Division I State Semifinal: Mentor (13-0) vs. Pickerington Central (12-1)

Who wins?

  • Mentor by 15+

    Votes: 11 11.6%

  • Mentor by 8-14

    Votes: 31 32.6%

  • Mentor by 1-7

    Votes: 21 22.1%

  • Pickerington by 1-7

    Votes: 21 22.1%

  • Pickerington by 8-14

    Votes: 8 8.4%

  • Pickerington by 15+

    Votes: 3 3.2%
  • Total voters
    95
  • Poll closed .
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EagleFan

EagleFan

Fan of Eagle
Rematch of 2017 title game. Will be at Mansfield Canton GlenOak as we all suspected ;) .

I think Mentor gets it done this time.
 
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wghfan said:
I always thought when teams have a game the same night, it is hard to get volunteers to work at their school site
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I’ve also thought the same but where else between Cleveland and Columbus has a stadium to hold D1 capacity? The closet to Mansfield would be Medina or Wadsworth but they don’t seem to be bidding for playoff games this year So far.....
 
If PC has the quality on the interior offensive line that St. Edward did, this could be a game that PC knocks off Mentor yet again. PC is loaded on defense with D1 talent per the Spectrum studio crew.
 
Bluestreak1980 said:
I’ve also thought the same but where else between Cleveland and Columbus has a stadium to hold D1 capacity? The closet to Mansfield would be Medina or Wadsworth but they don’t seem to be bidding for playoff games this year So far.....
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Mansfield don't make state semi's very often I believe. Going to be hard to find volunteers to stay back home, and work their playoff site, instead of going to their game. OSHAA problem I guess
 
wghfan said:
Mansfield don't make state semi's very often I believe. Going to be hard to find volunteers to stay back home, and work their playoff site, instead of going to their game. OSHAA problem I guess
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Mansfield usually doesn't travel that well. Went to their playoff game at Wooster. Wasn't much of a crowd.
 
Bluestreak1980 said:
I’ve also thought the same but where else between Cleveland and Columbus has a stadium to hold D1 capacity? The closet to Mansfield would be Medina or Wadsworth but they don’t seem to be bidding for playoff games this year So far.....
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Medina stadium holds less than 6000. Wadsworth holds slightly over 7000 but has very poor parking.
 
This should be an interesting match up. It seems most people are picking Mentor to win. I haven’t watched any video of Mentor so I really don’t have an opinion. I did look at their roster and they look small. I watched a little bit of the St. Ed’s game and it looked like Mentor was getting handled on the line. I am interested to hear how this Mentor team compares to the 2017 team.
Pickerington Central pretty much plays the same style. The O-Line is not as physical as the 2017 team but have improved as the season has progressed. PC has the same QB and better Running Backs than the 2017 team. On Defense, the front 7 is very physical and better than the 2017 team. The DBs are not as strong. The Defense has 6-7 D1 prospects and 2-3 D2-D3 type players. Most of them are Sophomores and Juniors.
The 2017 game was a bully beat down and I was actually concerned for the safety of one of the Mentor players. They had a kid playing defense that was getting buried every play.
I don’t expect that to happen again in this game as PC might be a year away.
 
Revisionist history on the bully beatdown in 2017. It was a 7 point game going into the 4th quarter. Then Mentor got down 14 and took risks to try to win. Could have probably lost by less playing conservative but losing by 1 or 100 means the same thing in the title game.

Pick Central was better than Mentor but one quarter inflated it. The gap wasnt that large.

Mentor has to avoid a letdown after the eds emotional win. They've had a harder road than pick Central who I'm sure is very good.

I said the Mentor or eds winner should be the favorite but that doesn't mean anything. One bad night can end your season and games are tossups this deep in the playoffs

I do think that if Mentor plays at their top level that they will manage to win this game.
 
Mentor's 2017 team was a bit of a surprise. A group of overachievers that very, very few would have predicted a run to the state final when the playoffs began. But they stepped up their game in November and were a much better football team. In 2017, Mentor's lines were better. The skill positions on this team are better. Mentor's 2017 starting RB was not close to 100% in the state final, so Trobel will be an upgrade. The linebackers on this team are better. The secondary is about equal. As for QB, it is pretty close. Tatarunas, the 2017 QB, was a slightly better passer. Kipp is a dual threat, which makes this offense a little more dynamic than 2017. I'd say the strengths are different, but the 2017 and 2019 Mentor teams are comparable. Both teams went undefeated against Eds/Ignatius, something PC never has to worry about. Region 3 has provided little challenge compared to what Mentor has to deal with in Region 1.

As for comparing 2017 PC to 2019, the 2017 bunch averaged over 42.2 ppg...in the playoffs. This current team doesn't seem to score near that pace. That PC offensive line was the difference maker. I'm not suggesting the current line isn't good, but if there not as good as the 2017 group then it is good news for Mentor. Crenshaw is two years older and that is a scary thing. I see they have one of the best receivers in Ohio and a really good RB. This will be a test for Mentor.

PC has more talent than Mentor, that's for sure. So did St Eds. Let's see what happens. Mentor is on a mission. Not saying the other three teams left aren't, but theirs is a bit more unique. Going for their first state title. Playing for a coach they are fighting for in his last stand. If it wasn't Triv's last year, I don't know that the Mentor players would have found that extra gear to come back against the best team in Ohio on Friday. Now they need to do it again next week.
 
