DV R19

[packers80]

It's still I-town's region to lose in my opinion, and that's all it is, my lone opinion. They haven't looked too sharp the past couple weeks, but with their talent and recent success in regional play they're still the team to beat.

[art_vandelay]

Burg will have a easy road to regionals

Yep…Burg will cakewalk to the Regional Final with the way seeding turned out. Really like the way they playing heading into playoffs.*

Love all of the praise for Burg but time for a reality check. Burg is #7 in the region and has lost to IHS and HP this year, two of the top teams in the region. Although Burg is playing well right now, they have a lot of work to do in order to get to the regional final. Will have to exorcise some of their demons along the way.

RBH: I shouldn’t said “cakewalk”, but if Burg ends up 7 seed, and Harvest Prep ends up 4 or 5, Burg guaranteed to not play Ironton or HP until Regional Final, and would only have to beat 1 of them to win Region. This is the absolute best possible scenario for Burg after the slow start to season.

Packers80: agreed that Ironton still the favorite until somebody knocks them off. Don’t think this Ironton team as good as the Ironton teams from last 2 seasons though, but I’ve been wrong before.*

[RBH23]

Yep…Burg will cakewalk to the Regional Final with the way seeding turned out. Really like the way they playing heading into playoffs.*

Love all of the praise for Burg but time for a reality check. Burg is #7 in the region and has lost to IHS and HP this year, two of the top teams in the region. Although Burg is playing well right now, they have a lot of work to do in order to get to the regional final. Will have to exorcise some of their demons along the way.

RBH: I shouldn’t said “cakewalk”, but if Burg ends up 7 seed, and Harvest Prep ends up 4 or 5, Burg guaranteed to not play Ironton or HP until Regional Final, and would only have to beat 1 of them to win Region. This is the absolute best possible scenario for Burg after the slow start to season.

Packers80: agreed that Ironton still the favorite until somebody knocks them off. Don’t think this Ironton team as good as the Ironton teams from last 2 seasons though, but I’ve been wrong before.*

Good point. That would be fantastic if Burg could avoid those two teams as long as possible.

Btw, is anything awry at IHS? Really surprised by the scores in their last two games. Resting players? Injuries? Trying some new things? Or Gallia/Portsmouth playing inspired ball?

[muskiefan11]

Unofficial Seedings/Matchups according to Joe Eitel:

16 Worthington Christian @ 1 Ironton
9 Heath @ 8 Portsmouth West
13 New Lex or Union Local @ 4 Harvest Prep
12 New Lex or Union Local @ 5 West Muskingum
15 Portsmouth @ 2 Fairland
10 Africentric @ 7 Wheelersburg
14 South Point @ 3 Barnesville
11 Utica @ 6 Columbus Academy

Union Local earns the 12-seed with a Bellaire win over Martins Ferry, New Lexington earns the 12-seed with a Martins Ferry win over Bellaire.

[fielddaddy]

I could see South Point pulling of the upset of Barnesville.
Wheelersburg has a tough drawl as does Port, West
Some good games to look forward to

[TigerBob]

Love all of the praise for Burg but time for a reality check. Burg is #7 in the region and has lost to IHS and HP this year, two of the top teams in the region. Although Burg is playing well right now, they have a lot of work to do in order to get to the regional final. Will have to exorcise some of their demons along the way.

RBH: I shouldn’t said “cakewalk”, but if Burg ends up 7 seed, and Harvest Prep ends up 4 or 5, Burg guaranteed to not play Ironton or HP until Regional Final, and would only have to beat 1 of them to win Region. This is the absolute best possible scenario for Burg after the slow start to season.

Packers80: agreed that Ironton still the favorite until somebody knocks them off. Don’t think this Ironton team as good as the Ironton teams from last 2 seasons though, but I’ve been wrong before.*

Good point. That would be fantastic if Burg could avoid those two teams as long as possible.

Btw, is anything awry at IHS? Really surprised by the scores in their last two games. Resting players? Injuries? Trying some new things? Or Gallia/Portsmouth playing inspired ball?

Plain ol’ bad play. Wish there were a better excuse.

