We begin our weekly look at the MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week along the shores of Lake Erie, where Cleveland westside rivals St. Edward and St. Ignatius renew one of Ohio's top rivalries -- the "Holy War" -- for the 52nd time.
Setting pride aside, Saturday is a key game for postseason positioning. St. Edward and St. Ignatius could both use a win to improve their seeding when the Division I state playoff brackets are released on Sunday.
In action involving ranked teams, third-ranked Allen will try to make quick work of another district opponent when it travels to one-loss Plano West. No. 8 St. John Bosco can move closer to a second-straight Trinity League title with a win over reeling Servite. No. 17 Starkville tries to move closer to its first undefeated season since 1995 with a win against district rival Warren Central. And No. 23 Clay-Chalkville looks to build momentum entering the postseason with a non-region road date with Hewitt-Trussville.
After posting a 7-3 record last week, Jamie DeMoney expanded his lead in our season-long predictions contest. DeMoney's 68-32 overall record is two games better than Stephen Spiewak's and five clear of Mitch Stephens'. Fourth place currently belongs to Leland Gordon (62-38), followed by Kevin Askeland (61-39) and Colin Ward-Henninger (54-46).
Here's a look at this week's Top 10 games along with predictions by MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland, Leland Gordon, Colin Ward-Henninger and Jamie DeMoney.
MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week
St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) at St. Ignatius (Cleveland)Photos by Wayne Litmer/Michael Noyes/Graphic by Ryan Escobar
What to watch: Although the teams already have five losses between them, both are already assured entry into the first round of the Division I state playoffs. St. Edward (7-2) has won five straight after back-to-back losses in late September that knocked it from the No. 1 ranking in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. Notre Dame commit
Shaun Crawford totaled 131 yards of offense and a touchdown to lift the now unranked Eagles to a 24-10 win over two-time defending state champ Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati) last week. St. Ignatius (6-3) had a three-game winning streak snapped when it lost 24-10 to St. Xavier (Cincinnati) the same day. St. X stifled the Wildcats' running game to the tune of just 13 yards gained on 18 attempts (0.7 average).
Follow live scoring of this game on QwixcoreJust the facts: St. Ignatius has won three of the last four games against St. Edward, all of which were decided by seven points or less. The Wildcats also have the edge in the series all-time, 28-22-1. … These two all-male Catholic schools, which are located only about six miles apart, have combined to win 84 state championships in 20 different sports since 1978.
Mitch Stephens: St. Edward 28, St. Ignatius 21
Kevin Askeland: St. Ignatius 14, St. Edward 13
Jamie DeMoney: St. Edward 34, St. Ignatius 21
Stephen Spiewak: St. Ignatius 21, St. Edward 20
Leland Gordon: St. Ignatius 24, St. Edward 19
Colin Ward-Henninger: St. Edward 20, St. Ignatius 17