“The last two weeks we’ve played some really tremendous teams and it’s a blessing to get us ready for the playoffs,” Wayne head coach Jay Minton said of the Warriors (9-0-1), who are top seeded in Division I, Region 3. “We haven’t quite played our best but we’ve played well enough to win.”
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First-round playoff pairings were released by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Sunday. Divisions I, II, IV and VI will play at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Divisions III, V and VII at 7 p.m. on Saturdays through the state semifinals. Championship weekend will be held at Ohio Stadium in Columbus Dec. 1-3, with one title game held on Thursday, Dec. 1.
Wayne, the two-time D-I state runner-up, will host Lancaster (6-4) on Friday.
“Fortunately, guys like Matt Wilcox and Fred Pitts and Ben Jackson and Mazon Walker have been there and been in those types of games,” Minton said. “We can’t start talking about the championship game until we win (playoff weeks) one, two, three, and four.”
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• Alter (10-0) can thank Thurgood Marshall (5-5) for earning the Knights a D-IV, Region 16 first round "home" game. Alter defeated Thurgood 51-15 in Week 3. Just as important, Thurgood outlasted Shroder 34-28 in overtime late Saturday night.
That earned Alter enough extra second-level points — for beating Thurgood — to break a tie with Valley View as the No. 4 seed. Alter bumped up to No. 3 and will host Indian Hill (9-1) at Fairmont’s Roush Stadium on Friday.
“We’re avoiding awful mistakes and the kids have a lot of confidence and it’s where they expect to be,” said Alter coach Ed Domsitz.
Alter’s bump up in the final computer rankings was the only change that affected area teams from projected pairings after Friday’s games.
• As expected, Dunbar (7-3) forfeited Week 9-10 games for playing an academically ineligible player and missed making the D-IV, Region 16 field. City League rival Belmont (7-2) instead made it in D-III, Region 12. However, Piqua (7-3) was bumped out of Region 12 following Belmont's addition.
“This is absolutely heart-breaking for (Dunbar),” Dayton Public Schools athletic director Mark Baker said. “We’re putting new measures in place already to ensure this never happens to students, parents or supporters in the future.”
Belmont, seeded fifth, will be at No. 4 seed St. Marys Memorial (9-1), which suffered only a Week 10 loss to Ottawa-Glandorf, 13-7. Both Belmont and St. Marys feature offenses that heavily rely on the run.
“It will probably be a game that lasts about an hour and a half,” Belmont coach Earl White said. “They’re going to run at us and we’re going to run at them and let the best man win.”
• Wayne (D-I, Region 3), Franklin (D-III, Region 12), Marion Local (D-VI, Region 24) and Covington (D-VII, Region 28) all were top seeded.
On the flip side, Springboro (vs. Colerain), West Liberty-Salem (vs. Marion Local) and Tippecanoe (vs. Franklin) all nabbed the final No. 8 seeds and were paired against top regional seeds.
• A total of 224 of 716 teams (31.3 percent) in the seven divisions qualified for the playoffs. There were six teams that made the postseason for the first time, none from the area.
• The Midwest Athletic Conference has a shot at duplicating its 2014 sweep of three state titles with Coldwater (D-V), Marion Local and St. Henry (D-VI) and Minster and Fort Recovery (D-VII) all advancing. Coldwater and Recovery both won titles last year and Marion Local had a record 24 consecutive playoff wins snapped by Kirtland in the D-VI state final.
• Coldwater (D-V) owns the longest active playoff streak of 20 years and has played in seven straight state title games.
• Alter also has a chance to win the D-IV state poll title. No. 1 Johnstown-Monroe (9-1) suffered a Week 10 loss to Heath, 35-31. Alter was No. 2 but Perry and Cincinnati Wyoming were 3-4 and both also ended 10-0. The Associated Press will release its poll champs on Monday.
• First-round tickets are available at all participating schools. A percentage of presale proceeds only is returned to the schools.
FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
First round games
7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4
Division I, Region 1
8 Canton GlenOak (6-4) at 1 Solon (9-1)
7 Euclid (7-3) at 2 Lakewood St. Edward (7-2)
6 Canton McKinley (6-4) at 3 Stow-Munroe Falls (9-1)
5 Massillon Jackson (7-3) at 4 Cle. St. Ignatius (9-1)
Division I, Region 2
8 Olentangy Orange (6-4) at 1 Olentangy Liberty (10-0)
7 Findlay (7-3) at 2 Dublin Jerome (9-1)
6 Lewis Center Olentangy (7-3) at 3 Lorain (8-2)
5 Medina (8-2) at 4 Toledo Whitmer (8-2)
Division I, Region 3
8 Lancaster (6-4) at 1 Wayne (9-0-1)
7 Pickerington North (7-3) at 2 Hilliard Bradley (9-1)
6 Springfield (7-3) at 3 Pickerington Central (9-1)
5 Hilliard Davidson (8-2) at 4 Dublin Coffman (8-2)
Division I, Region 4
8 Springboro (7-3) at 1 Cin. Colerain (10-0)
7 Cin. Sycamore (6-4) at 2 Lebanon (7-3)
6 Cin. Elder (6-4) at 3 Mason (6-4)
5 Cin. St. Xavier (5-5) at 4 Fairfield (7-3)
Division II, Region 5
8 Barberton (8-2) at 1 Aurora (9-1)
7 Bedford (7-3) at 2 Chardon (10-0)
6 Brecksville-Broadview Hts. (8-2) at 3 Warren G. Harding (9-1)
5 Copley (8-2) at 4 Hudson (8-2)
Division II, Region 6
8 Avon Lake (7-3) at 1 Avon (10-0)
7 Westlake (7-3) at 2 Holland Springfield (10-0)
6 Olmsted Falls (7-3) at 3 Grafton Midview (9-1)
5 Cle. Glenville (7-3) at 4 Whitehouse Anthony Wayne (7-3)
Division II, Region 7
8 Uniontown Lake (6-4) at 1 Massillon Perry (8-2)
7 Dublin Scioto (7-3) at 2 Massillon Washington (8-2)
6 Columbus West (9-1) at 3 New Albany (7-3)
5 Pataskala Licking Heights (8-2) at 4 Col. Franklin Heights (9-1)
Division II, Region 8
8 Cin. Anderson (7-3) at 1 Troy (9-1)
7 Harrison (6-4) at 2 Cin. Turpin (10-0)
6 Edgewood (8-2) at 3 Cin. LaSalle (8-2)
5 Kings (8-2) at 4 Miamisburg (8-2)
Division IV, Region 13
8 Parma Heights Holy Name (6-4) at 1 Perry (10-0)
7 Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (7-3) at 2 Mantua Crestwood (9-1)
