Halfway into the high school football season, what do we know?

Northwestern, led by the Central Buckeye Conference’s leading passer, Hunter Houseman, and Greeneview are on pace for their best seasons in years.

The West Liberty-Salem machine keeps plowing forward.

Tippecanoe and Urbana — with the CBC’s second-leading passer, Nathan Mays, and leading receiver, Tyler Powell — look like the odds-on favorites in the Central Buckeye Conference with divisional play beginning today.

Overall, it hasn’t been a banner season for area football. Seven of the 16 teams have winning records.

Catholic Central, the winningest program in Clark County over the last 15 years, is 0-5. Shawnee and Tecumseh could both still make the playoffs, but they were each routed by Urbana and are 3-2.

Kenton Ridge (4-1) is the only team in Clark County that is more than one game over .500. If the season had ended after Week 5, Kenton Ridge, Southeastern, Urbana, and West Liberty-Salem would have made the playoffs.

Out of the 53 entries submitted in the Wizard Contest last week, Andrea Mabry, of Springfield, and Jacob McCormick, of Urbana, were two of 14 contestants who went 11-2. Both guessed the correct 58 points for the tiebreaker to share the prize. Since the Brown-Ravens kickoff was Thursday, that game will not count on this week’s contest.

The Wizard was 10-3 last week, bringing my season total to 46-22.

Game of the Week

Shawnee (3-2) at Kenton Ridge (4-1): The Cougars are off to another strong start, even considering the loss to Northwestern last week. But the schedule always gets tougher in the second half, and it starts with the two-time defending CBC Kenton River champs.

Other Friday games

Southeastern (3-2) at Catholic Central (0-5): The Trojans would have sneaked into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in Division VI, Region 24 if the season had ended after Week 5. The Irish have won this game by a combined score of 88-0 the last two years. Pick: Southeastern 21, Catholic Central 14.

Springfield (1-4) at Wayne (4-1): Wayne beat Xenia 66-12, and Xenia beat Springfield 21-20. Pick: Wayne 48, Springfield 14.

Cedarville (1-3-1) at Mechanicsburg (1-4): Cedarville’s only win last season came against Mechanicsburg. Pick: Mechanicsburg 20, Cedarville 10.

Graham (0-5) at Indian Lake (2-3): The Falcons have yet to score more than 7 points in a game. Pick: Indian Lake 28, Graham 6.

Northeastern (1-4) at West Liberty-Salem (5-0): The Tigers are one of five 5-0 teams in Division V, Region 20. They have won 19 regular-season games in a row. Pick: West Liberty-Salem 35, Northeastern 10.

Northwestern (3-2) at Benjamin Logan (1-4): The Warriors are on pace for their third winning season in the last 26 seaons. They went 6-4 in 1987 and 6-4 in 2006. Pick: Northwestern 32, Benjamin Logan 28.

Stebbins (2-3) at Tecumseh (3-2): The Arrows’ only losses are to two teams that are a combined 9-1 (Urbana and Northwest). Stebbins already has one more win than in the previous five years combined. Pick: Tecumseh 27, Stebbins 14.

Triad (4-1) at Greeneview (4-1): The Rams have already assured themselves of their best season since 2000 (5-5). Triad has won four in a row by double-digit margins, but has yet to beat a team with more than one win. Pick: Triad 30, Greeneview 24.

Urbana (4-1) at Greenon (1-4): The Knights have played Urbana tough the last two years, losing 19-14 and 17-14. Greenon’s Marquis Gordon leads the Central Buckeye Conference in tackles with 67. Pick: Urbana 31, Greenon 10.

College

Wittenberg (3-0) at Case Western (2-2): The Tigers are 8-1 all-time against Case, but this is the first meeting since 1999. Case lost 17-14 last week at Ohio Wesleyan. Pick: Wittenberg 35, Case Western 10.

Urbana (3-1) at West Virginia Wesleyan (1-3): The Blue Knights needed a last-minute touchdown to beat winless Quincy last week. Pick: Urbana 17, West Virginia Wesleyan 14.

Ohio State (4-0) at Michigan State (3-1): Did a cupcake schedule prepare Ohio State for the Big Ten? Time to find out. Pick: Michigan State 21, Ohio State 17.

NFL

Bengals (2-1) at Jaguars (1-2): The Bengals are a fun team to watch, until their defense takes the field. Pick: Bengals 28, Jaguars 24.