Staff Report

Tuesday’s release of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s football computer rankings contains a couple of surprises: Southern and Sebring of the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two.

In all, 21 area schools made the first list of playoff hopefuls.

In Division VI Region 23, Southern (4-0) is sixth and Columbiana (2-2) is 11th. In Region 21, Western Reserve (4-0) is third while Sebring (3-1) is 12th.

The top eight teams in each region in the poll released after Week 10 qualify for the postseason, with the top four schools getting a home game in the first round.

Divison V Region 17 has four area teams. Defending state champion Ursuline (4-0) has the top seed. Unbeaten Crestview, which lost to the Irish in last fall’s second round, is fourth, followed by United (3-1) in sixth and South Range (3-1) in eighth.

Five area schools are contending in Division III Region 9, including defending state champion Mooney (2-2) in eighth place. Hubbard (3-1) is second while Niles (3-1) is fifth and Southeast (3-1) is seventh. On the outside looking in is Poland (2-2) which is 10th.

In Region 11, two 3-1 teams — East Liverpool and Salem — are fifth and sixth.

Three area schools appear in the two largest divisions. Unbeaten Fitch is ranked fifth in Division I Region 1. The four schools ahead of the Falcons also are 4-0: Cleveland Glenville, Willoughby South, Solon and Lakewood St. Edward.

Also in that region, Warren Harding (3-1) is eighth.

Howland (4-0) is the only Division II school to appear in Region 5 where the Tigers are ranked third.

Three All-American Conference Blue Tier teams appear in Division IV Region 13. Campbell (4-0) is fourth, followed by Champion (3-1) at number five. Girard (3-1) is 12th.