{"id":137236,"date":"2020-11-18T22:08:33","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T03:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=137236"},"modified":"2020-11-18T22:08:38","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T03:08:38","slug":"pigskin-pickem-2020-state-title-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/11\/18\/pigskin-pickem-2020-state-title-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: 2020 state title games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2020 Ohio high school football season will officially end with this weekend\u2019s Divisions II-VII championship games at Fortress Obetz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Division I championship game was played last Friday and Cincinnati St. Xavier posted a stunning 44-3 victory over defending state champion Pickerington Central. The remaining championship games will be played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Last week I went 2-2 by correctly picking Van Wert over Cincinnati Wyoming and Coldwater over Columbus Grove in their semifinal games. I also picked Lima Central Catholic, but the Thunderbirds lost to New Bremen and I incorrectly picked Pickerington Central.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My record now stands at 152-43, or 77.9 percent. This week, I\u2019m picking the remaining six state championship games in the order they\u2019ll be played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VII \u2013 New Bremen (9-2) vs. Warren JFK (2-2)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With no disrespect intended for Warren JFK, many people thought the New Bremen-Lima Central Catholic semifinal game was the real Division VII state title game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This actually should be an entertaining game but at this point, it\u2019s hard to pick against the Cardinals. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d call them an overwhelming favorite but they are the favorite nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: New Bremen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division II \u2013 Massillon Washington (10-1) vs. Akron Hoban (10-0)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoban won state titles in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Massillon Washington finished second last year and in 2018, and the Tigers remain in search of their first ever on-the-field state championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As much as I\u2019d like to see Massillon finally notch the gold trophy, it\u2019s very hard to pick against Hoban. However, that\u2019s why they play the games, so we\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Akron Hoban<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division V \u2013 Kirtland (10-0) vs. Ironton (11-0)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a rematch of last year\u2019s title game, which was won by Kirtland 17-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirtland has won five state championships and is looking to three-peat. Ironton has won two state championships and probably should have a couple more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This should be physical, low-scoring game between these two powerhouse teams. It\u2019s hard to win three consecutive titles, but I\u2019m also having a hard time seeing Kirtland lose this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Kirtland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division III \u2013 Columbus St. Francis DeSales (9-1) vs. Chardon (11-0)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not going to waste time here. The Chardon Hilltoppers are the clear favorite in this game, and I\u2019m picking them to win the school\u2019s first state football championship since 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Chardon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division IV \u2013 Van Wert (10-1) vs. Mentor Lake Catholic (8-2)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, I said I believed the winner of the Van Wert-Cincinnati Wyoming game would go on to win the Division IV state championship and I\u2019m sticking with that prediction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do think Mentor Lake Catholic is probably better than some people may realize, but I really like Van Wert\u2019s chances in this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If all goes well, they\u2019ll be celebrating in Van Wert on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Van Wert<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VI \u2013 Coldwater (11-0) vs. New Middletown Springfield (11-0)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t seem right, but Coldwater hasn\u2019t won a state championship since 2015. That will change Sunday night at Fortress Obetz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Middletown Springfield has played some formidable opponents, especially in the postseason, but I doubt the Tigers have come across a team like Coldwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Coldwater<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor The 2020 Ohio high school football season will officially end with this weekend\u2019s Divisions II-VII championship games at Fortress Obetz. The Division I championship game was played last Friday and Cincinnati St. Xavier posted a stunning 44-3 victory over defending state champion Pickerington Central. The remaining championship games will be played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 13:30:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}