Region 17

[Fan of The Blue and Gold]

Rough week for Region 17 teams. Overall record for Region 17 teams this week was 10-17. 3 of those wins and 3 of those loses were against other Region 17 teams. So Region 17 teams went 7-14 against teams from other Regions. That makes Region 17 teams' record against other Regions, 28-39. During the summer, many people predicted this was a very tough region. It is starting to play out as I predicted. I said the top three teams are very good. (Martin Ferry, Hartley, St. Clair.) I then said after that it is wide open. It looks like Wheelersburg and Union Local has stepped up. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[maniac66]

Be very interesting a few teams will drop out that is in the top 8 I believe as the season continues and some will recover and make a push be very interesting on what happens.

[Crab's Brother]

Be very interesting a few teams will drop out that is in the top 8 I believe as the season continues and some will recover and make a push be very interesting on what happens.

Who is going to recover?

This region is just awful after the first 6 teams or so. There are 5 very good teams in R17 (Ferry, Burg, Hartley, Liberty Union, and St. Clairsville). Ironton seems to be improving but they seem to clearly be a notch below the first 5. Of the other teams near the top right now, South Point and Union Local have benefited from soft schedules. South Point has beaten 2 winless teams and still have 5 left. UL will lose 3 or more games. Fairland may be pretty solid, so an OVC title would get them in.

The real battle here is for a spot in the top 3. The top 3 teams will be playing some combination of Ironton, Union Local, Fairland, South Point, or even Southeastern. The 4-5 matchup will be a doozy. Getting a spot in the top 3 will be an advantage in winning this region.

[maniac66]

Be very interesting a few teams will drop out that is in the top 8 I believe as the season continues and some will recover and make a push be very interesting on what happens.

Who is going to recover?

This region is just awful after the first 6 teams or so. There are 5 very good teams in R17 (Ferry, Burg, Hartley, Liberty Union, and St. Clairsville). Ironton seems to be improving but they seem to clearly be a notch below the first 5. Of the other teams near the top right now, South Point and Union Local have benefited from soft schedules. South Point has beaten 2 winless teams and still have 5 left. UL will lose 3 or more games. Fairland may be pretty solid, so an OVC title would get them in.

The real battle here is for a spot in the top 3. The top 3 teams will be playing some combination of Ironton, Union Local, Fairland, South Point, or even Southeastern. The 4-5 matchup will be a doozy. Getting a spot in the top 3 will be an advantage in winning this region.

I may be tough to get in top 3 who knows some teams have had soft Schedules and it does work to their advantage I agree and South Point very may be 4-0 when they play Valley and be either exposed and overrated by them or show they deserve to be where they are.
Same for Hartley against St. Charles this friday night we they go 3-0 or 2-2.
But once the playoffs start all bets are off on easy wins.
Ironton went 5-5 one year and made playoff and nearly won the state.
That is where coaching comes in being in a week region may look bad but it doesn't stop a team from being good when the time counts.
Not disagreeing with you totally just saying it could be a interesting race to the playoffs from 1-8

[4thgoal]

St.C, Martins Ferry and Union Local all play eachother and all have very tough schedules. It would be quite possible for at least one (if not 2) of these teams to end up in the 4-5 game, because they could each knock eachother down a little as the season progresses.

[Crab's Brother]

Be very interesting a few teams will drop out that is in the top 8 I believe as the season continues and some will recover and make a push be very interesting on what happens.

Who is going to recover?

This region is just awful after the first 6 teams or so. There are 5 very good teams in R17 (Ferry, Burg, Hartley, Liberty Union, and St. Clairsville). Ironton seems to be improving but they seem to clearly be a notch below the first 5. Of the other teams near the top right now, South Point and Union Local have benefited from soft schedules. South Point has beaten 2 winless teams and still have 5 left. UL will lose 3 or more games. Fairland may be pretty solid, so an OVC title would get them in.

The real battle here is for a spot in the top 3. The top 3 teams will be playing some combination of Ironton, Union Local, Fairland, South Point, or even Southeastern. The 4-5 matchup will be a doozy. Getting a spot in the top 3 will be an advantage in winning this region.

I don't think I get what you are saying here...

I am just saying that, IMO, the 1-8 and 2-7 matchups in this region will be 45-50 point games.
I may be tough to get in top 3 who knows some teams have had soft Schedules and it does work to their advantage I agree and South Point very may be 4-0 when they play Valley and be either exposed and overrated by them or show they deserve to be where they are.
Same for Hartley against St. Charles this friday night we they go 3-0 or 2-2.
But once the playoffs start all bets are off on easy wins.
Ironton went 5-5 one year and made playoff and nearly won the state.
That is where coaching comes in being in a week region may look bad but it doesn't stop a team from being good when the time counts.
Not disagreeing with you totally just saying it could be a interesting race to the playoffs from 1-8

[Fan of The Blue and Gold]

There is still a lot of football to be played. But Crab's is probably right. This Region is not as strong as people tried to make it out to be this summer. The 7th division (Yes ..... 7th division ) has watered down the competition some.

[maniac66]

What I am saying is you are looking at the 1,2 and 3 seeds being Blowouts I don't think so.
Point is Chesapeake went to St. Clairsville was expected to be blown out and nearly won.
I just think anything can happen and it may.

[Gray Fighting Tiger]

...Ironton went 5-5 one year and made playoff and nearly won the state...

