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http://www.columbussports.com/content/hotNews/first-and-goal----central-ohio-high-school-footbal.shtmlFirst and Ten -- Central Ohio High School Football
The 2008 high school football season is underway.
Looking Forward (Games of 9/5 and 9/6) -- Some good ones coming up to discuss -- some obvious and some underrated. These are just some, there are many others. Let's get to it: Worthington Kilbourne at Dublin Scioto -- Great early season non-divisional OCC matchup here. The Irish defense handled Toledo Central Catholic fairly well last week in a tough loss, but Kilbourne (2-0) is being hailed as a top team in the rough OCC Central (which includes Hilliard Davidson, Hilliard Darby, Dublin Coffman, Upper Arlington and Kilbourne). Central Catholic bested Scioto 21-14 in the end, though Marco St. John (whom we wrote about often in Roundball Roundup) looked good on a 25 yard TD reception. TCC won 21-14 on a long 42 yard 4th quarter TD pass that sealed it. Kilbourne bounced back from an early long Grove City TD run from scrimmage to win 22-7. Aaron Kingcade is impressing and contributed a FG, a TD pass and a long TD run for Kilbourne. This will be a telling matchup as the squads then head into divisional play. Westerville South at Clayton Northmont -- Alright, this one doesn't just slip off the tongue. However, South really needs to right the ship immediately after its 15-3 loss to Watterson last weekend. Fortunately, South did not allow an offensive TD, and one of the Eagles' kicks was from an improbable 55 yards. South needs to eliminate some of the 4 turnovers it gave Watterson (which faces Reynoldsburg this week), one of which was returned 76 yards by Ben Rossi for a TD. Clayton Northmont (the "Bolts") is traditionally considered a power, but they got powered to the jaw against Cleveland St. Ignatius 23-3. By the way, Iggy is a top state Div. I team, but lost 3 turnovers inside the Bolt 10 yard line, so it could have been really ugly. What are we to do with two promising teams that just can't score on offense? Upper Arlington at Findlay -- These big schools play each other early and often, so here's another one. Last year wasn't pretty with UA winning 42-7. That was the same margin by which the Golden Bears (1-1) stomped Gahanna at home last Saturday night in a rain rescheduled romp with 5 long TD runs and three runners over 100 yards (Tommy Farwick, Isaac Wildermuth and Alex Drake). The same three backs all had over 100 yards as well against Findlay last year, by the way. Findlay (1-1) looks potentially weak against the run again, giving up 385 yards in its opening loss to Toledo St. John 47-34, but then rising to the occasion limiting Toledo St. Francis to 89 yards in a 45-8 win last week. Findlay has also generated 900 yards in offense over 2 games. Which Findlay squad will appear? UA doesn't care as long as it can keep shaking off the opening loss to pursue what most thought would be a magical season. Cle. Glenville at Gahanna (Sat.) -- Do or die time for the Lions, who do not want to drop to 1-2 after the big loss last week at UA. Problem is, they have to host northern power Glenville in the third game. No, Ted Ginn,Jr. isn't playing but Gahanna does not want a reputation as a paper feline. It will be hard pressed to avoid that this weekend and will probably have to play the Glenville WR's loose while concentrating on the draws and delays that could tame the Lions. With some stern run defense, Gahanna could play close, but if the rush barrage UA unleashed last week is any sign, Glenville may roll. Give us your other HS football thoughts on our message boards . . .
