CINCINNATI – The final night of the Ohio high school football regular season brought with it plenty of suspense.
Several area teams had to win and gain some help with other results in order to qualify for the postseason, which starts Nov. 4 around Ohio.
Longtime area playoff projections analyst Steve Shuck offered insight into the seven regions that include area teams.
The official OHSAA first-round schedule will be announced at 3 p.m. Sunday.
In Division I, Colerain (10-0), Lebanon (7-3), Mason (6-4), Elder (6-4), St. Xavier (5-5), Fairfield (7-3) and Sycamore (6-4) are in the playoffs, according to Shuck.
Colerain, ranked No. 5 nationally in the MaxPreps computer rankings and No. 1 in the Associated Press state poll, will definitely be the No. 1 seed and host a first-round game.
Lebanon will be No. 2, Mason will be No. 3, and pending Saturday's results, Fairfield may have the edge for the No. 4 seed.
Elder and St. X are in the discussion for the fifth and sixth seeds respectively. Sycamore is No. 7 and Springboro No. 8.
The top eight in each region qualify for the playoffs. The top four host first-round games at the respective schools.
In Division II, Region 8, Troy (9-1), Turpin (10-0), La Salle (8-2), Miamisburg (8-2), Kings (8-2), Harrison (7-3), Edgewood (8-2) and Princeton (6-4) are projected to be in the playoffs.
Troy and Turpin are battling for the No. 1 seed. La Salle may be at No. 3, pending Saturday's results. Miamisburg is No. 4. Kings is No 5, followed by Edgewood, Harrison and Princeton. The Vikings were battling Anderson entering Friday night. But, Glen Este's win over Milford helped the Vikings.
La Salle, the reigning Division II state champions, defeated Elder 24-10 to capture its first outright Greater Catholic League South division title in program history. La Salle has been playing varsity football since 1962.
In Division III, Region 12, Franklin (10-0) and New Richmond (9-1) are projected to be in while Mount Healthy (8-2) is on the bubble.
In Division IV, Region 16, Clinton-Massie (9-1), Wyoming (10-0) and Indian Hill (9-1) are in.
In Division V, Region 20, CHCA (10-0) and Aiken (7-3) are projected to be in. Blanchester is on the bubble.
In Division VI, Region 24, Summit Country Day (7-3) is in good shape.
In Division VII, Region 28, Hillcrest was sitting at No. 8 entering Friday night. Two Saturday games could determine its fate.
Of the 716 OHSAA member schools playing varsity football this fall, the largest 72 schools are in Division I, while the remaining schools are divided equally in Divisions II-VII (approximately 108 schools in each division).
The OHSAA plans to meet next week to discuss planning for the 56 neutral sites for the second round.
Stay with WCPO.com for further updates Saturday on the latest projections.
