2019 Mid-State League

Vikings pillaged and plundered the HT Rangers, 42-0. Talk about horrifying cliches.

Decent game for the first quarter - then TV put up 4 TD's in the second quarter, and 2 more in the second half. It may have taken them 12 minutes to get out of the blocks, but the Vikings played solid on both sides of the ball for the remaining 36.

Teays Valley has always been an interesting place for a game. They've upgraded the field (that turf is sharp!) and a new video screen scoreboard (nice and bright) since we were there last. A dedicated operator in the pressbox runs video highlights and features of various TV players, and several promos and sound bites play seamlessly throughout the the game. Very nice sound system, and you can hear the PA guy on the visitors side, no problem. Solid concession stand with a plethora of choices. I had a hot dog, which turned out to be more of a very tasty summer sausage

But for all the high tech, they don't mic the ref. Had a hard time determining what violation was being called, even when using binocs. Also, I was disappointed no game programs were on sale that I could tell, even after checking with a number of workers near the entrances and concession stand. Oh well.

The Fan-O-Meter says: "I know this little out-of-the-way place that serves great Viking food!"
 
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Zunardo said:
Vikings pillaged and plundered the HT Rangers, 42-0. Talk about horrifying cliches.

Decent game for the first quarter - then TV put up 4 TD's in the second quarter, and 2 more in the second half. It may have taken them 12 minutes to get out of the blocks, but the Vikings played solid on both sides of the ball for the remaining 36.

Teays Valley has always been an interesting place for a game. They're upgraded the field (that turf is sharp!) and a new video screen scoreboard (nice and bright) since we were there last. A dedicated operator in the pressbox runs video highlights and features of various TV players, and several promos and sound bites play seamlessly throughout the the game. Very nice sound system, and you can hear the PA guy on the visitors side, no problem. Solid concession stand with a plethora of choices. I had a hot dog, which turned out to be more of a very tasty summer sausage

But for all the high tech, they don't mic the ref. Also, I was disappointed no game programs were on sale that I could tell, even checking with a number of workers near the entrances and concession stand. Oh well.

The Fan-O-Meter says: "I know this little out-of-the-way place that serves great Viking food!"
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Good stuff, Z. Bishop Hartley does something similar with the graphics you describe, I believe. Glad to hear the atmosphere at least compensated for the drubbing that the Rangers took. Although, I personally would rather there be mic’d refs then all the extra stuff. JMO.
 
Took in the Logan Elm/Fairfield Union game last night. For those curious, game was postponed to last night due to a farmer having an honest accident with power lines on Friday and thus knocking out power for the metropolis of Rushville.

It was rough. FU had six possessions in Logan Elm territory and didn’t punch it in. Their lone score came after a late 4th quarter punt return to the LE 8. FU has very low numbers and basically little talent. Sad times in Falconville!
 
The Dock said:
Took in the Logan Elm/Fairfield Union game last night. For those curious, game was postponed to last night due to a farmer having an honest accident with power lines on Friday and thus knocking out power for the metropolis of Rushville.

It was rough. FU had six possessions in Logan Elm territory and didn’t punch it in. Their lone score came after a late 4th quarter punt return to the LE 8. FU has very low numbers and basically little talent. Sad times in Falconville!
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Wow! First I heard about the postponement. My goodness, how high up did that farmer have the thresher arms set on the combine?

HT traveling to The Pit this week, but I have to skip the game and miss out on those great french fries on the visitor's side at AC. Will be working a parade that night at the Pumpkin Show in Roundtown, so I'll still have some tasty concessions to choose from.

Reading about the farmer's accident and thinking about Amanda reminded me of a great game thread from the Huddle eight or nine years ago. The HT and AC posters were having fun jawing back and forth the whole week, the Aces traveled to Rangerland, and Hamilton was victorious. The next day one of the Aces fans posted something like, "After the game we were walking to our car when some Ranger fans walked by and called us hillbillies. We are not hillbillies. We are farmers."

I couldn't speak for about five minutes, I was laughing so hard. Both sides riffed on that theme the rest of the day.
 
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Two weeks, two weeks left!

Playoff status...

Harvest Prep is virtually in. Amanda, Fisher, Columbus Academy, Worthington Christian and Grandview are all expected to make it in provided that they win out their remaining games (Grandview is basically in already, even if they eat an L when they play Academy this week.) Bloom-Carroll is also LIKELY in if they win out, but I have no idea how they’ll stack versus Teays.
 
Won’t go through every game on the slate this week, at least not yet, but good luck in particular to the Fairfield Christian Knights as they host Jefferson Twp. Break the streak, Knighties! Get a win!
 
