Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

It’s time to face the music.

The final week of the high school football regular season has arrived and teams will be jockeying not only for a playoff spot but also from homefield advantage.

Ironton (6-2) has clinched a playoff spot in Region 17 of Division V and can earn a home game by beating Raceland, Ky. (8-1) this week. In fact, the Fighting Tigers could vault as high as the No. 2 seed.

Bishop Hartley (7-2) leads the region after beating DeSales last week. The Hawks not only clinched a home game but should finish as the No. 1 seed.

Wheelersburg (8-1) is second and can clinch a home game with a win over Portsmouth West (7-2) this week. A win over West would probably give the Pirates the No. 2 seed.

However, West will need to win in order to leap frog No. 8 Columbus Eastmoor (7-2) and take a playoff spot. If West loses, Eastmoor will be eighth by a fraction.

St. Clairsville (9-0) has clinched a playoff spot and can get a home game depending on how Ironton and Coshocton do.

Coshocton (8-1) will probably drop because the Redskins play winless River View and their schedule may not have enough to help them hold a top four spot.

Liberty Union (6-3) is sixth but — much like Eastmoor — hasn’t clinched a playoff spot.

The Lions play 2-7 Fairfield Union and have to hope for West to lose or the Senators and Eastmoor might jump over them.

Martins Ferry (8-1) is seventh and needs only to win against rival Bellaire to clinch a playoff spot.

Coal Grove (6-3) must not only beat Rock Hill (2-7) but also get some help to qualify in Region 21 of Division VI.

Ridgewood (8-1) sits at No. 7 followed by Oak Hill (6-3), Belpre (7-2) and then Coal Grove. Belpre plays 2-7 Waterford and their point total is locked in due to their schedule. A key will be Parkersburg (W.Va.) Catholic (2-6) beating Gilmour County, W.Va., which is expected.

The Hornets should hope for River Valley to beat Northwest, thus depriving points to Oak Hill. The Oaks play 2-7 Green — one of the Bobcats’ wins isn’t recognized by the OHSAA and will result in an average — and won’t get a lot of points from its schedule.

In other words, this will be a photo finish.

The Symmes Valley Vikings (6-3) are a different story. The Vikings are sixth but could sneak up as high as fifth or even fourth if everything plays out right.

The three teams jockeying for the fourth spot are No. 4 Paint Valley, No. 5 Tuscarawas Catholic and Symmes Valley.

The Vikings play at 6 p.m. Saturday against No. 9 Danville at Athens High School. Danville needs a win to qualify.

 

Division I

(top 16 from both regions will qualify for the playoffs)

Region 1 – 1. Hudson (9-0) 37.5889, 2. Berea-Midpark (8-1) 25.1889, 3. Westerville Central (8-1) 24.7333, 4. Powell Olentangy Liberty (7-2) 24.0944, 5. Lakewood St. Edward (7-2) 22.6004, 6. Mentor (8-1) 22.5111, 7. Cle. St. Ignatius (6-3) 21.2271, 8. Austintown-Fitch (6-2) 20.6989, 9. Wadsworth (7-2) 19.5667, 10. Elyria (6-3) 19.1222, 11. Solon (6-3) 17.9556, 12. Massillon Perry (6-3) 16.9556, 13. Lorain (6-3) 15.9192, 14. Strongsville (6-3) 15.7778, 15. Canton GlenOak (6-3) 15.4444, 16. Tol. Whitmer (6-3) 15.0, 17. Brunswick (6-3) 14.5657, 18. Euclid (4-5) 12.298, 19. Massillon Jackson (5-4) 12.2722, 20. Stow-Munroe Falls (6-3) 11.3722

Region 2 – 1. Cin. St. Xavier (7-2) 31.3389, 2. Huber Hts. Wayne (9-0) 29.9558, 3. Centerville (9-0) 29.5333, 4. Dublin Coffman (9-0) 27.697, 5. Pickerington Central (9-0) 26.9501, 6. Liberty Twp. Lakota East (8-1) 24.7167, 7. Springboro (8-1) 24.4, 8. Hilliard Darby (8-1) 24.1111, 9. Cin. Archbishop Moeller (6-3) 24.0722, 10. Miamisburg (7-2) 20.2278, 11. Cin. Colerain (6-3) 19.4778, 12. Cin. Elder (6-3) 19.2525, 13. Gahanna Lincoln (7-2) 18.9556, 14. Hilliard Davidson (5-4) 17.076, 15. Grove City Central Crossing (6-3) 15.9, 16. Westerville South (5-4) 15.5444, 17. Mason (7-2) 15.4343, 18. Lebanon (5-4) 13.3778, 19. Lancaster (6-3) 12.4222, 20. West Chester Lakota West (4-5) 11.6333

