Columbia earns their Stripes

The Raiders used a dominating rushing attack in the 2nd half blowing open a close game and defeating the Clearview Clippers 51-25. You can listen to the replay online.

Columbia led by junior quarterback Jay Banyasz (23-161 and five touchdowns rushing, 132 yards and one touchdown passing) and junior Jacob Kleinhenz (17-80 one touchdown rushing).

The victory in the mud and rain at Tom Hoch field in Lorain Ohio gave the Raiders their 2nd Stripes Division title of the Patriot Athletic Conference. The win also assures Columbia of hosting their first play-off game in school history in Division V, Region 18.

Columbia vs. Clearview: The Names and Numbers

@_CHSFootball and @chsclippers play tonight with the PAC Stripes Division on the line. Here is your guide to the game as you listen online. 

PAC STRIPES STANDINGS

Columbia (8-1, 6-0, 10 points)
Clearview (7-2, 5-1, 9 points)
Lutheran West (4-5, 3-3, 5 points)
Fairview (3-6, 3-3, 5 points)
Oberlin (5-4, 2-4, 2 points)
Brooklyn (0-9, 0-6, 0 points)

Lorain County High School Football Week 10 Picks

Last week of the regular season is coming up. Play-off spots are still up in the air as are the conference races.

The biggest matchup is a winner take all game between the Columbia Raiders and the Clearview Clippers. For Columbia, a victory would give them 12 points and the PAC Stripes, in addition to potentially securing a home play-off game next week in Region 18. For Clearview, a victory and they would win the Stripes Division with 11 points and hang on to a play-off spot in Region 14.

Patriot Athletic Conference Stripes Division Columbia (8-1, 6-0, 10 points) Clearview (7-2, 5-1, 9 points) Lutheran West (4-5, 3-3, 5 points) Fairview (3-6, 3-3, 5 points) Oberlin (5-4, 2-4, 2 points) Brooklyn (0-9, 0-6, 0 points) Stars Division Black River (5-4, 5-1, 8 points) Keystone (5-4, 4-2, 7 points) Buckeye (3-6, 3-3, 5 points) Wellington (3-6, 3-3, 5 points) Firelands (2-7, 2-4, 4 points) Brookside (0-9, 0-6, 0 points) West Shore Conference Avon (8-1, 6-0) Midview (8-1, 5-1) Rocky River (5-4, 4-2) Elyria Catholic (5-4, 3-3) Lakewood​ (4-5, 3-3) Bay (3-6, 1-5) Vermilion (2-7, 1-5) North Ridgeville (1-8, 1-5) Southwestern Conference Westlake (8-1, 5-1) Avon Lake (7-2, 5-1) Brecksville (5-4, 5-1) North Olmsted (7-2, 4-2) Midpark (5-4, 2-4) Berea (3-6, 1-5) Amherst (2-7, 1-5) Olmsted Falls (1-8, 1-5) Lake Erie League Warren Harding (8-1, 6-0) Euclid (6-3, 5-1) Cleveland Hts (7-2, 4-2) Shaw (5-4, 3-3) Bedford (4-4, 2-3) Maple Hts (4-4, 2-3) Lorain (2-7, 2-4) Warrensville Hts (1-8, 0-6) Northeast Ohio Conference River Division N. Royalton (9-0, 4-0) Hudson (7-2, 3-1) Elyria (7-2, 3-1) Mayfield (5-4, 2-2) Cuy. Falls (3-6, 0-4) Stow (2-7, 0-4)

Both teams are on a roll. After a loss in week 1 to Cleveland Central Catholic, Columbia has won eight straight games. Clearview has won four straight.

A winner take all game takes in the PAC Stars division. Black River travels to new Wildcat Stadium to take on Keystone. The Pirates have an 8-7 advantage in total points. Although neither team will go to the play-offs, the winner will earn two points and win the division.

Keystone has won two straight since the return of quarterback Marcus Gunter including a close 15-14 at Buckeye. Black River also winners of two straight in dominating fashion over Brookside (63-14) and Firelands (43-0).

Avon has a one-game lead in the West Shore Conference at 6-0 while Midview is at 5-1. The Eagles will clinch the crown with a win against North Ridgeville or a Midview loss at Bay.

One week to go and still a three-way tie in the Southwestern Conference. Two of teams, Brecksville and Westlake will face each other while Avon Lake hosts Amherst. The winner of the Brecksville / Westlake game can win the conference outright with an Amherst win while the best Avon Lake can hope for is a shared conference championship.

If the season ended today, the Week 11 match-ups are ....
Friday November 2:

• Midview at Avon (Region 6: #6 vs. #3)
• Clearview at Ottawa-Glandorf (Region 14: #7 vs. #2)

Saturday November 3:

• Avon Lake at Canton Glen Oak (Region 2: #5 vs. #4)
• Columbia at Liberty-Benton (Region 18: #5 vs. #4)

In the prediction game, I was 14-2 last week to put my record at 126-39 for the year. A great week.