I feel about bad about not seeing Hamilton Township almost pull off an upset against Amanda last week. Darn Pumpkin Show, lol. On the other hand, there were a .... a ..... well, let's just say a whollllle lotta folks watching the parade on Friday evening. ?

Rangers must defeat Circleville at home this week AND Logan on the road next week to go .500 on the year and get some mental momentum for next season.

Enough chatter. Start getting ready to go shopping for soup ingredients today, and also pick up a new food processor. Visitors gotta eat on Friday!
 
Amanda lost a tough one to Teays Valley. A Bloom-Carroll win this week against the Vikings almost assuredly forces a three-way split for the Buckeye crown. BC is in a “control their own destiny situation.” If they win, they’re in. If they lose then they’re out. AC has already clinched the playoffs.

Well! Barring a titanic upset by the Lions of Liberty Union, Harvest Prep is going to outright win the league title in their inaugural MSL-Ohio campaign. Columbus Academy has clinched a spot in D5 R19 alongside the aforementioned Aces. Grandview Heights almost certainly will make the playoffs in D6 R24 even with a loss to the Ready Knights.
 
In the MSL-Cardinal...

Worthington Christian has essentially made it in to the playoffs. Fisher is more or less in a “win and they’re in” situation against visiting Troy Christian. Even if they lose, there’s still a window to make it but would require some help. Hey FCA - win one for the Irish, please.
 
The Dock said:
In the MSL-Cardinal...

Worthington Christian has essentially made it in to the playoffs. Fisher is more or less in a “win and they’re in” situation against visiting Troy Christian. Even if they lose, there’s still a window to make it but would require some help. Hey FCA - win one for the Irish, please.
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I think you are correct about FC being "more or less in" with a win, but I am worried about the "less" in that statement. If #9 Symmes Valley wins its game against a 6-3 D-V Northwest, and if teams currently in the 3 through 7 spots all win their games, it may get dicey and any new L-2 points may matter greatly if my math is right. Teams 3 through 7 all look to be favorites, although potentially a few close games in #6 Eastern vs #11 Southern and #7 Frontier vs. #10 River. Southern and River both have a shot to get in with wins, but not above FC if FC wins - those 2 teams would potentially shove Eastern & Frontier out, not FC.

So absolutely heck yes, go FCA !!!! And while we are at it, go TuskyCC, Crestview, Ridgedale and for that matter everyone else FC has beaten (only the BU-GCC game doesn't help or hurt FC because FC beat both). I'm not suggesting FC is a contender, as the Lucas game showed how good you have to be to contend (and we will see how good Lucas is later on in the playoffs when they get matched up against MAC teams), but it would be fun to see FC take on a favored HP team, whether in week 1, 2 or 3. I think FC would have a legitimate chance of beating everyone else in the region. Beyond that, anything can happen, but wow Lucas impressed me and they may be the 6th or 7th best team statewide in D-VII.
 
Forepar said:
I think you are correct about FC being "more or less in" with a win, but I am worried about the "less" in that statement. If #9 Symmes Valley wins its game against a 6-3 D-V Northwest, and if teams currently in the 3 through 7 spots all win their games, it may get dicey and any new L-2 points may matter greatly if my math is right. Teams 3 through 7 all look to be favorites, although potentially a few close games in #6 Eastern vs #11 Southern and #7 Frontier vs. #10 River. Southern and River both have a shot to get in with wins, but not above FC if FC wins - those 2 teams would potentially shove Eastern & Frontier out, not FC.

So absolutely heck yes, go FCA !!!! And while we are at it, go TuskyCC, Crestview, Ridgedale and for that matter everyone else FC has beaten (only the BU-GCC game doesn't help or hurt FC because FC beat both). I'm not suggesting FC is a contender, as the Lucas game showed how good you have to be to contend (and we will see how good Lucas is later on in the playoffs when they get matched up against MAC teams), but it would be fun to see FC take on a favored HP team, whether in week 1, 2 or 3. I think FC would have a legitimate chance of beating everyone else in the region. Beyond that, anything can happen, but wow Lucas impressed me and they may be the 6th or 7th best team statewide in D-VII.
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I think Southern is basically dead no matter what. Eastern can lose and still have a decent chance - their win over Belpre last week hurt FC. If Frontier beats River (I think Frontier will LOSE), and if Symmes beats Northwest (I think Symmes will LOSE) then FC will draw dead. If FC loses to Troy Christian then their path to making it entails wins by both Northwest and River, with some L2 help necessary. Symmes Valley will not make it in at 8-2. Frontier has a hard time making it in with a loss.

There is little doubt in my mind that Lucas will play in the state semifinals/final four. Honestly, I think Lucas could beat Lancaster and would beat AC and Bloom. Aside from Prep, I don’t know if FC would fare any better vs Shadyside. But yeah I think FC is a top four team in the region. Would love to see them draw Newark Catholic, because... why not?

