Midview Football to Open OHSAA Playoff Run at Padua in Week 11

Who: No. 10 Midview High School (5-5, 2-4 Southwestern Conference) and No. 7 Padua Franciscan High School (5-5, 2-2 North Coast Conference)

What: Week 11 OHSAA Division III Round of 16 Varsity Football Playoff Game

Where: Padua Franciscan High School's Padua Stadium (6740 State Rd., Parma, Ohio 44134)

When: Kickoff is Friday (November 1) at 7 p.m.

About Padua Franciscan: Founded in 1961 as a private school for boys, Padua Franciscan became co-educational in 1983 and is the largest co-ed private school in Northeast Ohio.

OHSAA Playoff Tidbits: For the fourth-consecutive season, the top 16 schools in each region qualified for the postseason, giving playoff berths to 448 schools. The regional playoffs will follow bracket format. Second-round games will be played on Friday, November 8, at the better seeded team's venue. Neutral sites will be used beginning in the third round on Friday, November 15, and the regional finals on Friday, November 22. The state semifinals will be on Friday, November 29, with the state championship games then hosted at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton December 5-7. The final complete football report showing all teams in every region is posted at: https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/Sports/Football/2024/20241026HarbinReport.pdf

Tickets: Adult Tickets are $11 and Students (K-12) are $5. Everyone Kindergarten age and older must have a ticket in order to enter. Presale Tickets are available here: https://www.ohsaa.org/tickets [Football --> Division III --> Region 10). Tickets will also be available at the gate via cash, credit or debit cards.

No Passes: Due to it being an OHSAA event, no SWC Passes or School IDs will be accepted as admission. Everyone needs a ticket to enter the facility.

Specator Note: All kids in attendance will be expected to sit in the stands with their parents or in the assigned student sections. Spectators are prohibited from bringing sporting equipment (footballs, basketballs, etc.) inside Varsity Football Games. They will be turned away at the gate. Alcohol and Smoking are also prohibited on the campus of Padua Franciscan High School.

Parking: Parking is available on campus, plus in the parking lots at St. Anthony's parish.  Handicap and VIP parking are available in the front parking lot, just south of campus. Tailgates should not block any parking spaces. There is also no alcohol permitted on campus. Parma Police will be monitoring the parking lots and area side streets for anyone who parks illegally and cars may get towed from surrounding facilities. Overflow parking can be found on the side streets just south of St. Anthony's school (Bruening Drive on the right, Park Drive on the left). 

Haltime Performance: The Midview High School Marching Blue will perform first followed by the Padua Franciscan High School marching band.

Midview in 2024: Midview finished the regular season 5-5. The Middies opened the year with three-straight non-league wins—34-14 over Westlake, 14-0 versus North Olmsted and 27-0 against Elyria Catholic. Midview then lost to Amherst Steele (21-16) and Avon Lake (24-17) before defeating Berea-Midpark (16-7). The Middies followed with a 38-20 loss North Ridgeville, 49-10 loss at Avon, 49-7 win against Elyria and 31-10 loss to Olmsted Falls.

Padua in 2024: Padua went 5-5 during the regular season. The Bruins defeated Alliance (34-61) in week 1, fell to Perkins (35-0) in week 2, topped Lutheran West (28-0) in week 3 and fell to Sandusky (28-0) in week 4. Padua then defeated Elyria Catholic (21-0) and North Royalton (35-28) before losing to Lake Catholic (46-17) and Holy Name (13-7). The Bruins bounced back with a win over Notre Dame Cathedral Latin (38-21) in week 9 before falling to Walsh Jesuit 47-0 in their regular season finale.

Match-up History: This is the first known match-up between these two programs.

2023 Records: Midview finished 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the Southwestern Conference, while Padua went 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the Crown Conference. The Middies lost 49-7 at Highland High School in the first round of the OHSAA Division II Playoffs, while the Bruins misses out on the OHSAA Division III Playoffs by one sport.

Midview Playoff History: Midview will make its 13th OHSAA playoff appearance in 2024. The Middies, who are 4-12 in OHSAA Tournament play, first qualified in 1998 when they defeated Revere 27-21 and then fell to Mayfield 35-21 in the Regional Final. Midview also qualified in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2012, 2014 (Regional runner-up), 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2023.

Padua Playoff History: Padua will also make its 13th OHSAA playoff appearance in 2024. The Bruins, who are 10-12 in OHSAA Tournament play, first qualified in 1979 when they finished State Runner-up. Padua also qualified in 1993, 1994, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Midview's Last Game: The Middies went toe-to-toe with host Olmsted Falls High School for a half before dropping their regular season finale 31-10. Senior Cody Martin completed 19-of-30 passes for 278 yards. Senior Camden Scott pulled in 7 receptions for 142 yards, including an 80-yard score. Senior Cameron West led the ground attack with 7 carries for 28 yards. Defensively, junior Brayden Homoki compiled a game-high 19 total stops, while classmate Michael Passerrello Jr. added 10 tackles against the run-heavy Bulldogs. [Recap].