High Drama(s) in Hilliard -- (8/29 games) -- Both Hilliard squads (Darby and Davidson) had important matchups this past weekend that turned out to be wild nailbiters with lightning delays. Both teams came out ahead, though, with Darby holding off Dublin Jerome 42-28 and Davidson squeaking past a tough and resilient Brookhaven team 24-21. Darby (2-0) came into the 2008 season losing former coach Paul Jenne to retirement and QB Jeremy Ebert to Northwestern, where he is playing redceiver and special teams and turning heads as a freshman. But Brandon Bargar has admirably stepped up at QB now, scoring on 4 TD runs and throwing a 9 yard TD pass against Jerome (1-1). Darby needed every ounce of it, as Jerome was holding on 28-28 near the end of the third quarter after completing a 53 yard TD throw from Ryan Gannon to Cameron Wilson. Davidson (2-0) had raced to a 17-0 lead over Brookhaven from the City League, but the Bearcats had answers. Brookhaven engineered a 10 play drive and also recovered a fumble for a TD before Andrew Herrell, who had scored on the long drive, sped down the field on 49 yard TD run with under 7 minutes remaining, putting Davidson behind 21-17. It was only then that the Wildcats launched a 15 play 77 yard drive of their own to finally seal the win. Dark and Stormy Night -- Many games were delayed and indeed even postponed until Saturday becaus of lightning and severe thunderstorms. Up north Olentangy (2-0) squeezed in the game and the victory 24-21 Friday night over Delaware (1-1) on a game ending 31 yard Ryan DiSabato FG, and Chillicothe defeated 2007 D II state runner up Big Walnut (1-1) with a late score 24-20. Also to the north, small school darling of 2007 Pleasant continued to ride phenom QB Cody Harris to a 48-0 demolition of Northmor. Westerville Woes -- It was a tough night in Westerville as Marion-Franklin held off Westerville North 7-6 in a game delayed by 3 hours, and as Watterson defeated Westerville South 15-3 in a game that featured 4 field goals and no offensive TD's. Westerville Central lost 21-0 to New Albany as well. Triple Threat -- Upper Arlington (1-1) and Gahanna (1-1) had to wait until Saturday night to battle, but it turned out all Golden Bears as Tommy Farwick scored 3 times, twice on long runs, and as Isaac Wildermuth and Alex Drake each contributed a long TD run, all in the first half of a 42-7 win. The margin was a surprise given UA's play in its opening loss and the OT thriller the two teams played just a year ago, but Gahanna simply could not stop the breakaway runs this time. All three UA runners had over 100 yards.
Other Results (Fri. & Sat. 8/29 & 8/30) -- Hartley 14, Columbus Academy 10; Canal Winchester 38, Lakewood 21; Logan 35, Pickerington North 14; Eastmoor Academy 62, Whitehall 7; Bexley 28, St. Charles 18; Africentric 38, Centennial 0; Beechcroft 46, Teays Valley 0; Independence 26, Northland 7; DeSales 31, Toledo St. John's 17; Dublin Coffman 35, Lima Senior 7; Toledo Central Catholic 21, Dublin Scioto 14; Worthington Kilbourne 22, Grove City 7; Olentangy Liberty 26, Thomas Worthington 20; Pickerington Central 21, Springfield 0.
First Week Finals -- In a top level first week matchup of OCC powers Pickerington Central has prevailed on the road over the Upper Arlington Golden Bears 23-6 in what was unexpectedly not a close contest. PC and UA have been widely picked as top local teams, but the two are not division rivals under the new OCC setup. Each have exceptionally tough schedules as a byproduct of the new alignment and fewer filler games. Buckeye bound Jamie Wood returned an interception 70 yards for a TD, and fellow Ohio State recruit Zach Boren also scored for Central. Otherwise in the OCC, Dublin Scioto beat Grove City 27-0 on the strength of two early turnover TD's, Hilliard Davidson defeated Westerville South 35-0 and Dublin Coffman won over Olentangy Liberty 10-7 on a last minute 30 yard FG by Kyle Clinton. Dublin Jerome trounced Reynoldsburg 28-0 and defending champ Big Walnut defeated Westerville Central 31-2. In a mix of the the various city leagues, public and Catholic, Bishop Hartley dominated Centennial 63-6 and Bishop Ready crushed Franklin Heights 47-0. Collin Leidenger scored five times for the Silver Knights. Canal Winchester bested Bexley 28-7 in a game that was close at 7-6 in favor of Bexley going into the final quarter. Canal Winchester dominated the ground game with 230 yards rushing.Eastmoor Academy lived up to expectations 40-14 over East. Out of the city, Marysville defeated Marion Harding 41-0 and Zanesville topped Newark 30-14. See the link below for other scores.
New Neighbors -- The Ohio Capital Conference has come to its senses at last, and the culprit ostensibly is the price of gas. Who believes it, really? Local crowds and superintendants will. The OCC divisions have been realigned again, but this time they make sense. Gone is the disingenuous prohibition against sister schools playing each other, and in are more logical local matchups in 4 divisions instead of 5. Now Hilliard Darby and Hilliard Davidson together battle Upper Arlington in the same division as both Worthington schools, and the three Westerville teams have received the same placement. Note - UA, Darby, Davidson, Coffman and Kilbourne have been placed together in an absolutely brutal OCC Central division. I've given a link below to the full new division lineups.