I have been covering high school football in north central Ohio for the past 30 years and I can’t recall a Week 10 like the one awaiting area fans Friday night.
Three conference championships will be decided on the final night of the regular season and two of them feature winner-take-all games.
The Ohio Cardinal Conference, Knox Morrow Athletic Conference and Wayne County Athletic League will all crown champs Friday night. In the case of the OCC and the WCAL, Friday’s winner will claim an outright title.
Here’s a look at some historic perspective.
Ohio Cardinal Conference
Ashland (9-0, 5-0) will visit Lexington (8-1, 5-0) in perhaps the most highly-anticipated game of the season.
I’ve had the good fortune to cover the OCC since its inception in 2003 and I can only remember two winner-take-all Week 10 showdowns in two-plus decades.
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In fact, the last one came in the 2007 regular season finale when the Taylor Housewright-led Ashland Arrows went to Lexington in Week 10 and knocked off Courtney Avery and the Lexington Minutemen 33-28 in one of the greatest games in OCC history. The Arrows overcame a 28-17 third-quarter deficit.
The Arrows reached the Division II state semifinals that year. Housewright went on to an All-American career at Division II Ashland University. Avery was a four-year letterman at Michigan who sealed the Wolverines’ 2011 win over Ohio State with a game-clinching interception of Braxton Miller.
Wayne County Athletic League
Hillsdale (9-0, 6-0) will head for Creston for a winner-take-all slugfest with Norwayne (7-2, 6-0). The Falcons, who reached the Division VII state championship game last year, haven’t beaten the Bobcats since 2014.
The Falcons won a share of the WCAL championship that year, but haven’t hoisted a league banner since.
Hillsdale won its only outright WCAL title in 2010. The following year, the Falcons shared the crown with Norwayne and Smithville.
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Hillsdale and Norwayne met in Week 10 of the 2011 season. The Falcons were undefeated while the Bobcats lost to Smithville a week earlier. Norwayne rallied for a 33-22 win and used that victory as a springboard to a Division IV state championship — the Bobcats beat Maty Mauk-led Kenton 48-42 in a memorable state final, scoring the game-winning touchdown in the final minute.
Meanwhile, Hillsdale went 9-1 and was one of just four teams in the state to finish with nine regular season wins and miss the playoffs. The quarterback of that Hillsdale team was current head coach Trevor Cline.
Knox Morrow Athletic Conference
The only thing standing between Centerburg (8-1, 6-0) and an outright KMAC crown is longtime Knox County nemesis Fredericktown (8-1, 5-1). The Freddies can claim a share of the title with a win. If that happens, Mount Gilead could claim a piece of the pie, too, if it can beat Cardington and the Trojans fall.
Centerburg and Fredericktown have met in Week 10 every year since the KMAC began operation in 2017. Before that, both schools were members of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Blue Division for four seasons and played in a couple of memorable de facto division championship games — albeit earlier in the season.
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In 2013 Centerburg beat Fredericktown 28-26 in overtime in Week 6. The Trojans were undefeated in the regular season and reached the Division VI playoffs.
The following year, the Freddies beat Centerburg 28-21 in Week 7 on their way to an undefeated regular season. The Trojans had their revenge in the Division VI, Region 21 semifinals, beating Fredericktown 27-21.
AP Poll
Division I
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Cincinnati Elder (9) (9-0) 123 1
2. Lewis Center Olentangy Orange (1) (9-0) 104 T3
3. Lakewood St. Edward (3) (8-1) 103 T3
4. Mentor (9-0) 94 2
5. Pickerington North (8-1) 44 7
6. Cincinnati St. Xavier (7-2) 41 8
7. Canton McKinley (8-1) 39 NR
8. Cincinnati Princeton (8-1) 38 T9
9. Pickerington Central (8-1) 34 T9
10. Cincinnati Moeller (6-3) 32 5
Others receiving votes: 11, Perrysburg 29. 12, Lewis Center Olentangy 17. 13, Middletown 15. 14, Columbus Upper Arlington 2.
Division II
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Cincinnati Anderson (8) (9-0) 109 1
2. Avon (3) (8-1) 96 3
3. Medina Highland (1) (9-0) 94 4
4. Akron Hoban (8-1) 81 5
(tie). Wadsworth (9-0) 80 2
6. Sunbury Big Walnut (8-1) 60 7
7. Ashland (1) (9-0) 42 6
8. Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (7-1) 39 8
9. Kings Mills Kings (8-1) 32 9
10. Canal Winchester (8-1) 29 10
Others receiving votes: 11, Austintown-Fitch 13. 12, Uniontown Lake 10. 13, Garfield Heights 9. 14, North Ridgeville 5. 15, Hudson 4. 16, Lima Senior 4. 17, Massillon Washington 3. 18, Cleveland Rhodes 3. 19, Columbus St. Francis DeSales 1. 20, Olmsted Falls 1.
