Game of the week
Dublin Coffman (1-0, 0-0) at Olentangy Liberty (1-0, 0-0)
Olentangy Liberty coach Steve Hale warned observers not to read too much into the week one results, including the Patriots’ 35-21 win over Olentangy Berlin.
“It’s such a weird year with the shortened season and no pressure to make the playoffs,” he said. “The opener seemed a lot like a second scrimmage to me. We made a lot of mistakes, but we battled through them and beat a Berlin team that should have a lot of success this year.”
Hale said he was concerned but not alarmed that his defense allowed 470 yards to Berlin, 416 through the air.
“We graduated a lot of really good players on that side of the ball, and we’re counting on the younger guys to step up and make a vast improvement in week two,” he said. “They’ll need to against a very, very talented Coffman team.”
The remaining five games will be against opponents from the Ohio Capital Conference Central Division, regarded as the toughest in the area.
Coffman won the first eight games in the series, but Liberty ended the string by beating the Shamrocks 21-7 in a Division I regional final in 2018.
Best of the rest
Reynoldsburg (1-0, 0-0) at Groveport (1-0, 1-0)
The Raiders and Cruisers got out of the gate with impressive opening wins. Reynoldsburg won the past five meetings, from 2011 to 2015.
Watterson (0-1, 0-1) at Hartley (01, 0-0), 6 p.m.
This Central Catholic League rivalry went on hiatus from 1997 to 2011 with Watterson holding a 29-6 series lead. Since resuming, Hartley has won all eight meetings by an aggregate score of 279-77.
Hilliard Davidson (1-0, 0-0) at Olentangy Orange (0-1, 0-0)
The first matchup between these perennial playoff contenders should be interesting. Orange is smarting from a 7-3 loss to Olentangy. Davidson got a last-minute 17-13 win over Hilliard Darby.
Olentangy Berlin (0-1, 0-0) at Olentangy (1-0, 0-0)
Finally allowed to play against its intradistrict rivals, third-year Berlin had a fine showing against Liberty in a 3521 defeat, racking up 470 yards in total offense. Olentangy allowed just 174 in a 7-3 win over Orange.
Marysville (1-0, 0-0) at Hilliard Darby (0-1, 0-0)
Led by Ohio State-bound junior linebacker Gabe Powers, Marysville blanked Hilliard Bradley 17-0 in its opener. With just a 13.2 computer points average, the Monarchs (6-4) made the Region 2 playoffs in 2019. Meanwhile, Darby (7-3), with an 18.89 average, was edged out of the considerably stronger Region 3 field.
Harvest Prep (1-0, 1-0) at Columbus Academy (1-0, 1-0)
Harvest Prep won 45-24 last year on the way to the Division VII state semifinals. The Warriors boast a 38-game Mid-state League win streak dating to 2012. The teams are projected to be in the same Division V region.
Lima Central Catholic (1-0) at Licking Valley (1-0)
On the heels of back-to-back final four seasons, Licking Valley faces a tough test against a Lima Central Catholic team with a 28-6 record the past three seasons, including two No. 1 regional seeds.
Mechanicsburg (1-0, 1-0) at West Jefferson (1-0, 1-0)
Both Ohio Heartland Conference powers are coming off final four seasons, West Jeff in Division V and Mechanicsburg in Division VI. Each is in Division VI now. The Roughriders have won the past three meetings, including 30-22 in 2019.
Northmor (1-0, 1-0) at East Knox (1-0, 1-0)
These recently rejuvenated programs have built quite the Knox-morrow Athletic Conference rivalry. East Knox handed Northmor its only conference defeat (41-0) on the way to the Division VI state semifinals last season. Northmor knocked East Knox out of the playoffs with a 15-14 win in 2018.
Steve Blackledge sblackledge@dispatch.com @Blackiepreps