The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced the football divisional breakdowns and playoff regions for the 2023 season on Wednesday and three Greater Akron/Canton area teams were impacted.
The 2023-24 school year marks the second year of the two-year base enrollment cycle provided by the Ohio Department of Education.
In football, competitive balance data is used from the previous season to create an adjusted enrollment count to set the state playoff divisions.
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This season, competitive balance pushed Dalton down from Division VI, Region 21 to Division VII, Region 25.
Enrollment moved East Canton up from Division VII, Region 25 to Division VI, Region 21 and knocked Dover down from Division II, Region 7 to Division III, Region 9.
Of note, Massillon (Region 7) and Hoban (Region 5) stay away from each other until the state semifinals again in Division II. The Knights beat the Tigers in last year's state semifinals.
Also, Hoban and St. Vincent-St. Mary, who put their regular season rivalry on hold, are still in the same division and region. That means they could meet in the playoffs for a second straight year. Hoban won last year's playoff matchup on its way to a state runner-up finish.
Here’s a look where all area schools fit in:
OHSAA Division I football playoff region assignments
Region 1: Berea-Midpark, Brunswick, Canton McKinley, Cleveland Heights, Elyria, Euclid, GlenOak, Jackson, John Marshall, Lorain, Medina, Mentor, St. Edward, St. Ignatius, Stow, Strongsville, Wadsworth
OHSAA Division II football playoff region assignments
Region 5: Archbishop Hoban, Austintown-Fitch, Barberton, Benedictine, Boardman, Brush, John Hay, Cuyahoga Falls, Ellet, Firestone, Garfield, Garfield Heights, Hudson, John Adams, Lakeside, Maple Heights, Mayfield, Nordonia, Akron North, Eastlake North, Riverside, Shaker Heights, Solon, South, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Twinsburg, Walsh Jesuit, Warren Harding
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Region 6: Amherst, Anthony Wayne, Avon, Avon Lake, Bowsher, Brecksville, Clay, Fremont Ross, Highland, Lakewood, Midview, Normandy, North Olmsted, North Ridgeville, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, Parma, Cleveland Rhodes, Holland Springfield, Toledo St. Francis de Sales, Toledo St. John’s Jesuit, Toledo Start, Toledo Waite, Sylvania Northview, Sylvania Southview, Valley Forge, Westlake
Region 7: Big Walnut, Canal Winchester, Columbus Briggs, Columbus St. Charles, Columbus DeSales, Columbus West, Central Crossing, Dublin Scioto, Franklin Heights, Green, Hoover, Independence, Lake, Licking Heights, Logan, Marion Harding, Massillon, Mifflin, Mount Vernon, Northland, Perry, Teays Valley, Walnut Ridge, Watkins Memorial, Westerville South, Whetstone, Wooster, Worthington Kilbourne
OHSAA Division III football playoff region assignments
Region 9: Alliance, Aurora, Bedford, Canfield, Chaney, Chardon, Cleveland JFK, Collinwood, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, Dover, East, East Tech, Geneva, Gilmour Academy, Harvey, Hawken, Howland, Kenston, Kent Roosevelt, Louisville, Madison, Marlington, New Philadelphia, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, Tallmadge, University School, Ursuline Villa Angela-St. Joseph
Region 10: Bay, Bowling Green, Buckeye, Cloverleaf, Clyde, Columbian, Copley, Defiance, Lexington, Lincoln West, Lutheran West, Madison Comprehensive, Madison Senior, Maumee, Norton, Norwalk, Ontario, Padua, Revere, Rocky River, Rossford, Sandusky, Toledo Central Catholic, Toledo Rogers, Toledo Scott, Toledo Woodward
OHSAA Division IV football playoff region assignments
Region 13: Beaver, Buchtel, Canton South, Cardinal Mooney, Coventry, East Liverpool, Edgewood, Field, Girard, Holy Name, Hubbard Jefferson Area, Lake Catholic, Lutheran East, Minerva, Niles McKinley, Northwest, Orange, Poland Seminary, Ravenna, Salem, Springfield, Streetsboro, Struthers, Warrensville Heights, West Branch, Woodridge, Youngstown East
Region 14: Bath, Bellevue, Benjamin Logan, Bryan, Clear Fork, Cleveland Central Catholic, Elyria Catholic, Fostoria, Galion, Glenville, Kenton, Napoleon, Perkins, River Valley, Shaw, Shelby, St. Mary’s Memorial, Upper Sandusky, Van Wert, Vermilion, Wauseon, West Holmes
OHSAA Division V football playoff region assignments
Region 17: Beachwood, Berkshire, Brookside, Chagrin Falls, Champion, Clearview, Conneaut, Coshocton, Crestwood, Edison, Fairless, Fairview, Garrettsville Garfield, Harrison Central, Keystone, Lakeview, Liberty, Manchester, Norwayne, Orrville, Perry (Lake County), Ridgewood, Sandy Valley, Smithville, South Range, Triway
OHSAA Division VI football playoff region assignments
Region 21: Brookfield, Brooklyn, Campbell Memorial, Canton Central Catholic, Cardinal, Chippewa, Columbiana, Crestview, Cuyahoga Heights, East Canton, East Palestine, Grand Valley, Independence, Jackson-Milton, Kirtland, LaBrae, Mineral Ridge, Mogadore, Newton Falls, Pymatuning Valley, Rittman, Rootstown, Southeast, Trinity, Tuslaw, United, Waterloo, Waynedale, Wickliffe, Youngstown Valley Christian
Region 22: Black River, Bluffton, Bucyrus, Carey, Colonel Crawford, Columbia, Columbus Grove, Crestview, Evergreen, Fairview, Hicksville, Lakota, Mapleton, Margaretta, Northwestern, Oberlin, Ottawa Hills, Paulding, Riverdale, Seneca East, Tinora, Van Buren, Wayne Trace, Wellington, Western Reserve, Woodmore, Wynford
Region 23: Bellaire, Belpre, Buckeye Trail, Cardington-Lincoln, Crooksville, Dawson-Bryant, East Knox, Elgin, Fort Frye, Garaway, Grandview Heights, Grove City Christian, Loudonville, Martin Ferry, Mount Gilead, Nelsonville-York, Newark Catholic, Newcomerstown, Northmor, Northridge, Oak Hill, Rock Hill, Shenandoah, Trimble, Tuscarawas Valley, West Jefferson
OHSAA Division VII football playoff region assignments
Region 25: Ashtabula St. John, Buckeye Central, Conotton Valley, Crestline, Dalton, Danville, David Anderson, Fairport Harding, Hillsdale, Leetonia, Lowellville, Lucas, Malvern, Mathews, McDonald, Monroeville, New Middletown Springfield, Norwalk St. Paul, Plymouth, Richmond Heights, Sebring McKinley, Steubenville Central Catholic, St. Thomas Aquinas, South Central, Southern Local, Strasburg-Franklin, Toronto, Tuscarawas Central Catholic, Warren JFK, Wellsville, Western Reserve, Windham
Contact Brad Bournival atbbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
