Staff report

Six area high school teams appear to have clinched berths in the Ohio High School Athletic Association football playoffs as the final weekend of regular-season games approaches.

Brookfield, however, is the only team that appears to have clinched a first-round home game. The Warriors (9-0) are first in Division IV, Region 13 in the latest OHSAA computer ratings, which were released on Tuesday.

The Warriors finish the regular season at LaBrae on Friday night. But according to projections courtesy of joeeitel.com, Brookfield will start the playoffs at home no matter what happens against the Vikings (1-8).

Warren Harding (8-1), Crestview (9-0), Ursuline (6-3), Warren JFK (8-1) and Western Reserve (7-2) also appear to have clinched playoff berths.

The Raiders are fifth in Division I, Region 1. They play at Lorain on Friday night.

The Irish are fourth in Division V, Region 17. They play at Akron St. Vincent- St. Mary on Friday night.

The Rebels are fifth in Division V, Region 17. They host playoff hopeful South Range on Friday night.

The Eagles and Blue Devils are both in Division VI, Region 21. Warren JFK is third and Western Reserve is seventh. The Eagles finish the regular season at Cleveland Central Catholic on Saturday. The Blue Devils finish at Columbiana on Friday night.

Seven other area teams appear to be poised to make the playoffs if they win in Week 10.

Fitch (8-1), seventh in Division I, Region 1, hosts Cardinal Mooney on Friday night.

Howland (7-2) visits Struthers (6-3) on Friday night in a matchup with huge playoff implications. The Tigers are currently eighth in Division II, Region 5. The Wildcats are eighth in Division III, Region 11. The winner of that game likely makes the playoff and the loser is out.

Niles (7-2) is rated second in Division III, Region 9, but as many as 14 teams appear to remain in contention for seven available playoff berths not already claimed in that region. The Red Dragons host East in a regular-season finale Friday night.

Liberty (8-1) is fifth in Division IV, Region 13. The Leopards can clinch a playoff spot by beating Champion on the road Friday night.

South Range (7-2) faces the difficult talk of pulling off a road upset at Crestview on Friday night in order to capture a playoff spot. The Raiders currently are 10th in Division V, Region 17.

Youngstown Christian (6-2) can clinch a postseason berth with a victory over Gilmour Academy on Saturday at Poland. The Eagles are sixth in Division VI, Region 21.

Five other teams — Hubbard (6-3), Poland (6-3), Lakeview (5-4), Campbell (5-4) and Columbiana (6-3) have not been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

All of those teams must win Friday and get help to qualify.