It was still another memorable year for Mahoning Valley-area football teams

Although it didn’t end the way we wanted, it was still a great season for Mahoning Valley-area high school football teams.

There are 720 high schools that play football in the Buckeye State, and of those, just 56 were still playing in the postseason last weekend in regional finals. Three of those (schools Youngstown Ursuline in Division III, Struthers in Division IV and South Range in Division V) were from the Mahoning Valley.

Although the Irish, Wildcats and Raiders were all eliminated from the playoffs, they still had seasons I’m sure their fans will cherish.

The Irish finished 13-1 and had some great regular-season wins, including defeating Steubenville in its season opener.

Meanwhile, Struthers finished 10-4 and had some classic wins in the postseason. The Wildcats avenged a regular-season loss to rival Poland and defeated the Bulldogs in the playoffs and also had a thrilling last-second playoff win over second-seeded Mentor Lake Catholic in the third round of the playoffs. Struthers only loses 10 seniors to graduation and should be very strong again next season.

South Range finished 12-2 and repeated as the outright champion in the rugged Northeast 8 which was one of the toughest conferences around this fall.

Other area teams had great seasons as well. West Branch (12-2) won a fourth straight outright Eastern Buckeye Conference title with a young team. The Warriors return 20 of 22 starters next fall and should be a D4 force once again.

Conference champions

United (10-2) and Southern Local (8-3) shared the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference crown.

Meanwhile, the Lowellville Rockets (11-2) and Springfield Tigers (8-4) shared the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference football crown.

And there were many other highlights provided by area schools this fall. Congratulations go out to all the Mahoning Valley-area football teams which provided so many great memories for the fans.

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