Region 1 Championship: St. Edward (12-1) vs. Medina (13-0)

Who wins?


  • Total voters
    79
  • Poll closed .
Medina’s one dimensional offense caught up with them against a talented and well coached defense. The Bees receivers had such little separation. Allar never could get it going, he was off tonight too. I think Medina may have been a bit better in 2020 behind a better offensive line, a running game, and the older Hensley being a matchup nightmare.

I was alarmed by Medina scoring “only” 27 last week despite all of the short fields and forced turnovers.
 
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When I watched the Medina Ignatius game, I thought Eds could dominate at the LOS on both sides, Great win! One of the best! Good luck! Go Eagles!
 
didn't see 41-6. what happened with
Knocking out both St Ignatius and St Edward from the playoffs in 2 straight years would be pretty impressive. Especially since both of them have better teams this year. Any one of the remaining 8 teams is capable of winning it all. But, I have a feeling this year's state champion will be a first timer public school.
I guess you didn’t figure in how good St. Edward is!
 
Brighter football minds will be able to ID the adjustments Coach Pappas made tonight after that impressive first drive by Medina's QB and the Bees. I was impressed that whatever he cooked up worked so well for the rest of the game.
 
Its because you can't cover all 5 of Medina's Wide Receivers. I don't care what St Eds has on defense someone is going to be open on every play. I have been watching high school football for a long time and no one has ever had 5 like Medina does this year that I can remember. Any of those 5 would be the best WR on most teams in Ohio and it wouldn't even be close.
It seems as if Ed’s had an answer for the 5 receivers on the field)
 
When are these 5 wide, throw the ball every play teams going to learn that it just doenst work deep in the playoffs. Mentor has tried and failed , Medina failed , you have to be balanced and just running qb draws won’t cut it. Even with once in a generation talented qbs they still loose.

great D adjustments by coach Pappas!
 
I would lean heavily that the lights won't go out again, but I would also lean heavily towards banking on the wind WILL be there and it WILL feel colder that it is. That is almost a guarantee at that place. Ugghh!?. Still it is a great venue to see a big game like this.

Did the lights go out again?
 
When are these 5 wide, throw the ball every play teams going to learn that it just doenst work deep in the playoffs. Mentor has tried and failed , Medina failed , you have to be balanced and just running qb draws won’t cut it. Even with once in a generation talented qbs they still loose.

great D adjustments by coach Pappas!
I did not see 41-6 coming at all, but this (along with last year's R1 final beatdown to Mentor) has to be an eye-opener for the Medina coaching staff that if they want to continue to play big-boy football, they have to become more balanced. I know it's tough to take the ball out of somebody like Drew Allar's hands, but that was actually what allowed Medina to beat Ed's last year.

While the back-to-back R1 title game blowouts has to be difficult for this group to swallow, it doesn't diminish what they were able to accomplish. They turned a program that was a huge underachiever into one that made two straight deep playoff runs and walked away with wins over Ed's, Ignatius and Mentor (something very few can say in the past 20 years).

They probably will never have a QB like Allar ever again, but it's a program that can still have some staying power. In order to do so, however, they will have to re-evaluate, especially since they will no longer have a 5-star QB, and make some tweaks to the offense (which was 5-wide, pass happy even before Allar).

Even with the loss, it was fun being able to see this group of Medina seniors since they were in middle school. While, this was their chance, I think they helped set the program up to be a team that can consistently win a game or two in the playoffs and at least be in the conversation. There will be a lot of new faces but the talent in the program isn't completely dry the next couple of years. Obviously, it won't be on Ed's level (especially if you get a pissed off Ed's team like I'm assuming they saw tonight), but I think the days of Medina being a punchline in the Cleveland area are over.

Congrats to Ed's. It seems like they are on a mission to snap their ancient two-year title drought, lol.
 
