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Week 9: A Closer Look with Mark Miller
WHBC Sports.com

The final week of the regular season is upon us – hard to believe it has gone that quickly. League championships, if not already decided, will be this weekend. Playoffs will also be finalized even though much of the suspense has been removed by allowing almost every team to participate in the post season. It is a very exciting time of year for football fans. Hopefully, the weather will remain good and cold temps or rain/snow will not negatively affect play on the field.

For many area teams, week ten is Rivalry Week. Traditionally, in high school and college, the best two teams (or at least the teams that like each other the least) play the final game of the season. Some luster has been taken off week 10 rivalry games because so much emphasis has been put on the playoffs by the OHSAA. These games often used to determine who went to the playoffs and who started the winter sports season but now both teams typically are in the
playoffs no matter the outcome of week ten. Like Ohio State and Michigan, some great high school rivalries remain in our area. Of course, you have to start with McKinley/Massillon (or Massillon/McKinley). The greatest high school football rivalry in the country – for level of play and longevity. Next door neighbor districts are
often rivals as well. Jackson/Hoover is right up there locally and not just in football – ever seen a Hoover/Jackson baseball game? Some other geographic rivals include Green/Lake, Sandy Valley/Tusky Valley, East Canton/Malvern, Fairless/Tuslaw, Marlington/Alliance (this one is especially interesting because many of the Marlington players have Alliance addresses). Then there is the parochial school rivalry between Central Catholic and St. Thomas Aquinas. The luster has faded for this game because of the Knights’ struggles in recent years.

Of course, some rivalries no longer exist. In the 70’s one of the best around was Minerva/Louisville! The games involving Barry Emerick and Doug Shook for the Leopards and Roger Bettis and Jamie Morkel for the Lions were high level games. Another great memory for me was watching my older brothers play in the late 50’s and early 60’s in those Canton South/Sandy Valley games. Rather than a week ten game, these were played in week one – what a way to start the season. That rivalry was renewed a few years ago but abandoned rather quickly when fans could not retain a spirt of good sportsmanship – what a shame. No matter who your team is playing, I wish you good luck and especially good health. Let’s all learn from the knuckleheads in Cleveland yesterday who actually cheered out loud when Desean Watson got hurt. Buying a ticket does not give anyone permission to be an idiot!