MVAC Scarlet Tier

G

GridironGod

Well-known member
This Friday marks the halfway point in the season. Lowellville seems to be the team to beat which is not really a surprise everyone knew they had a good deal of talent returning. I had a chance to see them play last year and again this year. They are indeed better up front, on defense, and in the run game than they were last year.

I think some people are surprised by Springfield's 0-4 start but their first four games were very tough. We will see if they can right the ship and finish this season on a positive note. Both Jackson-Milton and Mineral Ridge are 4-0 but they have yet to be truly tested based on their schedule. It will be interesting to see if either or both teams can keep it going.

Western Reserve is under new leadership and their numbers are down a bit (full disclosure this is the team I follow). They are 1-3 but have been competitive in all of their games. Waterloo is 2-2 which is an improvement for them. Sebring is 0-4 and continues to be the doormat of the league (no disrespect to their coaches or players, it is impressive that year after year they field a team and compete).

Right now it is Lowellville's league to lose it seems. I would love to hear some thoughts from other posters about their team or the league in general.
 
 
The tier Lowellville and Springfield are members of is the scarlett tier. The larger schools tier is the gray tier. Those tiers form the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference: Scarlett members: Jackson Milton, Lowellville, McDonald, Mineral Ridge, Springfield, Sebring, Waterloo, Western Reserve. Gray members: Brookfield, Campbell, Champion, Crestview, Garfield, LaBrae, Liberty, Newton Falls.
 
305NoTomato said:
Very stupid. Upper and lower. Reminds me of when Big Ten did the leaders and legends divisions.
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Most of the schools in the scarlett tier are D-7 for football. Most of the schools in the gray are D-6 in football, with the exception of two, which are D-5.
 
The scarlet tier is the original MVAC, which is essentially the former ICL plus Waterloo, so mostly schools that have been playing each other for decades. The grey tier was formerly the blue tier in the AAC, when they decided to split from the AAC, they decided it would be best for things like administrative purposes to go under the MVAC umbrella instead of forming their own league, which is why there are two separate divisions and why they are grouped as they are. As was stated when the grey tier schools were added as their own tier, this was not a merging of the leagues/schools, they would remain in their groupings, there wouldn't be required cross-overs etc.
 
GridironGod said:
Alright I changed the title. Admittedly I get the names mixed up. My bad. It's amazing how many posters sole purpose on the bulletin boards is to pounce on a mistake. How about some thoughts on the teams, the league, etc.
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Agreed. As for the league, the hierarchy certainly is a lot different this year than past years. I mentioned in another thread, that the 3 of Springfield-WR-McDonald had lost a combined 2 league games to the other 5 schools (Ridge, Milton, Lowellville, Sebring, Waterloo) in the leagues 5 years of existence prior to this year. Last Friday, those 3 went 0-3. Lowellville is in the driver seats to win its first league title since 02, with Ridge being another top contender who hasn't won a league title since 04- both back in the ICL days. All this to say, if you had told anyone just 2 years ago this would be the case they would have called you crazy.

For tonight, I think that Springfield-Ridge will be for 2nd place in the league when it all shakes out. I think both are a few scores better than JM or WR. I think Low will handle JM, WR will roll Waterloo, and McDonald will beat Sebring.
 
kingpin2010 said:
Agreed. As for the league, the hierarchy certainly is a lot different this year than past years. I mentioned in another thread, that the 3 of Springfield-WR-McDonald had lost a combined 2 league games to the other 5 schools (Ridge, Milton, Lowellville, Sebring, Waterloo) in the leagues 5 years of existence prior to this year. Last Friday, those 3 went 0-3. Lowellville is in the driver seats to win its first league title since 02, with Ridge being another top contender who hasn't won a league title since 04- both back in the ICL days. All this to say, if you had told anyone just 2 years ago this would be the case they would have called you crazy.

For tonight, I think that Springfield-Ridge will be for 2nd place in the league when it all shakes out. I think both are a few scores better than JM or WR. I think Low will handle JM, WR will roll Waterloo, and McDonald will beat Sebring.
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Do you know anything about Waterloo? I saw they only lost by 8 to a 4-0 Malvern team that shutout Lowellville last year.
 
ytown2146 said:
Do you know anything about Waterloo? I saw they only lost by 8 to a 4-0 Malvern team that shutout Lowellville last year.
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Waterloo is worse than they were last year. Don't let the 4-0 for Malvern fool you, they struggled with EP week 1 and then barely beat Conotton and Waterloo, they are not what they were last year.
 
kingpin2010 said:
Waterloo is worse than they were last year. Don't let the 4-0 for Malvern fool you, they struggled with EP week 1 and then barely beat Conotton and Waterloo, they are not what they were last year.
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I guess I should’ve investigated a little more in-depth… thanks!
 
Ridge and Springfield 12-12 in the 3rd. Interesting that neither team can kick the ball, Springfield not even trying xp’s. I think Ridge is probably the better team but they keep making mistakes.
 
Springfield wins 20-12. If there was post game media, Ridge coach would be grilled for the decision to go for it on 4th and a mile midfield instead of punting with about 2 minutes to go. Rams didn’t get it and gave Springfield the field position needed to get the game winner
 
I watched the Springfield Ridge game on YSN. Neither team was very impressive. Springfield showed glimpses of having an explosive pass game (including the game winning TD throw) but they did not run the ball well.

The surprise of the night was the Waterloo WR game. I have to conclude Waterloo is improved because WR has played some decent teams close but I didn’t watch the game.
 
Only take away I have from this game is that ridge isn’t just some walk over and Springfield found a way to win. A win is a win no matter how you shake it
 
Some interesting reading in today’s Vindy about some ancient history.

A pair of area programs are on the cusp of recording milestone wins – or may have already done so – based on which records the schools choose to recognize.

McDonald has long recognized its 1925 squad as the school’s first-ever football team. In doing so, McDonald owns an overall record of 599-269-32.

The 599 wins is also reflected on the football history page of the Ohio High School Athletic Association website.

However, the Historical Society of McDonald recently discovered documents which revealed that McDonald fielded a team in 1924. The team, coached by “Dutch” Soller, finished with a record of 5-3. The 16-man roster included four seniors, three juniors, four sophomores, four freshmen – and an eighth-grader.

Based on the newly-discovered information, McDonald actually recorded its 600th win on Sept. 10, 2021 with a 21-14 victory over arch-rival Mineral Ridge.

McDonald’s overall record now stands at 604-272-32.
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Standings heading into tonight:

T1. Lowellville 5-0 (2-0)
T1. Waterloo 3-2 (2-0)
T2. Jackson-Milton 4-1 (1-1)
T2. Mineral Ridge 4-1 (1-1)
T2. McDonald 2-3 (1-1)
T2. Springfield 1-4 (1-1)
T7. Western Reserve 1-4 (0-2)
T7. Sebring 0-5 (0-2)

Matchups this week:
-Waterloo at Lowellville in a battle of the remaining 2-0 teams in the league
-Western Reserve at Mineral Ridge
-McDonald at Springfield
-Sebring at Jackson-Milton
 
Springfield on the doorstep to score with 30 seconds till half- maybe, the clock operator just hasn’t been running the clock
 
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