Lots of football at different levels on the menu today, along with a side dish of high school basketball. Let’s begin with the obvious: St. Henry’s win over Marion Local in the D-VII regional finals, ending the Flyers’ 76-game winning streak and a run of four consecutive state titles. The Redskins thoroughly dominated the line of scrimmage and will now play Columbus Grove in a state semifinal match to be played Friday evening in Troy.
Another MAC team punched its ticket to a state D-VI semi with the Coldwater Cavaliers pulling out a 14-12 win over fellow conference member Anna. The Cavs will face Hopewell Loudon on Friday in Wapakoneta as they look for yet another state title berth.
Finally, in D-III the Tippecanoe Red Devils, the pride of the Miami Valley League, will seek to duplicate their girls volleyball team’s march to a state championship after defeating previously unbeaten London in a regional final. The 12-0 Devils will face a tall task in a Columbus Bishop Watterson squad, which has breezed through the playoffs so far. Game time on Friday is 7:00 at Mason’s Beacon Stadium.
THE rolled over Rutgers as always as they prepare for The Team Up North this coming Saturday. Wonder how many Buckeye fans who make the trek to “The Big House” will follow the lead of the late, great Woody Hayes and refuse to buy gas north of the state line!! I honestly think a large percentage of Bucknuts would rather beat the Wolverines this weekend than win another national championship!
It seems like a lot of fans get all fired up over the weekly FBS playoff rankings with all sorts of conjecture over bracket matchups. I know most think it’s fun to discuss, but until conference title contests are played, you can’t really put much credence in the seedings, especially in slots five through twelve.
Speaking of playoffs, we need to take a look at a few of the college D-II second-round pairings. With eight games looming on the schedule here are three you don’t want to overlook:
The Golden Rams of Albany State will host the Benedict Tigers; the Falcons of the University of Texas Permian Basin will travel to the home of the Western Colorado Mountaineers; and, of more local interest, especially to alumnus Dr. Kyle Lehman of Greenville, the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds will entertain the Minnesota State Mavericks. Good football being played at all levels!
Girls high school hoops started over the weekend with most teams swinging into action. Boys action tips off this Friday as the road to the state finals at UD Arena in March begins in earnest. For the most up-to-date information on schedules, standings, statistics, etc go to the excellent websites of the Miami Valley League, Western Ohio Athletic Conference, Southwestern Buckeye League, Greater Western Ohio Conference, Three Rivers Conference, and the Three Rivers Conference. The Midwest Athletic Conference has a different format and requires a little more effort to stay informed, but it can be accomplished.
Joe Burrow almost made his first appearance since being injured earlier in the season but was held out for at least one more week as the Bengals fell to 3-8 and blew even the slightest chance of making the playoffs in losing to the Patriots 26-20. The “turf toe” suffered by Joe B. and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy this year has long been disparaged by uninformed fans but in reality has been intensively studied for over fifty years.
The two main causes of the injury are the hardness of the playing surface and the stiffness of the shoes being worn. The damage to the ligamentous structures surrounding the big toe is usually slow-healing, as every foot movement is connected to the distal digit. Even those players who undergo surgery oftentimes struggle to regain their former mobility.
92% of NFL players prefer grass fields over even the latest and most advanced artificial turfs. The great Deion “Prime” Sanders had “turf toe” that eventually led to an amputation.
Speaking of toes, that brings to mind the legendary Cleveland Brown of old, Lou “The Toe” Groza. Groza played 21 seasons with the Browns as the team won eight league titles, four in the old All-America Football Conference before joining the NFL in 1950. The former Ohio State great retired in 1967 as the NFL’s all-time leading career kicking and points leader with 1,349 markers. Here is a history lesson for all of you fans out there—in addition to being the pre-eminent kicker of his time (before soccer-style kicking became popular), Groza was also a standout offensive lineman and since 1992 has been honored with the annual presentation of the Lou Groza Award to college football’s best placekicker.
Also, his brother Alex was an All-American basketball player at the University of Kentucky on the “Fabulous Five” teams, which won national titles in 1948 and 1949 under the tutelage of the legendary Adolph Rupp. Unfortunately, Groza was later implicated in a “point shaving” scandal which rocked both the college and professional games in the early ‘50s and was permanently banned from the NBA!! And you thought this column wasn’t informative!! Have a great Thanksgiving. There truly is a lot to be thankful for at this time of the year!
