Now neutral sites will begin to be used for the regional finals Friday as temperatures cool to let us know the season is winding down.
Here are five things to know heading into the regional final round of the high school football playoffs:
What’s their title count?
This year’s regional finalists hailing from the Miami Valley feature a balanced group of familiar faces and relative newcomers to this stage.
Below is the list of how many regional titles each program has won and the last time it accomplished the feat:
Anna — 1, 2019 (1 state championship)
Coldwater — 18, 2024 (8-time state champion)
Marion Local — 22, 2024 (15-time state champion)
Middletown — never
St. Henry — 10, 2006 (6-time state champion)
Tippecanoe — 1, 2022
Trotwood — 10, 2019 (3-time state champion)
Valley View — 9, 2023 (3-time state champion)
Wayne — 4, 2015
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
The Cerberus offensive attack
Tippecanoe (12-0) is the only area team featuring thousand-plus yardage gainers at three offensive positions.
Junior quarterback Larkin Thomas has thrown for 2,150 yards. Senior running back Xavier Melton has 1,225 yards rushing. Senior wide receiver Will Strong has 1,175 yards receiving.
Using available team statistics, the Wayne (9-3) combo of sophomore quarterback Kye Graham (2,521 yards) and senior running back Isaiah Thompson (1,242) are the only other pair of teammates to reach the marks, and St. Henry (11-1) has seen Charlie Werling reach those milestones on his own.
Rebracketing state’s final matchups
The playoff paths to a regional championship were identified for each team at the end of the regular season. Once teams move into the state’s last four remaining in their respective divisions, the final opponent and destination before heading to Canton remains unknown.
The OHSAA will determine the state semifinal matchups after the results of Friday’s games.
All of the 2024 semifinal games were scheduled with a focus on geography. For example, no team from Southwest Ohio was paired with a Northeast Ohio school. Using that as the standard again and looking at the remaining teams, these are not confirmed, but could be potential matchups for the Fri., Nov. 28 games.
D-I — Region 2 vs. Region 4
D-II — Region 8 vs. Region 7
D-III — Region 12 vs. Region 10 or 11
D-IV — Region 16 vs. Region 14 or 15
D-V — Region 20 vs. Region 18 or 19
D-VI — Region 24 vs. Region 22 or 23
D-VII — Region 28 vs. Region 26
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Streak in jeopardy?
Marion Local extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 76 consecutive wins after its 35-0 victory against Fort Recovery.
St. Henry awaits the Flyers in Friday’s Region 28 final. Marion Local won the first meeting 21-14 in Week 3. It’s the only loss taken by the Redskins this season and they have been mostly unchallenged since that defeat.
The loss that came before Marion Local’s winning streak? A 2020 defeat in the regional final to fellow Midwest Athletic Conference opponent New Bremen. It’s the only time the Flyers have failed to win a regional title since 2011.
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.
The Middletown vs. Wayne game will be televised live on Spectrum News 1 in the Dayton and Northwest Ohio markets.
All other area games — Trotwood vs. Anderson, Tippecanoe vs. London, Valley View vs. Indian Hill, Anna vs. Coldwater and Marion Local vs. St. Henry — 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.
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