OHIO — Just four schools make up the Cincinnati Greater Catholic League’s South Division. However, that group is responsible for 19 combined Ohio High School Athletic Association state football championships.


What You Need To Know

  • Moeller is currently sitting on top of the Region 4 computer points, and is also number one in this week’s Associated Press Ohio High School football poll

  • Our OHSAA Game of the Week schedule in Northeast Ohio is rounded out with the Cougars (2-5) visiting the Warriors (5-2). Walsh Jesuit is ninth in the competitive Region 5 (Division II), trying to carve out a home playoff game

  •  Lake Catholic—two years removed from an appearance in the Division IV state championship game—is 13th in Region 13.

  • All three games can be seen on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News App beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday night

Moeller, which owns nine of those titles, is currently sitting on top of the Region 4 computer points, and is also number one in this week’s Associated Press Ohio High School football poll. 

The Crusaders have already earned wins over Elder, St. Xavier and La Salle, to win the 2022 CGL South title. But it’s the Bombers and Lancers that comprise the OHSAA Game of the Week in Southwestern Ohio on Spectrum News 1. 

Both St. Xavier and La Salle have won four state titles, with all the Bombers’ since 2005, and all the Lancers’ coming since 2014, including in 2016 when both were crowned state champs (St. Xavier in Division I, La Salle in Division II).

Head-to-head, the series has been dominated by the Bombers, who own a 45-17-1 record. The Lancers' most recent wins came in 2019 and 2016.

While both programs field their usual strong teams, that’s not reflected in their records, as they enter the game with identical 2-5 marks. 

St. Xavier isn’t in danger of missing the postseason for the first time since 2008, though, sitting 10th in Region 4. X can be extremely dangerous in the playoffs, regardless of record, as the 2016 state championship team illustrated. That group—quarterbacked by current Penn State signal caller Sean Clifford and injured Wisconsin QB Chase Wolf—went 5-5 during the regular season before a five-game winning streak when it counted. 

It’s a steeper hill to climb for La Salle, which is currently on the outside (17th in Region 8) looking in on the playoff picture in Division II. 

Sticking with conferences that have small memberships, it’s doesn’t get any bigger in the Frontier Athletic Conference (6 schools) than Friday’s game between Washington Court House (6-1) and Chillicothe (6-1). 

The Cavaliers are second in the Region 11 computer points (Division III), five spots ahead of the Blue Lions. Both should comfortably be in the playoffs, but are trying to insure home field advantage. 

Chillicothe has dominated the series, winning seven of the nine meetings dating back to 2013. That includes the last two years, after Washington Court House earned back-to-back victories in 2018-19. 

The Cavs narrowly missed the postseason a year ago, and would be in search of the school’s first playoff win since 2008. You have to go back to 2001 for the last time the Lions roared to victory in the OHSAA tournament. 

This match-up features a pair of highly regarded tight ends, with plans of playing in the Southeastern Conference after high school. Washington Court House senior Tanner Lemaster is committed to Kentucky, while Chillicothe junior Tayvion Galloway has pledged to Louisiana State University. 

Who will wear the crown as conference champion in the first ever season of the Crown Conference? Walsh Jesuit and Padua are both 1-0 in the newly formed league, that just has four football playing members, including Lake Catholic and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.

Our OHSAA Game of the Week schedule in Northeast Ohio is rounded out with the Cougars (2-5) visiting the Warriors (5-2). Walsh Jesuit is ninth in the competitive Region 5 (Division II), trying to carve out a home playoff game. Lake Catholic—two years removed from an appearance in the Division IV state championship game—is 13th in Region 13. 

It’s the Cougars that leads the series since 1999 (13-8), which includes a 2004 playoff battle won by the Warriors (31-28). 

Walsh Jesuit was a 41-7 winner a year ago, ending a four-year winning streak for Lake Catholic (2016-19). 

All three games can be seen on Spectrum News 1 and the Spectrum News App beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday night. 

Other big games in the state includes: Hoban (7-0) vs. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (5-1), Springfield (5-1) vs. Centerville (6-1), Solon (5-2) vs. Mentor (3-3), New Bremen (6-1) vs. Coldwater (7-0), Piqua (6-1) vs. Tippecanoe (6-1), Olentangy Berlin (5-2) vs. Dublin Jerome (6-1), Fitch (6-1) vs. Wadsworth (5-2) and the only battle of unbeaten teams as Youngstown Valley Christian (7-0) plays Salineville Southern (7-0).