By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Week 10 of the high school football season.

Are we really here already?

We may not want to answer it, to be honest.

However, by answering the rhetorical question, we are also accepting the idea that we have also spent the last nine weeks living inside of another year of memories created at the football stadium.

And more than that, too, since a Friday night game is just the culmination of a full week of events, preparation and time spent together.

Teams working on the practice field.

Players spending time in the weight room, out to dinner or after practice.

Families converting in the living room or dinner table about last week’s game, this week’s game and everything in between.

Classrooms and pep rallies filled with school spirit.

In fairness, all of the fall sports can share into the same space, and it does carry to the winter and the spring for those respective seasons’ sports, but there is also a different level of pageantry for football.

And to know that some will play in their final game of the season tonight is not always easily welcomed.

And to know that some will play in their final game ever tonight is a stark reality.

Everything hits a little different in Week 10.

The pregame routines always end too soon.

The four quarters are never long enough.

The moments shared amongst players, coaches and families after the game are always more emotional.

Saying goodbye to a season — or in some cases to a sport — is never easy.

Good luck to everyone tonight!

Enjoy one more night under the lights!

THE GAME

For the 112th time, Kent Roosevelt and Ravenna will meet on the gridiron.

This year’s chapter will be hosted in Kent and will be the last time, in probably a long time or ever, that the game will be played in Week 10.

Next season, with Ravenna scheduled to be a new member of the Greater Portage Athletic Conference (GPAC), the historic matchup will move back to being a non-league game.

Both schools have committed to continuing the game, ensuring that one of Ohio’s greatest football rivalries will forge forward.

Kent Roosevelt has won the last three matchups, and it will enter with a 5-4 overall record and 3-3 in Metro Athletic Conference play.

Ravenna has a 4-5 overall record and are 2-4 in the MAC.

FUN STATS ABOUT THE GAME

RAVENNA

   • Longest winning streak: 10 games (1949-58)

   • Shutout wins: 17

   • Largest margin of victory: 94-0 (1911)

   • Record by decade—

1911-19: 3-2

1920-29: 5-4-1

1930-39: 4-5-1

1940-49: 7-3

1950-59: 9-1

1960-69: 3-6-1

1970-79: 5-4

1980-89: 2-8

1990-99: 3-7

2000-09: 5-4

2010-19: 6-3

2020-25: 2-4

KENT ROOSEVELT

   • Longest winning streak: 6 games (1981-86)

   • Shutout wins: 12

   • Largest margin of victory: 58-0 (1917)

   • Record by decade—

1911-19: 2-3

1920-29: 4-5-1

1930-39: 45-4-1

1940-49: 3-7

1950-59: 1-9

1960-69: 36-3-1

1970-79: 4-5

1980-89: 8-2

1990-99: 7-3

2000-09: 4-5

2010-19: 3-6

2020-25: 4-2

THE GAME

   • Wins decided by one score: 41 times (37 percent of the all-time games)

SIXTY YEARS AGO

In 111 years, naturally, there are games from the Kent Roosevelt-Ravenna football rivalry that spark memories and stories.

One, though, has forever been at the top of the list in that regard.

Kent Roosevelt football head coach Tom Campana during the famed 1966 season for the Rough Riders. The team featured 11 players who went on to play Division I college football.

1966.

Kent Roosevelt won the game, 20-6, at the city’s historic Bowers Field, which sits next to Davey Elementary.

Newspaper reports that an estimated 7,000 people attended the game. As a reference point, the current Roosevelt Stadium has a seating capacity of 5,500.

It is well documented, too, that fans who could not get into the game, climbed the trees that surrounded the field to get high enough to get a peek at the action.

What a scene and environment that must have been.

The win for the Rough Riders was part of a run of 17 straight wins that spanned between the 1966 and 1967 seasons as one of the most dominant regular-season runs in Portage County history.

Kent Roosevelt’s roster featured five future NFL players: Stan White (Baltimore Colts), Tom DeLeone (Cleveland Browns), Jerry Brown (San Francisco 49ers), Stan Boykin (New York Jets) and Mike Adamle (Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears, New York Jets). It also included other notable names like Joe Paoloni, Mike Drennan, Bob Scholl and Dr. Gordy Marsh. In total, 11 Rough Riders from the 1966 team went on to play Division I college football.

