OHIO — Much of the first week of the high school football season was touted as a “return to normalcy” as teams were able to play in front of crowds, bands performed, and Friday nights just felt familiar.

While the pandemic still casts a shadow on this season, one significant change really impacted week one. The Ohio High School Athletic Association doubled the number of teams that qualify for the playoffs, adding a week to the post-season, while keeping the ten-week regular season intact.

That meant one fewer week for practices and a scrimmage. Which means teams should be much sharper in week two, bringing us to Friday’s OHSAA Game of the Week on Spectrum News 1.

Viewers in Northern Ohio will see a game that will impact the Region 5 standings. Twinsburg opened its season with a 34-27 victory over Copley in overtime. The Tigers — like all Ohio schools — made the playoffs in 2020, but last appeared ten years prior to that. Twinsburg visits Willoughby South, a 44-14 winner last Friday over Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.

Speaking of pandemic shadows, due to COVID protocols, the highly anticipated match-up between neighbors Westerville South and Westerville Central was canceled.

Spectrum News 1 has rerouted its crew to New Albany, where the Eagles were 50-7 victors over Watkins Memorial to open the season. New Albany hosts Westerville North, which fell to the aforementioned Westerville Central, 14-7. There’s plenty of familiarity here, as the Warriors lost a 34-7 playoff game to the Eagles last season.   

It will be a historic evening at Anderson High School in Cincinnati. The newly named Raptors will be playing their first ever home football since retiring the school’s former nickname (Redskins). Anderson dropped a 58-45 shootout at Princeton to open the season. On the visitor’s sideline will be Clinton-Massie, making its 2021 debut. The Falcons are a perennial contender in Division IV, reaching the state championship game back in 2017.

Live coverage begins at 7 p.m. for all three games on channel 1, and on the Spectrum News App.

Spectrum News 1 Game of the Week schedule:

Week 2, Aug. 27

   Northeast: Twinsburg at Willoughby South

   Central: TBD

   Southwest: Clarksville Clinton-Massie at Cincinnati Anderson

Week 3, Sept. 3

   Northeast and Southwest: Canton McKinley at Huber Heights Wayne

   Central: Dresden Tri-Valley at Zanesville

Week 4, Sept. 10

   Northeast: Avon Lake at Avon

   Central and Southwest: Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller at Ironton

Week 5, Sept. 17

   Northeast: Medina at Strongsville

   Central: Hilliard Bradley at Pickerington Central

   Southwest: Morrow Little Miami at Cincinnati Turpin

Week 6, Sept. 24

   Northeast: North Royalton at Stow-Munroe Falls

   Central: Groveport-Madison at Reynoldsburg

   Southwest: Springboro at Centerville

Week 7, Oct. 1

   Northeast: Cleveland Benedictine at Brecksville-Broadview Heights

   Central: Marysville at Dublin Jerome

   Southwest: Liberty Township Lakota East at Cincinnati Colerain

Week 8, Oct. 8

   Northeast: Aurora at Barberton

   Central: Hilliard Darby at Lewis Center Olentangy

   Southwest: Cincinnati Sycamore at Cincinnati Princeton

Week 9, Oct. 15

   Northeast and Central: Columbus Bishop Hartley at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary

   Southwest: Springfield at Miamisburg

Week 10, Oct. 22

   Northeast: Strongsville at Brunswick

   Central: Lewis Center Olentangy Orange at Powell Olentangy Liberty

   Southwest: Ketter Archbishop Alter at Dayton Chaminade Julienne