The Steubenville Big Red football team is one win from another regional championship game, and its next test is a familiar postseason name: Big Red faces Dover on Friday, November 13, at 7 p.m. in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III, Region 11 regional semifinals, River News Network reported on November 9.
Steubenville enters the third week of the playoffs as one of only 16 teams still standing in Division III statewide, according to River News Network. The regional semifinal is one of eight Division III games scheduled across Ohio on Friday night, with the winners advancing to the regional championship round and, beyond it, a trip to the state semifinals and the finals in Canton.
The other Region 11 semifinal pairs Columbus East with Licking Valley, River News Network reported. The winners of the two games meet for the Region 11 title, so Big Red’s path to Canton runs through Dover first and then, potentially, one of two programs it could see for the first time this postseason.
Friday’s matchup pairs two of the Ohio Valley’s most tradition-rich programs. Steubenville’s postseason history is among the deepest in Ohio high school football, and a regional semifinal under the lights is familiar territory for Big Red and its fan base — the kind of November Friday that fills the visitors’ side as readily as the home stands.
Dover, meanwhile, arrives in the semifinal from the other side of the bracket with its own long playoff tradition, setting up a game where both sidelines have played deep into November before and neither is likely to be rattled by the stage.
The stakes compound from here. Friday’s winner advances to the Division III, Region 11 championship game on November 20, and the regional champions move on to the state semifinals, with the Division III state final set for Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton — the same stadium where seven Ohio champions will be crowned this postseason.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday, November 13, River News Network reported; the game’s site was not specified in the announcement. NewsForce247 will follow the result as part of its statewide playoff coverage, with the regional finals set for the following Friday.
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