The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Midway point gives teams chance to reset
We’ve made it. Give yourself a pat on the back — especially if you’re a Columbia Raider.
We are halfway through the 2021 high school football season in Ohio — and what a first five weeks it’s been. We’ve seen area teams come back from a year off the turf, teams earn their first wins since two years ago and some surprising finishes.
The surprises
The most surprising team through five weeks of the season has to be the 3-2 North Ridgeville Rangers. Under Bryan Morgan — the former head boys basketball coach at the school — North Ridgeville won three straight games for the first time in six years. Morgan’s squad isn’t quite yet ready to make noise in the Southwestern Conference, as evidenced by their 49-19 loss to league stalwart Olmsted Falls in Week 5. But given the time to grow, Morgan’s program has the makings of one that can return to the playoffs sooner rather than later.
Avon and Avon Lake being in the situation they are is maybe the biggest surprise at the top of the Lorain County football mountain.
Both the Eagles and Shoremen have picked up early conference losses. Avon Lake beat Avon in Week 4 and the Shoremen followed that up with a loss to Berea-Midpark the next week.
The two sides have combined to win the last five straight conference titles — with a split of the championship in 2019. That streak could be in jeopardy now if either team can’t knock off the remaining unbeaten teams in Olmsted Falls and Berea-Midpark.
In the Lorain County League Columbia has asserted itself as the presumed top team. The Raiders are 5-0 and ranked fifth in the latest AP Poll in D-VI.
Head coach Jason Ward has made it known that his team appreciates the praise from the AP voting panel, but knows that it means nothing at the end of the day. The Columbia football team’s Twitter account even tweeted that they’ll be ok if they don’t believe the hype.
It’ll be a while before the Raiders really get to prove themselves against top competition. Their schedule currently has just two teams winning records — 3-2 Firelands and
3-1 Keystone — who they play in the final two weeks of the season.
A team making an impact in their new home has been North Olmsted. The Eagles are 4-1 and look to be a team that will compete to represent the GLC East in the conference’s first league title game.
North Olmsted was the area team most affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic — other than of course Lorain, who had their entire season cancelled. The Eagles won a playoff game before the entire remainder of their season was cancelled.
They’ve responded spectacularly,
winning their first two conference games and a pair of their old SWC mates in North Ridgeville and Amherst.
What’s next?
The second half of the season kicks off on Sept. 24 with a big Lorain County League matchup between Keystone and Firelands.
Knocking off Keystone promises to be a difficult job for a talented Falcons team coming off a 61-0 win over Oberlin in Week 5.
The Wildcats have yet to lose a conference game in the league’s two years of existence.
In the Great Lakes Conference, Bay and Rocky
River renew their rivalry in a game that should have major implications on the race for the top spot in the GLC West.
The second half of the season for four SWC teams will be the biggest storyline to follow over the next five weeks. Both the unbeaten contenders in the conference — Olmsted Falls and Berea-Midpark — have games with Avon left on their schedule meaning the Eagles and Avon Lake can still sneak back into the title race.
Falls and Berea-Midpark play each other in the final week of the season. Making that a potential league title game if both teams win out.