5/8/2009 1:06:00 AM
Van Wert, Wayne Trace to change divisions in football
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BY JOHN SNODGRASS
Times Bulletin Sports Editor
sports@timesbulletin.com
VAN WERT - The Ohio High School Athletic Association released its football division breakdowns for the 2009 and 2010 seasons Thursday, with both Van Wert and Wayne Trace high schools making changes.
The Cougars dropped to Division IV while the Raiders moved back up to Division V after a two-year stint in Division VI.
Overall, 117 schools changed divisions. The 117 mark accounts for 16.3 percent of the state's 718 football-playing schools. Three schools have added (or will add) football since the 2007 divisional breakdown - Hilliard Bradley, Lewis Center Olentangy Orange and Manchester.
The division breakdowns are based on enrollment and distributed evenly across the six divisions. For 2009 and 2010, 120 schools will make-up Div. I (enrollment 518 or more), 118 in Div. II (348-517), 120 in Div. III (252-347), 119 in Div. IV (177-251), 120 in Div. V (125-176) and 121 in Div. VI (124 or less).
The drop down to Div. IV could be very beneficial for the Cougars this coming year thanks to how the state playoff system is set-up. The OHSAA uses a computer ranking system known to many as the Harbin Ratings. In brief, the system awards points for victories as well as for victories against other winning teams. It also has a built-in factor that accounts for strength of schedule for smaller schools - in other words, if a Div. V team plays and beats a Div. III team, that victory could be counted for more than a victory against another Div. V team. That's good for the Cougars, who are now one of the four smallest teams in the Western Buckeye League.
"In our conference we're going to have four teams in Div. IV, five in Div. III and one in Div. II," Van Wert coach Bob Priest said. "I look back to last year and Ottawa-Glandorf went 6-4, they're not conference champs, but they're in the regional championship in the playoffs. I think, whether we're Div. III or Div. IV we're going to play these teams, and the point system, obviously, favors Div. IV teams."
The Cougars weren't the only WBL school to swap divisions. Celina dropped from Div. II to Div. III while Kenton mirrored Van Wert, dropping to Div. IV. The conference's lone Div. II is now Wapakoneta while Defiance, Elida, Celina, St. Marys and Shawnee make-up the Div. III contingency. The Wildcats and Cougars join Bath and O-G in Div. IV.
And don't think that just Van Wert and the WBL saw big changes. Crestview, for instance, just saw its strength of schedule improve over night. The Knights (Div. VI) saw its 2009 schedule improve in a flash as both Wayne Trace and Allen East got bumped up to Div. V.
But no area league felt the impact more than the Midwest Athletic Conference. Two of the conference's standouts will be playing at different levels this year as Coldwater, the 2007 Div. IV state champion, dropped down to Div. V and 2007 Div. V state champion, Marion Local, fell back down to Div. VI. That swap puts the Flyers in direct contention with league rival and 2008 Div. VI state champion, Delphos St. John's.
According to the OHSAA, 34 teams that made the playoffs in 2008 will be playing in a different division in 2009. And two schools - Cincinnati Taft and Dayton Thurgood Marshall (neither of which made the playoffs in '08) - had the biggest drops of all as they move from Div. II to Div. IV. The biggest areas of movement came in Div. III teams moving up to Div. II (17 schools) and Div. IV schools moving up to Div. III (15 schools).
For those wondering, Priest said that the change in division will not affect the program's traditional non-conference game - the season opener against Bryan (Div. III). In fact, that game now has some added incentive for Van Wert.
While all the divisional changes and regional reworking is fun to talk about, games still need to be won in order to advance to the post season. And that's something Priest is well aware of.
"You've got to win the games," he said. "(Switching divisions) really doesn't have any baring on changing any thing in regards to going after a league championship and the fact that every game is important."
For more information regarding the new division breakdowns as well as the new regional groupings, check out www.OHSAA.org.
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