Brighter football minds will be able to ID the adjustments Coach Pappas made tonight after that impressive first drive by Medina's QB and the Bees. I was impressed that whatever he cooked up worked so well for the rest of the game.
To be honest, I didn't see any adjustments...the 1st drive Ed's missed 2 sacks and didn't play the ball well on a couple of throws...they pretty much ran the 3 man front 90% of the time and most of the time still got pressure....also, I don't see Allar ever making an impact at Penn St...I was not impressed w him at all...just a guess about 17/40 on the day?
 
To be honest, I didn't see any adjustments...the 1st drive Ed's missed 2 sacks and didn't play the ball well on a couple of throws...they pretty much ran the 3 man front 90% of the time and most of the time still got pressure....also, I don't see Allar ever making an impact at Penn St...I was not impressed w him at all...just a guess about 17/40 on the day?
Ok I understand you are feeling good about Ed’s win…but to say Allar is not impressive just shows you don’t know football. I mean…OSU’s staff seems to think he’s pretty good, considering they came after him when Ewers reclassified. Just enjoy the win but don’t speak nonsense lol
 
To be honest, I didn't see any adjustments...the 1st drive Ed's missed 2 sacks and didn't play the ball well on a couple of throws...they pretty much ran the 3 man front 90% of the time and most of the time still got pressure....also, I don't see Allar ever making an impact at Penn St...I was not impressed w him at all...just a guess about 17/40 on the day?
Agree that there really wasn't any adjustment after the first drive. It was just a well executed drive by Medina where Allar did a great job side stepping pressure and delivering nice throws to receivers who were pretty well covered. The rest of the night did not go as smoothly. The coverage downfield was great (eliminating the home run balls), the front three of Kilbane/Harvey/Gedeon were able to generate pressure without having to blitz, and Zyion Brown and the safeties got good drops and created disruption in the passing lanes that Allar is accustomed to throwing into.

Disagree that this game is an indictment on Allar. I've watched the kid enough and he is a phenomenal arm talent. As a Buckeye fan, I'm hoping Franklin jumps ship and Allar swings back to the good guys. He would put up video game numbers in Day's offense.
 
Full transparency here.. first time I saw either team play. Medina looked like they had no business in this game. Ed's line man-handled Medina on both sides of the ball. Can't believe Medina's area league offense, not a single running play. I can't picture any team with a one dimensional game plan winning a championship (remember Mentor's "who needs defense? We got Mitch!" year?).

I agree Medina's QB has got NFL caliber written all over him but with no time to throw and receivers that couldn't get separation or dropping multiple passes, he didn't have a chance. Medina reminded me of the Brown's, couldn't get off the field on 3rd down.
 
Agree that there really wasn't any adjustment after the first drive. It was just a well executed drive by Medina where Allar did a great job side stepping pressure and delivering nice throws to receivers who were pretty well covered. The rest of the night did not go as smoothly. The coverage downfield was great (eliminating the home run balls), the front three of Kilbane/Harvey/Gedeon were able to generate pressure without having to blitz, and Zyion Brown and the safeties got good drops and created disruption in the passing lanes that Allar is accustomed to throwing into.

Disagree that this game is an indictment on Allar. I've watched the kid enough and he is a phenomenal arm talent. As a Buckeye fan, I'm hoping Franklin jumps ship and Allar swings back to the good guys. He would put up video game numbers in Day's offense.
No worries, our QB pipeline at the Shoe is doing well and Franklin can't utilize talent completely nor can he win top 10 games. Having said that, if he ever decides to come home, oh boy those numbers
 
I thought it was surprising to see Medina struggle to string together more than 3 passes on a lot of drives and it's a testament to the coverage and the pursuit of mostly 3 d lineman most of the game. The game plan of sit back and make him pick you apart with accuracy while avoiding the rush worked really well. Ed's capitalized on the first quarter turnover which helped keep game pressure on I think. Really loved the fake punt and double lateral pass for the TD early in the second half. I think it got the Eagles excited and kept motivation for the defense. From that point on, it just was wearing Medina down physically and mentally.
 
