The Ohio High School Athletic Association released its first computer ratings for the 2018 football season late Tuesday afternoon.
The computer ratings are used to determine teams that will qualify for the state playoffs during the first weekend in November.
Each of the state’s seven gridiron divisions is composed of different regions.
The top eight teams in each region at the end of the regular season during the weekend of Oct. 26-27 will earn post-season playoff berths.
The top four teams in each region named during the final computer ratings will earn first-round home games.
The Wildcats of North Union have the highest ranking of the three local teams named in this week’s computer list.
NU (3-1) is ranked No. 7 in Region 18 of Division V.
The Wildcats have a very pivotal game coming up in just a couple of days.
They will host Ontario on Friday, with the kickoff slated for 7 p.m.
Ontario (3-1) is listed as fifth in Region 14 of Division IV.
A victory for North Union over a highly-rated D-IV team would go a long way toward securing the Wildcats a solid spot in the post-season picture.
The surprise team in the Union County area is Triad.
The Cardinals, who won only one game in each of the past two seasons, will take a 3-1 record into Friday’s road game at Cedarville (1-3).
Triad is currently ranked ninth in Region 28 of Division VII.
The Marysville Monarchs (2-2) are tenth in Region 2 of Division I.
MHS will reach the midway point of the regular season on Friday when it travels to Sunbury to face Big Walnut, which sports a 1-3 record.
The complete computer list may be found on page 5B of today’s Journal-Tribune.