Unbeaten McDonald also received recognition in this week’s Ohio football poll.

STAFF REPORT

Four local football teams received enough votes to get mentioned in this week’s Associated Press high school poll.

Unbeaten Ursuline (9-0) remains in first place in Division V. The Fighting Irish, who locked up a home playoff game in the first round of the postseason with a 10-7 victory over Cardinal Mooney last Friday, picked up 17 first-place votes and 228 points to outdistance No. 2 Hamler Patrick Henry (9-0), which received 189 points.

Findlay Liberty-Benton and Wheelersburg are third and fourth, respectively, while Kirtland and Maria Stein Marion Local are tied for fifth.

Ursuline lost to Marion Local in the Div. V state championship game last season.

Mooney (7-2) slipped only to No. 7 in the Div. IV poll despite the loss to Ursuline.

Defending state champion Coldwater, which beat the Cardinals in last year’s title game, remained a solid No. 1 choice among the pollsters. Steubenville, New Lexington, Clarksville Clinton-Massie, Genoa Area and Kettering Alter were ranked 2-6.

In Div. III, Liberty dropped from second to No. 7 after suffering its first loss of the season, 10-6 to Howland.

The Leopards trail Thornville Sheridan, Avon, Circleville Logan Elm, Canal Winchester, Bellevue and Tipp City Tippecanoe.

McDonald dropped to No. 8 in Div. VI despite remaining unbeaten with its win over 21-13 Leetonia to clinch the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two championship.

Bascom Hopewell-Loudon is ranked No. 1 in the small-school division, followed by Mechanicsburg, Mogadore, Norwalk St. Paul and Ada. Hannibal River is No. 6 and Malvern is No. 7.

Cleveland Glenville continues to set the pace in Div. I, followed by Pickerington Central, Cincinnati Colerain, Cincinnati Elder and Cleveland St. Ignatius.

In Div. II, Columbus is No. 1, followed by Louisville, Toledo Central Catholic, Lexington and Logan.