Championships in new-look SWBL still up for grabs

Four teams battling it out for East, West Division crowns

The first year of the new-look Southwestern Buckeye League is going to be decided by old rivalries and nemesis. League titles in the East and West Divisions will be awarded the next two weeks with games pitting Bellbrook, Eaton, Monroe and Valley View.

Bellbrook plays at Monroe today in a meeting of East leaders, while West leaders Eaton and Valley View square off in Germantown. Next week, Bellbrook hosts Valley View and Monroe visits Eaton.

“If this was the NFL, hopefully we’d get flexed,” Eaton Athletic Director Travis Miller joked. “Those are some prime-time games.”

All league games, including crossovers, count towards titles. In previous years, only divisional games counted. The change came after the SWBL dropped from 14 teams to 10 following last season. Preble Shawnee and Dixie left for the Western Ohio Athletic Conference. Milton-Union and Northridge migrated to the Three Rivers Conference.

SWBL admins voted to play a seven-game league schedule instead of nine moving forward, in part to allow for more non-league games and potential playoff points. The current schedule is based on past seasons.

“It’s a tiered schedule based off power rankings from previous years,” Eaton principal and current SWBL President Scott Couch said. “That way we wouldn’t have the team with the worst record playing the best and then paired it up from there.”

Despite not all schools playing each other, Miller said the backlash has been limited.

“There was no real barking from my end, because I sat in the room and agreed to it,” Miller said. “I haven’t heard anything.”

SWBL teams will have the same football schedules next season (swap home and away). New schedules for the 2023 and 2024 seasons should be released later this year.

In addition to deciding league titles, the next two weeks will impact playoff positioning and player of the year awards.

Monroe (7-1, 5-0) sits No. 2 in Division III Region 12 computer points and features junior running back Elijah Jackson who leads the league with 1,603 yards rushing. He’s scored 18 touchdowns. Bellbrook (6-2, 4-1), No. 7 in D-III Region 12, counters with reigning SWBL Player of the Year and senior running back Seth Bornody who has 1,548 yards rushing and a league-leading 19 touchdowns.

Eaton (8-0, 5-0), No 2 in D-IV Region 16, owns three of the league’s most explosive players in junior quarterback Brock Ebright (1,396 yards passing and 18 touchdowns), senior running back Aiden Williams (974 yards rushing and seven touchdowns) and senior receiver Josh Martin (664 yards receiving and eight touchdowns). Valley View (5-3, 4-1), No. 7 in D-IV Region 16, features the league’s top passer in sophomore quarterback Caden Henson (1,466 yards and 18 touchdowns) and a top-two receiver in senior JT Ferguson (576 yards receiving and six touchdowns).

Currently Brookville (ninth in D-V Region 20), Carlisle (15th in D-V Region 20), Franklin (11th in D-III Region 12), Oakwood (12th in D-IV Region 16) and Waynesville (16th in D-IV Region 16) also are in line for postseason berths.

“It’s exciting to have it come down to this instead of being decided a couple weeks ago,” Miller said. “This is a pretty good football league right now.”

As for the teams that left the SWBL, they’re playing some pretty good football too.

Preble Shawnee (8-0) is undefeated and has set a school record for wins in a season. The Arrows can claim a share of the first league title in school history with a win over Ansonia. Milton-Union (7-1) and Northridge (6-2), both 5-0 in the Three Rivers Conference, play each other tonight for sole possession of first.

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