2019 D2/R6

C

cjb56

Well-known member
This should be a fairly tough region, with some very good NEO teams from D5 replacing the Toledo area teams and making this an all NEO region. Some of those Toledo area programs are very good...such as Toledo CC and Anthony Wayne, but this looks to be a decent region from top to bottom than some previous top-heavy iterations of R6.

I'll take a stab at predicting the playoff field by listing the eight predicted playoff teams in bold.

Region 6:
Avon (Avon)
Avon Lake (Avon Lake)
Barberton (Barberton)
Benedictine (Cleveland)
Brecksville-Broadview Hts (Broadview Heights)
Garfield Heights (Garfield Hts)
Green (Uniontown)
Highland (Medina)
John Adams (Cleveland)
John Marshall (Cleveland)
Lakewood (Lakewood)
Maple Heights (Maple Heights)
Midview (Grafton)
Normandy (Parma)
North Olmsted (North Olmsted)
North Ridgeville (N Ridgeville)
North Royalton (North Royalton)
Olmsted Falls (Olmsted Falls)
Padua Franciscan (Parma)
Parma (Parma)
Rhodes (Cleveland)
Steele (Amherst)
Valley Forge (Parma Heights)
Wadsworth (Wadsworth)
Westlake (Westlake)
Wooster (Wooster)

North Royalton and North Ridgeville have sleeper potential. Wooster should be solid, but lost their great QB Dagley. Valley Forge, Parma or Normandy won't be any better than average, but all are capable of piling up enough wins in their league to squeak into the playoffs. Benedictine can never be overlooked with their history. Garfield Hts will take a step back after losing so many key seniors. I suppose any of the Cleveland Senate teams could get hot in their league an claim a playoff spot, but it's doubtful. Brecksville has traditionally been good, so a turnaround is always possible.

Unfortunately, the R6 winner will very likely get Hoban from R5 again in the regional semis. Massillon has a shot at winning R5 too, and will be very good, but Hoban still has to be considered the overall favorite in D2.
 
 
If pressed into a prediction today, I would pick Avon vs Barberton as my regional final...but Wadsworth is certainly capable of being there, as well.
 
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Some key Week 1 games:

Highland at Wadsworth
Avon Lake at Avon
Sandusky (D3) at Padua
North Royalton at North Ridgeville
 
Can someone please explain to me why Barberton is always "ranked" or thought of ahead of Wadsworth every year? I just don't get it. I will say Barberton's schedule this season if much stronger than last.
 
open24 said:
Can someone please explain to me why Barberton is always "ranked" or thought of ahead of Wadsworth every year? I just don't get it. I will say Barberton's schedule this season if much stronger than last.
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I like them equally with Wadsworth, but I had to pick only one to face Avon. Of course it’s very possible we could see a final of Wadsworth vs Barberton. I picked the Magics because they return most of their starters and had a strong JV team in 2018, as well.
 
Mr. General said:
Another key Week 1 game for playoff points:

Wooster at Orrville (D5 State Champs)
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What's Wooster looking like this season? They lost the great QB, but do they return a solid nucleus? They are typically good and the head coach is a winner. They gave Wadsworth all they could handle in the two meetings last season.
 
cjb56 said:
What's Wooster looking like this season? They lost the great QB, but do they return a solid nucleus? They are typically good and the head coach is a winner. They gave Wadsworth all they could handle in the two meetings

They also lost huge OL/DL Jake Burns to Hoban. He'll play OL for Hoban I believe. Brayden Taylor, #6, is a stud linebacker for the Generals. Not sure how you replace a Dylan Dagley. He was incredible last year.
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Mr. General said:
Another key Week 1 game for playoff points:

Wooster at Orrville (D5 State Champs)
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Big points game for Orrville. There is no benefit for Wooster (or any D2 school playing down 3 levels). Best case for them is they win & Orrville has good year. Happened last year & even at 8-2 Woo was the 6th seed and were closer to 9th than 3rd.
History/geography is important, but Wooster is going to miss out on playoffs at some point because of that game.
 
I am from Barberton, but I would definitely rank Wadsworth at least on the same level as Barberton, maybe higher. The scrimmage between Barberton vs Wadsworth should be entertaining to watch. Of course neither team will show a whole lot because of the scrimmage status, but there should be some hard hitting. Barberton's success will come down to improvement on defense and how well the offensive line gels. Having Norton and Stow as their two opening games will be a good test.
 
I am not sure what to think of the Region. I think it is very balanced with a variety of teams that present limited match up issues come November, the bigger suburban pubs that use to be Div I a few years back have a distinct depth advantage over the urban schools but do the have the team speed to keep up in a potential track meet with these programs? Nobody on paper seems to have both so the winner will in all likely hood have issues with the Region 5 winner in the state semifinals.
 
