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Sports Preview
After preseason practices and scrimmages, the 2026 high school football season gets underway this week with several games tonight. Area teams get started on Friday.
The 2026 high school football season gets underway tonight with teams near the area getting a 24-hour head start on the other area teams. The Midwest Athletic Conference's St. John's and Versailles open at home tonight against Lehman (St. John's) and Harvest Prep, which comes to H.B. Hole to face Versailles. Shawnee from the Western Buckeye League takes on Limaland rival Lima Central Catholic at Spartan Stadium.
On Friday, all nine area teams take to the field. Defending Division VII state champion St. Henry, which will now play in Division VI, travels to Celina. Marion Local, having had its 76-game win streak snapped in the postseason by St. Henry last year, will look to start a new streak against a tough Carey squad. Coldwater hosts Valley View, Minster makes the short trek south to play Fort Loramie. New Bremen welcomes Wayne Trace to the renovated Cardinal Stadium. Parkway debuts new coach Keenan Leichtey with a home game against Brookville. Fort Recovery travels to Welcome Stadium in Dayton to take on Ponitz Tech and St. Marys hosts Galion.
St. Henry snapped a nearly 20-year drought between state titles after winning the Division VII crown last fall. Although the Redskins won't be able to defend the title in moving up to Division VI, the challenge to get back to Canton is big.
The Redskins head to Celina for the second all-time meeting with the Bulldogs. Landon Schwartz, St. Henry's leading receiver last season who also took snaps at quarterback, takes over for reigning Division VII state offensive player of the year Charlie Werling.
Celina finished 4-6 last season, but won two straight at the end of the season. Parker Wynk had a solid season at quarterback and will have a big offensive line to give him protection.
The 2025 season ended for Marion Local with a rare result, a loss that snapped the program's 76-game winning streak. The Flyers had not lost since the truncated 2020 season to New Bremen in the playoffs.
Now, Marion Local will look to begin anew, opening with a tough Carey team at Booster Stadium that lost in the Division VI Region 22 final to Hopewell-Loudon.
Marion has quarterback Brennen Hess back after he threw for over 1,700 yards last season. Hess will need new targets after his two top receivers graduated.
Once conference play starts, the Flyers do have a win streak to continue, a 42-game MAC win streak, having not lost in league play since losing to Minster in Week Eight of 2019.
The Blue Devils, co-champs in the Northern 10 Conference last season, return running back Mace Puckett, who rushed for 1,513 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.
Karsyn Homan returns to quarterback Coldwater this season after helping the Cavaliers reach the Division VI state semifinals last season.
After reaching the Division VI state semifinals last season, Coldwater (10-5) returns key players after losing more than four games in a season for the first time since 1994.
The non-conference slate is tough, facing Valley View and Clinton-Massie in Weeks One and Two after both teams combined to go 21-4 last season
The Spartans return quarterback Brody Gibbs, who rushed for 113 yards and passed for 88 in last year's 49-48 slugfest loss to the Cavaliers in Germantown.
Minster and Fort Loramie will engage in their 25th meeting of the rivalry along State Route 66. Minster holds a 17-7 lead in the series after last year's 22-14 win at Memorial Field.
The Wildcats return quarterback Carson Kaylor, who passed for 1,549 yards last season, and leading receiver Tyler Bergman.
The Redskins struggled last season in going 3-7 in their first season in the Northwest Conference.
Parkway begins the Keenan Leichty era when the Panthers host Brookville.
Leichty knows the MAC from several seasons as part of Chip Otten's staff at Coldwater.
Numbers will be an issue with fewer than 30 players on the roster, prompting the cancelation of junior varsity and freshmen competition.
The Blue Devils went 10-2 last season, finishing second to Valley View in the Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division last year. Jay Fullenkamp takes over as head coach this season, succeeding longtime coach Mike Hetrick, the son of longtime Hall of Fame Versailles coach Al Hetrick.
New Bremen hosts Wayne Trace in Week 1 after reaching the playoffs with a 6-4 record and losing in the second round to St. Henry.
Chris Schmidt has some key players back this season, including quarterback Gavin Dicke and running back Jacob Kelly.
The Raiders went 3-7 last season, snapping a three-game losing streak with a win over Ayersville in Week 10.
Fort Recovery reached the regional semifinals last season in Wes Wenning's first season as coach of his alma mater.
The Indians head to Welcome Stadium in Dayton to take on Ponitz Tech as the Golden Panthers look to improve on last year's 1-9 campaign.
