"Worst Programs" to have EVER won a Playoff Title

Irwin20 said:
Wasn’t St X 5-5 or something during the season the year they won State?
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Overtime- Opposing team’s (Eds I think) QB had wide open gap (NO ONE AROUND) at around the X 5 yard line he tripped over his own feet. (NO ONE AROUND) LUCK.

“It takes some luck to win a championship.”
 
nooks said:
Consistently being a contender year after year definitely beats being great for 1-2 years. You are right that nobody but those in school at that time remembers the one hit wonders...but everybody remembers the dynasties. For example, everybody in & around Cincinnati knew when you played against Princeton, Moeller, then later, Elder, St. X & Colerain, you were gonna be tested. Today, nobody outside of 1986 or Fairfield remembers Fairfield.
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Those were good GMC times. The GMC fans knew when Middletown, Fairfield, Princeton and Lima were playing.
 
nooks said:
It was a combination of things, but I think primarily the Div. I playoffs just weren't very strong that year. There was no real super team & Fairfield was just a little bit better than the rest.
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Fairfield beat Middletown, Lima, and Princeton all in a row.
 
In SW Ohio, Purcell Marian, Fairfield, Lebanon and Loveland

All of those schools (in the years they won titles) were exceptions to their normal winning rule.
 
Are there teams from a school no longer in existence that won only one championship? CAPE won three.
 
tom 48 said:
Are there teams from a school no longer in existence that won only one championship? CAPE won three.
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Led by Ross Browner Warren Western Reserve HS won the very first AAA state championship in 1972. The Raiders were the AAA runner up the next season losing to Mooney in the title game. The school closed with the graduating class of 1990, merged with Warren Harding and won the 1990 D1 state championship in that first season but the WWR Raiders ceased to exist winning one title.
 
Maple_City_Fan said:
I had to do it. Complete opposite of popular thread going on right now...

Let's hear it...
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Norwalk
won it in what 74? did they win the league that year?

Did nothing until a run of D1 talent post 2010 and still underachieved most of those years with superior talent compared to their league.

I'd say they are in this discussion. Sorry Maple City, had to throw them in there.

What about Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas? Didn't they win a title but have really kind of been up and down since and no real threat?

Dola Hardin Northern? They still have 11 man?

I was looking through some of the old state champions and these questions stuck out to me.
 
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dhsdog06 said:
The NWCC has been great for giving programs like HN and USV a chance to resurrect dead programs, give Perry a place they can make playoff runs, and even give WG a place they can go 7-3.

But that schedule. Woof. Lol. Long fall from 15 years ago when HN was a power in the BVC, holding their own with LB, McComb, and Arlington.
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Its the best place for these schools that, in my opinion, have uncertain futures. Its a good league to build up your numbers against comparable competition.
 
I wouldn't say Louisville STA has not been a threat. Solid program that had a bad 2017-18. Usually a tough OOC schedule
 
tom 48 said:
Are there teams from a school no longer in existence that won only one championship? CAPE won three.
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In addition to the Warren Western Reserve team mentioned above, St. Peter Chanel in Bedford won a title in 2001 before closing in 2013, and Columbus Brookhaven won a 2004 title before closing in 2014. Other than those three and CAPE, every school that has won a football playoff championship is still open.
 
YTOWN said:
Gentlemen,

I think I have a discrepancy in a score that changes the answer to #1.

I always remembered Cincy Anderson losing by 41 to Cinci LaSalle in 2007 and to my knowledge up to that time that was the worst loss by a champ. However that was surpassed by the aforementioned DSJ's 42-point loss to MSML the next season. There is another champ that suffered a 42-point loss also later. However before I posted the question I remembered Benedictine losing badly to Ignatius in 2004 but I did not think it was more than 42 points. So I looked at my OHSAA playoff program for 2004 and it shows Benedictine losing 53-6. Mooney played the Bengals in 04 & I didn't remember that loss to Ignatius being that bad but I went with it when I posted. In the back of my mind I still didn't think it was correct so I checked Joe Eitel, which I should have done first. Anyway, Joe shows Benedictine losing 43-6 which I believe is correct. Maybe Auggie can verify.

If the 43-6 score is correct then DSJ's 42-point loss is one of the correct answers to question #1. There is another state champ that suffered a 42-point loss in the regular season.

