St. Ignatius beat our 13-0 high school team, Olentangy Liberty, 24-14 in the state semi-finals in order to play Clifford's team. Unfortunately 2 out of the 3 stars on our team were hurt with one out and the other playing in a very limited role in that game. If anyone remembers at the beginning of the season I posted about Liberty playing North Allegheny asking if anyone knew how good they were. I didn't know how good Liberty was going to turn out. Without the key injuries I believe they would have been playing Clifford's team for the state title.
Unfortunately Ohio does not separate out the Catholic schools (who recruit players) from the public schools in the playoffs creating a major disadvantage for the public schools. In the brief 12 year history of Liberty high school they have lost 2 state championships to Catholic schools in Baseball and Hockey and won one in soccer. A couple of years ago 11 of the 12 teams in the state final football games (6 divisions) were from Catholic schools. So Clifford's team achieved a major accomplishment.