Ohio Preps Preview: State Semifinals

Todd Bell of PressBoxProductions.net will have a preview of this week’s action on his Talkin’ Football show at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. Access the webcast of that show with this link:

www.pressboxproductions.net

Here are the pairings for this weekend’s Ohio football playoffs:

(1) Cle. St. Ignatius (12-1) vs. (1) N. Canton Hoover (12-1), Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium – A win would allow St. Ignatius to play for a record 10th state championship. St. Ignatius is ranked 17th in the USA Today Super 25 prep rankings. This game will be carried live on SportsTime Ohio.

(3) Pickerington Central (13-0) vs. (3) Cin. Elder (12-1), Dayton Welcome Stadium – Central played for the Division II state title in 2006. Elder would be vying for its first state title game since winning back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003. Elder is ranked 19th in the USA Today Super 25 prep rankings. This game will be webcast live at OhioHSsports.com. Central features OSU verbals LB Zach Boren and DB Jamie Wood.

(2) Sylvania Southview (13-0) vs. (5) Akron Hoban (9-4), at Fremont Ross Don Paul Stadium at Harmon Field

(1) Cols. DeSales (13-0) vs. (3) Cin. Anderson (11-2), Dayton Welcome Stadium – DeSales won a Week 4 regular season match-up with Anderson 38-17. Anderson is the defending state champion. DeSales boasts three previous state titles, the most recent in 1998. This game will be carried live on SportsTime Ohio.

(2) Aurora (11-2) vs. (7) Sunbury Big Walnut (11-2), Ashland Community Stadium – Big Walnut is the defending state champion. Aurora features OSU verbal OL Adam Bellamy.

(2) Newark Licking Valley (12-1) vs. (4) Cols. Eastmoor Academy (12-1), Gahanna Lincoln Stadium – Licking Valley reached the state title game last year. Licking Valley features OSU verbal RB-LB Storm Klein.

(1) Steubenville (13-0) vs. (2) New Lexington (12-1) at Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium – Steubenville has three state titles, the most recent a Division III title in 2006.

(4) Genoa Area (13-0) vs. (6) Kettering Archbishop Alter (11-2), Findlay Donnell Stadium

(1) Youngs. Ursuline (13-0) vs. (6) Baltimore Liberty Union (12-1), New Philadelphia Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium – Ursuline reached the state title game last year. Ursuline also won a state title in 2007.

(2) Findlay Liberty-Benton (13-0) vs. (7) Maria Stein Marion Local (11-2), Findlay Donnell Stadium – Marion Local is the two-time defending state champion with 13 straight postseason wins.

(3) Delphos St. John's (11-2) vs. (2) Sidney Lehman (11-1), Wapakoneta Harmon Field – Delphos St. John’s has claimed four state titles, the most recent in 2005.

(2) Malvern (13-0) vs. (1) Bascom Hopewell-Loudon (13-0), Ashland Community Stadium – Hopewell-Loudon reached the state title game a year ago. This is the only match-up of unbeatens this weekend. This game will be carried on a live audio webcast on www.pressboxproductions.net

State Championships

Here is the schedule of state championship games for next weekend (Nov. 28-29):

Division VI -- Friday, 11 a.m., at Massillon

Division IV -- Friday, 3 p.m., at Canton

Division II -- Friday, 7 p.m., at Massillon

Division III -- Saturday, 11 a.m., at Canton

Division V -- Saturday, 3 p.m., at Massillon

Division I -- Saturday, 7 p.m., at Canton

OSU Verbals, Prospects Outside Ohio

Here is a look at where OSU verbals and prospects outside Ohio will be in action this weekend:

Louisville (Ky.) Trinity (with OSU verbal LB Jordan Whiting) hosts Louisville Ballard in a playoff game Friday.

Louisville (Ky.) Male (with OSU verbal DB Justin Green) hosts Madison Central in a playoff game Friday.

Naples, Fla., (with OSU verbal RB Carlos Hyde) plays Riverdale in a first-round playoff game.

Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway (with OSU verbals LB Dorian Bell and DB Corey Brown) plays Bethel Park in a Class AAAA finals playoff game Friday at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. Gateway is ranked third nationally in the USA Today Super 25 prep rankings.

Miami (Fla.) Palmetto (with RB Jaamal Berry) plays Miami Southwest in a first-round playoff game Friday.

Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas (with OSU verbal WR Duron Carter) plays Coconut Creek in a playoff game Friday. STA is ranked second nationally in the USA Today Super 25 prep rankings.

Other Links

Here is Bill Kurelic’s Commitment Tracker with a recap of last weekend’s high school action:

http://www.bucknuts.com/news/articles/2008/11/16/buckeye-weekend-commitment-tracker-28 

Here is the Ohio playoff roundup from JJHuddle.com:

http://www.jjhuddle.com/news/articles/2008/11/16/final-four-set-in-each-division-state-semifinal-locales-released