By The Examiner Staff
Two local teams will participate in this year’s OHSAA football playoffs — Indian Lake and West Liberty-Salem.
Both play in Division V and are in Region 20. They met in the regional final last season, with West Liberty-Salem.
The Lakers finished 8-2 overall, going 5-0 and winning the Mad River title in the Central Buckeye Conference.
They are the #2 seed in Region 20, with the top four teams in each region receiving a bye in the first round.
The wins came over Fairbanks (31-8), Allen East (50-20), Bellefontaine (45-21), North Union (17-14), Shawnee (45-0), Ben Logan (17-14), Graham (24-21) and Northwestern (49-6).
The losses were to London (44-14) and Bath (50-21). London finished 10-0 and won the Kenton Trail division, while Bath was 8-2 and second in the Western Buckeye League.
Indian Lake will host the winner of #7 Preble Shawnee and #10 Arcanum on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
The better seeded team will serve as the host through the regional semifinals.
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West Liberty-Salem got in as the #12 seed with an overall record of 5-5. They were 2-3 against Ohio Heritage Conference North squads.
The victories came against Cedarville (21-15), Springfield Catholic Central (31-7), Greenon (17-13), Fairbanks (42-0) and Triad (42-7).
Losses were to Jonathan Alder (33-7), Ben Logan (24-0), Northeastern (27-24), West Jefferson (20-7) and Mechanicsburg (49-7).
This Friday, the Tigers will travel to #5 Carlisle, which has a record of 8-2. The Indians were 4-2 in the Southwestern Buckeye League, finishing third in the Buckeye division.
The winner of that game advances to face #4 seed Graham in the quarterfinals.
The full list of Region 20 qualifiers:
1. Williamsburg (10-0)
2. Indian Lake (8-2)
3. Miami East (9-1)
4. Graham (8-2)
5. Carlisle (8-2)
6. North College Hill (8-2)
7. Preble Shawnee (9-1)
8. North Union (6-4)
9. Greeneview (7-3)
10. Arcanum (7-3)
11. Mariemont (6-4)
12. West Liberty-Salem (5-5)
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In Region 19, defending Division V champion Ironton has been barred from participating in this year’s tournament due to recruiting violations that occurred over the past seven years.
The program has been placed on probation for three years and fined $7,500.
