Region 3 Championship: Pickerington Central (12-1) vs. Upper Arlington (13-0)
- Thread starter EagleFan
- Start date
I wouldn't call UA the favorite and I'm a UA guy. Its PC's region till someone takes it from them.
ironmanz35
Well-known member
Nothing I have seen to date would lead me to believe PC would beat UA by two TD's. No Doubt PC is the defending Regional Champs, but frankly they do not seem to be nearly as dominant as past seasons. The fact they let Reynoldsburg stay so close just a few weeks ago leads me to believe UA can and will score on PC. PC has a very good defense, but I do not see them keeping UA out of the end zone. Will PC be able to hang in a shoot out? I just don't know if they have the ability on the offensive side of the ball to hang with the Bears. I could most certainly be wrong, but if I was laying money, I lay it on UA. in this one.
Didn't Reynoldsburg hang with UA two weeks ago until mid way through the second half?
UA was up 17-12 midway thru the 3Q. The Raiders then had the Bears in a 2nd and 22 when Gresock broke a 81 yd TD run.
I may be wrong but Reynoldsburg then drove to UAs 10 yd line and turned it over on downs. So yes, they were in that game for sure.
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ironmanz35
Well-known member
One Tiger- You are 100% correct. Final score 31-12. One team played all 4 qtrs.
From what I saw on YouTube it looked close except for a couple Rburg miscues. PCs defense will most likely look a bit different.
ironmanz35
Well-known member
Good chance PC defense looks different but like I said does PC have the offense that can go score for score. PC is damn good but they are gonna have to score in bunches
ironmanz35
Well-known member
agree 100%. Like the winner of this one to make it to the finals. No predictions if either gets there. Crazy year no one left in my opinion is a clear cut favorite.
Spartacus1987
Well-known member
I will make sure to attend this one
RollingTrain
Well-known member
Didn’t take Buttermore long to work his magic at UA. He’s a pretty darn good coach.
Raider6309
Well-known member
One of the most underrated coaches in Ohio. He gave those Joe Burrow teams battles. I’d say if you ask Burrow, he would say TV and Marion Franklin defenses made him a better player
Tiger Alum
Well-known member
Yep it turned out to be the best thing for UA that Scally left for Davidson. No way they are this good with the previous coach. Sometimes things that appear to be bad turn out to be good and vice versa.
ironmanz35
Well-known member
Springfield Shawnee Gave Burrows Athens teams some battles as well!
Hammerdrill
Well-known member
Buttermore would tell you that Burrow was reading his defense and changing the plays accordingly.
Bigcattigers
New member
The key for central is defense against in the run and pc quarterback will need to play better for any pc chance to win this game,he has not looked good all year
Harrycrane
Well-known member
Yes if Scally stayed there wouldn’t be a passing game . They would be easier to defend and PC would be able to slow down a more run only offense with their nasty Front seven . UA really had things break just right for them coach wise and I think UA will beat Davidson most if not all years Buttermore is there .
Tiger Alum
Well-known member
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Agree. UA got the much better deal. Scally has tried to fit a square peg in a round hole at Davidson. Tough act to follow. I have seen enough of the pathetic defense the last 2 years. No adjustments at all.The community being spoiled for many years is growing restless with him from what I have seen and heard in the stands.
PC would chew up a straight power run team.
The one thing that's kind of interesting to me is that the 3 really good teams in Central Ohio never played one another (especially UA and Marysville -- they were just realigned out of the same division in 2020). And I thought there was a big drop off to the second tier. It was, IMO, a really down year for Central Ohio. None of the Olentangy teams were particularly good and usually at least 2 or 3 of them are good enough to beat most teams. Westerville Central and Coffman were both really not good (for different reasons). The Hilliard teams were all sort of "nice" but not much more.
So, the best team UA played in the regular season is Reynoldsburg (and, honestly, they might be better than NA, too). Even in their non-conference, the trip to play Toledo St Francis could have been much harder, but they stunk this year, too. So, this is a real step up for UA. And in terms of dealing with a defense, it's two or three orders of magnitude better than anything UA has played this year.
PC has at least played Massillon and, I guess, PN (but, I sort of have them in the, "nice" category). PC, I don't think, has seen a team as balanced on offense and I'm not sure they've seen the combination of playmakers UA has in Gresock, Cannon and even Maz.
So, I'm really fascinated to see the PC defense vs. UA offense matchup. PC has, what, like 5 or 6 D1 players on that side of the ball? Like is Biles gonna be able to take Cannon out of the game? Will DB2 take Mazz out? Can UA handle their preposterous DL?
Then, I guess, can PC grind down and outphysical UA. Or, perhaps even more accurately, can PC pop 3 or 4 explosive plays that gets them 20 points?
(As a coda on the scheduling thing -- PN did get to tour almost all of the good or really good area teams -- Marysville, PC, NA, Lincoln).
The one thing that's kind of interesting to me is that the 3 really good teams in Central Ohio never played one another (especially UA and Marysville -- they were just realigned out of the same division in 2020). And I thought there was a big drop off to the second tier. It was, IMO, a really down year for Central Ohio. None of the Olentangy teams were particularly good and usually at least 2 or 3 of them are good enough to beat most teams. Westerville Central and Coffman were both really not good (for different reasons). The Hilliard teams were all sort of "nice" but not much more.