Full transparency here.. first time I saw either team play. Medina looked like they had no business in this game. Ed's line man-handled Medina on both sides of the ball. Can't believe Medina's area league offense, not a single running play. I can't picture any team with a one dimensional game plan winning a championship (remember Mentor's "who needs defense? We got Mitch!" year?).

I agree Medina's QB has got NFL caliber written all over him but with no time to throw and receivers that couldn't get separation or dropping multiple passes, he didn't have a chance. Medina reminded me of the Brown's, couldn't get off the field on 3rd down.
a QB's best friend is a good running game. If a 3-man DL front can stop the rush and put pressure on the QB, the D will win the math equation of 8 vs 5. Elks faced the same thing all season. If the DBs can play man-press on the WRs, the QB has no chance to be effective (8 > 5).
 
Full transparency here.. first time I saw either team play. Medina looked like they had no business in this game. Ed's line man-handled Medina on both sides of the ball. Can't believe Medina's area league offense, not a single running play. I can't picture any team with a one dimensional game plan winning a championship (remember Mentor's "who needs defense? We got Mitch!" year?).

I agree Medina's QB has got NFL caliber written all over him but with no time to throw and receivers that couldn't get separation or dropping multiple passes, he didn't have a chance. Medina reminded me of the Brown's, couldn't get off the field on 3rd down.

The story isn't as much about Medina's shortcomings as it is what some privates can consistently assemble. Medina is just physically unable to be much better than that but once per blue moon and stars all aligned. A top 1 or 2 public school team in all of Ohio. Great team, great season, great QB, hold your heads up.
 
When are these 5 wide, throw the ball every play teams going to learn that it just doenst work deep in the playoffs. Mentor has tried and failed , Medina failed , you have to be balanced and just running qb draws won’t cut it. Even with once in a generation talented qbs they still loose.

great D adjustments by coach Pappas!
Mentors problem has been defense. We've had plenty of balanced teams offensively that got it done plenty in the playoffs and did their job. Eds fans should know that

The only year like this Medina team was 2011 where we had tons of talent at wr and went 5 wide. We played Ignatius with a huge wind the whole game and lost by 6. If it were better conditions like Medina had yesterday , I think mentor wins the state title that year

We really shouldn't be compared to Medina here. Mentors breakthrough teams in 2002 and 2003 lost by 7 in the first regional final and by 3 in OT in the second regional final. Medina lost by 35 each time

We've also won the region 7 times and been to 4 state finals. And two of those state finals were 1 point losses in double ot and a 3 point loss as well

It was hardly unbalanced offenses that has led to Mentor just coming up short
 
No worries, our QB pipeline at the Shoe is doing well and Franklin can't utilize talent completely nor can he win top 10 games. Having said that, if he ever decides to come home, oh boy those numbers
don't be surprised if both Miller and McCord are gone after this season. the vacuum behind Ewers will make it hard to sign a '22 QB. Allar should be a in a great position at Penn State - hope that Franklin is still at Penn State when he gets there
 
After watching Medina and Allar take the opening drive in for a TD in 2:32 and then watching St. Ed's with their kick-off return and eventual score in 2:01, I thought we were going to see a Mentor-Trubisky 63 to 56 shoot out. So needless to say, I was very surprised to watch this game develop and the Eagles D made great adjustments. It was a well thought out game plan, reminisce of the defensive game plan used against Mentor in 2003. Eagles were willing to give up some yards, but not the long touchdown play.
 
Medina really needed to play with better pace this season. Eds was always going to have a talent advantage, but you can minimize that by playing a HUNH offense that leaves the defense with their hands on their hips. Medina was no-huddle, but I don't think their pace was nearly as fast as it should have been. Allar and his offense could have been working on that type of offense all off-season. I remember Willoughby South had a really nice HUNH offense a handful of years ago and their QB wasn't nearly as good as Allar. If you know you are going to be undermanned in weeks 13, 14, and 15 then a good way to offset that is to play at a pace other schools aren't used to playing at and having a QB as good as Allar allows you the luxury of playing at that pace.

