It’s a matchup of former members of the All-Catholic North Coast League.
EUCLID, Ohio — The Ohio high school football playoffs are in full swing, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re just as fun and thrilling as ever.
The first two rounds of the expanded brackets have seen various close calls and upsets, including in last week’s WKYC.com Game of the Week when North Royalton took down Olmsted Falls in overtime. All divisions in the state are now down to no more than 32 teams (Division I has just 16), the traditional number for a “normal” season.
LIST: Every 3rd round matchup featuring Northeast Ohio teams in this year’s high school football playoffs
This week, WKYC.com has another exciting matchup for you, as the Walsh Jesuit Warriors head to Euclid to face the Benedictine Bengals in a crucial Division II game. The respective fifth and fourth seeds in Region 5 are both former members of the All-Catholic North Coast League, and the winner will face either Mayfield or top-seeded Archbishop Hoban in the regional semifinals.
At 5-1, Walsh Jesuit is in the playoffs for the first time since 2014 with a team many feel is their best in more than two decades. Junior Matt Natale mans the reins at quarterback, but the true leader is offensive tackle and Kentucky commit David Wohlabaugh, whose father Dave was the starting center on the Browns’ last playoff team in 2002.
Benedictine sits at just 3-4, but the record is somewhat misleading, as their losses have come against Hoban (by only a touchdown), Massillon Washington, Austintown Fitch, and St. Edward. The Bengals do own solid wins against Warren G. Harding and St. Vincent-St. Mary to go with their playoff win over Willoughby South last week, but will be without starting QB Ronnie Schultz tonight after he was injured in the regular season finale. Junior CeeJay Yarboro did a fine job filling in last week, however, and sophomore Duane Jackson anchors a talented line.
Dave “Dino” DeNatale will have the call starting at 6:50 p.m. Friday on WKYC.com, the 3News app, and the 3News Facebook and YouTube pages. Tyler Carey will also have scoring updates throughout the night from around Northeast Ohio, which you can also view below: