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If it seems that the high school football games in Ohio carry a little more intensity this week, you're right.
That's because it's the beginning of the playoffs, a six-week, single-elimination tournament that players and fans hope will take their teams to Canton, where this year's championship games will be played Dec. 4-6. The action follows a simple formula: Win and you play the next week, lose and you can put the equipment away until August.
Catholic Central, Indian Creek, Toronto and Edison will open their post-season runs at 7 p.m. Friday. Steubenville Big Red, which finished the regular season with a 7-2 record, was third in Division III, Region 11 and earned a first-round bye. Big Red will open its playoff run Nov. 7 in Harding Stadium against the winner of Friday's game in Delaware between Buckeye Valley and Athens.
The Crusaders, who finished with a regular-season record of 6-4 and sixth in Division VII, Region 27, will host Danville (5-5), an 11th seed, Friday in Harding Stadium, while Indian Creek, which finished at 9-1 and sixth in Division IV, Region 15, will host No. 11 Johnstown (7-3), an 11th seed.
Edison, which earned a 10th seed in Division V, Region 17, will travel to New Franklin Manchester (7-3) and a seventh seed, while Toronto (9-1) and a No. 6 seed, will host Columbus Grandview Heights (7-3), a No. 11 seed.
Ohio seems to have settled -- at least for now -- on a format that sees the top 12 teams in each region in each of football's seven divisions qualify for the playoffs. That means 336 teams from across the state have won playoff sports, and the top four teams in each region receive a bye.
That means there is the potential for teams who have earned a spot in the playoffs to play as many as 16 games in as many weeks -- 10 regular-season games and six playoff games. For perspective, the regular season in the National Football League consists of 17 games played over 18 weeks. And, in college football, the regular season consists of 12 games played over 14 weeks, with the possibility of having to play a conference championship game and then as many as four playoff games.
And, while the playoffs are ready to open in Ohio, West Virginia schools still have two weeks left in their regular seasons.
We're not in the business of making predictions in this space -- but that doesn't mean we don't wish all of our area teams well as the playoffs begin.
With that in mind, we offer congratulations to Big Red, Catholic Central, Indian Creek, Edison and Toronto for advancing to the playoffs and wish all involved with their programs good luck as their post-season journeys begin.