With Halloween weekend upon us, Ohio high school football fans are taking a “trick or treat” approach to the OHSAA playoffs, which will begin Friday night. 

What You Need To Know

  • Spectrum News 1 will carry OHSAA football playoff games through the state championships

  • Spectrum News customers will also have access to games on OHSAA.tv

  • The field for OHSAA football playoffs doubled from 2019 to 2021

  • Several rivalry games highlight the Week 1 playoff schedule in Ohio

The trick — for some — is that the playoffs have been expanded, doubling the number of teams previously qualifying from eight per region (and 32 per division for 224 total), to 16 (64 per division and 448 total teams in the 2021 postseason). 

With the pandemic last year, every school was eligible for the playoffs, with the option of opting out. There were 650 participants when the pairings were announced, although a handful of schools changed their minds before the playoffs began. 

The treat — obviously — is more high school football, and at least one more game played for thousands of players, and hundreds of seniors wearing the uniform one last time, another opportunity to cheer the team on and another chance to perform as a marching band. 

There’s an argument to be made, as well, for giving more schools something to play for down the stretch of the regular season. Previously, with only eight teams per region getting in, a team might know in week seven or eight that the playoffs aren’t likely going to happen.

Look at Reynoldsburg, for example (more on the Raiders in a moment), which began its season 0-4. The Raiders rallied for four straight wins before falling in the regular season finale to Pickerington Central. Reynoldsburg finished ninth in Region 3, which wouldn’t have been enough to earn a post-season trip in 2019, but now that momentum of a strong finish can carry over. 

Sure, there are eight schools with two losses that got in, and one school with just one win, and another that gets a week 11 without a single win on the year. However, eight of those 10 schools are in Division I, which only had 71 teams playing for 64 spots.

There are four regions (Region 11 in Division III, Region 13 in Division IV, Region 19 in Division V and Region 26 in Division VII) that don’t have any of the 16 teams in it with losing records. 

Any way you break it down, it’s six weeks of some of the best high school football in the country, and Spectrum News 1 is your exclusive home for live, televised action. There’s a strong slate of games to kick-off the tournament on Friday.

  • Division I, Region 1     11. Mentor (5-5) vs. 6. St. Ignatius (6-4) (northern Ohio)
  • Division I, Region 3     9. Reynoldsburg (4-5) vs. 8. Hilliard Davidson (7-3) (central Ohio)
  • Division I, Region 4     10. Colerain (5-5) vs. 7. Elder (4-5) (in southwest Ohio)

Mentor versus St. Ignatius has developed into one of the top rivalries in the entire state, not just northeast Ohio. Last year’s pandemic-shortened regular season robbed us of a meeting between these two schools, interrupting a string of games each year since 2005. In the last 25 meetings, the Wildcats hold a slim 13-12 advantage. 

The Cardinals were 28-26 winners back in Week 2 of this season, a contest played at Jerome T. Osborne Senior Stadium. Mentor has also captured the last four meetings, and has been on the winning side four times in the six playoff match-ups all-time. This marks the fifth time in the past 11 years we’ve had Mentor versus St. Ignatius in the postseason. 

They’ve also given us two of the most thrilling high school football games in Ohio over the past ten years. Back in 2012, the Cardinals edged the Wildcats 57-56 in the playoffs. Mentor came out on top 63-56 in the 2015 regular season, as well. 

The Cardinals are still searching for the first state title in school history, while legendary head coach Chuck Kyle has been on the sidelines for all 11 state championships for the Wildcats. 

Turning to Region 3, Hilliard Davidson enjoys a 13-6 all-time record against Reynoldsburg, with the first meeting coming way back in 1946, and the most recent in 2007. Since 2002, the Wildcats have taken all six match-ups. 

It’s been a transitional period for Davidson, which was 2-7 in 2020, but rebounded for a 7-3 mark in Jeremey Scalley’s second year as head coach, replacing the retired Brian White. The Wildcats won the 2006 and 2010 Division I state titles during White’s 21-year, 199-win career. 

Reynoldsburg is making its fourth straight playoff appearance under Buddy White. The Raiders schedule matches up against anyone in the state, with games against Upper Arlington, Wayne, Massillon and Pickerington Central (combined record of 35-5). The Raiders lost all four, but by an average of a touchdown a game.

In Cincinnati, it seems like there’s always something on the line when Colerain battles Elder, which happens for the 15th time since 2000 on Friday night in “The Pit”. The Panthers won the most recent match-up, a 28-21 win in the 2019 playoffs. The Cardinals captured the previous four meetings, including postseason games in 2018, 2015 and 2012. 

Over the past 21 years, Colerain leads the 14 head-to-head games, with eight wins against six losses. Of those 14, 10 have been held in the playoffs. For three straight years (2002-04), the Cards and Panthers met in the postseason, with the winner advancing to an eventual Division I state championship (Colerain in 2002, Elder in 2003-04). 

Unofficially both Colerain and Elder come into the game with 5-5 records, although one of Elder’s wins (against a club team from Virginia) doesn’t count in the OHSAA computer rankings. The Cardinals will try to avoid becoming the first team in school history to lose in the opening round of the football playoffs. 

Those are Regional Final quality games, and we get them to open the playoffs Friday night at 7 p.m. on Spectrum News 1, and the Spectrum News App. Coverage begins with High School Blitz at 6:55 p.m., which returns following each game when Neil Sika, Brett Hiltbrand and Matt D’Orazio break down the entire night and look ahead to the following week’s action. 

Other games available through https://ohsaa.tv are listed below. Spectrum customers can use their login information to access those games, but it’s highly recommended to use the Google Chrome web browser for best experience. 

  • Division I, Region 1                 10. Elyria (6-4) vs. 7. Cleveland Heights (8-2) 
  • Division I, Region 3                 10. Lancaster (4-6) vs. 7. Hilliard Bradley (5-5)
  • Division I, Region 4                 9. Mason (4-6) vs. 8. Fairfield (5-4)
  • Division II, Region 6                11. Valley Forge (6-3) vs. 6. Olmsted Falls (8-2)
  • Division II, Region 7                12. Lake (5-4) vs. 5. Westerville South (7-2)
  • Division II, Region 8                9. Troy (6-3) vs. 8. Withrow (8-1)
  • Division III, Region 9               10. Ravenna (7-3) vs. 7. Aurora (8-2)
  • Division III, Region 11              9. Sheridan (8-2) vs. 8. Columbus DeSales (6-4)
  • Division IV, Region 16             10. Indian Hill (5-5) vs. 7. Milton-Union (9-1)

So perhaps some of the 448 teams entering the postseason will be like getting an apple or a toothbrush from your trick or treating days. But, there will be plenty of full-size candy bars to enjoy this Friday and beyond, all building toward the OHSAA State Football Championships Dec. 2-4 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, and Spectrum News 1 will be there with you every step of the way.  

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