Padua's Last Game: The Bruins fell 42-0 to host Walsh Jesuit High School in Week 10. Standout running back Roderick Love was held to just 54 yards in the loss.

Midview Head Coach: Head Coach Jack Armstrong is now 9-12 in his second season leading the Middies. Armstrong, a 2012 graduate of Midview High School, is a Special Education Coordinator at his alma mater and has served as a varsity assistant coach with the Middies for six of the previous seven seasons before taking over. He is the just the eighth coach in program history, which dates back to the consolidation of Belden, Eaton and Grafton high schools in 1955.

Padua Head Coach: Head Coach Kevin Kubit is 9-11 in his second year leading the Bruins' football program. He had been an assistant with Padua since 2009. He is just the 9th coach in program history, which dates back to 1961.

Midview Stat Leaders: Senior quarterback Cody Martin took over for injured Shay Williams in Week 7 and has completed 44-of-73 passes and thrown for 656 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTS. Junior Michael Passerrello Jr. leads the rushing attack with 78 carries for 369 yards and 4 TDs. Junior Marcus McMahon has added 70 carries for 278yards and 5 TDs. Senior Dior Jones leads the receving corps with 27 catches for 556 yards and 3 TDs, while senior Cross Wervey has 18 grabs for 168 yards and senior Camden Scott has added 13 catches for 291 yards and 2 TDs. Defensively, junior Brayden Homoki leads the team with 155 total tackles, while junior Michael Passerrello Jr. has added 90 total tackles on the year. Senior Nathanial Shenberger has compiled 7 of the team's 17 sacks on the season. Senior kicker Ethan Morris has connected on 7-of-10 field goal attempts with a long of 47 yards. In addition, 29 of his 37 kickoffs have gone for touchbacks. Senior Dior Jones (2) and junior Michael Passerrello Jr. (1) have combined for 3 special teams TDs this season. [Complete Stats]

Midview Returning Lettermen: Midview returned 17 letterwinners from a year ago, including All-SWC first team junior running back/defensive back Michael Passerrello Jr.

Padua Stat Leaders: The Bruin offense revolves around senior Roderick Love. The school's all-time leading rusher has run for 1,006 yards and 13 TDs in 7 games and 3,505 yards and 42 TDs in his career. Senior quarterback Nick Barker has completed 117-of-201 passes and thrown for 1,211 yards with 3 TDs and 12 INTs. He also has 60 carries for 248 yards and 5 more TDs. Riley Cervenka is the team's leading receiver with 30 catches for 227 yards and 1 TD. Senior Devin Shaw-Mason is the team's leading tackler with 125 total stops

League Standings: Midview finished in sixth place in the SWC Football Standings. Padua had the fourth-best record in the North Coast Conference, which didn't have league standings this season due to its schools' transition to the newly reformed conference.

SWC Non-Conference Success: The 8 SWC teams combined to go 17-7 over the first three weeks against non-league opponents. [Standings]

Playoffs Outlook: Midview currently sits 11th in Division III Region 10, while Olmsted Falls is 9th in Division II Region 6 through week 6 of the season. The top 16 of each region once again make the playoffs in 2024. Drew Pasteur's Fantastic 50 projects that Olmsted Falls has already clinched a playoff birth, while the Middies have likely locked up a playoff berth but need to win their final game to secure a home match-up in Week 11.

Watch Live: A Hudl Focus stream will be provided free of charge via the Padua Hudl Fan Page.

Midview Photos: Looking for photographic documentation of Midview student-athletes' success on the field? Jeff Barnes is the official photographer of Midview Athletics and his photos can be purchased at https://jeffbarnesphotography.zenfolio.com/

What is at Stake: The winner of the No. 10 Midview and No. 7 Padua match-up will take on the No. 2 Buckeye High School and No. 15 Norwalk High School winner on the campus of the best seed on November 8 at 7 p.m.

Regional Bracket: The OHSAA Division III Region 10 Bracket is available here: https://www.ohsaa.org/Sports-Tournaments/Football/Football-2024/2024-OHSAA-Football-Playoffs-Coverage

Media Credentials: Host sites handle media credentials for all regional playoff games. Media requesting space in the press box are allocated according to the OHSAA Football Press Box Priority Seating Chart: https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/Sports/Football/FB-MediaPressBoxMemo.pdf