Saturday, October 25, 2008

D1 Football's "Damned Good Dozen"

While the predictability of most northeast Ohio news rag top "25" teams is very obvious, we look at football from some different angles. NO MEDIA DARLINGS HERE nor will our list be comprised exclusively of Division-I primadonna blow-hards.

We look deeper than that. We don't care about the name of your school. We want to see players with heart and passion for the game. Not a group of kids that think they deserve to be page one because they go to "St. Play Nobody." We're not aiming for the popular vote. We look into the players and coaches. We look at what they've done to get where they are. We actually watch them on and off of the field. We look at the kids that bust their asses out there and give 110%!

WE'RE GIVING YOU A REALITY CHECK! We realize not many of you can handle reality, but here it is. Not everyone can be #1 boys!

The regular season is over......in our eyes these are the "Damned Good Dozen" after 10 weeks of God's Greatest Game:

1. Strongsville Mustangs (9-1) Kellen Pagel and Eric Dworznik did their thing on the ground to aid in the Mustangs shutout of visiting Solon. In doing so they moved into the top spot in D1R1 points pending the outcome of the Ignatius/Eds game and eliminated the Comets from playoff contention. Great game...even better season. The shutout was a great exclamation mark for what was truly a special season. Time to run it deep into the post-season. It only gets tougher now boys.

2. Youngstown Ursuline Fighting Irish (10-0) Devil be damned, the Irish took on everybody and sent them packing. Next up, the Cuyahoga Heights Redskins in what could be a decent opener for both teams if they come to play!

3. Kirtland Hornets (10-0) We don't care what people may say about the CVC or the "so-called" small school divisions, you can't discount a 10-0 record in northeast Ohio, you just can't. Nor can you take anything away from it. These kids play with an unheard of passion and desire. DREAM MATCH-UP - vs. Ursuline! Mark these words.

4. Mayfield Wildcats (9-1) Six straight shutouts until this week. A relentless defense, probably the best around and a team with great tradition getting it all to come together this year again. A full head of steam and learning from the mistakes of last season's playoff opener should give these Cats a good advantage going into round one.

5. Mentor Cardinals (8-2) Simply put, peaking at the right time...AGAIN. What more can you say about coach Triv's gang of warriors. Bring it in round one boys!

6. St. Ignatius Wildcats (9-1) The "other" Wildcats finally put together some "quality wins" and moved their way up one more notch. Some of us still feel they are yet untested with true competition.

7. Brunswick Blue Devils (9-1) A lone loss to arch rival Strongsville their only blemish, the Devils want to make another deep run and through their region and beyond. Could we see a rematch with the Mustangs? That would be beyond a thrilling storyline.

8. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (8-2) The Cardinals took care of business and went down to the wire to get into the post-season fray knocking off Columbus DeSales in the regular season finale. Mooney knocks Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary out of 8th place in points in the OHSAA standings to make it in. Great win Cards!!

9. Perry Pirates (9-1) The only way senior fireballer Vinny "Air" Hokavar could end his career any better would be with a ring. Even though he's been logging time at wideout, the shoulder should hold up in order for the Pirates to make a deep run if they can stay healthy.

10. Willoughby South Rebels (8-2) They've been left off this list too many times this year while we "waited to see what they would do next week," but they have proven that they are a solid, playoff worthy team. The Rebels could face either Mentor or Strongsville in round one, so regardless, they'll be tested right away in a big way!

11. Padua Bruins (8-2) The Bruins have picked up major momentum heading into round one and their regular season schedule should have them prepared for almost any scenario they might face. Andrew Dziak was the consummate leader all season long and it has been a true joy for us at D1, who have worked with this fine young man, to watch him develop over the last few years. Great kid and a very nice family.

12. Walsh Jesuit Warriors (7-2) Quietly going about their business (of winning games), the Warriors secured the top spot in their region and will have to wait until Sunday to see who their round one opponent will be. These guys have always been favorites of ours and now they can get it running smooth in time for post-season head banging.

JUST MISSED:

Aurora came close, but beating up on Wickliffe then claiming to be the best in the CVC just rubbed too many people the wrong way when we spoke around the town. Euclid.....our friends in Panther country head into the post-season with a bad taste in their mouths and the memory of an unsung Boardman team coming to Euclid last year and snuffing out their dream. We have faith that Tommy Gibbons will have the cats ready to prowl next week. We put a lot of faith in St. Edward at the start of this thing because of the greater Cleveland area "glory teams" they actually played a schedule worthy of being the talk of the town. Tough way to head into the playoffs Eagles. We want to give props to the NDCL Lions who clawed their way into the playoffs as well. Great work Byron.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you high on acid? Or are you clinically retarded?