Division II

(top eight from each region in Divisions II through VII will qualify for the playoffs)

Region 3 – 1. Mayfield (8-1) 26.4111, 2. Bedford (9-0) 23.9899, 3. Madison (8-1) 22.4742, 4. Willoughby South (6-3) 19.1833, 5. Maple Hts. (7-2) 17.4444, 6. Brecksville-Broadview Hts. (7-2) 17.2667, 7. Cle. Glenville (7-2) 17.0808, 8. Garfield Hts. (8-1) 14.5833, 9. North Olmsted (6-3) 13.9944, 10. Painesville Riverside (6-3) 12.5278, 11. Cle. Rhodes (7-2) 10.803, 12. Cle. John Marshall (5-4) 8.5051

Region 4 – 1. Grafton Midview (9-0) 31.8833, 2. Perrysburg (9-0) 30.1389, 3. Macedonia Nordonia (9-0) 28.7889, 4. Medina Highland (7-2) 24.5667, 5. Massillon Washington (6-3) 19.8763, 6. Avon (8-1) 18.9167, 7. Fremont Ross (6-3) 18.1056, 8. Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (6-3) 17.2475, 9. Holland Springfield (6-3) 16.5111, 10. Sylvania Southview (5-4) 15.3167, 11. Akron Ellet (7-2) 13.9944, 12. Uniontown Lake (4-5) 12.9278

Region 5 – 1. Lewis Center Olentangy (9-0) 29.2, 2. Pataskala Watkins Memorial (8-1) 20.7532, 3. Ashville Teays Valley (7-2) 19.7056, 4. Wooster (6-3) 17.8722, 5. Dublin Scioto (5-4) 16.95, 6. Worthington Kilbourne (6-3) 15.45, 7. Ashland (5-4) 15.4, 8. Cols. Hamilton Township (6-3) 14.9333, 9. Mount Vernon (5-4) 14.5667, 10. Cols. Northland (7-2) 13.7167, 11. Lewis Center Olentangy Orange (4-5) 10.4778, 12. Logan (4-5) 9.9556

Region 6 – 1. Cin. LaSalle (8-1) 27.1889, 2. Cin. Mount Healthy (9-0) 24.596, 3. Kings Mills Kings (9-0) 23.8111, 4. Lima Senior (8-1) 19.3389, 5. Harrison (6-3) 17.8444, 6. Cin. Northwest (6-3) 14.5, 7. New Carlisle Tecumseh (5-4) 14.2167, 8. Loveland (6-3) 13.2556, 9. Cin. Glen Este (5-4) 12.8889, 10. Xenia (5-4) 11.5333, 11. Cin. Winton Woods (4-4) 11.5326, 12. Vandalia Butler (4-5) 9.4111

Division III

Region 7 – 1. Hubbard (9-0) 27.7222, 2. Louisville (8-1) 23.1722, 3. Aurora (9-0) 22.8278, 4. Akron St. Vincent-St Mary (7-2) 22.2121, 5. Tallmadge (6-3) 19.4389, 6. Chardon (7-2) 19.2889, 7. Poland Seminary (8-1) 17.9889, 8. Chagrin Falls Kenston (7-2) 16.5556, 9. Warren Howland (6-3) 14.0333, 10. Richfield Revere (5-4) 13.6222, 11. Akron Buchtel (5-4) 13.0136, 12. Akron Archbishop Hoban (6-3) 11.6333

