They’ve been moving upward, but can they keep it going?

That’s the question facing the Ironton Fighting Tigers who are bidding for yet another postseason playoff appearance.

Ironton hosts the Portsmouth Trojans Friday night in a pivotal Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game that is worth big computer points for the winner.

The Fighting Tigers have moved into ninth place in Region 15 of Division IV, less than six-tenths of a point behind the eighth-place Rock Hill Redmen.

Rock Hill is hoping to make the postseason but the Redmen will probably need to win all three of their remaining games to have a chance at the playoffs.

A win over Chesapeake won’t be a lot of points, but the Redmen will be in a big Ohio Valley Conference showdown next week with Coal Grove as both need a win to stay alive in the playoff chase.

The top eight teams in each region of the six divisions qualify for the postseason that makes for a total of 32 teams in each division.

In Region 15, Licking Heights still leads with a 15.3928 average. Waverly is second at 14.6857, St. Clairsville third at 14.1460, Westfall is next at 13.7714, Portsmouth is sixth at 11.5071, Union Local 11.1285, New Lexington 10.5518, Rock Hill 9.7142, and Ironton 9.1928.

Martins Ferry is 10th with a 7.8217 average and has a showdown with St. Clairsville on Friday.

Fairland’s loss to Rock Hill dropped the Dragons to 12th place with a 5.6939 average. South Point is 16th at 3.8229.

In Region 19 of Div. V, Coal Grove is 13th with a 6.0145 average. Wheelersburg climbed to third at 9.9033 and trails Columbus Bishop Ready and Buckeye Trail.

Minford is fourth while Portsmouth West fell to ninth.

Chesapeake is 23rd.

Symmes Valley is No. 19 in Region 23 of Division VI. Green is 27th in Region 24.

A list of the top 10 teams in each region appears under “Scoreboard” on Page 11.