OHSAA FOOTBALL Weekly Release - November 20, 2016 Ohio High School Athletic Association 4080 Roselea Place, Columbus, OH 43214 | Office 614-267-2502 | Fax 614-267-1677 www.OHSAA.org | @OHSAASports | Facebook.com/OHSAA Contact: Tim Stried, Director of Communications, [email protected] Welcome to the Final Four! three No. 2 seeds, six No. 3 seeds, four No. 4 seeds, four No. 5 Twenty-eight regional champions have now advanced to the state seeds, and two No. 7 seeds (Trotwood-Madison in Div. III and Canal semifinals of the 2016 OHSAA football playoffs. Whether they are Winchester Harvest Prep in Div. VII). one of the four schools in the state semifinals for the first time, or the one school that is back for a state-record 25th time, they are all In addition, 31 undefeated teams entered the playoffs. Six now playing for a chance to compete for a state championship in Ohio remain. The state semifinalists by record include: Stadium next weekend. 13-0: 7 teams 12-1: 10 teams 11-2: 4 teams 10-3: 2 teams Division I, II, IV and VI games are Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Division 10-2: 1 team 9-4: 2 teams III, V and VII games are Saturday at 7 p.m. The OHSAA has selected 9-3: 1 team 8-5: 1 team neutral sites based on the best available sites after a number of factors have been evaluated (see later note). Defending State Champions Four defending state champions have advanced to the state semi- Championships Schedule Announced this Week finals, after all seven of them advanced to the regional finals last Since 2013, the time slots for the state championship games are weekend. The four to advance include Cincinnati La Salle (Div. II), not announced until the week of the state semifinals. Some years, Akron Archbishop Hoban (Div. III), Columbus Bishop Hartley (Div. IV) the championships schedule is announced mid-week, but the and Coldwater (Div. V). Three defending state champions fell in the OHSAA can also wait until after the state semifinals are played. regional finals, including Lakewood St. Edward (Div. I), Kirtland (Div. Of the divisions that play on Friday nights during the playoffs (I, II, VI) and Fort Recovery (Div. VII). IV and VI), one will be selected to play its state championship on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Final Four Newcomers Media Information Four schools are making their first appearance in the Final Four. Credentials for Playoff Games They include Powell Olentangy Liberty (Div. I), Whitehouse Anthony For the first four rounds of the playoffs, media must contact the host Wayne (Div. II), Perry (Lake County, Div. IV) and Canal Winchester site’s media coordinator by 3 p.m. Tuesday. Contact information for each Harvest Prep (Div. VII). game is posted within the brackets. Media coordinators will work with the athletic director of the schools and follow the OHSAA’s press box priority seating scale posted at http://bit.ly/2eoqSFS Final Four Experience Newark Catholic is making its state-record 25th appearance in the Playoff Games On TV state semifinals. Newark Catholic also owns state records for most Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will make its playoff game selections years in the playoffs (35) and most playoff wins (72). The list of top by noon on Mondays. TWC has exclusivity of the games it selects. Other Final Four qualifiers includes: games are available for tape-delay telecasts, which can be shown begin- 1. Newark Catholic, 25 ning at 11:30 PM the same day of the game. T-2. Mogadore, 17 T-2. Steubenville, 17 Credentials for the State Championships T-2. Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, 17 Media must apply by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 29, for credentials using the 5. Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, 16 OHSAA’s official credential application form. Please contact Tim Stried at T-6. Cleveland St. Ignatius, 15 [email protected] for details. T-6. Maria Stein Marion Local, 15 8. Coldwater, 14 Finalists Media Teleconference Nov. 28 9. Delphos St. John’s, 13 10. Versailles, 12 The OHSAA will conduct a media teleconference featuring the 14 head T-11. