OHIO — Columbus DeSales and Hamilton Badin have more in common than being co-educational Catholic schools in Ohio.
In the last two Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III football championship games, they both came up short in tightly contested games against Chardon.
The Rams reached the title game in 2021, falling 21-14 to the Hilltoppers, while the Stallions went down in double overtime, 31-28, to Chardon the year before.
There is also head-to-head playoff history. Back in 1998, at Xenia’s Cox Field, DeSales emerged victorious over Badin in a Division III state semifinal (27-10) on the way to a Stallions’ state title. It’s the only previous meeting between the schools.
Both have similar aspirations for 2022, with deep playoff runs—although DeSales has been moved up to Division II. The Rams opened the year with a 34-3 win against Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph. DeSales earned a shutout on the road, blanking Tri-Valley 28-0.
Friday’s game, played at Fairfield High School, will be the OHSAA Game of the Week on Spectrum News 1 for viewers in central and southern Ohio.
The connections continue in the northern part of the state, where Spectrum News 1 will feature a Stark County standoff. Massillon travels to Canton GlenOak to extend a series that has been played every year since 2009, with the exception of a pandemic-modified schedule in 2020.
The Tigers have won the last five straight meetings, with the Golden Eagles most recent win coming in 2015 (37-21). All-time, Massillon holds a 13-4 advantage in the series, with the first contest held in 1982.
In that game, junior running back Chris Spielman ran for 53 yards and two touchdowns in the 42-14 Tigers’ win. He would go on to have a pretty decent career, but on the other side of the ball, as an All-American linebacker at Ohio State, and an All-Pro in the National Football League.
Back to the present, Massillon is looking to rebound following a 49-31 loss in the opener to Cincinnati Moeller. GlenOak bested Shaker Heights 51-24, and will try to improve to 2-0 for the first time in ten years.
Friday’s game will be played at Bob Commings Field, which is fitting. Commings was the head coach at Massillon from 1969-73, compiling a 43-6-2 record, before taking the head job at the University of Iowa, his alma mater.
Following five seasons with the Hawkeyes, Commings returned to coaching in 1980 at GlenOak, where he posted a 76-44-1 mark during his 12 seasons. Over a 24-year career on the sidelines as a head coach in Ohio (also at Struthers), the Youngstown native was an impressive 169-66-7.
The OHSAA Game of the Week on Spectrum News 1 can be seen on channel 1, and on the Spectrum News App.
