It's the 50th edition of the annual "Holy War" game on Cleveland's west side, and it may be the most intriguing matchup in the history of the rivalry.
St. Ignatius (Cleveland) and St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) – longtime Catholic football powers separated by less than 6 miles – own undefeated records and are ranked nationally in the latest
MaxPreps Xcellent 25. In addition to bragging rights and momentum heading into next week's state playoffs, a win would give St. Ignatius its 300th victory under legendary coach Chuck Kyle.
Elsewhere, there are two other matchups involving nationally ranked teams to take a look at in this edition of the MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week.
Sixth-ranked Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) hopes to win its 12th-straight game against an out-of-state opponent – and its 34th-straight game overall – when it travels to Cincinnati to play battle-tested Archbishop Moeller.
Tennessee recruit
Riley Ferguson is expected to be back under center for No. 8 Butler (Matthews, N.C.) when it hosts Independence (Charlotte) with a conference championship up for grabs. Ferguson missed the last six games with a broken hand.
There's now a two-way tie for the lead in our season-long predictions contest. Leland Gordon correctly picked seven out of 10 winners last week, allowing him to close the gap on the lead Jamie DeMoney held by himself the previous three weeks. Both Leland and Jamie have picked 65 winners in 90 games (72.2 percent). A mere two games back, Mitch Stephens is alone in third place after posting a 7-3 record last week.
Here's a look at this week's top 10 games of the week along with predictions by MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Steve Montoya, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland, Leland Gordon and Jamie DeMoney.
MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week
Two of the nation's top prep programs reside just 6 miles from each other, so expect the St. Edward vs. St. Ignatius battle to fill the stands in Cleveland.
Photos by Michael Noyes/Danny Wild. Graphic by Ryan Escobar
St. Ignatius, 9-0 and ranked third in this week's Xcellent 25, has a 27-21-1 advantage all-time in the series and wins in seven of the last 10 meetings. Last season, the Wildcats beat St. Edward by identical scores of 20-17 twice in three weeks, helping propel them toward their 11th Division I state championship.
These are the top two teams in the Midwest region in our Regional Computer RankingsSt. Edward made its debut in the national rankings this week at No. 25. The Eagles are seeking a repeat of their undefeated season in 2010. That was last time they beat St. Ignatius and the only time they've done so since 2006. Both teams are coming off similar-looking wins against top rivals from the Cincinnati Greater Catholic League. In both cases, a senior running back helped save the day:
Dwayne Aaron ran for 250 yards and four touchdowns as St. Edward erased a 42-21 third-quarter deficit to beat Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati), 49-42. Likewise,
Tim McVey found the end zone four times to rally St. Ignatius from a 21-6 hole in an eventual 32-21 win against St. Xavier (Cincinnati).
Mitch Stephens: St. Ignatius 28, St. Edward 27
Steve Montoya: St. Ignatius 21, St. Edward 20
Stephen Spiewak: St. Ignatius 28, St. Edward 24
Kevin Askeland: St. Edward 26, St. Ignatius 21
Leland Gordon: St. Ignatius 17, St. Edward 14
Jamie DeMoney: St. Ignatius 27, St. Edward 24