However, Jeremy was one better with a 15-1 mark for his best week of the year. Apparently, I should not have waited until last week to introduce the trash can image.

PRIME Wrestling Brawl In The Hall II

SPOILER ALERT: Results from last night's @PRIMEwrestling TV taping event at Local 1005 UAW Hall in Parma Ohio - all wrestling blog posts.

1. Nicky Valentino defeated Jay Flash via cross-faced chickenwing submission.
   
   
2. Jessicka Havok pinned Queen Bobbinette Carey.

Black River 43, Firelands 0

The Pirates used a dominating running attack to defeat the Firelands Falcons 43-0. You can listen to the replay online.

Black River was led by junior running back Andrew Vaughn (18-175 rushing, two touchdowns) and senior Austin Phillips (14-121 rushing, three touchdowns).

Things turned bad early for Firelands. Trying to punt deep in his own territory, freshman Brad Thrasher went down on one knee to catch a bad snap. Under high school rules, the ball carrier is ruled down. This gave Black River the ball on the Firelands 18. The first play from scrimmage for the Pirates turned into an 18-yard run for Vaughn less than a minute into the game.

Firelands at Black River tonight

Another big game in the PAC Stars Division tonight in Sullivan, Ohio as the Black River Pirates host the Firelands Falcons. I will be covering the high school football game for WOBL. You can tune in to 1320 AM or listen online (replay will be available online as well). I'll be working with play-by-play announcer Bob Karlovec and sideline reporter Dave Andrews.

Looking at the division standings, still four teams alive with two weeks left:

Lorain County High School Football Week 9 Picks

Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division Black River (4-4, 4-1, 6 points) Buckeye (3-5, 3-2, 5 points) Keystone (4-4, 3-2, 5 points) Firelands (2-6, 2-3, 4 points) Wellington (2-6, 2-3, 3 points) Brookside (0-8, 0-5, 0 points) Stripes Division Columbia (7-1, 5-0, 8 points) Clearview (6-2, 4-1, 7 points) Fairview (3-5, 3-2, 5 points) Lutheran West (3-5, 2-3, 3 points) Oberlin (5-3, 2-3, 2 points) Brooklyn (0-8, 0-5, 0 points) West Shore Conference Avon (7-1, 5-0) Midview (7-1, 4-1) Rocky River (5-3, 4-1) Elyria Catholic (5-3, 3-2) Lakewood​ (3-5, 2-3) North Ridgeville (1-7, 1-4) Vermilion (2-6, 1-4) Bay (2-6, 0-5) Southwestern Conference Avon Lake (6-2, 4-1) Westlake (7-1, 4-1) Brecksville (4-4, 4-1) North Olmsted (6-2, 3-2) Midpark (5-3, 2-3) Berea (3-5, 1-4) Amherst (2-6, 1-4) Olmsted Falls (1-7, 1-4)

Just two weeks left in the regular season. There are still five teams in contention for the post-season and none of the conference races in Lorain County have been decided.

First the post-season, currently, Week 11 match-ups are ....
Friday November 2:

• Avon at Mansfield (Region 6: #5 vs. #4)
• Midview at Westlake (Region 6: #6 vs. #3)
• Clearview at Ottawa-Glandorf (Region 14: #7 vs. #2)

Saturday November 3:

• Avon Lake at Canton Glen Oak (Region 2: #5 vs. #4)
• Columbia at Patrick Henry (Region 18: #5 vs. #4)

Next the county races:

• The PAC Stars Division has Black River, Buckeye and Keystone in the hunt. The Wildcats control their own destiny as they travel to Buckeye in week 9 and then host Black River in week 10. The Pirates host Firelands this week can win the division by winning their last two games.
  
  
• In the PAC Stripes, Columbia and Clearview are on a collision course in week 10. First the Raiders will have to get by Fairview who have won two straight. Clearview travels to winless Brooklyn.
  
  Note: In the Patriot Athletic Conference, teams earn two points for a division win.
  
• Avon leads the West Shore Conference at 5-0 with a tie for 2nd place between Midview and Rocky River. The Eagles are red hot having won seven straight games travel to Rocky River who have won four straight themselves. Midview hosts Elyria Catholic.

Keystone 27, Wellington 14

Sophomore wide receiver C.J. Conrad had 204 yards receiving on 12 catches and scored three touchdowns as the Keystone Wildcats defeat the Wellington Dukes 27-14. You can listen to the replay online.

Wellington struck first after Jake Deidrick recovered a muffed punt deep in Keystone territory. The Dukes went 19 yards on 6 plays capped by a Tyler Polen 3-yard run to give Wellington a 7-0 lead.

