Sunday, August 25, 2013
Sometimes, the payoff doesn’t live up to the hype.
A college football team’s national championship hopes can be crushed in three hours on a random Saturday afternoon. A Super Bowl supposedly features the NFL’s top two teams in any given year, but for every instant classic, there seem to be two or three blowouts.
But in high school football’s regular season — the fastest 10 weeks in sports — we’re seldom disappointed, especially around here.
The Mahoning Valley can usually be counted on to produce at least one 10-0 team and often more. And this area routinely sends teams to the state finals in Canton or Massillon.
That didn’t happen in 2012 and one of the most intriguing questions this season is if a Valley team can get to Week 15 and bring home another state championship.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There are 10 weeks of memorable regular-season matchups to come and they start Thursday.
Here’s a week-by-week look at some of the top games to watch:
Week 1: Austintown Fitch at Warren Harding — Falcons coach Phil Annarella returns to Mollenkopf Stadium, where he once coached the Raiders to a state championship.
Week 2: Cardinal Mooney at Boardman —The Cardinals are coming off a 3-6 season. The Spartans have just 41 players.
Week 3: Girard at Warren JFK — These two programs always have weapons and once played a 64-62 game in regulation. The Eagles won last year’s game, 34-32, on a Hail Mary.
Week 4: Howland at Hubbard — The Tigers are adjusting to life without running back De’Veon Smith and retired coach Dick Angle.
Week 5: Canfield at Poland — The Battle of Route 224. The Cardinals are coming off an uncharacteristic 2-8 season.
Week 6: McDonald at Mineral Ridge — This might be the area’s best small-school rivalry.
Week 7: Massillon at Fitch — The Tigers handled the Falcons, 34-14, a year ago at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Fitch wants to return the favor.
Week 8: Steubenville at Ursuline (YSU)—This will be The Big Red’s first visit to Youngstown since the infamous Steubenville rape case surfaced. Two former players were convicted, but controversial coach Reno Saccoccia remains on the job.
Week 9: Ursuline at Cardinal Mooney (YSU) — The Holy War. What else do you need to know? This is as big as it gets in the regular season in Youngstown.
It’s rivalry week in a lot of places, with Crestview at Columbiana, Springfield at South Range and Canfield at Howland the same night.
Week 10: Austintown Fitch at Mooney (YSU) — The Falcons destroyed the Cardinals, 49-7, in Austintown a year ago in Week 9. That had to sting, and then there is the potential of playoff implications for both teams.
ONE MORE THING
We’re proud to bring you The Vindicator Blitz High School Football Preview in today’s edition. In it, we preview 44 teams from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Don’t forget to visit Vindy.com/blitz to get your online high school football fix.
The Vindicator sports staff also will bring you prep football talk via Vindy Radio beginning this week. Check the daily section and Vindy.com for specific dates and times.
Ed Puskas is sports editor at The Vindicator. Write him at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @edpuskas85.