High School Football Playoff Schedule

Note: These are probable playoff matchups according to www.joeeitel.com and the matchups have changed several times on Saturday, which means they might be different on the website on Sunday. Official OHSAA playoff pairings will be released Monday.

Friday’s Games
(All games 7:30 p.m., unless noted)

Division II, Region 5
Firestone (7-3) at Tallmadge (9-1)

Division II, Region 7
Lake (7-3) at Louisville (8-2)

Division III, Region 9
Field (9-1) at Walsh Jesuit (8-1)
Cortland Lakeview (8-2) at Aurora (9-1)
Ravenna (8-2) at Mentor Lake Catholic (6-3)

Divison III, Region 11
Poland Seminary (7-3) at Northwest (10-0)
New Concord John Glenn (8-2) at West Branch (8-2)
Canton South (6-4) at Dover (7-3)

Divison V, Region 17
Northwestern (9-1) at Waynedale (8-2)

Saturday’s Games
(All games 7 p.m., unless noted)

Division I, Region 2
GlenOak (6-4) at Brunswick (10-0)
Toledo St. John’s Jesuit (6-4) at North Canton Hoover (8-2)
Perrysburg (8-2) at Nordonia (9-1)
Wadsworth (9-1) at Toledo Whitmer (8-2)

Division IV, Region 13
CVCA (9-1) at Stuebenville (10-0)
Tusky Valley (8-2) at Canton Central Catholic (9-1)
Lake Co. Perry (9-1) at St. Vincent-St. Mary (8-2)

Division VI, Region 21
Columbiana (7-3) at Mogadore (9-1)

Here is some cross country analysis as leagues/conferences hold their championship meets and the state championships approach.

Louisville senior Kyle Kling and Medina junior Donny Roys have each been impressive runners this season, but there are still several teams that have a good collection of talent and other individuals that are having success.

The cross country teams at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy and Woodridge are two examples of squads that have consistently fared well at invitationals this season, in addition to Louisville, Medina, North Canton Hoover Green, Jackson, Louisville, Hudson, Crestwood, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Walsh Jesuit.

CVCA and Woodridge have front-end talent and depth that make them a contender at each meet.

CVCA has been led by juniors Katie Gillespie and Kyle Sullinger. The girls and boys teams each placed first recently at the Legends Meet at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds.

Gillespie and junior Carolyn Case have paced the Royals girls squad with freshmen Joy Talbott, Irene Frangos and Hannah Lyons also being key contributors. The girls team placed first in September at the Division II Boardman Spartan Invitational.

Sullinger and sophomores Ross Crocker and Mark Talbott have paced the Royals boys squad.

The Woodridge girls’ squad was second to CVCA at Boardman. The Bulldogs have been led by juniors Emily Sabo, Erin Mercer and sophomore Becca Howdyshell.

The Woodridge boys’ team won the Division II Boardman Spartan Invitational in September behind senior Brian Himelright, who placed first. The Bulldogs have also received significant contributions from juniors Michael Rhodes and Joe White, seniors Tony Marette and Matthew Weiss and freshmen Jimmy Charles and Vibus Sivakumaran.

This Saturday several leagues will be holding their championship. The City Series and Suburban League will be running at Goodyear Metro Park in Akron.

The Firestone boys will look to defend their title after winning the past four titles and five out of the past six. The Ellet girls will look to win the title for a sixth season in a row.

Click here to watch me and David Lee Morgan Jr. make our high school football picks in the Week 5 video of Gridlocks.

Click here to read a high school fooball notebook featuring St. Vincent-St. Mary’s win over Archbishop Hoban.

Click here for some high school football scouting reports for Week 5 games.

Boys soccer

Walsh Jesuit 4, St. Vincent-St. Mary 1 (click here for a game story)

Varsity Letters Player of the Game: Walsh Jesuit senior midfielder Chris Barton had one goal and two assists to lead the Warriors (3-2-4) over the host Irish (4-3-3) on Tuesday night.

Barton, an Ohio State University recruit, opened the scoring quickly when he made a goal from about 24 yards away in the second minute to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish.

“Chris Barton, I though, played superb today,” Walsh coach John Kissner said. “He had a very good game.”

Barton assisted senior forward Tom DeRoia and senior forward Justin Mancine when they scored goals. Mancine is Walsh’s all-time leading scorer. He now has 53 career goals.

After a nine-year hiatus, the Shillelagh Trophy will finally return to Green St. after an exciting football game.

St. Vincent-St. Mary defeated Archbishop Hoban 33-28 Saturday night at the Rubber Bowl. St. V-M earned the traditional award given to the winner of the game by the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

The Summit County parochial rivals battled before a crowd estimated at 10,000. The Fighting Irish win snaps a nine-game winning streak the Knights held, and gives St. V-M their first win over Hoban since 1997.

St. V-M senior Carnell Evans played a major role in the game, scoring five rushing touchdowns, but also fumbling the ball three times.

The Fighting Irish (4-0) stopped a late Kinghts rally (1-3) to preserve the win, the first for coach Dan Boarman in the intense rivalry.

Evans scored three times in second half, but fumbled twice in the first quarter and once in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-10, 205 pound tailback rushed for 214 yards on 15 carries.

Hoban junior Laymon Carter scored two touchdowns to help the Knights jump out to a 19-0 advantage in the first half.

The Fighting Irish lost three fumbles in the first half to aid the Knights quick start.

Hoban leads the all-time series 17-14 and is 10-2 since the series was renewed in 1996. Knights 14th-year coach is Ralph Orsini is now 10-2 against the Irish.

The Akron Beacon Journal will have a story on this game in Sunday’s newspaper.