Keystone tied the game late in the 2nd quarter when Conrad caught a 40-yard pass from junior quarterback Marcus Gunter with just 47 seconds remaining capping a 9-play, 81-yard drive.

Cleveland 34, Cincinnati 24

The Cleveland Browns earned their first win of the season at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. Here are thoughts, news and opinions while watching the game.

Opening Rant

Nice going Scott Fujita: once again selfishly putting yourself ahead of your team.

Instead of practicing and being a leader on the field (he's inactive today), you're spending time challenging Roger Goodell over the bounty scandal. D'Qwell Jackson suffered a concussion last week and he's going to play today.

Keystone vs. Wellington tonight

Critical PAC Stars Division match-up takes place this evening in Wellington, Ohio as the Dukes host the Keystone Wildcats. I will be covering the high school football game for WOBL. You can tune in to 1320 AM or listen online (replay will be available online as well). I'll be working with play-by-play announcer Bob Karlovec and sideline reporter Dave Andrews.

Looking at the division standings, all but one team is still alive with three weeks remaining:

Lorain County High School Football Week 8 Picks

Coming down the home stretch of the year. There plenty of teams with conference and post-season goals still alive.

If the season ended today, your Week 11 match-ups are:

• Avon Lake at Canton Glen Oak (#5 vs. #4)
• Perrysburg at Avon (#5 vs. #4)
• Midview at Tiffin Columbian (#7 vs. #2)
• Clearview at Ottawa-Glandorf (#8 vs. #1)
• Columbia at Patrick Henry (#5 vs. #4)

All Lorain County conference races are up in the air:

• Avon's win last week vs. Midview puts the Eagles ahead of the Middies in the West Shore Conference.
  
  
• Friday's night game between Brecksville and Avon Lake will go a long way to determining who wins the Southwestern Conference with Westlake still in the hunt.
  
• Columbia and Clearview are the leaders in the PAC Stripes Division with both teams scheduled for a Week 10 showdown.
  
• Five of the six teams in the PAC Stars Division still have a shot. The two leaders, Firelands and Black River will play each other in Week 9.

I had another solid week with predictions checking in with a 12-4 record. The season total is now 99-34. Jeremy had went 9-6 to move to 75-54. Get ready Jeremy, it's almost Garbage Time.

Get your updated school schedules and standings and results.

The picks

Keystone (3-4, 2-2) at Wellington (2-5, 2-2) - I will covering this game for WOBL radio - tune in to 1320 AM or listen online

Clearview 36, Oberlin 14

Clearview continues their dominance of Oberlin in bad weather conditions in winning big 36-14. You can listen to the replay online.

After the game was tied at 14 at halftime, the Clippers ran for 218 yards in the 2nd half led by senior running back Chad Anderson who had 34 carries for 243 yards and four touchdowns.

Clearview got on the board late in the 1st quarter taking advantage of Oberlin blown coverage with sophomore quarterback Roger Engle finding senior Ryan Vargo down the sideline for a 50-yard touchdown. After Oberlin punted, the Clippers struck again with a 5-play, 65-yard drive culminating with an Anderson 19-yard scoring run.

The Phoenix rallied to close the first half. Senior quarterback Jason Moore Jr. was 10-12 in the 2nd quarter for 120 yards in leading Oberlin back to even at halftime. First a 4-yard touchdown run that capped a 7-play, 55-yard drive that pulled the Phoenix to 17-7. Then Moore Jr. completed a 10-yard touchdown pass that was initially tipped by Vargo but then fell into the hands of Marcus Bailey to cap a 12-play, 88-yard drive with just 17 seconds remaining. Moore finished the night with 77 yards rushing and 185 yards passing.

Clearview vs. Oberlin tonight

Conference titles and critical play-off hopes are on the line tonight in Oberlin, Ohio as the Phoenix host the Clearview Clippers. I will be covering the high school football game for WOBL. You can tune in to 1320 AM or listen online (replay will be available online as well). I'll be working with play-by-play announcer Bob Karlovec and sideline reporter Dave Andrews.

Clearview is currently ranked 8th and hanging on to the final play-off spot in Division 4, Region 14 while Oberlin is the 12th team in Division 5, Region 18 on the outside looking in.

In the Stripes Division of the Patriot Athletic Conference, both teams are in the thick of things.

Lorain County High School Football Week 7 Picks

Can't believe it is week 7. Just when college and the pros get underway, high school is winding down. This game isn't winding down, I'm still going strong. Last week, my record was 13-3 to bring my season total to 87-30.

Jeremy had an 11-5 record for the 2nd week in a row to give him a 66-48 mark. Pretty soon, I'll calculate the magic number for myself to be declared the winner of this game. If Jeremy is still within striking distance come week 10, he'll avoid the trash can image.

Get your updated school schedules and standings and results.

