Staff report

With just two weeks to go in the regular season, the playoff race is heating up. Fourteen Mahoning Valley high school football teams are poised to make the playoffs.

The top eight teams in each region qualify for the postseason. South Range enters Week 9 with a 7-1 record and the only team at the top of its region in the latest Ohio High School Athletic Association computer ratings.

The Raiders will travel to play non-conference opponent Indian Creek (7-1) on Friday. They also have a 7-1 record. Right behind the Raiders in Division V, Region 17 are LaBrae (6-2), which is second in the region. Liberty (4-4) is eighth.

Warren JFK (8-0) is the area’s only unbeaten team, but still fell from second to fourth in Division VII, Region 25. Jackson-Milton (5-3) is sixth in the region coming off a loss to Western Reserve.

Howland and Canfield will face off this week in a Division III, Region 9 matchup with huge playoff implications. Howland is seventh and Canfield currently sits at 11th in the region. Both are 6-2.

Division IV, Region 13 has four local teams in the top eight this week. Struthers, coming off a big win over Hubbard, is 7-1 and is third. Hubbard is now seventh in the region with a 6-2 record.

Cardinal Mooney, also in Region 13, sits at four. The Cardinals handed Warren Harding their first loss of the season last week in a 35-34 thriller. They will take on their arch rival Ursuline this week in the Yougstown Holy War. Lakeview (5-3) jumped to eighth in the region after a 45-13 win over Poland.

Despite its first loss, Harding dropped only one spot to second in Division II, Region 5. The Raiders (7-1) will host East this week.

Springfield (6-2), which has won five in a row, is second in Division VI, Region 21. Lisbon is fifth in the region after a 33-13 win over Columbiana (5-3), which is eighth in the region.