On Nov. 22, 2002, about an hour before covering the biggest upset of my professional life, Tom Williams and I were walking from the parking lot to Sulsberger Memorial Stadium in Zanesville when we overheard two Portsmouth West High football fans talking about their upcoming game with Ursuline.

“Those guys have no idea what’s about to happen,” I said. “I feel like apologizing.”

Although Ursuline went 5-5 during that regular season, the Irish had found their stride, outscoring Akron Manchester, East Palestine and Girard by a combined score of 115-31. They entered that night’s state semifinal game with one of the most talented teams in Division IV history. The Division I recruits included senior running back Terrence Graves (Toledo), senior tight end Louis Irizarry (Ohio State), junior quarterback Daryll Clark (Penn State), junior running back Delbert Ferguson (Cincinnati) and sophomore defensive back Derrick Stewart (Cincinnati). Ferguson and Graves had played huge roles in Ursuline’s 2000 state championship.

Portsmouth West, meanwhile, had never won a playoff game before that postseason. The Senators’ chances were roughly the same as, say, me watching this season of “Project Runway.”

(Side note: My wife loves this show, hates football and adores cats. I would say she has really bad taste, but that would set up a pretty easy joke at my expense.)

Anyway, I figured Ursuline would win by about 40, setting up a good matchup with Kenton the next week. But the combination of an extremely muddy field (there’s no way they’d play a state semifinal on grass now), five Ursuline turnovers and a pretty good effort from Portsmouth West doomed the Irish to a 13-7 defeat.

Clark ended up completing 17 of 35 passes for 221 yards and an interception, while Ferguson carried just 14 times for 100 yards. Although I liked Ursuline’s coach that year, Dan Murphy — and Clark, for that matter — I sat in the press box thinking, “What in the world is he doing? Why isn’t Delbert getting on the ball every play?”

Two years later, the Irish were upset again, this time by a terrific Liberty team in the regional semifinals.

Why do I mention this? Simple. Most people aren’t giving South Range much of a chance on Friday against Ursuline. The Irish have more Division I talent, they’ve played a tougher schedule (although South Range’s schedule is no slouch) and, on paper, look like a state championship team. But you can’t count out South Range. Sometimes, teams like Portsmouth West (or Illinois, sadly) pull the upset. There are no guarantees in football.

But there are guarantees in life, and here’s three of them: I will never like Project Runway, I will never like cats and I will someday have the guts to pick the underdog in a column about underdogs.

But not today. Ursuline by 7.

UThe all-district football teams were released this week. In case anyone’s curious about how these teams are chosen, I’ll shed a little light on process.

The Northeast Inland district mainly consists of teams in the Mahoning Valley, as well as teams in the Akron and Canton area. It’s arguably the most talent-rich district in the state, particularly in football.

Roughly eight sportswriters from those areas meet after the end of the football regular season to choose the teams, based on nominations from coaches. I represent most of the teams in Mahoning County. Coaches send us a sheet with their top players, listed in order, along with stats, college interest, etc.

From there, we vote on which players make first team, second team or honorable mention. Having been through the process a few times, I can say that we really do try to get the best players on the team. If that means putting three quarterbacks on the first team, we do it.

We then submit All-Ohio nominations, which are chosen at a separate meeting in Columbus.

So, if you’re unhappy about the Mahoning County choices, you can blame me . In fact, I welcome your complaints. Just call our office on Thanksgiving next week and ask for me.

By the way, I’ll be in Atlanta.

XJoe Scalzo covers high school football for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.