Lehman Catholic and Riverside will each play new opponents in their final seasons in the Northwest Central Conference.
The NWCC announced six-game schedules for conference members on Wednesday. The announcement comes less than a week after the OHSAA announced a plan for a six-game regular season and a seven-week postseason. For the first time, all teams will be eligible for the playoffs, which will start on Oct. 9.
Football and other contact sports are currently barred by the state government from playing games. Gov. Mike DeWine said in a coronavirus news conference on Thursday an announcement on contact sports will be made Tuesday and signaled football will be allowed to take place.
Lehman and Riverside both will leave the NWCC at the end of the school year and will join the newly-formed Three Rivers Conference, which will be made of current Cross County Conference, Southwestern Buckeye League and Metro Buckeye Conference members.
The NWCC is adding Crestline and Ridgedale to replace Lehman and Riverside starting next year, but with the OHSAA’s shortening of the regular season, the two schools opted to forgo playing football in their current leagues this year and instead joined the NWCC a year early. Lehman will face Ridgedale in Week 3 and Riverside will open the season against Crestline.
The additions bring the NWCC to 10 teams for this season, and the conference has split its members into two five-team divisions. Teams will play four games against divisional opponents and two crossover games.
Champions for each division will be crowned based on regular-season standings, but an overall NWCC champion will not be crowned.
Lehman will be in a division with Hardin Northern, Waynesfield-Goshen, Ridgemont and Ridgedale while Riverside will be in a division with Lima Perry, Marion Elgin, Upper Scioto Valley and Crestline.
The Cavaliers are scheduled to open the season at Ridgemont and host Riverside at Sidney Memorial Stadium in Week 2. They’ll host Ridgedale on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Sidney Memorial Stadium and will travel to Hardin Northern in Week 4 and Waynesfield-Goshen in Week 5.
Lehman will close regular-season play in Week 6 with Lima Perry. The date and location of that matchup are still being determined.
Riverside is scheduled to host Crestline in Week 1 before traveling to Lehman the next week. The Pirates will host Elgin and Perry in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively, and travel to Upper Scioto Valley and Hardin Northern in Weeks 5 and 6.