What year was that? My memory isn't as good as it used to be.

[Crab's Brother]

What I am saying is you are looking at the 1,2 and 3 seeds being Blowouts I don't think so.
Point is Chesapeake went to St. Clairsville was expected to be blown out and nearly won.
I just think anything can happen and it may.

That is true. However, there is no way that any of the teams in this region from 7-27 are anywhere near the level of that Panther team. That is just a fact. Anything can happen, but teams 7 and 8 in this region may very well consist of South Point, Fairland, or even Southeastern. If either of those teams play Hartley, St. Clairsville, or Martins Ferry, it will be a 40-50 point game. JMHO.

[john_rambo]

St. Clairsville beats ferry tonight 35- 14
Puts them in very good position the rest of the way

[Fan of The Blue and Gold]

Another rough week for Region 17 teams. Overall record for Region 17 teams this week was 11-16. Unfortunately 6 of those wins and 6 of those loses were against other Region 17 teams. So Region 17 teams went 5-10 against teams from other Regions. That makes Region 17 teams' record against other Regions, 33-49 (40.2%). I think with the addition of the 7th Division, this Regional is just too watered down. What is the opinion of other fans?

[ohbuckeye2]

Looks like Bishop Hartley will leap to #1 in the Region after knocking off ST Charles, the top 8 should be:

1. Bishop Hartley - (3-1)
2. Wheelersburg - (4-0)
3. ST Clairsville - (4-0)
4. Martins Ferry - (3-1)
5. Liberty Union (4-0)
6. South Point - (4-0)
7. Union Local - (3-1)
8. Ironton - (2-2)

[Fan of The Blue and Gold]

Just saw on Joe E. that there are only 7 teams in Region 17 with winning records after 4
weeks. Hopefully Week 5 will be better for Region 17.

[ohbuckeye2]

Just saw on Joe E. that there are only 7 teams in Region 17 with winning records after 4
weeks. Hopefully Week 5 will be better for Region 17.

Reg 15 - 1 (4-0) - 4 (3-1) -13 (2-2) - 6 (1-3) - 3 (0-4)
Reg 16 - 4 (4-0) - 9 (3-1) - 9 (2-2) - 3 (1-3) - 2 (0-4)
Reg 17 - 4 (4-0) - 3 (3-1) - 6 (2-2) -10 (1-3) - 4 (0-4)
Reg 18 - 3 (4-0) - 9 (3-1) - 5 (2-2) - 8 (1-3) - 2 (0-4)

D5 totals ----12 (4-0) - 25 (3-1) - 33 (2-2) - 27 (1-3) - 11 (0-4)

[Crab's Brother]

I stand by my prediction that the 7 and 8 seeds in this region are not going to be very good teams and their first round matchups are going to be big time mismatches.

Looking down the region, the top 6 are anywhere from good to really good. The current top 5 and Ironton are going to make the playoffs. The next 2 teams are going to come from the group of South Point, Union Local, Southeastern, and Fairland. South Point is 4-0 against teams with a combined 1-16 record. Their league went 2-18 in their non conference and both wins came from Fairland. Union Local will struggle to get to 5-5 and they may still get in. The South Point-Fairland game in week 6 could almost be a play in game, but I think they will both be coming in after getting drilled this week.

There will be opportunities for other teams down this region to string a few wins together and make a run, but who would it be?

Northwest and Waverly will be in the bottom half of the SOC II and will both lose to Valley, Burg, and Minford. Northridge will be lucky to get to .500. Wellston could knock off VC, Nelsonville, or Meigs, but that would be a stretch. Zane Trace could get hot and win the SVC but after this week, their last 5 are against teams with 4 combined wins. If Portsmouth could find a way to bring it together and win 5 games, they could get in.

I just think this might be the most top heavy region in the state.

[fuzzhead]

This is possibly one of the most polarized regions in the state. It goes from potential state championship contenders to absolutely lackluster within a matter of a few spots. Crab's Brother could easily be right: South Point/Fairland could determine who gets a role as a 1st round sacraficial lamb to a Hartley or a St Clairsville. Personally, I look for South Point to lose 2, possibly 3 OVC games. Fairland could definitely roll through their conference slate 5-0, but could easily drop a high-scorer to Coal Grove. Chesapeake is down, but always seems to play better when the OVC schedule rolls around and have sprung several upsets against the Dragons over the last decade and through the years.
In my opinion, either the Dragons are playing in Week 11 or no one in the OVC will be.

[nutronron2012]

According to drew Pasteur's fantastic 50, several teams have already clinched playoff spots. St. Clarksville and Burg in R17

[Crab's Brother]

According to drew Pasteur's fantastic 50, several teams have already clinched playoff spots. St. Clarksville and Burg in R17

From a math standpoint, it is probably true. In reality, I think 6 teams have pretty much wrapped them up.

[Fan of The Blue and Gold]

This week's overall record for Region 17 teams was 13-14. 5 of those wins and 5 of those loses were against other Region 17 teams. So Region 17 teams went 8-9 against teams from other Regions. That makes Region 17 teams' record against other Regions, 41-58 (41.4%). I think this Region is playing out as I predicted this summer. The top three teams are very good. (Hartley, St. Clair, L.U.) I think Wheelersburg & Martin Ferry have separated them selves from the rest of the pack and are good teams. The rest of the region is a little behind. The 7th division makes it nice for the number of teams that get in the playoffs but it really waters down the competition.