[scott1297]

I could see South Point pulling of the upset of Barnesville.
Wheelersburg has a tough drawl as does Port, West
Some good games to look forward to

Burg got the best draw they could have asked for

[fbnut]

I could see South Point pulling of the upset of Barnesville.
Wheelersburg has a tough drawl as does Port, West
Some good games to look forward to

Burg got the best draw they could have asked for

Agree

[ItsMyOpinion]

Wheelersburg got a great bracket in the playoffs. They have a clear path to the Regional Finals. Sometimes that is the way brackets fall with a 16 team region. It will look like a great playoff run but Wheelersburg will be a clear favorite until they get to the Regional finals. We all know when it comes down to one game in the Regional Finals anything can happen. Hopefully all playoff teams stay healthy throughout the playoffs.

[TigerBob]

Wheelersburg traveling to Fairland could be a fun one. Imagine seats will be full by 1 minute after gates open.

Agree that Wheeelersburg should win 3 games minimum.

Ironton will need to play better to get to the semis. Heath or West seem capable of knocking them off if they play like they have for the last two weeks. Harvest Prep would beat the Ironton team that played last night by multiple touchdowns.

[RBH23]

Wheelersburg traveling to Fairland could be a fun one. Imagine seats will be full by 1 minute after gates open.

Agree that Wheeelersburg should win 3 games minimum.

Ironton will need to play better to get to the semis. Heath or West seem capable of knocking them off if they play like they have for the last two weeks. Harvest Prep would beat the Ironton team that played last night by multiple touchdowns.

Obviously one game at a time, but a Burg-Fairland matchup could be very interesting.

IHS got screwed by the luck of the draw. Should win their games but definitely a tougher path.

Will be interesting to see who wins the region.

[TigerBob]

My guess is Wheelersburg will bully Fairland into submission. But Fairland has the athletes to make some big plays, and with Wheelersburg’s style, a drive or two that end in a fumble or penalties and it’s a tight game late.

Ironton didn’t really get screwed the with draw. Not much you can do. For the last three years, the best 3 programs in the region have been Ironton, Wheelersburg, and Harvest Prep. In 2021, Prep was on one side, they won the region. In 2022, it was Ironton with the same story. This year it’s Wheelersburg. No fair way to do it with 3 teams playing for 1 title. All evens out in the end, and you gotta play the best eventually. No sense whining.

[packers80]

I could see South Point pulling of the upset of Barnesville.
Wheelersburg has a tough drawl as does Port, West
Some good games to look forward to

Burg got the best draw they could have asked for

Agree

100% agree.

[RBH23]

My guess is Wheelersburg will bully Fairland into submission. But Fairland has the athletes to make some big plays, and with Wheelersburg’s style, a drive or two that end in a fumble or penalties and it’s a tight game late.

Ironton didn’t really get screwed the with draw. Not much you can do. For the last three years, the best 3 programs in the region have been Ironton, Wheelersburg, and Harvest Prep. In 2021, Prep was on one side, they won the region. In 2022, it was Ironton with the same story. This year it’s Wheelersburg. No fair way to do it with 3 teams playing for 1 title. All evens out in the end, and you gotta play the best eventually. No sense whining.

True. My comment is based on the fact that the #1 seed typically gets the “easiest” path. In this case, Burg at 7 has an easier path then Ironton who’s sitting at #1. Will be fun to see how this plays out.

On a different note, Coldwater got hammered by ML 35-14. Crazy to think that Coldwater didn’t win their conference yet will be one of the favorites to win D5. Probably safe to say that ML is a massive favorite to win D7 state title. Would probably be favored to win the title in divisions D4 through D7.

[TigerBob]

ML is a machine. I wish they could move up. I’d like to see how many divisions they could win.

[522Pirate]

My guess is Wheelersburg will bully Fairland into submission. But Fairland has the athletes to make some big plays, and with Wheelersburg’s style, a drive or two that end in a fumble or penalties and it’s a tight game late.

Ironton didn’t really get screwed the with draw. Not much you can do. For the last three years, the best 3 programs in the region have been Ironton, Wheelersburg, and Harvest Prep. In 2021, Prep was on one side, they won the region. In 2022, it was Ironton with the same story. This year it’s Wheelersburg. No fair way to do it with 3 teams playing for 1 title. All evens out in the end, and you gotta play the best eventually. No sense whining.

