The top Division I and II  teams in the final Associated Press Football Poll, which is voted on by sports writers and broadcasters, have been sent home after the first two weeks of  the playoffs.

In Division I, three of the top five teams are gone – No. 1 St. Ignatius, No. 4 and 5 Cincinnati St. Xavier and Cincinnati Moeller.

In Division II, the top three are home – top seeded Louisville, No. 2 Cincinnati Turpin and third seed Logan. Only three of the top eight teams remain.

The No. 1 teams in the other four divisions are still alive – Youngstown Cardinal Mooney in Division III, Kettering Archbishop Alter in Division IV, Hamler Patrick Henry in Division V and Delphos St. John in Division VI.

In the lower four divisions, only Division IV has few of its top ranked teams remaining, with just two of the top five and four of the top 10 left.

In Division III, Division V and VI, only two teams in the top five in eeach of the division has been knocked out – No. 4 Richwood North Union in Division V and No. 5 McDonald in Division VI.

The best prediction I made all year was on SportsTime Ohio’s high school football playoff preview. I said this would be the wildest playoff year ever and there is plenty of evidence to back it.

*Four No. 8 seeds remain as we head to the regional finals, including Canton McKinley. And who would think that McKinley and Massillon would meet again in the regional final after Week 8 when the Bulldogs were 4-4? 

Saturday night’s game at InfoCision Stadium in Akron could draw over 20,000 fans for the first high school football game in the new facility. Massillon’s offense has been shaky in both playoffs games, scoring  just 27 points. The Bulldogs have scored 82 points  in the playoffs (48 against GlenOak after losing 14-0 earlier this season) and 35 in the Week 10 game against Massillon.

If these two teams weren’t the oldest rivals in this state, this would be an easy pick with the Bulldogs mauling the Tigers. McKinley will be the favorite, but who knows how confident Massillon is.

*Defending state champion St. Ignatius looked like a bakery, turning out turnovers as if it was Christmas week as No. 5 Glenville whacked them, 30-13.

*Orrville came into the playoffs at 7-3 seeded No. 3 and just sent undefeated Genoa home for the holidays, 36-35. Big challenge for the Red Riders is stopping a high octane Ottawa-Glandorf that just destroyed Pemberville Eastwood 48-3.

*Woodridge’s first appearance in the playoffs has been terrific, scoring 80 points in two games. If the Bulldogs use their speed well Saturday night against Chagrin Falls in the Division IV regional final at Twinsburg Stadium, they have a very good chance to the Division IV state semfinal.

The Akron school board has a problem.  The school district wants to build the new Buchtel High School on the site of its practice and softball fields which allows students to stay in the current high school building until the new one is completed.

The problem is members of the community want the field saved.

School boards are beholdent to the voters. Face it – the voters gave the money for the massive rebuilding of the entire district.

This is a tough call. If the district goes ahead witth its plans, where do the kids work out and play softball?

Here’s my recommendation – both sides need to talk. They may not necessarily agree, but the district should listen and then tell those who disagree to come up with a workable plan. It is easy to criticize now that the plans have been made.

We hope both sides work it out because there is no evil intent by the district or the community. They are just good people who, at least for now, disagree.

After Week One of the five weeks of football playoffs, here are my observations looking back and moving ahead.

*The Federal League rematch of Canton McKinley and Canton GlenOak will be a different game. The Bulldogs were the eight seed going into top seeded Toledo Whitmer and demolished the Glass City bunch, which did not surprise me, McKinley has found its swagger and I expect them to beat GlenOak this time.

By the way and for what it’s worth, I don’t think Hudson, the team edged out by McKinley for that eighth and final spot, could have won that game in Toledo.

*Massillon will be favored to beat Twinsburg, but I for one think Twinsburg can pull the upset.  Twinsburg’s defense must set the tone early on and stop Massillon’s running game and force quarterback Robert Partridge to run for his life.

*Just wonder how Garfield or Buchtel might have done in the playoffs. Something has to be done to get a City Series team in the post season with smarter scheduling and more home games.

*In Division II, Louisville, another No. 1 seed, was kayoed by No. 8 Columbus Marion-Franklin. One has to wonder if quarterback Bobby Swigert had stayed healthy how deep into the playoffs the Leopards go.

*Division III, Archbishop Hoban’s offense is killing them. They could surprise Poland Seminary at Uniontown Lake’s Blue Streak Stadium Friday night, but not if the offense is as bad as its been in big games.

Don’t be shocked if Northwest, a sixth seed, knocks off No. 2 seed Dover. I have Indian fever!

*One of the coolest stories of the year is Woodridge in Division IV. The Bulldogs put a whipping at Martins Ferry in their first playoff appearance in school history (49-28) and winning their first ever league title.  This team can light up scoreboards on on given night.

*Lest we not forget Mogadore. The Wildcats lone loss was to Woodridge and Saturday night I look for them to knock off Norwalk St. Paul at Medina’s Kenneth Dukes Stadium.

Here are my thoughts on this week’s playoff games:

*The best games - North Canton Hoover at Massillon in Division I and Ravenna at Lake Catholic in Division II.

The Vikings have a chance because in its two losses, the Tigers defense gave up far too many big plays. Hoover is tested and look for it to use  the passing game at time to surprise the home town Tigers.

Ravenna needs to get Pernell Taylor loose in the secondary to set up the star back in the running game.

*Rematches - Padua plays at Archbishop Hoban in a battle of two teams that struggle to score in big games. Knights won the last meeting, 10-6, and I expect the same. Ditto that for Brunswick at Twinsburg, which the Tigers win in Week 5 at Brunswick. Tigers are more experienced and the Blue Devils aren’t what they have been in recent years.

