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Contact – Tim Stried, Director of Communications, [email protected]

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Following the announcement Saturday of the upcoming football state semifinal pairings and game sites, the Ohio High School Athletic Association posted the weekly football notes packet Sunday. The football state semifinals kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24, at sites around the state.

 

 

Fans are encouraged to buy their playoff tickets in advance at the participating schools, which keep a percentage of the revenue. For state semifinal games, tickets are $8 presale and $10 at the gate.

 

All-session tickets for the state championship games are on sale through 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22. There is a ticket option that has indoor access in the stadium club level. Access to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is included with some ticket packages. Parking passes are not sold. Please visit the football page at OHSAA.org for details and the online ticket purchase link, or: http://bit.ly/2mGQuXg

 

 

 

OHSAA Football Home: http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/football

 

For the first four rounds of the playoffs, media shall contact the host site’s media coordinator by 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Contact information for the media coordinator for each game will be posted within the brackets at OHSAA.org. Media coordinators will work with the athletic director at the schools and follow the OHSAA’s press box priority seating scale: http://www.ohsaa.org/Portals/0/Sports/Football/FBMediaPressBoxMemo.pdf

 

Media must apply by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 28, for credentials to cover the state championship games. Media must use the OHSAA’s official credential application form. Please contact Tim Stried at [email protected] for details.

 

Spectrum is the official TV partner of the OHSAA and will make its playoff game selections by noon on Monday. Spectrum has exclusivity of the games it selects. Other games are available for tape-delay telecasts, which can be shown beginning Saturday morning. Rights fees for audio broadcasts and delayed-video telecasts are posted at: http://www.ohsaa.org/Portals/0/News/Media/TournamentBroadcastRates.pdf

 

Now in its eighth year, the OHSAA Radio Network will broadcast the football state championship games. Stations that commit to carry state championship game broadcasts from the network will have their rights fees waived throughout the playoffs. The championship games will be available from Skyview Satellite and online. Please contact Tim Stried at the OHSAA for more information or visit: http://www.ohsaa.org/news/radio

 

 

 

Home team listed first. Pairings shown with current record and AP rank.

6 Mentor (12-1) vs. Powell Olentangy Liberty (11-2) at Mansfield Senior Arlin Field

10 Cin. Colerain (11-2) vs. 8 Pickerington Central (12-1) at Springfield Evans Stadium

 

Home team listed first. Pairings shown with current record and AP rank.

1 Avon (13-0) vs. 5 Akron Archbishop Hoban (12-1) at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium

Massillon Washington (10-3) vs. 2 Cin. Winton Woods (12-1) at Columbus St. Francis DeSales Alumni Stadium

 

Home team listed first. Pairings shown with current record and AP rank.

Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (10-3) vs. Dresden Tri-Valley (12-1) at Massillon Perry Stadium

8 Tol. Central Catholic (11-2) vs. 1 Trotwood-Madison (13-0) at Piqua Alexander Stadium

                                                                            

Home team listed first. Pairings shown with current record and AP rank.

1 Steubenville (13-0) vs. 5 Shelby (13-0) at Univ. of Akron Infocision Stadium-Summa Field

New Concord John Glenn (11-2) vs. 7 Clarksville Clinton-Massie (12-1) at Hilliard Darby Stadium

 

Home team listed first. Pairings shown with current record and AP rank.

2 Canfield South Range (13-0) vs. 1 Pemberville Eastwood (13-0) at Strongsville Pat Catan Stadium

3 Wheelersburg (13-0) vs. Middletown Madison (11-2) at Chillicothe Herrnstein Field

 

Home team listed first. Pairings shown with current record and AP rank.

1 Maria Stein Marion Local (13-0) vs. 5 Findlay Liberty-Benton (12-1) at Wapakoneta Harmon Field

2 Kirtland (13-0) vs. 3 Nelsonville-York (13-0) at New Philadelphia Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium

 

Home team listed first. Pairings shown with current record and AP rank.

3 Danville (12-1) vs. 5 Cuyahoga Heights (11-1) at Orrville Red Rider Stadium, Heartland Field

1 Norwalk St. Paul (13-0) vs. Minster (9-4) at Lima Senior Spartan Stadium

 

 

Full Release: http://www.ohsaa.org/Portals/0/Sports/Football/2017/2017FBRelease5.pdf

 

The playoff field of 224 qualifiers now stands at 28 regional champions, with those 28 schools thankful to practice on Thanksgiving this week. Week 14 of the high school football season has arrived. The state semifinals kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at neutral sites selected by the OHSAA based on availability.

 

The winners will advance to the state championship games Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and 2 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. Divisions I, II, V and VII will play their state championship games on Nov. 30 or Dec. 1, while Divisions III, IV and VI will play their state championship games on Dec. 2.

 

The OHSAA will announce the time slots for each state championship game following Friday night’s state semifinals.

 

In Div. II, V and VII, each team is facing its opponent for the first time in the playoffs. In Div. III, meanwhile, Toledo Central Catholic and Trotwood-Madison are meeting in the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Central Catholic won the first three meetings, while Trotwood won last year in the state semifinals. In Div. I, Cin. Colerain defeated Pickerington Central 38-20 in the 2013 first round. In Div. IV, Steubenville defeated Shelby last year in the regional final. In Div. VI, Liberty-Benton defeated Marion Local in a 2008 state semifinal game.

