Saturday, November 2, 2024

COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced its first-round football playoff pairings on Sunday.

All games will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday.

In Division III , Tri-Valley (10-0) earned the No. 3 seed and hosts No. 14 seed Carrollton (7-3) at Jack Anderson Stadium in Region 11. Unbeaten, top-ranked Columbus Watterson earned the No. 1 seed.

In Division IV , No. 3 seed New Lexington (9-1) welcomes No. 14 seed Canton South (4-6), while No. 11 Philo (6-4) visits No. 5 Circleville Logan Elm (7-3). Unbeaten Gnadenhutten Indian Valley is the top seed.

West Muskingum (8-2) earned the No. 7 seed and hosts No. 10 Columbus Africentric (7-3) in Division V , Region 19, where unbeaten Ironton is top seeded; Ridgewood (9-1) is the No. 3 seed and Buckeye Trail (6-4) the 13th seed in Division VI , Region 23. The Generals welcome No. 14 seed Mechanicsburg (7-3), while the Warriors head to fourth seed Fort Frye (7-3). Grandview Heights in the No. 1 seed.

Tri-Valley, 17-15 in the playoffs overall, is in the postseason for the 15th time, all since 2006. This marks the Scotties’ first 10-0 regular season since 2014.

New Lex, with nine wins for the first time since 2008, is making its 11th appearance and third straight; Philo is also making its 11th trip, with seven coming under coach Dirk Lincicome since 2013.

West M is in for the third straight year under coach Nathan Brownrigg, who led the school to its first playoff win in 2022. The Tornadoes have six playoff appearances all time.

Ridgewood continued its run of playoff berths under coach John Slusser, whose teams haven’t missed the postseason since 2017 and have 18 appearances in the postseason since 2003. Slusser has led them to 17 of those, highlighted by a state semifinal trip in 2009.

By Sam Blackburn, Newsbreak

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