COLUMBUS — The Ohio High School Athletic Association has announced the new divisional breakdowns and playoff regions for the 2025 football season.

Locally, four Eastern Ohio schools moved down a division from last season due to the OHSAA’s competitive balance process analyzing data from roster information provided by each school from the previous season.

Those four are Indian Creek from D-III to D-IV; Edison and St. Clairsville from D-IV to D-V; and Martins Ferry from D-V to D-VI.

Only one school, Bellaire, moved up. It went from D-VI to D-V. Bellaire was only one of 12 schools that moved up a division due to the OHSAA’s competitive balance process.

Statewide, those 12 join 34 other schools that remain in a higher division this year due to competitive balance, for a total of 46 schools that were moved up a division from the base male enrollment count.

No schools in Divisions II through VII opted to move up to Division I.

OVAC schools are broken down into Divisions:

Division III: Steubenville (Region 11)

Division IV: Beaver Local, East Liverpool and Indian Creek (Region 15)

Division V: Bellaire, Buckeye Local, Edison, Harrison Central and St. Clairsville (Region 17)–Barnesville and Union Local (Region 19).

Division VI: Buckeye Trail, Caldwell, Fort Frye, Martins Ferry, Monroe Central, Shenandoah and Toronto (Region 23).

Division VII: East Palestine, Leetonia, Southern Local and Wellsville (Region 25)–Beallsville, Bridgeport, Conotton Valley, Frontier, River, Shadyside and Steubenville Catholic (Region 27).

Schools can have up to 13 days of practice without pads during the summer, beginning May 12. An additional five days are permitted beginning July 15 for schools to complete the mandatory five-day acclimatization period.

The OHSAA does not set a limit on physical fitness and conditioning workouts in the summer.

The OHSAA recently conducted a survey with member schools regarding the format of the postseason tournament.

More information on those results will be released at a later date.

2025 OHSAA Football Divisional Breakdowns

Division Adjusted Enrollment Number of Teams

I 592 and more 72

II 378 to 591 104

III 268 to 377 107

IV 202 to 267 105

V 157 to 201 106

VI 112 to 156 106

VII 111 and less 106

Total Teams 706