NationalHSFootball.com
– Dallas Jackson, NationalHSFootball.com
Longtime followers of national high school football know the deal: Your placement in the final rankings can sometimes hinge on things outside your control.
Over the next two weeks, NationalHSFootball.com will look at the teams from the start of 2008 through the recently completed 2013 season and place them in an overall Top 25.
Not only will we find out the best team of the HSFB100 era – we’ll find out the best teams. Which years were stronger than others. Which great teams had the unfortunate fate of playing in the same year as an all-time great.
| No. 24 — Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius, 2008 | No. 4 in HSFB100, 14-1 |
Looking Back: In an odd twist it was a season-opening loss to Cleveland (Ohio) Glenville that likely helped galvanize this balanced team and pushed it to an Ohio Division I state title in 2008. The Wildcats bettered Mentor (Ohio) High, Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier, Cincinnati (Ohio) Elder, and Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward, twice, to get to the championship and claim the No. 4 spot in the HSFB100 for the 2008 season.
The team was lead by its aggressive 3-5 defense that was loaded with talent at the linebacker position.
Senior Dan Fox was a four-star prospect who went to Notre Dame while juniors Jake Ryan and Scott McVey both were eventually rated as three-star players before going off to Michigan and Ohio State, respectively. Kolin Sullivan was a key contributor as the No. 4 linebacker.
Scott McVey harassed Elder in the state finals. He was a three-star on Rivals.com, view his profile.
It was the play of the linebacking group that helped the defensive line of Gerry Ramella — who also played tight end — and tackle Ryan Carr dig in and make a lot of plays.
The offensive line was unheralded although solid.
What made this St. Ignatius team go was the balance that it has on both sides of the ball as the fundamentally sound defense was mirrored by an offense that limited its own mistakes and could run as well as pass.
The quarterback for the 2008 team was three-star Andrew Holland while his junior backup — who also was the punter that season — was four-star, Mark Myers.
Holland was not the strongest armed quarterback in the state that year nor was he particularly fleet of foot but he was the leader of the team and was very smart in where he through the ball.
Making things easier for Holland was that both of his receivers and his primary tight end were Division I talents. Joey Parris was 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and went to the Air Force while Connor Ryan was 6-foot-1, 180 and played at Ball State. Junior Brendan Carozzoni was a 6-foot-4, 215-pound target at tight end that worked as a solid blocker as well as a safety net.
Running back Mike Anter went unrecruited as a 5-foot-10, 190 back but was a major contributor to the attack.
Defining Game: Using two field goals and a safety to knock off Glennville, 8-7, in the second round of the playoffs was the greatest hurdle the team needed to clear in its path to the state title.
The game was a defensive struggle between two of the top teams in the state and the country and it was a fistfight to watch.
After opening the season with a 20-17 setback to Glenville — in a game that ended on a last-second field goal — being able to avenge the loss was enough to propel the team to a title.
The game was scoreless until just under three minutes in the second quarter when St. Ignatius blocked a field goal out of the endzone for a safety and used its ensuing drive setup by good field position to kick a field goal and take a 5-0 lead in at halftime.
Glenville scored a touchdown halfway through the third quarter and nearly made the lead stand until Seamus Hennessey hit a 37-yard field goal in the middle of the fourth to set the final margin.
St. Ignatius was force to hold Glenville on two final drives to preserve the win and then went on to prove defense wins championships.
Rankings Rewind: With its win in the state finals, St. Ignatius held off Corona Centennial in the final poll but it still slid down from No. 3 to No. 4 as Allen (Texas) High jumped from No. 4 to No. 2 with its Texas 5A Division I title.
The toss-up still remains between the two teams as both were strong on defense and talented on offense. When two teams are evaluated that closely it comes down to the unfortunate subjectivity of strength of schedule and that year it went to St. Ignatius.
The Countdown of the Top 25: View the complete list of teams.
The Varsity Board: Post your thoughts on the 2008 St. Ignatius team and its No. 24 ranking.