Normally this would be a week where I’m more enthused and excited to be posting, but I am probably going to take a little bit of a break for a few days. Good friend of mine was one of the two who died in the double fatal on 22 this morning, so football really isn’t on my radar right now. Good luck, Green.

thanks, Z
 
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MSL with seven playoff entrants: two in the Buckeye (AC and BC), two in the Cardinal (FC and WC) and three in the Ohio (CA, GH and HP.)

Congratulations to these squads. They exhibited high levels of performance and represented the MSL very well this year. There are a few potential intra-MSL week 11 matchups: in Division 5, Region 19 it’s the #5 seed Columbus Academy traveling to the Pit to take on #4 Amanda-Clearcreek in a rematch of the infamous 2003 Division V state title game. The other one, barring a Racine Southern victory over Eastern Meigs, would be in Division 7, Region 27 with #8 Fisher traveling to #1 Harvest Prep. If Southern wins tomorrow night, then FC is most likely to assume the #7 spot and will take on the #2 seed Newark Catholic.

I hope to see a bunch of Falcons, Knights, Rockets, Eagles, Rams and Rockets etc supporting their respective MSL compatriots next weekend.
 
Rangers shock the world! (with apologies to Green_n_Gold76). HT defeats Logan 14-7 on an 81-yard TD pass with six minutes left in the game. Our first time at Chieftain stadium, beautiful facility. Very cold, though! Rangers finish the season at 5-5.

We stopped at BW3 in Lancaster for a post-game celebration. Interestingly, the Circleville-Fairfield Union game was being shown on the huge TV screen, I gather it was a televised replay at that late hour. By the time we left, it looked like FU was ahead 27-14.

Good luck to all the MSL playoff teams next week!
 
Division IV
Bloom Carroll at Indian Valley
Division V
Columbus Academy at Amanda Clearcreek
Division VI
Grandview Hts at Paint Valley
Worthington Christian at Covington
Division VII
Reedsville Eastern or Hannibal River at Harvest Prep

The stand out match up is Academy at Amanda Clearcreek- as previous mentioned its a rematch of the 2003 State Championship Game. All kids playing in this game were in diapers in 2003 so its only a rematch to those holder than 30. Looks to be a good match up.

Worthington Christian makes its first football playoff appearance with a very very very tough match up- Covington is one of favorites to win the Region.

Grandview Hts at Paint Valley is a 2018 rematch with this year game at Paint Valley (Last year at Chillicothe) with PV have a turf field now. Making no predictions on this one- both teams lost their starting Qb's during the regular season. Injuries have effected Grandview Hts' play.

Bloom Carroll at Indian Valley match is a tough match up for Bloom Caroll- its a long driver to Gnadenhutten or Midvale. Would not be surprised to see the Bulldogs pull the upset.

Harvest Prep will beat Reedsville Eastern or Hannibal River- The Warroirs should be playing in the Division VII final four but anything can happen. Harvest Prep will be probably unbeatable in 2020.
 
bsee54321 said:
Division IV
Bloom Carroll at Indian Valley
Division V
Columbus Academy at Amanda Clearcreek
Division VI
Grandview Hts at Paint Valley
Worthington Christian at Covington
Division VII
Reedsville Eastern or Hannibal River at Harvest Prep

The stand out match up is Academy at Amanda Clearcreek- as previous mentioned its a rematch of the 2003 State Championship Game. All kids playing in this game were in diapers in 2003 so its only a rematch to those holder than 30. Looks to be a good match up.

Worthington Christian makes its first football playoff appearance with a very very very tough match up- Covington is one of favorites to win the Region.

Grandview Hts at Paint Valley is a 2018 rematch with this year game at Paint Valley (Last year at Chillicothe) with PV have a turf field now. Making no predictions on this one- both teams lost their starting Qb's during the regular season. Injuries have effected Grandview Hts' play.

Bloom Carroll at Indian Valley match is a tough match up for Bloom Caroll- its a long driver to Gnadenhutten or Midvale. Would not be surprised to see the Bulldogs pull the upset.

Harvest Prep will beat Reedsville Eastern or Hannibal River- The Warroirs should be playing in the Division VII final four but anything can happen. Harvest Prep will be probably unbeatable in 2020.
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It’s not going to be Eastern or River at HP. The standings broke horribly against FC these last two weeks. Barring an upset tonight in Meigs County, it’s going to be Warriors v Irish.

One has to wonder if FC and BU should’ve played each other again in week 8 instead of finding big time non-league opponents. Look at what Symmes Valley did in week 8, and you’ll see what I mean... wow!
 