I think too much is being made of scheme for Eds. Eds just has better players. Their DB's can stick with Medina's WR's in ways that other schools' DB's can't. Their DL can get pressure with just 3 in ways that other schools couldn't. Eds just has better players. They can pluck kids from all over NE Ohio. That makes life incredibly easy for coaches.
 
Was at the game last night and had a great time. I was expecting a bit closer of a score, but it was an entertaining game up until the end of the third quarter when Ed's tried to go for the 2-pt conversion to start the running clock (thank you, Coach Lombardo, for trying to get us all home and out of the cold early).

While walking into the stadium, I was surrounded by some nice Medina folks in line. Based off of their conversations, it was pretty evident that the crowd I was around most likely did not attend many D1 playoff games before or know much about this Ed's team. I was walking in with the mindset that "Allar is probably the best NEO QB since Mitch at Mentor, so they can score; but will the Medina defense be enough to stop Ed's?" What I did not think about, was the impact that special teams would have on the game.

The first drive was what I expected, Allar carved up Ed's like next week's deep-fried Turkey (sidenote: be safe out there and make sure y'all measure the oil line by using water and the turkey before hand, and turn that flame off before you put the bird in the pot/take it out). Immediately after, the Medina kicker missed the XP. I thought to myself: "that XP is going to come back and haunt them." It did, but it was the least of their special team worries. Ed's consistently started with a short field and straight up bullied the Medina DL. I think Ed's had to drive less than 50 yards for most of the first half. They maybe had one drive where they were on their own 45.

Back to the Medina folks in line: they reminded me a lot of fans from a North Royalton squad that went 10-0 in the regular season almost a decade ago now. That team ended up playing Ignatius in the playoffs and the NoRo folks were very optimistic about the game. This year, Medina had the best player on the field at the most important position in the sport - so why not be confident? Ultimately, this ended up being similar to Tim McVey scoring 7 TD's in that first half against that NoRo team. Ed's defensive staff played 3 men down who looked to all be of DE size because they obviously did not need to worry whatsoever about the run game. Medina's passing attack slowed down from the Ed's shift to playing more press-man, but I guarantee that the cold weather and wing also played a factor. Allar hit several receivers and they ended up dropping some easy balls that could have at least made the score closer. Allar did miss on a few key throws - there were two routes where he had his man wide open in the endzone and once he airmailed it and the other time it was wide right. He has arm talent, but trying to erase a 20+ point deficit will cause you to force some things.

Great game, I just wish the Byers hot chocolate would have been a little less watery.
 
Mentors problem has been defense. We've had plenty of balanced teams offensively that got it done plenty in the playoffs and did their job. Eds fans should know that

The only year like this Medina team was 2011 where we had tons of talent at wr and went 5 wide. We played Ignatius with a huge wind the whole game and lost by 6. If it were better conditions like Medina had yesterday , I think mentor wins the state title that year

We really shouldn't be compared to Medina here. Mentors breakthrough teams in 2002 and 2003 lost by 7 in the first regional final and by 3 in OT in the second regional final. Medina lost by 35 each time

We've also won the region 7 times and been to 4 state finals. And two of those state finals were 1 point losses in double ot and a 3 point loss as well

It was hardly unbalanced offenses that has led to Mentor just coming up short
I agree Mentor's issues have usually been defensively. But I would say their best team defenses were those 2002-2003 teams. If the 2003 game isn't played in terrible weather I think they would have beaten St. Ed's and probably given Elder a better game than we did. Just more balance and more talent. Don't get me wrong, that 2003 St. Ed's team was good and fun to watch, had a way to win that worked and competed with everyone but Elder was too big and too strong.
 
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