For some central Ohio high school football teams, a journey that started Aug. 1 with the first day of practice ends Oct. 23 when the final second ticks off the clock in the regular-season finale.
Those teams may be out of playoff contention, but they still have things to play for in Week 10, including rivalry bragging rights.
For other teams, the stakes are much higher – a win could mean a league championship, a playoff berth or a first-round playoff home game, or some combination of the three. West achieved all three by beating South 14-0 in Week 9, clinching at least a share of the City League-South title and, according to joeeitel.com, a top-eight seed in Division II, Region 8.
The top four seeds in each region receive a first-round bye, and
Nos. 5-8 host first-round games against Nos. 9-12.
Winner-take-all league championship matchups will be played in Week 10 in the Central Buckeye League (Columbus Academy at Whitehall), City-North (East at Linden-McKinley) and OCC-Cardinal (Olentangy at Olentangy Berlin). All of these teams have clinched playoff berths except Olentangy, which is No. 14 in Division I, Region 3 and needs a win and help to get in.
All three of these games are among the 15 picked by our Predictions Panel this week. The panel will continue making picks through the seven state championship games.
The panel also continues to make Lone Wolf picks, and Week 9 provided a rare highlight in that area with Dave Purpura being the only one to correctly predict Circleville's win over Bloom-Carroll. The panel also suffered two losses in Lone Wolf picks, moving it to 6-29 for the season.
There are two more Lone Wolf picks this week, both by Tom Wilson. See all the Week 10 picks below.
Watch Ohio high school football on NFHS Network
Central Ohio high school football predictions Week 10
Beechcroft (5-4, 3-2) at Northland (5-4, 3-2)
Beechcroft: Ryan Baker, Frank DiRenna, Eric Frantz, Kurt Snyder, Dave Weidig
Northland: Steve Blackledge, Lee Cochran, Scott Gerfen, Dave Purpura, Tom Wilson
East (8-1, 5-0) at Linden-McKinley (9-0, 5-0)
East: Baker, Blackledge, DiRenna, Gerfen, Purpura, Snyder
Linden: Cochran, Frantz, Weidig, Wilson
Columbus Academy (7-2, 4-0) at Whitehall (7-2, 4-0)
Academy: Unanimous pick
Fredericktown (7-2, 5-1) at Centerburg (6-3, 5-1)
Fredericktown: Baker, Cochran, DiRenna, Frantz, Purpura, Weidig, Wilson
Centerburg: Blackledge, Gerfen, Snyder
Gahanna Lincoln (9-0, 4-0) at Pickerington North (7-2, 3-1)
Gahanna: Baker, Blackledge, Cochran, DiRenna, Frantz, Gerfen, Purpura, Wilson
North: Snyder, Weidig
Groveport (6-3, 4-2) at Canal Winchester (6-3, 5-1)
Groveport: Wilson
Canal: Baker, Blackledge, Cochran, DiRenna, Frantz, Gerfen, Purpura, Snyder, Weidig
Hamilton Township (7-2, 5-0) at Fairfield Union (7-2, 4-1)
Hamilton Township: Baker, Blackledge, Cochran, DiRenna, Frantz, Gerfen, Purpura, Snyder, Weidig
Fairfield Union: Wilson
Hilliard Bradley (5-4, 1-3) at Dublin Coffman (2-7, 1-3)
Bradley: Unanimous pick
Marysville (3-6, 1-3) at Hilliard Darby (5-4, 2-2)
Darby: Unanimous pick
New Albany (7-2, 3-1) at Westerville Central (5-4, 2-2)
New Albany: Unanimous pick
Olentangy (5-4, 4-0) at Olentangy Berlin (7-2, 4-0)
Berlin: Unanimous pick
Olentangy Liberty (5-4, 3-1) at Olentangy Orange (5-4, 3-1)
Liberty: Baker, Blackledge, Cochran, Frantz, Gerfen
Orange: DiRenna, Purpura, Snyder, Weidig, Wilson
Reynoldsburg (6-3, 5-1) at Pickerington Central (6-3, 6-0)
Central: Unanimous pick
St. Charles (8-1, 1-1) vs. Watterson (8-0, 2-0) at Ohio Dominican
Watterson: Unanimous pick
Upper Arlington (7-2, 3-1) at Hilliard Davidson (3-6, 1-3)
UA: Unanimous pick
Standings through Week 9
Cochran: 13-2 last week; 108-32 overall
Blackledge: 11-4; 105-35
Snyder: 11-4; 105-35
Weidig: 13-2, 104-36
Baker: 11-4; 102-38
DiRenna: 10-5; 102-38
Gerfen: 9-6; 98-42
Frantz: 12-3; 96-44
Wilson: 9-6; 95-45
Purpura: 10-5; 94-46
High school sports editor Andy Resnik can be reached at aresnik@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Top central Ohio high school football games in Week 10, and our predictions
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.
