Here’s five things to know heading into Week 7:
Eight unbeatens
Of the 706 football teams in Ohio, 63 remain unbeaten, including eight in the Miami Valley. Tippecanoe, Badin, Talawanda, Brookville, Preble Shawnee, Tri-Village, Marion Local and Lehman Catholic are all 6-0.
Division III has the most undefeated teams with 13. D-III, Region 12 and D-VI, Region 23 each had five, tied for the most unbeaten teams in a region.
At least one team will drop off that list this week as Symmes Valley (6-0) travels to Beaver Eastern.
Here’s the full list:
Division I (3): Mentor, Lewis Center Olentangy Orange, Elder; Division II (6): Uniontown Lake, Medina Highlands, Wadsworth, Ashland, North Canton Hoover, Cincinnati Anderson; Division III (13): Canfield, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (5-0), Medina Buckeye, Wapakoneta, Bishop Watterson, Col. Linden McKinley, Col. Hamilton Twp., Plains Athens, Tippecanoe, London, Badin, Miami Trace, Oxford Talawanda; Division IV (10): Norton (5-0), Shelby, New Lexington, Jonathan Alder, Wintersville Indian Creek, Chillicothe Unioto, Gnadenhutten Indian Valley, Cin. Indian Hill, Cin. Taft, Brookville; Division V (8): Girard, Liberty Center, Findlay Liberty Benton, Wheelersburg, Nelsonville-York, Cin. North College Hill, Williamsburg, Preble Shawnee; Division VI (11): Kirtland, Columbiana Crestview, Columbia Station Columbia, Paulding, Bascom Hopewell-Loudon, West Jefferson, Mount Gilead, West Lafayette Ridgewood, North Robinson Colonel Crawford, Toronto, Tri-Village; Division VII (12): Fairport Harding, McDonald, East Palestine, Lima Central Catholic, Leipsic, North Baltimore, Jeromesville Hillsdale, Willow Wood Symmes Valley, Marion Local, Portsmouth Notre Dame, Beaver Eastern, Lehman Catholic.
GWOC rivalry
Wayne (4-2, 3-0) will host Springfield (3-3, 3-0) at Heidkamp Stadium in a Greater Western Ohio Conference battle that will feature the conference’s top offense and defense.
The Warriors have the top offense in the GWOC averaging 384.8 yards per game. The Wildcats have the No. 2 ranked defense in the conference, allowing 207.8 yards per game. They’ve allowed a league-low 74 points over six games, including two shutouts.
The game was moved to 6 p.m. due to security concerns. There was a large fight in the parking lot when Wayne played at Springfield in 2023.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Three Rivers battle
Lehman will travel to Miami East (5-1, 3-0) in a battle of Three Rivers Conference unbeatens. The Cavaliers beat the Vikings 45-35 last season.
Neither team has won a conference title since the league was formed in 2020. The Vikings are seeking their first conference title since winning the Cross County Conference in 2017. The Cavaliers last won back-to-back titles in the Northwest Central Conference in 2017 and 2018.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Tough test
Oakwood will face an unbeaten conference opponent for the second straight week.
The Lumberjacks, who fell to Valley View in a thriller 20-19 last week, host unbeaten Brookville at Mack Hummon Stadium. They’re seeking their first win against the Blue Devils since 2016.
The Blue Devils have been dominant on both sides of the ball. They lead the Southwestern Buckeye League with 265 points and have allowed a league-low 60 points. They haven’t allowed more than 16 points since Week 1 against Tri-County North.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
The streak continues
The longest active winning streak in the nation reached 69 last week... barely. Marion Local beat Versailles 20-19 in a game that included a controversial call late in the game on a fourth down pass play that was ruled a catch for the Flyers and they eventually took the lead. The photos and videos of the play have since gone viral with several angles showing the pass was incomplete. It was their 14th straight win against the Tigers.
The Flyers will host 4-2 Fort Recovery this week. They’ve won 26 straight against the Indians, according to fantastic50.net, a site that compiles Ohio high school football rankings and playoff scenarios based on computer simulations and historical data.
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