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OHSAA Football
State Championships Schedule and Notes
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The OHSAA football state championships return to Ohio
Stadium this week with seven title games in the ‘Shoe. From the 715
teams that began the season, now 14 have the opportunity to play one
more game, which will be for a state championship.
State Championships Schedule
Home team listed first. Pairings are shown with overall records.
Div. III - Thursday, 7:30 p.m. - Akron Archbishop Hoban (13-1) vs.
Toledo Central Catholic (12-2)
Div. V - Friday, 10 a.m. - Coldwater (14-0) vs. Canton Central Catholic
(10-3)
Div. VII - Friday, 3 p.m. - Fort Recovery (12-2) vs. Mogadore (13-1)
Div. II - Friday, 8 p.m. - Cincinnati La Salle (12-2) vs. Massillon
Perry (12-2)
Div. VI - Saturday, 10 a.m. - Maria Stein Marion Local (13-1) vs.
Kirtland (13-1)
Div. I - Saturday, 3 p.m. - Lakewood St. Edward (13-1) vs. Huber
Heights Wayne (14-0)
Div. IV - Saturday, 8 p.m. - Steubenville (13-0) vs. Columbus Bishop
Hartley (10-3)
Full Notes Packet and Team Summaries:
http://www.ohsaa.org/news/sports/2015FBRelease6.pdf
Playoff Coverage Home:
http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/ft/boys/2015/2015FTcoverage.htm
Playoff History Database:
http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/history/FT/FootballParticipants.pdf
Ticket Information
Fans are encouraged to buy playoff tickets in advance at the
participating schools, which keep a percentage of the revenue. For the
state championship games, tickets are $10 presale at the schools. Fans
who cannot get to one of the schools can buy tickets online through
Ticketmaster at http://go.osu.edu/OHSAAFB. Tickets will also be
available at Gate 5 of Ohio Stadium (north rotunda area) for either $15
(club level) or $12 (reserved). All-session ticket books are still
available online at the same website: http://go.osu.edu/OHSAAFB.
All-session ticket books in the club level, which are the chair-back
seats on the west side of the stadium, are $105 each (good for all
seven games) and also permit indoor access in the Huntington Club
before, during and after each game. All-session reserved ticket books
on the east side of the stadium, which don’t include indoor access, are
$84 each.
STO and OHSAA Radio Network Will Be Live
SportsTime Ohio will televise the games live, with Time Warner Cable
providing the STO feed to customers in southwest Ohio. The OHSAA Radio
Network will broadcast all seven games live. See page 5 for details.
Stations shall contact Tim Stried for more information.
Related Information
OHSAA Football Online Home (composite schedules, AP polls and
notebooks, playoff information, etc.):
http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/ft/boys/default.asp
Championships on the OHSAA Radio Network
Now in its sixth year, the OHSAA Radio Network will broadcast the
football state championship games. Stations that commit to carry
several state championship game broadcasts from the network will have
their rights fees waived throughout the playoffs. The championship
games will be available from Skyview Satellite and online. Please
contact Tim Stried at the OHSAA for more information or see:
http://www.ohsaa.org/news/Radio/radiohome.asp
Two Schools Making First Title Game Appearance
Two schools are making their first trip to the state championship game,
including Massillon Perry in Div. II and Fort Recovery in Div.
VII. Fort Recovery, which formed its first high school football
team in 1992, had only one winning season before making the playoffs
last year. The Indians entered the 2015 playoffs with only one
postseason win.
Adding Another Trophy
Four of the 2015 state finalists rank among the state’s most storied
programs in terms of reaching the state championships. Coldwater (11th
appearance), Maria Stein Marion Local (10th), Mogadore (8th) and
Steubenville (7th) all rank in the Top 10 in the state in reaching the
state championship game. See page 7.
Geography Lessons
Hugging the Ohio-Indiana state line, Mercer County has a total
population of 40,784 (as of 2013). But this small county boasts three
teams that have advanced to this week’s state championship games:
Coldwater (Div. V), Maria Stein Marion Local (Div. VI) and Fort
Recovery (Div. VII). The three communities are all less than 15 miles
apart and the three schools are all members of the Midwest Athletic
Conference (see next note).
