A quick thought as we proceed into Week 12 during the high school football playoffs:

With Kenston's upset of top-seeded Tallmadge last week, and Chardon taking care of Warren Howland to set up an all-News-Herald area Division II, Region 5 semifinal Friday at Mentor, could this perhaps be the biggest football game involving two Geauga County schools in history?

Not a game involving ONE Geauga school, mind you. We're talking about a game in which BOTH schools are within the Geauga limits.

Given the playoffs are involved, and a trip to a regional final is on the line, it could very well be the case.

This marks just the second time in area history that two schools located in Geauga County have met in the playoffs, the last being West Geauga's 20-13 victory over Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin in 2003 in a Division III regional quarterfinal.


It's likely some of the old-school folks out there might beg to differ on the classification of this Chardon-Kenston game as the biggest ever. Perhaps there's a regular-season game in a great Geauga rivalry such as Berkshire-Cardinal or a league game with huge implication from days gone by for any of the proud programs down there.

Still, the case is there.

When Chardon and Kenston meet Friday, there is a great deal at stake, and the stakes have perhaps never been higher for a game with two schools both located in Geauga County on opposite sidelines.

- Chris Lillstrung | @CLillstrungNH