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High school sports

St. X will win state

No, that's not my prediction.
Colerain, Elder, Moeller fans -- please read on.

St. Xavier will win the 2007 Ohio Division I football title, according to ... Ohio High magazine.

A glance at the magazine's state football picks for 2007:

Division I finals: St. Xavier over Massillon Washington
Division II: Trotwood-Madison over Tallmadge
Division III: Dayton Chaminade-Julienne over Mentor Lake Catholic
Division IV: Youngstown Cardinal Mooney over Kettering Alter
Division V: Lima Central Catholic over Maria Stein Marion Local
Division VI: Norwalk St. Paul over Lehman Catholic

For what it's worth.

St. X returns 15 starters from its 2006 team, and that's not counting standout kicker/punter Danny Milligan. Readers of this blog know most of the names -- RB Darius Ashley, FS Fred Craig, LB Nick Schneider, WR Stephon Ball, et al.

"We're good on paper," St. X coach Steve Specht said the other day, "but games aren't played on paper."

Beyond St. X, we're curious to see how the top 5 shakes our in our Enquirer preseason poll. (Our preview runs Aug. 20).

The usual suspects will be up there -- Colerain, Elder, Moeller. La Salle is always in the mix. Behind Colerain in the GMC, we're not quite sure. Remember Sycamore as last year's surprise team?

Do you agree that St. X is the clear No. 1, at least for now? If not, who should be? And who could surprise?

RP Discussion Links: Fred Craig, Darius Ashley