TheBallCoach
New member
Huh! And they did not win the Region with that !!!!!
Battle of Pickerington - OCC
- Thread starter ManOWarz
- Start date
thedonmecca
Member
Gahanna won the region last year, and if they didn’t lose their Kentucky commit qb they would have probably won it this year with the way these teams play if that’s what you mean. Embarrassed both Pick teams the last few years. I just laugh how PickTown always think they have these “loaded” rosters. Like the star qb in Pickerington this year, with a Campbell, Florida a/m, offer….when I think star qb I think of a kid choosing between P4 offers. What makes a “loaded” roster. Even UA who is always the “no talent” best coaches team in the area had a Big Ten defensive end.
Gahanna was definitely loaded in 2022 and 2023, not quite as much in 2024. Their Kentucky commit QB played when they got boat raced by Liberty and lost to Groveport...right? Liberty and Groveport held Gahanna's offense - with their star QB - to a combined 7 points.
Gahanna can thump their chest because they've done well against Pickerington lately; however, the Tigers are 17-4 vs. Gahanna this century. Gahanna won in 2022 and 2023, but the Tigers and Lions meet up again in 2025 so we'll see how that goes.
thedonmecca
Member
This was not meant to be a Gahanna is better than Pickerington post. It was meant to be more of all this talk of loaded rosters in Pickerington, but I'd say Gahanna's rosters were actually loaded in 22 and 23 if you want to talk about "loaded" rosters. I'm just an outsider laughing at how Picktown people think their rosters are so much better than other teams, and I will agree there is some talent in Picktown, but to think they are just that much better than other schools is laughable. I was so excited to see this North team, and what I saw was a good football team, but nothing more than that. I saw a decent RB and a stud WR. I didn't see a team that was just going to walk through the region. After watching the central/north game, I think Central benefited from an average schedule, and North won as many games as they could, and after watching them play Berlin I'm not sure they were better than Berlin, and def weren't better than Liberty. All in all, both teams had great seasons, and made it about as far as they should. Anyone that says different is delusional.
Picktown is getting a lot of love in the media lately thanks to Jack Sawyer & Co. Heard Holly Rowe visited a few local spots this week. Seen a couple articles. One from a national paper.
Inside Pickerington, Ohio's modern-day football factory
Pickerington gleams with pride as 5 graduates head to national championship game
Good reads. Central has done alot with all that talent. Elephant in the room is that North hasn't done anything with it IMO.
Inside Pickerington, Ohio's modern-day football factory
Pickerington gleams with pride as 5 graduates head to national championship game
Good reads. Central has done alot with all that talent. Elephant in the room is that North hasn't done anything with it IMO.
thedonmecca
Member
Wonder if Sharrett will poach any coaches from his previous staff?
picknorth2012
Active member
Didn't expect Sharrett to return to coaching, guess he got bored doing nothing all summer and fall. I'm assuming he isn't teaching anymore though.
The Dock
Champion, 2024 Yappi Challenge
He’s a Circleville alum, and that program has been stuck in the mud for the last decade despite being a league they can reasonably play for second in.
Nothing ventured? Nothing gained!
JABanksSr
Active member
Not to mention that PN has built their program in the High School Transfer Portal. With the exception of Michael Taylor, every other impact player they have transferred in. Nate does a great job at leveraging his relationships at OHSAA to circumvent the transfer policies. Program looks great on the outside (benefit of the cropped and edited culture of social media) but truthfully neither the kids nor the parents are bought into the "program". They're bought into what the program provides.
The Insider
Active member
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Sorry it didnt work out for you, but North is now the premier team in Pickerington theres no argument for that. Im laughing at the transfer dart being thrown by you. How many different high schools did the Banks kids attend? Did Galloway buy in at Central? Rocco was with North and left for Central. And it looks like Central is now trying to compete with North on the edited culture of Social Media. Again, sorry its not working out for Central like it did years ago, but North is the team in Pickerington now.
JABanksSr
Active member
JABanksSr
Active member
Sour grapes. LOL!!! We left PN because of a bad head coach that didn't like being told that the kids deserved better than he was giving them. Rather than talk it out, he chose to take it out on the kids by denying them opportunity to compete (message received from both players on the team and staff). As for PN being the premier team in Pickerington, consider this....1 Conference Title (the year the OCC split) 0 Regional Titles and no real accomplishments despite having the most talented roster for 3 years in a row. Yes, the beat PC the last 2 years. But they've been playing each other for slightly longer than 2 years. They do win the publicity war and social media battle though. Reality is PN under this staff has a losing record against teams with winning records, 1 League Title, 0 Regional, and 0 District Titles. Losing records against teams with winning records. No OCC Titles, despite having the MOST LOADED roster in the OCC year over year. Not to mention bringing in Power 5 recruits every year.
