Bonus Random Thoughts: football regions

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

On the heels of the release of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s 2019 regional football assignments, here are some thoughts. Keep in mind that the top eight teams from each region qualify for the postseason.

Division IV, Region 14

St. Marys has moved up to Division III, but that doesn’t necessarily mean this region is weaker.

Clyde, a consistent regional championship contender in Division III slides into the place vacated by the Roughriders.

The region itself remains ridiculously large, spanning from Van Wert all the way to Rocky River, which is just west of Cleveland. There is a slight improvement – last year it stretched to Orange, which is east of Cleveland.

Kenton is out of Region 14 as well, having been shifted to Region 16.

Overall, this remains a fairly strong region.

WBL teams

Out of 10 Western Buckeye League teams, four will be in a new region this fall – St. Marys, Ottawa-Glandorf, Kenton and Bath, the league’s only Division V school this year (Region 18).

NWC teams

All but one Northwest Conference team (Paulding) will be in a different region this year and the changes will present some challenges. Keep reading.

Division VI Region 23

The best way to term this reconfigured region would be brutal.

New to Region 23 are 2018 playoff teams Anna, Coldwater, Columbus Grove, Fairview, Lima Central Catholic, Minster, Spencerville and St. Henry. Wow.

Other newcomers to the region include Wayne Trace, Ada, Allen East, Bluffton, Delphos Jefferson, Hicksville, Tinora and Parkway.

WKSD’s Kenny Stabler and I chatted about this Wednesday night and he noted for some teams, 8-2 might not be good enough for a playoff spot in this region. I completely agree. Mark it down – a team that probably would get a playoff spot in any other region will get left out this fall.

Division V, Region 18

Hypothetically, if Paulding and Beachwood met in the opening round of the playoffs, one school would have to travel roughly three hours and 30 minutes to play.

Division VII, Region 26

There’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that Crestview was in this region before and is somewhat familiar with the teams.

The bad news is it still has several powerful teams, including Tiffin Calvert (a team Crestview beat in 2017), McComb, Mohawk and Norwalk St. Paul.

Overall, this seems like a good move for the Knights, a team that seemed a bit out of place in Region 28.

The full list of 2019 regional assignments can be found at: https://www.ohsaa.org/Portals/0/Sports/Football/2019/RegionAssignments2019.pdf.

If you have thoughts on the regional assignments, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.