The picks

Clearview at Oberlin - I will covering this game for WOBL radio - tune in to 1320 AM or listen online

Akron Marathon 2012

Participated in the Relay Race portion of the Akron Marathon. The team consisted of Maureen Vastagh, Douglas Morgan, Ken Slater, myself and Kevin Kowel.

My portion of the race (Leg 4) started at Sand Run Parkway and Portage Path and finished at Firestone High School – covered approximately 4.5 miles from the 16.2 mark of the race to the 20.7 mark.

The team officially finished at 4:22:38.


Members of the "Knights of the Buffet Table" team:
Douglas Morgan, Ken Slater, myself (back) and Kevin Kowel (front).

Beginning of the race at National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Runners relax at the Canal Park outfield after the race.

This is one of the relay marathon participants who was
dressed in a Cleveland Browns Trent Richardson jersey, long hair extensions
and a #92 Browns helmet (assuming Michael Dean Perry).
He hadn't started his portion of the race yet.
The sun was out and I bet he was warm.

Firestone High School was Relay Point 5 of the race

Firelands 32, Wellington 29

Firelands gets their first victory of the year as the Falcons built a big 3rd quarter lead and hung on to win. You can listen to the replay online.

Senior quarterback Joe Hyster had 148 passing and two touchdowns in addition 57 yards rushing. Hyster made his impact defensively as well with two turnovers. First he tipped a Dylan Weidrick pass that was intercepted by Stephen Peterson. Then he intercepted a Weidrick pass and 61 return led to a touchdown pass from Hyster to Dakota Dodge to put Firelands up 32-15. Hyster earlier hooked up earlier with Nick Bauer for a 2nd quarter score.

Senior running back Zach Hofecker had nine carries for 26 yards but three of those rushes went for touchdowns.

Firelands vs. Wellington tonight

I will be covering high school football tonight in Wellington, Ohio as the Dukes host the Firelands Falcons. You can tune in to 1320 AM or listen online (replay will be available online as well). I'll be working with play-by-play announcer Bob Karlovec and sideline reporter Dave Andrews.

What a difference a year makes. Both these teams were in the play-offs a year. Firelands qualified as the 8th and final seed in Division 3, Region 9 while Wellington earned the 8th spot in Division 4, Region 14. Fast forward to 2012 and neither team is going to the post-season. Firelands is still looking for their win of the year while Wellington earned their first victory defeating Clearview 43-13 last week.

Lorain County High School Football Week 6 Predictions

We have reached the halfway point of the season and at 73% success rate. I'm on pace for my best season ever picking games. Didn't have a strong week last Friday with a 10-6 record to bring my season total to 74-27.

I'm somewhat concerned this week that I'm picking 13 road teams to win. I thought long and hard before pulling the trigger on Bay, Brecksville, Clearview, Columbia, Lorain and Rocky River. All are games that could go either way.

Jeremy for the first time this year had a better weekly record than yours truly. After earning an 11-5 record, his season total is 56% and he can hold off the trash can image for another week. A lot of toss up games in week 6 - prime opportunity to catch up in the season standings.

Get your updated school schedules and standings and results.

The picks

Firelands at Wellington - I will covering this game for WOBL radio - tune in to 1320 AM or listen online

Lutheran West 40, Brookside 0

A record-setting night for Chris Ranc and it's a 40-0 victory for Lutheran West over Brookside. You can listen to the replay online.

Ranc, the 6-2, 190 senior captain, ran the ball 34 times for 356 yards and four touchdowns.

After a blocked field goal on their first possession, the Longhorns scored three straight times including 1-yard run by quarterback Greg Kunze, a 1-yard run for Ranc and a 3-yard run for Ranc on 4th and 2 with eight seconds to go in the the half. Ranc had 27 carries and 214 yards at the intermission.

The 3rd quarter was more of the same. Ranc ran 53 yards for a touchdown that was called due to a penalty. Then on the next play, Ranc ran 57 yards for a touchdown that counted. After a Brookside three-and-out Ranc hit paydirt again from 54 yards.

Lutheran West vs. Brookside tonight

I will be covering high school football tonight in Sheffield, Ohio as the Brookside Cardinals host the Lutheran West Longhorns. You can tune in to 1320 AM or listen online (replay will be available online as well). I'll be working with play-by-play announcer Bob Karlovec and sideline reporter Dave Andrews.

Both teams dropped their opener in Patriot Athletic Conference play and are looking to bounce back prior to Division play starting next week.

Lutheran West is 1-3. After defeating Firelands 29-7 in week 1, the Longhorns have dropped their next games at home to Hawken (21-13), Independence (35-9) and Black River (31-30, OT) on their newly renovated field.

Brookside is looking for their first win of the season losing their first four games against Oak Harbor, Rhodes, Margaretta and Oberlin.