Region 8 – 1. Tol. Central Cath. (7-2) 24.4278, 2. Clyde (8-1) 22.5389, 3. Norwalk (9-0) 22.35, 4. Bowling Green (6-3) 14.9722, 5. Sandusky Perkins (6-3) 14.6944, 6. Medina Buckeye (7-2) 13.9167, 7. Mansfield Madison Comp. (6-3) 13.0944, 8. Tiffin Columbian (6-3) 11.2111, 9. Maumee (4-5) 10.5111, 10. Rocky River (5-4) 9.2444, 11. Mentor Lake Cath. (3-6) 9.0101, 12. Tol. Waite (4-5) 8.6111

Region 9 – 1. Dresden Tri-Valley (9-0) 24.55, 2. Jackson (9-0) 22.1156, 3. Dover (7-2) 21.6515, 4. Granville (8-1) 21.3167, 5. Circleville Logan Elm (7-2) 20.8389, 6. The Plains Athens (9-0) 20.75, 7. Cols. St. Francis DeSales (7-2) 16.8384, 8. Sunbury Big Walnut (6-3) 16.5303, 9. New Philadelphia (7-2) 16.2833, 10. Thornville Sheridan (7-2) 13.4389, 11. Chillicothe (6-3) 12.4444, 12. Whitehall-Yearling (5-4) 12.3605

Region 10 – 1. Wapakoneta (9-0) 26.3167, 2. Tipp City Tippecanoe (8-1) 21.9278, 3. Trotwood-Madison (8-1) 21.8889, 4. Bellefontaine (7-2) 21.5222, 5. Mount Orab Western Brown (8-1) 19.0152, 6. Springfield Kenton Ridge (8-1) 18.7667, 7. Bellbrook (7-2) 16.9389, 8. Cin. Taft (6-3) 14.7833, 9. Franklin (5-4) 13.7222, 10. Day. Thurgood Marshall (5-4) 13.6821, 11. Oxford Talawanda (6-3) 13.5136, 12. Springfield Shawnee (5-4) 12.6

Division IV

Region 11 – 1. Mantua Crestwood (9-0) 21.2333, 2. Cle. Benedictine (8-1) 20.4722, 3. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (5-3) 18.1503, 4. Peninsula Woodridge (7-2) 16.8111, 5. Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (5-4) 16.3, 6. Bay Village Bay (6-3) 15.0278, 7. Mogadore Field (7-2) 14.5167, 8. Chagrin Falls (5-4) 12.1833, 9. Perry (5-4) 11.9444, 10. Beloit West Branch (5-4) 11.9389, 11. Cortland Lakeview (6-3) 11.6056, 12. Jefferson Area (7-2) 10.2722

Region 12 – 1. Wooster Triway (9-0) 20.5778, 2. Bellevue (7-2) 19.9444, 3. Kenton (7-2) 18.85, 4. Wauseon (9-0) 18.2889, 5. Port Clinton (6-3) 15.3722, 6. Genoa Area (7-2) 14.5333, 7. Galion (6-3) 13.9167, 8. LaGrange Keystone (7-2) 12.4778, 9. Caledonia River Valley (6-3) 12.0889, 10. Tol. Scott (7-2) 11.5889, 11. Bryan (6-3) 11.4833, 12. Millbury Lake (7-2) 10.0722

Region 13 – 1. Cols. Marion-Franklin (8-1) 22.1222, 2. Steubenville (6-3) 21.3865, 3. Cols. Beechcroft (8-1) 18.5333, 4. Johnstown-Monroe (8-1) 18.0944, 5. Newark Licking Valley (7-2) 16.2, 6. Zanesville Maysville (8-1) 15.9333, 7. Bexley (7-2) 14.8278, 8. Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (7-2) 14.7778, 9. Wintersville Indian Creek (7-2) 13.5758, 10. Amanda-Clearcreek (5-4) 13.4343, 11. Carroll Bloom-Carroll (4-5) 8.5833, 12. Uhrichsville Claymont (4-5) 8.4556

Region 14 – 1. Kettering Archbishop Alter (9-0) 25.3722, 2. Clarksville Clinton-Massie (9-0) 24.3111, 3. Cin. Wyoming (8-1) 23.2626, 4. Cin. Archbishop McNicholas (8-1) 21.8056, 5. Cleves Taylor (8-1) 20.9556, 6. Norwood (7-2) 18.85, 7. Circleville (6-3) 16.0556, 8. Middletown Bishop Fenwick (5-4) 14.8056, 9. Washington C.H. Miami Trace (6-3) 14.3389, 10. Monroe (6-3) 13.7333, 11. Cin. Indian Hill (5-3) 12.8264, 12. Minford (6-3) 12.6833