Yes, you are probably correct. I think it was a 7 point game at the end of the 3rd quarter. PC had 370 yards rushing and 100 yards passing so it seemed like a physical beat down in retrospect. If PC had 370 yards passing in a spread type system my perception may have been different. Does that make sense?
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Mentor's 2017 team was a bit of a surprise. A group of overachievers that very, very few would have predicted a run to the state final when the playoffs began. But they stepped up their game in November and were a much better football team. In 2017, Mentor's lines were better. The skill positions on this team are better. Mentor's 2017 starting RB was not close to 100% in the state final, so Trobel will be an upgrade. The linebackers on this team are better. The secondary is about equal. As for QB, it is pretty close. Tatarunas, the 2017 QB, was a slightly better passer. Kipp is a dual threat, which makes this offense a little more dynamic than 2017. I'd say the strengths are different, but the 2017 and 2019 Mentor teams are comparable. Both teams went undefeated against Eds/Ignatius, something PC never has to worry about. Region 3 has provided little challenge compared to what Mentor has to deal with in Region 1.

As for comparing 2017 PC to 2019, the 2017 bunch averaged over 42.2 ppg...in the playoffs. This current team doesn't seem to score near that pace. That PC offensive line was the difference maker. I'm not suggesting the current line isn't good, but if there not as good as the 2017 group then it is good news for Mentor. Crenshaw is two years older and that is a scary thing. I see they have one of the best receivers in Ohio and a really good RB. This will be a test for Mentor.

PC has more talent than Mentor, that's for sure. So did St Eds. Let's see what happens. Mentor is on a mission. Not saying the other three teams left aren't, but theirs is a bit more unique. Going for their first state title. Playing for a coach they are fighting for in his last stand. If it wasn't Triv's last year, I don't know that the Mentor players would have found that extra gear to come back against the best team in Ohio on Friday. Now they need to do it again next week.
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This PC O-Line is not as good as the 2017 team but they are playing their best right now. They play very conservative on offense and have struggled to move the ball in some games. That style works as long as the O-Line dominates the line of scrimmage. They also understand that throwing the ball 30-40 times per game might not work in November but if you can run the ball, the weather will not be a factor. However, if they do need to throw the ball, the weapons are there and the QB is capable. They coach all year to be playing their best right now. I think the strength of this years team is their front 7. Should be a fun game.
 
Just saw this game is being played at Canton Glenoak!!??? 6000 seating capacity? There was more than double that at the title game in 2017. Pretty sure Mentor had close to 6000 on the home side last night. This is ridiculous.
 
PC played pretty disinterested this year. In hindsight the regular season loss to Groveport was probably a good thing. The OCC was down this year, the highly anticipated out-of-state competition (expected powerhouse teams from IL, IN and FL) turned out to be mediocre as well. Anyway, after seeing these Tigers 12 times this season, i have no idea what to expect vs. Mentor. Obviously we don't have the superstar talent of the '17 team, but i believe they are better than what we've seen most of this year. We shall see... The offensive line has not been dominant and the secondary is talented, but untested. I think the coaching staff has been playing "possum" all year on offense... The talent is there. I look for the Tigers to play their best game of the season vs. Mentor.
 
I finally watched some Mentor video. Mentor just doesn’t have the team speed to matchup with PC. There are 3-4 players on Mentor that would start for PC. There are a couple of players that start for Mentor that would be on the JV team at Central. I am not mentioning any numbers or names because they are high school kids.
The QB has a strong arm and has good size but he runs straight up and sometimes jumps at the point of contact. I will mention #47 is going to be a beast, #93 looks strong and #10 is a great player.
I am going to watch more video today but I would take Central +19 everyday all day and like PC to win straight up.
 
Pickeringtonsports said:
I finally watched some Mentor video. Mentor just doesn’t have the team speed to matchup with PC. There are 3-4 players on Mentor that would start for PC. There are a couple of players that start for Mentor that would be on the JV team at Central. I am not mentioning any numbers or names because they are high school kids.
The QB has a strong arm and has good size but he runs straight up and sometimes jumps at the point of contact. I will mention #47 is going to be a beast, #93 looks strong and #10 is a great player.
I am going to watch more video today but I would take Central +19 everyday all day and like PC to win straight up.
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Exactly what Mentor wants to hear. That’s a very cocky prediction coming from someone who’s team played the 25th most difficult schedule in D1 compared to Mentor’s 4th. Mentor dominated all year. I’m not saying Mentor will win, because frankly, I don’t know what will happen in this game. But to sell Mentor that short, trust me, your eyes are deceiving you. Mentor is nationally ranked where they are because of their strength of schedule and how they dominated outside of the 3 games against Iggy and Ed’s that were close games. I will say, it’s very difficult to see and understand what makes them so good, because on paper, maybe they shouldn’t be. Can’t measure will and heart.
 
PC does have a lot of D1 talent. The QB is highly recruited, and I saw one guy is committed to tOSU. I do think PC's line is suspect. They are pretty big, but I couldn't tell how athletic they are because of whom they were playing. The teams were weak, so the line didn't have to do much to get a push. I do think that PC's skill positions made the line look better than they are. The skill positions are going to be hard for Mentor to contend with if they get in the secondary. Mentor also has a definite D1 end in #47, but he is a freshman (6'5" 245). Can't wait to see that kid in his senior year. I don think that Mentor's offensive line is better than PC's, but PC has some really good defensive players. I think Triv is a better coach than PC's, and Mentor has played the tougher schedule, but that doesn't mean much in high school. Really good talent does not lie down when it gets punched in the mouth. They punch back. I really think this is a toss up. I'm hoping for Mentor, but I'm leaning slightly toward PC. They have a couple of players that are really going to be hard to stop.
 
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