This might be the biggest piece of trash "poll/rankings" I have ever seen.

Do you not realize Iggy would be a team like Kirtland by 50+?

This is a BS propaganda piece in an attempt to flatter your "clientele." It has no merit whatsoever and you should be ashamed of publishing something as asinine as this. And do me a favor...learn something about HS football.

D1 Football said...

Thank you for your input.

Anonymous said...

Strongsville #1? they are out after this week...

Just Like Pagel will be Mr. Ohio?

Actually i hope strongsville wins just to see how badly they would get their shit packed against a good team like Glenville or Ignatius

Your making your self look stupid and you might want to actually pay attention to high school football before you make these claims

D1 Football said...

WE'VE FORGOTTEN MORE FOOTBALL THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW. WE HAVE OVER 35 YEARS OF PLAYING AND COACHING EXPERIENCE FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO PRO LEVELS.

OUR OPINIONS ARE THAT...OUR OPINIONS. DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT YOUR TEAM ISN'T NUMBER...REALITY CHECK TIME...THIS IS REAL FOOTBALL...NOT MEDIA DOLL CRAP KIDS.

Anonymous said...

Your right strongsville deserved to be number one and the so called "other" wildcats deserved that 6 spot, when it comes down to it i would say a 37-0 a$$ kicking showed how completely retarted you guys are!!! By the way. on to number 10 go cats. the real cats

D1 Football said...

THE REGULAR SEASON AND THE POST-SEASON ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.

THE "OTHER" CATS NOW HAVE THEIR CHANCE TO LIVE UP TO THEIR BILLING.

Anonymous said...

"WE HAVE OVER 35 YEARS OF PLAYING AND COACHING EXPERIENCE FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO PRO LEVELS."

"THE REGULAR SEASON AND THE POST-SEASON ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS."

1. Stop yelling. You posted your thoughts in a public domain, people may disagree.
2. With all that experience shouldn't you have taken your regular vs post season into account with your rankings?
3. Given the narrow loss to Glenville at the beginning of the season and the subsequent games after that I would have thought Ignatius a higher rank than 6.
4. Reality check time... Ignatius is one of two teams still playing

Anonymous said...

whoever made this website doesn't have a clue about whats going on.
ignatius is rolling and would and has crushed any and all of the teams on that list. there is a huge difference between Div. I and everyone else. oh and pagel is terrible, watch the 37-0 thrashing. ignatius's schedule would leave most of those teams way out of playoff contention. we cant schedule teams like strongsville in the regular season because they're afraid to play us

Anonymous said...

i think this guy just likes to bash ignatius. because theres no way any of these teams could hang with iggy, especially kirtland and mayfield

D1 Football said...

1st lesson: there is NO difference between D-1 and D-5 except for the number of kids rostered. OK...bigger schools might have depth, BUT it's the best 22.

2nd lesson: There is no comparing post season to regular season...this thing ended at the end of week 10.

3rd lesson: no one is afraid to play Iggy. There is an overall sense of dislike between public schools and private schools so the catholic schools get blackballed and take their games out of state for less points.

4th lesson: Mayfield and Kirtland deserved their spots. Think you can beat either one....schedule them.

Anonymous said...

"there is NO difference between D-1 and D-5 except for the number of kids rostered. OK...bigger schools might have depth, BUT it's the best 22"

Obviously your not a math teacher. Its the best 22 as you say, in D5 its the best 22 out of a pool of 50 in D1 its the best 22 out of a pool of 2000.

D1 Football said...

That made absolutely no sense but hey I'll let you run with it.

Anonymous said...

Okay you are definitely high. the number of opponents who made the playoffs in Ohio, that Ignatius played was seven, and I have no clue about St. Francis Buffalo and Canisius. So apparently that makes you a St. plays no body? I'm just checking because that seems like they played someone to me. Maybe Ignatius is just the best team in the state aka D1 state champions hmmm curious. Ignatius would roll over Mayfield or Kirtland.

Anonymous said...

Sorry miscounted it it was five not seven. But still that means they did play somebody, and beat them aka mentor and strongsville

D1 Football said...

AKA Mentor and Strongsville? or WAS it Mentor and Strongsville? What would they also be known as.

Congrats on your win St. Ignatius.

Anonymous said...

F ignatius, bunch of pansies. They caught Elder on an off night. Play them regularly Elder wins 4 out of 5!!!

D1 Football said...

Easy there big guy. Give Iggy their due. They backed up the hype this year. We'll give it to them! Great win Wildcats!

Just to be fair, AURORA was the first team to bring a title back to northeast Ohio this year!