Week 12 #9 8-3 Poland Seminary at #1 11-0 West Branch

Who will win

  • Poland by 14+

    Votes: 5 7.8%
  • Poland by 8-13

    Votes: 9 14.1%
  • Poland by 1-7

    Votes: 14 21.9%
  • West Branch by 1-7

    Votes: 10 15.6%
  • West Branch by 8-13

    Votes: 16 25.0%
  • West Branch 14+

    Votes: 10 15.6%

  • Total voters
    64
  • Poll closed .
How has Canfield had a lackluster season? And Canfield isn't in the NE8 either. And Canfield and South Range are definitely better than anyone West Branch has played.
The fact of the matter is the Warriors have an excellent passing game, but they don't have the best defense against the run. The Bulldogs have a serviceable rushing attack and a strong defense. The net result is the Bulldogs will probably get a few stops, the Warriors won't get the stops they need and Poland grinds out a tough victory by one score or so.
This is my exact sentiment. West Branch has a phenomenal offense. But they give you a lot of points vs better competition. Howland wasn't very good offensively this year, from what I've seen. In my mind the edge goes to the defense in a close game. Should be a great game regardless.
 
You can’t say poland has played a better schedule, if you do that then that means you’re saying WB is bad. It’s okay to not play as hard a schedule and still be very good. No need to take offense to it, kirtland doesn’t play a very hard schedule but they still roll in the playoffs. Saying Poland plays a harder schedule isn’t a shot at them, just think Poland schedules a team that WB wanted kicked out of their conference because they were winning too much
 
How has Canfield had a lackluster season? And Canfield isn't in the NE8 either. And Canfield and South Range are definitely better than anyone West Branch has played.
The fact of the matter is the Warriors have an excellent passing game, but they don't have the best defense against the run. The Bulldogs have a serviceable rushing attack and a strong defense. The net result is the Bulldogs will probably get a few stops, the Warriors won't get the stops they need and Poland grinds out a tough victory by one score or so.
Great points about the game. I can see it going that way. I think WB will score enough to win the game but that’s why they play the game. As far schedule, yes south range and Canfield and Hubbard are better than anyone West Branch played but since Poland lost all of those game I really don’t understand your point. It will be fun to watch!
 
Great points about the game. I can see it going that way. I think WB will score enough to win the game but that’s why they play the game. As far schedule, yes south range and Canfield and Hubbard are better than anyone West Branch played but since Poland lost all of those game I really don’t understand your point. It will be fun to watch!
Canfield and South Range would both beat West Branch that is my point. Canfield would probably get a running clock on West Branch to be perfectly honest, because West Branch doesn't play good enough defense to get any stops against Canfield and Canfield has a pretty good secondary. South Range also has such a good well rounded offense as well that I doubt West Branch would get any stops against them either. I do think they might be able to score a bit against South Range but not every drive.
 
Canfield and South Range would both beat West Branch that is my point. Canfield would probably get a running clock on West Branch to be perfectly honest, because West Branch doesn't play good enough defense to get any stops against Canfield and Canfield has a pretty good secondary. South Range also has such a good well rounded offense as well that I doubt West Branch would get any stops against them either. I do think they might be able to score a bit against South Range but not every drive.
Still a terrible argument and Who really cares about schedules? So west Branch would be 8-2 and Friday would still be a good game, I really have no dog in the fight, not from either school. Whoever wins will probably be out when they play perry the next week. Just want to enjoy an entertaining game Friday.
 
Great points about the game. I can see it going that way. I think WB will score enough to win the game but that’s why they play the game. As far schedule, yes south range and Canfield and Hubbard are better than anyone West Branch played but since Poland lost all of those game I really don’t understand your point. It will be fun to watch!
My personal opinion and one take on this conversation is that I would rather play tough teams and take the chance of a loss or some adversity than a weak schedule. No team gets anything from beating bad teams and thumping their chest over it.

WB is undefeated and that's not easy to do no matter the league or the schedule. But, I would have to say Poland is more battle tested.

In the end, there are a lot of valid points on both sides of the discussion but all seem to agree it should be a good matchup.
 
My personal opinion and one take on this conversation is that I would rather play tough teams and take the chance of a loss or some adversity than a weak schedule. No team gets anything from beating bad teams and thumping their chest over it.

WB is undefeated and that's not easy to do no matter the league or the schedule. But, I would have to say Poland is more battle tested.

In the end, there are a lot of valid points on both sides of the discussion but all seem to agree it should be a good matchup.
I don’t disagree about scheduling good teams. You really don’t know much about the ebc teams/ it is a solid d4 conference this year. Friday should be a great game with 2 great traditions - looking forward to it.
 
