Three area football teams will play in different divisions

Area football teams at Margaretta, Vermilion and New London will move to new divisions this fall after the OHSAA announced its 2026 alignments Thursday. Margaretta is the only one of the three that will move up. The Polar Bears are leaving Division VI for Division V. Vermilion has been moved down from Division IV to Division V and will be one of the largest schools in Div. V. New London is moving down from Division VI to Division VII. Nearly 40 schools in Ohio have been assigned to new divisions, which is due to the 2026-27 school year being the start of a new two-year base enrollment cycle, and/or also the OHSAA's competitive balance process. Margaretta, which was a top seed in Division VI's Region 22 last year, now will be one of the smaller schools in Division V. "I'm maybe a little surprised, but my philosophy is we're going to have to beat good teams to move on after Week 10," Margaretta head coach Lucas Poggiali said. "It's another good opportunity for us to compete against area schools we're familiar with in other sports that we might not be familiar with in football." The Polar Bears' football adjusted enrollment is 156. Its competitive balance number is 11, which boosted it up one division. The smallest schools in Div. V have an enrollment number of 150. The OHSAA's competitive balance formula reflects the number of athletes or parents who do not reside within a school district, or whether they moved in after their seventh-grade year. Edison had the largest competitive balance number (22) among area schools. South Central (13), Perkins (12) and Western Reserve (11) also had double-digit CB numbers. Thirteen area schools will stay in the divisions in which they played last year. Sandusky, with a football adjusted enrollment of 364, is one of the smallest schools in Division II. Norwalk, the area second-largest school (268 football enrollment) remains in Division III. Division IV includes three area schools: Clyde (235 football enrollment), Perkins (228) and Bellevue (221). Vermilion (196), Port Clinton (182), Edison (182) and Willard join Margaretta in Division V. Poggiali, who is preparing for his first season at Margaretta's coach, said roster numbers are looking good despite losing a talented senior class. "We're having a really good offseason and picking up where we left off," he said. "I've got kids who are highly competitive and want to get better. We want to compete for a league championship and host a playoff game again and those are attainable goals. "We lost some of the household names, but we got a bunch of guys in our rising senior class who have played a lot of good football. Those guys are going to have to learn to lead in a different way. From a leadership perspective, how do we take the next step? That's the big thing for us this offseason." Huron would've been bumped up to Division V, but its low competitive balance number kept the Tigers in Division VI. Huron's football enrollment is 147. Western Reserve (116) also is in Division VI. Four area schools are in Division VII: New London (98), Monroeville (92), South Central (86) and St. Paul (82), which has the lowest football adjusted enrollment in the area. Several big-name schools are switching divisions, including Division V state champion Liberty Center, which is moving down to Division VI. Also, Sandusky Bay Conference powerhouse Hopewell-Loudon, which was the Division VI state runner-up, is now in Division VII. Toledo Central Catholic, the runner-up in Division III, has been bumped up to Division II. Glenville, which rolled to the Division IV state title, will be moved up due to a merger with Collinwood High School. That is one of a handful of school consolidations in Cleveland and Youngstown that will cause more divisional movement. A total of 708 schools are preparing for 11-man football. Schools can have up to 13 days of practice without pads during the summer, beginning May 15. An additional five days are permitted beginning July 15 for schools to complete the mandatory five-day acclimatization period. The OHSAA does not set a limit on physical fitness and conditioning workouts in the summer. Practice begins August 1 with the 10-week regular season kicking off August 21. The state championships are scheduled for December 3-5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.