I went 21-5 last week, and finished the regular season with a record of 214-36, which included a 37-3 record in spotlight games. Jefferson took a 36-0 spanking from the University Prep (PA) team Saturday night to give me my third loss in a spotlight game. Here's my picks for the first round of the playoffs for games involving News-Herald area teams:
FRIDAY:
Div. II- Madison at Aurora. This is probably the most intriguing matchup of the ten. Two hard-nosed, physical teams that are almost mirror images of each other. Both can run the ball or throw it, both can play great defense. Many observers feel that both of these teams are capable of going deep into the playoffs. Only one will survive the first round, though, and I'll go with the home team. Pick: Aurora
Div. II- West Geauga at Walsh Jesuit. The Wolverines did what they had to do to make it into the playoffs. Now that they're here, they're in a familiar position-playing a Catholic school. Of the 4 teams that have eliminated West G. from the playoffs in the past, 3 of them are Akron Hoban, Poland Seminary, and Lake Catholic. Pick: Walsh Jesuit
Div. III- Oberlin Firelands at Chagrin Falls. A battle of 10-0 teams, with a major difference: Firelands is in the playoffs for the very first time, and Chagrin Falls is coming off back-to-back appearances in the D4 state title game. Pick: Chagrin Falls
Div. III- Benedictine at Lake Catholic. It's been a great turnaround season for the Bengals, who are back in the playoffs where they belong. As for the Cougars, they've shown that they can start over with a whole new team and pick up where the previous group left off. Lake Catholic whipped Benedictine in the rain back in week 6, 30-6, but this should be a closer game, and don't rule out a Bengal victory. Pick: Lake Catholic
Div. V-Columbiana at Kirtland. The Hornets will need to step up their game big-time after several weeks of easy victories, but they've done that before. Columbiana will certainly present a lot of problems, but the Hornets won't bow out this early. Pick: Kirtland
SATURDAY
Div. I-Cleveland JFK at Mentor-It won't be pretty for the Eagles, who must go to Mentor after the Cardinals were upset last week. Mentor starts what is hoped to be a run all the way to the state title game. Pick: Mentor
Div. I-Solon at South. Another very interesting matchup. How good are the young Rebels really? They haven't played a team as good as Solon all year, but just might have the talent to pull off a win at home. This would set up a South-Mentor playoff game for the 2nd round. However, the Comets seem like a team that's just too good to get knocked out right away. Pick: Solon
Div. III-Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary at University. Last year the Fighting Irish hammered the Preppers. How much has University closed the gap? SV-SM was highly regarded to start the season, but have shown some vulnerability. US lost only to D1 South this year. Should be a good one. Pick: Akron SV-SM
Div. VI-Malvern at Ledgemont. The Redskins are another team in danger of suffering from a too-easy slate. Malvern promises to be a dangerous team. The experience gained last year should pay off for Ledgemont, who will be playing this one at neighboring Chardon. Pick: Ledgemont
Div. VI-VASJ at Berlin Center Western Reserve. BCWR is 10-0, and one of the favorites to win it all in D6. They haven't been touched in most of their games. Those games, however, were against 7 D6 teams and 3 D5 teams. VASJ played 2 playoff teams in D3 University and D4 Columbus Hartley. The Vikings didn't do well in either game, but those are teams that would have also beaten BCWR. In addition, VASJ played a couple more tough teams in D3 Holy Name and D4 Central Catholic. The last time the Vikings were in the playoffs, in 2003, they also went in at 6-4. They were expected to lose big to Mooney in the first round, but went to Youngstown and knocked off the Cardinals on their way to a run to the final in D4. This is my upset pick of the first round, and could lead to a very intriguing second round matchup with Ledgemont.
Pick: VASJ
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