KEN LOVE/Akron Beacon Journal

St. Vincent-St. Mary senior running back Carnell Evans celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the Irish’s 33-28 win over Archbishop Hoban.

The rivalry between Archbishop Hoban and St. Vincent-St. Mary continues at 7:30 Saturday at the Rubber Bowl when the two Summit County parochial schools meet on the football field.

The Knights have dominated the series with victories over the Fighting Irish the past nine seasons. Since the series was renewed in 1996, Hoban has won 10 of 11 and leads the all-time series 17-13.

Between 1978-1995 the rivals did not play football against each other because of a strong amount of tension and mutual consent. The rivalry was renewed in 1996 and has been one-sided. St. V-M led the series 12-7 when the schools played from 1959-1977. St. Vincent and St. Mary merged into one school in 1972.

St. V-M enters the game with a 3-0 record after defeating Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Clear Fork and Highland. Hoban is 1-2 following a win over Garfield and losses to Walsh Jesuit and Youngstown Cardinal Mooney.

Recent history favors Hoban, but St. V-M is currently the hot team. The Shillelagh Trophy has belonged to the blue and gold the past nine seasons. Can the green and gold earn it back?

Here are the scores between Hoban and St. V-M from 1996 to 2006, according to Beacon Journal records:

2006 Hoban 10-6
2005 Hoban 20-13
2004 Hoban 32-28
2003 Hoban 23-7
2002 Hoban 17-10
2001 Hoban 15-13
2000 Hoban 19-7
1999 Hoban 21-13
1998 Hoban 21-20
1997 St. V-M 21-13
1996 Hoban 24-0

So the question entering Saturday’s matchup is: Can Hoban make it 10 in a row over St. V-M?

Let us know what you think.

St. Vincent-St. Mary defeated Highland 31-0 to improve to 3-0. The Fighting Irish defense has not allowed any points this season. The Irish were scored upon in week one after a botched punt.

St. V-M juniors Harvie Tuck IV and Todd Culver have been key offensive players as a running back and receiver respectively, and senior quarterback Roger Wilson has been efficient.

Tuck and Culver have also been vital to the impressive defensive effort. Seniors Kevin Saunders, Andrew Destefano, Mike Schaeffer and Nick Thomas, and juniors Frank Laury, Garrett Wilcox, David Lee, Nate Nasrallah and Ben Birch round out the starting defensive unit.

“They have really been playing solid ball,” Irish defensive coordinator Mark Murphy said. “They have good chemistry and good unity. They do their jobs and execute very well. They fly around and hit people, and as a coach we love to see it.”

St. V-M plays rival Archbishop Hoban Saturday at the Rubber Bowl. Hoban has won nine consecutive games against St. V-M.

Is this the year the Irish break their losing streak?

Or do the Knights continue their winning streak and make it 10 years in a row?

What do you think?

PHIL MASTURZO/Akron Beacon Journal

Junior linebacker Harvie Tuck IV is one of the leaders of St. Vincent-St. Mary’s defense.

Kara Murphy, a 2007 graduate of St. Vincent-St. Mary, was a basketball star for the Irish. Murphy, a University of Akron recruit, suffered a severe concussion in a Division II district final game against Archbishop Hoban. Murphy was hospitalized and had trouble functioning for awhile.

The Akron Beacon Journal’s Cheryl Powell wrote a story about Murphy’s recovery. Check it out. It’s a good read about a player who should be a standout for the Zips during the next four years.

LEW STAMP/Akron Beacon Journal

Kara Murphy shoots baskets at her home in Hartville.

Coach Keith Dambrot has added another local talent to the University of Akron men’s basketball team.

Rydell Brooks, a 2006 Buchtel High School graduate, has transferred from Niagara University to the University of Akron and is a member of the Zips men’s basketball team, UA Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations Gregg Bach said.

Bach said Brooks will have to sit out the 2007-08 season and will be eligible to play at UA the following three seasons. Brooks is currently a walk-on.

Brooks, a 6-foot-2 and 190-pound guard, led Buchtel to three consecutive City Series championships. He was selected as the City Series Player of the Year his junior and senior years and was a Division II second-team all-Ohio pick as a senior.

Brooks averaged 27.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.8 steals during his senior campaign as the Griffins leader.

He helped Niagara win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship as a freshman. Niagara went 23-12 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Purple Eagles won 12 consecutive games, including the a win over Florida A&M in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Kansas.

Brooks played in all 35 games with 30 starts. He averaged 4.7 points in 18 minutes per game.

The addition of Brooks gives the Zips six area high school graduates on the roster: Tim Carroll (CVCA), Eric Coblentz (Lake), Nick Goddard (Wadsworth), Andrew Moss (Copley), Jeremiah Wood (Central-Hower) and Brooks.

UA went 26-7 last season, winning the Mid-American Conference East Division title and losing in the MAC Tournament championship game. The Zips must replace standouts Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce III, a pair of 2003 St. Vincent-St. Mary graduates, that were key players for four years.

Photo courtesy of Niagra University athletics

Rydell Brooks

Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce III have signed professional contracts to continue their basketball careers, University of Akron coach Keith Dambrot said.

Travis has agreed to a deal in Spain, and Joyce has agreed to play in Germany.

Travis and Joyce each graduated from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003 and were teammates of Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James there.

The tandem recently finished their senior seasons as key players on a UA that compiled a 26-7 record, won the MAC East Division title and lost in the MAC Championship game.

Travis concluded his four-year UA career as the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American.

Travis averaged 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and two blocks per game this past season.

Joyce received second-team All-MAC honors after averaging 10.0 points and 4.3 assists.

This note will appear in the Wednesday Aug. 8, 2007 edition of the Akron Beacon Journal. A complete story with thoughts from Travis, Joyce and Dambrot will appear soon.