So, the best team UA played in the regular season is Reynoldsburg (and, honestly, they might be better than NA, too). Even in their non-conference, the trip to play Toledo St Francis could have been much harder, but they stunk this year, too. So, this is a real step up for UA. And in terms of dealing with a defense, it's two or three orders of magnitude better than anything UA has played this year.
PC has at least played Massillon and, I guess, PN (but, I sort of have them in the, "nice" category). PC, I don't think, has seen a team as balanced on offense and I'm not sure they've seen the combination of playmakers UA has in Gresock, Cannon and even Maz.
So, I'm really fascinated to see the PC defense vs. UA offense matchup. PC has, what, like 5 or 6 D1 players on that side of the ball? Like is Biles gonna be able to take Cannon out of the game? Will DB2 take Mazz out? Can UA handle their preposterous DL?
Then, I guess, can PC grind down and outphysical UA. Or, perhaps even more accurately, can PC pop 3 or 4 explosive plays that gets them 20 points?
(As a coda on the scheduling thing -- PN did get to tour almost all of the good or really good area teams -- Marysville, PC, NA, Lincoln).
Harrycrane
Well-known member
Cal Preps has UA a three point favorite .
Heelinohio
Active member
Excellent analysis! PC did 'try' to schedule up to offset the awful Buckeye Division games. Unfortunately, North Allegheny and Elder were down this this. Elder did try to pass the ball downfield but their o-line wasn't able to keep the pocket safe. NA also attempted to run a diverse offense, but lacked the talent to challenge PC's defense. It turns out that Reynoldsburg was the only team all season to challenge PC's defense. They mixed up the play calling and their QB's 'escape-ability' were the keys. PC's secondary is tremendously long, talented and athletic, but they did get burned a couple times this season on long passes.
I mentioned this before but I’m new to central Ohio and live in the Pickerington area so I adopted Pick Central. I saw them play 4 or 5 games this year.
My observations:
* Defensive line is fierce. Tough to run on them and they get a lot of pressure on the QB. They can be overly aggressive and lose contain at times. A scrambling QB can hurt them.
* LBs are good not great. Inside LB might be the weakest area of the defense.
* Secondary looks really good. They have size, speed, and athleticism. The only time they give up big plays were blown coverages or missed assignments. I haven’t seen any receiver just run by a DB.
* Offensive line is most overrated unit on this team. Before the season I heard a lot about their size and experience. They aren’t nearly as dominant in the run game as they should be given they usually have a size advantage over the opposing defensive front. They are not good in pass protection either.
* Runningbacks are good but not great. No real game changers. A few of them have ball security issues. A couple of the faster guys seem to miss the hole and struggle to make guys miss or break tackles. Honestly I think the best back is #2 but he gets the fewest touches.
* Receivers are okay. They’re on the smallish side. I saw a lot of drops.
* Tightends are good blockers. One guy can’t catch at all. Again #2 is the best receiving tight end and might be their most consistent receiver overall. He makes tough catches and runs well after the catch.
* QB has potential. It’s been hard to judge him the last few games as it seems every week there has been bad weather. He threw a handful of nice passes that were dropped against Hilliard. He missed a few guys and doesn’t ever throw someone open. He runs surprisingly well. He broke free a few times for longer runs and almost looked surprised that he was in the open. He’s not the type of QB that can put a team on his back and carry them, but he’s not bad. If the line gives him time and receivers catch his stats would look a lot better.
I haven’t seen Upper Arlington at all. I have no idea what type of system they run or what kind of athletes they have so I can’t really make any sort of prediction.
This time of year defense can carry a team and Pick Central seems to have a really good defense. I think they’d be a tough out for anyone left.
My observations:
* Defensive line is fierce. Tough to run on them and they get a lot of pressure on the QB. They can be overly aggressive and lose contain at times. A scrambling QB can hurt them.
* LBs are good not great. Inside LB might be the weakest area of the defense.
* Secondary looks really good. They have size, speed, and athleticism. The only time they give up big plays were blown coverages or missed assignments. I haven’t seen any receiver just run by a DB.
* Offensive line is most overrated unit on this team. Before the season I heard a lot about their size and experience. They aren’t nearly as dominant in the run game as they should be given they usually have a size advantage over the opposing defensive front. They are not good in pass protection either.
* Runningbacks are good but not great. No real game changers. A few of them have ball security issues. A couple of the faster guys seem to miss the hole and struggle to make guys miss or break tackles. Honestly I think the best back is #2 but he gets the fewest touches.
* Receivers are okay. They’re on the smallish side. I saw a lot of drops.
* Tightends are good blockers. One guy can’t catch at all. Again #2 is the best receiving tight end and might be their most consistent receiver overall. He makes tough catches and runs well after the catch.
* QB has potential. It’s been hard to judge him the last few games as it seems every week there has been bad weather. He threw a handful of nice passes that were dropped against Hilliard. He missed a few guys and doesn’t ever throw someone open. He runs surprisingly well. He broke free a few times for longer runs and almost looked surprised that he was in the open. He’s not the type of QB that can put a team on his back and carry them, but he’s not bad. If the line gives him time and receivers catch his stats would look a lot better.
I haven’t seen Upper Arlington at all. I have no idea what type of system they run or what kind of athletes they have so I can’t really make any sort of prediction.
This time of year defense can carry a team and Pick Central seems to have a really good defense. I think they’d be a tough out for anyone left.
Spartacus1987
Well-known member
Anyone else going to this game?