Division V

Region 15 – 1. Canton Central Cath. (9-0) 25.0167, 2. Youngstown Liberty (8-1) 16.5611, 3. Youngstown Ursuline (6-3) 16.404, 4. Beachwood (5-4) 13.5778, 5. Gates Mills Gilmour Acad. (7-2) 13.2944, 6. Columbiana Crestview (5-4) 12.9944, 7. Hanoverton United (6-3) 12.6722, 8. Middlefield Cardinal (7-2) 10.8611, 9. Girard (7-2) 10.7, 10. Independence (5-4) 10.6278, 11. Sullivan Black River (4-5) 9.7611, 12. Cadiz Harrison Central (4-5) 9.4556

Region 16 – 1. Huron (8-1) 21.4167, 2. Coldwater (8-1) 21.2667, 3. Findlay Liberty-Benton (9-0) 21.0444, 4. Marion Pleasant (9-0) 21.0, 5. Doylestown Chippewa (8-1) 18.3667, 6. Pemberville Eastwood (8-1) 17.4333, 7. Elyria Cath. (6-3) 15.9667, 8. Delta (8-1) 14.5667, 9. Columbia Station Columbia (8-1) 14.5111, 10. Ottawa-Glandorf (7-2) 14.0111, 11. Creston Norwayne (5-4) 10.8056, 12. Bucyrus (7-2) 10.1833

Region 17 – 1. Cols. Bishop Hartley (7-2) 24.9611, 2. Wheelersburg (8-1) 20.5556, 3. St. Clairsville (9-0) 20.0611, 4. Coshocton (8-1) 18.2222, 5. Ironton (6-2) 18.0885, 6. Baltimore Liberty Union (6-3) 16.0278, 7. Martins Ferry (8-1) 15.5442, 8. Cols. Eastmoor Acad. (7-2) 13.4848, 9. Portsmouth West (7-2) 13.45, 10. Albany Alexander (5-4) 8.8444, 11. Chesapeake (6-3) 8.5333, 12. Chillicothe Zane Trace (6-3) 8.35

Region 18 – 1. Cin. Hills Christian Acad. (9-0) 19.7323, 2. Jamestown Greeneview (9-0) 16.4389, 3. Cin. Madeira (6-3) 16.298, 4. Cin. Shroder (8-1) 15.634, 5. Hamilton Badin (7-2) 15.25, 6. Cin. Mariemont (6-3) 13.2778, 7. West Jefferson (5-4) 12.899, 8. Waynesville (6-3) 12.2611, 9. Richwood North Union (5-4) 10.0444, 10. Cin. North College Hill (5-4) 9.6667, 11. Day. Chaminade Julienne (5-4) 9.4545, 12. Middletown Madison (4-5) 7.95

Division VI

Region 19 – 1. Sugarcreek Garaway (9-0) 22.2056, 2. Loudonville (9-0) 22.0101, 3. Mogadore (9-0) 21.2778, 4. Kirtland (9-0) 20.4944, 5. McDonald (9-0) 19.0278, 6. Jeromesville Hillsdale (8-1) 18.0889, 7. New Middletown Springfield (7-2) 15.5167, 8. Cle. Villa Angela-St. Joseph (7-2) 14.6556, 9. Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas (6-3) 14.0, 10. Smithville (6-3) 13.3889, 11. Cuyahoga Hts. (6-3) 12.9167, 12. Lisbon David Anderson (6-3) 12.3111

Region 20 – 1. Defiance Tinora (9-0) 18.2833, 2. Lima Central Cath. (7-2) 17.2273, 3. Convoy Crestview (7-2) 16.2056, 4. Bucyrus Wynford (8-1) 15.6778, 5. Spencerville (8-1) 15.6611, 6. Haviland Wayne Trace (7-2) 12.7611, 7. Defiance Ayersville (8-1) 12.4222, 8. Van Buren (7-2) 11.9333, 9. Delphos Jefferson (7-2) 11.7556, 10. Carey (8-1) 11.65, 11. Gibsonburg (8-1) 10.9222, 12. Northwood (5-4) 9.2722

