PREBLE COUNTY — The high school football regular season has hit the halfway point, and multiple Preble County teams have made their mark in their respective divisions and regions thus far this year.
Eaton, hoisting a 5-0 record as of Thursday, Sept. 23, leads the Southwestern Buckeye League West Division with a 2-0 conference record. Valley View is second in the division with a 3-2 overall record and a 2-0 mark in conference play. The Eagles and Spartans will meet at Valley View on Friday, Oct. 15.
In addition to leading the conference, the Eagles are well represented in state polls and rankings.
Eaton is ranked fourth in the AP Ohio High School Division IV Football poll (released Monday, Sept. 20) with 131 points, trailing Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (third, 143 points), Bloom-Carroll (second, 175 points) and Cincinnati Wyoming (first, 203 points). The Eagles also received four first-place votes, one of just five teams to receive a first-place vote.
In the OHSAA football computer ratings, the Eagles are ranked number one in Region 16 with a rating of 11.6416. Number two in the region, Cincinnati Wyoming, has a rating of 9.2857. The top 16 teams in each region qualify for the OHSAA state football playoffs.
Preble Shawnee is also undefeated as of Thursday, Sept. 23, and is tied atop the Western Ohio Athletic Conference standings with Arcanum (5-0), with a matchup between these conference titans set for Friday, Oct. 8 at Preble Shawnee.
While the Arrows are not ranked in the AP Division V poll, they did receive the most votes (33) among teams not in the top 10 in addition to receiving one first-place vote.
In Region 20, the Arrows are second (7.05 rating) behind Cincinnati Mariemont (4-1, 8.4 rating).
Other county teams within the top 16 of their respective regions are National Trail (2-3, No. 14 in D6, R24) and Tri-County North (3-2, No. 10 in D7, R28).