But that’s not the only interesting geography note this week. Massillon
Perry (Div. II) and Canton Central Catholic (Div. V) sit just 1.9 miles
from each other. The schools have different street addresses, but their
football stadiums both sit along 13th Street.
MAC Builds on Success
Last year, the highly successful Midwest Athletic Conference became the
first league to have three of its members win football state
championships in the same season (Coldwater in Div. V, Minster in Div.
VI and Maria Stein Marion Local in Div. VII). This year, Coldwater
returns in Div. V, Marion Local is now is Div. VI and newcomer Fort
Recovery is in the Div. VII championship game. The MAC currently owns
114 various OHSAA state team championships.
The MAC had won two state championships in the same season five times,
but never three titles.) The MAC is now 33-7 in state semifinal games
against non-MAC schools. The MAC is 49-13 against non-MAC schools in
OHSAA regional championship games. The MAC is 60-2 in first round
playoff games against non-MAC schools since the playoffs expanded to
eight qualifiers per region in 1999. (The two losses include a
Versailles loss to Lima Central Catholic in 2005 and a Delphos St.
John’s loss to Arlington in 2014.)
Marion Local Sets Consecutive Playoff Wins Record
Not only has Maria Stein Marion Local reached the state championship
game for the fifth-straight year, the four-time defending state
champion Flyers have set a new OHSAA record for consecutive playoff
victories with 24. And not far behind is fellow-MAC member and
three-time defending state champion Coldwater with 19-straight playoff
wins.
No. School Years
*24 Maria Stein Marion
Local 2011-12-13-14-15
23
Cleveland St. Ignatius 1991-92-93-94-95-96
*19 Coldwater
2012-13-14-15
17
Youngstown Ursuline 2008-09-10-12
17 Newark
Catholic 84-85-86-87-88
16 Delphos
St. John’s 1997-98-99-2000
15
Versailles 1993-94-95-96
13
Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller 1975-76-77-79-80-81
* denotes streak is still active
Rematch City in Div. I and V
Lakewood St. Edward and Huber Heights Wayne are meeting for the third
time in the state championship game. St. Edward has won the previous
two meetings, including 31-21 last year and 35-28 in 2010. In Div. V,
Coldwater and Canton Central Catholic are meeting again, as well.
Coldwater won 62-21 last year. In the other five state championship
games, this is the first meeting in the playoffs between those schools.
Defending State Champions, Two New Coaches
There are five defending state champions returning to Columbus this
year, including St. Edward (Div. I), Cincinnati La Salle (Div. II),
Toledo Central Catholic (Div. III), Coldwater (Div. V) and Maria Stein
Marion Local (Div. VI, won Div. VII title last year). St. Edward and La
Salle are under the direction of new head coaches this season.
Inside the Matchups by Seed and AP Rank
One state championship game features the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams
in the final Associated Press state poll. That is in Div. I, where it’s
a rematch from last season as top-ranked Lakewood St. Edward faces No.
2 Huber Heights Wayne. One other championship games features a pair of
Top 5 ranked teams. That is in Div. VI, where No. 1 Maria Stein Marion
Local faces No. 4 Kirtland. Only one other top-ranked team has made it
to the final weekend. That is in Div. V with Coldwater. Marion Local is
a four-time defending state champion (Div. VI or VII), while Coldwater
is the three-time defending state champion in DIv. V.
Of the 14 state finalists games, only one features two teams that were
both the No. 1 seed in their region. That occurs in Div. IV when
Middletown Bishop Fenwick faces Columbus Bishop Hartley. Overall, the
28 teams remaining in the playoffs include 14 No. 1 seeds, five No. 2
seeds, seven No. 3 seeds and two No. 5 seeds. Also see “Proving the
Pollsters” on page 2.
