just like college for them recruit who you want...until the ohsaa wakes up and makes changes it will always be that way.... even paldi understands this.... well maybe

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

looks to me as it may be all parochial
1 lakewood st. ed's
2 mentor lake catholic
3 columbus bishop watterson
4 kettering archbishop alter
5 youngstown ursiline
6 delphos st. john's

oh wise paladin, how do public schools compete with these powerhouses.

That's an easy answer, they don't!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------and you are correct. ohio needs to follow the lead of other states, who have a privatized title , and a public title. the days of public schools winning the title unless possibly d1, or d2. are over.

[Chieftain]

For the most part, small parochials in smalltowns & small cities are guiltless in the scheme of things. But get around a metro area and the sins are big. Many parochial booster clubs raise BIG $$$$$$$$$ for a "scholarship" fund, not for academic types, but for 4.4/40s, 6'5s and 200lbs +. Then there are state vouchers that go to inner city athletes to get them an "education" in a parochial school. Neither way targets "real" students and academic types , but rather pure athletes. Open admission public schools have "recruits" that vary year to year. May only be one student or could be 5-10 annually. Some get none. System is broken and abused by many parochials and a few publics. The idea of someone whining down on the river in a certain school complaining about "recruiting" or getting players to come to your school for athletics is laughable. They are as dirty as the school they complain about. And everyone knows it.