OHSAA releases football third-round pairings

COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association released the football regional semifinal playoff pairings and neutral sites Sunday afternoon. Division I, II, III and V will play on Friday, while Division IV, VI and VII will play on Saturday. All games kick off at 7 p.m. A team's won-lost record, regional seed and state rank do not factor into neutral site selections. Rarely can an available site be found exactly halfway between the two schools. Neutral sites receive a rental fee amount from the OHSAA and they keep revenue from concessions, parking and program sales. Tickets for all games must be purchased in advance at ohsaa.org/tickets. Of note to the area, in Div. II Region 6 on Friday, No. 5 Olmsted Falls (10-2) drew a rematch with league rival and top-seeded Avon (11-1) at Pat Catan Stadium in Strongsville. The Bulldogs are coached by Tom DeLuca, a 1999 Norwalk High School graduate. The Eagles beat the Bulldogs by a 63-42 score on Sept. 30 in Olmsted Falls. In the other half of Region 6, No. 2 Medina Highland (12-0) faces No. 3 Toledo Central Catholic (11-1) at Perkins; Firelands Health Stadium. In Div. VII Region 26 on Saturday, No. 2 Antwerp (12-0) faces No. 6 Gibsonburg (10-2) at Liberty Center High School. The Archers are coached by Jason Hale, a 2006 South Central graduate. In the other half of the bracket, No. 1 McComb (11-1) faces No. 4 Lima Central Catholic (8-4) at Ottawa Glandorf. Also Saturday, Firelands Conference champion Ashland Crestview (12-0) is the No. 2 seed in Div. VI Region 22 and faces No. 2 Columbia (12-0) at Ken Dukes Stadium in Medina. The other half of the bracket features No. 5 Columbus Grove (10-2) against No. 8 Colonel Crawford (10-2) at Findlay's Donnell Stadium. The big Div. I game on Friday will feature another edition of the "Holy War" as No. 1 Lakewood St. Edward (11-1) faces No. 5 Cleveland St. Ignatius (8-3) at Euclid. The Eagles won 48-6 on Oct. 1 over the Wildcats, who are coached by Chuck Kyle. The 11-time state champion coach is retiring at the end of the season. Seed breakdown Eight schools seeded ninth or higher have reached the regional semifinals, including four No. 13 seeds, three No. 10 seeds and one No. 9 seed. Of the 28 regions, 25 No. 1 seeds have advanced, 24 No. 2 seeds, 19 No. 3 seeds, 11 No. 4 seeds, 13 No. 5 seeds, nine No. 6 seeds, one No. 7 seed and two No. 8 seeds. OHSAA third-round playoff pairingsDIVISION IAll games Friday, 7 p.m.Region 11 Lakewood St. Edward (11-1) vs. 5 Cleveland St. Ignatius (8-3) at Euclid Community Stadium2 Medina (11-1) vs. 3 Mentor (8-3) at Twinsburg Tiger StadiumRegion 24 Perrysburg (11-1) vs. 8 Powell Olentangy Liberty (7-5) at Fostoria Memorial Stadium2 Springfield (10-1) vs. 3 Centerville (10-2) at Northmont Premier Health StadiumRegion 31 Gahanna-Lincoln (11-1) vs. 4 Pickerington Central (9-3) at St. Francis DeSales Alumni Stadium2 Upper Arlington (10-2) vs. 3 New Albany (9-3) at Westerville Central High SchoolRegion 41 Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (11-1) vs. 5 Mason (10-2) at Middletown Barnitz Stadium2 Cincinnati Elder (10-2) vs. 3 West Chester Lakota West (12-0) at Princeton Jake Sweeney Automotive Stadium DIVISION IIAll games Friday, 7 p.m.Region 51 Akron Archbishop Hoban (11-1) vs. 5 Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (8-3) at University of Akron InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field2 Painesville Riverside (11-1) vs. 3 Hudson (12-0) at Maple Heights High SchoolRegion 61 Avon (11-1) vs. 5 Olmsted Falls (10-2) at Strongsville Pat Catan Stadium2 Medina Highland (12-0) vs. 3 Toledo Central Catholic (11-1) at Perkins Firelands Health StadiumRegion 71 Massillon Washington (10-1) vs. 5 Sunbury Big Walnut (10-2) at Mansfield Senior Arlin Field2 Uniontown Lake (11-1) vs. 3 Westerville South (11-1) at Dover Crater StadiumRegion 81 Cincinnati Winton Woods (12-0) vs. 4 Kings Mills Kings (11-1) at Mason Atrium Stadium3 Trenton Edgewood (11-1) vs. 10 Cincinnati