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Thursday, May 7, 2009
2009 Herbstreit ‘challenge’ unleashed
FIFTH ANNUAL HERBSTREIT
VARSITY FOOTBALL SERIES
(at Ohio Stadium, Columbus)
Saturday, Aug. 29
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) vs. Upper Arlington, noon (ESPN)
Westerville South vs. Hilliard Davidson, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU).
Sunday, Aug. 30
Olentangy Liberty vs. Dublin Coffman, noon (ESPNU)
Orange Lutheran (Calif.) vs. Pickerington Central, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
ECONOMY CAUSES DOWNSIZE
TO 4 GAMES (FROM 11 IN 2008)
The nation’s economic downturn has forced the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series to downsize to four Ohio games this fall, but the series hopes to rebound strong in 2010.
“This event is very important to me,” Herbstreit said. “A big part of my vision is to have Ohio against the best teams in the nation year after year. We’ve done that in the past. This year, we’ve had to scale back. It all has to do with (economic) cutbacks.
“Hopefully in 2010 and beyond, we’ll get back to what the original concept and idea was.”
From 11 games at two sites in 2008 to four games at one site in 2009, Ohio Stadium in Columbus is the focal point of the fifth annual series on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 29-30.
Defending national prep champion St Thomas Aquinas High School of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Lutheran High School of Orange County, Calif., are the marquee teams invading Ohio Stadium for a pair of nationally-televised doubleheaders.
Jim Herbstreit, Kirk’s father and matchmaker for the Ohio series, announced the matchups on Thursday, May 7.
In the opener on Saturday, Aug. 29, St. Thomas Aquinas faces Upper Arlington at noon (ESPN), followed by Westerville South vs. Hilliard Davidson at 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU).
Olentangy Liberty of Powell, Ohio, meets Dublin Coffman at noon on Sunday, Aug. 30, followed by Orange Lutheran vs. Pickerington Central at 3:30 p.m. Both games will also be televised on ESPNU.
“It’s a little bit of a departure from what we’ve done in the past,” Jim Herbstreit said. “We have two games that challenge the outside (out-of-state teams) and two games that are local. I’d like to see Ohio win the Orange Lutheran or the St. Thomas Aquinas game, but that’s going to be tough.”
Chicago-based Intersport owns and promotes the series that was formerly known as the Kirk Herbstreit Challenge.
Jim Herbstreit made it clear he wants Cincinnati powerhouses Elder and St. Xavier back on board, and said he also wants to include Dayton and Cleveland area schools “as the economy recovers. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
Contact Chick Ludwig at cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com
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13 area football teams change divisions
Thirteen area football teams were among 117 state-wide that were reassigned divisional status Thursday by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
The change goes into effect this fall and last for two seasons. The OHSAA reassesses divisions every two years, based on male enrollment from grades 9-11. The latest revision was made from 2008 figures.
Moving up
• Changing from D-IV to D-III: Oakwood, Ben Logan.
• From D-V to D-IV: Waynesville.
Moving down
• From D-II to D-III: Bellbrook and Dunbar.
• From D-II to D-IV: Marshall.
• From D-III to D-IV: Valley View and Indian Lake.
• From D-IV to D-V: Coldwater and Greeneview.
• From: D-V to D-VI: Marion Local, National Trail and Arcanum.
Notable
• Defending D-IV state champion Alter stays put. But its playoff path was considerably cleared with Steubenville and Youngstown Cardinal Mooney both bumping up to D-III and Coldwater moving down to D-IV.
• After a two-year run in D-V that produced a state title in ‘07, Marion Local returns to D-VI. That means the MAC’s two best current powers — Local and Coldwater — still can run the table in separate divisions.
• Valley View’s drop to D-IV didn’t hurt its playoff fortunes. Of course, now the Spartans must go through Alter at some point.
• That population explosion at Bellbrook and Sugar Creek Twp. is officially suspended. The Golden Eagles’ drop to D-III brings it more in line with its SWBL brethren and should help its postseason return.
• Just two schools throughout the state made a two-division jump; Marshall and Cincinnati Taft both dropping from D-II to D-IV.
Quotable
“The fun part is finding out who’s coming with you or leaving you. … Oh, that’s great. I look a little more short sided, at the local stuff first.”
— Oakwood coach Paul Stone, whose Lumberjacks dodge Alter but are now lumped with state heavyweights Steubenville, Mooney and Parma Padua Franciscan.
The breakdown
There are 718 schools that field football programs. Those teams are divided into six divisions:
• D-I: 120 schools (518 boys or more);
• D-II: 118 schools (348-517 boys);
• D-III: 120 schools (252-347 boys);
• D-IV: 119 schools (177-251 boys);
• D-V: 120 schools (125-176 boys);
• D-VI: 121 schools (124 boys or less).
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Staten and Oak Hill at Flyin’ to the Hoop?
Could Oak Hill Academy and Juwan Staten play in next year’s Flyin’ to the Hoop?
It’s a long shot, but …
The 2010 three-day Flyin’ hoopfest at Fairmont’s Trent Arena is scheduled for Jan. 16-18. Tourney director Eric Horstman reports that Oak Hill has a scheduled game that Saturday. He’s trying to lure Oak Hill into playing in Monday’s showcase game.
Already signed up for the next Flyin’ to the Hoop are Findlay (Nev.) Prep and Montverde (Fla.) Academy. Findlay handed Oak Hill its only loss in a nationally televised game on ESPN this past season to clinch the mythical high school national championship. Findlay and Oak Hill are likely to be ranked 1-2 in the upcoming preseason.
Montverde was a national top-5 team.
There are no matchups yet.
“It’s always good to match (national powers) against an Ohio team to give them a change of pace,” said Horstman, “but it would have to be a very talented Ohio team to be a good game.”
There’s history with Oak Hill and Flyin’ to the Hoop. In the 2007 event, Oak Hill defeated Trotwood-Madison 81-74 at Vandalia.
Area teams committed to the 2010 Flyin’ field are:
• Alter;
• Centerville;
• Chaminade Julienne;
• Dunbar;
• Fairmont;
• Marshall;
• Trotwood-Madison;
• Wayne;
• and Wilmington.
Other committed teams are:
• Cin. Aiken;
• Cleveland Benedictine;
• Centennial (Ga.) Roswell;
• Cleveland Heights;
• Findlay (Nev.) Prep;
• Flora Macdonald (N.C.) Academy;
• Garfield Heights;
• Lakota East;
• Marion Franklin;
• Miller Grove (Ga.);
• Montverde (Fla.) Academy;
• Princeton;
• Cin. Roger Bacon;
• West Jessamine (Ky.);
• Westerville North;
• Winton Woods.
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