Region 21 – 1. Fredericktown (9-0) 18.8889, 2. Grandview Hts. (7-2) 15.3687, 3. Lucasville Valley (7-2) 15.2056, 4. Centerburg (7-2) 13.7389, 5. Nelsonville-York (7-2) 13.3056, 6. Woodsfield Monroe Central (7-2) 12.6616, 7. West Lafayette Ridgewood (8-1) 12.2056, 8. Oak Hill (6-3) 11.5778, 9. Belpre (7-2) 11.2677, 10. Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant (6-3) 10.6556, 11. Gahanna Columbus Academy (4-4) 10.2584, 12. Cols. Bishop Ready (5-3) 9.8294

Region 22 – 1. Lewisburg Tri-County North (8-0) 18.4727, 2. Minster (6-3) 15.5444, 3. West Liberty-Salem (8-1) 14.9611, 4. Casstown Miami East (8-1) 13.6637, 5. Cin. Country Day (9-0) 13.0816, 6. West Alexandria Twin Valley South (7-1) 10.9288, 7. Mechanicsburg (7-2) 9.9389, 8. Anna (5-4) 9.4556, 9. London Madison Plains (5-4) 9.4444, 10. Cin. Summit Country Day (6-3) 9.3838, 11. Ada (5-4) 9.1222, 12. Versailles (5-4) 8.8278

Division VII

Region 23 – 1. Norwalk St. Paul (8-1) 16.8389, 2. Berlin Center Western Reserve (8-1) 14.8722, 3. Plymouth (7-2) 12.0556, 4. Wellsville (7-2) 10.6778, 5. Ashland Mapleton (6-3) 9.8056, 6. Lucas (5-4) 8.65, 7. Toronto (7-2) 8.1389, 8. Sandusky St. Mary Central Cath. (5-4) 7.1056, 9. Vienna Mathews (6-3) 6.8655, 10. Steubenville Cath. Central (5-4) 6.1357, 11. Garfield Heights Trinity (2-7) 4.5607, 12. Lowellville (4-5) 4.4611

Region 24 – 1. Arlington (8-1) 14.1111, 2. Tiffin Calvert (7-2) 12.4889, 3. McComb (7-2) 10.8333, 4. Columbus Grove (5-4) 10.7722, 5. Tol. Christian (7-2) 9.2389, 6. Pandora-Gilboa (6-3) 7.8944, 7. Delphos St. John’s (4-5) 6.9944, 8. Leipsic (4-5) 6.3056, 9. Edgerton (4-5) 5.5556, 10. North Baltimore (4-5) 5.2667, 11. Hicksville (4-5) 5.0222, 12. Tol. Ottawa Hills (3-6) 4.4167

Region 25 – 1. Glouster Trimble (9-0) 19.5778, 2. Shadyside (9-0) 18.7914, 3. Caldwell (9-0) 17.5889, 4. Bainbridge Paint Valley (6-3) 13.5, 5. Willow Wood Symmes Valley (6-3) 10.3737, 6. New Philadelphia Tuscarawas Central Cath. (7-2) 10.2677, 7. Canal Winchester Harvest Prep. (7-2) 9.8636, 8. New Matamoras Frontier (6-3) 9.4141, 9. Danville (5-4) 8.0333, 10. Millersport (7-2) 7.0086, 11. Grove City Christian (5-4) 6.949, 12. Crown City South Gallia (4-5) 6.0111

Region 26 – 1. Maria Stein Marion Local (9-0) 21.3167, 2. Sidney Lehman Cath. (7-2) 12.7944, 3. Cin. Miami Valley Christian Acad. (7-1) 10.5919, 4. Fort Recovery (6-3) 10.4889, 5. Troy Christian (6-3) 8.5309, 6. Fort Loramie (6-3) 8.2944, 7. North Lewisburg Triad (5-4) 8.1278, 8. Covington (5-4) 7.2164, 9. DeGraff Riverside (6-3) 7.0756, 10. Cin. Gamble Montessori (4-4) 5.9265, 11. Hamilton New Miami (6-3) 5.3889, 12. McGuffey Upper Scioto Valley (4-5) 5.0556