As the regular season comes to a close, there are teams expecting to play in Week 11 and others who are not.
East Clinton and Clermont Northeastern are right in between. They have not earned a berth in the post-season but have not been officially eliminated. The loser of this week’s game between the Astros and Rockets will likely have just one game remaining this season.
“We both need a win here so I would expect it be a highly competitive contest,” East Clinton head coach Steven Olds said. “It’s going to take a great week of practice and preparation in order to go down there and get a win on their senior night.”
Kickoff at CNE high school is set for 7 p.m.
It didn’t take long for East Clinton to set its sights on Clermont Northeastern. The Astros are coming off a 47-8 loss to state-ranked Williamsburg.
“Williamsburg is a good football team and we got our butts kicked, plain and simple,” said Olds. “It happens and you move on. We immediately shifted our focus to the Rockets.”
Andrew McIntosh is one of the better players in the National Division. He is the CNE running back and linebacker and leads the team with 73 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries (one for TD).
EC’s Glenn Peacock has 865 yards and 9 touchdowns rushing this season, despite missing game. Aiden Conger leads the Astros with 69 tackles while Peacock (54), Maddix Crowe (53), Owen Roberts (48), Dameon Williams (46) and Ryan Burns (39) are next in line.
RECORDS: East Clinton is 3-5 overall, 1-2 in the SBAAC National. Clermont Northeastern also is 3-5, 1-2.
SERIES: East Clinton holds an 11-4 advantage in the series against CNE. The first meeting (48-13 EC win) was in 2001 which was East Clinton’s first year in the SBAAC. The Astros left the SBAAC for the South Central Ohio League from 2012-2016 before returning to the SBAAC in 2017. CNE won 50-22 in 2022 with EC winning 45-7 in 2021.
PLAYOFFS: East Clinton has not officially been eliminated. There are 28 teams in Div. V Region 20 so 12 will miss the post-season. Currently East Clinton is 24th and is in must-win mode over the final two weeks. Clermont Northeastern is one spot ahead of East Clinton in the playoff standings.
There are 708 schools in this week’s 11-player football computer ratings. The 72 largest schools are in Division I, while the remaining schools are divided equally in Divisions II through VII (approximately 106 schools in each division). The top 20 schools in each region are listed below by division and region with record and average points. The football page at OHSAA.org includes an explanation of how the ratings are calculated. The top 16 teams in each region in the final report will qualify for the playoffs.
FINALE: The Astros, who finished the home portion of their schedule last week against Williamsburg, will wrap up the regular season Oct. 20 at Blanchester’s Barbour Memorial Field.
Reach Mark Huber at 937-556-5765, via email [email protected] or at twitter.com @wnjsports