6 Hubbard (8-2) at 3 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (7-2)
5 Struthers (9-1) at 4 Peninsula Woodridge (10-0)
Division IV, Region 14
8 Ben Logan (9-1) at 1 Port Clinton (9-1)
7 Bellevue (7-3) at 2 Ottawa-Glandorf (9-1)
6 Caledonia River Valley (7-3) at 3 Indian Lake (10-0)
5 Col. Bishop Hartley (7-2) at 4 Plain City Jonathan Alder (9-1)
Division IV, Region 15
8 Duncan Falls Philo (8-2) at 1 Heath (10-0)
7 Wintersville Indian Creek (8-2) at 2 Steubenville (9-1)
6 Cambridge (7-3) at 3 Johnstown-Monroe (9-1)
5 Carroll Bloom-Carroll (7-3) at 4 Shelby (9-1)
Division IV, Region 16
8 Chillicothe Unioto (8-2) at 1 Cin. Wyoming (10-0)
7 Cin. Taft (8-2) at 2 Clinton-Massie (9-1)
6 Cin. Indian Hill (9-1) at 3 Alter (10-0)
5 Valley View (9-1) at 4 Waverly (9-1)
Division VI, Region 21
8 Jeromesville Hillsdale (7-3) at 1 Cuyahoga Heights (10-0)
7 Columbia Station Columbia (8-2) at 2 New Middletown Springfield (8-2)
6 Dalton (7-3) at 3 Kirtland (9-1)
5 Lisbon David Anderson (9-1) at 4 Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas (8-2)
Division VI, Region 22
8 Defiance Tinora (7-3) at 1 Hamler Patrick Henry (10-0)
7 Gibsonburg (8-2) at 2 Bucyrus Wynford (10-0)
6 Attica Seneca East (8-2) at 3 Defiance Ayersville (10-0)
5 North Robinson Colonel Crawford (8-2) at 4 Liberty Center (8-2)
Division VI, Region 23
8 Col. Bishop Ready (7-3) at 1 Hannibal River (9-0)
7 Centerburg (8-2) at 2 Beverly Fort Frye (10-0)
6 Barnesville (8-1) at 3 Chesapeake (9-1)
5 Newark Catholic (6-4) at 4 Bellaire (6-4), 1:30 p.m. Sat.
Division VI, Region 24
8 West Liberty-Salem (6-4) at 1 Marion Local (9-1
7 Cin. Summit Country Day (7-3) at 2 Delphos Jefferson (9-1)
6 Miami East (7-3) at 3 Mechanicsburg (10-0)
5 St. Henry (7-3) at 4 Spencerville (8-2)
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5
Division III, Region 9
8 Akron East (7-3) at 1 Alliance Marlington (10-0)
7 Warren Howland (7-3) at 2 Akron Archbishop Hoban (9-1)
6 Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (6-4) at 3 Dover (7-3)
5 New Philadelphia (8-2) at 4 Medina Buckeye (9-1)
Division III, Region 10
8 Bay Village Bay (7-3) at 1 Toledo Central Catholic (10-0)
7 Ashland (7-3) at 2 Sandusky (9-1)
6 Lexington (7-3) at 3 Clyde (8-2)
5 Hunting Valley University School (7-3) at 4 Bowling Green (7-3)
Division III, Region 11
8 Thornville Sheridan (8-2) at 1 Col. St. Francis DeSales (10-0)
7 Whitehall-Yearling (8-2) at 2 Col. Bexley (10-0)
6 Chillicothe (8-2) at 3 Col. Hamilton Township (8-2)
5 Col. Beechcroft (9-1) at 4 Col. Eastmoor Academy (8-2)
Division III, Region 12
8 Tippecanoe (7-3) at 1 Franklin (10-0)
7 Trotwood-Madison (8-2) at 2 Wapakoneta (9-1)
6 Cin. Mount Healthy (8-2) at 3 New Richmond (9-1)
5 Belmont (7-2) at 4 St. Marys Memorial (9-1)
Division V, Region 17
8 Garrettsville Garfield (7-3) at 1 Canfield South Range (9-1)
7 Sullivan Black River (7-3) at 2 Orwell Grand Valley (9-1)
6 Akron Manchester (7-3) at 3 Canton Central Catholic (6-3)
5 Wickliffe (8-2) at 4 Leavittsburg Labrae (7-3)
Division V, Region 18
8 Genoa Area (7-3) at 1 Creston Norwayne (9-1)
7 Marion Pleasant (8-2) at 2 Pemberville Eastwood (9-1)
6 Columbus Academy (8-2) at 3 Milan Edison (9-1)
5 Swanton (9-1) at 4 West Salem Northwestern (8-2)
Division V, Region 19
8 West Lafayette Ridgewood (9-1) at 1 Wheelersburg (10-0)
7 Baltimore Liberty Union (7-3) at 2 Sugarcreek Garaway (10-0)
6 Ironton (7-3) at 3 Coshocton (8-1)
5 Chillicothe Zane Trace (8-2) at 4 Nelsonville-York (8-2)
Division V, Region 20
8 Blanchester (7-3) at 1 Cin. Hills Christian Academy (10-0)
7 Brookville (5-5) at 2 Coldwater (9-1)
6 Greeneview (8-2) at 3 Carlisle (8-2)
5 Cin. Aiken (7-3) at 4 Milton-Union (7-3)
Division VII, Region 25
8 East Canton (6-4) at 1 Norwalk St. Paul (10-0)
7 North Jackson Jackson-Milton (7-3) at 2 Mogadore (8-2)
6 Toronto (8-2) at 3 Warren John F. Kennedy (9-1)
5 Windham (7-3) at 4 Monroeville (9-1)
Division VII, Region 26
8 Lakeside Danbury (7-3) at 1 McComb (9-1)
7 Lucas (7-3) at 2 Arlington (7-3)
6 Convoy Crestview (7-3) at 3 Tiffin Calvert (6-3)
5 Leipsic (7-3) at 4 Hicksville (7-3)
Division VII, Region 27
8 Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans (7-3) at 1 Waterford (9-1)
7 Canal Winchester Harvest Preparatory (7-3) at 2 Shadyside (8-2)
6 Danville (7-3) at 3 Portsmouth Sciotoville Community (10-0)
5 Racine Southern (8-2) at 4 Glouster Trimble (8-2)
Division VII, Region 28
8 Cin. Hillcrest Academy (8-2) at 1 Covington (10-0)
7 McGuffey Upper Scioto Valley (7-3) at 2 Troy Christian (9-1)
6 Lehman Catholic (7-3) at 3 Minster (6-4)
5 Fort Recovery (6-4) at 4 Ada (7-3)
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