Friday night will have a lot of high school football excitement going on, with plenty of teams looking to extend their seasons at least another week.
Of the eight Greene County high school football teams in this area, three of them still have a shot at qualifying for the first round of their respective playoffs.
Of the six games involving our area teams, five of them involve at least one team with post season aspirations.
On top of that, there are several rivalry games going on as well, which will just add to the excitement and tension.
Greene County’s best team thus far, the Greeneview Rams, have the best shot of getting into the playoffs. JoeEitel.com has them rated fifth in Division V, Region 18. A win over Ohio Heritage Conference rival Cedarville, in the annual ‘Battle of 72’ should get the Rams into the playoffs. They’d likely face West Milton Milton-Union in the first round of the D-V playoffs, but wins by other teams on the bubble, and the possible use of voodoo dolls and a Ouija board or two could still affect the final pairings.
Despite getting blasted by a very talented Huber Heights Wayne team last week, the Beavercreek Beavers still have an outside shot at making the playoffs in Division I. It’s on outside shot, but should Cincinnati Elder, Pickerington Central, Cincinnati St. Xavier, Fairfield, Hilliard Darby, probably the New England Patriots, and Springboro lose, while the Beavers defeat Kettering Fairmont, they could get in.
The Carroll Patriots may need about a dozen Ouija boards to forecast their success, a few buses to break down, and undefeated Middletown Fenwick to forget how to play football on Friday. They currently sit 19th in Division III, Region 10 — the lowest rated team in the region still with a shot at making the playoffs. Three teams ahead of them (including Bellbrook) have already been mathematically eliminated.
But if Dayton Meadowdale, Springfield Shawnee, Dayton Chaminade Julienne, Cincinnati Roger Bacon and Cincinnati Purcell Marian can all win; Celina, Mount Healthy, Goshen, Dayton Belmont, St. Mary’s, Piqua, and about a half dozen other schools can all lose … Hey! The Patriots are in there!
Despite their win over Monroe last week, the Bellbrook Golden Eagles have been eliminated from playoff contention. They can still play the spoiler for their Week 10 opponent, Oakwood, however. The Lumberjacks need to win, and have a couple teams or so ahead of them to lose, in order to get into the Division IV playoffs.
The Xenia Buccaneers and Fairborn Skyhawks are both out of contention for the postseason, so their respective seasons will conclude with Friday’s annual finale. Like any good longstanding football rivalry, though, the teams’ records won’t matter in this one. It should be an exciting finish.
The Cedarville Indians will host Greeneview on Friday, in another game with playoff implications. As mentioned before, if the Rams win, they’re in. Lose, and they still might get in. Cedarville would love to at least make Greeneview’s playoff experience more difficult by pulling off the upset, however.
Finally, the Greenon Knights will host a Springfield Northwestern team that needs a win and some help to make the D-V playoffs. Greenon has been shut out in four of their last five games.
Week 9 Area Poll
1. Greeneview (6-3) +21
2. Beavercreek (6-3) -12
3. Carroll (5-4) +47
4. Bellbrook (4-5) -4
5. Xenia (4-5) -40
6. Fairborn (2-7) -75
7. Cedarville (1-8) -249
8. Greenon (0-9) -484
THIS WEEK:
Greeneview (6-3) at Cedarville (1-8)
Kettering Fairmont (2-7) at Beavercreek (6-3)
Carroll (5-4) at Middletown Fenwick (9-0)
Xenia (4-5) at Fairborn (2-7)
Bellbrook (4-5) at Oakwood (5-4)
Springfield Northwestern (5-4) at Greenon (0-9).