It does not change questions #2 or #3.

Sorry for the confusion.
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That Benny v Iggy game in 04 was mucked up. In the early '00s Benny was a machine and nobody wanted to play them outside of big named schools, they could not find a week 1 opponent so they grabbed Iggy late in the process looking for a big gate as it would be the 1st time they had played in ages. Benny was coming off of a great team in '03 but did graduate many key components so they were an underdog yet not a 40+ dog. What happened in the game was a hour + weather delay that compounded an unfocused young Benny team that got runout of the gym by a seasoned Iggy squad. Pound for pound Div III that year was very weak too and the chalk, Watterson, got upset by St. Mary and their vintage Winged T in the semis. Benny easily won the title as St. Mary's didn't have the athletes to keep up with Benny's speed; it was arguably one of Benny's weakest title teams.
 
Auggie said:
That Benny v Iggy game in 04 was mucked up. In the early '00s Benny was a machine and nobody wanted to play them outside of big named schools, they could not find a week 1 opponent so they grabbed Iggy late in the process looking for a big gate as it would be the 1st time they had played in ages. Benny was coming off of a great team in '03 but did graduate many key components so they were an underdog yet not a 40+ dog. What happened in the game was a hour + weather delay that compounded an unfocused young Benny team that got runout of the gym by a seasoned Iggy squad. Pound for pound Div III that year was very weak too and the chalk, Watterson, got upset by St. Mary and their vintage Winged T in the semis. Benny easily won the title as St. Mary's didn't have the athletes to keep up with Benny's speed; it was arguably one of Benny's weakest title teams.
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OK, but did Bene lose to Ignatius 53-6 or 43-6? :) I think 43-6 is correct. As you know Auggie the Bengals lit Mooney up 49-25 in week 7 that year. The Cardinals did not lose again winning 8 in a row to win the D4 championship. That includes a 14-10 win over Watterson in week 10 at YSU.

Let's see if we can get those 3 questions answered.

1) Assuming Benedictine lost 43-6 we have established that DSJ lost by 42 to MSML in 2008.

Another state champ lost by 42. This team was 9-0 going into the week 10 match, lost by 42, then ran the table winning the title. Irish_buffalo might know this.

2) The champ that gave up the most points in a loss played the team they lost to again in the playoffs and won by 24, a 60-point swing.

3) Mooney played this team that beat the champ earlier in the season and handled them easily so I was totally shocked when I saw the score of this game. The team in question beat the D1 champ.
 
I think the Benny v Iggy '04 score was 43-6 but not sure. Give me some time to check with folks in the know.
 
doubtme said:
Norwalk
won it in what 74? did they win the league that year?

Did nothing until a run of D1 talent post 2010 and still underachieved most of those years with superior talent compared to their league.

I'd say they are in this discussion. Sorry Maple City, had to throw them in there.

What about Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas? Didn't they win a title but have really kind of been up and down since and no real threat?

Dola Hardin Northern? They still have 11 man?

I was looking through some of the old state champions and these questions stuck out to me.
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Norwalk shared the Northern Ohio League with Shelby and Tiffin Columbian in 74. Truckers and Whippets were in same Region and Norwalk was able to leapfrog Shelby by beating Sandusky Bay Conference co-champ Clyde on Week 10. Shelby defeated Madison Rams whom didn't win many that year. Btw, the co-champ with Clyde was neighborhood rival, St. Joseph Central Catholic, who finished as Class A runner-up.

I'm not sure how Norwalk underachieved? We didn't have that many D1 athletes, and beginning of decade, schedule was dumb-down a bit to learn to win. Program went 33 years without a winning season. If there was a year Truckers underachieved, I could agree with this past year.
 
Auggie said:
I think the Benny v Iggy '04 score was 43-6 but not sure. Give me some time to check with folks in the know.
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43-6 is the final score mentioned in 2 articles written by the PD that night. Unfortunately, the PD's archives are text-based after 1991, so I can't dig up the actual box score of the game to erase all doubt.
 
