The Archbishop Hoban and St. Vincent-St. Mary football teams will renew their football rivalry Friday night at InfoCision Stadium on the campus of the University of Akron.
A crowd of over 10,000 is expected for the game, which kicks off at 7 p.m. The winner will receive the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ Shillelagh Trophy.
Hoban beat St. V-M twice last year, 24-7 in the regular season and 24-21 in the playoffs, on its way to winning the Division III state championship. Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell is 2-2 against St. V-M, which is now led by first-year coach Marcus Wattley.
The Knights are 3-1 this year, and feature seniors Todd Sibley, Danny Clark, Marc Westover, Jabari Taylor and Arison Sanders; juniors RJ Kelly, Daeshon Martin, William Collier and Nate Bauer; and sophomore Nolan Rumler.
The Irish are 2-2 this year. Seniors DeAmonte’ King, Malik Wooldridge, Justin Sampson, Eric Bentley, Donte Taylor, Myles Williams, Brandon Bischof, Ryan Farris and Darnell Irons are key players, along with junior Scott Walter.
History of rivalry
Hoban and St. Vincent played each other in football from 1959-1971, with St. V holding a 7-6 edge. Hoban played St. Mary in 1958 and 1959 and won both games.
St. Vincent and St. Mary merged in 1972 and continued to play Hoban in football until 1977. St. V-M posted a 5-1 record. The schools then did not play again until 1996, when Hoban won. St. V-M won in 1997. Hoban then won nine years in a row from 1998-2006 and St. V-M followed with eight wins in a row from 2007-2014.
High scoring McKinley
Canton McKinley (3-1) is on a roll offensively entering its game Friday against North Canton Hoover (3-1) at Canton Central Catholic’s Lowell Klinefelter Field.
McKinley opened the 2016 season with a 42-14 loss to Hoban, and then won away games over Mansfield (54-37), Hudson (51-24) and Green (52-21).
McKinley has scored 50 or more points three games in a row to become the fourth Bulldogs team to accomplish the feat, joining the 1940, 1956 and 1974 teams. McKinley has never scored 50 or more points four games in a row, and the school has played 1,203 games since 1894 according to CantonMcKinley.com.
Bulldogs coach Dan Reardon is employing a no-huddle offense this year that features senior quarterback Dominique Robinson, junior running backs Javon Lewis and Josh Chandler and senior wide receivers De’Shawn White and Zay’Breyon Perry.
Massillon update
Ohio High School Athletic Association and Massillon High School lawyers agreed to make highly regarded senior lineman Thayer Munford eligible to play in 2016.
The Massillon Independent first reported a deal was struck Wednesday in the courtroom of Stark County Common Pleas Judge John Haas. It was a deal proposed by OHSAA counsel Steve Craig, which makes Munford, a Cincinnati La Salle transfer, able to play for Massillon in Week 8 against visiting Firestone on Oct. 14.
The Independent reported the OHSAA agreed to the deal on the condition that Munford scores at least a 2.0 grade-point-average in the current grading period. A subsequent check-in will take place when the grading period ends on Oct. 21.
Munford was joined in court by his mother, MeLisa Thompson, Massillon coach Nate Moore and his wife Becca, attorney Lee Plakas, Massillon Assistant Superintendent Mark Fortner and Board of Education member Mary Strukel, according to the Independent.
“We’re very pleased that his eligibility has been restored and that he will soon be able to continue his dream both on the field and in the classroom without any further interruption,” Plakas told the Independent. “His future is bright and we’re pleased there will be no other hurdles in his way.”
OHSAA Associate Commissioner Deborah Moore ruled Munford was ineligible to play at Massillon on Aug. 11 after she deemed he was recruited based on Bylaw 4-9-4, No. 8. That bylaw states a coach cannot have any contact with a student-athlete at his former school after taking another job. Moore was the coach at La Salle prior to coming to Massillon in 2015. Munford played on La Salle’s 2014 and 2015 teams that won Division II state titles, and then moved to Massillon when the Moore’s became his legal guardians.
Massillon appealed Munford’s eligibility with the OHSAA earlier this month, but was denied. Nate Moore remains suspended for the 2016 playoffs if Massillon qualifies, the school must pay a $5,000 fine and is on probation for three years.
Munford, who is 6-foot-6 and 322 pounds, has college scholarship offers from Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Cincinnati, Indiana, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Iowa State, Miami [OH], Pittsburgh, Memphis, Maryland, Central Florida, Temple, Purdue, Rutgers, Louisville, Penn State and West Virginia.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.