OHSAA Football State Championship Pairings
Division I – Saturday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m., Canton Fawcett Stadium
Toledo Whitmer (14-0) vs. Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (11-3)
The 2012 state championship game will be the eighth meeting between the two schools. Moeller holds a 7-0 advantage over Whitmer in the head-to-head matchup. The two schools have not played since 1993. The latest the two schools have met in the playoffs prior to 2012 was in the 1979 state football semifinal.
Whitmer is looking to bring home the city of Toledo’s first Division I football state championship since 1984. Toledo St. Francis DeSales defeated North Canton Hoover 17-14 to win the title that year.
Since 2000 the city of Cincinnati has sent a team to the Division I state championship game eight times. Moeller becomes the fourth team in that span to go the finals, the others include Cincinnati Colerain, Cincinnati Elder and Cincinnati St. Xavier.
Moeller is playing in its 12th state championship game and first since 1997. The Crusaders are tied for second for most championship game appearances. Newark Catholic leads all schools with 14, followed by Moeller, Cleveland St. Ignatius (12), Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (11) and Versailles (9).
Whitmer, 14-0, is one of only five remaining unbeaten teams in the state and is looking to go undefeated for the first time in school history. The 14 wins is also the most in school history for one season, topping the 13 wins from the state semifinal team from a year ago.
Division II – Friday, Nov. 30, 7 p.m., Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium
Toledo Central Catholic (13-1) vs. Trotwood-Madison (12-2)
Bellevue is making an appearance in the state title game in football for the first time. The Redmen had reached the final four two other times in 1996 and 2001, but were unable advance to the championship game.
Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary returns to the state championship game in football for its sixth time. The Irish haven’t appeared in a title game since 1988 when they defeated Ironton 14-12 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
In its road to the championship game Bellevue defeated AP #1 Napoleon 35-20 in its regional semifinal game. The Redmen went on to defeat AP #4 Dayton Thurgood Marshall 34-33 in the state semifinal.
St. Vincent-St. Mary has had success once it has made it to the state championship game in its history. The Irish are 4-1 in title games, their lone state runner-up trophy coming in a 1979 loss to Ironton 7-6.
St. Vincent-St. Mary and Bellevue are meeting in the state championship game for the first time. In the 2001 state semifinals, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Bellevue both qualified, but did not meet. Bellevue was in Division III and St. Vincent-St. Mary was in Division IV.
Division III – Saturday, Dec. 1, 11 a.m., Canton Fawcett Stadium
Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (12-2) vs. Bellevue (13-1)
Bellevue is making an appearance in the state title game in football for the first time. The Redmen had reached the final four two other times in 1996 and 2001, but were unable advance to the championship game.
Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary returns to the state championship game in football for its sixth time. The Irish haven’t appeared in a title game since 1988 when they defeated Ironton 14-12 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
In its road to the championship game Bellevue defeated AP #1 Napoleon 35-20 in its regional semifinal game. The Redmen went on to defeat AP #4 Dayton Thurgood Marshall 34-33 in the state semifinal.
St. Vincent-St. Mary has had success once it has made it to the state championship game in its history. The Irish are 4-1 in title games, their lone state runner-up trophy coming in a 1979 loss to Ironton 7-6.
St. Vincent-St. Mary and Bellevue are meeting in the state championship game for the first time. In the 2001 state semifinals, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Bellevue both qualified, but did not meet. Bellevue was in Division III and St. Vincent-St. Mary was in Division IV.
Division IV – Friday, Nov. 30, 3 p.m., Canton Fawcett Stadium
St. Clairsville (14-0) vs. Clarksville Clinton-Massie (14-0)
St. Clairsville and Clarksville Clinton-Massie are both making their first state championship game appearance in 2012. St. Clairsville had previously made the state semifinals two other times, but not since the 1980s, while Clarksville Clinton-Massie made the semifinals last year but was defeated by Kenton 36-6.
St. Clairsville defeated defending champion Creston Norwayne 40-27 in it state semifinal game. The Red Devils held Norwayne to a season low 27 points, while going for 430 yards through the air on offense. Norwayne was previously undefeated and ranked number-three in the AP poll.
In its state semifinal game Clarksville Clinton-Massie defeated AP #1 Columbus Bishop Hartley 45-21 to advance to the championship game.
Pending verification of the point totals, Div. IV state finalist Clarksville Clinton-Massie has scored 776 points this season going into the championship game, which
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