*Upset special - No. 8 Canton McKinley will upset top seed No. 1 Toledo Whitmer in Division I, Region 2.

*Who will show up? – The Fighting Irish of St. Vincent-St. Mary can look one minute like world beaters, the next like the Cleveland Browns – nah, check that – Ohio State in big bowl games the past few seasons. Running back Mark Murphy needs a big game.

*Best wishes- We wish the Wiita family well and hopefully his Highland teammates will bring him back a playoff victory at Warren Howland. Also think it would be great for neighboring Woodridge and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy to win on the road, especially a Bulldog team that has reached the playoffs for the first time.

When you are a writer, you see things from different angles than the public, particularly fans that follow one high school team.

On Saturday, Canton McKinley defeated Massillon, 35-21, which is always special in and of itself. Here were the Bulldogs, a team that had blown a 34-2 lead two weeks earlier in a 38-34 loss to North Canton Hoover, reaching the playoffs on third level points.

It was a glorious moment for McKinley coach Ron Johnson, who has been roasted this season by Bulldog fans as if he was the most evil character a writer could concoct. After the game, he told me that the players never quit and that is what made him so proud of the kids.

So McKinley heads to Toledo Whitmer Saturday hoping to pull off another upset and go further into the playoffs.

For Hudson players and fans, the McKinley victory was a crushing loss because the Explorers were the team bumped out of the playoffs. On the face of it, this is ridiculous. Hudson is 8-2 and McKinley is 6-4.

What killed the Explorers were some opponents who just had awful seasons. Jackson, normally a .500 team at least, took the pipe and was 0-10. Lakewood, the worst Division I program in Northeast Ohio and frankly is a waste of time watching, had its usual one win season. The Rangers were Hudson’s opponent in Week 10, giving virtually nothing in computer points to the Explorers.

Hudson coach Tom Narducci, quarterback Richie Piekarski and the Explorer seniors

People talk about win or go home themes for the playoffs. As Hudson now knows, sometimes you go home early when you win because you lose. Life is not always fair.

Tom Narducci hopes to be working next week. The Hudson football coach knows that Senior Night at Dante Lavelli Field against Lakewood might be the team’s swan song. Even if the Explorers beat the Rangers, it might not be enough to get them into the playoff. Coming into the is week, Hudson sits in the eighth and final spot in Division I, Region 2.

“We need a few things to happen, like Perrysburg, Toledo St. John’s and some other teams too lose and maybe get lucky that Medina knocks off Brunswick (No. 6 in the region), which is possible because they’ve played pretty well in the second half of the year,” Narducci said.

The coach also Richie Piekarski ’s numbers are down in the passing category because of the weather.

“Of course, it will probably rain. The last four weeks have hurt Richie’s stats because we haven’t thrown with all the rain,” the coach said.

Good news for parents and players at Stow High School. While the field itself is not in good condition, athletic director Cyle Feldman said the Bulldogs will host rival Cuyahoga Falls Friday night as scheduled.

“We have rescheduled 15 events because the field was in poor shape. But we talked to parents, looked at the forecast this week and we decided to keep it here,” Feldman said. “It wasn’t an easy decision. You have band parents, football parents, senior band and football parents concerned here because it is Seniior Night. The players weren’t as worried about it.”

Feldman said if the game had moved, it would have been played at Kent State University’s Dix Stadium. He added that Stow is talking to neighbor Kent Roosevelt about playing each other two straight years at Dix Stadium.

“We would split the costs and the revenue 50-50,” Feldman said.

It is Week 10 and there is no room for bad play or flu. In many cases, it is essentially  a playoff week for teams, meaning win or go home. Unlike other sports, football pairs down the number of post season schools to only one out of seven. The top eight teams in each region qualify for the playoffs with the first four teams hosting a home game. Here are some of the big games for area teams:

*Massillon (7-2) at Canton McKinley (5-4)- The Tigers sit pretty at the No. 2 spot in Division I, Region 2. McKinley, with coach Ron Johnson on the hot seat, is in the 13th spot in the region.  The state’s oldest rivalry bold down to this – Massillon win ensures home field; McKinley win gives them a shot with some help, of reaching the post season.

The Bulldogs need help, such Perry upsetting GlenOak, and ditto that with Brunswick, Hudson,  Sylvania Southview, Amherst Steele, and Perrysburg (7-2) to lose to Maumee (8-1), as well Toledo St. John’s to Toledo Central Catholic.

*Springfield (6-3) at Ravenna (7-2) - The Spartans have their first winning season since 1998. Though they won’t make the post season, Springfield can knock the teetering playoff hopes of Ravenna out in Division II, Region 5 with a win over the Ravens. Even if Ravenna wins, they need help in Division II, Region 5 because they are in the ninth spot coming into this week. Sitting one spot back is Walsh Jesuit, who faces Division I LaSalle, which has four wins.

*Coventry (0-10)  at Field (6-3); Garfield (6-3) vs. Buchtel (6-3) at InfoCision Stadium - By losing to Ravenna, Field now sits at No. 8 in Division III, Region 9, with Bay Village one spot back. While Garfield has been mathematically eliminated from any post season hopes, they can win the City Series championship and douse Buchtel’s hopes to return to the playoffs.

Hey everyone! This is my column that’s running in the Akron Beacon Journal Friday, but it’s posted on Ohio.com now, as you can see. Thanks to everyone who submitted votes for their favorite high school nicknames. If there are other crazy nicknames from out of state, post them so we can all get some laughs. Thanks again!