It also included one future CFL player: Tom Campana Jr.

Ravenna’s roster also featured a future NFL player: Don Nottingham (Miami Dolphins).

Kent Roosevelt was coached by Tom Campana Sr. and Ravenna was coached by Nunzio “Foot” Polichene.

The 1966 game is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and is worth remembering as a piece of special history for not only The Game, but for all of Portage County football.

BAD LUCK FOR AURORA

Every team is forced to rework rosters and depth charts because of injuries throughout a season.

Sometimes, though, the bad luck falls harder on one team more than another.

In 2026, the bad luck found Aurora.

In total, the Greenmen have 33 total junior and senior football players on their roster.

On the season, 19 of those 33 have missed at least one full game this season because of an injury. Twelve of those 33 have missed multiple games.

MCGRANAHAN’S EFFICIENCY

Garfield senior quarterback Collin McGranahan has become one of the most efficient throwers this season.

He has only 13 incomplete passes this season, hitting on 26-of-39 (67 completion percentage) through nine weeks.

It is no secret that Garfield is a run-heavy offense, but the times it goes to the air, they have proven to be very dangerous. The G-Men have seemingly perfected the ability to set up a series of favorite pass plays through their run-focused offense.

McGranahan has passed for a total of 569 yards, which is an average of 22 yards per completion.

FRIDAY NIGHT FORECAST

Clear skies is what most will identify first this week, following Week 9’s night under the rain.

The temperature at kickoff will be in the mid-50’s and will drop into the high 40’s by the end of the game.

Very little wind and no rain will make it as nice of a Week 10 as we could expect.

Get trapped in the memories instead of noticing how cold it may feel.

PLAYOFF UPDATE

Note: The top-12 teams in each region qualify for the postseason.

DIVISION III, REGION 9

19. Aurora

20. Kent Roosevelt (mathematically eliminated)

DIVISION IV, REGION 13

 1. Streetsboro (clinched top 8 and a home game)

19. Field (mathematically eliminated)

DIVISION V, REGION 17

4. Garfield (clinched top 8 and a home game)

16. Ravenna (mathematically eliminated)

19. Southeast  (mathematically eliminated)

22. Crestwood (mathematically eliminated)

DIVISION VI, REGION 21

19. Rootstown (mathematically eliminated)

DIVISION VII, REGION 25

5. Mogadore (clinched top 8 and a home game)

24. Waterloo (mathematically eliminated)

TEAM RECORDS

Aurora: 4-5 overall; 3-3 Suburban League American Conference

Crestwood: 2-7 overall; 2-4 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division

Field: 2-7 overall; 1-5 Metro Athletic Conference

Garfield: 9-0; 6-0 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Gray Division

Kent Roosevelt: 5-4 overall; 3-3 Metro Athletic Conference

Mogadore: 7-2 overall (no league record)

Ravenna: 4-5 overall; 2-4 Metro Athletic Conference

Rootstown: 4-5 overall; 2-4 Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division

Southeast: 3-6 overall; 3-3 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Gray Division

Streetsboro: 7-2 overall; 5-1 Metro Athletic Conference

Waterloo: 1-9 overall; 0-6 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Division

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Copley at Aurora

Crestwood at Chagrin Falls

Field at Springfield

Garfield at Brookfield

Ravenna at Kent Roosevelt

Brush at Mogadore

Fairview at Rootstown

Southeast at Liberty

Streetsboro at Tallmadge

Waterloo at Campbell Memorial

Windham at Danbury (Oct. 24)

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

Mogadore 33, Marlington 15

Rootstown 17, Crestwood 7

Streetsboro 30, Woodridge 0

LaBrae 28, Southeast 0

Garfield 56, Crestview 14

Tallmadge 25, Field 6

Aurora 40, Barberton 18

Cloverleaf 49, Ravenna 6

Kent Roosevelt 47, Cuyahoga Falls 3