Stow is the final undefeated high school football team in the Akron area, and is one of nine area teams that will suit up on Friday or Saturday.
Just three wins separate those nine teams from a state championship.
Nordonia, Louisville, Woodridge, Sandy Valley and Smithville were among the teams that bowed out last weekend, some against another area opponents. I posted a 9-2 record in the 11 games, correctly picking Stow, Hudson, Perry, Archbishop Hoban, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Crestwood, Canton Central Catholic, Chippewa and Mogadore.
My 10-week regular season record was pretty good at 160-40. The postseason record stands at 21-10, which is OK. Let’s see if we can improve that this week.
Let’s start with Stow, the only area entry in Division I, which will meet Lewis Center Olentangy in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Saturday at Mansfield’s Arlin Field. I’m picking Stow to be 13-0 because Jayson Gobble is a dynamic running back and Jakob Madgar is a load to handle defensively. Terrian Wray made his presence felt last week with a kickoff return for touchdown again Solon. I’m interested to see if he can do that again.
Two area teams — Hudson and Perry — remain in Division II.
Hudson topped Nordonia last week and I see the Explorers earning another win Friday over Mayfield in a regional final at Solon’s Stewart Field.
Matt Restifo and Roman Moreno are two explosive playmakers, and have you seen the Hudson offensive and defensive lines? Those boys are huge.
Perry beat Dresden Tri-Valley last week, and I’m confident the Panthers will triumph again this week against Worthington Kilbourne in a regional final at Mount Vernon. The play of Keishaun Sims and the offensive line are the main reason to pick Perry. Sims might just accumulate 3,000 rushing yards this season, and Tevion Cleveland is a solid playmaker. Sims rushed for 349 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries last week in a 40-14 win.
You don’t normally see statistics like that in a playoff game.
Switching to Division III, Archbishop Hoban and St. Vincent-St. Mary will meet in a regional final at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
This should be a good game as the Knights and Irish meet for the first time in the playoffs. Hoban won the regular-season meeting 24-7 about two months ago at UA.
I picked the Knights to win that game, and they did. So, give me the Knights to win this one, too. Running back Todd Sibley has really emerged as a go-to player for Hoban behind a physical offensive line. Jonah Morris, Danny Clark, Nate Bauer, Dane Kersh and Grant Kersh are also impact players for the Knights.
St. V-M certainly has no shortage of talent with Markus Hurd, Dom Davis, Eric Bentley, Zach Corrigall, Niko Lalos, etc.
Rounding out the Friday picks, I’ll take Justin Ditty and Canton Central Catholic over Columbiana Crestview in Division V at Minerva, Bailey Breitenstine and Chippewa over Milan Edison in Division V at Medina and Zeddie Pollock and Mogadore over Warren John F. Kennedy in Division VII at Twinsburg.
I’m picking Youngstown Ursuline to end Crestwood’s run Saturday at Ravenna. I’d be OK if Red Devils running back Logan Thut proved me wrong.
Good luck to all involved in Week 13.
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.