 

There are 11 undefeated teams still alive in the playoffs and there are three state semifinal games that feature two undefeated teams:

Div. IV – 1 Steubenville (13-0) vs. 2 Shelby (13-0)

Div. V – 1 Canfield South Range (13-0) vs. 1 Pemberville Eastwood (13-0)

Div. VI – 3 Kirtland (13-0) vs. 1 Nelsonville-York (13-0)

 

The semifinal match-up in Div. IV between Steubenville and Shelby features a Steubenville team making its 18th appearance in the “Final Four” against a Shelby team making its first. In a Div. III semifinal, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary is making its 12th “Final Four” appearance against a Dresden Tri-Valley team making its first.

 

Of the four teams that qualified for the playoffs for the first time in school history this year, only one - Middletown Madison (Div. V) - has advanced to the state semifinals. Four other schools also won their first-ever playoff game earlier this month, including Hilliard Bradley (Div. I, Region 3), Barberton (Div. II, Region 5), East Canton (Div. VII, Region 25) and Portsmouth Sciotoville (Div. VII, Region 27).

 

(See page 10.) The state championship games return to Canton this year and the new Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. One division will be selected to play its state championship game on Thursday, Nov. 30 (7:30 p.m. kickoff). Then there will be three state championship games on Friday, Dec. 1, followed by three more championship games on Saturday, Dec. 2. Game times on Friday and Saturday are 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. The divisional assignments will be announced after the state semifinal games. It has already been determined that Div. III, IV and VI will play their state championship games on Saturday, Dec. 2.

 

Three of the 14 state semifinal games feature top seeds from their respective regions. They includ:

  Div. II – 1 Avon (13-0) vs. 1 Akr. Archbishop Hoban (12-1)

   Div. III – 1 Tol. Central Catholic (11-2) vs. 1 Trotwood-Madison (13-0)

   Div. V – 1 Canfield South Range (13-0) vs. 1 Pemberville Eastwood (13-0)

 

The following seeds have advanced to the state semifinals:

No. 1 seed – 12

No. 2 seed – 8

No. 3 seed – 3 (Mentor, Pickerington Central, Kirtland)

No. 4 seed – 2 (Clarksville Clinton-Massie, Minster)

No. 5 seed – 2 (Dresden Tri-Valley & New Concord John Glenn)

No. 6 seed – 1 (Akron SVSM)

No. 7 seed – 0

No. 8 seed – 0

 

Steubenville is making its 18th appearance in the state semifinals, which ranks second only to Newark Catholic’s 25. Newark Catholic and Cleveland St. Ignatius share the state record for most consecutive years in the state semifinals with nine. Newark Catholic went each year from 1980-88 and St. Ignatius went each year from 1991-99. Newark Catholic also owns state records for most years in the playoffs (35) and most playoff wins (72). The list of most Final Four qualifiers includes:

     1. Newark Catholic, 25

     2. Steubenville, 18 - includes 2017

  T-3. Mogadore, 17

  T-3. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, 17

  T-5. Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, 16

  T-5. Maria Stein Marion Local, 16 - includes 2017

     7. Cleveland St. Ignatius, 15

     8. Coldwater, 14

     9. Delphos St. John’s, 13

T-10. Versailles, 12

T-10. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, 12

T-12. Cleveland Benedictine, 11

T-12. Columbus St. Francis DeSales, 11

T-12. Ironton, 11

 

The state semifinal in Div. III between Dresden Tri-Valley and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary is notable for several reasons. The teams represent two of the three teams that are still alive in the playoffs that won on the road in the first round of the playoffs. (Tri-Valley was a No. 5 seed and SVSM was a No. 6 seed, joining New Concord John Glenn in Div. IV, which was a No. 5 seed.) It marks the only state semifinal game in which neither of the teams was ranked in the final Associated Press state poll. And it also marks the only state semifinal game that is a rematch of a regular-season game. (SVSM handed Tri-Valley its only loss of the season, 21-13, in Week 1.)

 

Twenty-one of the 70 teams that appeared in the final Associated Press poll are still alive in the playoffs. Six of the seven teams that won poll championships are still playing, including Avon (Div. II), Trotwood-Madison (Div. III), Steubenville (Div. IV), Pemberville Eastwood (Div. V), Maria Stein Marion Local (Div. VI) and Norwalk St. Paul (Div. VII). Cle. St. Ignatius (Div. I) was the lone No. 1-ranked team to lose. The final AP polls appear on page 8 of this packet.

 

State semifinalists not ranked in the final AP poll include Powell Olentangy Liberty (Div. I), Massillon Washington (Div. II), Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (Div. III), Dresden Tri-Valley (Div. III), New Concord John Glenn (Div. IV), Middletown Madison (Div. V) and Minster (Div. VII). The Division III state semifinal between Akron SVSM and Dresden Tri-Valley is the only state semifinal game in any division between two teams not ranked in the final AP poll.

 

Top AP Poll Matchups in the State Semifinals

Div. V – AP #1 Pemberville Eastwood (13-0) vs. AP #2 Canfield South Range (13-0)

Div. VI – AP #2 Kirtland (13-0) vs. AP #3 Nelsonville-York (13-0)

Div. II – AP #1 Avon (13-0) vs. AP #5 Akr. Archbishop Hoban (12-1)

Div. IV – AP #1 Steubenville (13-0) vs. AP #5 Shelby (13-0)

Div. VI – AP #1 Maria Stein Marion Local (13-0) vs. AP #5 Findlay Liberty-Benton (12-1)

Div. VII – AP #3 Danville (12-1) vs. AP #5 Cuyahoga Heights (11-1)

 

All 70 teams that appeared in the final AP poll earned a playoff berth. Those 70 teams went 59-11 in the first round of the playoffs. Of those 59 wins, 57 were home games for the ranked team, while two ranked teams won on the road in the first round - Girard (Division IV) and West Jefferson (Division V).

 

Last year, the only team to be ranked No. 1 in the final poll and go on to win a state championship was Maria Stein Marion Local (Division VI).