The bottom line is both teams played good schedules, both teams have good football players and good coaching. They will both show up to play and it should be a great game!
I still believe both conferences should schedule each other week 1 each season. Rank your best teams before the season and let it go. Great competition for both leagues
 
Still a terrible argument and Who really cares about schedules? So west Branch would be 8-2 and Friday would still be a good game, I really have no dog in the fight, not from either school. Whoever wins will probably be out when they play perry the next week. Just want to enjoy an entertaining game Friday.
I think they both beat Perry by at least a score. Even when Perry was dominant they would lose to Poland or girard. I see the same next eeek against either of these 2 teams
 
This is my exact sentiment. West Branch has a phenomenal offense. But they give you a lot of points vs better competition. Howland wasn't very good offensively this year, from what I've seen. In my mind the edge goes to the defense in a close game. Should be a great game regardless.
Wb starters have only played 3 complete games. The majority of points were given up by their Jv and Freshman in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
 
I think they both beat Perry by at least a score. Even when Perry was dominant they would lose to Poland or girard. I see the same next eeek against either of these 2 teams
I also with that. Perry is solid but not as good as they were when they were playing Steubenville in the regional every year. I would probably favor both Poland and WB over Perry this season.
 
I also with that. Perry is solid but not as good as they were when they were playing Steubenville in the regional every year. I would probably favor both Poland and WB over Perry this season.
Personally I would really like to see a West Branch/Girard quarterfinal game. That would be a fun game, with lots of points. Perry is a big challenge for Girard this week though
 
I still believe both conferences should schedule each other week 1 each season. Rank your best teams before the season and let it go. Great competition for both leagues
that would be great! i know Marlington used to play Poland and those were good games. Minerva played Poland in a playoff game in 2011 and beat Poland in a great game. Salem played Poland last year in the playoff and Poland won 24-21. South Range was in the EBC but backed out before playing a game. I think they did play Marlington and the Dukes handled them a couple fo years ago. A very young Allaince team lost a good game to Niles this year, 19-16 and have played Hubbard in the past. You would think at least WB and Salem would want to play those teams instead of teams from summit county. I would really like to see Carrolton play some NE8 schools, their head coach is Lisbon's old coach JIm Tsimilimos and he is really building a good program there. The EBC is strong this year and top players in the league are just about all Juniors and sophomores.
 
That’s not exactly a good thing. Will they be able to play four quarters against a very physical Poland team? That is yet to be seen. I think it is a good game for at least 3 quarters.
WB rotates 7 or 8 offensive linemen and they are all big, they are all good and they are physical. The other question is will Poland's line be worn out in the 4th quarter against a very deep and physical WB line. Also DeShlelds moves so well and gets out of the pocket, lots of big fellas running around all night. Could be a long night for the Bulldog linemen. Also the second half of Poland's schedule wasn't exactly stellar and I am guessing they didn't play a lot of complete games either. I always like your posts but you act like the NE8 is like the old All American conference or Steel Valley Conference, it is not! Poland did play 3 excellent teams but also played some really bad teams too.

I am expecting a great game Friday..
 
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WB rotates 7 or 8 offensive linemen and they are all big, they are all good and they are physical. The other question is will Poland's line be worn out in the 4th quarter against a very deep and physical WB line. Also DeShlelds moves so well and gets out of the pocket, lots of big fellas running around all night. Could be a long night for the Bulldog linemen. Also the second half of Poland's schedule wasn't exactly stellar and I am guessing they didn't play a lot of complete games either. I always like your posts but you act like the NE8 is like the old All American conference or Steel Valley Conference, it is not! Poland did play 3 excellent teams but also played some really bad teams too.

I am expecting a great game Friday..
It wasn’t a great conference this year. But it’s still a very good conference nonetheless.
 
Deshields might be the best qb in the entire region. He is the true xfactor
He is really good. I saw 3 wb games live and their offensive line is really good and deep. If Poland can hang with them at the LOS it could go either way. Games are won on the LOS..
 
It wasn’t a great conference this year. But it’s still a very good conference nonetheless.
The EBC was pretty weak the last 3 years but much improved this year. Next year will be better, most teams have there skilled kids returning . Of course every league had at least 1 bad team.
 
I think they both beat Perry by at least a score. Even when Perry was dominant they would lose to Poland or girard. I see the same next eeek against either of these 2 teams
They may not have to worry about Perry. Girard is back to nearly full strength after a disastrous series of injuries going into the heart of their schedule. QB issues have been resolved and actually improved upon. The defense has come around starting with the Hubbard game when they did a decent job on Caffey holding him to his second lowest output of the year and they put up about 30 more yards in offense than Hubbard against a pretty tough defense as well. They have improved every game since, dominating Struthers, Niles and #5 Gilmore in the first round. I don’t see them being a favorite at Perry but a lot of people seem to be overlooking Girard. Don’t count them out just yet. The NE8 has done a good job of preparing its teams for the playoffs. And it showed in round one.
 
All this talk about Poland's schedule but actual results of those games certainly matter too...
I know it was early on, but they barely beat one of the worst teams in Louisville history, only beat 2-8 Howland by 13 (yes, I know WB struggled with them too) and didn't exactly manhandle a 4-6 Struthers team...

Like most things, you can kind of cherry pick whatever you'd like to make your point.

All that said, I fully expect a big and powerful Bulldog squad to give WB fits.
 
