The high school football season is in Week 10, and the area would have 22 playoff teams if the postseason started this weekend.
The area schools who are among the top eight in the computer rankings in their region with one regular- season game remaining are:
In Division I, Region 2: Massillon, Canton McKinley, GlenOak, Nordonia, North Canton Hoover and Hudson.
In Division II, Region 5: Tallmadge, Kent Roosevelt, Aurora and Ellet.
In Division III, Region 9: Ravenna, Woodridge and St. Vincent-St. Mary.
In Division III, Region 11: Marlington.
In Division IV, Region 13: Streetsboro, Norwayne, Manchester, Northwestern and Triway.
In Division V, Region 17: St. Thomas Aquinas.
In Division V, Region 19: Hillsdale.
In Division VI, Region 21: Mogadore.
Massillon, Marlington and Mogadore have mathematically clinched first-round home playoff games, according to www.joeeitel.com, a site that calculates the rankings of each team in the state.
The following teams have also clinched a playoff spot according to the website: McKinley, GlenOak, Tallmadge, Roosevelt, Streetsboro, Norwayne and Aquinas.
Highland is sitting in the ninth position in Division II, Region 6, Copley is 10th in Division II, Region 5 and Field is 10th in Division III, Region 9.
Close to 10-0
Mogadore and Norwayne are the final two remaining undefeated football teams in the area with 9-0 overall records.
Mogadore is set to make its 26th state playoff appearance since the tournament started in 1972, and Norwayne will be making its fourth trip.
Norwayne won the Division IV state championship last season. Mogadore has won three state titles and finished state runner-up four times.
Ellet seeks title
The Ellet football team (7-2, 5-0) can clinch its first outright City Series championship with a win tonight against visiting North (1-8, 1-4).
Ellet joined the league in 1971 under then-coach Bill McLain. Current coach Joe Yost took over the program in 1979 and guided the Orangemen to a share of the City Series title in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995 and 2006.
Ellet is No. 6 in the Division II, Region 5 computer rankings. The school made a Division I state playoff appearance in 1991.
Yost got his 200th career win with a victory over Garfield last week.
Stark County rivalry
Canton McKinley (7-1) and Massillon (8-1) will meet at 2 p.m. Saturday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in their annual rivalry football game.
This is the 122nd meeting in the series. McKinley defeated Massillon in 2011 and 2010, and the teams split in 2009.
Massillon leads the all-time series 64-52-5.
Other key area matchups with league championship ramifications: Suburban League — Nordonia (7-2, 5-1) at Wadsworth (5-4, 3-3) and Green (6-3, 4-2) at Tallmadge (7-2, 5-1). PAC — Manchester (6-3, 5-1) at CVCA (5-4, 4-2). Portage Trail Conference Metro Division — Ravenna (6-3, 5-1) at Kent Roosevelt (8-1, 6-0).
Niswander sets state mark
Woodridge senior Hunter Niswander set a state record for most consecutive point-after touchdown kicks with eight on Friday night in a 59-7 win at Windham.
Bulldogs coach Eric Ervin said Niswander, a Northwestern University recruit, enters the final game of the season against Southeast having made 102 extra points in a row.
Walsh Jesuit graduate Ross Martin previously held the state record with 95 consecutive extra-point kicks. Martin is Duke University’s kicker as a freshman.
Bulldogs senior quarterback Sean McCoy threw four touchdown passes against the Bombers. Senior Anthony Mong had three touchdown receptions, and senior John Reid rushed for two touchdowns.
Orsini breaks record
Senior quarterback Dominick Orsini broke the Archbishop Hoban single-game passing yardage record in a 48-21 win over visiting Cleveland Benedictine at Dowed Field on Friday night, Hoban spokesman Brian Saus said.
Orsini tossed for 369 yards against Benedictine, exceeding his 319-yard output in a Week 1 loss at Kent Roosevelt.
Orsini became the Hoban single-season leader in passing attempts (345), completions (180), yardage (2,120) and touchdowns (17), surpassing 2006 graduate Paul McGough in each category.
Orsini also nudged past 2005 graduate Tyrell Sutton to set the school’s single-game record for individual total offense. He surpassed the 2004 Ohio Mr. Football’s mark of 505 yards (all by rush versus Youngstown Ursuline in 2004) with 536 yards against Benedictine (369 passing with 20 completions in 34 attempts and 167 rushing on 26 carries).
In addition, Orsini’s top target, junior receiver Jake Tersigni, eclipsed 2006 Hoban graduate Brett Talcott to become the school’s single-season leader in pass receptions (60) and receiving yards (794).
Hoban concludes its season Friday night at Walsh Jesuit.
Bedell selects UA
Hudson senior Amanda Bedell will continue her academic and volleyball careers at the University of Akron.
Bedell, 5-foot-11½, said the Division I Zips recruited her to be a right-side hitter. She plans to major in early childhood education and pursue a career as a teacher and coach.
“My entire family went there, and I was really hoping that they would recruit me,” Bedell said. “Akron was my first choice. I am really excited to be a part of the program. I have been watching them throughout the entire season. They are my No. 1 team.”
Bedell said the Naval Academy and a lot of Division III schools also recruited her.
Hudson coach Jessica Pompei said Explorers senior Sarah Faust is also being recruited by Division I through III schools.
“It is huge for our program to have two girls that will play college volleyball,” Pompei said. “[Assistant coach] Annie [Pinegar] and I both played Division I high-level college volleyball. We are trying to help our kids improve and push them to that next level.”
Morgan commits to ODU
Firestone senior Brooke Morgan has orally committed to compete in track and field at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus.
Morgan is set to high jump for the Division II school and might also run in the 400 meters, 800 and hurdle events.
Morgan has lettered in golf, cross country, basketball and track and field at Firestone and helped the Falcons win City Series championships in three of the four sports. She won the City high jump title as a freshman and the league long jump title as a sophomore.
Her brother, Christian Morgan, is a Firestone graduate and freshman wide receiver at ODU.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
