Cleveland Area High School Football Rankings Show No Movement

The high school football ratings.

I''ll continue to make this my weekly habit primarily because I sort of enjoy it. Remember, now that I'm semi-retired I don't have to do the unpleasant parts of my old job, such as waiting around for an hour and a half to interview the Cavaliers or working an empty locker room at Browns camp. You can't imagine how we hated that. And you can't imagine how huge corporations like the Cavs and Browns with big PR staffs don't give a damn.

But this isn't about them. This is about the fun part of my job.

I started doing the high school football ratings at The Plain Dealer back in 1964 and in the late 1980's I introduced the Top 8 to Channel 8 which you now know as Fox 8.

My problem was that I was too good. My rating were usually spot on from the start. There were not a lot of changes week to week. There were not many surprises.

The same problem rears its head again. My high school ratings have not changed since last week.

COUGHLIN UNPLUGGED TOP 10

1. St. IGNATIUS (2-0) rallied from a 20-0 deficit to beat Clayton Northmont, 27-20, at Byers Field. This was an impressive comeback win. Clayton Northmont is a powerful D-1 school in the Dayton area. This Saturday night the Wildcats entertain Canisius from Buffalo, N. Y., a manageable team.

2. GLENVILLE (1-1) deserves kudos for also rallying to beat Reynoldsburg, a big-time D-1 Columbus suburban school. Not only did the Tarblooders pull themselves together after falling behind, 14-0, they did it on the road. Glenville hits the road again this coming Saturday against a dangerous opponent, Huber Heights Wayne, a perennial D-1 playoff team and a monster in the Dayton area. Huber Heights beat Canton McKinley, 27-17, this past Saturday down in Huber Heights.

3. MAPLE HTS. (2-0) rolled past Bedford, 38-7, as QB Shaq Washington ran for two and threw for one. The previous week he threw for four against Avon Lake. The Mustangs are comfortable favorites at home this week over Valley Forge.

4. MENTOR (2-0) slipped past Strongsville at home, 17-10, the second straight narrow home win for the Cardinals as coach Steve Trivisonno registered win number 100. This coming Friday is the day of reckoning, however. Mentor travels to Solon in the best game of the night.

5. ST. EDWARD (1-1) went on the road to defeat Euclid, 24-21. Nothing is ever easy at Euclid. Thank God nobody got tasered, which is a popular pasttime in that town. The Eagles have a cream puff against Woodson, an inner-city school in Washington, D.C., this Saturday afternoon at two o'clock on the field behind the school. First time the Eagles have played a varsity game on that field since the '70s.

6. EUCLID (1-1) has an interesting game at home this Friday night against Willoughby South, which got hammered by Mayfield, 40-18, last Friday. I'm not saying that Euclid has to beat that score to preserve its ranking, but to be honest, it would be natural to draw comparisons.

7. MAYFIELD (2-0) entertains Olmsted Falls this Friday. Falls is riding the crest of an impressive win on the road in northwestern Ohio against Clyde.

8. SOLON (2-0) handed Massillon Jackson a fine spanking, 31-7, last Friday and it may be time for the Comets to move up. They host Mentor Friday in the area's spotlight game.Get there early.

9. WADSWORTH (2-0) celebrated at home with a 37-29 win over Nordonia, a very decent opponent. This Friday, however, Wadsworth goes on the road to Medina.

10. NORTH ROYALTON (2-0) marched past Revere, 31-7, but hardly anybody knew about it. The Bears did an excellent job of keeping it a secret. Their new PR man comes from the CIA. Here's a suggestion. Get on a cellphone from the sidelines and tell the world -- about one minute after the game ends. By the way, that's a good rule for all who want their scores on the air and in the paper. North Royalton has a serious test at home this Friday against Highland. The Plain Dealer, by the way, doesn't even have North Royalton in its top 25. This Friday we'll find out who's right, Ohio's largest or Ohio's loudest.

Here are the other schools in northeastern Ohio on the verge of cracking the top 10 as soon as somebody falters. First on the list is Louisville, probably the premier team in Stark County. Then, in alphabetical order, are Aurora, Brunswick, Elyria Catholic, Hoban, Lake Catholic, Padua, Shaw, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Twinsburg.

Here's a delicious matchup this Friday. Twinsburg against Aurora. We've gotta be there.

I'm signing off. Thanks for signing on.