Fort Recovery returns some key players like Breaker Jutte and Brody Barga, but will have to find some key offensive players.
St. Marys started last season with back-to-back losses and were 2-3 midway through the season before rattling off five straight wins to reach the playoffs and finish 8-4.
The Roughriders will look to avenge last year's 35-6 loss to Galion with the lidlifter at Grand Lake Health System Field.
The Tigers went 11-2 last season, losing to Shelby in the regional semifinals.
In a pleasant change of pace, the OHSAA has made no change to the football playoff format this season. In each region, 12 teams will qualify for the postseason. We will be tracking three different levels of computer points which will be a goal for local WBL and MAC teams.
Teams finishing in the top four in the rankings will receive a first-round bye and will host their second-round playoff game.
Teams finishing fifth through eighth in the rankings do not get a bye but do get to host their opening round playoff game. If they win, they will have to travel to their second-round game against a team who had a bye in the opening week of the postseason.
Teams finishing ninth through 12th in the rankings also do not get a bye and must travel for their opening round playoff game. If they win, they will have to travel again for their second round game against a team who had a bye.
There have been some changes in the divisions some teams participate in this year due to changes in enrollment numbers and competitive balance adjustments. Of the WBL teams, Lima Bath has dropped from Division IV down to Division V. In the MAC, Coldwater has risen from Division VI up to join Bath in Division V's Region 18.
Also changing divisions in the MAC are Versailles (who drops from Division V into Division VI), while the defending Division VII state champions from St. Henry have been promoted up into Division VI.
We will group all of the teams in the WBL and MAC by the region they are in this year. We will list their records and computer points earned last year, and where those same results would land them in their region this season.
Team (2025 Record) Points
1. Wapakoneta (10-0) 29.45
4. Shawnee (7-3) 16.90
5. St. Marys (7-3) 16.45
12. Defiance (4-6) 9.30
16. Celina (4-6) 7.10
There are 26 teams in this region. Last year's results would have four of the five teams from the WBL playoff bound and the other one closely in the hunt. With Toledo Central Catholic moving up to Division II, the top spot in the region seems to be up for grabs.
Seven or eight wins will probably be necessary for a team hoping for a first-round bye. Six wins may be enough to finish in the top eight and host a first-round playoff game. Best guess is that teams with only five wins should have about a 50-50 chance at reaching the postseason, which means for a team with five wins it will be crucial to defeat other teams in the middle of the standings.
If Celina has a record near 5-5, games such as Week 4 against Van Wert, Week 7 at Elida and Week 10 at Defiance could determine their playoff status.
St. Marys may be able to earn a first-round bye even with three losses. This is especially true if they win their Week 1 game against a Galion team that is expected to win eight or nine games.
11. Van Wert (5-5) 8.15
15. Elida (4-6) 6.35
23. Kenton (1-9) 0.50
24. Ott.-Glandorf (0-10) 0.00
There are 25 teams in this region. Last year's results would have just one of the four teams from the WBL making the playoffs, with Van Wert and Elida being the two teams on the edge. Expect Shelby and Medina Buckeye to be favored to win this region.
Eight wins might be enough to secure a first-round bye. Six or seven wins could have a team hosting a first-round playoff game. This region appears to have been weakened enough that five wins could earn a playoff berth, and even four wins could do the job if one victory is over a 5-5 type team.
Watch that Week Two game of Van Wert hosting Elida. The victor probably has the best shot of representing the WBL in the postseason in this region.
6. Bath (8-2) 20.70
15. Coldwater (6-4) 13.40
There are 25 teams in this region, which is probably going to be the toughest region from which to qualify for the postseason this year. Over half of these teams won 8 or more games last season, and six of those are new to the region in 2026. Another team, Milan Edison, went 10-0 in 2024.
Teams like Galion, Wooster Triway and Creston Norwayne will be favored to have the most computer points at the end of the regular season. Also watch for Liberty-Benton, who went 10-0 in 2025, and Indian Lake.
As perhaps the toughest region, nine wins will probably be needed to finish in the top four, while eight wins should earn a spot in the top 12, though that is not guaranteed.
Bath scored big points by defeating Indian Lake in Week 1 last year. If they repeat that this year, they have a shot at the playoffs with only seven wins. A loss means they likely need eight WBL wins. For Coldwater, a repeat of last year's 6-4 mark will not be enough to reach the playoffs. A non-conference sweep of Valley View and Clinton-Massie may give the Cavaliers a shot with a 7-3 record, though eight wins would make that Week 10 game against Marion Local a little less stressful.
