By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Welcome to High School Football Central!

Tonight is Week 3 of the season.

We only get 10 guaranteed Friday nights in the fall — so enjoy them.

Back before the start of the season, I wrote a column challenging everyone to enjoy all of the little things.

Don’t lose sight of that!

Today, Portage Sports also released its list of statistical leaders through the first two weeks of the season.

Now, here are some of the details surrounding tonight’s action!

TODAY’S THEME: ACT WITH CHARACTER

Play, coach and cheer with the type of character that would make your parents proud.

Regardless of your age. Regardless of what your role in Friday night’s games is.

Players, coaches, parents, student sections.

Serve as the leaders that represent your family, school and community well.

Student sections should be loud and rowdy, but with respect and restraint.

Parents should be passionately supportive, but with love instead of anger.

Players should play with emotion and physicality, but with sportsmanship and integrity.

When we are young, we naturally want to make our parents proud. That is part of the kid to parent dynamic.

Tonight’s high school student-athletes should still fit into the category and most probably do.

The coaches and parents attending tonight’s game should not lose track of that same sentiment.

For the players, it is important to realize that young eyes will be watching how you play, how you act and how you interact with your team and coaches.

Remember back to when you were in elementary or middle school and how it felt to watch the big, older high school football team play.

You are now the same players that you once idolized and wanted to be like.

What kind of players are today’s youngsters watching tonight?

Only you can answer that with your play, words and action!

TONIGHT’S FORECAST

At kickoff, 82 degrees and zero chance for precipitation.

By the fourth quarter, temperatures in the high 70s and still no rain.

Another beautiful night for football and should produce some gorgeous sunset photo opportunities.

KENT ROOSEVELT-RAVENNA

One of the greatest rivalries in the state of Ohio adds its 108th chapter tonight.

Remarkably, and almost unbelievably, the all-time results are nearly dead-even.

The two schools have played 107 times and there is only a two-game difference in the all-time record.

Wow!

Ravenna leads the all-time series 53-51-3.

The three ties came in 1921 (0-0), 1933 (6-6) and 1965 (14-14).

The Ravens won last year’s matchup, 27-9, on Ravenna’s blue turf.

The longest win streak for Kent Roosevelt is six games from 1981 through 1986.

The longest win streak for Ravenna is 10 games from 1949 through 1958.

There have been three overtime games, with all three coming within the last 15 years.

The first came in 2009 (Ravenna, 29-28), while the other two came in 2012 (Kent Roosevelt, 26-20) and 2019 (Ravenna, 10-7).

The game has been decided by one score or less 39 times.

TONIGHT’S WEEK 3 SCHEDULE

Aurora at Twinsburg

Ravenna at Kent Roosevelt

Struthers at Streetsboro

Field at Rootstown

Champion at Southeast

Manchester at Mogadore

Waterloo at Malvern

Warren John F. Kennedy at Garfield

Crestwood at Chippewa

Jackson-Milton at Windham (cancelled — Windham injuries)

WEEK 2 SCORES

Riverside 34, Aurora 21

CVCA 42, Kent Roosevelt 9

Ravenna 14, Warren Howland 7

Streetsboro 28, West Geauga 6

Field 28, Southeast 6

Rootstown 25, Champion 22

Mogadore 48, Columbus Crusaders (club) 13

Rittman 40, Windham 22

Crestwood 28, Minerva 0
Garfield 17, Lakeview 7

Waterloo 40, Strasburg 14

Smithville 63, St. Thomas Aquinas 0

Coventry 31, Berkshire 16

West Branch 43, Woodridge 13

Springfield 20, St. John School 0

Norton 35, Akron Garfield 0

Cloverleaf 35, Keystone 0

Warren John F. Kennedy 37, Delta 12

PORTAGE TRAIL CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Mogdaore 2-0, 0-0

Rootstown 2-0, 0-0

Warren JFK 2-0, 0-0

Southeast 1-1, 0-0

St. Thomas Aquinas 0-2, 0-0

METRO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Coventry 2-0, 0-0

Cloverleaf 1-1, 0-0

Field 1-1, 0-0

Norton 1-1, 0-0

Ravenna 1-1, 0-0

Springfield 1-1, 0-0

Streetsboro 1-1, 0-0

Woodridge 0-2, 0-0

SUBURBAN LEAGUE AMERICAN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Highland 2-0, 0-0

Tallmadge 2-0, 0-0

Aurora 1-1, 0-0

Barberton 1-1, 0-0

Copley 1-1, 0-0

Kent Roosevelt 1-1, 0-0

Revere 1-1, 0-0

Cuyahoga Falls 0-2, 0-0

MAHONING VALLEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GREY DIVISION STANDINGS

Garfield 2-0, 0-0

Brookfield 1-1, 0-0

Newton Falls 1-1, 0-0

Campbell Memorial 0-2, 0-0

Champion 0-2, 0-0

Crestview 0-2, 0-0

LaBrae 0-2, 0-0

Liberty 0-2, 0-0

MAHONING VALLEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SCARLET DIVISION STANDINGS

Jackson-Milton 2-0, 0-0

Lowellville 2-0, 0-0

Mineral Ridge 2-0, 0-0

McDonald 1-1, 0-0

Waterloo 1-1, 0-0

Western Reserve 1-1, 0-0

Sebring 0-2, 0-0

N.M. Springfield 0-2, 0-0

CHAGRIN VALLEY CONFERENCE VALLEY DIVISION STANDINGS

Hawken 2-0, 0-0

Beachwood 1-1, 0-0

Cardinal 1-1, 0-0

Crestwood 1-1, 0-0

Berkshire 0-2, 0-0

Grand Valley 0-2, 0-0

Harvey 0-2, 0-0

PLAYOFF RANKINGS

DIVISION III, REGION 9

T11. Aurora

14. Kent Roosevelt

DIVISION IV, REGION 13

3. Coventry

8. Woodridge

T11. Ravenna

T11. Streetsboro

17. Field

T18. Springfield

DIVISION V, REGION 17

 1. Garfield

T13. Crestwood

DIVISION VI, REGION 21

2. Mogadore

3. Rootstown

14. Southeast

T16. Waterloo

DIVISION VII, REGION 25

T18. Windham

WEEK 4 SCHEDULE

Harvey at Crestwood

Rootstown at Pymatuning Valley

Akron North at Southeast

Mogadore vs. Liberty-Benton (neutral site)

Springfield at Field

Streetsboro at Norton

Ravenna at Cloverleaf

Garfield at LaBrae

Waterloo at Sebring McKinley

Windham at St. John

St. Thomas Aquinas at East Canton

Perkins at Warren JFK

Woodridge at Coventry