1. St. Paul football wins state

St. Paul caps rally from a 21-10 deficit by driving 97 yards in 3:17 to win Division VI state championship 24-21 over Delphos St. John's on Eric Schwieterman's 1-yard TD run on third-and-goal with five seconds left in the game. The Drive gave the Register area its fourth state championship in football (1974 Norwalk, 1995 Clyde, 1999 Perkins, 2009 St. Paul).

The Flyers trailed 21-10 after the Blue Jays scored at the end of the third quarter, but Schwieterman scored the second of his three TDs to make it 21-17.

On fourth-and-goal, the Blue Jays were stopped short at the St. Paul 3-yard line, setting up the dramatic game-winning drive.

“It’s been a fun road for 19 years, and we’ve had a lot of success,” St. Paul coach John Livengood said. “I’m very proud of these kids. That is what I’m feeling right now. It hasn’t really sunk in about a state championship. You say it to yourself, and it’s just like wow. It’s always been our ultimate goal.”

2. The state track trifecta

Within a 24-hour span, three athletes from Sandusky win individual state track titles, which included Sandusky's Dailyn Moore, SMCC's Alex Slattery and Perkins' Matthew Hoty.

Hoty repeated as state shot put champion and Slattery won the vault on the first day, then Moore coasted to a win in the 110-meter high hurdles on the second day.

3. Tigers roar to another volleyball title; St. Paul loses in final

Just one hour after St. Paul lost to Marion Local in the Division IV state championship volleyball match in Dayton, Huron makes quick work of Frankfort Adena in three easy games to win its third state championship since 1999. It was the most improbable title for Huron, as the season began with a 99-match SBC winning streak snapped and the team was ranked no higher than 14th in the state polls the entire year.

4. They came, they saw, they conquered

Monroeville wrestling wins four individual titles, finishes state runnerup. The quest for four 4-time state champions at Monroeville stayed intact as the Eagles' Logan and Hunter Stieber, Chris Phillips and Cam Tessari kept their impressive run together with four more titles in 2009, while finishing a point away from taking home the team gold.

5. Tucker claims a milestone

Margaretta girls basketball coach Tim Tucker becomes just the fourth Register area coach to win 500 career games, which all came at Margaretta. Tucker's historic win put him 12th all-time in Ohio girls basketball history for coaching wins.

6. Back-to-back for legion baseball

Sandusky American Legion Post 83 wins it's second straight state championship in Athens. In 2008, Post 83 became the first Legion program in a 60-mile radius of Sandusky to win the state championship...despite a awful patch in the middle of the summer that led them to stay just above .500, the boys of summer got red-hot at the right time in steamrolling the field at the District and State tournament to earn another Great Lakes regional berth.

7. Hutch hangs it up

Grace Hutchinson retires after 32 years as the only coach in the history of Norwalk volleyball. Hutchinson started the program in 1978 and amassed 552 career victories, the most ever by a Register area coach in any sport. Along the way, Hutchinson guided the Ladies in Blue to eight regional appearances and two trips to the state tournament along with three state poll championships. She is 5th all-time in Ohio history for career wins.

8. Perkins swimming stretches for gold

Perkins swimming medlay relay team wins state championship. In the first year of Division II boys swimming, the 200 relay team of Jimmy Chapman, Michael Mulvin, Chris Waldock and Jonathan Harris swam to gold medals in Canton.

9. McGookey’s path to stardom

Perkins wrestler Jonathan McGookey caps dominant season with a Division II 152-pound state championship while also earning National All-American status along the way.

10. Three’s company as trio hits 1,000 kills

In a 3-week span, three area volleyball players surpassed the 1,000-career kill mark, which included Clyde's Jamie Hoppe, Edison's Emily Stewart and St. Paul's Amber Welfle. Entering the season, just 35 players in Ohio history had entered the 1,000-kill club, but the area had three within three weeks of each other.

Other stories for consideration:

n Sandusky is accepted into the Northern Ohio League effective in the 2011-12 school year

n Perkins baseball team wins 27 straight games before falling in district championship

n Perkins football coach Gary Quisno guides Pirates to 9-1 record, SBC title and home playoff game, but resigns weeks later due to health reasons

n Sandusky baseball program ends school's GBC drought of five years by winning title in dominant fashion

n Three area players in Michael Hamann (Danbury), Kevin Johnson (Willard) and Andy Oliver (Vermilion) are selected in MLB Draft, but just Oliver signed.