The higher-seeded teams will host games until the regional finals move to neutral sites on Nov. 21.
The state championships will be held from Thursday, Dec. 4 through Saturday, Dec. 6 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
Here are five things to know heading into the first round of the high school football playoffs:
Local battles
Nine games will feature two local teams battling in the postseason.
In Division I, Region 2, Fairmont (5-5) will travel to face former Greater Western Ohio Conference rival No. 8 Lebanon (7-3). The Firebirds beat the Warriors 28-8 in their last meeting in Week 10 of the 2019 season.
No. 10 Hamilton (4-6) plays Greater Miami Conference rival No. 7 Lakota West (6-4) for the second time this season in the D-I, Region 4 playoffs. West beat the Big Blue 38-6 in Week 3.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
The D-IV, Region 16 playoffs include two local matchups. No. 11 Bellbrook (6-4) will play No. 6 Alter (7-3) in a D-III, Region 12 first round game at Kettering’s Roush Stadium. The Knights beat Bellbrook 21-23 in Week 5. No. 11 Fenwick (6-4) will travel to No. 6 Brookville (9-1) in a Region 16 matchup.
D-V, Region 20 also includes two local games: Defending D-V regional champion No. 12 West Liberty-Salem (5-5) at No. 5 Carlisle (8-2) and No. 10 Arcanum (7-3) at No. 7 Preble Shawnee (9-1). The Arrows beat Arcanum 49-13 in Week 5.
No. 12 Covington (5-5) will meet No. 5 Coldwater (6-4) for the second straight season in Region 24 first round game. Coldwater won 58-0 last year on the way to claiming the D-VI state championship.
In Region 28, No. 10 New Bremen (6-4) will travel to No. 7 Ansonia (8-2) and No. 9 Minster (6-4) will play No. 8 Lehman Catholic (9-1).
The streak continues
Marion Local beat Coldwater 7-6 in a Week 10 thriller to keep the nation’s longest winning streak in tact at 74 consecutive victories.
With the win, the Flyers tied Maryville (Tenn.), who won 74 straight games from 2004-08, for the seventh longest-winning streak of all-time, according to MaxPreps.
Marion Local needs five more wins to tie Smith Center (Kan.), who won 79 games from 2004-09, for the sixth longest win streak of all-time.
The Flyers - who clinched the No. 1 seed in the Region 28 playoffs, earning a first-round bye - who do that by winning their fifth straight state title.
Marion Local could face four different Midwest Athletic Conference opponents along their path back to Canton. With a Minster (6-4) win over No. 8 Lehman Catholic, the Flyers would face the Wildcats in the regional quarterfinals.
If No. 12 Fort Recovery (5-5) can beat No. 5 Cincinnati College Prep and No. 4 Beaver Eastern, they’ll advance to face the Flyers in a regional semifinal game. Both second-seeded St. Henry (9-1) and 10th-seeded New Bremen are both possible regional final matchups.
Bye, bye, byes
15 area schools were rewarded with first-round byes after finishing in the top-4 of their respective regions.
As part of the new OHSAA playoff format, the higher-seeded team will host each round until the regional finals.
No. 1 Middletown (8-2), No. 2 Troy (8-2) and No. 4 Springboro (7-3) received byes in D-I, Region 2.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
No. 3 Trotwood-Madison (6-3) and No. 4 Xenia (8-2), earned byes in the D-II, Region 8 playoffs.
Region 12 saw No. 2 Tippecanoe (10-0) and No. 3 Badin (9-1) place in the top-4.
No. 2 Valley View (9-1) was the lone area school to earn a bye in D-IV, Region 16.
No. 3 Miami East (9-1) and No. 4 Graham (8-2) will host regional quarterfinal games next week in D-V, Region 20.
Three schools earned byes in D-VI, Region 24 — No. 1 Tri-Village (10-0), No. 2 Springfield Northeastern (9-1) and No. 3 Mechanicsburg (8-2).
No. 1 Maria Stein Marion Local (10-0) and No. 2 St. Henry (9-1) earned first-round byes in D-VII, Region 28.
Road trippin
Dayton Christian qualified for the playoffs for the fifth year in a row, but are seeking their first postseason win in program history.
They’ll have to drive a long way to make it happen.
The Warriors (6-4) will travel 2 hours, 35 minutes to play Ironton Rock Hill (6-4) in a Region 20 playoff game.
Several other long playoff trips include:
No. 12 Fort Recovery (5-5) will travel nearly two hours to play No. 5 Cin. College Prep (8-2) in a D-VII, Region 28 playoff game.
In another Region 28 game, No. 11 Cedarville (5-5) will travel nearly two hours to play at No. 6 Portsmouth Notre Dame (8-2).
Ticket information, streaming options
Playoff ticket prices are $12 for adults and $5 for students. All children 5-and-under are free. All tickets are available at ohsaa.org/tickets.
Several local games will be available to stream on the Spectrum News 1 or OHSAA websites.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Two area games will be televised live on Spectrum News 1, including Marysville at Springfield in the Dayton market and Mason at Fairfield in the Cincinnati market.
Four area games — Kettering Fairmont at Lebanon, Oak Hills at Lakota East, Hamilton at Lakota West and Butler at Harrison — will be available to stream at spectrumnews1.com and OHSAA.tv. Spectrum customers can stream on the Spectrum News App or SpectrumNews1.com or games can be purchased for $10 at OHSAA.tv.
