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Ohio Playoffs: Regional Rounds


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Friday finals:

St. Edward 41, McKinley 17

Medina 21, Cleveland Hgts. 20

Springfield 37, Olentangy 24

Dublin Coffman 24, Berlin 7

Upper Arlington 12, Gahanna-Lincoln 7

Hilliard Bradley 19, Pick North 0

Moeller 38, Mason 3

Lakota West 19, Princeton 7

Hoban 21, Riverside 0

Avon 33, Olmsted Falls 23

Massillon 35, Lake 6

TCC 41, Mansfield 10

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Regional final games of interest:

R1: St. Edward (12-1) v. Medina (10-3) - Ed's comes in with their starting defense giving up 3 points in three playoff games. With Casey Bullock still on the mend, backup Tommy Csanyi had his best outing to date going 13-15 for 162 yards and 3 TD's.  Both sides of the ball are reaching their peak. Medina got revenge against Cleveland Heights, this time in a low scoring affair (21-20) that saw the Bees stuff Heights two-point conversion attempt to seal the win.  While I expect the explosive Medina offense to move the ball between the 20's, I think they will have a hard time against this Ed's defense converting TD's in the redzone. 

R2: Springfield (8-5) v. Dublin Coffman (10-3) - The region 2 finals matchup I'm not sure anyone predicted. Springfield has been on a tear since getting their starting QB back from injury. They've got talent and speed at the skill positions as always. Honestly don't know much about this years Coffman team. Just looking at scores over the season, they seem to rely on their defense. They will need a lot of it to slow down Springfield's offense right now. 

R3: Hilliard Bradley (12-1) v. Upper Arlington (10-3) - The Jags and Golden Bears both knocked off the heavy region 3 favorites in the previous round, and both did it with smothering defense and a ball-controlled offense. They will be looking in the mirror when they square off on Friday and, despite the fact that Bradley won the regular season game 24-22, I don't see any clear favorite in this one.  

R4: Moeller (9-4) v. Lakota West (11-2) - The Firebirds avenged their regular season loss to Princeton and Moeller took it to a very good defensive team in Mason. This may be the best game of the weekend. If any defense can slow down Marshall and Moeller's offense it is LW. While the LW offense appears to be on track after being non-existent early in the year, can they muster enough Moeller? 

R5: Archbishop Hoban (11-1) v. Walsh Jesuit (12-1) - Hoban absolutely destroyed their Akron-area rivals in the regular season. Walsh was out a few key starters that game, but would they have narrowed the margin of 57-7 to make it game....no. I do expect a healthy Walsh team to be far more competitive after that embarrassing loss, but I don't see it being enough to dethrone Hoban. 

R6: Avon (13-0) v. Highland (11-2) - A few weeks ago I would have considered Avon a very heavy favorite in this matchup, but the Eagles lost their starting QB to injury against Olmsted Falls and I'm not sure of his status moving forward. Highland is not a pushover and their two losses this season are to quality opponents in Hudson and Aurora. All that being said, Avon is still the far more talented team and should be able to lean on a strong running game and that big o-line to advance to the final four. 

R7: Massillon (13-0) v. Green (10-3) - It was Green that knocked off a heavily favored Massillon team back in the 2021 regional final. This Massillon team is far superior and I don't see any upset special on the horizon. Tigers roll. 

R8: Withrow (12-1) v. Anderson (12-1) - Like the R4 final, I see this other Cincy-area matchup being one of the better games this weekend. This Withrow team is the real deal this year with Chris Henry's kid looking like a future super star at his WR position. Anderson has pretty much steam rolled everyone on their schedule since losing to Milford. Both teams beat Winton Woods in low-scoring games. I see this as a coin-flip game. 

R9: Ursuline (13-0) v. Chardon (10-3) - I usually don't pay much attention to the lower division games, but the DIII landscape is pretty interesting this year at the top. Chardon is not quite as good as they've been the past couple years, but has still put together another nice season and handled a pretty solid Aurora team last week. Ursuline comes in with a perfect record and could be a legit challenger to TCC should they advance. 

R14: Glenville (10-3) v. Sandusky Perkins (12-0) - I only mention this game as Perkins looks to be the only DIV team that could challenge an uber-talented Glenville team. They finished the year ranked #1 by the pollsters (which doesn't say much) and look to have a pretty prolific offense, but I guarantee they haven't see anything like the Tarblooders all year. Still a game worth monitoring. 

 

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