I’m with CJB on a Avon vs Barberton final. Avon has won this region 2 years in a row. I expect them to win a 3rd with a new QB this year.
 
chowe8857 said:
I am from Barberton, but I would definitely rank Wadsworth at least on the same level as Barberton, maybe higher. The scrimmage between Barberton vs Wadsworth should be entertaining to watch. Of course neither team will show a whole lot because of the scrimmage status, but there should be some hard hitting. Barberton's success will come down to improvement on defense and how well the offensive line gels. Having Norton and Stow as their two opening games will be a good test.
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Barberton thrashed Wadsworth in their scrimmage last night, for those who were at this thing does the score say more about Barberton or more about Wadsworth?
 
Still early but I think this Region might be one of the more wide open ones in the state regardless of Division. The top teams all have some nice pieces but then again each has a deficiency that can be exploited in a tough match up. I was ready to crown Barberton the champ after their showing in the scrimmage against Wadsworth but then they lay an egg last week against a decent but not great Stow team. I guess Avon is still the chalk but they don't have that dynamic player that can put the team on his back and will them to victory like LY.
 
We've seen four weeks of play now, and the region is rounding into some sort of shape. Right now, I would go with an Avon vs Benedictine regional final. The Bengals with a very impressive win over Cathedral Prep.

It looks like Wadsworth, North Royalton and Brecksville are going to beat up each other in their league. Same with Amherst, Olmsted Falls and Avon Lake. I like Barberton to keep gelling as they move through the SL-A.

Right now, I would go (alphabetically)...Avon, Avon Lake, Barberton, Benedictine, Brecksville, Maple Hts, Olmsted Falls, Valley Forge...with Wadsworth, North Royalton and Amherst strong possibilities to break into the top eight by Week 11.
 
Halfway through the year and it looks like there is no real dominate team this year but overall a much stronger Region then LY, the first week of the playoffs could see a bunch of 9-1 or 8-2 teams playing each other. Big game of the week is Benedictine hosting Hoban, this game will go a long way to showing how the Bengals stack up with the chalk in Div II. Amherst plays Avon Lake and Wadsworth hosts Stow in the other big games in the Region.
 
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Benedictine
Avon
Avon Lake
Olmsted Falls
Maple Heights
Wadsworth
Barberton
Brecksville-Broadview Hts
Wooster
Padua Franciscan
also Amherst, N Royalton
 
Benedictine vs Hoban is obviously a huge game. Hoban has been D2's roadblock, so a good showing by the Bengals will open even more eyes.

At this point, I still see a regional final of Avon vs Benedictine, which would be similar to last year's R6 Avon vs Toledo CC regional final. Hard to find many regions where there isn't at least one very good private school in the hunt, and so far the Bengals look good.
 
cjb56 said:
Benedictine vs Hoban is obviously a huge game. Hoban has been D2's roadblock, so a good showing by the Bengals will open even more eyes.

At this point, I still see a regional final of Avon vs Benedictine, which would be similar to last year's R6 Avon vs Toledo CC regional final. Hard to find many regions where there isn't at least one very good private school in the hunt, and so far the Bengals look good.
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Points should make things interesting
I wouldn’t be surprised if that Benedictine Avon game ends up being week 12
 
Not sure what to make of Maple Heights. They have athletes and a schedule that will give them a ton of level 1 points but I am not so sure they are one of the top 4 teams in the Region. I could see them hosting a Wadsworth or Barberton and getting waxed in the 1st round.
 
It's looking like spots 1-7 are kind of locked up but I have no clue what is going to happen at #8 and that could be the story in this Region for the balance of the regular season. No stand out games this week unless you want to count a Region 5 vs. 6 contest with Barberton hosting Masssillon; then again it could be a beat down as the Magic had trouble with a good but not great Aurora side last week. It looks like the Region 5 winner will be a huge favorite in the state semi-final game.
 
Best teams (not playoff projections)

Benedictine (Cleveland)
Avon (Avon)
Avon Lake (Avon Lake)
Wadsworth (Wadsworth)
Maple Heights (Maple Heights)
Padua Franciscan (Parma)
Brecksville-Broadview Hts (Broadview Heights)
Barberton (Barberton)
Olmsted Falls (Olmsted Falls)
Wooster (Wooster)
 
A game to keep an eye on this week (especially for you Barberton fans) would be the Wooster Mansfield game.
If Wooster can find a way to win they could jump into that 8 spot.
 
The fighting Frombachs of AVON win this region.

Benedictine appears to be the team that would beat them if anyone does in the region.
 
Auggie said:
It's looking like spots 1-7 are kind of locked up but I have no clue what is going to happen at #8 and that could be the story in this Region for the balance of the regular season. No stand out games this week unless you want to count a Region 5 vs. 6 contest with Barberton hosting Masssillon; then again it could be a beat down as the Magic had trouble with a good but not great Aurora side last week. It looks like the Region 5 winner will be a huge favorite in the state semi-final game.
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Barberton should get the 8th spot. I don't see Padua getting in, nor do I see Wooster beating Mansfield to put them in the mix. Amherst would need Firelands to beat Wellington, which is very possible...and probably North Olmsted upsetting either Olmsted Falls or Avon Lake...which is possible, but unlikely. They would probably also require a couple of teams Barberton has beaten to unexpectedly lose a game or two.
 
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