PREBLE COUNTY — The high school football regular season is nearing its end, and multiple Preble County teams have made their mark in their respective divisions and regions thus far this year.
Eaton, with a 7-0 record as of Thursday, Oct. 7, leads the Southwestern Buckeye League West Division with a 4-0 conference record. Valley View is second in the division with a 4-3 record overall, and a 3-1 clip in conference. The Eagles and Spartans are set to 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 third in the AP Ohio High School Division IV Football poll (released Monday, Oct. 4) with 143 points. The Eagles trail Bloom-Carroll (second, 168 points) and Cincinnati Wyoming (first, 195 points), with both teams sporting a 7-0 record. The Eagles also received one first-place vote, one of six 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 16.031. Number two in the region, Cincinnati Wyoming, has a rating of 15.1149. The top 16 teams in each region qualify for the OHSAA state football playoffs.
Preble Shawnee is also undefeated as of Thursday, Oct. 7, and is on top of the Western Ohio Athletic Conference standings after Arcanum (6-1, 5-1 WOAC) fell to Tri-Village last weekend. Preble Shawnee and Arcanum were set to play on Friday, Oct. 8.
While the Arrows are not ranked in the AP Division V poll, they did receive the most points among teams not ranked with 29 points. In addition, Preble Shawnee received one first-place vote, the only team to receive one other than Kirtland, who is first in the AP Poll with 207 points and received 20 first-place votes.
In Region 20, the Arrows rose to fifth (from sixth place) with a 9.6429 rating. Preble Shawnee trails Reading, Springfield Shawnee, Cincinnati Mariemont and Cincinnati Taft.
All other county teams are represented within the top 16 of their respective regions, with National Trail (2-5, No. 15 in D6, R24), Tri-County North (3-4, No. 13 in D7, R28) and Twin Valley South (2-5, No. 16 in D7, R28) all looking to finish the season strong.