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, 11 coaches of the state finalists. The teleconference will be Monday, Nov. T-11. Cleveland Benedictine, 11 28, and begins at 10:30 a.m. with Division VII. Each coach will be avail- T-11. Columbus St. Francis DeSales, 11 able for 15 minutes. A replay will be available. Media are asked contact T-11. Ironton, 11 Tim Stried ([email protected]) for more information. State Semifinalists By Seed and Record Only nine of the 28 No. 1 seeds won their region this past weekend. Last week, 15 of the 28 No. 1 seeds advanced to the regional final. The state semifinalists by regional seed include nine No. 1 seeds, Twitter.com/OHSAASports Facebook.com/OHSAA Media Credentials for the State Semifinals Ticket Information The playoff brackets posted at OHSAA.org include the contact in- Fans are encouraged to buy their playoff tickets in advance at the formation for media coordinators at each site. Media are to contact participating schools, which keep a percentage of the revenue. For the host site media coordinators before 3 p.m. Tuesday, at which state semifinal games, tickets are $8 presale and $10 at the gate. time the media coordinators will determine approved credentials All-session ticket books are on sale for the state championship using the OHSAA’s press box priority seating scale posted on the games at http://go.osu.edu/OHSAAFBTix. All-session ticket books football page at OHSAA.org. Note that only Time Warner Cable in the club level, which are the chair-back seats on the west side SportsChannel can provide live video, and TWC has exclusivity of of the stadium, are $105 each (good for all seven games) and also the games it selects (see later note). All other play-by-play video permit indoor access in the Huntington Club before, during and telecasts cannot begin until 11:30 p.m. after each game. All-session reserved ticket books on the east side of the stadium, which don’t include indoor access, are $84 each. Playoff Format and Schedule Single game tickets will go on sale November 22 and cost $10 at the Unless otherwise noted, Divisions I, II, IV and VI play at 7:30 p.m. state finalist schools, or at the gate before each game for $15 (club on Fridays during the playoffs, while Divisions III, V and VII play at 7 level) and $12 (reserved). p.m. on Saturdays. Occasionally, that schedule changes during the first round is due to the host site having to share the stadium with Building on History another school (high school or college) or the site not having lights. See pages 11-18 in this release for the playoff histories of each In rounds two through four, any changes are typically due to a site school that has advanced to the state semifinals. hosting a playoff double-header. Proving the Pollsters Of the four divisions that play their playoff games on Friday nights, Three of the seven teams that won Associated Press poll cham- one will be selected to play its state championship game on pionships at the end of October are still playing, including Toledo Thursday, Dec. 1. The other three will play their state champion- Central Catholic (Div. III), Kettering Archbishop Alter (Div. IV) and ship games on Friday, Dec. 2. Divisions III, V and VII will play their Maria Stein Marion Local (Div. VI). Twenty of the 28 state semifinal- state championship games on Saturday, Dec. 3. The OHSAA will ists were ranked in the final poll. All four semifinalists in Divisions announce the state championship game schedule for Divisions I, III and IV were ranked. Thirty four of the 70 teams that appeared in II, IV and VI at approximately 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, while the the final Associated Press poll reached the regional finals last week- championship schedule for Divisions III, V and VII will be announced end. The final AP polls appear on page 7 of this packet. at approximately 10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26. The announcements will be made on the OHSAA’s twitter account (@OHSAASports) and All 70 teams that appeared in the final AP poll earned a playoff in the weekly release on Sunday, Nov. 27. berth. Those 70 teams went 58-12 in the first round of the playoffs. Of those 58 wins, 55 were home games for the ranked team, while In the Beginning… to Seven Divisions three ranked teams won on the road in the first round, including When the OHSAA created the football playoffs in 1972, there were Trotwood-Madison (Div. III), Columbus Bishop Hartley (Div. IV), three divisions (called Class A, AA and AAA) and only one playoff Swanton (Div. V) and Fort Recovery (Div. VII). qualifier per region (12 total playoff qualifiers). Now in its 45th year, the postseason has expanded to seven divisions and 224 total Last year, the only teams to be ranked No. 1 in the final poll and go playoff qualifiers. Expansion occurred in 1980 to five divisions and on to win a state championship were Lakewood St. Edward in Div. I two qualifiers per region, and then again in 1985 to four qualifiers and Coldwater in Div. V. per region. In 1994, a sixth division was added, while in 1999, the number of qualifiers per region increased to eight. The playoffs Setting Up the State Championships expanded to seven divisions in 2013.