As hard it might be to believe, the prep football season is in its fourth week already.

Obviously, we’ve learned a lot in a short period of time, but it’s still too early to etch things into stone.

It’s still a long season and a lot of things can change quickly in football. Whether it’s an odd bounce of the ball, an injury or something else unforeseen, momentum can change quickly.

However, there are 11 schools in the OVAC that have yet to record a victory. On the flip side, 16 have yet to taste a defeat. Obviously, both of those numbers will dwindle.

There’s a long way to go. Seven more games, actually. And as we’ve seen already, it’ll go by in a hurry.

So, take a moment and just enjoy the Friday Night Lights because they’ll be turned off before too much longer.

BACK TO WORK

The St. Clairsville Red Devils went through their normal game-week routine last week. But, when Friday arrived, they had no game. What about Saturday? Nope, no game that day either.

The Red Devils are back into game-week mode with their bye week behind them. At 2-0, St. C. remains on the road once again, making a trip to Martins Ferry.

Coach Brett McLean told me Monday he was very pleased with how his team handled its business during the week off. They did some fine tuning, conditioned and spent extra time working on Martins Ferry, obviously.

The Red Devils will play a home game this season. Actually, they play four, including two in a row after this week. They’ll welcome Indian Creek and Harrison Central in what could both be meetin’ of the unbeatens if all of those teams take care of their business between now and then.

BATTLE FOR THE DAM?

Since the battle for the bridge is already taken when Oak Glen and East Liverpool play, this week, River and Magnolia will meet for the dam when the Pilots make the 2-mile trip to New Martinsville.

It’ll be a clash of fellow 3-0 squads. Magnolia has been everything many thought it would be, posting victories against Shadyside, Williamstown and Greenbrier West.

The Pilots, meanwhile, are coming off a cherished victory against Monroe Central on Friday.

It’s going to be interesting to see if Pilots’ head coach Mike Flannery, who is a very creative offensive coach, can find a way to get his playmakers in space. Will guys like Lukas Isaly and Braden Whetsell have room to operate against a very stout Blue Eagles’ defense?

Here’s an interesting fact, that I find extremely interesting. Magnolia is a Class A school in the state of West Virginia. If River wins on Friday, the Blue Eagles count as a Division V in Ohio toward the Pilots’ computer points. There’s something wrong with that. If New Martinsville was on the other side of the river, it would be in the third from smallest class. It’s in the smallest class in West Virginia.

Maybe it’s time for West Virginia to close the gap somewhat and add a fourth class.

COACHING MILESTONE

Congrats are certainly in order for Wheeling Central head coach Mike Young. In the Maroon Knights’ convincing victory at Madonna on Saturday night, Young earned victory number 100 at his alma mater.

Taking over after the passing of Jim Thomas, Young has carried on the Knights’ tradition and enhanced it. Young leading the Knights to the Super Six has become a fairly common occurrence during his career.

Couple his success at Central with what he was able to do at St. Clairsville early in his career, again following a legend in George Strager, and Young seems like he’s on the fast track to the OVAC Hall of Fame.

On top of his coaching prowess and success, Young is a great guy.

FIRST POLLS

The first Associated Press Poll of the season makes its debut in today’s edition. While that poll is nice to see where teams stack up, the poll that really matters – the OHSAA computer poll – makes its first debut a week from Wednesday. The OHSAA always releases the first official rankings on Wednesday afternoon after the fourth week.

Of course, the top eight in each region will eventually qualify for Week 11. While those polls are great for conversation and water cooler talk, neither matters if teams don’t take care of their business on the field.

CHECKING IN ON THE LOCALS

JOHN MAGISTRO has his Westerville Central Warhawks sitting at 3-0 after a 33-10 victory against Olentangy Orange. Next up is a road trip to Dublin to meet Scioto.

LEVI NELSON has directed Rittman to a 3-0 start. Just a year removed from a 1-9 finish, the Indians are perfect following a 30-6 victory against Mapleton. They’ll take on fellow undefeated Doylestown Chippewa this week.

JERRY BUTI’S Defiance Bulldogs slipped to 1-2 after a 49-28 setback at the hands of Elida. Defiance has lost two in a row since opening with a 20-14 victory.

FRED RAY’S Fairview, Ky. squad came to Ohio to meet Cincinnati Madeira and crossed the river with a 29-20 loss, dropping its record to 2-2.

DIGRESSING FROM FOOTBALL

November 11 in the Ohio Valley will be a busy day for school fax machines. It’s the first day of the early signing period for the majority of college sports at the NCAA Division I and II level – outside of football, which signs in February.

As it currently stands, three area basketball players will ink letters of intent. Two of whom have already committed and could ink right now if they were allowed. The third, however, is still sifting through offers, making and receiving visits from schools.

Bridgeport’s Caitlyn Kroll will sign for basketball at St. Francis, Pa.

Just last night, Wheeling Park’s Phil Bledsoe committed to Marshall for basketball. He had upwards of 10 offers from mid-major hoop programs, but elected to stay in state with the Thundering Herd.

River’s Jensen Caretti, however, isn’t quite sure where’s taking her basketball talents, but the options are plentiful. Caretti told me that she’s received offers from Ohio State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, Xavier, Butler, Eastern Michigan, Temple, Kent and Youngstown State.

Ohio State’s staff, including head coach Kevin McGuff, was at Linsly last week to watch Caretti compete in volleyball.

Caretti also told me her goal is to be signing in November.

Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or at twitter.com/TLSportsSeth