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Plenty at stake in Week 9

Correspondent photo / Michael G. Taylor Hubbard’s T.C. Caffey (22) breaks out of the grasp of Girard’s Dante Byrne (12) to run for a 1st down.

League titles, playoff berths and undefeated records are on the line as the high school football season enters its ninth week.

Hubbard (8-0, 5-0) will take its perfect record to Bo Rein Stadium where it will meet Niles (4-3, 2-2).

Hubbard, ranked 5th in Division III, Region 9, is headed to the playoffs. The Eagles are still looking to secure home field advantage, an undefeated regular season and a Northeast-8 Conference title.

Niles (16th DIII, Region 9) will need to win at least one of its final two games to clinch a playoff spot.

Hubbard and Niles are meeting for the 36th time in a series which dates back to 1919. Niles won 16 of the first 21 meetings, with one tie. Since then, Hubbard has won 14 straight to take an 18-16-1 edge in the series. Niles owns a slight edge in overall points, 720-705.

Regardless of what happens tonight in Niles, the NE-8 Conference won’t be decided until next Friday. That’s because South Range (8-0, 5-0) is also unbeaten in league play. Tonight the Raiders travel to Cortland to take on Lakeview (0-8).

South Range (2nd, DV, Region 17) will be playing a first-round playoff game at home. Before then, the Raiders will host Hubbard a week from tonight.

West Branch (8-0, 4-0) sits atop the DIV, Region 13 standings and owns a comfortable lead over second-place Ursuline. The Warriors are playoff-bound and will host a first-round game. Tonight, they look to secure at least a share of the Eastern Conference title when they host Minerva (0-8).

Prior to 2020 West Branch hadn’t won a league title since 2012. The Warriors captured the EBC championship a year ago with a 5-0 league record.

Garrettsville Garfield (8-0, 4-0) won its first league title in 14 years when it captured the Portage Trail Conference championship a year ago. Now, the G-Men will look to win their second different league title in as many years. Now a member of the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (Grey Tier), the G-Men should get a stern test when they travel to Brookfield (5-2, 3-1).

Garfield is coming off a 34-14 win over Rootstown after having its league game against Crestview canceled. The G-Men (4th, DV, Region 17) are battling for a second straight unbeaten season and home field advantage. Brookfield (6th, DVI, Region 21) is also hoping to secure a home playoff game.

Springfield (7-1, 5-0) hasn’t lost a league game since 2018. The Tigers will look to clinch their third consecutive league title tonight when they host Jackson-Milton (2-5, 1-3). Springfield won a Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference title in 2019, and won the MVAC Scarlet Tier title in 2020.

Springfield (1st, DVI, Region 21) will host a first-round game. The Tigers have won seven straight since dropping their season-opener to South Range.

Ursuline (4-3, 1-0) and Chaney (3-4, 1-0) share the lead in the Steel Valley Conference standings after the two teams had their head-to-head matchup canceled on Sept. 24. The Irish (2nd, DIV, Region 13) have a clear path to the playoffs, but first must play road games at East and Cardinal Mooney. Chaney (18th, DII, Region 9) would need to upset Warren G. Harding (4-4) tonight to head into week 10 with a shot at the playoffs.

Harding (9th, DII, Region 5) continues to battle for a playoff spot in a region in which the 9th and 16th place teams are separated by just 2.3 computer points.

Mathews (5-2, 3-0) and Pymatuning Valley (5-2, 3-0) own the exact same overall and conference records in the Northeastern Athletic Conference. Both schools are also ranked 13th in their respective regions. The Mustangs and Lakers will meet a week from tonight.

Currently 28 area schools are in the top 16 of their respective regions, meaning they would make the postseason if it were to start today. Another five area schools are on the outside looking in, but are still in contention.

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