Mr. Slippery said:
43-6 is the final score mentioned in 2 articles written by the PD that night. Unfortunately, the PD's archives are text-based after 1991, so I can't dig up the actual box score of the game to erase all doubt.
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I also had it at 43-6 as does Joe Eitel. As I mentioned above the OHSAA playoff finals program for 04 shows it as 53-6 in Benedictine's schedule/results page. I know in my memory I always noted that Cincy Anderson's 51-10 loss to Cincy LaSalle in 2007 was the worse loss of any champion up until that time. I don't believe I would have done so had Benedictine lost by 47 in 2004. I think 43-6 is correct.
 
jobarules said:
3) 2000 Ursuline lost to a 3-7 Fitch team??
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The Irish did indeed lose to a 3-7 Fitch team but as I mentioned above we are looking for a D1 champ and the team that beat them.

Hint:

Mooney beat the team in question, on the road, 38-19, in a week two game that wasn't even as close as the final score. Mooney rushed for almost 400 yards so I was totally shocked when five weeks later, sporting a 1-5 record, the team beat a two-time D1 state champ who went on to win the D1 title for the 3rd time. BTW, the game was not played in this century. Also, they didn't just beat the D1 champ they shut them out.
 
YTOWN said:
The Irish did indeed lose to a 3-7 Fitch team but as I mentioned above we are looking for a D1 champ and the team that beat them.

Hint:

Mooney beat the team in question, on the road, 38-19, in a week two game that wasn't even as close as the final score. Mooney rushed for almost 400 yards so I was totally shocked when five weeks later, sporting a 1-5 record, the team beat a two-time D1 state champ who went on to win the D1 title for the 3rd time. BTW, the game was not played in this century. Also, they didn't just beat the D1 champ they shut them out.
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And here I searched Joe Eitel high and low for an answer that even he doesn't know ??
 
jobarules said:
And here I searched Joe Eitel high and low for an answer that even he doesn't know ??
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Every now and then I like to throw one in there that you just can't find on Joe Eitel or OHSAA.org, etc. However the answer to #2 can be found on Joe's site. It is much more recent.
 
YTOWN said:
The Irish did indeed lose to a 3-7 Fitch team but as I mentioned above we are looking for a D1 champ and the team that beat them.

Hint:

Mooney beat the team in question, on the road, 38-19, in a week two game that wasn't even as close as the final score. Mooney rushed for almost 400 yards so I was totally shocked when five weeks later, sporting a 1-5 record, the team beat a two-time D1 state champ who went on to win the D1 title for the 3rd time. BTW, the game was not played in this century. Also, they didn't just beat the D1 champ they shut them out.
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Your series of hints narrowed it down quite a bit. I could only find 4 teams that had won 3 AAA/DI titles prior to 2000: Moeller, Princeton, St. Ignatius, and Canton McKinley. Moeller could be eliminated because of going unbeaten the season of title #3. McKinley's lone loss during the season of title #3 came against St. Ignatius who was far from struggling that season. That left '87 Cincinnati Princeton and '91 Cleveland St. Ignatius. '91 St. Ignatius was the easier of the 2 teams to research, so I started there and got lucky.

3) On October 12, 1991, the 1-5 Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph Vikings faced the daunting task of playing 6-0 Cleveland St. Ignatius. VASJ upset the Wildcats that night 8-0 but ultimately finished the season 2-8. St. Ignatius would record its 2nd and final loss of the season the following week against archrival Lakewood St. Edward by a score of 14-10 and then rebounded to win their next 6 games to claim the Division I state championship.
 
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YTOWN said:
OK, but did Bene lose to Ignatius 53-6 or 43-6? :) I think 43-6 is correct. As you know Auggie the Bengals lit Mooney up 49-25 in week 7 that year. The Cardinals did not lose again winning 8 in a row to win the D4 championship. That includes a 14-10 win over Watterson in week 10 at YSU.

Let's see if we can get those 3 questions answered.

1) Assuming Benedictine lost 43-6 we have established that DSJ lost by 42 to MSML in 2008.

Another state champ lost by 42. This team was 9-0 going into the week 10 match, lost by 42, then ran the table winning the title. Irish_buffalo might know this.

2) The champ that gave up the most points in a loss played the team they lost to again in the playoffs and won by 24, a 60-point swing.

3) Mooney played this team that beat the champ earlier in the season and handled them easily so I was totally shocked when I saw the score of this game. The team in question beat the D1 champ.
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2) 2018 Orrville lost to Manchester 67-31 week 8, then came back to beat them 43-19 week 13.
 
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