GWOC Central football title at stake this week

A FINAL SHOWDOWN: It’s Springfield (7-2) at Northmont (6-3) in the last matchup of the Greater Western Ohio Conference Central Division powers. And this is for at least a share of the Central title.

Here’s how it’s gone:

Springfield 28, Wayne 21;

Northmont 24, Centerville 21, OT;

Wayne 34, Centerville 10;

Centerville 14, Springfield 0;

Wayne 24, Northmont 7.

What all that means is parity to the max, which may or may not be such a good thing, depending how the Division I playoffs shake out.

Wayne also could snare a share of the Central championship by beating visiting Fairmont.

TOURNEY TRAIL: Springfield (Region 3) still likely will make the playoffs even if the Wildcats lose to the Thunderbolts. That’s because Region 3 is packed with mostly Columbus teams. Region 4 is split between Miami Valley and Cincinnati teams.

A year after Wayne fell in the 1999 state title game, it returned to the playoffs in Region 3 with a 6-4 record.

This essentially is a playoff game for Northmont. The T-Bolts have no chance to make the postseason should they lose and must get help with a win.

SWBL SHIFT: Dixie playing for a Buckeye Division title in Week 10 was a long shot, considering the Greyhounds haven’t had a winning season in more than 27 years.

All Dixie (7-2) has to do to earn a piece of the hardware is take down unbeaten and visiting Carlisle (9-0) today.

Eaton (9-0) has already wrapped up the Southwestern Division title.

TITLE TALK: Alter (GCL North), Eaton, Delphos St. John’s (MAC) and Springfield Catholic Central (OHC) are the only teams to have secured outright area conference titles.

Lehman Catholic vs. Fort Loramie is a great small-school matchup that will determine the MBC champ. Both teams are 8-1 and headed to the D-VI, Region 24 playoffs.

Like Alter and CJ, Lehman has no home field. The game will be played at Sidney.

AS PROMISED: Finally, here’s hoping that the Ohio High School Athletics Association is able to produce the first-round playoff pairings on time Sunday afternoon. This week’s computer rankings were a day late. That would be disaster next week.

Check out DaytonDaily News.com/sports for all the state pairings.