Cardinal Mooney vs. Boardman

Video

Team

Boardman

Record	Div.	Conf.
6/5	Div. II	All-American Conference Gold Tier

Cardinal Mooney vs. Boardman

Gallery

Cardinal Mooney at Boardman Sept. 2, 2011.

Team

Canfield

Record	Div.	Conf.
12/1	Div. III	All-American Conference Red Tier

Team

Girard

Record	Div.	Conf.
9/2	Div. IV	All-American Conference Blue Tier

Team

Western Reserve

Record	Div.	Conf.
8/3	Div. VII	Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference

Staff report

It’s safe to say the fate of Boardman High School’s football team in 2011 rests in a 48-minute span on Friday night.

The Spartans (5-2, 4-0 Federal League), who have won five consecutive games, play host to Canton GlenOak (7-0, 3-0) in a game that will not only determine the league champion, but Boardman’s playoff hopes.

Boardman sits No. 9 in Division I, Region 1, of this week’s OHSAA computer ratings.

The Spartans cannot afford a third loss, and a win over GlenOak — No. 1 in Region 2 — would get them closer to the eight position and a postseason game.

Boardman is one of 17 area teams rated this week — among the top 12 in each region — has the regular season gets down to the final three weeks.

Three teams — Canfield (6-1) in Div. II, Region 5; Girard (7-0) in Div. IV, Region 13, and Western Reserve (7-0) in Div. VI, Region 21 — are rated No. 1.

All are probably one more win from securing a playoff bid, if they haven’t already.

Division V, Region 17 has the most area teams, Crestview (6-1), Columbiana (6-1), Southern (6-1) and Campbell Memorial (5-2) are all ranked in the top eight. Springfield is just behind in No. 9.

Campbell Memorial’s players can relate to Boardman’s situation — the Red Devils visit Girard on Friday night and a win would just about secure a playoff bid; a loss might be enough to knock them out of contention for good.

In Div. VI, Region 21, Western Reserve (7-0) and Youngstown Christian (6-1) are 1-2, although the Blue Devils have a healthy edge by more than 11/2 points. Warren JFK (4-3) is seventh, Mineral Ridge is 10th and Wellsville is 11th.

In Div. III, Region 11, Cardinal Mooney (4-2) is fourth and Poland (4-3) is seventh. Mooney could just about secure a playoff bid with a win at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (7-0) on Friday night.