Championship Games Return to Ohio Stadium
After hosting the OHSAA state championship games in Columbus throughout
the 1980s, natural grass was installed in Ohio Stadium in Columbus in
the spring of 1990 and OSU asked the OHSAA to move its football state
championship games to another location. The OHSAA found a home in Stark
County, with Canton Fawcett Stadium and Massillon Paul Brown Tiger
Stadium sharing the state championship games for last 24 years until
last year when the finals returned to the ‘Shoe.
The current contract for the OHSAA football state championship games
initially included two years at Ohio Stadium (2014 and 2015), and an
additional year was added for 2016 due to the stadium renovations
underway in Canton. There is currently no contract in place for the
football finals after 2016, but the OHSAA intends to move the finals
back to Stark County for 2017 and 2018.
Proving, or Disproving, the Pollsters
Of the 28 teams that reached the state semifinals, 18 of them were
ranked in the Top 10 of the final Associated Press state poll. In Div.
I, all four teams were ranked in the AP Top 5, while in Divisions II,
III and IV, two of the state semifinalists in each of those divisions
was not ranked in the final Top 10. One state semifinal matchup
featured two teams that were not ranked at the end of the season, that
was in Div. II where Hudson faces Massillon Perry. Two state semifinal
matchups feature teams that were ranked first and second in the final
poll. One was in Div. V where No. 1 Coldwater faced No. 2 Wheelersburg,
while the other was in Div. VII where No. 1 Danville faced No. 2
Mogadore.
This year, all 71 teams that appeared in the Top 10 of the final AP
poll qualified for the playoffs (there was a tie for the No. 10 spot in
Div. VI), with 69 of those teams earning a first-round home game. Last
year, all 70 teams that appeared in the Top 10 of the final AP poll
qualified for the playoffs, with 65 earning a first-round home game.
Last year, the only team to be ranked No. 1 in the final poll and go on
to win a state championship was Maria Stein Marion Local in Division
VII.
Speaking of Making History...
Newark Catholic made the playoffs for a state record 34th time this
year. The Green Wave had been tied with Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller
with 33 appearances, but Moeller didn’t make the playoffs this season.
OHSAA PLAYOFF APPEARANCES (updated for 2015 qualifiers)
1. Newark Catholic, 34
2. Cincinnati Archbishop
Moeller, 33
3. Ironton, 32
4. Mogadore, 29
5. Steubenville, 28
Playoff Streaks
Coldwater owns the longest active streak of qualifying for the playoffs
at 19-straight years. In fact, the Cavaliers have been to the state
championship game the last six years. Newark Catholic owns the record
with eight straight title game appearances from 1980-87 followed by
Cleveland St. Ignatius with six in a row from 1991-96. Until 2012,
Columbus St. Francis DeSales had owned the longest active streak at
18-straight years, but the Stallions missed the playoffs that season.
After Coldwater, the second-longest active streak is held by Mogadore
at 17 straight playoff years. The all-time longest streak of
consecutive years making the playoffs is 22 years by Cleveland St.
Ignatius from 1988 through 2009.
In the Beginning… to Seven Divisions
When the OHSAA created the football playoffs in 1972, there were three
divisions (called Class A, AA and AAA) and only one playoff qualifier
per region (12 total playoff qualifiers). Now in its 44th year, the
postseason has expanded to seven divisions and 224 total playoff
qualifiers. Expansion occurred in 1980 to five divisions and two
qualifiers per region, and then again in 1985 to four qualifiers per
region. In 1994, a sixth division was added, while in 1999, the number
of qualifiers per region increased to eight. The playoffs expanded to
seven divisions in 2013.
OHSAA Football by the Numbers
715 – High schools in
Ohio that played football in 2015
7
– Divisions for the playoffs
72 –
Schools in Division I
108 – Average number of
schools in Division II through VII
32 –
Playoff qualifiers per division
2
– Regions in Division I (16 playoff qualifiers per region)
4
– Regions in Divisions II through VII (8 qualifiers per region)
224 – Total playoff
qualifiers
31.3 – Percentage of football
playing schools that qualify
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