Division III
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Columbus Bishop Watterson (7) (8-0) 105 1
2. Wapoakoneta (1) (9-0) 94 2
3. Tipp City Tippecanoe (1) (9-0) 89 3
4. Canfield (9-0) 73 5
5. Medina Buckeye (1) (9-0) 66 7
6. London (1) (9-0) 65 6
7. Hamilton Badin (1) (9-0) 59 4
8. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (9-0) 57 8
9. Newark Licking Valley (9-0) 29 9
10. Toledo Central Catholic (5-4) 22 10
Others receiving votes: 11, Lexington 19. 12, Athens 13. 13, Washington C.H. Miami Trace 6. 14, Oxford Talawanda 5. 15, Gates Mills Hawken 4. 16, Rocky River 3. 17, Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph 2. 18, Alliance 2. 19, Kettering Archbishop Alter 1. 20, Akron East 1.
Division IV
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Shelby (7) (9-0) 117 1
2. Cincinnati Indian Hill (1) (9-0) 96 2
3. Cincinnati Taft (1) (9-0)
4. Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (1) (8-0) 69 4
5. New Lexington (9-0) 61 5
6. Galion (9-1) 40 8
7. Norton (2) (8-0) 39 6
8. Cleveland Glenville (1) (5-3)
9. Lima Bath (8-1) 32 NR
10. Plain City Jonathan Alder (8-1) 29 9
Others receiving votes: 11, Germantown Valley View 16. 12, Sandusky Perkins 15. 13, Perry 13. 14, Beloit West Branch 13. 15, Clarksville Clinton-Massie 12. 16, Mentor Lake Catholic 9. 17, Chillicothe Unioto 8. 18, Cincinnati Wyoming 7. 19, Napoleon 5. 20, Streetsboro 4. 21, Brookville 3.
Division V
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Liberty Center (8) (9-0) 121 1
2. Wheelersburg (3) (9-0) 105 2
3. Ironton (1) (8-1) 95 3
4. Girard (1) (9-0) 84 4
5. Findlay Liberty-Benton (9-0) 65 5
6. Genoa Area (8-1) 54 8
7. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (7-2) 32 7
8. Poland Seminary (7-2) 30 NR
9. Williamsburg (9-0) 26 6
10. Wooster Triway (8-1) 24 NR
Others receiving votes: 11, Nelsonville-York 21. 12, Lewistown Indian Lake 16. 13, Pemberville Eastwood 9. 14, Barnesville 7. 15, Carlisle 6. 16, Oak Harbor 5. 17, Casstown Miami East 4. 18, Camden Preble Shawnee 4. 19, Milan Edison 3. 20, St. Paris Graham 2. 21, Gahanna Columbus Academy 1. 22, Port Clinton 1.
Division VI
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Kirtland (11) (9-0) 124 1
2. Archbold (8-1) 74 3
(tie). Columbiana Crestview (9-0) 74 2
4. Castalia Margaretta (8-1) 63 4
5. Bluffton (8-1) 55 T5
6. Bascom Hopewell-Loudon (1) (8-1) 52 9
7. New Madison Tri-Village (1) (9-0) 50 T5
8. Anna (6-3) 41 T5
9. Coldwater (6-3) 32 NR
10. West Jefferson (8-1) 23 NR
Others receiving votes: 11, Beverly Fort Frye 19. 12, North Robinson Colonel Crawford 17. 13, Paulding 16. 14, Hanoverton United 15. 15, Hamler Patrick Henry 13. 16, Springfield Northeastern 10. 17, Carey 8. 18, Centerburg 7. 19, Columbia Station Columbia 5. 20, Mechanicsburg 5. 21, Mount Gilead 4. 22, Smithville 4. 23, Columbiana 2. 24, Elmore Woodmore 2.
Division VII
Rank School Total Points Previous
1. Maria Stein Marion Local (13) (9-0) 130 1
2. Jeromesville Hillsdale (9-0) 103 3
3. St. Henry (8-1) 77 4
4. Lima Central Catholic (8-1) 71 2
5. McDonald (9-0) 50 6
(tie). Fairport Harbor Harding (8-0) 50 5
7. North Baltimore (9-0) 43 T7
8. Sycamore Mohawk (8-1) 40 9
9. Beaver Eastern (9-0) 39 NR
10. Leipsic (8-1) 26 10
Others receiving votes: 11, Columbus Grove 22. 12, Mogadore 17. 13, Gibsonburg 11. 14, Monroeville 9. 15, Portsmouth Notre Dame 7. 16, New Bremen 5. 17, Willow Wood Symmes Valley 4. 18, Sidney Lehman 4. 19, Waterford 3. 20, East Palestine 2. 21, Ft. Loramie 1. 22, Lakeside Danbury 1.