Anderson (7-5) at Little Miami Panther Stadium DIVISION IIIAll games Friday, 7 p.m.Region 91 Chardon (10-1) vs. 13 Chagrin Falls Kenston (9-3) at Boardman Stadium2 Canfield (10-1) vs. 3 Youngstown Ursuline (10-2) at Niles McKinley Bo Rein StadiumRegion 101 Parma Heights Holy Name (9-2) vs. 5 Mansfield Senior (10-2) at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium6 Norton (10-2) vs. 10 Parma Padua Franciscan (7-5) at North Royalton Serpentini StadiumRegion 111 Thornville Sheridan (11-1) vs. 5 Carroll Bloom-Carroll (11-1) at Lancaster Fulton Field2 Jackson (10-2) vs. 3 Columbus Bishop Watterson (11-1) at Chillicothe Herrnstein FieldRegion 121 Hamilton Badin (12-0) vs. 4 Wapakoneta (11-1) at Trotwood-Madison Miami Valley Hospital SportsPlex2 Mount Orab Western Brown (11-1) vs. 3 Tipp City Tippecanoe (11-1) at Bellbrook Stadium – DL Holmes Field DIVISION IVAll games Saturday, 7 p.m.Region 131 Beloit West Branch (11-1) vs. 13 Akron Buchtel (7-4) at Ravenna Portage Community Bank Stadium, Harry Gilchrist Field6 Jefferson Area (9-3) vs. 7 Canton South (9-3) at South Range Reminder Athletic ComplexRegion 141 Cleveland Glenville (11-0) vs. 4 Elyria Catholic (10-2) at North Ridgeville Ranger Stadium2 Millersburg West Holmes (12-0) vs. 6 Van Wert (11-1) at Marion Harding Ohio Health Field at Harding StadiumRegion 154 Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (9-3) vs. 9 Columbus Bishop Ready (8-3) at Newark White Field2 Steubenville (10-2) vs. 3 Columbus East (10-1) at Zanesville Sulsberger StadiumRegion 161 Cincinnati Wyoming (12-0) vs. 13 Clarksville Clinton-Massie (7-5) at Lakota West Firebird Field2 Cincinnati Taft (10-2) vs. 6 Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas (7-5) at Princeton Jake Sweeney Automotive Stadium DIVISION VAll games Friday, 7 p.m.Region 171 Canfield South Range (12-0) vs. 13 Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (6-6) at Girard Arrowhead Stadium 2 Sugarcreek Garaway (12-0) vs. 3 Perry (10-2) at Solon Stewart FieldRegion 181 Liberty Center (12-0) vs. 4 Coldwater (11-1) at Lima Senior Spartan Stadium2 Bloomdale Elmwood (11-1) vs. 3 Pemberville Eastwood (12-0) at Napoleon Buckenmeyer StadiumRegion 191 Ironton (12-0) vs. 5 Portsmouth West (11-1) at Portsmouth Clark Athletic Complex2 Canal Winchester Harvest Preparatory (12-0) vs. 6 Wheelersburg (9-3) at Nelsonville-York Boston FieldRegion 201 Germantown Valley View (11-1) vs. 5 Cincinnati Madeira (11-1) at Fairfield Alumni Stadium2 West Milton Milton-Union (11-0) vs. 6 Brookville (11-1) at Xenia Doug Adams Stadium DIVISION VIAll games Saturday, 7 p.m.Region 211 Kirtland (12-0) vs. 4 Dalton (10-2) at Nordonia Boliantz Stadium2 Mogadore (10-0) vs. 6 Cuyahoga Heights (9-2) at Twinsburg Tiger StadiumRegion 225 Columbus Grove (10-2) vs. 8 North Robinson Colonel Crawford (10-2) at Findlay Donnell Stadium2 Ashland Crestview (12-0) vs. 3 Columbia Station Columbia (12-0) at Medina Ken Dukes StadiumRegion 231 Beverly Fort Frye (11-1) vs. 5 Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant (8-4) Lancaster Fulton Field2 Nelsonville-York (11-1) vs. 3 Bellaire (8-4) Philo Sam Hatfield StadiumRegion 241 Maria Stein Marion Local (12-0) vs. 4 Versailles (9-3) at Wapakoneta Mercy Health Wapak Ford Field2 Harrod Allen East (11-1) vs. 3 New Madison Tri-Village (11-1) at Bellefontaine AcuSport Stadium DIVISION VIIAll games Saturday, 7 p.m.Region 251 Warren John F. Kennedy (10-1) vs. 4 Salineville Southern (11-1) at Canfield High School3 Danville (10-2) vs. 10 Lucas (6-6) at Clear Fork High SchoolRegion 261 McComb (11-1) vs. 4 Lima Central Catholic (8-4) at Ottawa-Glandorf Titan Stadium2 Antwerp (12-0) vs. 6 Gibsonburg (10-2) at Liberty Center Kip Kern Field at Rex Lingruen StadiumRegion 271 Newark Catholic (9-1) vs. 5 Waterford (9-3) at Logan Chieftain Stadium2 Hannibal River (11-1) vs. 3 Caldwell (11-1) at St. Clairsville Red Devils StadiumRegion 281 Ansonia (11-1) vs. 5 New Bremen (9-3) at Greenville Harmon Field2 Fort Loramie (10-2) vs. 6 Minster (8-4) at Sidney Memorial Stadium