Toledo Whitmer and Perrysburg will spend this week resting and watching the scoreboard after both earned first-round byes in the Ohio High School Athletic Association football playoffs, whose official pairings were released Sunday, Oct. 25.
Whitmer (9-1) is the No. 1 seed in Division I, Region 2, and Perrysburg (9-1) is the No. 3 seed. Under the current playoff format, the top four seeds in each region receive a first-round bye, while seeds five through 12 open the postseason on Friday, Oct. 30, with all games kicking off at 7 p.m.
The third Toledo-area team in the Region 2 field, Toledo St. John’s Jesuit (4-6), did not get a bye. The No. 11 seed Titans travel to face No. 6 seed Galloway Westland (7-3) in the first round on Friday night, with the winner moving on to a regional quarterfinal at Springfield the following week.
Whitmer will host the winner of the No. 8 Hilliard Darby and No. 9 Miamisburg game in the regional quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 6. Perrysburg will host the winner of the St. John’s Jesuit-Westland game that same night, setting up a possible Toledo-area rematch if the Titans pull off the road upset.
The other first-round byes in Region 2 went to No. 2 Springfield (8-2) and No. 4 Huber Heights Wayne (6-4). The remaining first-round games in the region send No. 12 Beavercreek to No. 5 Hilliard Bradley and No. 10 Kettering Fairmont to No. 7 Grove City.
Higher seeds host games through the regional semifinals on Nov. 13 before the tournament moves to neutral sites for the regional finals. The season ends with the state championship games Dec. 3-5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
For Whitmer and Perrysburg, the bye week offers a chance to heal up after a 10-week regular season and to scout two possible opponents at once. Both teams will learn their quarterfinal opponent by late Friday night.