Springfield continues to climb state football poll

Wildcats reach No. 2 after ranking fifth in first poll

The Springfield Wildcats climbed from No. 3 to No. 2 in the state football poll Monday.

Springfield (7-0) received one of the 16 first-place votes and trails only Lakewood St. Edward (8-0), which received 14 first-place votes, in Division I.

Centerville (6-2), ranked ninth last week, fell out of the top 10 after losing 44-7 at Springfield on Friday in Week 8 of the season.

Following St. Edward and Springfield are No. 3 Medina (8-0), No. 4 Cincinnati St. Xavier (7-1), No. 5 Marysville (7-0), which received the other first-place vote, No. 6 Upper Arlington (8-0), No. 7 Lakota West (6-1), No. 8 New Albany (8-0), No. 9 Pickerington Central (7-1) and No. 10 Pickerington North (7-1).

Springfield ranked fifth in the first poll Sept. 13 and then moved to No. 4 on Sept. 20. It reached No. 3 last week.

The Wildcats, one of five undefeated teams in Division I, are two wins away from their first perfect regular season since the new high school opened in 2008. A state semifinalist the last two seasons, they lost one regular-season game in each of the last two seasons: 16-12 to Fairfield in 2019 and 38-35 to Northmont in 2020.

Springfield leads the Greater Western Ohio Conference by a game over Centerville and Wayne (both 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the GWOC). The Wildcats play at Miamisburg (5-3, 2-3) on Friday and then close the regular-season at home against Northmont (2-5, 0-5).

The other area team ranked is Mechanicsburg (8-0), which is No. 2 in Division VI.

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