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West Branch, Salem both played Warriors’ playoff opponent

Seven area football teams are heading to the state playoffs with five of them hosting first-round contests.

Salem, United, Southern Local, West Branch and South Range will host games, while Beaver Local and Crestview will be on the road.

Division IV, Region 13 includes top-seeded West Branch, sixth-seeded Salem and 10th-seeded Beaver Local.

West Branch and Salem, playing a 43-42 overtime thriller that West Branch won on Saturday night, are hosting games at 7 p.m. Friday.

Eastern Buckeye Conference champion West Branch (10-0) will entertain 16th-seeded Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (5-5). CVCA defeated Salem, 28-21, and West Branch, 58-55, to close out the regular-season last year. West Branch is averaging 51.7 points a game this season.

Salem (7-3) takes on 11th-seeded Woodridge (6-4). Woodridge suffered its first two losses to West Branch, 48-24, and CVCA, 21-3.

Buckeye 8 North Division champion Beaver Local (7-3) will travel to seventh-seeded Cleveland Glenville (7-3). The Tarblooders gave up 90 points in their first three games, all losses, before allowing only 29 points over their last three games.

Division IV, Region17 games include second-seeded South Range and 12th-seeded Crestview.

The Raiders will host 15th-seeded Rootstown (5-5) on Saturday. Rootstown defeated Western Reserve, 42-8, on Friday.

Northeast 8 champion South Range (10-0) is coming off an impressive 34-0 win over previously-unbeaten Hubbard. South Range’s defense limited Hubbard six first downs and 154 total yards.

Crestview (5-4) will travel to fifth-seeded Bellaire (9-1). The Rebels lost to Salem and United before winning four of their last six games. Bellaire’s only loss was a 28-16 decision to St. Clairsville.

United is seeded eighth in Division VI, Region 21, while Southern Local is seeded seventh in Division VII, Region 25.

United defeated Southern Local, 28-6, on Friday to capture a second straight Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference title.

The Eagles (8-1) will host ninth-seeded Brookfield (6-3) on Saturday. Brookfield won a regular-season game at United, 42-13, in 2019.

Both United and Brookfield beat Crestview in the regular season this fall. The Warriors lost 20-14 to Springfield in the second week.

Southern (7-3) is hosting 10th-ranked Plymouth (5-4) for the second time this season. Plymouth won at Southern, 28-12, on Sept. 3 after Southern’s game against East Canton was canceled due to COVID-19. Plymouth is 2-4 since then.

It will be the first home playoff game for the Indians, who have won 17 of their last 19 games there.

Wellsville was edged out of the 16th and final state berth in Division VII, Region 25 by Ashland Mapleton, which went 3-6.

The Tigers were mathematically eliminated before Saturday’s 35-8 win over Leetonia and are 4-4 on the season.

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