27. Parkway (0-10) 0.00
There are 27 teams in this region. Liberty Center, Columbus Grove and Lima Central Catholic seem to be the likely favorites here.
Eight or nine wins should be enough to finish in the top four, seven victories should secure a first-round home playoff game, and six wins might be enough to qualify for the playoffs.
That means Parkway will almost definitely need to sweep Brookville and Delphos Jefferson in non-conference play to contest for a playoff berth.
1. St. Henry (9-1) 20.75
9. Anna (7-3) 11.15
14. Versailles (4-6) 7.90
There are 27 teams in this region and based on recent performance the defending Division VII state champions from St. Henry are a favorite. Watch their Week Four game against Anna as a win by the Rockets could propel them to the top of the region.
For teams hoping for a first-round bye, eight wins look to be the amount required. Seven wins should earn these teams a spot in the top eight, thus hosting a first-round playoff game. Six wins should do the trick for postseason qualification.
St. Henry has the opportunity for good computer points in its non-conference games against Celina and Archbold, but both games will be difficult (especially at home against Archbold). A loss in either game means the Redskins can only lose one MAC game and earn a first-round bye. Each subsequent loss would drop them another 3-4 spots in the standings.
Anna has an easier non-conference schedule (Spencerville and Fort Loramie) so the Rockets' Week Four and Five games against St. Henry and Marion Local may define their season. A split makes Anna look good for the playoffs while a sweep brings a Top 4 finish into play.
Versailles just missed the Region 20 playoffs with a 4-6 record last year but will need six wins under their new head coach to compete for a postseason spot in this region.
22. Del. St. John's (1-9) 0.40
There are 26 teams here, down three from the 29 squads last year. Hopewell-Loudon is the heavy favorite to dominate the computer point standings with the departure of Columbus Grove and Lima Central Catholic.
This year, earning a bye will likely require nine wins while eight victories should be needed to host a playoff game. However, six wins should be enough to crack the Top 12.
Delphos St. John's will need to improve by five wins this season, and two of those better come against Lehman and LCC in non-conference play.
1. Marion Local (10-0) 26.45
5. Minster (6-4) 12.30
6. New Bremen (6-4) 10.20
12. Fort Recovery (5-5) 6.45
There are 27 teams in this region. Last year's results would have all four of the MAC squads playoff bound. With St. Henry rising to Division VI, Marion Local will again be considered the favorite in this region.
This region appears a bit weaker this year. Last year it required nine wins to earn a playoff bye, but eight wins may be enough in 2026. Likewise, it took eight victories to earn a home playoff game last year while seven wins should be good enough this season. Fort Recovery grabbed the final postseason spot with a 5-5 mark last season and five or six wins again look to be the requirement for playoff qualification this year.
Marion Local starts with Carey (6-4 last year) and Harvest Prep (4-4) which should provide enough computer point opportunities that an 8-2 record will earn a first-round bye. This may not be the case for the other three MAC teams.
The big games for playoff positioning in this region involve those other three MAC schools. Minster starts their conference play at New Bremen in Week 3 and ends the season hosting Fort Recovery. The Indians have back-to-back big games as they host New Bremen in Week Nine.
The computer points for the entire state, and especially the regions involving WBL/MAC teams (Regions 10, 14, 18, 22, 24, 26 and 28) can be found throughout the upcoming season at: user.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/football.htm or by searching the Internet for Bruce Monnin's Computer Points.
For even more computer point details about teams throughout west central Ohio, subscribe to my weekly podcast at the I-Tunes store, Amazon Music, Spotify or on YouTube. Search for Bruce Monnin's Computer Points.
Shawnee at LCC
Lehman at St. John's
Harvest Prep at Versailles
St. Henry at Celina
Galion at St. Marys
Valley View at Coldwater (7:30 p.m.)
Fort Recovery at Ponitz Tech
Carey at Marion Local
Minster at Fort Loramie
Wayne Trace at New Bremen
Brookville at Parkway
Bath at Indian Lake
Defiance at Napoleon
Elida at Toledo Rogers
Eastwood at Kenton
Liberty-Benton at Ottawa-Glandorf
Bryan at Van Wert
Wapakoneta at Oregon Clay
Anna at Spencerville
All games at 7 p.m. unless indicated.
