As Ursuline High football coach Dan Reardon was trying to fill one of his 637 media requests earlier this week, he was reminded of how, in a media-saturated (and sports-crazy) town, it’s not always good to be the last team standing.

“I was rooting for someone else in the area to make it through,” Reardon said, smiling. “But it’s a good problem to have.”

For the first time since 1981 (yes, you read that correctly), the Mahoning Valley has just one team in the regional finals. A lot has changed since then, starting with the expanded playoff format in 1984 that qualified four teams in each region and added a fourth round to the postseason. It expanded further in 1999, with eight teams in each region qualifying and five rounds.

The Mahoning Valley’s football prowess basically guaranteed at least two teams would advance to the third round each year.

So, what happened this year?

Well, a few teams underachieved. (I was all set to list them, and then I remembered that I don’t like getting hate mail.) And while there were several good area teams this season, there weren’t many elite teams. Of those good teams, a few had bad seeding luck — most notably Mooney, which had to face Steubenville a round too soon. (Steubenville vs. Perry doesn’t exactly produce chills.)

But the simplest answer is: Our best teams played better teams.

- The area’s best team in Division VI was McDonald, which lost to Norwalk St. Paul last Friday.

St. Paul reminded me of a machine, systematically wearing down McDonald en route to a 34-0 victory on Friday. The Flyers aren’t overwhelmingly talented, but they don’t make mistakes and it will take a near-flawless effort to beat them. Most people consider them the favorites for the state title. I’m one of them.

- Mooney, which had advanced to four straight Div. IV title games, wasn’t quite as good as it had been the last two years.

(Look out next year, though. That team is going to be LOADED.)

Steubenville, which won Div. III titles in 2005 and 2006, will probably battle Coldwater for this year’s state title. I’d give Coldwater the edge, but it should be a good game.

- The area’s best team in Div. III was Poland, which lost to the state championship favorites, Newark Licking Valley, last weekend. No shame in that.

All three teams — Poland, Mooney and McDonald — were good enough to make it to the regional finals most years. This year, they weren’t.

Does that mean the Mahoning Valley had a down year? Maybe a little. But it’s no reason to panic.

Talking Mr. Football

Licking Valley senior Storm Klein, an Ohio State recruit, is a big favorite to win Mr. Football this year. A year ago at this time, Mooney senior Dan McCarthy was the favorite, but a season-ending neck injury, combined with the Cardinals’ dominating performance against Steubenville in the regional final in his absence, hurt his chances. He finished second to Mentor quarterback Bart Tanski.

It irrated me then and it still irrates me. Tanski was a nice player and a fine quarterback. He was not the best player in Ohio. For one thing, he only played offense. And while college reruiting isn’t the main consideration for the award, it’s worth noting Tanski had to walk on at Bowling Green.

McCarthy, meanwhile, was a standout on offense, defense and special teams, going 27-0 as a starter in his career with a state title as a junior. He had more than 25 Division I offers before signing with Notre Dame.

He wasn’t a no-brainer pick — as good as McCarthy was, he wasn’t as good as, say, Robert Smith or Maurice Clarett — but he was clearly a better player than Tanski.

Did his injury cost him the award? I think so. The winner is chosen by a panel of seven statewide voters — one for each district. When I asked one of the voters what happened, he said, “I have no idea. I voted for him.

“You have to remember, these are the same guys who didn’t make LeBron James a unanimous Mr. Basketball winner until his senior year.”

Quick hits

You can watch video of Klein, McCarthy and Tanski on www.scoutingohio.com. You can also watch classic videos of Mooney’s Ted Bell and Clarett in the Hall of Fame section of the site. ... Cleveland Glenville coach Ted Ginn Sr. is getting barbecued statewide this week for his decision to kick an extra point after his team scored a TD against Cleveland St. Ignatius, making it 7-5 midway through the third quarter. His team lost 8-7. Glenville had been the top-ranked team in the state by many publications. ... The Midwest Athletic Conference has been the best small-school conference in the state over the last decade, winning six state titles over the last three years. Defending champs Coldwater (Div. IV) and Maria Stein Marion Local (Div. V) are each still alive. The MAC has had a state champion in 10 of the last 11 years. ... Finally, I keep meaning to write the wonderful Patty Gordulic for the nice notes she sends me. So I’m doing it here.

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