Week Three Northeast Ohio Sports Insiders High School Football Preview

It is week three of high school football here in Northeast Ohio.  

Things have picked up again, students are back in school, and the NFL is starting soon.

Before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving.

But before then, we have a lot of high school football to watch and talk about here in Northeast Ohio.

Let’s start with Division I, Region I.

Region I (OHSAA Division I)

Currently Wadsworth holds the highest ranking in this region.

Wadsworth will travel to Medina for what should be an exciting football game.

In addition, Lorain is currently ranked third in Region I as they are now 2-0. They will travel to take on Sandusky.  

Lorain has senior standout running back John Salaman. In the first game of the season against Brush, Salaman ran for 222 yards and four touchdowns.  In the second game against Elyria, Salaman rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Region 5 (OHSAA Division II)

Currently Hudson is on top of the rankings in Region V. 

In week three Hudson will face Cleveland Heights, a Division I team. In week two, Hudson defeated North Canton, 45-8.

Leading the way for Hudson this season is Ian Ludewig who had 343 yards rushing in week three.

Final@RollHudFootball 45@footballhoover 8#ExplorerPride#RollHud

Huge night on the ground as Ian Ludewig piles up a single game Explorer rushing record with 343 yards (unofficially). pic.twitter.com/z9isQj7VlQ

— Hudson Athletics (@HudsonOHSports) August 26, 2023

Region 9 (OHSAA Division III) and Region 13 (OHSAA Division IV)

Alliance, the top ranked team in Region 9 will travel to Streetsboro to take on the Rockets, the top ranked team in Region 13. 

Streetsboro has senior running back Preston Hopperton who has had an excellent start to the season. 

In the first week Hopperton had 218 yards rushing against CVCA and 167 yards against Normandy in Week 2.

Over the first two weeks, Alliance has been led by senior University of Oklahoma commit Brendan Zurbrugg.

COMMITTED! Gods plan! @Coach_Leb @CoachVenables @OU_Football @AllenTrieu @AviatorFootbal1 pic.twitter.com/EA4QCBwU2V

— Brendan Zurbrugg (@BrendanZurbrugg) August 1, 2023

 

In week 2, Zurbrugg was 12-18 for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns while accumulating a passing rating of 149.3.

Region 17 (OHSAA Division V) and Region 21 (OHSAA Division VI)

A top game to watch from Region 17 and Region 21 is the Perry vs. Kirtland matchup.  

Perry is the top ranked team in Region 17 while currently Kirtland is ranked second in Region 21.

This is an intriguing matchup.  

According to Ohio Fantastic 50, Kirtland has won 57 football games in a row during the regular season and also has not given up more than 20 points in the last 18 games.

There are a lot of other great games to watch this weekend in Ohio. Here are some additional games to watch as suggested by College of Wooster Professor,  Dr. Drew Pasteur who manages the Ohio Fantastic 50 website.

This week's biggest match-ups include a small-school battle between (D5 #4) Perry and (D6 #1) Kirtland, a metro Cleveland contest between Glenville and Avon, and a couple of notable inter-regional games. pic.twitter.com/3BHYgVYZ33

— Ohio Fantastic 50 (@OhioF50) August 29, 2023