After three weeks of games, the high school football season will enter a new phase with conference play beginning Friday for most area schools.
The highlight of league play will be a Northeast 8 Conference showdown between South Range (3-0) and Lakeview (3-0). The Raiders and Bulldogs are two of five NE8 schools with perfect records heading into Week 4. NE8 schools are a combined 18-3 in nonleague play.
Lakeview is looking to accomplish something no NE8 school has done since 2019: beat South Range. The Raiders enter Friday’s game having won 30 straight league games since 2019. Along the way, they’ve won four consecutive conference championships.
Lake View outshot the three teams, 92 to 6. South Range was dominated, 115 to 14. Both teams recorded two shutouts.
Struthers (3-0) came into this season as the team most likely to beat South Range. The Wildcats came out strong in non-conference play, outscoring their opponents 109-20. This week they host league foe Girard (2-1), who are looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season.
Hubbard (3-0) will also be looking to maintain its unbeaten record when it hosts Niles (1-2).
The Eagles and Red Dragons will meet for the 39th time in a series that began in 1919. Hubbard holds the advantage in the series with 20 wins, 17 losses and one tie, including the Eagles’ 16-game winning streak against Niles that was ended in 2023.
A year ago, Garfield (2-1) comfortably advanced to the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier with a 7-0 league record, finishing two wins better than the runner-up — in fact, the G-Men were the only team in the Grey Tier to win the overall championship.
Garfield (2-1) should have a tough start to the season as it hosts LaBrae (3-0), the only unbeaten team in the Greater Tier.
Crestview (2-1) and Liberty (0-3) both finished 5-2 in league play last year. The Rebels and Leopards will meet at Crestview.
Brookfield and Champion will meet in the championship game, both looking for their first win, while Southeast (1-2) will make its Grey Tier debut when it visits Newton Falls (0-3).
In the MVAC Scarlet Tier, three teams (Western Reserve, Lowellville and Springfield) finished with 5-1 league records in 2023. Western Reserve (3-0) is currently the only undefeated team in the Scarlet Tier, but the Blue Devils will be put to the test when they host McDonald (2-1), while Campbell, who is off to a 2-1 start for the first time since 2019, will make their Scarlet Tier debut with a trip to Lowellville (2-1). The Red Devils were previously in the MVAC Grey Tier.
Ursuline (2-1) will host East (2-1) to begin the defense of its Steel Valley Conference crown. The Irish don’t face their other two SVC rivals until the end of the season, when they face Cheney in Week 9 before wrapping up the regular season with a matchup against arch-rival Cardinal Mooney.
The highlight of Friday’s non-conference action will be Poland (3-0) traveling to Canfield (1-2) for a 224-2 battle. Last year, the Bulldogs defeated the Cardinals, 10-7, to end a six-game losing streak against their rivals.
Friday will mark the 77th meeting between the Bulldogs and Cardinals. The teams first met in 1921 as eight-man football teams. They began play as 11-man teams in 1944 and have played each other every year except for 2019 and 2020. Poland leads the series 41-34-1.
West Branch (3-0) is one of 10 area schools looking to maintain its unbeaten record. Chaney (1-2) visits the Warriors, who have scored 48 or more points in nine of their last 11 games dating back to last year. The Cowboys have lost two straight since beating Akron East in the opening week.
Fitch will hope to remain unbeaten with a trip to Paynesville-Riverside (1-2).
Cardinal Mooney (0-3) is coming off the longest winless season in team history, dating back to 2017. The Cardinals opened the season with losses to three teams that currently have 3-0 records. The Cardinals will now face another 3-0 team on the road against Sugarcreek Gallaway.
Warren G. Harding (2-1) is off to its best start since winning seven straight games in 2016. The Raiders will host Akron St. Vincent St. Mary’s looking to make it three straight wins.
The Irish will be led by first-year coach Doran Grant, a 2011 graduate of the school. Grant was a two-time All-Ohio selection after a decorated career at Ohio State and was captain of the Buckeyes’ 2014 national championship team. He went on to play four years in the NFL.
The Irish won Dolan’s first game as coach (a 21-14 win over Mansfield Senior) before losing to Perry and Walsh Jesuit.
The Warren G. Harding Athletic Department will honor the school’s 1974 state championship team before and during Friday’s game. The 1974 Panthers went 9-1 in the regular season and then won playoff games against Cincinnati Moeller and Upper Arlington to capture the Class AAA crown.
Get the latest news from the day and more delivered to your inbox