{"id":172885,"date":"2023-11-21T22:24:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T03:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=172885"},"modified":"2023-11-21T22:25:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T03:25:36","slug":"pigskin-pickem-state-semifinals-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2023\/11\/21\/pigskin-pickem-state-semifinals-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Pigskin Pick’Em: state semifinals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Ask any high school head football coach in Ohio \u2013 there\u2019s nothing like practicing on Thanksgiving Day. If you\u2019re doing that, you\u2019re just one game away from competing for a state title in one of Ohio\u2019s seven divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering Week No. 15, one Western Buckeye League team (Celina) is still going, while one Northwest Conference team (Columbus Grove) will spend a second consecutive season practicing on Turkey Day. There\u2019s no surprise here, two Midwest Athletic Conference teams (Versailles and Marion Local) have stormed into the semifinals in two different divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Last week I went 4-1, with the only incorrect pick being the Celina\/Hamilton Badin game. Heading into the state semifinals, my overall record is 204-44 (82.2 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just three games are on this week\u2019s Pigskin Pick\u2019Em slate, which is a day early due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Next week, I\u2019ll pick all seven state championship games, regardless of who\u2019s playing in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division III<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celina (12-2) vs. Columbus Bishop Watterson (13-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bulldogs just keep on winning. They knocked off the top three seeds in Region 12 to get to this point, including established powers Trotwood-Madison and Hamilton Badin. Now, Celina is back in the state semifinals for the first time since 1998 and kudos to them for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bishop Watterson Stallions were long a power under former coach Bob Jacoby. They have two state championships under their belt (2002, 2010) plus three runner-up finishes and now nine state tournament appearances. The only blemish on this year\u2019s schedule came in Week No. 10, a 27-24 loss to Columbus St. Francis DeSales, a team that finished 5-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d love to see Celina win this game and I think they\u2019re certainly capable of doing it. As far as my pick, I\u2019m torn, as my mind is telling me to go with Bishop Watterson. However, I have to consider what Celina has done during this playoff run. Can the Bulldogs do it again? It won\u2019t be easy, but I\u2019ll say yes, they\u2019ll do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Celina<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Columbus Grove (12-2) vs. Versailles (12-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Ned Stechschulte, this is the first ever matchup between Columbus Grove and Versailles and it will be the first time Columbus Grove has ever played in Wapakoneta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a 1-2 start to the season, the Bulldogs have won 11 straight and the closest games in that stretch were a pair of seven point victories over Bluffton, 14-7 in the regular season finale and 17-10 in last week\u2019s regional championship game. It\u2019s the second straight trip to the state semifinals and third in four seasons for Columbus Grove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only losses suffered by Versailles this season were to Marion Local (14-13) and Coldwater (21-14). None of their playoff games have been close. In fact, the closest one was last week\u2019s 41-14 regional championship win over Anna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d love to see Columbus Grove win this game and get to the state title game, most likely against Kirtland and while I think the Bulldogs could win this contest, I\u2019m leaning toward Versailles. The good news here \u2013 I haven\u2019t always been very accurate with Columbus Grove this season. Here\u2019s hoping I\u2019m wrong in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pick: Versailles<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division VII<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Henry (12-2) vs. Marion Local (14-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a great win by the Patriots in last week\u2019s Region 26 championship game (40-39 over McComb). It\u2019s safe to say Patrick Henry has played a very challenging schedule this season and has dealt well with some adversity and injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Local has been, well, Marion Local. The Flyers had a couple of close calls during the regular season (29-26 over Wapakoneta, 14-13 over Versailles) but the postseason has been eye popping. Marion Local has scored four playoff opponents 208-7. The seven points were scored by another MAC school, Minster. Against No. 2 Asonia, Marion Local led 7-0 at halftime, then scored 41 points in the second half. This is a team playing at a completely different level right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all due respect to Patrick Henry, Marion Local wins this one, probably by a substantial margin and I\u2019m sticking to my guns \u2013 the Flyers will win the Division VII state championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Ask any high school head football coach in Ohio \u2013 there\u2019s nothing like practicing on Thanksgiving Day. If you\u2019re doing that, you\u2019re just one game away from competing for a state title in one of Ohio\u2019s seven divisions. Entering Week No. 15, one Western Buckeye League team (Celina) is still going, while […]<\/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-172885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 21:42:23","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\/172885","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=172885"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172922,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172885\/revisions\/172922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}