Week 1 Preview: NE Ohio

Northeast Ohio has had plenty of talented football players come from the area over the years.  Many of the programs in this part of the state are among the best in Ohio.  Here are five games to watch in this area of the state during week 1. Mentor vs Canton McKinley On Friday night, The Canton McKinley Bulldogs will play the Mentor Cardinals in what looks like an exciting matchup.  Last season, Mentor finished at 9-2 and averaged 39 ppg while giving up 17 ppg and advanced to the state semi-finals.  Mentor scored 31 or more points in 9 of the 11 games.  Canton McKinley finished the 2020 season at 5-3 and averaged 27.5 ppg while advancing to the 2nd round of the playoffs.  Canton McKinley also scored at least 26 points five times last season.  The players from the Prep Redzone rankings that will be playing in this game are DL [player_tooltip player_id="34500" first="Brenan" last="Vernon"] from Mentor and OL [player_tooltip player_id="123248" first="Khalil" last="Walker"] and OL [player_tooltip player_id="91520" first="Stefan" last="Monahan"] from Canton McKinley. Aurora vs Euclid Another great week 1 matchup is the Aurora Greenmen vs the Euclid Panthers.  In 2020, Euclid finished at 5-3 and advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs.  They won 3 of their last 4 games and scored at least 20 points in each of their last 6 games.  Aurora finished last season at 6-3 and also advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs.  They averaged 29.22 ppg and scored at least 31 points five times last season.  There are a few players from the Prep Redzone rankings that will be playing in this game and they are are WR [player_tooltip player_id="126534" first="Claishon" last="Ivory"], LB [player_tooltip player_id="92613" first="Ryan" last="Merrill"] from Euclid and QB [player_tooltip player_id="34460" first="Alex" last="Moore"] from Aurora. Cleveland Heights vs Hoover The Hoover Vikings will play the Cleveland heights Tigers on Friday night in what looks to be an exciting matchup.  In 2020, Hoover finished the season at 6-3 and averaged 30.33 ppg while advancing to the 2nd round of the playoffs.  They scored at least 23 points six times last year and won five of their last six games after starting the season at 1-2.  Cleveland Heights also finished last season at 6-3 and scored at least 39 points in four games.  The players from the Prep Redzone rankings that will be playing in this game are OL [player_tooltip player_id="91518" first="Maurice" last="Hamilton"] from Cleveland Heights and DL [player_tooltip player_id="34425" first="Drew" last="Logan"] from Hoover. Midview vs Rocky River The Rocky River Pirates will meet the Midview Middies on Friday night to kick off the 2021 season.  In 2020, Rocky River finished at 7-2 while advancing to the 2nd round of the playoffs.  They averaged 29.9 ppg and gave up 13.8 ppg.  They scored at least 29 points in seven of their nine games while winning six of their last seven.  Midview finished last season at 1-7.  Although their 2020 season was disappointing, one bright spot for the Middies last season is that their offense played really well down the stretch as they scored 73 points in their final two games (36.5 ppg).  The players from the Prep Redzone rankings that will be playing in this game are LB [player_tooltip player_id="91600" first="Tommy" last="Bebie"] and ATH [player_tooltip player_id="92625" first="Johnnie" last="Bebie"] from Rocky River and LB [player_tooltip player_id="63079" first="Tyler" last="Smith"] from Midview. Medina vs Harding The Medina Battling Bees will begin their 2021 season on Friday night against the Harding Raiders.   These two teams had very similar results last year. In 2020, the Battling Bees finished at 6-4 and advanced to the 4th round of the playoffs.  They averaged 30.6 ppg, scored at least 33 points five times last season and won six of their last eight games after starting out the season 0-2.  The Raiders also finished last season at 6-4 and also advanced to the 4th round of the playoffs.  They averaged 24 ppg, scored at least 27 points five times and won five of their last six games after starting out the season 1-3.  The players from the Prep Redzone rankings that will be playing in this game are QB [player_tooltip player_id="34394" first="Drew" last="Allar"] from Medina and WR [player_tooltip player_id="34399" first="Dom" last="Foster"] from Harding.