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Dock, or anyone else following the MSL-Buckeye and Ohio... what is going on with Liberty Union? Never would have thought 0-10.
I look at their game-by-game results/scores and they may be the best (most competitive) 0-10 team in some time. Just a tough-luck year playing up a bit too high, or is there a trend? LU seems to be a "'tweener" program - a bit large for the Cardinal, but not up to par with the Ohio or Buckeye divisions, at least not lately. Hate to see it; LU was good rival of FC "back in the day." Any thoughts?
 
Forepar said:
Dock, or anyone else following the MSL-Buckeye and Ohio... what is going on with Liberty Union? Never would have thought 0-10.
I look at their game-by-game results/scores and they may be the best (most competitive) 0-10 team in some time. Just a tough-luck year playing up a bit too high, or is there a trend? LU seems to be a "'tweener" program - a bit large for the Cardinal, but not up to par with the Ohio or Buckeye divisions, at least not lately. Hate to see it; LU was good rival of FC "back in the day." Any thoughts?
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A good friend, and classmate of mine from the William V days, grew up in the LU program through 8th grade before switching over to us. He still follows the program loosely and knows Coach Shirey. I watched their scrim versus Cols. Briggs and we basically reached the same conclusion: LU lacks size, skill and depth. Their coaching and schemes don’t seem to be the issue. About when the ol’ ball coach Dan Johnson retired after the 2013 season, the one son of his took the job at West Portsmouth and the other stopped coaching at LU. His replacement, who is now at Westerville North, basically saw LU as a stepping stone job and inherited the talent cultivated through LU’s middle school programs that were a product of the Johnson program... without doing much to make sure the next coach (current coach) had something to work with. The other issue is they’ve lost talent, especially at the QB position, to other schools.

So, yeah. Lack of talent/size/depth... total rebuild job that is long-term. Some of the folks at the Baltimore IGA said they’ll come back around with the current sophomores when they’re seniors. We’ll see. This is one of those years where it would make sense for both them and Fairfield Union to have played in the Cardinal.
 
Liberty Union seems to have a young group of players this year. Doesn't help the cause when playing in a very difficult Ohio division. The old rule is that for every sophomore you play, it equals one loss. I think that relates to anyone playing a schedule like them.
 
bigdude_222 said:
Liberty Union seems to have a young group of players this year. Doesn't help the cause when playing in a very difficult Ohio division. The old rule is that for every sophomore you play, it equals one loss. I think that relates to anyone playing a schedule like them.
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Outside of one or two players they have no speed. Some of those guys along the fence you’ll meet at any contest were saying it’s the coaching... I didn’t see it that way. If they had half of the talent, size speed and skill that those Johnson teams had then they would have beaten Grandview and Buckeye Valley. Don’t know if the MSL-Ohio is particularly tough outside of HP, Whitehall and Academy... the hardest part about that flight of the MSL is figuring what the shared identity of those teams are.
 
Starting to have the same thoughts about the Cardinal and lack of identity. At least as far as football is concerned. Not sure what adding Miller to the mix accomplishes for football, other than just getting another game on the schedule. The core for football, for now, appears to be FC and BU, with GCC in the picture. I don't see WC staying in the Cardinal for much longer. And FCA may be off the map for a while for football. And then again all of that could change in an instant.

Basketball may prove different as Rosecrans is always solid on the hardwood, Millersport should be respectable. FCA has potential.
But the higher end got appreciably weaker when HP moved to the Ohio. Strange times...probably always has been a moving target, just seems moreso to this old guy.
 
Forepar said:
Starting to have the same thoughts about the Cardinal and lack of identity. At least as far as football is concerned. Not sure what adding Miller to the mix accomplishes for football, other than just getting another game on the schedule. The core for football, for now, appears to be FC and BU, with GCC in the picture. I don't see WC staying in the Cardinal for much longer. And FCA may be off the map for a while for football. And then again all of that could change in an instant.

Basketball may prove different as Rosecrans is always solid on the hardwood, Millersport should be respectable. FCA has potential.
But the higher end got appreciably weaker when HP moved to the Ohio. Strange times...probably always has been a moving target, just seems moreso to this old guy.
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Regarding football...

Although I don’t personally agree with the addition of Miller, I talked to several officials and they offered good reasoning behind their votes to “add.” I trust them and their judgment. Next year Miller will be taking the place of Ridgedale in the slot to replace Bishop Rosecrans in football (at least for us.)

Basketball - not looking that good for FCA.

Other sports: it’s well accepted that the two bullies on the block across all the sports are Berne and Fisher, always has been and always will be. Rosecrans on the hardwood and soccer pitches makes them a solid third. Everyone else in the league... it’s one or two niche sports at best. BU and FC is the engine that makes the Cardinal go.
 
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