Dragons, Spartans moving divisions, regions for 2024 football season
Apr. 26—Staff Report
Two Ashtabula County schools will be in different divisions and regions when the 2024 football season starts in the fall.
Lakeside will go down from Division II, Region 5 to D-III, Region 9, while Conneaut moves from D-V, Region 17 to D-IV, Region 13.
"Regardless of the division we are in, we have to take care of business on our end," first-year Dragons coach Terry Henton said. "The top level of Division III is just as tough as Division II.
"But being in Division III gives us better opportunity to create favorable matchups in the playoffs. We want to position ourselves for home playoff games. We just have to fall in love with the hard stuff."
Conneaut last competed in D-IV, Region 13 from 2015-18.
"The numbers are the numbers," Spartans coach Rocco Dobran said. "I believe our freshman class is the biggest we've had in a while. Hopefully, that translates into bigger teams for all sports in Conneaut.
"The division only matters for playoffs and if you want the playoffs, you have to play top-tier football regardless of your division."
The other Ashtabula County schools and Madison will remain the same.
Madison and Geneva are in D-III, Region 9; Edgewood and Jefferson, D-IV, Region 13; Grand Valley and Pymatuning Valley, D-VI, Region 21 and Saint John, D-VII, Region 25.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors approved the 2024 football divisional breakdowns and regional assignments Thursday during its April board meeting.
The largest 70 schools are placed in D-I, and all remaining schools are divided as equally as possible into D-II through VII, with approximately 106 schools per division.
Earlier this spring, the OHSAA received updated base enrollment data from the Ohio Department of Education to use for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years.
In the sport of football, competitive balance data from
the previous season
is used each season
to create a new adjusted enrollment count.
The Board of Directors also approved the 2024 football regulations. The official start date for practice is Aug. 1.
High schools can schedule scrimmages with other schools after one full day of contact practice has been completed. Seventh and eighth grade schools can schedule scrimmages after three full days of contact practice have been completed.
In addition, seventh and eighth grade schools can now play eight games regardless of whether they have one or two preseason scrimmages.
Concerning the preseason schedule, beginning May 15, schools are permitted to have 13 days of practice without pads or hitting. An additional five days are permitted beginning July 15 for schools to complete the mandatory five-day acclimatization period, if they so choose.
The OHSAA does not set a limit on physical fitness training and conditioning workouts in the summer.
2024 football season calendar
—May 15-July 31 — Summer
period
—August 1 — Practice begins
—Week of August 19 — Season begins
—Aug. 23 — First Friday Night
—Oct. 26 — Regular-season ends
—Oct. 27 — Playoff qualifiers announced
—Nov. 1 — Regional playoffs first round
—Nov. 8 — Regional quarterfinals
—Nov. 15 — Regional semifinals
—Nov. 22 — Regional finals
—Nov. 28 — Thanksgiving
—Nov. 29 — State semifinals
—Dec. 5-7 — State championships, Canton