Yep…if you’re goal is to win it all then you need to be ready mentally and physically to beat everybody regardless of what round it’s in

[522Pirate]

ML is a machine. I wish they could move up. I’d like to see how many divisions they could win.

Versailles just about clipped them at ML…don’t know the story of the game but I would’ve thought Coldwater would have given a better challenge to ML than that.

[Tri_State790]

RBH: I shouldn’t said “cakewalk”, but if Burg ends up 7 seed, and Harvest Prep ends up 4 or 5, Burg guaranteed to not play Ironton or HP until Regional Final, and would only have to beat 1 of them to win Region. This is the absolute best possible scenario for Burg after the slow start to season.

Packers80: agreed that Ironton still the favorite until somebody knocks them off. Don’t think this Ironton team as good as the Ironton teams from last 2 seasons though, but I’ve been wrong before.*

Good point. That would be fantastic if Burg could avoid those two teams as long as possible.

Btw, is anything awry at IHS? Really surprised by the scores in their last two games. Resting players? Injuries? Trying some new things? Or Gallia/Portsmouth playing inspired ball?

Plain ol’ bad play. Wish there were a better excuse.

Nothing looks crisp for Ironton for about the last 3 weeks or so. They looked sharper in the first 3 games of the season than they do in week 10.

Unforced errors
Poor ball security
Defense is susceptible to get gashed by the run.
Offensive line still looks slow in the running game.
Special teams have taken a step back despite Terry's return.
Still no continuity at Center.
Defense can be bullied between the tackles.

We are fortunate for the 16 team field. Get a cpl weeks to try to fix some issues. However long term by week 10.this is pretty much who you are.

Sidenote: offensive playcalling is sporadic and impulsive. There is no identity or seemingly any structured plan of how to attack defenses. Feels like it's a throw everything at the wall to see what sticks approach. Again it's week 10.

[RJ71C71R]

ML is a machine. I wish they could move up. I’d like to see how many divisions they could win.

Versailles just about clipped them at ML…don’t know the story of the game but I would’ve thought Coldwater would have given a better challenge to ML than that.

I was actually at this high school game by chance on Friday night. I was at a race at Eldora Speedway in New Weston, Ohio and they got rained out Friday night to Saturday. So I seen where Marion Local was hosting Coldwater and boy teams were 9-0 and Marie Stein which is where Marion Local is located was like a 17 minute drive away. So I get there about 5 minutes before game time and the place is packed and it's an electric atmosphere!! Coldwater looked like Ironton in their white uniforms with Orange numbers outlined in black. They took the first drive down around the 20 and got stopped on downs.
Marion Local then went down and scored and it was 7 to 0 at the end of the first quarter. Coldwater then drove and tied up. Marion Local scored and went up 14-7 later and then Coldwater got inside the 10 and got stopped close to the goal line right before the half. ML then took the second half drive and went up 21-7.
Then Coldwater got a good drive going mostly with passes in the rain and then got intercepted in the end zone and ML returned it to like the 45 and 2 plays later hit long pass to go up 28 to 7 heading into the final quarter so I left lol. It was a lot closer than it appeared though. ML was bigger and ran more and Coldwater had good receivers and when their quarterback had time they could hit some good passes but he was hounded a lot!! Much better game and their facility was nice and the grass field held up pretty good in the rain. The 50/50 was $9014 for a high school football game lol. I had a great time and love me some good football. I live in Ironton now and graduated from Coal Grove. So let's go Ironton and the Grove in the playoffs ,although I believe in Ironton way more right now lol.

[Sonny Weaver]

Burg got the best draw they could have asked for

Agree

100% agree.

Honestly cannot believe it fell this way. I think we all can agree its Ironton, HP, Burg as the top 3 teams in this region -- in that order. For Burg to land at 7 and HP at 4 is a stroke of luck for the Pirates. Fairland is a weak 2 seed. Burg will sleepwalk to the Regional final. Giving this team a second crack vs either Ironton or HP, with nothing to lose... Oh boy watch out. We could very well see Burg come out of this region.