HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Steubenville captures fourth poll title by ruling Division III again

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Bascom Hopewell-Loudon -- which had never before been ranked in a top 10 at the end of a season -- made a stunning rise in the final week to capture the title in Division VI of the 2004 Associated Press state high school football poll, released today.
Joining the Chieftains at No. 1 were Cincinnati Colerain in Division I, Avon Lake in II, Steubenville in III, Coldwater in IV and Amanda-Clearcreek in Division V in balloting by a state media panel.
The poll titles were the fourth for Steubenville, which defended its ranking in Division III, and the third in the last four years for Avon Lake.
Coldwater and Colerain each won their second AP plaque, while Amanda-Clearcreek, which has won two playoff titles, had never before won a poll crown.
Hopewell-Loudon was ranked fourth in last week's poll, 113 points back of front-runner Columbus Grove, 76 behind second-place Dola Hardin Northern and 30 points behind No. 3 New Matamoras Frontier. The Chieftains whipped Fremont St. Joseph (3-7) 28-7 in the regular season finale while Columbus Grove fell to Bluffton 26-7 and Hardin-Northern lost to Findlay Liberty-Benton 35-0.
Winning a poll title is no assurance of holding aloft the biggest trophy at the state finals, of course. Of the 140 teams who have won poll titles since the arrival of the playoff system in 1972, only 39 have gone on to also win a championship on the field.
Steubenville, for instance, has won three previous poll titles but never followed up with a playoff championship. The Big Red won the playoffs in 1984, however, after placing second in the poll.