PN HC
Since you mentioned it:
PN HC
Pantherfan89
Member
This all around is an utterly ridiculous conversation. To say that Pickerington North has built there entire program based off the "Transfer Portal" is wild and implies that Pickerington Central is homegrown in comparison is simply misleading. Call a spade a spade, Pick Central made a living from the time the schools split until there assistant coach retired as the gym teacher at Lakeview, which he was able to funnel the top North 8th graders to transfer to Central (Jamie Wood, Patrick White etc.) all the way to the middle of the weekend transfer for Zack Boren in 06 after week 4. He was in the starting backfield on Friday night for North and walking the halls at Central on Monday Morning. 08 when a particular Central coach was "allegedly" caught transporting players daily to school from a Columbus address. I have all the respect in the world for what Coach Sharrett accomplished at Central and the program they built, but they weren't always the model of integrity when it came to roster construction.
North and Central both have kids move in annually for the opportunity to receive more exposure for college scouts and the opportunity to receive a D1 scholarship. From the track record between both schools it has provided dividends. I will never fault a student athlete or family that wants to challenge themselves to play D1 Ohio football. Families have been moving to Pickerington since Jack was coaching at Pickerington High School due to this. Let's get real it's 2025 we live in a social media climate, the more you can promote your kids and give them opportunities to present themselves the more appealing a particular situation is.
North has been doing a good job of keeping there kids in the system and building a youth program which is why the numbers have risen over the last 5 years. The effort they've made with the youth camps, the Will Howard camp , the Under Armor combine, the 7 on 7 next week is the effort there making to make players want to come out for football and develop opportunities for there kids. I compare Hillerich to Ryan Day at Ohio State. He has beaten the teams he should, has figured Central out, and is on the door step of knocking the door down eventually. A lot of respect for the challenging non-conference scheduling.
North and Central both have kids move in annually for the opportunity to receive more exposure for college scouts and the opportunity to receive a D1 scholarship. From the track record between both schools it has provided dividends. I will never fault a student athlete or family that wants to challenge themselves to play D1 Ohio football. Families have been moving to Pickerington since Jack was coaching at Pickerington High School due to this. Let's get real it's 2025 we live in a social media climate, the more you can promote your kids and give them opportunities to present themselves the more appealing a particular situation is.
North has been doing a good job of keeping there kids in the system and building a youth program which is why the numbers have risen over the last 5 years. The effort they've made with the youth camps, the Will Howard camp , the Under Armor combine, the 7 on 7 next week is the effort there making to make players want to come out for football and develop opportunities for there kids. I compare Hillerich to Ryan Day at Ohio State. He has beaten the teams he should, has figured Central out, and is on the door step of knocking the door down eventually. A lot of respect for the challenging non-conference scheduling.
pantherstat
Member
I couldn't agree more!
Dawg Pound 4-Life
Active member
No, it implies that North cannot trust the kids in their district to come in and contribute right away. So, they recruit everyone (including Central).
Call a spade a spade, Pick Central made a living from the time the schools split until there assistant coach retired as the gym teacher at Lakeview, which he was able to funnel the top North 8th graders to transfer to Central (Jamie Wood, Patrick White etc.) all the way to the middle of the weekend transfer for Zack Boren in 06 after week 4.
That must be one of the dumbest statements ever. How inaccurate is it? Jamie Wood lived on my street in Preston Trails from the time he transferred back to the US from Germany in the 5th grade to live with his dad. Boren got sick of the coach at North and did what he thought was best at the time. HE used a rule and bought a house before week four and enrolled his son at Central immediately.
North has been doing a good job of keeping their kids in the system and building a youth program which is why the numbers have risen over the last 5 years.
Unless there is a travel team that is unknown the only youth program in Pickerington is PYAA. Kids are drafted each year to teams (regardless of which school they go to). North has built "NOTHING" when it comes to PYAA. However, they are sneaky at having coaches come down and try to have North dads install their system and then try to recruit the good kids set to go to Central. How do I know? Former football board member and president for over 14 years. Seen it all firsthand.
I compare Hillerich to Ryan Day at Ohio State. He has beaten the teams he should, has figured Central out, and is on the doorstep of knocking the door down eventually.
Maybe the dumbest statement yet. Although North has won over the past 2 years over Central (twice last year), Nate's record since he took over in 2017 against Central is 4-8. Hardly dominate. Beating the teams he should? Correct me if I am wrong. But didn't North get out of the same OCC division as Central because they could not win the league? As a result, they got beaten by New Albany on more than one occasion and Gahanna over the past two years. However, when they play teams like Central Crossing (1-9), Thomas Worthington (0-10), Westerville Central (1-9) I guess they do beat the teams they are supposed to.
I will say that they 2024 class at North was loaded with very talented players ( Bowman, Taylor, Annarino, Long, etc. ) those shoes are going to be very hard to fill this coming year. Welcome to having to reload phase.............because Central has had to do it each and every year!
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Footballfan1205
Member
So who do we think will win between central and north this year?