All this talk about Poland's schedule but actual results of those games certainly matter too...
I know it was early on, but they barely beat one of the worst teams in Louisville history, only beat 2-8 Howland by 13 (yes, I know WB struggled with them too) and didn't exactly manhandle a 4-6 Struthers team...

Like most things, you can kind of cherry pick whatever you'd like to make your point.

All that said, I fully expect a big and powerful Bulldog squad to give WB fits.
I think the big issue people have is WB was a shanked punt that hit a Howland defender away from possibly losing to Howland who also just isn’t very good. I think this game can be very close or either team blow it open. Should be a great week for high school football
 
I think the big issue people have is WB was a shanked punt that hit a Howland defender away from possibly losing to Howland who also just isn’t very good. I think this game can be very close or either team blow it open. Should be a great week for high school football
To be honest, the same thing can be said about Canfield (who everyone is saying can pick the score however they want it against WB) being one penalty away from possibly losing to Boardman. The truth is we're talking about teenagers here and there are going to be some weeks where they're just not focused, having a bad day and it carried to the football field, etc. That's why it's so impressive to have an undefeated regular season regardless of the sport.

However, looking at West Branch's schedule, I have a question for the West Branch posters. If you look at the scores, West Branch's defense allowed a total of 211 points in the regular season. If you take away the rivalry game since everyone knew that game would be high scoring, that cuts it down from 211 points to 169 points. Out of that 169 points, 76 of those points were given up in back-to-back weeks to Canton South and Howland. That's 93 points for the other seven weeks which is 13 points per game allowed on average.

Anyways, where I'm getting at is those two games is only 20% of the season but gave up 36% of the points in that two game stretch. My question for West Branch posters is this: Was there any injuries, illnesses, etc. that kept any starters out in that two week stretch, especially on defense?

Because if so, not saying it as an excuse, that could be partial reasoning for the amount of points they gave up to both Canton South and Howland those weeks. Here's to hoping that both teams are coming into the game as healthy as they can be from a physical and mental standpoint. It should be a great game and I can't wait to enjoy it on stream so I can also see Girard @ Perry and Salem @ Ursuline (as well as Hubbard @ Canfield in DIII).
 
I'm not particularly sold on the EBC (though, it is great to learn that Tsillimos is still coaching), but I do think West Branch is really good. The only games, again, that give me pause are Howland and Salem.

I could easily see West Branch doing to Poland what SR did to Poland. I think WB has that kind of diverse, really good offense and they have a dude at QB. I'm actually not as sold on the WB defense as compared to SR. But, Poland is always 1 penalty away from being in a really tough spot -- given their best form of offense is 6 yards and a cloud of rubber pellets.

I think it's a fundamentally a 1-score game -- it's tight the whole way. I have Poland winning, but it's not with much conviction. If you told me WB wins 41-34 or something, I'd be like...."sure, that's doesn't sound crazy."
 
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Have watched both teams play a couple of times this season. WB wins this by 2 touchdowns if mistake free. Turnovers can and would change the outcome of this game for sure. Has Poland played on grass this year? I bet that field is a mess after Friday. Normally you would say the run team is at the advantage on a muddy grass field but not if you haven't played on one all year. WB has.
 
I'm not particularly sold on the EBC (though, it is great to learn that Tsillimos is still coaching), but I do think West Branch is really good. The only games, again, that give me pause are Howland and Salem.

I could easily see West Branch doing to Poland what SR did to Poland. I think WB has that kind of diverse, really good offense and they have a dude at QB. I'm actually not as sold on the WB defense as compared to SR. But, Poland is always 1 penalty away from being in a really tough spot -- given their best form of offense is 6 yards and a cloud of rubber pellets.

I think it's a fundamentally a 1-score game -- it's tight the whole way. I have Poland winning, but it's not with much conviction. If you told me WB wins 41-34 or something, I'd be like...."sure, that's doesn't sound crazy."
The EBC was not very good the past few years. Most of the teams have improved and are still young, the conference as a whole is very good this year and the MVP on the top teams still in the playoffs are juniors and Alliance is very young. Canton South is also really young but heading for the PAC in 2022. The EBC will be loaded next year. I have not seen a lot of West Branch games but I do know they played a lot of seniors in 2020 and had to replace a lot positions this year. Most picked them 3rd in the conference. They did have defensive struggles is some games and that is still a chink in their armor. But they have improved and held cvca’s stud back to negative yards, held Carrollon’s high powered running attack to 13 points. A lot of points they gave up were after scoring 40-50 points. Also, 4 EBC teams made the playoffs, 3 were top 8 and all 3 are still playing and South lost to Ursuline. The league is not as bad as people are saying.
 
Have watched both teams play a couple of times this season. WB wins this by 2 touchdowns if mistake free. Turnovers can and would change the outcome of this game for sure. Has Poland played on grass this year? I bet that field is a mess after Friday. Normally you would say the run team is at the advantage on a muddy grass field but not if you haven't played on one all year. WB has.
I still think Poland would have an advantage if the field is a mess. That could contribute to keeping the scoring down, which favors Poland's style. Fulton, Colosimo, and Parker are big physical runners. If WB can turn this into a shoot out, I think they'll beat Poland.
 
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