By John Bombatch
It may be Week Nine of the high school football season, but the playoffs have already started for four Greene County area schools.
By virtue of their lopsided road win over South Charleston Southeastern last week — coupled with Beavercreek’s tough loss to Centerville — the Greeneview Rams are this week’s top-rated team in the county.
It’ll be interesting to see whether the Rams can hang on to that top spot, however. Greeneview sits fifth in the latest Division V, Region 18 computer polls, but their next opponent (Mechanicsburg) stands fourth in the D-VI poll with an impressive 8-0 record. Friday’s game will have postseason and Ohio Heritage Conference title implications.
The Beavercreek Beavers sit second in the county, but they too will entertain a tough undefeated opponent on Friday. Huber Heights Wayne, ranked fourth in the D-I Region 2 computer polls, comes to town for a Greater Western Ohio Conference, Central Division battle. Beavercreek is sitting 19th in the computer rankings and needs to upset the Warriors and get some help in order to get into one of the division’s top-16 playoff spots.
If we were rating teams on points differential alone, the Carroll Patriots would get the nod as our area’s top team. They’ve outscored their opponents by a total of 66 points so far. Sitting at no. 14 in the latest D-III Region 14 rankings, Carroll needs a win on the road over a solid Kettering Alter squad, and then a win over an undefeated Middletown Fenwick squad the following week, in order to get into the post season.
The Bellbrook Golden Eagles are the other Greene County area bunch still in playoff contention. Sure, they’re ranked no. 19 in the same D-III poll as Carroll, but a win this week over Monroe and then a road win over Oakwood, with some help via losses by a half dozen or so teams rated ahead of them, and Bellbrook could still get into the post season, too.
According to JoeEitel.com, the following area schools have been mathematically eliminated from the postseason:
The Xenia Buccaneers’ hopes crumbled with last week’s loss to Miamisburg. They get the chance to play spoiler in their final two games of the season, though. Friday’s road opponent, Lebanon, is still in the D-I hunt. Next week’s road opponent, Springboro, is also in the mix.
The Fairborn Skyhawks have lost seven straight games, but the good news is they’ll play the first team on their schedule with a record below .500 (West Carrollton) on Friday. In terms of opponent’s combined won-loss records, Fairborn has played the area’s toughest schedule thus far.
The Cedarville Indians play a team with just one win on its record. They’re at Springfield Northeastern on Friday. But that’s the same Northeastern bunch that nearly upset Greeneview a couple weeks ago.
The Greenon Knights have a tough task of playing at Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan, a team still in contention for a Division IV playoff spot, on Friday. Seven of Greenon’s 10 scheduled opponents currently have records of .500 or better, matching Xenia and Bellbrook for second-toughest schedule thus far.
Week 8 Area Poll
1. Greeneview (6-2) +52
2. Beavercreek (6-2) +37
3. Carroll (5-3) +66
4. Bellbrook (3-5) -20
5. Xenia (3-5) -70
6. Fairborn (1-7) -113
7. Cedarville (1-7) -230
8. Greenon (0-8) -405
THIS WEEK:
Mechanicsburg (8-0) at Greeneview (6-2); Huber Heights Wayne (8-0) at Beavercreek (6-2); Carroll (5-3) at Kettering Alter (7-1); Lemon Monroe (5-3) at Bellbrook (3-5); Xenia (3-5) at Lebanon (4-4); West Carrollton (2-6) at Fairborn (1-7); Cedarville (1-7) at Springfield Northeastern (1-7); Greenon (0-8) at Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan (5-3).
